Ibrahim Abdul-Matin’s book, “Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet” begins, “the Earth is a mosque, and everything in it is sacred.” The quote is based off a hadith (a report of the Prophet Muhammad’s sayings, acts, approvals and disapprovals) which quotes the Prophet as stating when the time comes for daily prayer, it is acceptable to pray anywhere on Earth since, as mentioned above, the Earth itself is a mosque. Beyond determining protocol for fulfilling the daily prayer obligation, this hadith has been one of the foundations of the environmental movement within Islam; as Abdul-Matin relates, “Islam teaches a deep love of the planet, because loving the planet means loving ourselves and loving our Creator. That is to say, Islam teaches that we are all One.”
Abdul-Matin spoke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently, and if you missed it, don’t worry. Tonight at 7 p.m. in the Vandeburg Auditorium of the Pyle Center, you can catch Frederick M. Denny, professor emeritus out of the University of Colorado at Boulder, discuss the idea of faith-based stewardship of the Earth within Islam. Denny will discuss the religious aspect of conservation and how one can interpret the Qur’an as a call for the active preservation of the Earth.
I would recommend this lecture to anyone with even a passing interest in religious studies, Islam or the environmental movement. One of the large-scale measures “Green Deen” calls for cooperation with other religions and groups to meet and exceed goals of the environmental movement as a whole. Religious dialogue and solidarity are wrapped up in this topic. Furthermore, anyone with a religious or ecological motivation who feels passionate about the environment will find an ally with the Islamic movement, which Abdul-Matin outlines and which Denny’s lecture will shed light on.
On cooperation, Abdul-Matin writes, “harnessing this passion with the passion of those who are drawn to the environmental movement for other reasons makes the overall movement to protect the planet, animals, people and plants a stronger movement that represents the diversity of the planet.” In short, we all live on this planet—Muslim, Christian, atheist, vegan, fraternity brother, soccer mom and so on—and regardless of our individual motivations we ought to, at least in this case, have the same end goal: keeping the planet alive. Attending the Pyle Center lecture tonight can help you learn about the Qur’an’s take on the issue: This will help anyone, Muslim or not, foster this sort of cooperation.
If religious environmentalism as a whole interests you, also consider reading “Green Deen.” What is more, the Religious Studies program here at the UW offers “Religion in Global Perspective” (listed as RELS101), which has religion and the environment as one of its themes. Finally, Dr. Anna Gade, UW-Madison professor (who happens to be teaching RELS101 this semester), has a Vimeo page with plenty of content on Islam and ecology in Indonesia.
I realize this week’s column is mostly about promoting a lecture, but this is the kind of event which should be taken advantage of by students. I realize we spend our whole day in class, but the environmental movement and Islam are two topics that are important to our world today, and this lecture combines them. So, if you’re a devout Muslim interested in what the Qur’an has to say about conservation, or you’re a passionate environmentalist looking for more information about ally groups, or you’re just a student whose interest has been slightly piqued by this topic, consider heading to the Pyle Center tonight.
Tom is a senior majoring in religious studies. Do you have any religous topics you think would make for a good column? Send any suggestions or feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
