on This Earth

I was inspired by the book ‘Animals in the Qur’an’ as mentioned in a 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. 

We discussed about biodiversity in my previous post in this series, linked here. And previous to that, we discussed how دَآبَّةٍ۬ form communities which have important roles in the world we all share. Today, I want to discuss some verses on دَآبَّةٍ۬ that are going to be uncomfortable for us. However, their warning is one we cannot ignore.

Destruction of communities

God stated in Surah An-Nahl

وَلَوۡ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلۡمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيۡہَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ۬ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمۡ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ۬ مُّسَمًّ۬ى‌ۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَـٔۡخِرُونَ سَاعَةً۬‌ۖ وَلَا يَسۡتَقۡدِمُونَ (٦١)

Now if God were to take men [immediately] to task for all the evil that they do [on earth], He would not leave a single living creature upon its face. However, He grants them respite until a term set [by Him]: but when the end of their term approaches, they can neither delay it by a single moment, nor can they hasten it. (61)

And in Surah Fatir

وَلَوۡ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِمَا ڪَسَبُواْ مَا تَرَكَ عَلَىٰ ظَهۡرِهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ۬ وَلَـٰڪِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمۡ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ۬ مُّسَمًّ۬ىۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمۡ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِۦ بَصِيرَۢا (٤٥)

Now if God were to take men [at once] to task for whatever they commit [on earth], He would not leave a single living creature upon its surface. However, He grants them respite for a term set [by Him]: but when their term comes to an end – then, verily, [they come to know that] God sees all that is in [the hearts of] His servants. (45)

At first glance, it seems extremely unfair that God would punish all living things for the wrong that humans do. I think the framing of this framing is wrong. Instead, it is we humans who are to blame. If I kill a fly, I am the one at fault and not God even if He allowed the fly to die. Similarly, we should bear the burden of guilt for the destruction of all living creatures because of our actions. Qutb¹ wrote about Surah 35:45

People commit all sorts of bad actions, showing ingratitude for God’s favours, spreading evil and corruption on earth, committing all manner of injustices and excesses. Were God to mete out fair punishment to people for their actions, His punishment would have gone beyond them to include every living thing on the face of the earth. The whole planet would then be unsuitable for any type of life, not merely human life.

Ecological Collapse

In fact, this process of biodiversity and ecological collapse is already happening. Based on the paper “The global human impact on biodiversity”, linked here, our actions relating to

• land-use change,
• resource exploitation,
• pollution,
• climate change and
• invasive species

all contribute to changing the non-human community composition and ultimately biodiversity loss. The “Living Planet Report 2024”, linked here, mentioned that 73% of vertebrate species have been lost since 1970. It also mentioned that there are several significant imminent global tipping points where nature is not likely to recover from:

• Between 20%-25% of the Amazon forest is destroyed
• Between 70%-80% of coral reefs die off
• The melting of two large icesheets: Greenland and Antarctic
• The thawing of the permafrost

The destruction of the Amazon is largely due to agricultural encroachment but also mining and logging. The other three are primarily driven by the warming climate caused by increased carbon dioxide emissions. Then there are the environmental damages caused by war. A comprehensive report can be found in the link here.

Are we then surprised when God says that if He were to take us to task immediately, all the living creatures would die? It is because we have basically been destroying the environment. But He has given us time to turn back, to make amends. If we do not take this opportunity, then truly we deserve the epithet ‘worst of creatures.’

Worst of Creatures

God describes the ‘worst of creatures’ in Surah Al-Anfal

 إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلصُّمُّ ٱلۡبُكۡمُ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعۡقِلُونَ (٢٢)

Verily, the vilest of all creatures in the sight of God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason. (22)

and

إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فَهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ (٥٥)

Verily, the vilest creatures in the sight of God are those who are bent on denying the truth and therefore do not believe. (55)

So why do I connect our actions in destroying the environment with the description of those who

• do not use their reasoning capability/intellect
• reject the truth and God

My reasoning is as follows:

• the evidence of the impact of our actions on the environment is clear and
• our dependence on our ecosystems are also clear
• as a rational creature, the answer to the problem is therefore to reverse course and work towards improving the ecosystem
• instead we persist on carrying out further destruction such as new wars, more mining and oil drilling, etc
• it would therefore seem to me that we are either mad or rejecting the truth in front of us.
• given that I don’t believe we are mad, we have rejected the truth.
• That is because of our greed and putting our wants before anything else and so we have rejected God.

Many have sounded the alarm but like the prophets of old, they are being ignored and even ridiculed. Therefore we are all complicit in the destruction of the planet.

1. Qutb, S. In the Shade of the Qur’an. Translated by A. Salhi. 18 vols. Islamic Foundation, 1965. ↩︎