“But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters.” (Quran: 7:31)
On Friday February 20, at 4:30 p.m. in PAC 001, Faraz Khan will deliver a lecture entitled, “Environmental Ethics and Islam: Providing a Pragmatic Model.”
Khan is now a senior wetland scientist for the State of New Jersey, but he started his professional career as a teacher of Islamic Studies. He obtained a degree in Quranic Recitation (Qira’at) from the University of Damascus before then earning his B.A. in Environmental Geology at Rutgers University. Khan later became certified in wetland science through a program at Rutgers University’s Cook College, and he taught as an adjunct professor of environmental science at Passaic County College. In addition to his wetlands work, he currently serves as an advisor to the Muslim Student Associations at both Rutgers University and Princeton University.
Faraz Khan maintains a blog at http://liberalartsforum.blogspot.com:
“I find this blog to be another medium to convey a message, a responsibility that I feel on my shoulders—to call people to the Truth. I have been trained as a thinker/orator in liberal arts. My interest lies in history, philosophy, environmental ethics, sharia, Arabic calligraphy, and tajweed. Here is an attempt to delineate a path within the American social context.”
Khan will discuss the Islamic concept of khalifa, or “stewardship” over nature. Islamic law includes a specific category of jurisprudence called fiqh al-bi’ah, or “jurisprudence of the environment.” Law-makers take a number of the foundational concepts of Islam (such as rahmah: “mercy,” tawazun: “harmony,” andshukr: “gratitude”) and apply them to this ethico-juridical discipline which links ecological health to the psychological health of man. Environmental degradation is seen as a sickness of the human ego because man is unable to give up short-term gratification in favor of long-term prosperity.
Khan is concerned with our modern-day “waste culture.” In a recent lecture (posted as an article on his blog), he explains: “It is clear that environmental crisis requires more than a scientific quick fix. In reality it is not an ‘environmental problem,’ but rather a human problem. Furthermore, it is only a modern human problem because there is no connection to the sacred ethics. Consequently, no scientific gadget will solve the current environmental crisis unless the society unlearns the materialism that has become part of the global culture.”
“Secular” environmental ethics, according to Khan, assumes a dichotomy between humans and other living organisms and therefore frames all ethical questions in either biocentric or anthropocentric terms. Khan compares this approach to the holistic “sacred ethics” of sharia (Islamic law): “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. This natural way or fitra is a Qur’anic concept that takes into account the harmony in creation and the balance that exists between living and nonliving creatures.”
Come to Friday’s lecture and hear more from Faraz Khan!
Swetzoff is a member of the class of 2009.
The Prophet said, "From amongst the seven whom Allah will give shade to on the day when there will be no shade except His shade, will be that person whose heart was attached to the masjid." (Bukhari)
A Night of Remembrance - 'ibadah
TIME: 8:00 PM (after Salatul Esha)
NEW BRUNSWICK ISLAMIC CENTER
167 REMSEN AVENUE
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ 08901
Program Details:
Lecture: Remembering Allah amidst Confusion - Faraz Khan
Lecture: Islamic Mannerism - Adab-e-ma'asharat - Imam Rauf (MCMC)
9:15: Quran Recitation Circles - Surah Yasin | Tafsir
9:30pm: Refreshments/Tea
10:00: Individual Session: Zikr/Ibadah/Dua'
10:45: Tahajjud & Dua' -
Omar bin al-Khattab's Response:
In another example, before returning to Makkah Abu Sufyan, the leader of polytheist at Uhud taunted the Muslims openly and said: "This day (Uhud) in revenge for Badr". Omar replied back: "No they are not equal. Our dead are in heaven and yours in hell." Abu Sufyan was confounded. No doubt, Muslims look forward to expiation of their sins and a great reward for each hardship they suffer. God is great not only in good times but also in trying times. Those who have fallen in Gaza are not equal to a nation so morally bankrupts that they wage war on Sabbath - a day of prayers and rest (Genocide in Gaza began on Saturday, December 27, 2008). The Quran is clear on the character of such people and their war with God. They have nothing in the hereafter. This leads to the third principle of my discussion: the belief in the hereafter.
