Religion of Islam

Islamic Way of Life

By

Binoy

Introduction

The word "Islam" is an Arabic word which means "submission to the will of God". This word comes from the same root as the Arabic word "salam", which means "peace". As such, the religion of Islam teaches that in order to achieve true peace of mind and surety of heart, one must submit to God and live according to His Divinely revealed Law. The most important truth that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God, thus all human beings should submit to Him.

The word "Muslim" means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Being a Muslim entails willful submission and active obedience to God, and living in accordance with His message. Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are there converts to Islam in every corner of the world, especially in England and America, but by taking a look at the Muslim World from Bosnia to Nigeria, and from Indonesia to Morocco, one can clearly see that Muslims come from many various races, ethnic groups and nationalities. It is also interesting t[1]o note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not Arabs - there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the whole Arab World! So though even though it is true that most Arabs are Muslims, the large majority of Muslims are not Arabs. However, anyone who submits completely to God and worships Him alone is a Muslim. The numerous tragic events of the past few years, such as the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, Bali, Madrid and London, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the ongoing violence in those two countries and the attack on Lebanon, have created an interest in Islam generally, and more particularly in the phenomenon known as the ‘Islamic revival’. One result of this new interest is an awareness of the role and importance of law in the life of Muslims. ‘Islamic law’ (in inverted commas because, as explained below, the term itself is problematic) covers all aspects of human behavior. It is much wider than the Western understanding of ‘law’, and governs ‘the Muslim’s way of life in literally every detail, from political government to the sale of real property, from hunting to the etiquette of dining, from sexual relations to worship and prayer.’ Notably for our purposes it also regulates commercial transactions. It follows that the Islamic conceptual framework is quite unlike that of Christianity in which law is secular.3 there is no Christian law of contract, for example, no Christian law of property, whereas bodies of law dealing with such matters do exist in the shari’a. So, although it would make no sense to refer to ‘Christian commercial law’, it is meaningful to speak of ‘Islamic Commercial Law’.Various issues need to be explored before we proceed to a consideration of that law.

The Islamic Way of Life

Family life is the basis of an Islamic community and marriage is the basis for family life. Marriage unites families in the community and the whole group support each other in living according to the laws of God. Halal is the right way to live as opposed to Haram which is wrong. The family keeps up high moral intentions of tolerance, understanding, patience and decency. Muslims have strict rules on the food that they eat, especially thinking about meat. They do not eat anything that is from a pig. Pork, bacon and sausages are out as is anything made from lard like ice-cream or biscuits. Any meat that they do eat has to be prepared in a special way. This is called halal. Very often favourite Muslim meals are curries, kebabs and rice.Muslims wash and pray before meals. The eldest person present always eats first. Drinking alcohol is strictly forbidden. They do not provide it for non-muslim guests and they are not allowed to sell it for a profit.

Muslims have several rules about clothes. Men must cover their bodies between the waist and knees, even when swimming or showering. A women must cover herself from head to toe with the exception of her hands and face. Ladies often wear long tunics over loose trousers. The clothes should neither be transparent nor show up the shape of the woman's body. In this country a few Muslim women wear western dress but they still dress very modestly. It is quite common to see women and girls here wearing trousers and blouses with the traditional head shawl. The natural language of Islam is Arabic as spoken by the Arabs in Arabia. Even if people live here and speak English they still learn the Qur'an in Arabic. The calendar is lunar (according to moon months). Each month starts when the new moon appears so their months are shorter than ours but they still have twelve months in the year which makes their year shorter than ours. Our calendar started from the time Jesus Christ was born, Muslims date their calendar from when Muhammad (PBUH) left Makkah to go to Medina.
The Islamic months are: 1. Muhar-Ram, 2. Safar, 3. Rabi-ul-Awwal, 4.Rabi-ul-Akhir, 5. Jumada Al-Ula, 6. Jumada Al-Akhirah, 7. Rajab, 8. Sha'baan, 9. Ramadan, 10. Shawwal, 11. Dhul-Qu'dah, 12. Dhul-Hijjah.

In the Holy Qur'an, God teaches human beings that they were created in order to worship Him, and that the basis of all true worship is God-consciousness. Since the teachings of Islamic encompass all aspects of life and ethics, God-consciousness is encouraged in all human affairs. Islam makes it clear that all human acts are acts of worship if they are done for God alone and in accordance to His Divine Law. As such, worship in Islam is not limited to religious rituals. The teachings of Islam act as a mercy and a healing for the human soul, and such qualities as humility, sincerity, patience and charity are strongly encouraged. Additionally, Islam condemns pride and self-righteousness, since Almighty God is the only judge of human righteousness. The Islamic view of the nature of man is also realistic and well-balanced. Human beings are not believed to be inherently sinful, but are seen as equally capable of both good and evil. Islam also teaches that faith and action go hand-in-hand. God has given people free-will, and the measure of one's faith is one's deeds and actions. However, human beings have also been created weak and regularly fall into sin. This is the nature of the human being as created by God in His Wisdom, and it is not inherently "corrupt" or in need of repair. This is because the avenue of repentance of always open to all human beings, and Almighty God loves the repentant sinner more than one who does not sin at all. The true balance of an Islamic life is established by having a healthy fear of God as well as a sincere belief in His infinite Mercy. A life without fear of God leads to sin and disobedience, while believing that we have sinned so much that God will not possibly forgive us only leads to despair. In light of this, Islam teaches that: only the misguided despair of the Mercy of their Lord. Additionally, the Holy Qur'an, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, contains a great deal of teachings about the life hereafter and the Day of Judgment. Due to this, Muslims believe that all human beings will ultimately be judged by God for their beliefs and actions in their earthly lives. In judging human beings, Almighty God will be both Merciful and Just, and people will only be judged for what they were capable of. Suffice it to say that Islam teaches that life is a test, and that all human beings will be accountable before God. A sincere belief in the life hereafter is key to leading a well-balanced life and moral. Otherwise, life is viewed as an end in itself, which causes human beings to become more selfish, materialistic and immoral. [2]

