We… Ourselves…. Trustees of Nature

According to Islam Religion, ‘Amana’ describes that at what extent human is connected with nature. How much he loves environment, how much he is responsible for conserving and respecting it? Amana in Arabic language depicts the meaning as trust and responsibility. The Quaran also says that Allah did not just bestow the responsibility of stewardship on human beings, but also, human beings willingly accepted the responsibility given to them. As is evident from this quote, the responsibility of caring for Allah’s creation was not something that the heavens, earth, or mountains wanted to be entrusted with, because they were worried they would not be able to fulfil their obligations. But human beings took on the responsibility, believing that they could be trusted with the obligation. But it is another story that we have been betraying that trust with our horrific exploitation of Nature.

In Quaran, it is well illustrated like this:

“Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man (undertook to) bear it….” (Sura 33, verse 72).

There is a need for deep Self-realisation- that we have an organic relationship with nature. We ought to acknowledge the fact that human beings have an eloquent bond with all the creation. In order to seek enlightenment and to achieve a higher level of consciousness, saints and mystics would relocate to dense forests and other solitary terrains. Nature is known to have inspired many poets and writers. Prose and poetry have been written on daffodils, blue lilacs and humming birds. Artists try to infuse perfect colours into their creative expressions on canvas in order to give life to the sky and many other beautiful things that they see and appreciate around them. Not only do plants and herbs inspire creativity in us; they have also helped to heal us of our diseases and wounds since evolution began.

The Creator has graced us with abundance is something we need to appreciate and be grateful for. Eat from the plants’ or trees’ fruits and give the due alms on the day of the harvest, and do not waste anything. ‘He’ does not like those who waste by extravagance.

In the whole pattern of creation there is order and purpose. The sun and moon, following stable orbits, make life possible. The whole universe is in submission to the Creator- the stars that enable us to steer courses and trees that give us sustenance. The world functions only because creation follows a preordained pattern. Which is why we human beings have a responsibility by virtue of being able to reason, to behave justly, “to transgress not in the balance.” We owe this to ourselves as much as for the rest of creation.

Matter Courtesy:  Masha Hassan ( student of Global Cultures), Article published in Times of India, Ahmedabad, Thursday, 28th December, 2017.