Islamic Conceptual Framework

Is there any way by which we can check the threats of modern civilization to our planet, simply by introducing stricter legislation against pollution, industrial waste and nuclear spill? Can we reverse the degradation of our environment by adopting conservationist policies on both national and international levels? Or could it be that the whole ecological imbalance betokening the spiritual and teleological crisis of modern civilization itself? Does it require basic reconsideration of our approach towards life, our cherished goals, indeed our very conception of ourselves and of the world? Answering such questions in this essay, I confirm my conviction that within the context of environmental debate, the Islamic viewpoint has not only been unduly neglected, but that Islamic traditions and values provide a very effective and comprehensive answer to the absurdities of our environmental situation.

Tawheed

Every discussion of ethics in Islam must, of necessity, proceed from Tawheed, as it is the sine qua non of Islamic faith. In Islam, ethics is inseparable from religion and is built entirely upon it. Islam is, above everything, assertion of the certitude of Tawheed: the oneness of God. Tawheed is thus the metaphysical and theological principle par excellence which gives the religion of Islam its unique profile and its distinctive morphology. The principle of oneness, the main anchor of the creed of Tawheed, is also construed in Islam as a teleological axiom: God, who has created this universe, is also its final end. The final end is actually one for the whole universe, including all beings and creatures. That end is God.

As an ethical rule, Tawheed dictates the acceptance of God as the only source of all values: not to do so would lead one to shirk, the negation of Tawheed – the cardinal sin in Islam. Thus, Tawheed inculcates a psychological and behavioral attitude that demands a relationship with the Only One that excludes a similar relationship with anyone else. The Muslim is motivated by this quest, in whatever he does, thinks or feels. The identity of personal piety and ritual devotion, of theology and law, of politics and religion, of faith and deeds in Islam are all manifestations of the same all-pervasive principle of Tawheed.

The principle of Tawheed, or the oneness of God, the recognition of Him as one, absolute and transcendent, is also at the center of the Muslim’s curiosity regarding nature. In other words, the same attitude that determines Muslim’s theology, philosophy or art also pervades his epistemology. The doctrine of Tawheed is forever inspiring Muslim thinkers to discover new facets of reality. Whether the subject be art, economics, sociology or plain political dynamism, Tawheed directs the Muslim’s vision to the perception of new vistas.

A modern Iranian Muslim found in the worldview of Tawheed the ultimate imperative to political action. He rebelled against tyranny and won martyrdom. His own manifesto reads: “In the worldview of Tawheed, man fears only one power and is answerable before only one judge. He turns to only one Qiblah and directs his hopes and desires to only one source. The corollary is that all else is false and pointless – all the diverse and variegated tendencies, strivings, fears, desires and hopes of man are vain and fruitless. Tawheed bestows upon Man independence and dignity. Submission to Him alone – the supreme over all beings – impels Man to revolt against all lying powers, all the humiliating fetters of fear and greed”.

According to Islamic ethic, the concept of Tawheed is indispensable. Whether the issue be ecological, economical or merely technical, the application of the principle of Tawheed, the assertion of God’s oneness, by reminding one of the ultimate goal of every human effort, makes it an issue of ethics. Tawheed is thus the very process of Islamization by which the natural world is brought under moral control; nature and ethics are integrated and the harmony of intent and action, purpose and goal, means and ends is finally achieved.

Khilafah and Amana (Stewardship and Trust)

The creation of Man is a major theme in the Qur’an. The purpose, which imposes absolute obligations for the conduct of man, is the fulfillment and realization of divine will. As the supreme creation of God, being His masterpiece, man has been endowed with all the faculties essential to his special mission. First of all, he is a moral being and as such, he is a sort of cosmic bridge though which the divine will, in its totality and especially its higher ethical part can enter space-time and become concrete. Furthermore, gifted with `Aql, discursive intellect, and the power of conceptualization, Man has also been given divine guidance in terms of moral imperatives – the revelation of God’s will in a prescriptive form. In short, he is the highest of God’s creation, a theomorphic being, who bears God’s trust and stewardship, before whom even angels must prostrate.

Nature is man’s testing ground. Man is enjoined to read its “signs”. Nature has therefore been created both orderly and knowable. Were it not so, were it unruly, capricious and erratic, it would be a “ship of fools”, where morality is not possible. Such creation would be a cruel and senseless act on the part of a malevolent deity. Were it not knowable, it would be both oppressive and degrading for man who would humble himself before its slightest whim. Thus, both the orderliness of nature and its amenability to rational enquiry are essential for morality.