Islam for a Better Life

Islam teaches that true happiness can only being obtained by living a life full of God-consciousness and being satisfied with what God has given us. Additionally, true "freedom" is freedom from being controlled by our base human desires and being ruled by man-made ideologies. This stands in stark contrast to the view of many people in the modern world, who consider "freedom" to be the ability to satisfy all of their desires without inhibition. The clear and comprehensive guidance of Islam gives human-beings a well-defined purpose and direction in life. In addition to being members of the human-brotherhood of Islam, its well-balanced and practical teachings are a source of spiritual comfort, guidance and morality.

A direct and clear relationship with Almighty God, as well as the sense of purpose and belonging that ones feels as a Muslim, frees a person from the many worries of everyday life. In short, the Islamic way of life is pure and wholesome. It builds self-discipline and self-control thought regular prayer and fasting, and frees human-beings from superstition and all sorts of racial, ethnic and national prejudices. By accepting to live a God-conscious life, and realizing that the only thing that distinguishes people in the sight of God is their consciousness of Him, a person's true human dignity is realized.

Road to Spirituality

The first necessity for progression along the path of spiritual development is MAN (faith). The mind and heart of a man should always be aware: Allah alone is His Master, Sovereign and Deity; seeking His pleasure is the aim of all his endeavors; and His commands alone are the commands that are to be obeyed. This should be a firm conviction, based not merely on the intellect, but also on acceptance by the will. The stronger and deeper this conviction, the more profound a man’s faith will be. The second stage is that of obedience (it~ ’at), meaning that man gives up his independence and accepts subservience to Allah. This subservience is called § slam (submission) in the language of the Qur’~ n. Thus, man should not only acknowledge Allah as his Lord and Sovereign but should actually submit before Him and fashion his entire life in obedience to Him. The third stage is that of taqw~ (Allah-consciousness). It consists in a practical manifestation of one’s faith in Allah in one’s daily life. Taqw~ also means desisting from everything which Allah has forbidden or has disapproved of; man must be in a state of readiness to undertake all that Allah has commanded and to observe the distinctions between lawful and unlawful, right and wrong, and good and bad in life.

The last and the highest stage is that of ihs~ n (godliness) It signifies that man has attained highest excellence in words, deeds and thoughts, identifying his will with the will of Allah and harmonizing it, to the best of his knowledge and ability, with the Divine will. He thus begins to like what is liked by the Lord and to dislike what He dislikes. Man should then not only avoid evil, for it displeases his Lord, but should use all his powers to eradicate it from the face of the earth; he should not be content with adorning himself with the good which Allah wants to flourish but should also strive to attain and propagate it in the world, even at the cost of his life. A man who reaches this stage attains the highest pinnacle of spirituality and is nearest to Allah.

This path of spiritual development is not meant for individuals only but for communities and nations as well. Like individuals, a community, after passing through the various stages of spiritual elevation may reach the ultimate stage of ihs~ n a state also, through all its administrative machinery, may become mu’min (faithful), muslim (obedient), muttaq§ (God-conscious) and muhsin (godly). In fact, the ideals aimed at by Islam are fully achieved only when the whole community accepts them and a muttaq§ and muhsin state comes into existence. The highest form of civilization, based on goodness, is then reached. Let us now look at the mechanism of spiritual training which Islam has laid down to prepare individuals and society for this process. The methods that Islam lays down for spiritual development rest, in addition, obviously, to faith (Im~ n), on five pillars. The first is the Prayer (Salat), which brings man into communion with Allah five times a day, reviving his remembrance, reiterating his fear, developing his love, reminding him of this Divine commands again, and thus preparing him for obedience to Allah. It is obligatory to offer some of these Prayers in Congregation as well so that the whole community and society may be prepared to journey on the path of spiritual development.

The second is the Fast (Sawm), which for a full month every year trains each man individually, and the Muslim community as a whole, in righteousness and self-restraint,; it enables society, the rich and the poor alike, to experience hunger, and prepares people to undergo any hardships in their search to please Allah. The third is the Almsgiving (Zakat), which develops the sense of monetary sacrifice, sympathy and co-operation among Muslims. There are people who wrongly interpret Zakat as a tax; in fact, the spirit underlying Zakat is entirely different from that of a tax. The real meaning of Zakat is sublimity and purification. By using this word, Islam seeks to impress on man the fact that, inspired by a true love of Allah, the monetary help which he renders to his brethren will uplift and purify his soul.  The fourth is the Pilgrimage (Hajj), which aims at fostering that universal brotherhood of the faithful which is based on the worship of Allah, and which results in a worldwide movement that has been responding to the call of Truth throughout the centuries and will, Allah willing, go on answering this call till eternity. The last is Jihad, that is, exerting oneself to the utmost to disseminate the word of Allah and to make it supreme, and to remove all the impediments to Islam ¾ through tongue or pen or sword. the aim is to live a life of dedication to the cause of Allah and, if necessary, to sacrifice one’s life in the discharge of this mission. This is the highest spirituality, rooted in the real world, which Islam wants to cultivate. Life-affirmation based on goodness and piety, and not life-denial, is what Islam stands for. And this lends a unique character to Islam.

