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Why do human beings have a responsibility for the Earth?

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. What is “responsibility for the Earth?”

3. Why do humans have a responsibility for the Earth?

3.1 Secular thought

3.2 Islamic thought

4. Examples of mankind’s effect on the earth and solutions:

Pollution:

a. Domestic rubbish

b. Industrial waste

c. Chemical spillages

d. Poisonous gases- acid rain

e. Traffic fumes

Global Warming:

a. Increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

b. Climate change

c. Effects

i. Flooding

ii. Storms

iii. Hurricanes

iv. Upsetting the delicate balance of the Earth’s atmosphere

Using up natural Resources:

a. Gas

b. Coal

c. Oil

d. Non-renewable sources

5. Cases

Individual- Fazlun Khalid

Community- IFEES

Government- Operation Oryx

International- Assisi Declaration

6. Conclusion

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1. Introduction

“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the Earth”

-Henry David Thoreau

Humans- the most intelligent and advanced creatures on the Earth- are responsible

for the wellbeing of our planet. Why? Humans have caused the extinction of thousands of

species of animal and polluted it with poisonous fumes and littered it with their unwanted

goods.

This is why humans are

responsible for taking care and

preserving the Earth- they have taken

from it in excess and have condemned

their own future and the future of all

other living creatures on this planet. If

humans have the power to ruin the

Earth as they are doing, they also have

the power to take care of it. It is man’s

responsibility for what has happened

and it is man’s responsibility to fix it

and prevent it from occurring again.

Every life on this planet is worth

something, this includes all the wild animals that inhabit our forests and seas. We have no

right to kill them by taking away their habitats.

This study aims to show how we are damaging the Earth and how we can change and

help to fix our planet. Yes, the common saying “every little helps” is true but if we do not all

start pulling our own weight it will be too late. We cannot do it on our own; everyone has

“to do their bit,” otherwise our planet will plunge into environmental chaos leaving no

capacity for life. Hopefully, by the end of this you will understand why it is of utmost

importance we must do something about our planet’s environment and how we can do it.

Raahim Zafar 2011

There is no animal that walks upon the Earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, except that they form

communities like you; We have neglected nothing in the Book (Qur’an), then unto their Lord shall they all be

gathered in the end.

Surah 6:38

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2. What is responsibility for the Earth?

To begin with, one must define the word- responsible. The Oxford Dictionary of

English states that to be responsible is, “having an obligation to do something, or having

control over or care for someone, as part of one’s

job or role.” Also, to be responsible is the same

as to be accountable or answerable for that

which you have control over.

From this we can deduce that if we are

responsible for the Earth then, we as humans are

accountable for everything that happens to our

planet which is not natural- as a nurse is

responsible for the wellbeing of their patient- as

it is our job to take care of it.

This is very similar to the Islamic belief of

Khalifah- or stewardship- which is one of the

most important beliefs in the whole religion. In

the Qur’an- which Muslims believe to be the word of Allah (God) - it says that Allah has

made Muslims the vicegerents on the Earth.

Muslims believe that all humans are responsible for the wellbeing of the Earth and

all of its flora and fauna as Allah made it all and it was perfect and when he gave it to

mankind to look after he expected them to keep it in a good condition just as a house sitter

would do for the owner of the house. Humans are not leaders of the Earth- as is the major

secular view- but are merely taking care of it as a deputy to Allah. Muslims consider it as

their duty as stewards of the Earth to care for all life on this planet whether a small little

thing, or a large scale action which affect everyone. In the Qur’an Allah says, “And I have not

created Jinn and men but that they may worship me” [Surah 51:57] - from this we can infer

that- according to Islam- humans were created only to worship Allah; this doesn’t

necessarily mean to be in prostration all the time, worship can be exercised in many

different ways therefore, taking care of our planet would be a form of worship as you are

serving Allah through serving and loving his creation.

