I was inspired by the book ‘Animals in the Qur’an’ as mentioned in the previous post, linked here. I explored how we reframe our worldview from an anthropocentric to an eco-centric viewpoint through the lens of the Qur’an. By investigating the verses with the word دَآبَّةٍ۬ I hope to be able reframe our concept of stewardship/khalifah. In that post, I explored Surah Al-An’aam verse 38 about communities of animals, birds, and us.
In this post, I intend to explore several verses about biodiversity which are signs of God’s power and mercy.
Biodiversity Spread Widely
The first verse in the Qur’an which mentions دَآبَّةٍ۬ is in Al-Baqarah:
إِنَّ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱخۡتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيۡلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَٱلۡفُلۡكِ ٱلَّتِى تَجۡرِى فِى ٱلۡبَحۡرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ ٱلنَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ۬ فَأَحۡيَا بِهِ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ بَعۡدَ مَوۡتِہَا وَبَثَّ فِيہَا مِن ڪُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ۬ وَتَصۡرِيفِ ٱلرِّيَـٰحِ وَٱلسَّحَابِ ٱلۡمُسَخَّرِ بَيۡنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ لَأَيَـٰتٍ۬ لِّقَوۡمٍ۬ يَعۡقِلُونَ (١٦٤)
Verily, in the creation of the heavens and of the earth, and the succession of night and day: and in the ships that speed through the sea with what is useful to man: and in the waters which God sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after it had, been lifeless, and causing all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon: and in the change of the winds, and the clouds that run their appointed courses between sky and earth: [in all this] there are messages indeed for people who use their reason. (Surah 2:164)
Imam Al-Qurtubi1 says دَآبَّةٍ۬ here also includes birds as they too have legs. And Islahi2 also include human in this verse. I would add sea creatures too as some of them like the crabs have legs or like the sea slugs crawl on the sea floor.
Here, God is telling us to look at the world around us and that everything is being controlled by Him. And it is because of His power that the living creatures are spreading and multiplying throughout the earth. The Arabic word for spreading/multiplying/dispersing is بَثَّ. And that they are provided from the water that He sent down and the ecosystem that thrived on the water.
There are similar verses in Surah Luqman
خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ بِغَيۡرِ عَمَدٍ۬ تَرَوۡنَہَاۖ وَأَلۡقَىٰ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ رَوَٲسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمۡ وَبَثَّ فِيہَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ۬ۚ وَأَنزَلۡنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً۬ فَأَنۢبَتۡنَا فِيہَا مِن ڪُلِّ زَوۡجٍ۬ كَرِيمٍ (١٠)
He [it is who] has created the skies without any supports that you could see, and has placed firm mountains upon the earth, lest it sway with you, and has caused all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon. And We send down water from the skies, and thus We cause every noble kind [of life] to grow on earth. (Surah 31:10)
where again, water is mentioned as the source of life. Interestingly water is not created but sent down. Furthermore, the verse indicates that God is actively managing life on earth.
Then in Surah As-Shura
وَمِنۡ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ خَلۡقُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَمَا بَثَّ فِيهِمَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ۬ۚ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ جَمۡعِهِمۡ إِذَا يَشَآءُ قَدِيرٌ۬ (٢٩)
And among His signs is the [very] creation of the heavens and the earth, and of all the living creatures which He has caused to multiply throughout them: and [since He has created them,] He has [also] the power to gather them [unto Himself] whenever He wills. (Surah 42:29)
it is very interesting to note that God has spread out living creatures throughout the heavens and the earth. Are there then life on other planets? Both Maududi3 and Qutb4 think so. I don’t know but definitely the Earth is teeming with life. What is more important is that no matter how far flung they are, they will return back to Him. That is linked to His Name, Al-Jami’ (the Gatherer). As Maududi mentioned:
“Just as He has the power to scatter them, so He has also the power to gather them all together. Therefore, it is wrong to think that Resurrection cannot take place, and all the former and the latter generations cannot be raised up and gathered all together. “
Al-Musawir
Then in Surah Fatir, God points to not only diversity in lifeforms but that each community encompasses different colours, shades, and hues.