Conclusion 

The spiritual system of Islam rests on four fundamentals.

1. The first is prayer (Salat) which brings man into communion with God five times a day.

2. The second is Zakat which develops the sense of monetary sacrifice, sympathy and cooperation among Muslims.

3. The third is fasting (Saum) which for a full month every year, trains a man individually and the Muslim community as a whole.

4. The fourth is Hajj (Pilgrimage) which aims at fostering universal brotherhood of the faithful as the basis of worship of God, and has culminated in a movement which has been answering the call of truth throughout the centuries and will, God willing, go on answering this call till eternity.

Bibliography

1.                 LABIB, SY (1969), ‘Capitalism in Medieval Islam’, (29) Journal of Economic History 79.

2.                 LAFON, J (1997), ‘L’Empire ottoman et les codes  occidentaux’, (26) Droits: Revue française de théorie juridique 51. 

3.                 LIBSON, G (1997), ‘On the Development of Custom as a Source of Law in Islamic Law’, (4) Islamic Law and Society 132, p 146.

4.                 MALLAT, C (2003),  ‘From Islamic to Middle Eastern Law’, (50) American Journal of Comparative Law

5.                 699, p 735.

6.                 MALLAT, C (2000), ‘Commercial Law in the Middle East: Between Classical Transactions and Modern

7.                 Business’, (48) American Journal of Comparative Law 81, p 94.

8.                 MARDIN, E (1955),  ‘Development of the Shari’a under the Ottoman Empire’ in KHADDURI

9.                 M/LIEBESNY HJ (eds), Law in the Middle Eas,t Vol. 1 Origin and Development of Islamic Law The Middle East Institute.

10.            NADOLSKI, DG (1977), ‘Ottoman and Secular Civil Law’, (8) International Journal of Middle East Studies 517.

Islamic New Generation

By Joy Dutta

Introduction

Many of the younger generation of Muslims are starting to drift away from Islam. Today, they believe that Islam is old- fashioned. It was brought to the people 1400 years ago and was only for the people during that time and not now.  This according to them is wrong because the Holy Qur'an talks about Heaven and Hell which hasn't happened yet; this means that it talks about what is going to happen in the future.

If the Qur'an indicates what’s going to happen on the Day of Judgment, Hell Fire for Eternity and Paradise for Eternity, how can Islam be old-fashioned when it talks about things which haven't happened yet?

Proving Islam as True to the New Generation 

          A few young Muslims don't know how to justify that Islam is true.  Many young Muslims ask "How can you prove that there is a heaven and a hell?" The answer is simple, why do we die? If there wasn't either a heaven or a hell, why can't we stay alive living on the earth forever?

The Qur'an states that Allah makes the alternation of night and day, makes people grow old and brings death for people to move on to the next world.  If you still don't believe in the afterlife, try to stop yourself from growing old, stop the alternation of day and night and stop death! Those things cannot be stopped.

Islam and the Future

In the present day, there are many struggles and silent protests held by Muslim women in many parts of the world. In a recent CNN news, it showed about a young girl Channeling her frustration, she started Mideastyouth.com, a Web site she describes as a place for young people in the region to "show a different side of our religion" and discuss topics big and small, taboo and not.

She represents a generation of Muslims who are using technology to express themselves, connect with others, challenge traditional power structures and create an identity in an era when Islamic extremists often grab the headlines. According to the Ummah (community, nation), reformation is emphasized on the humanity alike. It is therefore essential that the attention and efforts of Islamic workers and leaders be directed toward three fundamental matters:

1.     The future of the Ummah; i.e. working among Muslim youth;

2.     The role of academic institutions in achieving Islamization and clarifying the Islamic perspective toward knowledge, civilization, and the preparation of new generations qualified to carry the eternal message of Islam to all of humankind;

3.     Guiding the future course of human civilization in fulfillment, of the Ummah's responsibility to correct the progress and thought of humankind.

New Muslim intellectuals are beginning to arise, and are increasingly separating perennial Islamic beliefs from archaic cultural traditions... Liberal Islam is a movement that attempts to reconcile religious tradition with modern norms of secular governance and human rights. Its supporters say that there are multiple ways to read Islam's sacred texts, and stress the need to leave room for "independent thought on religious matters".

As mentioned above, women's issues receive a significant weight in the modern discourse on Islam because the family structure remains central to Muslim identity. Also of issue is the assimilation of Muslim communities and Islam-phobia in host countries. Andrew Rippin states that while Muslims believe that Islam stands for both men and women, the social reality suggests otherwise.

Islam Today and Tomorrow

The war against terrorism today is also a war to free Islamic civilization from the baleful actions of extremists and to give that area of the world a chance to experience liberty, for liberty is the only medium by which religion can truly flourish.

