Why do human beings have a responsibility for the Earth?

Contents:
1. Introduction 2. What is responsibility for the Earth? 3. Why do humans have a responsibility for the Earth? 3.1 Secular thought 3.2 Islamic thought 4. Examples of mankinds effect on the earth and solutions: Pollution: a. Domestic rubbish b. Industrial waste c. Chemical spillages d. Poisonous gases- acid rain e. Traffic fumes Global Warming: a. Increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere b. Climate change c. Effects i. Flooding ii. Storms iii. Hurricanes iv. Upsetting the delicate balance of the Earths atmosphere Using up natural Resources: a. Gas b. Coal c. Oil d. Non-renewable sources

5. Cases Individual- Fazlun Khalid Community- IFEES Government- Operation Oryx International- Assisi Declaration 6. Conclusion
1

1. Introduction Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the Earth -Henry David Thoreau
Humans- the most intelligent and advanced creatures on the Earth- are responsible for the wellbeing of our planet. Why? Humans have caused the extinction of thousands of species of animal and polluted it with poisonous fumes and littered it with their unwanted goods. This is why humans are responsible for taking care and preserving the Earth- they have taken from it in excess and have condemned their own future and the future of all other living creatures on this planet. If humans have the power to ruin the Earth as they are doing, they also have the power to take care of it. It is mans responsibility for what has happened and it is mans responsibility to fix it and prevent it from occurring again. Every life on this planet is worth something, this includes all the wild animals that inhabit our forests and seas. We have no right to kill them by taking away their habitats. This study aims to show how we are damaging the Earth and how we can change and help to fix our planet. Yes, the common saying every little helps is true but if we do not all start pulling our own weight it will be too late. We cannot do it on our own; everyone has to do their bit, otherwise our planet will plunge into environmental chaos leaving no capacity for life. Hopefully, by the end of this you will understand why it is of utmost importance we must do something about our planets environment and how we can do it.
Raahim Zafar 2011

There is no animal that walks upon the Earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, except that they form communities like you; We have neglected nothing in the Book (Quran), then unto their Lord shall they all be gathered in the end.
Surah 6:38
2

2. What is responsibility for the Earth?

To begin with, one must define the word- responsible. The Oxford Dictionary of English states that to be responsible is, having an obligation to do something, or having control over or care for someone, as part of ones job or role. Also, to be responsible is the same as to be accountable or answerable for that which you have control over. From this we can deduce that if we are responsible for the Earth then, we as humans are accountable for everything that happens to our planet which is not natural- as a nurse is responsible for the wellbeing of their patient- as it is our job to take care of it. This is very similar to the Islamic belief of Khalifah- or stewardship- which is one of the most important beliefs in the whole religion. In the Quran- which Muslims believe to be the word of Allah (God) - it says that Allah has made Muslims the vicegerents on the Earth. Muslims believe that all humans are responsible for the wellbeing of the Earth and all of its flora and fauna as Allah made it all and it was perfect and when he gave it to mankind to look after he expected them to keep it in a good condition just as a house sitter would do for the owner of the house. Humans are not leaders of the Earth- as is the major secular view- but are merely taking care of it as a deputy to Allah. Muslims consider it as their duty as stewards of the Earth to care for all life on this planet whether a small little thing, or a large scale action which affect everyone. In the Quran Allah says, And I have not created Jinn and men but that they may worship me [Surah 51:57] - from this we can infer that- according to Islam- humans were created only to worship Allah; this doesnt necessarily mean to be in prostration all the time, worship can be exercised in many different ways therefore, taking care of our planet would be a form of worship as you are serving Allah through serving and loving his creation. Overall, to be responsible for the earth is to be accountable for everything that happens to the earth that is within your power to control. In Islam responsibility of the earth is known as Khalifah- stewardship- which is a status given to all humans from Allah.

