Environmental Ethics 2

continued from last post...

The approach to environmental ethics offered by sharia' is fundamentally different from current secular environmental ethics. Sharia' defines the role of individuals and society and links them to a purpose driven life of servitude to God and humanity. In contradiction, the secular environmental ethics is based on either the anthropocentric view (human first) or the biocentric (humans are part of living organisms and do not afford a distinction above others) view with shades of gray in between. Neither of these two views is in accordance with the spirit of Islamic teachings. Islam forumulates a God-centric approach (tauhid) to any issue and environmental ethics in Islam is an extension of this understanding of the divine guidance. In essence, the nature or environment is a creation of God and any deviation from natural way (fitra) is a divergence from the way of God. Quran clearly states:

"Do not transgress the balance" 55:8.

"There is to be no change in the creation of God" 30:30.

This natural way or fitra is a Qur'anic concept that takes into an account the harmony in creation and the balance that exists between living and nonliving creatures. In terms of preference of habitats and ecosystems, the philosophy of sharia' dictates that everything belongs to God and there is no dichotomy between living organisms and humans, whether considering biocentric or anthropocentric view in ethics. However, God made human responsible to care for the creatures of God. This is important to understand when considering the arguments for intrinsic or instrumental value of living or nonliving entities in environmental ethics.

In a nutshell, the ecological balance should be maintained because God made humans responsible as a khalifa – vicegerent. The word vicegerent does not reflect ownership for humans but rather a role of a manager or a guardian. The Quran declares: "It is God who has created for you all that is on earth….And remember when your Lord said to the angels: 'Verily, I am going to place a viceroy (mankind) on earth" (Qur'an 2: 29-30). Thus as managers, humans are gardeners whose job is to root out weed, pests, and any harmful effects to plant a beneficial and beautiful paradise on this earth.