Liberty successfully defeated Nazism and Communism, far greater threats than Muslim extremism today. Germany, Russia, Japan, Eastern Europe, and Latin America all now embrace the good of liberty in some form or another. Liberty has natural allies in the Muslim world. It can be seen in the young men of Kabul who shaved their beards in defiance of the Taliban, in writers in Egypt who brave an autocratic state and murderous fundamentalists, in women who dare to show their individualized faces.

The West has learned that intolerance and violence do not advance any religion in the true sense. They have too long connived with states that have appeased extremists within their borders. If the media offer more than television shows and blue jeans to the Middle East, if instead offer a genuine respect for religion and support those elements there that hunger for freedom, they will find friends and allies throughout the region.

Conclusion

Islam has in its history great traditions of tolerance, learning, and spirituality. We should all hope that Muslims can once again enjoy those marvelous fruits of their Abrahamic faith. Liberty is the only sure way for that hope.

Bibliography

Tiwari K.N. Comparative Religion, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, India.

http://edition.com.com/2009/WORLD/meast/08/07/generation.islam.tech/index.html.  Viewed 02/09/2011.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/08/14/generation.islam.salameh/index.html.

 

Essential Principles for New Generations

By

Ven. Pa Thach

 Introduction

In the term of “Essential Principles for New Generations” in Islam, if we just see and understand by our own opinion we will have difference idea about this term or we just go to find the meaning by asking someone else they may have their own differences idea too. How to understand clearly and exactly about the Essential Principles for New Generations, I have to go to search from some document and from some website to find out what is the Essential Principles for New Generations in Islam.

New Muslims Monthly Retreats

The format of a retreat is an ideal as it allows for anyone to break from everyday’s preoccupations and surroundings to focus on learning about the foundations of Islam and your private relationship with Allah.

The Islam Essentials Retreat is held for duration of 3 or 4 days. A typical day starts at Fajr prayer with Quran & Prayer workshops and thereafter lessons are held throughout the day with meals and short breaks. Daily recreational breaks are also in place to ensure team building activities for the students. They want to allow their new brothers and sisters to build solid foundations and to learn with qualified instructors they can interact with on a personal as well as academic level.It is a rare opportunity to live, to eat, to pray and spend intimate time with brothers and sisters in an uplifting environment, with knowledge and constant remembrance of Allah.

They want to help new Muslims to meet other brothers and sisters they can relate to and allow them to build bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood, strengthened by their journey together in understanding the key principles in Islam and implementing them into their everyday life.[3]

The Essential Principles for Muslim in the modern times

Some of the important principles, which are of particular significance in the modern times, such as human community, social order, politics, economy, the army, the armed forces, the justice system, culture, mass media, health, medical issues, individual and social freedoms.[4]

1. Social System of Islam

The Islamic system to come back to life, and take charge – with total competence and excellence – for it is the only system from amongst the systems of the world – whether in the old times, currently, or in the future – that is able, through its divine laws, to manage developed and progressive world with a management that will realize its hopes and wishes, solve its problems, eliminate its crises, eradicate what hardship it has, as well as diseases and ignorance, delivering it to the shore of safety and security, peace and tranquility.

This system contains all the bases for development and progress, and all that mankind needs in this respect; politics, economics, the army, health and freedom.[5]

2. Islam and Politics

Islam has the best kind of politics, and the finest kind of management for the country and the people. The Islamic system of government is neither a republic nor a monarchist in the conventional sense, as found in the political dictionary of the western world today. It is a form of consultative system, and given the consensus nature of the system it would be correct to call it a republican, for the system of governance in Islam is neither monarchy nor hereditary.

The qualities of the head of the Islamic government are who has thorough understanding and expertise in Islam. He is proficient about the worldly affairs and is empowered with the ability not to deviate from the standards of justice in all matters. So, whoever possesses these qualities and the majority of people accept him, he can be the head of the government. Whenever he loses any of these qualities he is removed from his position immediately. However, if the people would not agree with his leadership they have the right to change him and choose another individual who meets the criteria.

The Islamic head of government chooses by the majority of the people.[6]

3. Economics

A system of economy in Islam is the best system the world has ever known. The Islamic economy respects private ownership and sanctions it provided that earnings are not obtained through unlawful means and that all income liabilities are paid.[7]

4. The Army in Islam

The Islamic government would arrange for training opportunities in the various weapons and devices for members of the public so that everyone, young and old, and during their free time such as the weekends and suchlike, receive all the necessary training. In this way the majority of the nation would receive the training and readiness, and through this it would reduce the expenses for the army. In this way members of the army would remain with their families and at their jobs. Everyone will attend training every day for some hours and then go to their jobs, and stay with their families. When there is an attack on the country it would be mandatory upon everyone to defend the Islamic State.[8]

5. Health in Islam

The health service program in Islam has the best of preventive and treatment systems, and the most precise programs in broadness and comprehensiveness, for it covers the health of the body and the soul, the wellbeing of the individual and the society, and the fitness of the climate and the environment.

Islam bases the general guidelines for health care program on three policies:

1. Prevention; for this protects the individual, the society, and the environment against the spread of disease and infections to anyone of them, and that is through the following:

(a) Through the prohibition of the causes of diseases and infections such as liquor, narcotics, adultery, homosexuality, and other harmful things; music and practices that bring about anxieties; liquor shops, brothels, and suchlike.