Man has, accepted nature as a trust (Amana) and a theatre for his moral struggle. Heavens, earth and mountains refused to assume this responsibility, which Man took upon himself voluntarily. By accepting the trust Man, no doubt, showed ignorance and hubris but also his willingness to serve God’s purpose. Trust is a mutual commitment: God too, by entrusting man with this responsibility, that of taking control over nature, expressed His confidence in the ability of man. Man therefore occupies a particular position in his world. He is at the axis and center of cosmic milieu, at once the master and custodian of nature.

Notwithstanding this exalted status, Man is but the deputy of God, possessing no authority save that of a steward. As befits his position, Man cannot be the arbiter of his conduct: he must defer it to the judgment of his sovereign. Denial of absolute sovereignty to Man is tantamount to loading him with moral responsibility. It is a natural corollary of man’s acceptance of trust that he be born free and innocent. Thus, Man in the Islamic tradition is a creature unsullied by any ontological flaws. He bears no stigma of any “original sin” that would make him a victim of his own humanity. The entire Islamic rationale for an ecological ethic rests firmly on the Qur’anic notions of Khilafah (Man’s vicegerency) and Amana (trusteeship). Nature, being an estate belonging to God, has been given to Man, merely as a trust. Man’s right to dominate over nature is only by virtue of his theomorphic make-up, it is not as a rebel against heaven.

Shari`ah : The Ethics of Action

There is no division of ethics and law in Islam. The ultimate consequence of man’s acceptance of trusteeship is the arbitration of his conduct by divine judgment. Perceived thus as a preparation for the final trial, every human act, humble or grand, public or private, becomes charged with legal consequences. All contradictions of internalized ethics and externalized law, of concealed intentions and revealed actions are resolved in the all-embracing actionalism of Shari`ah, because it is both a doctrine and a path. It is simultaneously a manifestation of divine will and that of human resolve to be an agent of that will. It is eternal (anchored in God’s revelation) and temporal (enacted in human history), stable (Qur’an and sunnah) and dynamic (ijma’ and ijtihad), din (religion) and mu’amalah (social interaction), divine gift and human prayer, all at once. It is the very basis of the religion itself: to be Muslim is to accept the injunctions of Shari`ah.

Shari`ah or law, rather than theology, has been the main Islamic contribution to the human civilization. For a practical community, such as that of Muslims’, existential imperatives (law), rather than moral or teleological speculation (theology), should be the matter of paramount concern. Muslim thinkers have rarely addressed themselves to the problems of good and evil in the abstract. Human experience shows that these notions are notoriously difficult to define theoretically. Islam shows that what cannot be defined intellectually, may, with divine guidance and human effort, be resolved in terms of action. Shari`ah views every life-situation as concrete and unique and a matter of decision in terms of action.

Issues that cannot be perceived in the thought-categories of good and bad can be reduced to the categories of halal (licit, proper, prescribed) and haram (illicit, improper, proscribed) acts. The moral perspective of Shari`ah demands “doing right” rather than “being good”: it is thus not a soteriological ontology, but a moral existentialism. In some sense, Muslim consciousness and Sartre are in agreement that Man is “condemned to be free”, to make a choice, to act. But whereas the atheistic existentialism of Sartre cannot be redeemed by any kind of ethics, Shari`ah brings the whole spectrum of human life under the jurisdiction of absolute moral judgment, because of its firm anchorage in the message of God – the source of all good and the goal of every human endeavor.

Shari`ah is also the methodology of history in Islam. By its application, temporal contingencies are judged by eternal imperatives, moral choices are transformed into options for concrete action and ethical sentiment is objectified into law. It is in fact the problem-solving methodology of Islam par excellence. Theoretical Islamic search for an environmental ethics must pass through the objective framework of Shari`ah in order to become operative and be part of the Islamic history. Shari`ah thus provides both the ethical norms and the legal structure within which Muslim state(s) may make actual decisions pertaining to concrete ecological issues. Shari`ah is not only indispensable for decision-making in an Islamic context, but its moral realism also provides excellent paradigms for theoretical discussion of Islamic ecological philosophy. Non-Muslims too, in my opinion, should benefit from the resuscitation of Shari`ah in Muslim environmental thinking. Shari`ah works on universal postulates (for Muslims, they are the axioms of divine revelation). It has a very stringent and evolved methodology. Its answers are given in terms of a strategy for action; all this is universal validity.

