1. DIVINE RELIGIONS
1.1 The humankind had witnessed variety of ideologies, religious thoughts & philosophies and theologies through various cultures and civilizations. These beliefs and practices had been originated from human thinking and imagination. The most prominent ones are Buddhism, Brahmanism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Capitalism, Marxism, Sikhism, Confucian, Jainism.
1.2 There are three Divine religions prevalent in the world at large. These are commonly known as ABRAHAMIC religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism). Their key message concerning Environment is essentially the same. There are numerous verses in The Holy Book that indicate role of the Muslims, Jews and Christians towards observance of Divine Laws in the backdrop of environment.
2. ISLAM AND ENVIRONMENTALISM
2.1 Principle Sources of Islamic Environmental Acumen
The Holy Book and Great Traditions and Sayings of The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) are the main sources of Islamic Environmental Acumen. These are complimentary to each other in presenting complete eco-picture to the mankind. Their brief account is given as follows:
o Qur’anic Verses Concerning Environment
- Divine focus in The Holy Book is the human being. Almighty Allah has declared man as His Best Creature (ASHRAFUL MAKHLOOQAT). There are over 750 Qur’anic verses which directly deal with varying shades of environment. However, many more verses discuss the environment from different angles.
- The Holy Qur’an comprises 30 parts (PARAHS), 114 chapters (SURAHS) and 6353 verses (AYAHS). The Divine Revelation addresses the entire mankind and not the Muslims only. It encompasses guidance for all peoples of the World and biodiversity. It explains the rights and obligations of living organisms occupying the universe. It is the beacon of knowledge for all times and places. The Holy Scripture has deliberated upon the human environment from the time of his creation in the mother’s womb, throughout the life in this world and in the world hereafter. Similarly relative environments of the inanimates are also mentioned therein.
o Golden Sayings (AHADIS-E-MUBARAKA) and Traditions (SUNNAH) of The Holy Prophet (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him)
The Holy Prophet (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) is The Last Messenger of Almighty Allah for all the universes including the human beings and the whole range of biodiversity. Grand life of The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) is the truest model for the entire humanity to follow. His life is practical application of The Holy Book. Without observance of his great traditions (SUNNAH) and sayings (AHADIS) human beings cannot be good Muslims. His entire life is the living Qur’an. Hazrat Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) said that his conduct was nothing but The Qur’an. The Holy Prophet (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) has widely demonstrated multifarious aspects of environment through his sacred deeds and oral explanations.
o Other Sources
There exists sources of Islamic environmentalism other than The Holy Quran and Golden Sayings and Traditions of The Holy Prophet ( Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him). These are result of jurisprudence (FIQH) through agreement/consensus among scholars (IJMA), analogical reasoning (QIYAS) and exercise of judgment (IJTIHAD). Islam invites its followers to ponder over The Divine Teachings and endeavour to find out the solutions to environmental & other problems.
3. CHRISTIANITY AND ENVIRONMENTALISM
Christianity is a Divine religion, therefore it lays light on environmental issues. The Holy Bible comprises 66 books (Old Testament 39 books and New Testament 27 books. Significant Christian thoughts about environment are discussed in the following:
3.1 General Points
- Humans are steward of His Creation. People are mediators between God and His Creation.
- Humans are part of environment. The manner humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself and vice versa.
- Environment is considered part of human responsibility as opposed to positivist and dualistic idea that it is a passive matter that can only be used to satisfy human needs.
3.2 Green Christianity
Green Christianity is a broad field that encompasses Christian theological reflection on Nature. Christian liturgical and spiritual practices are centered on environmental issues, as well as Christian-based activism in the environmental movement. Within the activism arena, Green Christianity refers to the biblical or theological basis for protecting and celebrating the environment. The term indicates not a particular denomination, but a shared territory of concern.
3.3 Basic Beliefs
Christianity has a long historical tradition of reflection on Nature and human responsibility. It has a strong tendency towards anthropocentrism. While some Christians favour a more biocentric approach, others seek to retain an emphasis on humanity while incorporating environmental concerns within the framework of Creation Care. Christian environmentalists emphasize the ecological responsibilities of all Christians as Stewards of Divine Earth.