(b) Through encouraging the etiquettes and traditions of the individual and social way of life such as cleanliness, bathing which is the piercing and removing of blood from the veins, fasting, marriage, use of body creams and oils, use of herbal treatment such as so‘ut, wearing kohl, removal of unwanted body hair, particular manners of eating, drinking, wearing of clothes, housing, sleeping, and while being awake, and suchlike.

2. Treatment; and that is by referring to herbal medicine and dietary procedures beneficial for treating diseases, all of which are simple and easy. Such measures although may not be comprehensive but they would stop diseases especially at the outset of the disease. Detailed health care and dietary programs are given in the books such as “Medicine of the Prophet” and “Medicine of the Imams” peace is up on them.

 3. Supervision: Islam supervises the welfare and cleanliness of the environment and pursues its protection against pollution, and also monitors the health of the individual and protects him against infection. Furthermore it carefully monitors the physicians, and fires in them the restraint of the conscience, and the fear of Allah and His retribution. The Islamic law holds a physician responsible for any misconduct, even if he is an expert. This creates a strong sense of responsibility in the physician such that he would not allow himself to be complacent in the diagnosis and treatment, and in turn that makes the physician more observant when diagnosing and treating the disease, and prescribing the medicine.[9]

6. Freedom in Islam

Freedom in career and trade, in which every member of the nation can choose for himself any career, profession or job he wishes in order to earn his living; so he can earn through hunting, mining for any ore or precious stone or product, procurement of any of the permissible and suchlike. For example, one can import or export any goods he wishes, and buy or sell without restrictions at all. There are no custom charges or tariffs, and no conditions, in Islam. Of course, there is the condition that the goods must be lawful for buying and selling and not prohibited like liquor, and that there is no usury involved, or that the transaction is unlawful.[10]

Conclusion

          The “Essential Principles for New Generations” in Islam is to lead all new Muslim members to knowing each other and all members focus on learning about the foundation of Islam, especially to be united as brothers and sisters in all Muslim society. Furthermore, the social systems management, political, economics, army, health care, the principle of freedom, etc, are also the main principles that will be apply to the new generation of Muslim people.

Bibliography

Ayatollah al-Udma  Sayyid Sadiq Shirazi, Islam Fundamental Principles and Teachings, PDF file Chapter Two,  Imam Shirazi World Foundation, British, 2008.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/56046165/42/The-Essential-Principles-and-Practices-of-Islam.

http://www.alqueriacampus.com/node/4066. Accessed on September 25, 2011.

 Islam on environment and science

 By

Mangala Priya

Introduction

It has often been observed that Islam cannot ordinarily be described as a religion and that it prescribes a way of life that goes beyond the performance of rituals. The word for religion (dın) is found in the Qur’an. The word dın, which appears in 90 different places, often in contexts that place it outside the purely ritual. Dın in essence describes an integrated code of behavior which deals with personal hygiene, at one end of the spectrum, to our relationships with the natural order at the other. It provides a holistic approach to existence, it does not differentiate between the sacred and the secular and neither does it place a distinction between the world of mankind and the world of nature.

However, this Islamic mode of expression is now severely attenuated, having been swept aside by the forces of history, like the other older traditions, into a domain which treats the natural world exclusively as an exploitable resource. As what we now understand by modernity advanced, as the secular ethic progressively seeped into the Muslim psyche and as industrial development, economic indicators and consumerism became the governing parameters of society, there has been a corresponding erosion of the Muslim perception of the holistic and a withering of its understanding of the sacred nexus between the human community and the rest of the natural order: “The creation of the heavens and the earth is far greater than the creation of mankind. But most of mankind do not know it”

Islam is the name of the religion discussed in this contribution. A Muslim (called a Musselman in the 18th century) is a follower of Islam. The word Islam literally means submission or surrender, and a Muslim is one who surrenders his will to the will of God. A Muslim country is one in which the majority of people are Muslims – there are about 60 such countries in the world. The roots of Islamic environmental practice are to be found in the Qur’an and the guidance (sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad is the Prophet of Islam and is usually referred to by Muslims as the Messenger of God (Rasulullah). He was born in 570 AD in Mecca and died in 632 in Medina, in what is now Saudi Arabia. Over the centuries, Islamic practice has been elaborated by a succession of scholars and jurists responding to real problems experienced by the growing community of Muslims in various parts of the world.

Islam and Environment

One of the stories often told by Muslims concerning the environment is the instruction by Abu Bakr, the first Caliph (Khalif) of Islam to his armies. In addition to telling them not to harm women, children and the infirm, he ordered them not to harm animals, destroy crops or cut down trees. There were two elements present in this decree: the first, to establish justice even as the Muslim armies fought, and the second, to recognize the value of nature. It should also be noted that the environment was not an issue or subject for separate treatment in life as it flowed onwards in both war and peace. The human condition was never separated from the natural order. It was a matter to be reckoned with at every moment of existence like the very air we take into our lungs.

