Respecting Nature
and Preserving Biodiversity:
A Muslim Voice from Indonesia
Syamsuddin Arif
Institut Studi Islam Darussalam (ISID)
Indonesia
Indonesia: home to 250 million people, with
over 16,000 islands spreading across a total area of
5.2 million km2 (about 60% is water and 40% land)
• Each year, 2.72 million hectares of forests in
Indonesia are lost. Each minute, an area as large
as five soccer fields is destroyed, equivalent to the
loss of a forest the size of Bali each year.
Since its introduction in 1960, palm oil has been
used as an ingredient in everything from soap to
biscuits, resulting in the clearance of forests for its
plantations and devastating its biodiversity.
Commercial (and illegal) logging
•
Indonesia forestry business provided huge profits, yielding US$ 9 billion in
foreign exchange, and contributed Rp 1.484 trillion to the national foreign
account deficit each year.
So, what?
The debate
• Can religion play a role in conserving biological
diversity or contribute to a better, more
ecologically balanced environment ?
• Is religion partly responsible for the current
ecological crisis? Lynn White, Jr. said ‘yes’,
arguing in his 1976 essay that by demystifying
nature, Christianity provided the conditions for
the emergence of science and technology that
have altered our environment radically and
permanently –a theory referred to as the
‘Burden of Guilt’ understanding of religion.
•
• The sacred texts of world religions
already speak of our responsibility
as stewards of nature.
• Together with local traditions,
customary law, stories and myths,
they provide us with a set of
precepts and cultural practices
capable of contributing to the
survival and well-being of humans
whilst simultaneously contributing
to the sustaining of bio-diversity.
Comparison
Religious perspective:
• Nature is God’s creation
• Nature is a pointer ( ‫) آية‬
• Man is the steward of
the earth, whose job is
to take care of and
manage it only, and so
will be accountable.
• Nature, including the
earth, is sacred.
•
•
•
•
Secular perspective:
Nature exists by itself
Nature is a mere material
object to be explored and
studied, exploited, used,
etc
Man is the master and
owner of the earth who
has conquered and has full
control over it.
Nature is disenchanted or
demystified (entzaubert).
• Three fundamental ideas of Islam’s
ecological perspective are:
1.Unity (tawhid),
2.Stewardship (khilafah)
3.Afterlife (akhirah)
• as put forth in the two sources of
Islam: the Qur’an and Prophetic
traditions (Sunna).
1. The idea of Tawhid (Unity)
• The universe as a whole is governed
by the principles of unity, balance,
and congruence. It is characterized
by proportion, harmony, and
beauty, which are the hallmarks of
Divine wisdom (Qur’an 14:19–20;
46:3; 15:85–86)
• This means there is a clear
interdependency of ecological
systems, where each one is in need
of and sustained by the other.
2. The idea of Khilafah (Stewardship)
• The Qur’an does make clear that human
beings are stewards of nature: “It is God
who has made you stewards of the Earth”
(6:165).
• Humans are also cautioned to “Do no
mischief on the earth, after it has been
set in order” (7:56) — “And the earth We
have spread out .. and produced therein
all kinds of things in due balance” (15:19)
• This means that human beings are God’s
trustees on earth, not its masters.
3. The idea of Afterlife
• This idea emphasizes that as God’s
stewards on earth, human beings will
be held accountable in the Hereafter
for whatever they have done here.
• All kinds of mischief or wanton
destruction of nature will warrant
Divine punishment.
• The Prophet said: “A woman will go to
the Hellfire for having tied a cat, as
she neither fed it, nor allowed it to
find food on its own.”
The Prophet:
=
“The earth is a mosque to me and its dust a
َ ‫ي مسجدا ً َو‬
means of purification” (ً ‫ط ُهورا‬
ْ ‫) ُج ِع َل‬
ُ ‫األر‬
َ ‫ض ِل‬
• The earth is pure and sacred, a place of
worship (‫)عبادة‬, prayer (‫)صالة‬, prostration
(‫)سجود‬.
• “The servants of God are they who walk gently
on earth (25:63)” > with humility and respect.
•
•
•
•
•
Other relevant precepts:
To look and ponder at nature as
embodiment of the multifarious
signs (‫ )آيات‬of Divine wisdom.
To show mercy to all creatures animals, plants, etc. (‫)رحمة للعالمين‬
To do justice (‫ )عدل‬even to
oneself.
Not to generate waste (‫)التسرفوا‬.
Not to be arrogant on
earth
( ‫التمش في األرض‬
ً ‫)مرحا‬.
Relative notion:
• Hima (‫)ح َمى‬,
ِ lit. “a closed, protected,
reserved area” we now call ‘core’ and
‘buffer’ conservation zones.
• “Abraham declared Mecca a sanctuary,
and I hereby declare Medina, that
which lies between its two lava flows,
to be a sanctuary – its trees shall not be
cut and its game animals shall not be
hunted” –so the Prophet told his
followers.
• “Muslims have a common share in
three [things]:“grass, fire and water.”
• As the majority of inhabitants are
Muslims, Islam will continue to play
a central role in the promotion of
biodiversity conservation,
sustainable management of natural
resources, and in the safeguarding
of ecosystem services.
• Innovative approaches are needed
for biodiversity conservation,
especially within the islands of
Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo)
which have the highest rate of
deforestation (2 to 4 % a year).
• With coordinated efforts
by NGOs and the local
governments, the people
of Indonesia now begin to
engage in various programs
and eco-practices that are
implemented at the grassroots level, involving
numerous pesantrens in
rural areas.
• Recent initiatives (DICE):
- setting up a community-run
agroforest tree nursery.
- conducting community training on
sustainable and environmentallyfriendly farming practices.
- launching land rehabilitation
program (ihya al-mawat)
- integrating climate change issues
into existing school curriculum.
- spreading the message through
Friday Sermons
- publishing books, pamphlets, etc.
Thank you !