The third principle is the conviction in the Day of Judgment – the hereafter. A simple Bedouin came to the Prophet and he asked when the Day of Judgment is? The Prophet replied back with a question: "What have you prepared for it?" The Bedouin said: "I have not prepared much good deeds but I love God and His messenger". So the Prophet Muhammad replied back that "a man will be with those he loves" (Riyad al-Salihin). The point relevant to this discussion is that the Prophet asked the Bedouin about his preparedness for the hereafter. Modern Muslims frequently fall into the trap of judging success in worldly terms. Success of an individual or the entire Ummah is not based on worldly standards of position and possession.
Position & Possession:
According to the standards of the Makkan polytheists, the Prophet was amongst the poorest of poor. He had neither wealth nor male heirs to boost his name. Yet, he was the richest of rich through his most beautifully elegant character. On his deathbed he gave away all that he possessed – even the last six dirham in charity (Ibn Ishaq). What is the standard of success in Islam? Is it money, power, victory, luxury, entertainment? Wrong, the hereafter is the standard. Those who are successful in the hereafter are successful in this world even if they live in worst of conditions deprived of all the basic human needs without any justice. The poor Gazans have neither position nor possession within the geopolitical spheres of influence but those things do not count in the hereafter.
It would be wrong to compare and contrast the success of Ummah in worldly terms especially Gazans. To illustrate another example, a few days ago Muslim community commemorated 'Ashura - a day when Prophet Musa was given victory over Pharaoh and moreover in a separate incident the grandson of the Prophet, Husain ibn Ali was martyred raising the banner of truth against unjust authority. A worldview based on principles other than Islam may identify Musa as successful and Imam Husain as failure. However, Muslim worldview is that they were both successful. Why? Because God is pleased with them both and that is what matters.
No doubt, the martyrs of Gaza are the most successful within the ranks of Muslims today. There is no comparison between those Muslims who sit at home watching world news, ignoring prayers, and their obligations and those who sit in Gaza remembering God in the worst of plights. Quran confirms:
"Do not call those who have been martyred in the path of God as dead. Rather, they are alive but you do not understand."
Conclusion:
In conclusion, these three principals – belief in One God, sirah as guide, and success in the hereafter are the building blocks of any response or strategy for the Muslims. The source of everything "Islamic" is based in the Quran and sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. Any proposal or strategy offered by any think-tank or any leader must conform to the Islamic principals to receive any blessings from God. Therefore, a Muslim has to return to the sources of his/her religion before laying any plan of action. And God knows best.
For more articles and speeches by the author visit http://www.liberalartsforum.
The Lesson from the Battle of Uhud
To continue, there is a direct correlation between the message of the Quran and Gaza today. There was once a time when Muslims controlled much of the world. From Granada to Java, they opened up the world for a civilization that elevated God before everything else. Interestingly, the first thousand years of this ummah were like Badr – successful. Then after Badr, Muslims made a crucial mistake during Uhud.
The Quran comments on both, the victory and the defeat - Badr and Uhud in Surah Aal-'Imran. In Uhud, the Prophet stationed the army facing the enemy and placed around 50 archers on the Mount of Ruma behind them and told them never to leave their position even if the battle was over. Initially, the Muslim army routed the enemy and the polytheists started to flee. The Muslims started to pursue them and then started to collect the spoils of war. At that moment, the archers left their positions to amass the dunya – spoils. In no time, the Makkan cavalry successfully attacked the Muslim army in the rear where the archers had abandoned the mount. The fleeing Makkans regrouped and fiercely re-attacked the Prophet and his companions. The result was that Muslims were pressed between two forces and had to retreat to the Mountain of Uhud.
In the sequel of Uhud there is a lesson. The Ummah abandoned its position from the top of the mount as a leader and protector to run after the baser desires. So God left Muslims in abyss with empty desires while the enemy surrounded and assaulted Muslims. The cost of disobedience to the messenger of God resulted in great sufferings. Similarly, the Ummah kept collecting the dunya and the world shifted from around them. How else can Muslims explain the imperialist nations devouring Muslim lands for last 400 years?
