Muslim Textual Sources – Provided by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Mufti Mustafa Ceric, Dr Muhammad Suhayl and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
God and the world – the Nature of Being
- Creation is not our possession. The human person must recognize this and find his/her rightful place in relation to this fundamental fact.
Source 1: Quran Sura 6 v 102:
“Such is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but He, Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He is Trustee of all things.”
Source 2: Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric:
The world is in constant praise of God; Creation is one of God’s signs.
- Creation is not simply external to God. It is, in significant ways, permeated by God’s presence and being, manifesting the divine agency and reality.
Source 1: Quran Sura Hadid, verses 1-6:
“All that is in the heavens and in the earth glorifies Allah; and He is the Mighty, the Wise. His is the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and gives death; and He is able to do all things. He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward; and He is knower of all things. He is the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six days; then He mounted the Throne. He knows all that enters the earth and all that emerges from it, and all that comes down from the sky and all that ascends up to it. He is with you wherever you happen to be. And Allah watches all you do. His is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and unto Allah all things will return. He inserts the night into the day; and He inserts the day into the night; and He is the Knower of all that in the breasts (of people).”
Source 2: Nursî, Bediüzzaman Said, Lem’alar, (Istanbul: Sözler Yayınevi, 1995) 333 / The Flashes Collection [Eng. trans.] (Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 1995) 415.
“Yes, all flowers, all fruits, all grasses, and all animals even, and all trees are seals of Divine Oneness and stamps of Divine Unity, which, together with the places they are found which take the form of missives, are like signatures showing the one who wrote the place. For example, a buttercup in a garden is like a seal of the garden’s inscriber. Whosever seal the flower is, all the flowers of that sort on the face of the earth indicate clearly that they are his words and that the garden too is his writing. This means that all things ascribe everything to the One Who created them, indicating a maximum affirmation of Divine Unity.”
- Within creation, and between humans and other parts of creation, as well as among religious communities, there is interdependence. All are part of a greater whole wherein each element both receives and gives influence, impact, love, and growth.
Source 1: Quran Sura 6 v 38:
“There is not an animal in the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, except that they are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book (of our decrees). Then, unto their Lord they will be gathered.”
Source 2: Nursî, Bediüzzaman Said, Lem’alar, (Istanbul: Sözler Yayınevi, 1995) 333 / The Flashes Collection [Eng. trans.] (Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 1995) 415.
“Yes, all flowers, all fruits, all grasses, and all animals even, and all trees are seals of Divine Oneness and stamps of Divine Unity, which, together with the places they are found which take the form of missives, are like signatures showing the one who wrote the place. For example, a buttercup in a garden is like a seal of the garden’s inscriber. Whosever seal the flower is, all the flowers of that sort on the face of the earth indicate clearly that they are his words and that the garden too is his writing. This means that all things ascribe everything to the One Who created them, indicating a maximum affirmation of Divine Unity.”
Source 3: Suheyl Umar on Quran Sura 2 v 115
Sufis see that there is nothing in reality, nothing in existence, but God. The whole of the cosmos is penetrated by the divine reality such that according to another beautiful verse in the Holy Qur’an: ‘Unto God belong the East and the West. So wherever ye turn, there is the face of God.’
Humanity and Its Responsibilities
- The distinctive task of humanity is to nurture and serve this interdependent life-giving, and so to resist the temptation to exploitation, waste, and harm. Acting in the interest of human well-being cannot be something pursued in separation from working for the well-being of the whole created order.
Source 1: Quran Sura 7 v 69:
“Do you marvel that there has come unto you a Reminder from your Lord by means of a man among you, that He may warn you? Remember He made you viceroys after Noah’s folk, and gave you growth of stature? So remember the bounties of your Lord, so that you may be successful.”
Source 2: Quran Sura 5 v 2:
“Help one another unto righteousness and pious duty, and do not help one another unto sin and transgression, and fear God, for indeed God is severe in punishment.”
Source 3: Quran Sura 17 vv 26-27:
“Give the kinsman his due, and the poor, the wayfarer, and squander not in wantonness.”
- The human person has capacities that are conducive to the realization of this vision, as well as forces that are destructive. Ego, self-centeredness, greed, arrogance, and more are negative traits stemming from a limited sense of the human person. These have the potential to destroy humanity and creation. The soul, or the higher aspects of the human person, have the capacity to realize the fuller vision of humanity’s role in the broader scheme of the meaning of life and creation.
