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SECOND PART
The Miraculous Nature of the
Divine Creation of the Environment
Qur’anic texts have dealt in a comprehensive manner with all
the components of the environment. If we consider the
environment as «the earth and whatever goes on it» then we
find that it has been mentioned in 199 verses in various
Suras(45). Many texts have tackled environment
facts on our planet which we are unable to undersatnd. The
following are some of the verses that deal with the stages
of the creation of the universe, the sign of the greatness
of Allah. In Fussilat Allah said :
«Say : Is it that ye Deny Him Who created The earth in two
Days ? And do ye join equals With Him ? He is the Lord of
(all) the Worlds. He set on the (earth), mountains standing
firm, High above it, And bestowed blessings on The earth,
and measured therein All things to give them nourishment in
due proportion, In four days, in accordance with (the needs
of) Those who seek (sustenance). Moreover He comprehended In
His design the sky, And it had been (as) smoke : He said to
it And to the earth : ‘come ye together, Willingly or
unwillingly.’ They said : ‘We do come (together), in
willing obedience.’ So he completed them As seven firmaments
in two Days, and He Assigned to each heaven Its duty and
command. And We adorned The lower heaven With lights, and
(provided it) With guard. Such Is the Decree of (Him) The
Exalted in Might, Full of knowledge».(Fussilat : 12)
1. The Environment is Created with Utmost Care and in a
Balanced Manner.
Scientific observations show that the universe is governed
by strict agreements and remarkable coherence. Look at the
following examples: the form of the earth; the space between
it and the sun; that between it and the moon; the size of
the sun and the moon with regard to the earth; the speed
with which the earth moves; the tilt of its vertical axis;
the formation of its surface and many other characteristics.
Every thing is created to serve life and nothing is
accidental nor is it created without a purpose. Allah
created every thing in a balanced manner, in spite of the
fact that it may be in a permanent movement. Had it not been
for this harmony, existence would lose its equilibrium.
Earth would not be earth, the sky would not be the sky and
substances would fade away. But Allah created this world in
such a way as to ensure its permanent balance. Allah said :
«It is We Who have set out the Zodiacal Signs in the
heavens, And made them fair-seeming To (all) beholders; And
(moreover) We have guarded them from every evil spirit
accursed : But any that gains a hearing By stealth, is
pursued By a flaming fire, bright (to see). And the earth We
have spread out (like a carpet); set hereon Mountains firm
and immovable; And produced therein all kinds of things in
due balance. And We have provided therein Means of
subsistence,- for you and for those whose sustenance Ye are
responsible. And there is not a thing But its (sources and)
treasures (inexhaustible) are with Us; But We only send down
Thereof in due and ascertainable measures». (Hijr : 21)
This planet which is spread out for humans to see and walk
on ! these mountains firmly established on earth as is
referred to in the idea of the production of every thing in
due balance ! there is also reference to the means of
subsistence and good living for human beings and for those
who happen to be under their wardship, ensured by the many
graces bestowed by Allah The graces these people live on are
not yours; they are Allah’s. You are but one of the many
communities(46) that Allah created and provided
sustenance for; you are not a community which bestows grace
on others but Allah bestows grace on you and on others.
Then, He favoured this community and put at its disposal
other communities to serve it and safeguard its
interests--communities which live on Allah’s graces without
owing the served community anything. No creature is capable
of any fleat or is able to possess anything whatsover. It is
Allah who possesses all the treasures. As mankind’s
knowledge grows, it gains more insight into the secrets of
the world destiny. The significance of the treasures of this
world have become more apparent after man has discovered the
nature of the elements of which the planet is composed and
the nature of its structure and composition. Man realized
that water is composed of atoms of oxygen and hydrogen and
that one of the treasures contained in the green plant is
the azote found in the air. He also discovered carbon,
oxygen, carbon dioxide, the rays sent by the sun discoveries
which demonstrate the treasures of Allah and of which man
has come to know but a few.
Allah created everything in the universe (the great
environment) in due balance: a balance in movement, in
temperature, in gravity and its forces, in magnetism and its
impacts, in electrical fields, in the quantity of water
found in the seas, in earth as a whole…in the equilibrium
between death and life, in the balance of the creatures on
earth so that no species outnumbers the others. Allah said :
«Verily, all things have We created in proportion and
measure.»(Qamar : 49)
«It is He Who created all things, and ordered them in due
proportions» (Furqan : 2).
«Every single thing is before His Sight, in (due)
proportion». (R’ad : 8)
Air, a major constituent of the atmosphere, as previously
mentioned, is composed of 78.7% of nitrogen (azote). It is
an incombustible gas that does not melt in water and is a
major food for plants. Oxygen constitutes 20.95% of the air.