أَلَمۡ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً۬ فَأَخۡرَجۡنَا بِهِۦ ثَمَرَٲتٍ۬ مُّخۡتَلِفًا أَلۡوَٲنُہَاۚ وَمِنَ ٱلۡجِبَالِ جُدَدُۢ بِيضٌ۬ وَحُمۡرٌ۬ مُّخۡتَلِفٌ أَلۡوَٲنُہَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌ۬ (٢٧)
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَٱلدَّوَآبِّ وَٱلۡأَنۡعَـٰمِ مُخۡتَلِفٌ أَلۡوَٲنُهُ ۥ كَذَٲلِكَۗ إِنَّمَا يَخۡشَى ٱللَّهَ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِ ٱلۡعُلَمَـٰٓؤُاْۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ (٢٨)ART THOU NOT aware that God sends down water from the skies, whereby We bring forth fruits of many hues – just as in the mountains there are streaks of white and red of various shades, as well as (others) raven-black,
and (as) there are in men, and in crawling beasts, and in cattle, too, many hues? Of all His servants, only such as are endowed with [innate] knowledge stand [truly] in awe of God: [for they alone comprehend that,] verily, God is almighty, much-forgiving. (Surah 35:27-28)
These verses point us to observe how colourful the earth is due to God, Al-Musawir (The Designer). It makes us appreciate that all these variety are actually equally important as part of the fabric of life. Black, blue, red, brown, or white are but manifestations of God’s design.
Shaping the earth
When I read the above verses, I asked the question of why the emphasis on spreading out of living creatures? This idea of multiplying and spreading out of living creatures is related to the idea of biodiversity. Nature.Scot website, linked here, defines biodiversity as
simply the variety of life. It includes all living things all around us: the soaring eagle, the leaping salmon, the tiny ladybird, the burrowing earthworm. It is all life in our forests and mountains, our rivers and seas, our gardens and parks.
And in Fauna and Flora, linked here, they define biodiversity as
the variety and abundance of the world’s plants and animals. We refer to biodiversity on a global scale – for example when we talk about the one million species at risk of extinction – and at local level: a rainforest harbours tens of thousands of different species, making it rich in biodiversity, whereas a palm oil plantation often has only one type of tree and supports very few other species, meaning that it lacks biodiversity.
So biodiversity is not only the animals but other species too. However, animals have an outsize influence on the land they live in. From earthworms and tiny ants to large animals like the elephant and whales, they are shaping the Earth’s surface by changing the soils and landscape. In conservation terms, they are know to be ecosystem engineers. One of my favourite examples is the beaver who in building dams create wetlands and change how rivers flow.
In 2009, I visited Knapdale Forest in Scotland where beavers were reintroduced to the area after they had been hunted into extinction in the 16th century. Then, the specific area where the beavers were released was more of a scrubland with small trees and shrubs. Ten years later, it had been transformed into a wetland with a thriving ecosystem where dragonflies and other insects are in abundance. The buzzing of insects can be heard. And there are abundant water lilies floating around. Below is a short video that I took of the changes to the original beaver release sit.
And as mentioned in my previous post, earthworms improve the soil condition of where they live. I also came across this research, linked here, covering the global significance of animals to shaping their landscape.
But it isn’t just existing animals that shape their landscape. It is also the absence of animals that impact the land. For example, the UK has lost its apex predators like the bear, wolves, lynx and more. That means the wild deer population is growing unchecked and they have stunted the growth of trees by their constant grazing. This impact the health of the forests where no new trees are allowed to grow naturally. I have seen tree shrubs which should be tall trees by now because of the constant grazing.
It is therefore significant for God to point out how He has spread and multiplied the animals throughout the earth and the heavens. It is so that we observe how God is shaping the world around us through human and non-human communities alike. It is part of His mercy that we as living creatures have these impact on the environment around us.
