Quranic ecology: key ideas

• Main Author: Bakar, Osman
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM), Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia (VBCM), Tibetan Buddhist Culture Centre of Malaysia (TBCC), Centre for Civilisational Dialogue (UMCCD), UM 2023
• Subjects: B Philosophy (General); BJ Ethics; BJ1188 Religious ethics; BL Religion; BP1 Islam; BP130 Works about the Qurʼān; BP171 Relation of Islam to other religions; BPG113 Environmental ethics/responsibility. Sustainable living.; BQ Buddhism; GE196 Sustainable living; GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/104939/13/104939_Quranic%20ecology_.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/104939/; https://www.ibedconf.com/

The main aim of this article is to provide a discussion of fourteen ideas that may be considered as central to Quranic ecology. From the perspective of Islamic epistemology, these ideas being Quranic are viewed as of divine and thus of supra-rational origin. Many people, including Muslims, may not be aware that ecology is a popular theme in the Quran. One main reason for their unawareness is because the ecological ideas in question are usually not identified in exegeses of this sacred book as ecological. In order to be able to identify verses in the Quran that may be justifiably viewed as those dealing with ecological themes or issues, one needs to not only understand the meaning of ecology but also to be well-versed with Quranic exegesis. In this article I will be referring to the Quranic verses from which I have derived the fourteen key ecological ideas that are to be discussed in the following sections. In my book on Islamic environmental wisdom pertaining to the Earth’s planetary health I discussed rather briefly several ecological doctrines contained in the Quran. In the first edition of the book, I discussed six of them, which I view as fundamental in its importance to Islamic ecology and environmentalism and at the same time to be epistemologically related. To recapitulate the discussion, here are the six ecological doctrines we have presented in the book: (1) the idea of the earth’s destiny, including that of man, as being linked to the rest of the cosmos; this cosmic linkage is a manifestation of the metaphysicaltheological principle of divine unity (al-tawhid), which is the most fundamental teaching of the religion of Islam; (2) the uniqueness of the earth as a life-supporting planet; (3) the harmonious relationship between biological organisms and their environments; (4) the idea of ecological balance and equilibrium; (5) the idea of a divine economy prevailing in the natural order that abhors the intrusion of waste; and finally (6) the ecological function of man in relation to his role as God’s vicegerent on earth (khalifat’Llah fi’l-ard).