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place a vicegerent on the Earth." They said: "Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, - while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You." He (Allah) said: "Surely, I know that which you do not know."
Surah 2:30 3

3.1 Why do humans have a responsibility for the planet? Secular Thought
In Secular society there are many organisations which have been specifically formed to sustain the conservation and preservation of endangered species such as the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Also, many groups have formed- especially as political parties- which have taken the issue of pollution and the inefficient use of our limited reserves of substances such as oil and coal to the government; almost every democratic country has a party like this aiming to make their country a more environmentally friendly placein the United Kingdom this party is called the Green Party. The Green Party states on their website that the humans caused climate change is an unprecedented problem not only for the welfare of the human race in the future, but also for us alive right now. It is possible that in some of our lifetimes the sea levels could rise massively or the climate change dramatically. The WWF not only say that it is vital to safeguard the natural world by protecting different species of animals and plants, but to help preserve their habitats by reducing human activities such as logging in the rainforest and also, to reduce our harmful pollution of the world which could cause the extinction of thousands of species in the places such as the sea. Pollution is not only the emission of harmful gasses into the atmosphere; it is far more than that. Pollution is only a general term which covers a whole variety of different things. Industrial waste, domestic rubbish and chemical spillages- such as the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in 2010- are all types of pollution. This will be further looked into at a later point. Ultimately, the reason secular society believes that we are responsible for the earth is because it is worried about the future of the human race. Yes, some people are genuinely worried about the terrible loss of life in the wild and believe it is our responsibility as leaders of the world to protect our world, but the majority of the public are just worried about their own life and their families lives and therefore, they might buy a hybrid or occasionally walk to the supermarket while actually, they are ignorant of how they are still affecting the planets environment. This conclusion may be slightly pessimistic however, it is not far from the truth because the majority of the public have not had a proper education about how badly we are damaging the earth and consequently, they do not understand why it is bad for the environment and against moral values or how they can stop it.
4

3.2 Why do humans have a responsibility for the planet? Islamic Thought
As mentioned before, Muslims believe in the concept of Khalifah which can be translated as stewardship. At the end of the day, a Muslim would say the final reason for being responsible for the earth is that Allah told them to take care of it. However there are still other moral reasons as well as other factors which contribute to this Muslim belief. In one hadith The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is said to have delayed his daily prayers until their camels were taken care of- fed and all their need had been attended to. This story teaches a moral lesson to all Muslims; that it is vital to take The Aral Sea care of wild animals and therefore, to hunt animals for sport or their skin- such as tigers- would be wrong and against not only moral values but against Allahs will, as He has not created animals to be killed for the greed of men, so the only viable killing of animals would be for food and even that is not to be taken in excess. Furthermore, driving a species of animals to extinction would be considered no better than genocide because of the fact that we as Khalifahs are responsible for conserving the thousands and thousands of species that inhabit our planet just as a king is responsible for protecting his people. However one must remember, we are not kings of the earth, we are only deputies to Allah and He has trusted us with it to take care of for an appointed time. In the Quran Allah says, Do you not see that God has made subject to you (humans) all that is on the earth [Surah 22:65]. This means that everything on the planet is under our control including the environment. If the king analogy is furthered, a king as well as safeguarding his people must also provide them with sustenance and a place to live. This can be related to our world as, the sustenance all living things need includes food and water but also, a place to live. If we as humans (the rulers (deputy)) take down forests for our own benefit we would be no better than the greedy kings and dictators of the past therefore, to destroy the habitat of other living things is totally against Islamic belief. Overall, Muslims believe that they- and all other capable humans- have responsibility for the earth because, Allah has made mankind his stewards for taking care of the earth. Ultimately, it all comes down to moral values- they not only make their mark on the Muslim but also the secular view of humanitys responsibility for the planet. Moral values are ones differentiation between that what in their view is good and bad. Therefore, it is due to our morality that we believe we are responsible to take care of the earth, those who believe we as humans can go about as we wish clearly do not have a moral code to follow in life because, for thousands of years men have argued about what is right and what is wrong and to disregard that in this day and is nothing short of barbaric.
5

