Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation Islam and Ecological Issues Allahu Akbar! God is great! Behold! Thy Lord said to the angels: “Verily I am about to establish on earth a viceregent.” They said, “Wilt thou place therein one who will spread corruption therein and shed blood, whilst it is we who celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy Name_ God answered, “Verily I know what ye know not.” The Noble Quran — S_rat al-Baqarah, v. 30 Stewardship of creation is a clearly defined theological responsibility. It exists under the doctrine of the person as a “ khalifah,” or divinely appointed representative, on behalf of Allah. As the Koran says of Allah, "I am going to place my ´khalifah' (deputy or steward) in the earth...and He taught Adam..." As God's ´ khalifah,' devout Muslims believe that the human person is entrusted with the care of the earth. The individual is God's deputy who exercises "dominion" over the material, that he or she may also be the servant (" abd"[1]) of the divine law. Man is thus understood as a servant-ruler, and is not rightly thought of as either servant or ruler separately, but as being both. For a Muslim to rule, he (or she) must also consecrate himself or herself to Allah and serve, and the devout Muslim only does either in proper Islam by doing both. [2] Tied to the concept of khalifah in the Koran is the Islamic concept of "ayat," or signs. This is an htmlect of stewardship in which the world is understood as a sphere of hints, intimations, meanings, disclosures and divine mercy. Implied in this assessment of the world is that there is a “cosmic Islam.” By definition, Islam means prayerful adoration of God. In the idea of a cosmic Islam, every feature of creation is always at prayer. When one enters into a sufficiently prayerful state, and thereby attains some upliftment of consciousness, then the world opens up as a series of lessons about Allah and his nature. In experiencing the physical world this way, the person, as Allah’s “khalifah,” is at the point of convergence between the spiritual and physical worlds. Then everywhere signs emerge which point to God's goodness and provision. The casual observer sees only the external phenomena, but the reverent discern the goodness of Allah and significance for the moment. All creation, then, summons the devout to discernment and attentiveness and to the apprehension of Allah’s ever-present latent meaning. This “apprehension,” or discernment of meaning, evokes gratitude and thanksgiving, and when the "signs" are reverentially greeted, this becomes a form of worship, for it is a participation in creation's giving and adoration of Allah. Thus, all awareness is potentially awareness of the sacramental interaction between Allah, man and the physical world. [3] In this Islamic context stewardship takes on the form, first of prayer, and then of discernment of right ecological response. With this as a foundation, Muslims should be in the forefront of ecological concern. However, because of historical and cultural habits that emphasize an anthropocentric response dominate, modern Islam is weak in actual ecological awareness and Islam has just begun to awaken to its full ecological intuitions. [1] Notice that the Arabic word for servant is “abd” which is remarkably similar to the Hebrew “abad” which is the word we translate into English as “dress,” or “tend,” or “serve” the garden. [2] Koran, Sura 2:30-31. See also sura 38:26. [3] Canon Allchin, "Some Evidence from other Religions," a section in the report, Man and Nature: A Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury on Man and His Environment , edited by Hugh Montifiore, Collins Publishers, St. James Place, London, 1975. Pg. 163-164.