The ecosystem and its importance
What is an ecosystem?
It is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life.5
It is God’s mercy that there are so many ecosystems that exists, each with its own characteristics. And the living creatures in them are adapted to that ecosystem. For example, there are animals native to the Sahara desert, even though we think it is a hostile environment. But just as living creatures affect the landscape, they too affect the ecosystem. Think about the insects that pollinate the flowers so that the plants can bear fruits. Fruits which are eaten by birds and other animals who then propagate the seeds. It is a symbiotic relationship.
In the example of the beavers above, their reintroduction is a key part of restoring balance and enrich the ecosystem. The beavers immediately started work on building dams along the shallow burns and tributaries of the loch within the forest. The dams allows the slow percolation of water into the ground rather than running straight into the loch. The wetter ground means that the vegetation becomes more resilient to drought. The dams also stops the soil eroding, meaning there is a build up of good quality soil for vegetation. The beavers, in building their dams and foraging the leaves and barks for their food, leave dead wood in the water. These dead wood helps create pools of water and shelter for fish and frogs to spawn as well as insects. The abundance of food source for wetland and migratory birds encourage them to make the place their home. With them came larger birds of prey.
We need to acknowledge that we are part of these ecosystems wherever we are and benefit from it. We cannot survive without these complex and rich ecosystems which provide us with food, air, shelter and more. In fact, farmers everywhere have a dependency on the ecosystem. Last year, as part of my professional work, I was involved in Lloyds Banking Group’s report on Farming With Nature, highlighting these dependencies. You can find the report in this link here.
We need to therefore be grateful to God for creating these ecosystems and the communities living in them. And we also need to be grateful to these non-human communities who have and continue to shape our shared lands. They belong here just as much as we do, or even perhaps more.
Impact of Biodiversity Loss
I will write on this a lot more in my next post as it is linked to some verses in the Qur’an about دَآبَّةٍ۬ but I can’t not touch on it here. The UK government recently published a national security assessment report entitled ‘Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security’ linked here. In it, they assessed that
Critical ecosystems that support major global food production areas and impact global climate, water and weather cycles are the most important for UK national security. Severe degradation or collapse of these would highly likely result in water insecurity, severely reduced crop yields, a global reduction in arable land, fisheries collapse, changes to global weather patterns, release of trapped carbon exacerbating climate change, novel zoonotic diseases and loss of pharmaceutical resources. The Amazon rainforest, Congo rainforest, boreal forests, the Himalayas and South East Asia’s coral reefs and mangroves are particularly significant for the UK.
and
Ecosystem degradation is occurring across all regions. Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse (irreversible loss of function beyond repair).
But it all starts with species extinction or near extinction. The ecosystems are based on balance, i.e. just the right combination of living and non-living creations. If any imbalance occur, the ecosystem is threatened. Just like the removal of the large predators in the UK affected the health of the forests here.
I also believe in the spiritual element of the loss of biodiversity. As mentioned in the previous post, linked here, the abundant biodiversity means abundance of communities of those who glorify God and invoke His Mercy. The extinction of a community therefore is a grave injustice, incurring God’s displeasure. What more if there are large scale extinctions of communities.
Next post
I hope this post inspires us to reflect on the myriad of non-human communities around us. That there is no part of the world that is devoid of life and that life is sacred. In my next post, I will look into verses related to the reasons behind the current ecosystem collapse.
- Al-Qurtubi. Tafsir Al-Qurtubi. Vol. 2, translated by Aisha Bewley. Diwan Press Ltd, 2023. ↩︎
- Islahi, A. A. Tadabbur-i-Quran. Translated by S. Saleem. 9 vols. 1980. https://amin-ahsan-islahi.org. ↩︎
- Maududi, A. A. Tafhim Al-Qur’an. 1972. http://www.englishtafsir.com/. ↩︎
- Qutb, S. In the Shade of the Qur’an. Translated by A. Salhi. 18 vols. Islamic Foundation, 1965. ↩︎
- https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ecosystem/ ↩︎
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