4 Current problems and solutions

Pollution
Domestic rubbish ranges from waste paper to throwing away excess food. The United Kingdom is one of the worst countries in the EU when it comes to recycling its waste. In 2003/04 the UK only recycled 17% of its total 30.5 million tonnes of waste whereas, some other countries in the EU recycled up to 50%. With the amount of rubbish Britain produces every year it would only take eight months to fill up the largest lake in the UK which is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland at a staggering 148 square miles large- that is about the same size as three Manchesters. If all the unreleased energy in the typical dustbin was used it would power a television for the best part of seven months. 60% of all the waste in a dustbin can be recycled. Much of the rubbish we have is sent to landfills; not only are they an ugly site but also, some of the materials in there- such as glass- may never decompose. Another common action taken by governments is to incinerate it; this lets off poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, the latter of which contributes heavily to global warming. The Solution is simple, recycle as much as possible and reduce waste. However there is a problem with this; over the past few years the government has provided many homes in the UK with recycling bins but, there are many materials which cannot be recycled in these bins. There are recycling centres in every area in which almost everything can be recycled but they are too few and scattered. For recycling to be a success in the UK the government need to provide lots more- but smaller- recycling centres for every community in places such as local parks or places where a lot of the community regularly go such as supermarkets or pubs. This would be a level 3 solution- a government action- however to get there we must start by doing the little things ourselves such as taking our waste to recycling centres and reducing our intake of excess items. From there, you can take collective action with others who are doing the same and take it a step further by helping your community recycle by simple things like handing out leaflets (on recycled paper!) about how important and easy it can be or taking their waste for them- by forming an organisation- and campaigning for better recycling facilities. Furthermore, if the campaigning goes on for a long enough as well as the recycling going more efficiently than it was before, the government will take notice and it could possibly go to parliament. If then the governments methods are effective nationwide then that one persons bright spark could go international, with other governments following our lead and revolutionising how everyone in the world recycles therefore reducing the landfills in every country and reducing pollution by cutting down on incineration of waste.

Industrial Waste pollutes many rivers and streams in the UK as many factories use freshwater to carry away the waste from places like power plants to lakes and the sea. Much of the waste that is released into the water includes harmful chemicals. These chemicals could poison the water making it dangerous to drink for wild animals; also the chemicals could get into the sea and affect marine wildlife. Another problem of industrial waste is the radioactivity of some substances; a natural event such as fire could damage an industrial building which would then react with radioactive substances which could cause deformities in new-born children and possibly kill many people- an example of this would be the aftermath of the 2011 Tsunami which affected Japan. Events like these have occurred dozens of times since the beginning of the industrial revolution. One on-going problem is the environmental issue affecting the Niger delta. Over the past few decades the Niger delta has been severely polluted by harmful chemicals from the petroleum industry based near its banks. Between 1960 and 1997 upwards of 16 billion litres of oil were spilt into the delta. There were many causes for this including the corrosion of pipelines, sabotage of pipelines and then selling on the stolen oil and oil production operations. These spills have upset the local ecosystem; many mangrove forests have been destroyed, the entire Nigerian rainforest has disappeared. Some of these spills which occurred near residential areas killed the whole years crop and also millions of fish have died due to the consumption of dissolved oxygen by bacteria feeding on the spilled hydrocarbons, which is ultimately not much different to poisoning. The solution is not as simple as it seems. The pollution of waterways is not an a rare incident; in Rochdale, Greater Manchester the industrial revolution caused a lot of pollution of the towns River Roch due to the mills which used the river to function and then releasing all their waste into it- the pollution has now cleared naturally after being left alone for decades. In much of the United Kingdom in fact many rivers and lakes have been polluted by Industry; not so much as a few months ago (August 2011), it was reported on the news that otters had finally returned to every county in the UK after decades of hard work- which is needed for the future to cure already affected areas and prevent it from happening again which ultimately comes down to teamwork by both the community and the government.

Chemical spillages can range from substances such as asbestos or lead getting into our water supply or a large amount of oil on a massive scale being spilled affecting all the marine life in the vicinity and having long term effects economically for the country. One recent case is the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill- also known as the BP Oil Spill; The effects of this range from causing incurable damage to thousands of wild animals to ruining tourism and economy in the area which include both Mexico and the USA. The effects of this are still causing whales and dolphins to die twice the previous rate. Unfortunately the solution for this is difficult, we as the public cannot do much about it except try to help when it goes wrong. However, there is a solution to the problem of oil- hydrogen. Some new cars have a hydrogen fuel cell which does not pollute the atmosphere at all as well as being renewable because hydrogen- as the simplest element in the universe- is also the most abundant and getting it out of the ground is no harder than drilling for oil. The Hydrogen fuel cell could also in theory power everything else that oil currently does; food for thought. Traffic fumes and acid rain are linked. Acid rain is caused due to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It can have a damaging effect on many things including infrastructure, marine life, plants and so on. Some people say that all carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is bad and causes the greenhouse effect and is bad. Yes, carbon dioxide heavily contributes to the greenhouse effect but, it is not always bad- it is bad when you get too much of it. If there was no greenhouse effect the planet would be a frozen ball of ice. Acid rain is especially bad in High Income Countries (HICs) as due to more of the population getting cars the CO levels in the atmosphere and increasing the amount of acid rain. The Solution for this is again, difficult. The only long term solution is to stop our air pollution by somehow replacing our oil with something else. Yes, electric cars or hybrids seem a good option but at the end of the day the electricity youre getting still comes from oil. So again the same solution remains- at least the only practical and realistic long term solution- hydrogen.