Abu Bakr was the first of four rightly guided caliphs who succeeded the Prophet after his death. They were known as such because of the lengths to which they went to incorporate the instructions in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s example into their rule. The rule of the rightly guided caliphs lasted from 632 to 661(AD) and became the time, including the time of the Prophet, which all Muslims to this day seek to emulate. In attempting to reproduce the Prophetic model what the rightly guided caliphs did was to set a pattern that would evolve into the matrix that formed the basis of the Islamic legal system known as the Sharıah and which very soon came to circumscribe Muslim life. The word Sharıah has an interesting etymology with strong environmental connotations. It means a way or path in Arabic and “its derivation refers to the beaten track by which wild animals come to drink at their watering places. It is the road that leads to where the waters of life flow inexhaustibly”. The Sharıah expanded and evolved within this framework to set defining standards for Muslim behavior within the divine decrees of the Qur’an, including inter alia family law, civil law, commercial law and environmental law. From the time of the Prophet, law has taken precedence over theology; this is stated to be the case because Islam’s concern is about humankind and its relationship with the rest of creation, beginning, of course, with itself.

These imperatives come under numerous headings but they could be distilled into just three categories for our purposes, bearing in mind that public good the ultimate objective. Muslims are to do what is right, forbid what is wrong and act with moderation at all times: “let there be a community among you who call to the good, and enjoin the right and forbid wrong. They are the ones who have success”.

The universe we inhabit is a sign of God’s creation as is the environment of our innermost selves. They both emanate from the One Source and are bonded by only one purpose, which is to serve the divine will. This bonding of the cosmic to the subatomic is the deep ecology of Islam but it is not a relationship of equals as we can see in the hierarchy of the food chain dominated by Man. Whilst the primary relationship is that between the Creator and the rest of His creation, the Creator Himself determined a subsidiary one, that between Man and the rest of His creation. The Qur’anic view holds that everything on the earth was created for humankind. It was God’s gift (ni’mah) to us, but a gift with conditions nevertheless and it is decidedly not something that one runs and plays with. The earth then is a testing ground of the human species. The tests are a measure of our acts of worship (ihsan) in its broadest sense. That is living in a way that is pleasing to Allah, striving in everything we do to maintain the harmony of our inner and outer environments. As our interaction with the environment evolved, it manifested itself in a range of rules and institutions. As the Muslim community expanded out of its sparse desert environment, it was confronted by many challenges, one of which was relative abundance. This brought about other problems like over exploitation and waste. Muslims applied themselves to these problems assiduously and it would be salutary to look at this legacy.

The primary duty of the Islamic state is to promote the good and forbid wrong doing. As part of these functions, it has the mandate to protect land and natural resources from abuse and misuse. From its earliest years the Islamic state established an agency known as the hisba whose specific task was to protect the people through promoting the establishment of good and forbidding wrong-doing. This agency was headed by a learned jurist (muhtasib) who functioned like a chief inspector of weights and measures and chief public health officer rolled into one. He was also responsible, among other similar duties, for the proper functioning of the hıma and al harım zones and he acted as what one might describe as an environmental inspectorate. The development and application of these principles and institutions have seen a decline over the past two centuries, as another worldview based on the exploitation of natural resources for profit gradually overtook this model. We are experiencing the consequences of this now. However, there are clear indications as to how this Islamic heritage has been and could again be put to good use in the modern Context.

The relationship between human beings and the earth is increasingly complicated and urgent. Every day there are stories about pollution, global warming and animal species facing extinction. Religion is responding with views on the environment and our responsibility for it.  

Islamic belief about the environment

 Although human beings are seen as the most intelligent life form on earth, they are responsible for almost all the damage done to the planet. If we imagined the earth is aged 46, all the damage done has taken place in the last 60 seconds of the earth's life. The Qur’an says that Allah is the Creator of the world. Human beings are on the world as trustees they are told to look after the world for Allah and for the future:

“The Earth is green and beautiful, and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it. The whole earth has been created a place of worship, pure and clean. Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded. If a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and humans and beasts and birds eat from it, all of it is love on his part.”

In the Qur’an, Muslims are instructed to look after the environment and not to damage it:

“Devote yourself single-mindedly to the Faith, and thus follow the nature designed by Allah, the nature according to which He has fashioned mankind. There is no altering the creation of Allah.”

Muslims have to look after the earth because it is all Allah’s creation and it is part of a human’s duty to Allah:

“Allah is He Who raised up the heavens without any pillars that you can see. Then He settled Himself on the Throne, and constrained the sun and the moon to serve you; each planet pursues its course during an appointed term. He regulates it all and expounds the Signs, that you may have firm belief in the meeting with your Lord. He it is Who spread out the earth and made therein firmly fixed mountains and rivers, and of fruits of every kind He has made pairs. He causes the night to cover the day. In all this, verily, are signs doer a people who reflect.”

Because of this passage, people see themselves as being responsible for the world which Allah created and they have to make their own decisions about how to do this.

In 1986, HRH Prince Philip, then President of the WWF International invited five leaders of five of the major religions of the world - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism - to meet to discuss how their faiths could help save the natural world.  In the Assisi Declarations on Nature the Muslim statement was:

The central concept of Islam is Tawhid or the Unity of God. Allah is Unity; and His Unity is also reflected in the unity of mankind, and the unity of man and nature. His trustees are responsible for maintaining the unity of His creation, the integrity of the Earth, its flora and fauna, its wildlife and natural environment. Unity cannot be had by discord, by setting one need against another or letting one end predominate over another; it is maintained by balance and harmony. There Muslims say that Islam is the middle path and we will be answerable for how we have walked this path, how we have maintained balance and harmony in the whole of creation around us.

