What Kind of Intelligence Is Prescience? - 2

In this series we are looking at various ancient writings to discern various concepts about human responsibility for taking care of the Earth.

The notion of prescience comes along with the ride because these are ancient writings, some of them containing warnings about consequences for not being good stewards of the resources of the good Earth.

Let's take a look at Islam and the Koran this time.

Like the U.S. where no debate on climate change took place during the presidential election campaign, politicians from some nations were mum on the subject:

Not a word about climate change, even though the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar is hosting a U.N. conference where nearly 200 countries are trying to forge a joint plan to fight global warming, which climate activists say is the greatest modern challenge to mankind.

‘‘Unfortunately the Arab and Islamic countries have political and economic problems,’’ said Adham Hassan, a worshipper from Jordan streaming out of the al-Khatabb mosque in Doha.

(Boston dot com). They are like us, "political and economic problems" so we forget to mention the most important things some times.

But don't let the politicians fool you, Islam is concerned with taking good care of the Earth in terms of instructions from ancient writings:

‘‘Islam calls for the protection of the environment, but the Muslim countries are mostly poor and they didn’t cause pollution and aren’t affected by climate change.’’

Of six mosques contacted ... one included an environmental message in the Friday prayers, telling those in attendance to plant trees, shun extravagance and conserve water and electricity.

The Quran, Islam’s holy book, is filled with more than 1,500 verses to nature and Earth.

(ibid, emphasis added). Like any nation there are citizens who are more concerned than others about environmental matters.

There is a publication called EcoIslam which deals with environmental matters from the perspective of ancient writings combined with modern writings:

"The London march against Climate Change on 3rd December 2005 attracted 10,000 people from diverse backgrounds, all concerned about the damage being caused to the environment. Amongst them, a group of Muslims called for individuals and nations to act more responsibly towards the earth. Human beings have been divinely appointed as guardians of the earth, they believe."- EcoIslam, Issue 01, Jan. 2006

"In today's climate of uncontrolled extraction and destruction of the Earth's resources, preserving the environment is a priority that requires creative solutions, including the revival of traditional ways of conserving our natural surroundings. In order to preserve its surroundings, the Daarul 'Uluum is utilising the wisdom of Islamic traditions which provide a method for environmental management.

This particular project addresses the stresses put on rivers and water systems by human habitations and uses the harim system that lays down a code of behavior for those living in or near threatened habitats. For example, creating a harim zone in a river system requires that half of the width of the river on each side of the river bank is designated as a pristine area where all human activity is prohibited."- EcoIslam, Issue 06, August 2009

(Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science). The following video explains, among other things, that Muslims have practiced these tenets from the time of Muhammed. [full screen works best]



K.H. Ahmad Yani: "The 'Harim Zone'" from Green Islam in Indonesia on Vimeo.