Global Warming

Carbon dioxide levels have increased considerably over the past hundred years. As mentioned before, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which causes global warming. Over the past hundred years the earths average surface temperature has risen by 0.8C of which two thirds has occurred over the last thirty years. Global warming and cooling has been common over thousands of years but never on this scale. There have been two instances over the past five hundred years of global warming- both were miniscule in comparison to today and also just for one or two years after which temperature dropped back down to normal. So, over the past hundred yearsmainly due to the industrial revolution and everything that followed- the world has undergone a major climate change. This climate change has causedespecially recently- a lot of ice glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic to melt which will eventually have a major effect on the worlds climate. The icebergs that melt contain fresh water; this water affects the natural current flow of seas such as the North Atlantic Current. One of the most radical- but realistic- changes that could occur, is Britains temperature dropping colossally if the North Atlantic Current stopped. Britains average climate then would be very similar to that of Canada, Scandinavia and much of Russia. Another effect of climate change would be- and has been- storms and freak weather. In 2002 India experienced a severe heatwave. 1000 people died but, entire rivers dried up, many of the tinned roof houses were like ovens and birds just fell from the sky- literally- and animals collapsed. This was followed by the European heatwave in 2003- over 40000 people died and much crop was affected- 80% of wheat in Moldova died. Then in 2005, the Tropical Cyclones were some of the worst ever; one of these was Hurricane Katrina- it hit New Orleans and was the most costly Hurricane ever in the USA as well as one of the deadliest. There have not only been heatwaves but also freezing cold winters- many countries have broken the record for the lowest temperature ever.
9

Using Up Natural Resources Coal, gas and oil are all non-renewable energy sources. They are formed over millions of year by the pressure exerted on million year old trees which have been buried underground. In the United Kingdom gas and coal are the dominant forms of fossil fuels used to produce energy. Renewable sources such as wind power is used to a limited extent in Britain. However in 1990 there was no renewable source of energy used at all in the UK- it is now up to 3.5% of the total energy production. The problem with fossil fuels is first, they are limited and will run out- maybe within a hundred years and second, they produce carbon dioxide when they are burnt- which is how
energy is made. Fossil fuels are the main cause for the rapid climate change over the past century. The solution to this problem is a major topic of discussion all around the world. People disagree about which is best and by the time they have decided it will be too late. However, renewable sources are obviously the final answer- but which one? A combined effort by methods such as wind power and solar power seems to be it.

Therefore, if we use our current fossil fuel to help start up more wind farms and install solar panels, we can slowly shift the balance of power from non-renewable to renewable sources of energy in the process, our world will be greener and we will reduce our Carbon Footprint. It will take time but patience is key- patience and perseverance.

10

5. Cases
Individual- Fazlun Khalid (Level 1) Fazlun Khalid is a British Muslim of Sri Lankan origin. He is the Founder Director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES). He is a former RAF soldier; he also worked for the Commission of Racial Equality. As he worked he found some issues in the community which caused him to worry about the environment. Two of them were particularly disturbing for him; poverty and breakdown of stable immigrant families. He realised how even after decades of colonial rule when huge amounts of wealth were generated, many Sri Lankan people remained poor. He also observed that immigrant families felt out of place in an alien world to them, he wanted them to feel part of the community. So, during the 1970s and 1980s he worked hard with others who felt the same to try and make a Muslim community in both Birmingham and Leeds. It was a success and those same communities he created still exist today. This example shows how just one person can make such a huge difference with one unselfish thought which leads to a lot of benefit to others. Khalid said that it is part of Islam to be part of ones environment as the word Islam itself means submission (to Allah) and therefore, we must do something about the crisis facing mankind today. An individual can change their lifestyle slightly and make huge differences- things like walking to the supermarket or recycling properly can make a massive change to the environment around them. Community-IFEES (Level 2) After Khalid helped form communities he sought to spread the message to the world of how important the environment is and how it is the duty of every human-especially Muslims- to protect it as Khalifahs- guardians/ stewards of the earth. IFEES has helped form a partnership between Muslim Aid and the WWF. IFEES has a massive aim- to build a rural settlement where Muslims can live according to precise Islamic rules and help the environment according to them giving an example to the rest of the world. Overall, a community (or any group of people working together) effort is huge as it boosts the individuals actions by a lot because if everyone in the group does the things the individual was doing it would make an even greater change to the environment. Only a few people- one family- doing their bit will help and give them savings.
11