So unity, trusteeship and accountability, that is Tawhid, Khalifah and Akhirah, the three central concepts of Islam, are also the pillars of the environmental ethics of Islam. They constitute the basic values taught by the Qur’an. It is these values which led Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, to say: ‘Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded.'

For all these reasons Muslims see themselves as having a responsibility towards the world and the environment, all of which are the creations of Allah. Unlike many other religions, Muslims do not have any specific festivals in which they give thanks for the harvest or the world. Instead they give thanks to Allah regularly for his creation. In order to separate Islam from other religions, the Islamic year is only 354 days, this means that the months and festivals happen at a different time each year and so there is no particular festival which falls during a period of harvest.

 Islam and Science

Islam and science describes the relationship between Muslim communities and science in general. From an Islamic standpoint, science, the study of nature, is considered to be linked to the concept of Tawhid (the Oneness of God), as are all other branches of knowledge. In Islam, nature is not seen as a separate entity, but rather as an integral part of Islam’s holistic outlook on God, humanity, and the world. This link implies a sacred aspect to the pursuit of scientific knowledge by Muslims, as nature itself is viewed in the Qur’an as a compilation of signs pointing to the Divine. It was with this understanding that the pursuit of science was tolerated in Islamic civilizations, specifically during the eighth to sixteenth centuries, prior to the colonization of the Muslim world. According to theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, the modern scientific method was pioneered by Islamic scientist Ibn Al-Haytham whose contributions are likened to those of Isaac Newton. Alhazen helped shift the emphasis on abstract theorizing onto systematic and repeatable experimentation, followed by careful criticism of premises and inferences. Robert Briffault, in The Making of Humanity, asserts that the very existence of science, as it is understood in the modern sense, is rooted in the scientific thought and knowledge that emerged in Islamic civilizations during this time.

Muslim scientists and scholars have subsequently developed a spectrum of viewpoints on the place of scientific learning within the context of Islam, none of which are universally accepted. However, most maintain the view that the acquisition of knowledge and scientific pursuit in general is not in disaccord with Islamic thought and religious belief. Physicist Taner Edis argues this is because some Muslims are reading into the metaphorical language of the Holy books what is not there, including recent scientific discoveries. The religion Islam has its own worldview system including beliefs about "ultimate reality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, purpose, etc." Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the final revelation of God for the guidance of humankind.

Science in the broadest sense refers to any falsifiable system of knowledge attained by verifiable means, and in a narrower sense to a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research. Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge that explains observable events in nature as results of natural causes, rejecting supernatural notions. Islam also does not accept the possibility of a supernatural, as Muslims believe Allah's Creation, and Allah, is perfect, and He would not break His own laws. Islam was one of the first religions to reject superstition for what it was - unfounded.

One of the most important features of Science is the precise quantitative prediction. In this aspect it differs from many religious texts where physical phenomena are depicted in a very qualitative way, often by the use of words carrying several meanings.

in the history of science, Islamic science refers to the science developed under Islamic civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries, during what is known as the Islamic Golden Age. It is also known as Arabic science since the majority of texts during this period were written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. Despite these terms, not all scientists during this period were Muslim or Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists, as well as some non-Muslim scientists, who contributed to scientific studies in the Islamic world.

A number of modern scholars such as Fielding H. Garrison, Abdus Salam and Hossein Nasr consider modern science and the scientific method to have been greatly inspired by Muslim scientists who introduced a modern empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry. Some scholars, notably Donald Routledge Hill, Ahmad Y Hassan, Abdus Salam, and George Saliba, have referred to their achievements as a Muslim scientific revolution, though this does not contradict the traditional view of the Scientific Revolution which is still supported by most scholars.

It is believed that it was the empirical attitude of the Qur'an and Sunnah which inspired medieval Muslim scientists, in particular Alhazen (965-1037), to develop the scientific method. It is also known that certain advances made by medieval Muslim astronomers, geographers and mathematicians was motivated by problems presented in Islamic scripture, such as Al-Khwarizmi's (c. 780-850) development of algebra in order to solve the Islamic inheritance laws, and developments in astronomy, geography, spherical geometry and spherical trigonometry in order to determine the direction of the Qibla, the times of Salah prayers, and the dates of the Islamic calendar.

The increased use of dissection in Islamic medicine during the 12th and 13th centuries was influenced by the writings of the Islamic theologian, Al-Ghazali, who encouraged the study of anatomy and use of dissections as a method of gaining knowledge of God's creation. In al-Bukhari's and Muslim's collection of sahih hadith it is said: "There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment." (Bukhari 7-71:582), which may have prompted much medical study. This culminated in the work of Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), who discovered the pulmonary circulation in 1242 and used his discovery as evidence for the orthodox Islamic doctrine of bodily resurrection. Ibn al-Nafis also used Islamic scripture as justification for his rejection of wine as self-medication. Criticisms against alchemy and astrology were also motivated by religion, as orthodox Islamic theologians viewed the beliefs of alchemists and astrologers as being superstitious.

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), in dealing with his conception of physics and the physical world in his Matalib, discusses Islamic cosmology, criticizes the Aristotelian notion of the Earth's centrality within the universe, and "explores the notion of the existence of a multiverse in the context of his commentary," based on the Qur'anic verse, "All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds." He raises the question of whether the term "worlds" in this verse refers to "multiple worlds within this single universe or cosmos, or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe." On the basis of this verse, he argues that God has created more than "a thousand thousand worlds beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has." Ali Kuşçu's (1403–1474) support for the Earth's rotation and his rejection of Aristotelian cosmology was motivated by religious opposition to Aristotle by orthodox Islamic theologians, such as Al-Ghazali.