Overall, to be responsible for the earth is to be accountable for everything that

happens to the earth that is within your power to control. In Islam responsibility of the earth

is known as Khalifah- stewardship- which is a status given to all humans from Allah.

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place a vicegerent on the Earth." They said:

"Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, - while we glorify You with praises and

thanks and sanctify You." He (Allah) said: "Surely, I know that which you do not know."

Surah 2:30

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3.1 Why do humans have a responsibility for the planet? Secular Thought

In Secular society there are many organisations which have been specifically formed

to sustain the conservation and preservation of endangered species such as the WWF

(World Wildlife Fund). Also, many groups have formed- especially as political parties- which

have taken the issue of pollution and the

inefficient use of our limited reserves of

substances such as oil and coal to the

government; almost every democratic country

has a party like this aiming to make their

country a more environmentally friendly place-

in the United Kingdom this party is called the

Green Party.

The Green Party states on their website

that the humans caused climate change is an

“unprecedented” problem not only for the

welfare of the human race in the future, but

also for us alive right now. It is possible that in

some of our lifetimes the sea levels could rise

massively or the climate change dramatically.

The WWF not only say that it is vital to “safeguard the natural world” by protecting

different species of animals and plants, but to help preserve their habitats by reducing

human activities such as logging in the rainforest and also, to reduce our harmful pollution

of the world which could cause the extinction of thousands of species in the places such as

the sea.

Pollution is not only the emission of harmful gasses into the atmosphere; it is far

more than that. Pollution is only a general term which covers a whole variety of different

things. Industrial waste, domestic rubbish and chemical spillages- such as the Gulf of Mexico

Oil Spill in 2010- are all types of pollution. This will be further looked into at a later point.

Ultimately, the reason secular society believes that we are responsible for the earth

is because it is worried about the future of the human race. Yes, some people are genuinely

worried about the terrible loss of life in the wild and believe it is our responsibility as leaders

of the world to protect our world, but the majority of the public are just worried about their

own life and their families’ lives and therefore, they might buy a hybrid or occasionally walk

to the supermarket while actually, they are ignorant of how they are still affecting the

planet’s environment. This conclusion may be slightly pessimistic however, it is not far from

the truth because the majority of the public have not had a proper education about how

badly we are damaging the earth and consequently, they do not understand why it is bad

for the environment and against moral values or how they can stop it.

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3.2 Why do humans have a responsibility for the planet? Islamic Thought

As mentioned before, Muslims believe in the concept of

Khalifah which can be translated as stewardship. At the end of

the day, a Muslim would say the final reason for being

responsible for the earth is that Allah told them to take care of

it. However there are still other moral reasons as well as other

factors which contribute to this Muslim belief.

In one hadith The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is said to

have delayed his daily prayers until their camels were taken

care of- fed and all their need had been attended to. This story

teaches a moral lesson to all Muslims; that it is vital to take

care of wild animals and therefore, to hunt animals for sport or their

skin- such as tigers- would be wrong and against not only moral

values but against Allah’s will, as He has not created animals to be killed for the greed of

men, so the only viable killing of animals would be for food and even that is not to be taken

in excess. Furthermore, driving a species of animals to extinction would be considered no

better than genocide because of the fact that we as Khalifahs are responsible for conserving

the thousands and thousands of species that inhabit our planet just as a king is responsible

for protecting his people. However one must remember, we are not kings of the earth, we

are only deputies to Allah and He has trusted us with it to take care of for an “appointed

time.”

In the Qur’an Allah says, “Do you not see that God has made subject to you

(humans) all that is on the earth” [Surah 22:65]. This means that everything on the planet is

under our control including the environment. If the king analogy is furthered, a king as well

as safeguarding his people must also provide them with sustenance and a place to live. This

can be related to our world as, the sustenance all living things need includes food and water

but also, a place to live. If we as humans (the rulers (deputy)) take down forests for our own

benefit we would be no better than the greedy kings and dictators of the past therefore, to

destroy the habitat of other living things is totally against Islamic belief.

