Genesis 1 :28, ESV) "And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Man was given a command by God to subdue the earth and to become God's representative on earth. Adam was to rule over the goodly things that God had made and to tend and care for all that God had created. They were to have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/genesis-1-28

Religion plays surely a big role towards sustainability. From a Muslim Perspektive human beings are God´s "Khalifa" on earth which means representative and governor of the earth. this representation and governance has its ethical dimensions for example no waste or extravagance in utilising its goods,. Justice and fairness is a core principle for our behavior including our representation on earth.

According to Islam the representation on earth is connected with an other principle which is " amanah" the entrusted good. Earth is then for us an entrusted good of which we have to take care and we will be asked on the hereafter about our responsibility towards this Amanah.

Nowadays we speak about Eco- Jihad which means individual and social engagement and effort for sustainability and for environment protection.

The Old Testament indicates clearly that man was formed out of the dust of the earth 'adam min ha-adamah' (man from the ground). This man who is a product of the earth, is then given a responsibility to take dominion, and subdue the earth. Man's appropriate interpretation and appreciation of the texts that describe the relationship between him and the earth would surely affect his dealings with his environment. In fact, the varied positions on the interpretation of man taking dominion and subduing the earth have resulted in diverse human posture towards the environment. Some people advocate for pantheism while others are of the view that man has been given the license to make use of the earth's resources for their human survival without recourse to its care.

Noel Woodbridge Human beings are dominating the earth (managing themselves) or destroying it?

Mabrouka Rayachi Similar conceptions have the ancestral Latin American peoples

Antonio, I agree with you that many selfish political leaders, are are encouraging the destruction of the earth's resources. They are ignoring God's mandate to manage our natural resources properly and are plundering the earth for financial gain.

Dear Antonio Franco-Crespo

Yes, there is strong and direct relationship between religion and environment. In Islam, we find that the Holy Quran is full of verses confirming the complete protection and development of the environment, such as theses verses:

- ‘And cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. And invoke Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allāh is near to the doers of good’ (AlA'raaf:56).

- ‘ And remember when He made you successors after the ʿAad and settled you in the land, [and] you take for yourselves palaces from its plains and carve from the mountains, homes. Then remember the favors of Allāh and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption‘ (AlA'raaf:74).

Not only Quran, but also a lot of Prophetic sayings confirming the same thing. Among these, Prophet Mohammad pease be upon him says :

’There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is regarded as a charitable gift for him’.

The big question is that how can we utilize these amazing teachings?

Regards

Thank you for your answers. It would be interesting to study the gap between attitude and behavior on this topic. It is very likely that this gap is very different depending on the religion that is practiced.

I agree that religion plays an important role in all parts of this worlds. Each religion focuses on human beings and environments, but human beings are the key indicators to measure what is good or bad in this world. If we have good spirit, positive thinking and respect the unity in diversity, I believe that human beings and good and happy environment do certainly happen in this world.

"God blessed them(humans) and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” it is written in the book of Genesis.

So we did. Not in the right way sometimes. People are using their skills for their own interests, forgetting the basic purpose, to live in harmony with the nature that God created for us and to feed anyone who lives in this world. Some things are wrong and the people who hurts the natural environment are not quite religious. I think.

Yes because zGod expects us to care for the environment and this influence our attitude.

Theologian Colin Gunton says that our care for creation is linked to our belief in the imortance of this physical world as the place of our life and our salvation. We are called to care for creation in such a way as to allow it to realize the purpose for which it was made : render praise to God.

Thank you for your contributions that lead me to various reflections. One of them, how homogeneous is the behavior within the same religion?

As a marker of identity that transcends national borders, religion influences many environmentally relevant behaviors. Thus, understanding its role is key to tackling environmental challenges that are fundamentally transnational

Dear Antonio Franco-Crespo,

Thanks for this question. Allah SWT creat perfect universe. Unfortunately, humans are who change much the world by many bad behaviours. Such science are going to destruct many things in the world. This affects as example climate....I like science which is going to discover the world and to help humanity...this science which we need...

Regards.

Kaltoum

I'll follow up on responses

Dear @Antonio Franco-Crespo,

If you mean " Religion " as the faith and rituals of a race of community of people, then there is definitely sole relationship between religion, Environment and sustainability of a community of people.

In the beginning of Human civilization the fear of natural phenomena and on the other hand the nature as the supplier of all needs for living , created respect and awe to nature.