According to many historians, science in Islamic civilization flourished during the Middle Ages, but began declining at some time around the 14th to 16th centuries. At least some scholars blame this on the "rise of a clerical faction which froze this same science and withered its progress." Examples of conflicts with prevailing interpretations of Islam and science - or at least the fruits of science - thereafter include the demolition of Taqi al-Din's great Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in Galata, "comparable in its technical equipment and its specialist personnel with that of his celebrated contemporary, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe." But while Brahe's observatory "opened the way to a vast new development of astronomical science," Taqi al-Din's was demolished by a squad of Janissaries, "by order of the sultan, on the recommendation of the Chief Mufti," sometime after 1577 AD.

Whether Islamic culture has promoted or hindered scientific advancement is disputed. Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb argue that since "Islam appointed" Muslims "as representatives of God and made them responsible for learning all the sciences," science cannot but prosper in a society of true Muslims. Many "classical and modern agree that the Qur'an condones, even encourages the acquisition of science and scientific knowledge, and urges humans to reflect on the natural phenomena as signs of God's creation." Some scientific instruments produced in classical times in the Islamic world were inscribed with Qur'anic citations. Many Muslims agree that doing science is an act of religious merit, even a collective duty of the Muslim community.

Others claim traditional interpretations of Islam are not compatible with the development of science. Author Rodney Stark, argues that Islam's lag behind the West in scientific advancement after 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to formulate systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with "natural laws." He claims that they believed such laws were blasphemous because they limit "Allah's freedom to act" as He wishes, a principle enshired in aya 14:4: "Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will," which (they believed) applied to all of creation not just humanity.

In the early twentieth century ulema forbade the learning of foreign languages and dissection of human bodies in the medical school in Iran. The ulama at the Islamic university of Al-Azhar in Cairo taught the Ptolemaic astronomical system (in which the sun circles the earth) until compelled to adopt the Copernican system by the Egyptian government in 1961.

In recent years, the lagging of the Muslim world in science is manifest in the disproportionately small amount of scientific output as measured by citations of articles published in internationally circulating science journals, annual expenditures on research and development, and numbers of research scientists and engineers. Skepticism of science among some Muslims is reflected in issues such as resistance in Muslim northern Nigeria to polio inoculation, which some believe is "an imaginary thing created in the West or it is a ploy to get us to submit to this evil agenda."

The belief that the Qur'an had prophesied scientific theories and discoveries has become a strong and widespread belief in the contemporary Islamic world; these prophecies are often offered as evidence of the divine origin of the Qur'an; see scientific foreknowledge in sacred texts for further discussion of this issue.

Taner Edis wrote An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam. Edis worries that secularism in Turkey, one of the most westernized Muslim nations, is on its way out; he points out that Turkey rejects evolution by a large majority. To Edis, many Muslims appreciate technology and respect the role that science plays in its creation. As a result, he says there is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with other respected religious beliefs. Edis maintains that the motivation to read modern scientific truths into holy books is also stronger for Muslims than Christians. This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Qur'an is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this idea - causing them to believe that scientific truths simply must appear in the Qur'an. However, Edis opines that there are endless examples of scientific discoveries that could be read into the Bible or Qur'an if one would like to. Edis qualifies that 'Muslim thought' certainly cannot be understood by looking at the Qur'an alone - cultural and political factors play large roles.

Russel Glasser argues that interpreting the Qur'an like this is cherry picking and risks simply confirming the biases of the investigator.

He most prominent of the ancient Greek thinkers who wrote on medicine were Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen. Hippocrates and Galen, in contrast with Aristotle, wrote that the contribution of females to children is equal to that of males, and the vehicle for it is a substance similar to the semen of males. Basim Musallam writes that the ideas of these men were widespread through the pre-modern Middle East: "Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen were as much a part of Middle Eastern Arabic culture as anything else in it." The sayings in the Qur'an and those attributed to Muhammad in the Hadith influenced generations of Muslim scientists by siding with Galen and Hippocrates. Basim Musallam writes: "... the statements about parental contribution to generation in the hadith paralleled the Hippocratic writings, and the view of fetal development in the Qur'an agreed in detail with Galen's scientific writings." He reports that the highly influential medieval Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim, in his book Kitab al-tibyan fi aqsam al-qur'an, cites the following statement of the prophet from the Sahih Muslim:

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ibn Qayyim also quotes a different hadith from the same collection, which is quoted by other Muslim authors as well. Having been asked the question "from what is man created," the Prophet replies:

“

He is created of both, the semen of the man and the semen of the woman. The man's semen is thick and forms the bones and the tendons. The woman's semen is fine and forms the flesh and blood.

„

The Quran contains many verses describing creation of the universe; God created heavens and earth in six heavenly days the earth was created in two days^], and in two other days God furnished the creation of the earth with mountains, rivers and fruit-gardens. Then heavens and earth formed from an integrated disk-shaped mass which had to be split, the seven heavens were created from smoke, forming layers, one above the other The angels inhabit the seventh heavens. The lowest heaven is adorned with lights, the sun and the moon, the stars and the constellations of the Zodiac.