Overall, Muslims believe that they- and all other capable humans- have responsibility

for the earth because, Allah has made mankind his stewards for taking care of the earth.

Ultimately, it all comes down to moral values- they not only make their mark on the Muslim

but also the secular view of humanity’s responsibility for the planet. “Moral values are one’s

differentiation between that what in their view is good and bad.”

Therefore, it is due to our morality that we believe we are responsible to take care

of the earth, those who believe we as humans can go about as we wish clearly do not have a

moral code to follow in life because, for thousands of years men have argued about what is

right and what is wrong and to disregard that in this day and is nothing short of barbaric.

The Aral Sea

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4 Current problems and solutions

Pollution

Domestic rubbish ranges from waste paper to throwing away excess food. The

United Kingdom is one of the worst countries in the EU when it comes to recycling its waste.

In 2003/04 the UK only recycled 17% of its total 30.5 million tonnes of waste whereas, some

other countries in the EU recycled up to 50%.

With the amount of rubbish Britain produces every

year it would only take eight months to fill up the largest lake

in the UK which is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland at a

staggering 148 square miles large- that is about the same

size as three Manchesters.

If all the unreleased energy in the typical dustbin was

used it would power a television for the best part of seven

months. 60% of all the waste in a dustbin can be recycled.

Much of the rubbish we have is sent to landfills; not only are they an ugly site but

also, some of the materials in there- such as glass- may never decompose. Another common

action taken by governments is to incinerate it; this lets off poisonous gases such as carbon

monoxide and carbon dioxide, the latter of which contributes heavily to global warming.

The Solution is simple, recycle as much as possible and reduce waste. However there

is a problem with this; over the past few years the government has provided many homes in

the UK with recycling bins but, there are many materials which cannot be recycled in these

bins. There are recycling centres in every area in which almost everything can be recycled

but they are too few and scattered. For recycling to be a success in the UK the government

need to provide lots more- but smaller- recycling centres for every community in places

such as local parks or places where a lot of the community regularly go such as

supermarkets or pubs.

This would be a level 3 solution- a government action- however to get there we must

start by doing the little things ourselves such as taking our waste to recycling centres and

reducing our intake of excess items. From there, you can take collective action with others

who are doing the same and take it a step further by helping your community recycle by

simple things like handing out leaflets (on recycled paper!) about how important and easy it

can be or taking their waste for them- by forming an organisation- and campaigning for

better recycling facilities. Furthermore, if the campaigning goes on for a long enough as well

as the recycling going more efficiently than it was before, the government will take notice

and it could possibly go to parliament.

If then the government’s methods are effective nationwide then that one person’s

bright spark could go international, with other governments following our lead and

revolutionising how everyone in the world recycles therefore reducing the landfills in every

country and reducing pollution by cutting down on incineration of waste.

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Industrial Waste pollutes many rivers and

streams in the UK as many factories use freshwater to

carry away the waste from places like power plants to

lakes and the sea.

Much of the waste that is released into the

water includes harmful chemicals. These chemicals

could poison the water making it dangerous to drink

for wild animals; also the chemicals could get into the

sea and affect marine wildlife. Another problem of

industrial waste is the radioactivity of some

substances; a natural event such as fire could damage

an industrial building which would then react with

radioactive substances which could cause deformities in new-born children and possibly kill

many people- an example of this would be the aftermath of the 2011 Tsunami which

affected Japan. Events like these have occurred dozens of times since the beginning of the

industrial revolution.

One on-going problem is the environmental issue affecting the Niger delta. Over the

past few decades the Niger delta has been severely polluted by harmful chemicals from the

petroleum industry based near its banks.

Between 1960 and 1997 upwards of 16 billion litres of oil were spilt into the delta.

There were many causes for this including the corrosion of pipelines, sabotage of pipelines

and then selling on the stolen oil and “oil production operations.”