3.4 The Holy Bible’s Teachings
Summary of The Holy Bible’s teachings is given below:
- Gods involvement and pleasure in the earth and its creatures.
- The earth and everything in it belong to God, not humans.
- God cares for and provides for the needs of His Creatures.
- God gave humans dominion over the earth to care for it.
- The Holy Bible encourages wise stewardship of the earth, its resources and its creatures.
- God will judge those who destroy the earth.
o Suggestions for Improvement of Environment.
For improvement of environment the following steps are suggested:
- Pray for environment.
- Become more prudent consumer so that wastages may be minimized.
- Fasting gives Nature a break thereby contributing towards the environmental preservation.
- Defecation (removal of impurities) is the total transformation of human person by Divine Grace and Glory.
o Gnosticism
It is a pre-Christian and early Christian religious movement teaching that salvation comes by learning esoteric spiritual truths that free humanity from the material world, believed in this movement to be evil. The idea of Gnosticism is explained as under:
- The created material world was the result of a cosmic spiritual tragedy. It was a mistake and the sooner it disappears or sooner the soul is freed from material body, the better.
- We are not to be saved only by knowledge. We also need faith, a moral calling in our lives.
- We should not be antithetical to environmental care.
4. JUDAISM AND ENVIRONMENTALISM
Like other Divine religions Judaism calls for integrity of Nature and Natural resources. Highlights of its ecological theme are given in the following:
4.1 Jewish Literature
The Environment is a natural concern for Judaism. This subject is dealt with in detail in Biblical, Rabbinic and mystical literature. Judaism interacts with environmentalism in Jewish law, literature and liturgical & other practices.
4.2 Jewish Legislation
In Jewish law, ecological concerns are reflected in Biblical Protection for fruit trees, rules in the Mishnah against harming the public domain, Talmudic Debate over noise and smoke damages and contemporary response on agricultural pollution. MISHNAH consists of following legislation:
- Jewish Law It is the primary body of Jewish civil and religious law, forming the first part of the Talmud.
- Jewish Oral Law Jewish law from the oral tradition, as distinguished from law, is derived from the scriptures.
- Jewish Legal Teaching It is the teaching of Jewish law by a RABBI or other authority on it.
4.3 Biblical Commandment
Biblical commandment aims at not to destroy, without purpose, any object from which someone might derive pleasure. The source of the prohibition is the Biblical command that soldiers in war are not supposed to cut down fruit trees to use their wood in besieging an enemy (Deut. 20:19-20).
4.4 Wanton Destruction
Direct acts of wanton destruction are prohibited. Even indirect acts, such a cutting off water sources necessary for the trees to grow are also precluded. When normal human activity requires some destruction of natural resources, decisions must be made in favour of methods that involve less rather than greater destruction i.e. destroy the tree that does bears not fruit before the one that does bear fruit (Talmud Baba Kama 91b).
4.5 Pollution Control
Beyond prohibition of actual destruction, an entire series of laws deals with maintaining the general environmental quality of life. The Talmud requires that:
- One should not open a shop in a courtyard and if the noise pollution of customers will disturb his neighbour’s sleep.
- One must put a pigeon cote at least 50 cubits from town so that the scavenging birds may not damage the town’s vegetable gardens.
- Threshing floors must be kept at 50 cubits distance to prevent the chaff from creating an air pollution problem for the city. The carrion, graves and tanneries also have this same distance requirement because of the odours they produce.
5. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
From above discourse it is clear that all Divine religions call for integrity of Nature and Natural resources. The Abrahamic Religions present ecological themes which are given in respective teachings. The following recommendations are made additionally:
5.1 Interfaith Dialogue
The Environment is a natural concern for all religions. This provides common grounds for Interfaith Dialogue on environmental preservation at the global level.
5.2 The Abrahamic Religions
ought to guide their followers for implementation of respective themes in the best interest of humanity.