It is a gas which is active, combustible and melts in water
thereby providing the oxygen necessary for the organisms
living in water; it is renewed through the acts of transfer
and interchange between air and water. Without this
movement, oxygen would be exhausted in water, and,
consequently, life in water would disappear. The remaining
2% is made up of many other gases such as hydrogen with
0.01% and other gases such as carbon monoxide,
sulfur-dioxide, helium, methane, krypton, neon, xenon and
ozone. This is a meticulous repartition of gases. Scientific
research has shown that if the percentage of nitrogen(47)
was less than what it was and should an electric flame fall
from the outer space on the earth (which happens at times),
every-thing on earth would burn. Nitrogen, which is created
in this highly calculated proportion, is able to control the
nature of oxygen, a combustible gas, and transform it into a
gas which only facilitates combustion, but which does not
ignite in the presence of this amount of nitrogen. The
reason is for oxygen to continue to exist in the air in
order to fulfil its fundamental function of providing
opportunities for the continuation of animal life on earth.
If we take carbon dioxide, for instance, in the
characteristics and proportion of 0.03 % which Allah had
determined for it at the time of creation, we find that this
gas is mostly concentrated in the troposphere. Allah has
given it the function of absorbing the infra-red rays from
the atmosphere. This enables the atmosphere to maintain a
temperature degree suitable for life. On this basis, any
decrease or increase in the percentage of this gas means a
change in the temperature of the atmosphere, thus affecting
life in its different aspects. It is this phenomenon which
worries mankind nowadays. The soaring increase of carbon
dioxide and other warming gases such as methane,
chlorofluorocarbons, and carbon lead to a rise in the
temperature of the atmosphere and to the dangerous melting
of great quantities of ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic,
which is the main cause in the rise of sea levels. This
makes many coastal cities threatened by submersion.
According to the statistics carried out by the United
Nations Fund For the Population, 16% of Egypt’s inhabitants
and 10 % of Bangladesh’s would become ecological refugees(48).
To this are added the disturbance of water cycles and the
increase in the number of insects, etc .. As a result,
voices calling for holding conferences and taking decisions
liable to controlling the rate of carbon dioxide in the air
are raised. Thus, a world climate convention was signed at
the Earth Conference (Environment and Development) which was
held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The goal of this
conference was to ensure that the rate of carbon dioxide
remain in its ecologically acceptable proportions. It is
legitimate then to ask this question : can there be life on
the surface of earth with an air structure different from
that created by Allah ? Allah be praised! Nothing is created
without a purpose.
Another example will show how the balance of energy is
maintained. Sun rays are the only source of energy in the
atmosphere. They contribute 99.97% to the energy exploited
in the atmosphere and on the surface of the earth.
Scientists(49) estimate that if a total of 100
units of sun beams enter the atmosphere, 47 units of these
beams reach the earth’s surface and are repartitioned as
follows : 6% is reflected downward, 17% spread out because
of clouds and 24% reach the surface of the earth as direct
beans. Part of the remaining 53 units is reflected on the
outer space (34 %) and another part is dispersed in the
atmosphere (9%) while the rest 10% is exposed to absorption
because of atmospheric pressure.
The part of energy that reaches the earth’s surface (47%) is
once again lost through evaporation and exhudation (23 %) or
through reflection (10 %). Animals and vegetation breathe
about 14%. Hence, the true quantity of sun beams that
reaches the earth’s surface is 47 % and the exact lost
quantity is 47 %. This demonstrates that everything is
created by Allah with minute accuracy and in an exact
balance.
A third example which shows Allah’s perfect exactitude is
the balance between animals, plants, insects and birds. They
live in numerical equilibrium amongst them. But by acting as
the lord and superior owner of this universe, and not as its
tenant, and by overusing insecticides, man has caused the
tipping of the balance existing between animals, insects and
plants. This has resulted in an unexpected increase in some
pests such as the spread of the red spider and the nut worm
in Egypt due to the excessive use of some insecticides. In
the past, such pests did not pose a threat to plants. But as
a result of man’s killing off of their natural enemies
through the use of insecticides, these insects have enjoyed
a fertile ground for reproduction. Similarly, the excessive
use of insecticides led to the almost extinction of the
Egyptian kite. Other animals such as the ferret, the wolf,
the fox, the crow are facing the same lot. Likewise, the use
of D.D.T in Egypt is a major cause of the appearance of the
red spider on corn, leading to a disturbance in the natural
balance.