These spills have upset the local ecosystem; many mangrove forests have been

destroyed, the entire Nigerian rainforest has disappeared. Some of these spills which

occurred near residential areas killed the whole year’s crop and also millions of fish have

died due to the “consumption of dissolved oxygen by bacteria feeding on the

spilled hydrocarbons,” which is ultimately not much different to poisoning.

The solution is not as simple as it seems. The pollution of waterways is not an a rare

incident; in Rochdale, Greater Manchester the industrial revolution caused a lot of pollution

of the town’s River Roch due to the mills which used the river to function and then releasing

all their waste into it- the pollution has now cleared naturally after being left alone for

decades. In much of the United Kingdom in fact many rivers and lakes have been polluted by

Industry; not so much as a few months ago (August 2011), it was reported on the news that

otters had finally returned to every county in the UK after decades of hard work- which is

needed for the future to cure already affected areas and prevent it from happening again

which ultimately comes down to teamwork by both the community and the government.

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Chemical spillages can range from substances such as asbestos or lead getting into

our water supply or a large amount of oil on a massive scale being spilled affecting all the

marine life in the vicinity and having long

term effects economically for the

country.

One recent case is the Deepwater

Horizon Oil Spill- also known as the BP

Oil Spill; The effects of this range from

causing incurable damage to thousands

of wild animals to ruining tourism and

economy in the area which include both

Mexico and the USA. The effects of this

are still causing whales and dolphins to

die twice the previous rate.

Unfortunately the solution for

this is difficult, we as the public cannot do much about it except try to help when it goes

wrong. However, there is a solution to the problem of oil- hydrogen. Some new cars have a

hydrogen fuel cell which does not pollute the atmosphere at all as well as being renewable

because hydrogen- as the simplest element in the universe- is also the most abundant and

getting it out of the ground is no harder than drilling for oil. The Hydrogen fuel cell could

also in theory power everything else that oil currently does; food for thought.

Traffic fumes and acid rain are linked. Acid rain is caused due to increased levels of

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It can have a damaging effect on many things including

infrastructure, marine life, plants and so on.

Some people say that all carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is bad and causes the

greenhouse effect and is bad. Yes, carbon dioxide heavily contributes to the greenhouse

effect but, it is not always bad- it is bad when you get too much of it. If there was no

greenhouse effect the planet would be a frozen ball of ice.

Acid rain is especially bad in High Income Countries (HICs) as due to more of the

population getting cars the CO₂ levels in the atmosphere and increasing the amount of acid

rain.

The Solution for this is again, difficult. The only long term solution is to stop our air

pollution by somehow replacing our oil with something else. Yes, electric cars or hybrids

seem a good option but at the end of the day the electricity you’re getting still comes from

oil. So again the same solution remains- at least the only practical and realistic long term

solution- hydrogen.

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Global Warming

Carbon dioxide levels have increased

considerably over the past hundred years. As

mentioned before, carbon dioxide is a

greenhouse gas which causes global warming.

Over the past hundred years the earth’s

average surface temperature has risen by 0.8˚C

of which two thirds has occurred over the last

thirty years.

Global warming and cooling has been common over thousands of years but never on

this scale. There have been two instances over the past five hundred years of global

warming- both were miniscule in comparison to today and also just for one or two years

after which temperature dropped back down to normal. So, over the past hundred years-

mainly due to the industrial revolution and everything that followed- the world has

undergone a major climate change.

This climate change has caused-

especially recently- a lot of ice glaciers in the

Arctic and Antarctic to melt which will

eventually have a major effect on the world’s

climate. The icebergs that melt contain fresh

water; this water affects the natural current

flow of seas such as the North Atlantic Current.

One of the most radical- but realistic- changes

that could occur, is Britain’s temperature

dropping colossally if the North Atlantic Current

stopped. Britain’s average climate then would

be very similar to that of Canada, Scandinavia and much of Russia.

Another effect of climate change would be- and has been- storms and freak weather.