Government- Operation Oryx (Level 3) Some problems are just too large scale for an individual or a group of people to tackle by themselves- some problems require official action, government action. The Arabian Oryx was a dying species in 1960. Only 200 were left in the wild clustered in one part due to hunting. Operation Oryx was started by many different environmental agencies all worried about this animal. Oryx were confirmed to be extinct in the wild in 1972 however, the last Oryx had been captured and breeding was on-going in zoos. The zoo population continued to grow. The Sultan of Oman, who passed laws banning hunting in 1975 due to his Islamic beliefs, became a supporter of the scheme. He helped them to be released into the wild desert of Oman under protection of some tribes who were to be the rangers in their community. Numbers have grown considerably in the wild since the beginning of this scheme and the species is no longer critically endangered. Similar projects have taken place for other wild and endangered animals in Oman such as the houbara bustard. This project just goes to show how much difference the participation of a government in a project can make such a huge difference. International- Assisi Declaration (Level 4) In 1986 there was a multi-faith conference in Assisi regarding the world environment. It was on the 25th anniversary of the WWF. The church there (where the meeting had taken place) was named after the Christian St. Francis- he had emphasised how important it is to take care of your environment so you can be at one with Gods creation. Here the Assisi declaration was made here, each religion made a statement; The Muslim representatives said that as Allahs trustees on earth it is our responsibility to maintain the unity of His creation, its flora, its fauna. Also, it was stated that unity can only be maintained by balance and harmony between everyone. The Prophet Muhammad said, The world is green and beautiful and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it. Overall, the message was to take care of the beautiful planet God has made for you as it is the duty he has bestowed upon you. The Ohito declaration was nine years later (after the Assisi declaration) which talked about how to maintain what we have and save what we are losing for the future.
12

Conclusion
Over the course of this study we have dwelled into many things including What is it? Why is it? and How can we stop it? What you take from it depends on many factors but the main message of this is that we as humans are responsible for the earth and everything in it because either it is morally right if youre not religious or if you are its because it is the right thing to do and God and his Prophets have taught it. Think about it, put yourself in the sufferers position- its easy to say youre not them and you dont care but that is just the most selfish thing ever said by a human- despicable, our morality as a race is deteriorating, that is the long term effect of living without a religion moral values become obsolete or out of fashion, this is what Islam would call Jahiliyyah- the time of ignorance. How can we change to help the earth? Well, every little helps- do your bit and get others to do their bit it will come together faster than you know it. Many men (and women) have revolutionised our world Einstein, Marie Curie and Fazlun Khalid- some famous some not but, now we need someone to be the one to help save it. Moreover, the world is suffering, the people of this world are suffering and the creatures of this world are suffering, maybe not directly but certainly indirectly because of us- the ultimate message of this is that we have to build today for a better tomorrow because it is the world we created and the world we must take care of. One day, perhaps in our lifetimes we will run out of fossil fuels which will be both good and bad- we need to prepare now. It is like an exam- you do not go to an exam room and make it up as you go along no- you prepare for months. We live in the present every breath taking us towards the future, but what is that future going to be like- well that is up to us not the government- we must take the first step. This is my view, it is our world, and it is our responsibility because it is ours. Suffering is unnecessary and totally preventable. Mankinds greed has got the better of them. It is time for change, time for a major revolution of how people think about the environment religious or not. Letting a child in Africa die because you polluted the water when you could save them is no better than man-slaughter.

13

In final conclusion, take care of the world and spread the message- that is how we can save it- but that action needs to be taken now. There is one solution to this problemrapid change to how we live our lives, small things which will help- all of us doing this together will cause huge change, it will give our planet a long delayed dose of medicine. Many say that it is too late and that we wont be here when the world is in a state where no life can survive- but no, it is not too late, it is still possible to nip the problem in the bud, however big that may be- its never too late- and to those who claim we are not going to be alive for the effects when they take place- your children will be, their children will be- are you going to let billions upon billions suffer for your laziness of not turning of the light when you arent in the room? The Prophet Muhammad once said

Whoever kills a sparrow or anything bigger than that without a just cause, Allah will hold him accountable on the Day of Judgment."

14