Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective

Posted in Books for Viverealtrimenti

In Care for Creation; An Islamic Perspective Prof. İbrahim Özdemir explains, quoting the Holy Qu’ran, the aHadith and some Sufi authors, how Islam is a “genetically environmentalist religion”.
Therefore, he invites all members of the international Muslim community (Ummah) to be more mindful about the environment and more active within eco-logical movements.
Indeed, the “care for creation” is a crucial duty of every authentic Muslim.

The Greek Philosopher Plato (428 – 348 BC) wonders over the beauty in nature and dare to ask what is the source of this beauty. Asking this question, his philosophical journey started. Then, he discovered that the source of the beauty we observe in nature is beyond what is visible.
Muslim Sufi masters, with the guidance of the Qur’an, see all beauty in heavens and on the earth as a reflection of Divine beauty.
Let me remind you how the first chapter of the Qur’an, al-Fatiha (the Opening) presents both Allah and the universe to us: “ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds”. In this instance, the term worlds denotes all categories of existence both in the physical and the spiritual sense.
Moreover, the Arabic word rabbī l-’ālamīn — that we can render as Sustainer — embraces a wide complex of meanings not easily expressed by a single term in another language.
It comprises the ideas of having a just claim to the possession of anything and, consequently, authority over it, as well as of rearing, sustaining and fostering anything from its inception to its completion.
So, we can ask ourselves what is the source of the Maldives beautiful coral reefs and marine ecology; some of the most spectacular in the world, attracting millions of visitors from different destinations?
Most importantly, as we can read in the Qu’ran, God has made us successors (Khalifa; the word is mentioned in 9 verses in 7 Surahs) upon the earth. So how can we protect earthly beauties for future generation? It is a moral imperative to ask ourselves how we can meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
I do hope that this small booklet can help you look at the environment encompassing us from a new and fresh perspective based on revealed knowledge.

İbrahim Özdemir; Istanbul, 2022.

İbrahim Özdemir is a professor of philosophy at Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey.
He was member of the drafting team of the Islamic Declaration for Global Climate Change (2015).
Presently, he was assigned as member of core and draft team to write and finalize Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earthto be presented to UN.
He has authored:

Globalization, Ethics and Islam;
The Ethical Dimension of Human Attitude;
Rumi and Confucius on Meaning of Life.

The book is available both in paper and digital format and in different currencies. Please find below the main links.

Buy a paper copy in GBP: Click here;

Buy a paper copy in Euro: Click here;

Buy a digital copy in Euro: Click here;

Buy a digital copy in US Dollars: Click here.

Read an interview with Professor İbrahim Özdemir: Click Here.