Islam has a great tradition of appreciating and revering the earth. More than 700 verses in the Qur’an extort Muslims to reflect on the miracle of creation and make it clear that Allah views the earth as its own entity with the right to be protected and cared for. It even goes so far to say “Greater indeed than the creation of man is the creation of the heavens and the earth.” (40:57)

As Muslims, we understand that our submission to God is intrinsically tied to the way we treat His gift of life on this planet.  A peaceful, gentle reverence for plants, animals and landscapes are part of the fabric of our religion and translate beautifully through Islam’s strong foundation of social justice and activism.

Therefore, the environmental movement is one area where Muslims can make a huge contribution to society at large, and to productive interfaith dialogue.

For example, this month I contributed to a joint interfaith statement about Chemical Regulation Reform:

Interfaith Groups Speak Out on National Chemical Regulatory Reform

Amanda Quraishi, a member of Austin’s Muslim Community, said, “I think it is an ethical and moral imperative for average consumers to be informed on what we are buying and putting into our bodies. As a parent I feel an even greater responsibility to choose healthy foods and products for my children. I tend to support and buy from companies that identify, classify, and test their products for personal and environmental safety. Ideally, this kind of transparency would be the norm.”

Most concerned citizens would happily make a statement like this to voice their worries over the undisclosed exposure to unnatural chemical compounds that we are subjected to on a daily basis. But it is a great privileged to be able to make this statement as a Muslim because it lets me present the tenets of my faith in a positive, constructive and practical way. I am certain that my neighbors feel the same way, and the mutual respect and admiration that is created as we work together to protect the earth within our own faith traditions is miraculous in itself.

I had the chance to talk to Amanda Robinson, Coordinator of Texas Interfaith Power and Light, an environmental program of Texas Impact. When I asked her about her experience engaging various faith groups in environmental activism she told me, “What I see is that different communities are in different places on environmental issues – some have been very engaged and active for a long time, while others are just beginning to connect teachings from their religious tradition to concerns about the environment. Increasingly, people of all faiths are realizing that their tradition, whatever it is, has important things to say about care for the earth and care for other people, and that these concerns are interrelated.”

She continued, “There are many areas where teachings from different religious traditions converge in a shared concern, and environmental issues are one of these areas. The world’s great religious traditions all speak of care for the earth and its creatures. In the Abrahamic traditions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – there is a call to guardianship and care of creation. In the Eastern traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, there is a profound sense of the interconnectedness of all life on earth. Although our traditions use different terms, the message on this subject is the same – it is a unified call for humans to care for the environment. On environmental issues, then, there is a lot of room for people of different faith traditions to work together in common cause.”

Learn more about Texas Interfaith Power and Light on the main website, or check out their Facebook page for current events and news about the organization. You can also email info@txipl.org.


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