In 2002 India experienced a severe heatwave. 1000 people died but, entire rivers dried up,

many of the tinned roof houses were like ovens and birds just fell from the sky- literally- and

animals collapsed. This was followed by the European heatwave in 2003- over 40’000

people died and much crop was affected- 80% of wheat in Moldova died. Then in 2005, the

Tropical Cyclones were some of the worst ever; one of these was Hurricane Katrina- it hit

New Orleans and was the most costly Hurricane ever in the USA as well as one of the

deadliest. There have not only been heatwaves but also freezing cold winters- many

countries have broken the record for the lowest temperature ever.

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Using Up Natural Resources

Coal, gas and oil are all non-renewable energy sources. They are formed over

millions of year by the pressure exerted on million year old trees which have been buried

underground.

In the United Kingdom

gas and coal are the dominant

forms of fossil fuels used to

produce energy.

Renewable sources such

as wind power is used to a

limited extent in Britain.

However in 1990 there was no

renewable source of energy used

at all in the UK- it is now up to

3.5% of the total energy

production.

The problem with fossil fuels is first, they are limited and will run out- maybe within

a hundred years and second, they produce carbon dioxide when they are burnt- which is how

energy is made. Fossil fuels are the main cause for the rapid climate change over the past century.

The solution to this problem is a major topic of discussion all around the world. People

disagree about which is best and by the time they have decided it will be too late. However,

renewable sources are obviously the final answer- but which one? A combined effort by methods

such as wind power and solar power seems to be it.

Therefore, if we use our current fossil fuel to help start up more wind farms and

install solar panels, we can slowly shift the balance of power from non-renewable to

renewable sources of energy in the process, our world will be greener and we will reduce

our Carbon Footprint. It will take time but patience is key- patience and perseverance.

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5. Cases

Individual- Fazlun Khalid (Level 1)

Fazlun Khalid is a British Muslim of Sri Lankan origin. He is the Founder Director of

the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES).

He is a former RAF soldier; he also worked for the Commission of Racial Equality. As

he worked he found some issues in the community which caused him to worry about the

environment. Two of them were particularly disturbing for him; poverty and breakdown of

stable immigrant families. He realised how even after decades of colonial rule when huge

amounts of wealth were generated, many Sri Lankan people remained poor.

He also observed that immigrant families felt out of place in an alien world to them,

he wanted them to feel part of the community. So, during the 1970s and 1980s he worked

hard with others who felt the same to try and make a Muslim community in both

Birmingham and Leeds. It was a success and those same communities he created still exist

today.

This example shows how just one person can make such a huge difference with one

unselfish thought which leads to a lot of benefit to others. Khalid said that it is part of Islam

to be part of one’s environment as the word ‘Islam’ itself means submission (to Allah) and

therefore, we must do something about the crisis facing mankind today.

An individual can change their lifestyle slightly and make huge differences- things like

walking to the supermarket or recycling properly can make a massive change to the

environment around them.

Community-IFEES (Level 2)

After Khalid helped form communities he sought to spread the message to the world

of how important the environment is and how it is the duty of every human-especially

Muslims- to protect it as Khalifahs- guardians/ stewards of the earth.

IFEES has helped form a partnership between Muslim Aid and the

WWF. IFEES has a massive aim- to build a rural settlement where Muslims

can live according to precise Islamic rules and help the environment

according to them giving an example to the rest of the world.

Overall, a community (or any group of people working together)

effort is huge as it boosts the individuals actions by a lot because if everyone in the group

does the things the individual was doing it would make an even greater change to the

environment. Only a few people- one family- doing their bit will help and give them savings.

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Government- Operation Oryx (Level 3)

Some problems are just too large scale for an individual or a group of people to

tackle by themselves- some problems require official action,

government action.

The Arabian Oryx was a dying species in 1960. Only

200 were left in the wild clustered in one part due to

hunting.

“Operation Oryx” was started by many different

environmental agencies all worried about this animal. Oryx

were confirmed to be extinct in the wild in 1972 however,

the last Oryx had been captured and breeding was on-going

in zoos. The zoo population continued to grow.