Human beings started to worship nature respecting the nature as mother . This different ways of worship and respect and different rituals came into tradition.

As the nature is not same everywhere , the mode of faith and rituals evolved differently in different places of the Globe.

Thanks

N Das

Intrested

Dear Antonio Franco-Crespo, How pretty interesting discussions!!! One can observe that religion has positively affected the environmental behavior and nature by decreasing pollution etc...Therefore, there is strong relationship between religion and 

the environment. 

Best Regards

Ayman

I agree with @Dr عبدالله البريدي Abdullah Al-Beraidi

Besides morals and values, religion also teaches stewardship. We are stewards of the envionment around us and need to take care of it for future generations even though we dont own it.

Yes it is mentioned to protect biodiversity and environment and it's conservation in Islam

Religion always teaches us what kind behaviors we will show in different environment to lead our life properly. So the, relationship between religion and environmental behavior is very important.

In theory, the answer is a definite YES. In practice, the answer is somewhat different, check, for example, WWI and WWII, the nuclear testing, fossil fuel usage, excessive mining, and their impact on the environment.

yes ofcors its a strong relationshep between relejen and invortmint behavior

I agree with Prof. عبدالله البريدي Abdullah Al-Beraidi and Dr. Kaltoum Belhassan.

Indeed, I agree with Prof عبدالله البريدي Abdullah Al-Beraidi.

In whole of the heavenly religions and it is also in divine book of the dignified prophets have been repeatedly recommended that it be respected into the God's creations/creatures. In fact, nature and environment are a unique manifestation from God Almighty to all creatures.

Sustainability in human behaviour is the accumulation of best practices either positively or negatively. And all Abrahamic religions have developed time tested and measurable tactics to molding people's behaviour towards a lasting impact in the society. Thus religion creates the fora towards behavioural sustainability.

This question I had posed to my country some time ago. Presenting her on this platform and receiving responses from so many different places has been very rewarding and instructive.

Dear Antonio Franco-Crespo

I agree with Md. Abdur Razzak Choudhury.

"Religion always teaches us what kind of behaviors we will show in a different environment to lead our life properly."

I think there is a relationship between religion and environmental behaviour and most religions and religious organizations favors a respect for nature. But there are differences even inside the same religion. In the case of christianity, the Catholic church clearly has an ecological point of view. It is expressed in the encyclical of Pope Frances Laudato Si. There is a Christian tradition more ancient than the divisions between Catholics and reformists that promotes the love for all creatures - the tradition of St. Frances. In Laudato Si the Pope Frances develops the concept of "integral ecology". But the Christian evangelicals that support Bolsonaro or Donald Trump do not share this kind of ecological concerns. I think there are religious traditions that underline the integration of humans in society and nature and others that are more individualist. Believers more focused in individual behaviour do not care so much about environment.

At least among Christians there should be, as the bible teaches that 'Genesis 2:15 (NASB) 15  Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. " or as another translation puts it "Genesis 2:15 (NIV2011) 15  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. " It seems God intended us to take care of the world He made, rather than exploit it and mistreat it.

It's depend on religion and their understanding.

Because first we are human means environment friendly than religious.

Religion never ever anti environmental behaviour but few people are trying to manipulate the message of religion for their own benefit.

Dear Antonio Franco-Crespo

I fully agree with Prof. Abdullah Al-Beraidi.

Certainly we shouldn't need the injunctions of any religion to tell us to look after our world. Common sense should tell us to take care of our environment for the benefit of our own and subsequent generations. In some cases, people might find the commands of their faith help them stay motivated in this direction.

Hello Antonio, I just want to add some comments from the Christian Bible that may shed a little light on this discussion. The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:19-25 NLT: "For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) This is an explanation by the apostle Paul concerning religion and the environment. God Bless!!!

Hi Antonio, I answered this question in some ways in my Chapter: Chapter A Vision of Eschatological-Environmental Renewal: Responding...

Other chapters in the same book also tackle the same issue. See: https://www.amazon.com/Creation-Africa-Society-Evangelical-Theology/dp/1783687568/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=God+and+creation+langham&qid=1609160073&sr=8-1

Warm wishes,

Rob

I think so.

Please, take a look to those contributions:

Article Religions and Global Sustainability. A research Study in Cat...

Chapter The Role of Religion in Global Sustainability: A Study on Ca...

