A lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, (LASU), Dr Olajide Abiodun Obi has urged Muslims to preserve and respect nature.
He also advised Muslim clerics to make it a point of duty to educate their followers on the need to obey the Islamic law that instructs Muslims to preserve and respect nature.
According to him, Muslims, getting along with nature will be beneficial to the world as it will lead to the preservation of the environment, bring about drastic reduction in environmental crisis which will eventually translate to environmental sustainability.
Obi who made this position known in a paper titled, “Muslims Getting It Right with Nature for Environmental Sustainability” emphasised that human lives depend on the existence of nature.
He however made distinction between anthropocentric and theocentric both of which according to him, deal with the persevering, respect, and preservation of the environment because it worships Allah, just as humans do.
He stated further, “In Islam, nature has its order and functions that work naturally within ecosystems and its components are mutually dependent on each other. Any disturbance will affect the balance of the system and destroy at least one or more components. This affects the lives and lives of the occupants of the planet Earth. In this paper, an attempt is made to talk to Muslims who are over 24 per cent of the world’s population (Kettani, 2019) about environmental protection to reduce the problem of environmental degradation. This is done by doing a brief exposition and a reiteration of what the Qur’an and the Hadith said about the way Muslims should treat their environment.
“It is a clear belief in Islam that the creation of human beings, the earth, and all other natural resources is a clear sign of Allah’s power, wisdom, majesty, and beneficence. The contents of environmental ethics are grounded on the belief that humans are representatives of God on earth and that their behaviour and actions are motivated by earthly and/or heavenly rewards. This is stated in the Qur’an chapter two;
And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: “Lo! I am about to place a vicegerent on earth,” they said: “Will you place on it one who will spread mischief and shed blood while we celebrate your glory and extol your holiness?” He said: “Surely I know what you do not know.” (Quran 2; 30).
“Today, humanity is facing environmental degradation which was alleged to have been caused partly by human selfish nature and partly by abandoning the religious teachings about the environment.
“There is now the need for us to redeem our environment from further degradation and all hands must be on deck. Campaigns are going on everywhere by scientists to educate the people on the importance of the Environment to us. The Quran and the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (Peace be Upon Him), which are the guiding principles of the Muslims prescribed to Muslims the way the environment should be treated.
“In Islam, nature has its order and functions that work naturally within ecosystems and the components are mutually dependent on each other. Any single disturbance will affect the balance of the greater system and destroy at least one or more components. It is believed that if Muslims are reminded of their duty towards the environment as instructed by Allah and His Prophet, then the level of environmental degradation will reduce.
Submission to the will and instructions of Allah and his Messenger is what makes a Muslim.
“On this note, Muslims must follow the teachings of the Qur’an and the hadiths of the Prophet in addressing whatever issues that concern their lives and living. For doing this, there are certain rewards and punishments in some cases. Nature or environment is part of our lives, reason the Qur’an and hadith of the holy Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) prescribed to humans how they should relate with their environment.
“Why do Muslims Join in destroying Nature?” Obi quizzed.