The main contribution of Shari`ah-consciousness, notwithstanding its practical utility, is, however, that the whole life of moral Man is amenable to right and wrong actions. This is the ultimate criterion of which God Himself has determined. Replacing divine law with man-made stipulations causes only human misery, as our ecological woes too fragrantly manifest.

‘Adl and I’tidal (Justice and Moderation)

Islamic eschatological vision is determined by the tremendous, awesome consciousness of God as the Judge. Justice, the supreme attribute of God, is also synonymous with Order and Equilibrium. Indeed, divine perfection, as Muslims perceive it, is manifested in the very harmony and balance of the universe. It is also reflected in God’s apportioning to everything its proper measure. Muslims laud it as the manifestation of divine mercy. They hold that divine justice is the guarantor of the Muslim’s dignity and self-esteem. They regard it as and the lock on the door, barring human complacency in matters moral.

In Arabic, the language of revelation, metaphysics and philosophy of Islam, the words justice (‘adl) and moderation, temperance, balance, equilibrium harmony (i’tidal) are semantically and etymologically kindred. Islamic societal ethics, the very basis of society itself, is but a quest for equilibrium, and hence felicity with God, nature and history. It entails submitting oneself to the will of God, accepting the mandate of trusteeship and striving to be a moderate community (ummah wastah). Historical testimony will confirm the veracity and felicity of Qur’anic designation. The goal of justice, Muslim consciousness affirms, is reached by treading the path of moderation.

The moderation of Islamic ethics stems from its life-affirmation. Whereas some universal religions, such as Christianity and Buddhism are contend that their ideals are realizable, only within the precincts of special, extra-societal, sacerdotal institutions like the Church or the Sangha. Islam holds that society is necessary for morality and that the demands of religious commitment can best be, indeed must be, approximated within the social system of a lay community, which is the Muslim ummah. Institutionalized monkery and excessive asceticism are repugnant to the temperate and societal ethos of Islam. The Prophet has directed his followers against overextended rituals of worship, celibacy, exaggerated fasting, pessimism and morose mood. He ordered them to break the fast before performing the sunset prayer, to keep their bodies clean and their teeth brushed, to groom, perfume themselves and wear their best clothes when they congregate for prayer, to marry, to take their time of rest and to sleep and recreate themselves with sports and arts. “To enjoy the bounties of God’s provisions but not to over-indulge”, the well-known Qur’anic dictum, is indeed forever on the lips and in the hearts of Muslims.

The concepts of ijma’ (general consensus), istihsan (preference for the better) and istislah (public welfare) are the dynamic principles of Shari`ah, which all have moderating influences on Muslim society. The symmetry of Islamic arts, the immediacy of the Islamic way of life, the harmony of contemplation and action are all, likewise, felicitous expressions of the fundamental Islamic ethic of justice and moderation. The adoption of the ethic of moderation may, it is hoped, save Muslim societies from the ills of wanton consumerism and the senseless squandering of human and natural resources, which is universally going on, in pursuit of an illusory meliorism.

The notion of ‘adl, along with its corollary i’tidal, also constitutes the second general principle of Islamic epistemology. The harmony of knowledge and values, which is the ultimate aim of Islamic morality, is best attained by the balance of values themselves. If knowledge is not to be fragmented, values must also be harmonized against each other. Justice and moderation, moreover, may also be construed dynamically as the societal quest for equilibrium. The unity of knowledge, harmonization of values and search for justice, thus, Islamic life-affirmation instinct insists, must be located and actualized within the moderate ethics of a lay society.

Islamic ethics, however, is not merely for this world. Despite its utmost respect for the sanctity of life, family, society, the ultimate value in Islam is neither material, nor economy but moral. To work for the establishment of the “Kingdom of God”, on this earth, is the goal of Muslim morality, but to hope for eternal bliss in the hereafter is the essence of Islamic faith itself. We may reiterate that the attainment of equilibrium viewed, both statically and dynamically, constitutes the Muslim answer to the problem of ecological ethics. The path of ecological justice, Islam shows, is paved with the ethical restraints of moderation.

