Islam and the Environment

[Angelzz]

Recently I had the oppourtunity to talk to some non-muslims about our beautiful deen. Actually it was more me going about doing the tourist thing but because of my khimar i was being asked questions about God and Islam.

So I had the chance to talk about our deen with people who wanted to chat not debate. I ,however came across this guy who used to be christian and now doesnt class himself as anything. He believed in the one God no partners etc and started explaining this to me at length and mashaAllah I agreed with what he said and his concept of one God and it was pretty much the same as Islam and Allah.

So I told him you know what --- in this aspect which is the bulk of my religion - your already a muslim --- I just also believe Muhammad saws was His messenger.

So after I kinda freaked him out cause he wasnt expecting this statement from me he thought he would change the topic to the environment.

And guess what ? the little I knew about it was more than enough --- we agreed on this issue as well. He was someone who loved and cared for our environment and our planet and thought society at large should be looking after it more.

All I said to him was Yes in Islam also we are taught this -- after all we are the custodians of this planet. MashaAllah he got so excited after I said this. Too bad it didnt occur to me at the time to take his details and maybe post him something about islam and environment but I continue to make dua for him and InshaAllah he becomes muslim someday.

However this got me thinking what do we have in terms of dawah material for people like him ??? For people who love the environment and the planet and the creatures great and small and think society at large is detroying the planet we are meant to be looking after???

I personally have not come across anything of this nature. If you have can you please advise and post here so inshaAllah we can start using this as a fresh new objective in calling people who love the planet and the environment and the animals great and small - to islam inshaAllah.

 

[ummAbdillah]

Thread approved.

 

[glo]

Interesting topic, Angelzz.

Like your friend I am very passionate about the environment.
It often puzzles me that so many (Christians and Muslims alike) who believe that God created this world and that they are appointed to be guardians over his creation, seem to have so little motivation to be more active with regards to the environment.

It would be great to see the monotheistic faiths rise up to that challenge!
But overall I get the impression that it is mostly secular people who drive the environmental issues ... why not us???

This is not really about da'wah.
This is about being active, and really practising what we preach!!
Perhaps there are Muslim environmental activist groups, who can explain the religious reasons behind their activities? Your friend might find that useful.

Peace

 

[Uthman]

Very good question sister!

I have previously made three threads on the subject of Islam and the environment:

Here

Here

and

Here

 

[- Qatada -]

:salamext:


May Allah reward you sister.


These links might be useful insha Allah:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://wamy.co.uk/bd_enviroment.htm

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1182774503944&pagename=Zone-English-Living_Shariah%2FLSELayout

http://www.islamicboard.com/miscellaneous/22049-islam-environment.html




Brother Ansar's got quite alot of good narrations on his userpage, for example:

http://www.islamicboard.com/userpage-user49.html

[/FONT]

The Prophet said: 'There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for a fair-skinned person over a person with dark skin, nor for a dark-skinned person over a person with fair skin. Whoever is more pious and God-fearing is more deserving of honour.' (Musnad Ahmad)

The Prophet said: 'Anyone who kills even a sparrow for no reason (should know that) it will cry aloud to Allah on the Day of the Resurrection, saying, "O my Lord! So-and-so killed me just for fun; he killed me for no reason!" (Sunan An-Nasâ'î)

A'isha said: 'I was once riding a difficult (slow-moving) camel, so I kept hitting it. When the Prophet saw me, he said: 'Be gentle, for gentleness adorns everything in which it is found, and its absence leaves everything tainted.' (Musnad Ahmad)

The Prophet said: 'If a Muslim plants a seedling or cultivates a field, whenever a bird a human or an animal eats of it, it will be counted as a charity for him.'(Sahîh Muslim)



​

Insha Allah they'll all be of some help!

 

[Angelzz]

It would be great to see the monotheistic faiths rise up to that challenge!
But overall I get the impression that it is mostly secular people who drive the environmental issues ... why not us???

This is not really about da'wah.
This is about being active, and really practising what we preach!!
Perhaps there are Muslim environmental activist groups, who can explain the religious reasons behind their activities? Your friend might find that useful.

Peace

I totally agree Glo --- It is about being active.

 

[Angelzz]

Jazak Allah Khair to the brothers and the links --- Im gonna start going through those now inshaAllah.

 

[Angelzz]

Just out of curiousity -- has anyone come across anymore audio lectures on this topic?