ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM, THE ISLAMIC WAY

People are urged in the scriptures to engage in farming and gardening to provide both physical and spiritual sustenance for themselves, but— despite their Creator’s largesse—are cautioned against waste. After asserting that “it is He who has produced gardens, both trellised and untrellised, and date palms and field crops, all varying in taste, and the olive and the pomegranate” and exhorting mankind to “eat their fruits when they bear fruit”, goes on to admonish: “Do not waste anything. He does not love the wasteful.” (6: 141) Perhaps the most telling references to plant life made in the Quran and Hadith fall within the realm of the metaphor. The Prophet has been recorded as saying: “The believer is like a gentle plant. When the winds blow, it does not show haughtiness: instead, it sways to and fro with the wind, and when the winds are not blowing, it reverts to its position once again.” This simile is intended to show how the true believer, the worshipper of God, lives among others. He displays no arrogance, holding that adjustment is better than clashes and confrontation. He follows the principle of persuasion and avoids the path of violence. In the Quran, the creation most favoured in God’s eyes, the believer, has been likened to a tree. Just as the tree benefits mankind by its offerings of shade, fruit, flowers and a loveliness to gladden the eye, so should human beings live in society, giving comfort and bringing joy to their fellow men. Just as the tree affords the coolness of its shade to God’s creatures, so should God’s servants give respite and relief to all those around them. Again, the tree is used in verse 24 of the 14th chapter in the Quran, to symbolize the expression of good intentions towards others. “Do you not see how God compares a good word to a good tree? Its root is firm and its branches are in the sky, it yields its fruit each season with its Lord’s permission, God makes such comparisons for people, in order that they may take heed.” Conversely, the verse explains, “But an evil word is like an evil tree torn out of the earth; it has no foothold.” Such traditions show what great importance—both physical and metaphysical—is attached to vegetation in Islam. To emphasize this point, the Prophet once observed: “If you have a plant in your hand, and you can see Doomsday approach, even then, without any further Just as the tree benefits mankind by its offerings of shade, fruit, flowers and a loveliness to gladden the eye, so should human beings live in society, giving comfort and bringing joy to their fellow men.