The Sultan of Oman, who passed laws banning hunting in 1975 due to his Islamic

beliefs, became a supporter of the scheme. He helped them to be released into the wild

desert of Oman under protection of some tribes who were to be the “rangers” in their

community.

Numbers have grown considerably in the wild since the beginning of this scheme and

the species is no longer critically endangered. Similar projects have taken place for other

wild and endangered animals in Oman such as the houbara bustard.

This project just goes to show how much difference the participation of a

government in a project can make such a huge difference.

International- Assisi Declaration (Level 4)

In 1986 there was a multi-faith conference in Assisi regarding the world

environment. It was on the 25th anniversary of the WWF. The church there (where the

meeting had taken place) was named after the Christian St. Francis- he had emphasised how

important it is to take care of your environment so you can be at one with God’s creation.

Here the Assisi declaration was made here, each religion made a statement; The

Muslim representatives said that as Allah’s trustees on earth it is our responsibility to

maintain the “unity of His creation, its flora, its fauna.” Also, it was stated that unity can only

be maintained by balance and harmony between everyone. The Prophet Muhammad said,

“The world is green and beautiful and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it.” Overall,

the message was to take care of the beautiful planet God has made for you as it is the duty

he has bestowed upon you.

The Ohito declaration was nine years later (after the Assisi declaration) which talked

about how to maintain what we have and save what we are losing for the future.

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Conclusion

Over the course of this study we have dwelled into many things including “What is

it?” “Why is it?” and “How can we stop it?”

What you take from it depends on many factors but the main message of this is that

we as humans are responsible for the earth and everything in it because either it is morally

right if you’re not religious or if you are it’s because it is the right thing to do and God and

his Prophets have taught it. Think about it, put yourself in the sufferers’ position- it’s easy to

say you’re not them and you don’t care but that is just the most selfish thing ever said by a

human- despicable, our morality as a race is deteriorating, that is the long term effect of

living without a religion – moral values become

obsolete or “out of fashion,” this is what Islam

would call Jahiliyyah- the time of ignorance.

How can we change to help the earth?

Well, “every little helps”- do your bit and get

others to do their bit it will come together

faster than you know it. Many men (and

women) have revolutionised our world -

Einstein, Marie Curie and Fazlun Khalid- some

famous some not but, now we need someone

to be the one to help save it.

Moreover, the world is suffering, the people of this world are suffering and the

creatures of this world are suffering, maybe not directly but certainly indirectly because of

us- the ultimate message of this is that we have to build today for a better tomorrow

because it is the world we created and the world we must take care of.

One day, perhaps in our lifetimes we will run out of fossil fuels which will be both

good and bad- we need to prepare now. It is like an exam- you do not go to an exam room

and make it up as you go along no- you prepare for months. We live in the present every

breath taking us towards the future, but what is that future going to be like- well that is up

to us not the government- we must take the first step.

This is my view, it is our world, and it is our responsibility because it is ours. Suffering

is unnecessary and totally preventable. Mankind’s greed has got the better of them. It is

time for change, time for a major revolution of how people think about the environment

religious or not. Letting a child in Africa die because you polluted the water when you could

save them is no better than man-slaughter.

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In final conclusion, take care of the world and spread the message- that is how we

can save it- but that action needs to be taken now. There is one solution to this problem-

rapid change to how we live our lives, small things which will help- all of us doing this

together will cause huge change, it will give our planet a long delayed dose of medicine.

Many say that it is too late and that we won’t be here when the world is in a state

where no life can survive- but no, it is not too late, it is still possible to “nip the problem in

the bud,” however big that may be- it’s never too late- and to those who claim we are not

going to be alive for the effects when they take place- your children will be, their children

will be- are you going to let billions upon billions suffer for your laziness of not turning of the

light when you aren’t in the room? The Prophet Muhammad once said

“Whoever kills a sparrow or anything bigger than that without a just cause, Allah will hold him accountable on the Day

of Judgment."