The Sacramental Earth

So far, our bid for the formulation of Islamic ecological ethics has entailed a delineation of the broad parameters of the ethical philosophy of Islam itself. It has been pointed out that the general metaphysics of ethics in Islam, not only offers an excellent values-paradigm from which a relevant environmental ethic can be elicited, but that a concern for the ethical potentialities of the natural milieu of Man is essential to the Qur’anic worldview. At this point, we should examine the desacralization of nature thesis from the vantage point of Islam, trying to answer a question raised before. The question is whether there exists a monotheistic – Islamic – ethic that provides a satisfactory answer to the current ecological distress, or whether the adoption of the pantheistic worldview alone, as pleaded by Arnold Toynbee, can deliver mankind from the imminent environmental disaster?

Despite its obvious affinity with the two other monotheistic faiths of Islam and Judaism, Christianity differs from them in many radical ways. To take but a few points relative to our theory: the Hebrew story of creation, for instance, is transformed in Christianity into the doctrine of “fall”. Creation thus appears to the Christian mind as “fallen” and nature opposed to grace. Salvation then is the humbling of nature by the miraculous intrusion of the supernatural in history. Moreover, the nearest thing in the physical universe that reflects the miraculous is Man and holiness exists only in man-made environment. In the Christian view it was not emanation from the earth, but ritual that consecrated the site. Nature, if devoid of God’s presence and grace, may justifiably be “tortured”, i.e. subjected to scientific exploitation. The distinction of subject and object so essential to the scientific enquiry, the secularization of the world and the environmental degradation, if we accept this kind of reasoning, are all due to Christianity. In short, Christianity achieved not only a de-divinization of the world (for such a conception of the world is incumbent upon both Islam and Judaism) but its de-sacralization as well. The disenchanted, secularized world that heralded Christian victory is thus profane: unredeemed and devoid of any sacramental, symbolic significance.

The Islamic view is quite different. A transcendent god does not necessitate debased creation: de-divinization need not imply de-sacralization. Indeed, Islam holds that there is no such thing as a profane world. All the immensity of matter constitutes a scope for the self-realization of the spirit. All is holy ground. As The Prophet so beautifully puts it: “The whole of this earth is a mosque”. Nature, like The Book of Revelation, is full of signs (‘ayat). To know and decipher these portents constitutes divine service (‘ibada). In fact, Muslim theologians believe that nature has no meaning, without reference to God: without divine purpose it simply does not exist. The inseparable link between Man and nature in Islam is found in the Qur’an itself. Islamic revelation is a Book, a path of knowledge, certainty and judgment. This is unlike Christianity, which asserts that God Himself enters cosmos (and then profanes the world!). Islam, forever conscious of the Transcendence of the Creator, holds that Knowledge, Guidance and Judgment (names of the Qur’an) have been revealed in history. Nature has thus been made amenable to the discriminatory judgment of divine will, and Man, the instrument of divine purpose, has a mandate – and responsibility – to treat nature as a trust.

Within the Islamic perspective, the debasement of nature, by Man, leads to his own debasement and amounts to a revolt against the Creator. In the early days of Islam, this environmental ethic permeated the entire Muslim society. This can be seen from the products of Muslim technology of that era. Examples of that are the irrigation schemes and the physical layout of classical Islamic cities like Fez, San’aa and Isfahan, along with the arts and crafts of that age. In fact, the Muslim respect for nature goes as far as that the development of technology under Islam was deliberately stifled when technology became a threat to the natural environment.

For the Muslim World, the answer to the contemporary environmental predicament lies in wholeheartedly going forward to the environmental ethic of Islam. This should only take place by giving a practical shape to the environmental dictates of the Shari`ah by producing legislations in such areas as pollution, conservation and urbanization, and in abandoning the way of the West and returning to the environmentally conscious traditions and lifestyles of Islam.

However, as the dominant civilization, the West too must now abandon its cherished goals of unlimited technological growth and over consumption. It should change its basic conception of Man and nature. Here the world-view of Tawheed, the concepts of khilafa and amana, the all-encompassing ethical practicality of the Shari`ah have a great deal to teach and a major role to play in alleviating the spiritual and teleological crisis of Western civilization. One does not have to be a Muslim to benefit from such teachings.

Long before any furore of ecological concern questioned the validity of the dominant Western growth values and accused Christianity of profaning the world and propagating the ethics of dominion over nature, a Muslim thinker pleaded to the Western conscience in these incomparable words: “the great point in Christianity is the search for an independent content for spiritual life, which, according to the insight of its founder, could be elevated, not by the forces of a world external to the soul of Man, but by the revelation of a new world within its soul. Islam fully agrees with this insight and supplements it by the further insight that the illumination of the world thus revealed is not something foreign to the world of matter but permeates it through and through”.

 

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