Today we will be discussing  another very important concept in Islam, today we will be discussing Islam and the environment.

Although human beings are seen as the most intelligent life form on earth, they are responsible for almost all the damage done to the planet. If we imagined the earth is aged 46, all the damage done has taken place in the last 60 seconds of the earth's life.

The Qur’an says that Allah (God) is the Creator of the world. Human beings are on the world as trustees or ‘vice-regents’ - they are told to look after the world for Allah and for the future, one hadith says:

"The Earth is green and beautiful, and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it. The whole earth has been created a place of worship, pure and clean. Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded. If a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and humans and beasts and birds eat from it, all of it is love on his part."

In the Qur’an, Muslims are instructed to look after the environment and not to damage it, in it he says:

"Devote thyself single-mindedly to the Faith, and thus follow the nature designed by Allah, the nature according to which He has fashioned mankind. There is no altering the creation of Allah."

Muslims have to look after the earth because it is all Allah’s creation and it is part of a human’s duty to Allah, in the Holy Quran Allah says:

”Allah is He Who raised up the heavens without any pillars that you can see. Then He settled Himself on the Throne, and constrained the sun and the moon to serve you; each planet pursues its course during an appointed term. He regulates it all and expounds the Signs, that you may have firm belief in the meeting with your Lord. He it is Who spread out the earth and made therein firmly fixed mountains and rivers, and of fruits of every kind He has made pairs. He causes the night to cover the day. In all this, verily, are signs doer a people who reflect."

Because of this passage, people see themselves as being responsible for the world which Allah created and they have to make their own decisions about how to do this.

The first Islamic principle that relates to conservation is that of the Oneness of Allah, or Tawheed. This principle is absolutely fundamental to Islam. Every Muslim must believe in this Oneness of Allah. It is said by some Ulamaa that some two-thirds of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) early preaching—and indeed of the Qur’an itself—were and are dedicated purely to endorsing this very Oneness of Allah. One indivisible God means to a Muslim that there is no separate deity for each of the many attributes that to Muslims belong to the One Universal God who is also God of the Universe.

Tawheed is the monotheistic principle of Islam and it begins by declaring that “there is no God but God” (the second half of this declaration asserts that “Muhammad is His Messenger”). We are for the present concerned with the first part, which affirms that there is nothing other than the Absolute, the Eternal, All Powerful Creator. This is the bedrock statement of the Oneness of the Creator from which stems everything else.

It is the primordial testimony of the unity of all creation and the interlocking grid of the natural order of which man is intrinsically a part.

God says in the Qur’an:

Say: He is Allah the One and Only; Allah the Eternal Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (112.001-4)

God is Real, not an abstract idea or concept; He is One, the Everlasting Refuge for all creation.

The emphasis on Tawheed is significant in itself but it is even more relevant to the present discussion by virtue of defining a Muslim’s relationship to Allah. The Omniscience and Omnipotence of Allah means, by definition, that a Muslim’s relationship to Allah is total. To Him—and to Him only—should humans refer for all their needs: physical, mental, and spiritual. Indeed, Allah would not have it any other way. As He says in the Qur’an:

Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with him; but He forgiveth anything else to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous in deed.

But Allah is not only the One Indivisible God. He is also the Universal God as well as the Lord of the Universe:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. 001.002.

And again:

Say: “Allah’s guidance is the [only] guidance and we have been directed to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds.

To establish regular prayers and to fear Allah; for it is to Him that we shall be gathered together.

It is He Who created the heavens and the earth in true [proportions]: the day He saith “Be” Behold! it is. His Word is the truth. His will be the dominion the day the trumpet will be blown. He knoweth the Unseen as well as that which is open. For He is the Wise well acquainted [with all things].

Yet another principle that underpins Islamic commitment to the conservation of nature and natural resources is the principle of divine ownership of all that exists on earth and in the heavens—animate and inanimate. There are countless verses in the Holy Qur’an that state this. A few are given below.

In the celebrated Ayatul Kursiyy:

Allah! There is no Allah but He the living the Self subsisting Eternal. No slumber can seize him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what [appeareth to his creatures as] before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of his knowledge except as He willeth. His throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. For He is the Most High the Supreme [in glory]. 002.255.

And again:

To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. 004.171

To Him belongeth all that dwelleth [or lurketh] in the night and the day. For He is the One Who heareth and knoweth all things. 006.013.

To Him belongs what is in the heavens and on earth and all between them and all beneath the soil. 020.006.

To Him belong all [creatures] in the heavens and on earth: even those who are in His [very] Presence are not too proud to serve Him nor are they [ever] weary [of His service)]. 021.019.

But we are reminded that all things animate and inanimate, in their own ways, submit themselves to the Glory of Allah. There are many verses in the Qur’an about this:

To Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to Him. 030.026.

And again:

Whatever is in the heavens and on earth doth declare the Praises and Glory of Allah the Sovereign the Holy One the Exalted in Might the Wise.062.001.

Thus Allah, the One Indivisible God, the Universal God and the Lord of the Universe is the Owner also of all that is in the universe, including man. After all, we are reminded to say constantly:

Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger some loss in goods or lives or the fruits [of your toil] but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.

Who say when afflicted with calamity: “To Allah we belong and to Him is our return.” 002.155-6

The above set of principles — all taken from Islam’s ultimate authority, the Holy Qu’ran — define the perspectives of the relationship of humanity to God and of God to the environment in its totality. A second set of principles that the Holy Qur’an enunciates prescribe man’s relationship to the environment after, of course, humanity has accepted the preceding principles.

This world that we're living in, doesn't belong to us, it belongs to Allah (SWT), and because it belongs to Allah (SWT) we should do our best to take care of it.

With that said there are several Qur’anic principles that, taken separately, do not have an obvious connection with conservation. But taken in their totality, they state in clear terms that Allah, the One True God is the Universal God and the Creator of the Universe and indeed, the Owner of the Universe. To Him belong all the animate and inanimate objects, all of whom should or do submit themselves to Him.

Allah, in His Wisdom, appointed humans, the creatures that He has conferred with the faculty of reason and with free will, to be His vice regents on earth. And while Allah has invited people to partake of the fruits of the earth for their rightful nourishment and enjoyment, He has also directed them not to waste that which Allah has provided for him—for He loveth not wasters.

Furthermore, Allah has also ordered humans to administer his responsibilities with Justice. Above all, people should conserve the balance of Allah’s creation on Earth. By virtue of their intelligence, humanity (when it believes in the One Universal Allah, the Creator of the Universe) is the only creation of Allah to be entrusted with the overall responsibility of maintaining planet Earth in the overall balanced ecology that man found.