Best!

Thank you Montserrat Gas-Aixendri

It does

Yes, the concepts of environmental protection, resource conservation and environmental environmentalism are strongly supported in Islam.

Yazar Bilgisi / Author Information

Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Müzekkir Kızılkaya/ Asst. Prof., Müzekkir Kızılkaya

Tokat GOP Üniversitesi İslami İlimler Fakültesi / Tokat GOP University Faculty of Islamic Sciences

e-mail : [email protected]

Tel : 05054989986

Tasavvuf ve Ahlak / Sufism and Morality

Tasavvufi Kavramlardan Murâkabe Eğitimi ve İhsan Duygusunun Ahlak Açısından Tahlili

Türkçe Geniş Özet

İnsan, fıtratı gereği hemcinsleri ile yaşamak zorunda olan bir varlıktır. Beşeri ve sosyal bir varlık olan insanın toplumsal hayat içerisinde haklarını, sorumluluklarını ve ödevlerini tayin eden kurallar olması gerekir. Çünkü kuralsız bir hayat kargaşa ve çatışma demektir. Kargaşa ve çatışmadan uzak durmak toplumun değerleri ile belirlenir. Bu değerler ve kurallar, temellerini dinden, yasalardan, örf ve adetlerden alır. Toplumsal değerler içerisinde en geniş kapsama alanına sahip olan kurallar ahlak kurallarıdır. Çünkü evrensel değerleri, dinin emir ve yasaklarını, kanunların belirlediği sınırları kısaca değer ifade eden bütün kurallar mutlak surette bir yönüyle ahlak ile irtibatlıdır. Kelime olarak tanımında da dikkatimizi çeken husus budur. Ahlak, fıtrat üzere olan vasıfların bozulmaması ile yaratılıştan gelen özelliklerini insanın kendisi dâhil, varlıkla ve insanlarla ilişkilerin de nasıl davranması ya da davranmaması gerektiğini gösteren değer yargılarının bütünüdür. Başka bir yönüyle Ahlâk, bir toplumda fertlerin genel olarak uyulması beklenilen formal veya informal kurallar ile kişilerin sorumlu oldukları görev ve vazifeleri hakkıyla ifası olarak ta tanımlanabilir. Ahlâk eğer kurallara uygun olarak yaşanırsa güzel ahlak, kuralları çiğnemek ve kuralların aksine hareket ise kötü ahlak olarak isimlendirilir. Ahlak öğretilebilir davranışları da kapsar. Toplumun değerlerini oluşturan faktörler doğrultusunda eğitilen kişiler güzel ahlakı sahibi olurken, bu değerlerin aksine eğitilen insanlar kötü ahlak sahibi olur. Güzel ahlak insanın iç dünyasında dış dünyasını da güzelleştirir. Ahlak eğitiminde kişinin kendi kendine otokontrol sağlaması çok önemlidir. İnsanın bu otokontrolü sağlamasında inandığı değerler önemli bir yer tutar. İnsanın ahlaki davranışlarının şekillenmesinde bağlı bulunduğu inanç sistemi ve yaşadığı çevre belirleyici unsurdur. Kişinin yaşadığı toplumun değerlerini inançlar, kültürler, gelenek görenek, örf ve adetlerle devletin koyduğu yasalar şekillendirir. Biz bu bildirimizde ahlaki kuralların şekillenmesinden genel manada dinin, özel manada ise tasavvufi kavramlardan ihsan duygusu ve murâkabeyi ele almayı düşünüyoruz. İnsanın sağlam bir karaktere sahip olması, kişilikli bir şahsiyet kazanması, güzel ahlak ile donanması, iç dünyası ile davranışlarının uyumlu olması kişinin üstün bir varlık tarafından (Allah) gözetim altında tutulduğu şuuruna sahip olması ile mümkündür. Bu düşünceye dinî literatürde “ihsan duygusu” tasavvufî literatürde ise “murâkabe eğitimi” denilmektedir. Hayatın her aşamasında Allah’ın gözetiminde olduğu, yaptığı her davranışın Allah tarafından görüldüğü ve kayıt altına alındığı şuuru ile hareket eden insan doğal olarak üstün ahlak sahibi olacaktır. İhsan duygusu insanın Allah’ı görüyormuşçasına davranışlarına dikkat etmesidir. Özel olarak ibadetlerimizde Allah’ı görüyormuşçasına ibadet ederken genel olarak toplumsal ilişkilerimizde, eğitim anlayışımızda, ticaret hayatımızda, kısaca her anımızda bu şuura sahip olmamız bize güzel ahlak kazandırırken iç dünyamızda da Allah’ın bizi gözetim altında tuttuğu şuuruna sahip olmamız içimizle dışımızın tutarlı olmasına katkı sağlayacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Ahlak, Tasavvuf, İnsan, İhsan, Murâkabe.