Years ago a dangerous disease threatened the cacao produce
in West Africa. It became clear afterwards that this disease
was caused by a virus carried by white ants. The use of
insecticides against white ants led to a huge decrease of
this disease. But, the natural balance was disturbed and at
least four new insects appeared.
When the State of Arizona, in the United States, removed the
ban on hunting the American lion, diseases broke out amongst
deer. Studies displayed that a connection exists between the
spread of deer disease and the killing of lions and wolves.
The latter used to hunt the sick deer which could not flee,
as if lions and wolves were a natural factor contributing to
ridding deer of diseases and preserving the natural balance.
Yet, the equilibrium is not that easy in most ecosystems.
Indeed, the number of living organisms is affected by many
factors. Environment studies point out that ecosystems are
like a complex net. But, the net of is more complex than a
spider’s net, in that the spider’s net follows a systematic
model of threads and timing, which does not happen in the
case of the life net. Indeed, a scientist declared that
«life net is not only as complex as we think, but more
complex than we think»(50). Praised be Allah, the
Mighty Creator!
2. Allah Protects the Environment through Strong Shields :
When Allah created the environment, He protected it from
dangers such as shooting stars and meteors which may get
diverted from their course and fall in the sphere of earth
gravity. Equally dangerous are ultra-violet rays which are
sent with sun rays. Allah most High said : «And We have made
the heavens as a canopy Well guarded : yet do they turn away
from the Signs which these things (point to)!» (Anbiyaa :
32). Recent studies have shown that the atmosphere is
composed of a series of layers, and each layer has its own
characteristics and fulfils its functions of giving life and
protecting all the organisms living on earth. The
stratosphere, the adjacent layer to the earth’s surface, for
example, comprises many life elements such as oxygen and
carbon dioxide and the like.
Allah created in the stratosphere, or what is known as the
ozone layer, the ozone gas. Allah bestowed this gas with a
special characteristic that enables it to prevent the
hazardous ultra-violet rays from reaching the surface of the
earth. Thus, this layer serves as a shield against these
rays. This explains the worry of mankind when it discovered
the erosion of the ozone layer in the Antarctic. To protect
this layer and allow it to fulfill its function, a
conference was held in Montreal in Canada in 1987, the
resolutions of which came into effect in January 1989. It
was amended in 1990. Another conference was equally held in
Kioto in Japan in 1997 in which a quota of
chlorofluorocarbons production was determined for each
country, as a first step toward its total elimination.
The same role is played by the mesosphere, the layer that
follows the ozone layer towards outer space. It functions as
a shield against shooting stars and meteors. Allah harnessed
it and gave it the power to burn shooting stars and meteors
and transform them to ash that falls lightly on the earth’s
surface(51). Thus, we see that Allah created the
environment with utmost accuracy and protected it with
shields, all of which was meant to serve man who is Allah’s
vicegerent on earth. But, man inflicted heavy damages to the
environment. Paradoxically, it is man who suffers most from
these hazards. Unfortunately, it is not easy to put the
environment back to its original state in which Allah
created it.
3. Allah Created the Environment as a Source of Life
The reason for the creation of the environment is life.
Thus, when we deal with the environment we should bear in
mind that it is not inexhaustible. Its capabilities and
potentialities are limited. This is what is called
«Ecological Capacity». Any significant change in the
elements of the system results in a disturbance of the
functions of these very elements. Accordingly, the
interaction and interrelation between them is upset. This,
in turn, tips the ecological balance; consequently, the
environmental elements change from useful elements to
harmful ones and cause many damages that threaten the course
of life.
If the living kinsfolk outnumber the capacity of the
environment to support them, we will notice a pressure on
the environment and its resources, which affects the
environment on the one hand and the organisms living in it
on the other. It is expected that, under natural conditions,
vital capacity may come to a halt or may stop growing on
account of natural determinants or cultural impediments. In
northern Iraq, for instance(52), grazing lands
provide food for more than a quarter a million sheep without
disturbing the vital system. Recently, it is noticed that
they include more than one million head. Similarly, the
Syrian pastures feed at present three times more than what
its grazing capacity can support. Another example, the
population of the Maghrebi countries has increased six to
seven times since 1900. In 1997, the average rate(53)
of the population growth is 1.9% ; if we bear in mind that
60% to 70% of the population live on agriculture and
grazing, we can imagine its impact on the capacity of the
grazing lands. Another example : the animal wealth increased
remarkably in the province of Dufar in Oman. This led the
political leadership to draw attention to the seriousness of
this problem and to its impact on the capacity of pastures
in the Southern region. In the provinces of Darfour and
Kordofan in Northern Sudan, the number of inhabitants
increased six folds from 1917 to 1977. Besides, the number
of animals rose rapidly: the number of cows multiplied 21
times, that of camels 16, sheep 12, and that of goats 8
times. At the same time, the space devoted to grazing
diminished because of the expansion of dukhn (pearl millet)
growing. All the preceding examples show how the output of
grazing lands is reduced due to the increase of pressure on
the environment.