Muslims were afflicted with grave consequences by their disobedience to God. Many great sahaba such as Hamza ibn Abi Talib and Mus'ab bin Umair were martyred and even the Prophet was injured and a false rumor circulated that he was killed. Muslims were confounded. However, this was a trial to sort out hypocrites and those opportunists who only accompanied the Muslims to gain in this world, and to teach a lesson that disobedience to the Prophet means loss in both worlds.
Muslims should not look at any calamity simply as a loss but remember what they gain with God when they are patient. For this reason, the Muslim worldview is based on the fact that every difficulty in the sake of God is compensated for the believers. God revealed:
"If you should be suffering - so are they suffering as you are suffering, but you expect from Allaah that which they expect not. And Allaah is ever Knowing and Wise" (An-Nisaa': 104).
The Story of an Ansari Woman:
The perseverance and suffering of the Gazans is observed in the story of an Ansari woman whose father, brother and husband were martyred in Uhud. One by one she heard the soul-shattering news of the martyrdom of all her male family members and yet she asked persistently "Tell me if the Prophet is safe?" As soon as she witnessed the Prophet safe and sound she uttered, "All sufferings are insignificant if you (Prophet of God) are safe and sound." Truly, as long as the love of God and His Prophet is safe and sound in the heart, all sufferings are insignificant.
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Never leave your soul in despair
For God is our Hope and with Him is our affair
"Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allaah except the disbelieving people." (Yoosuf: 87).
"If Allaah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others. And those who are killed in the cause of Allaah – never will He waste their deeds. He will guide them and amend their condition. And admit them to Paradise, which He has made known to them. O you who have believed, if you support Allaah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet. But those who disbelieve – for them is misery, and He will waste their deeds." (Muhammad: 4-8)
Worldview:
Every community has a paradigm that projects its relationship with the phenomena world. Islam also provides a worldview based on faith in one God, Prophethood, and belief in the Hereafter. These three principles are the foundation of religious understanding in the Quran. Regarding the catastrophe in Gaza, I want to examine these principles and propose an understanding of the circumstances based on the Quran.
The Story of Khalid bin Walid:
The basis of the Muslim worldview begins with shahada – testimony to the oneness of God. Tawhid simply means that God is in command. There is no one worthy of worship except God. To illustrate this, during the campaign against Byzantine, Muslims were outnumbered by their enemies. When the commander Khalid Bin Walid sensed that despair may overcome the Muslims, he reminded them by shouting– "La hola wala quwwata illah billah" – "there is neither power nor might except with God". In response, the entire army heeded the call and started to repeat the statement. With trust in God and faith in heart they defeated a mightier opponent. This occurred because Muslims understood that success is from God and whenever they turn to Him they will indeed triumph. The Quran reminds the believers,
"Victory only comes from God, the Mighty, the Wise." (Qur'an 3:126)
The second principal that outlines the worldview of a Muslim is the belief in the code of conduct of Prophet Muhammed - the second part of shahada. In this context, God says,
"You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the praise of Allah". (Al-Ahzaab: 21)
The Story of the Missing Sunnah!
A classic example of success by following the footsteps of the Prophet is found in the story of a Persian campaign. The Muslim army laid an extensive siege to a Persian district but they were not successful against the enemy. The Muslims did some soul searching. In the past, whenever they laid siege to an area they succeeded in no time. They started to investigate the cause of the delay in victory. After much discussion and debate in the camp it was found that the entire army had neglected the use of tooth-stick (miswak) – a sunnah of the Prophet. Therefore, they rushed in fulfilling this sunnah. On the other side, when the enemy saw the Muslim army with this new practice, they trembled in fear thinking that the Muslim soldiers were sharpening their teeth to eat the Persians. Due to this fear, the enemy surrendered their will to fight and the Persian district was liberated due the practice of one sunnah alone.
This story may serve as an aide memoire that Muslims have a role model and any type of response that goes against the teaching of the Prophet is simply un-Islamic. Surely, "the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad" as the Prophet would relay to his companions during Friday sermons.
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