Source 1: Quran Sura 2 v 195:
“Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and let not your hands cast you into ruin, for indeed Allah loves the doers of good.”
Source 2: Qur’an, Sura 30:41.
Corruption has spread on land and sea as a result of what people’s hands have done, so that Allah may cause them to taste the consequences of some of their deeds and perhaps they might return to the Right Path
- There is an inherent relationship between the human person (within) and nature and objective reality (without). Thoughts, speech and action have the capacity to bring harm or to heal.
Source 1: Quran Sura 17 v 37:
“Don’t walk exultantly and proudly on earth. You cannot penetrate into the earth nor can you stretch yourself the height of the mountains.”
Source 2: Quran Sura 31 v 18: “Turn not your cheek scornfully towards people, nor walk on earth exultantly. For God does not love the boasting braggart.”
Source 3: Quran Sura 104 vv 1-4:
“Woe to every slandering traducer, who gathers wealth and counts it, thinking that his wealth renders him immortal. No, surely he will be flung into the Crusher (Hell).”
- The processes of growth, transformation, return and repentance are fundamental to human existence.
Source 1: Hadith al-Qudsi (the personal address of Allah):
“O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.”
Source 2: Hadith of the Prophet re two pieces of flesh that can damn us.
Source 3: Quran Sura 41 v 46:
“Whoever does good, does it to himself (to his credit), and whoever commits evil and wronged himself (to his loss). And your Lord is not unjust to His servants.”
Living in Spirituality and Responsibility
- There are reactions when we harm the earth and others. Actions have consequences and no action can be ignored. The weight of our actions and their short and long term consequences lead us to find ways of mitigating harmful actions and to work for the good.
Source 1: Quran Sura 91 v 7-10:
“And by the soul and He Who perfected it. And inspired it with (its conscience) of what is wrong and of what is right. Successful is the person who purifies it, and the loser is the one who stunts it.”
Source 2: Quran Sura 87 vv 14-15:
“Successful is the one who purifies himself, and remembers the Name of his Lord and then prays.”
- Empowered by mind, reason and spiritual understanding, we adopt a mindful and attentive view of the natural world and its needs, to take seriously the lessons and conclusions of scientific study and common reason.
Source 1: Quran Sura 99 vv 6-8:
When Earth is shaken with her quaking
And Earth sheds forth its burdens
And Man asks, ”What ails her?”
That day she will relate her news (i.e. her state of being)
Because her Lord inspired her
On that Day people will be brought forth in groups to be shown their deeds. And whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.
Source 2: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis of Modem Man”
Man wants to dominate nature not only for economic motives but also for a ‘mystique’ which is a direct residue of a one‑time spiritual relation vis‑a‑vis nature. Men no longer climb spiritual mountains ‑ or at least rarely do so. They now want to conquer all mountain peaks. They wish to deprive the mountain of all its majesty by overcoming it‑preferably through the most difficult fine of ascent. When the experience of flight to the heavens, symbolized in Christianity by the spiritual experience of the Divine Comedy and in Islam by the nocturnal ascension (al‑mi’rגj) of the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) is no longer available to men, there remains the urge to fly into space and conquer the heavens. There is everywhere the desire to conquer nature, but in the process the value of the conqueror himself, who is man, is destroyed and his very existence threatened.
Rather than man deciding the value of science and technology, these creations of man have become the criteria of man’s worth and value.
- The life of attentive, intelligent love is embodied in compassion: in openness to the pain and vulnerability of the world. Care for the other is expressed in love and compassion as fundamental spiritual principles. These are to be applied to other humans, human communities, and other parts of creation.
Source 1: The Prophet Muhammad said in a hadith:
“Whoever helps his brother, God helps him.”
Source 2: Imam Al Ghazali, 12th Century:
“The value of a human being is a like a non-material gem. His excellence over all creatures is given by the differentiating and descriptive features of particular subtleties, among which are the soul, the self, the intellect, and the heart. Thus have we become humans, and by these descriptions we have become aware, knowing, and not merely a predatory animal. And this gem (of creation) is the one who is addressed, asked of, criticized and punished/rewarded.”
Of all creation, we shall be help responsible for our actions on earth in this life.