Mystical Concepts of Murâkabe Education and Moral Analysis of the Feeling of Ihsan

Abstract.

Man is a being that has to live with his fellows due to his nature. As a human and social being, there must be rules that determine their rights, responsibilities and duties in social life. Because a life without rules means turmoil and conflict. Keeping away from turmoil and conflict is determined by the values of the society. These values and rules are based on religion, laws, customs and traditions. The rules that have the widest scope of social values are the rules of ethics. Because all the rules that express value in short, the universal values, the orders and prohibitions of religion, the boundaries determined by the laws are absolutely connected with morality in one aspect. This is the point that draws our attention in its definition as a word. Morality is the whole of the value judgments that show how the qualities that are about to be natural and how they should behave or not behave in relations with the being and with people, including the human being. In another aspect, Morality can also be defined as the formal or informal rules that are expected to be followed by individuals in a society and the rightful performance of the duties and duties that individuals are responsible for. If morality is lived in accordance with the rules, it is called good morality, if it is violating the rules and acting against the rules, it is called bad morality. Morality includes teachable behavior. While people who are educated in line with the factors that constitute the values of the society have good morals, people who are educated on the contrary to these values have bad morals. Good morality enhances both the inner world and the outer world of a person. Self-control is very important in moral education. The values that people believe in maintaining this self-control have an important place. The belief system to which a person is bound and the environment he lives in are the determining factors in shaping his moral behavior. The values of the society in which a person lives are shaped by beliefs, cultures, customs, traditions and customs and laws imposed by the state. In this report, we are thinking about the shaping of moral rules, religion in general, and the sense of ihsan and murâkaba from Sufi concepts in particular. It is possible for a person to have a solid character, to acquire a personality, to be equipped with good morals, to be in harmony with his inner world and to have the consciousness of being under surveillance by a superior being (Allah). This idea is called "the feeling of bestowal" in the religious literature and "murâkabe education" in the Sufi literature. A person who acts with the consciousness that he is under the supervision of Allah at every stage of life and that his every behavior is seen and recorded by Allah will naturally have superior morality. The feeling of goodwill is that people pay attention to their behavior as if they see God. While worshiping as if we see God in our prayers in particular, having this consciousness in our social relations, education understanding, business life, in short, in every moment, gives us good morals, while having the consciousness that God keeps us under surveillance in our inner world will contribute to the consistency of our inside and outside.

Keywords: Morality, Sufism, Human, Ihsan, Murâkabe.

No, not concerning practiced behavior.

Theoretically, yes, because already the Torah carries an eco-logical message.

Yes, I believe that as God created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in it, we have been given the Earth and 'dominion' over the living creatures (Genesis 1:28).

So we should look after the valuable gift that we have been given and look after the world.

thanks

Yes, there is. Religion influence sustainable practices of humans and companies. This article provides an example related to corporate practices:

Article Religious social norms and corporate sustainability: The eff...

We believers tend to be more respectful with him, as a work of Creation and a gift from God; Furthermore, we think that degrading or damaging it is immoral (apart from unsustainable and thinking that its degradation or destruction also attacks and destroys humanity) and contrary to divine designs.

Yes, religion affects behavior. I often see women keeping very, very small bread, because they consider these crumbs to be a great blessing from God, and collect it and give it to the birds.

Please refer the article given below.

Religiosity: Towards A Conceptualization and An Operationalization

by Anuradha Iddagoda and Henarath H. D. N. P Opatha

Certainly no, because religion is a doctrine, but environmental behavior from an environmental reality may not have a religious doctrine such as isolated communities in forests and areas far from civilization.

I believe that the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area that is affected by human activity has a lots to do with religion. Jesus last statement to his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 were "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." So Jesus's disciples are to engage environments with his teachings, which is the word of God. If you can't say anything then you have to live it. The Apostle Paul says we are living epistles read and known by all men, 2 Corinthians 3:2.