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Care for Creation: An Islamic Perspective
The e book Care for Creation: An Islamic Perspective, has just lately been authored by the distinguished Turkish environmentalist Professor İbrahim Özdemir. The subject couldn’t be extra essential these days; Europe has deliberate to slash carbon emissions to web zero by 2050 and the necessity of a worldwide effort to sort out, in a number of manners, local weather change is more and more mentioned on mass media an social media, daily.
In his e book Professor Özdemir proves that Islam is a “genetically environmentalist faith”.
İbrahim Özdemir
Indeed we have now to not neglect — as Abdul Matin highlights in his e book Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting The Planet and Professor Özdemir in Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective — that one of many basic rules of Islam is Mizan: steadiness; a common idea together with, in fact, the responsibility to discover a virtuous relation with the atmosphere surrounding and supporting us.
That is to say: with God’s creation as it’s clearly affirmed within the following verses within the Holy Quran:
In the title of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.
The Compassionate. Has taught the Quran. He created man. And taught him clear expression. The solar and the moon transfer in accordance to plan. And the celebs and the bushes prostrate themselves. And the sky, He raised, and He arrange the steadiness. So don’t transgress within the steadiness. But keep the weights with justice, and don’t violate the steadiness.
(The Holy Quran, 55:1-9)
When we mirror on the ethical implications of those verses, highlights Professor Özdemir, we are going to see that they might be sufficient for growing an environmental ethic and sustainability from the Holy Quran itself. First, justice and steadiness are common; second, this common steadiness is created and sustained by God, and third, people should each try to grasp and to guard this common steadiness.
Indeed, how we will learn once more within the Holy Quran, as human beings we have now been entrusted with conserving and growing (in a balanced method) our planet:
He who has made you successors (Khalifa) upon the earth.
(The Holy Quran, 6:165).
In his e book Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective, Professor Özdemir explains intimately how Muslim ought to behave to respect the atmosphere in tune with the prescriptions of the Holy Quran and of the Sunna, mentioning the preservation of the cleanliness in public areas, the preservation of bushes, woodland and inexperienced areas, the safety of the animals (the well-known French author Montaigne touched on this topic when he mentioned: “The Muslim Turks discovered hospitals and pious foundations for animals even”, to report just one instance) and the should be strongly conscious managing consumption and waste.
As historical past in addition to Western travellers of Muslim lands observe, writes Professor Ozdemir, “Islam attaches the best significance to the conservation of the atmosphere as a complete. For the atmosphere and all of the residing beings inside it are created by God.
“The conservation of the atmosphere is due to this fact not solely a human obligation but in addition a spiritual obligation.”
How profound are Yunus Emre’s, the Turkish poet of thirteenth century, phrases: “We love creatures for the sake of their Creator!”
No involved and believing Muslim particular person will neglect that he’s answerable for the way he treats not solely males but in addition all creatures, or that sooner or later he shall be known as to account for the way he acted. With the next verse, the Holy Quran warns all Muslims: “Whoever does an atom’s weight of fine shall see it, And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it” (The Holy Quran, 99: 7-8).
At the top of Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective is reported the integral textual content of The Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, drafted in 2015. Among the members of the Islamic Declaration Team there was Professor Özdemir himself.
Nowadays Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective will be an necessary supply of inspiration for the rising variety of Muslims engaged in environmental actions. Since it has been printed (on the finish of 2022) it has attracted rising curiosity internationally.
Five copies of Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective have been requested by the Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries within the UK for {the catalogue} of National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian Library of Oxford University, the National Library of Wales, Cambridge University Library and the library of Trinity College in Dublin.
The e book will quickly be out there within the catalogue of the British Library as nicely, crucial on the earth.
Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective has been printed each in paper and digital codecs and it’s simply out there on line. We are doing our greatest to unfold its contents and to offer our small contribution to help the “brown to inexperienced” revolution. Of course there’s nonetheless a lot theoretical and sensible work to be executed however we hope the publication of this e book has been one of many first, essential steps.