From this perspective, Islam underlined the importance of
preserving the elements of the ecosystem and called for
exploiting it wisely and rationally, without any change
whatsoever so that the system could keep on fulfilling its
function of feeding life on a sustainable basis. Allah said
in this regard: «But if any one, after God’s favor Has come
to him, substitutes (something else) God is strict in
punishment» (Baqara : 211).
4. The Environment is Harnessed to Serve Man, Allah’s
Vicegerent on Earth
Allah offered the environment for man’s use. He said : «Do
ye not see that God has subjected to your (use) all things
in the heavens and on the earth. And made His bounties flow
to you in exceeding measure, (both) seen and unseen ?»
(Luqman : 20). Allah made man His vicegerent on earth : «It
is He Who hath made you His agents, inheritors of the earth»
(Anaam : 165). Subjecting all these bounties of the
environment to man’s use, exclusive of all the other
creatures, is an honour to him. Allah said : «We honored the
sons of Adam : provided them with transport on land and sea:
given them for sustenance things good and pure; conferred on
them special favor, above a great part of our Creation.»
(Bani Israil : 70).
Making man a vicegerent means that he is a ward over the
environment (earth) but not an owner. He is simply borrowing
these bounties and charged with dwelling on earth and
settling in it on a temporary basis only: «On earth will be
your dwelling place and your means of livelihood- for a
time.» (Baqara : 36). Man should be considerate of what he
is entrusted with. The environment is a human heritage(54).
Generations upon generations inherit the permanent riches of
the environment. We are not owners of the land, but we
simply borrow it from the preceding generations and it is
incumbent upon us to preserve it undamaged for the next
generations without dilapidating or polluting its resources
and potentialities.
5. Preserving the Elements of the Ecosystems is an
Individual as well as a Collective Duty
For all the preceding reasons, the protection of the
environment, the preservation of its resources, and
refraining from wasting or over-exploiting them become
individual as well as collective duties. Allah, Sublime be
He, threatened to punish, in this world or in the hereafter
or in both, those who change Allah’s blessings. It is
indisputable that the destruction of the elements of the
environment, which engenders ecological problems from which
our modern world is suffering, is a sort of punishment for
those who alter the bounties of Allah :
«Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed)
that the hands of men have earned, that (God) may give them
a taste of some of their Deeds : in order that they may turn
back (from evil)».(rum : 41)
6. Preserving the Environment is a Form of Worship
Allah created man and defined his mission in this life.
Allah said : «I have only created Jinns and men to serve Me»
(Zariyat: 52). Worship in its overall meaning is not
restricted to performing religious rituals such as prayer,
fasting and pilgrimage, etc..., but comprises also the
faithful abidance by the precepts and injunctions of Islam
in all walks of life. Thus, the good use of the environment,
the protection and the preservation of its riches for the
sake of mankind at large, the non-pollution of water, its
preservation, the non pollution of the air and the soil, the
good use of public facilities and public property, and
abstaining from indiscriminate hunting and grazing, all of
these are forms of worship. From this perspective, any
concept that defines the way one should deal with the
natural and civilization components of the environment,
through constructive Islamic conduct, is an order from Allah
that should be met with obedience and subordination, out of
gratitude for His many blessings. Allah said : «But do thou
good as God has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions
for) mischief in the land» ( Qasas: 77).
Allah has been good to us by creating for us an environment
having all the components of life. We must, therefore, be
good to Allah and not trade good for bad. The bad
exploitation of environment resources and its destruction
and depletion turn us away from truly serving Allah. These
wrong behaviors inflict damages on mankind at large. Islam
prohibits us from inflicting damage on ourselves or on
others. The Prophet (PBUH) said : «No soul must incur damage
on another»(55). The bad, unwise and irrational exploitation
of the environment, its destruction, pollution and depletion
are tantamount to showing ungratefulness for Allah’s favors.
And ingratitude and the denial of Allah’s favors and
bounties lead to many scourges and catastrophes : «Yet was
it ungrateful for the favors of God : so God made it taste
of hunger and terror (in extremes) (closing in on it), like
a garment (from every side), because of (the evil) which
(its people) wrought.» (Nahl: 112)
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