84 85 From Islam The Perspective of Islam and Muslims on Sustainability Valuable approaches to sustainability can be found in the sources of Islam. We find sustainable elements in the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions as well as in the biographies written by Muslims after his death. The awareness of treating resources with care and not seeing creation as property and not exploiting it is very central to the sources of Islam. As for example in Sura 7, verse 31: "... eat and drink! But do not be wasteful." The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm. (Al-Hakim) These important approaches are two of many and characterise the everyday lives of religious people. However, economic and global changes have also changed and shaped the everyday lives of Muslims. Consumerism and the exploitation of resources as well as wastefulness stand in contrast to the sources of Islam. The traces of colonialism in some Muslim countries are still having an impact. Poverty also plays an important role in many Muslim countries. The struggle for essential resources and the imbalance between prosperity and poverty are more in focus than sustainability, although the one has a lot to do with the other. So what does the understanding of sustainability look like in our present day? Linking the approaches of Islam with sustainability is taking small steps. "There are terms such as Eco-Islam and Eco-Jihad, which were coined in England. Muslim initiatives recommended in a Green Hajj that the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, should only be made by plane once in a lifetime and that compensation payments should be made for CO2 emissions. The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, a global NGO, developed a more comprehensive training programme that focused not only on mosques, but also on biodiversity." 1 Monika Zbidi from the Centre for Oriental Studies at the University of Erlangen/ Nuremberg says: "Yes, well, in the Muslim community in Germany this is still more in its infancy than in the churches, I would say. There are certainly campaigns in individual Muslim communities on the subject of environmental protection from time to time. However, it is often not documented now and it is also not on a large scale, perhaps individual days of action". 2 Zbidi refers to the Muslim environmental organisation Hima e.V., which is well-connected. They also founded the association with NourEnergy and other students ten years earlier. Their goal is to combine environmental protection with Islamic principles. The founders are not Islamic theologians. Today, Hima activists mainly post on social media, approach mosque associations and give lectures on sustainability and Islam. 3 The situation is similar in Austria. In addition to studies and literature on the subject, there are also children's books. Environmental education is more important to young parents than their parents. They try to make sustainability present in the family home. They are aware that without role models it will be difficult to raise children's awareness. The Islamic principles of mindfulness towards creation need a connection to reality in the present. The challenges of modernity are very great, and it is more difficult now to go without something than it was 100 years ago. Today, many households have running water. You don't have to carry it from far away. It is therefore more difficult to save water than it was several hundred years ago. People were more economical then and it was not easy to get hold of resources so quickly. The availability of resources and the distractions of consumption remain a challenge. Mindfulness of resources should not only arise when access becomes more difficult or the resources are already destroyed. Sustainability must not be separated from spirituality. The sources of Islam remind us of the careful treatment of creation in ablutions, through to the treatment of plants and animals, as well as the consumption of clothing and pleasure, so that spiritual responsibility is not forgotten. Zeynep Elibol Footnote to 1,2,3 https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/muslime-und-klimaschutzder-oeko-islam-steht-noch-am-anfang-100.html 9.5.2022
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