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Environment and Nature: Islam

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The sacred text of Islam, the Qur˒ān, contains a theology of ecology, for nature and ethics are at the very core of its moral worldview. Indeed, so central is the theme of the affinity of nature and ethics that even outside observers, such as Marshall G. Hodgson, have epitomized the dictates of the Islamic commitment as “the demand for personal responsibility for the moral ordering of the natural world.”

The creation of humanity is one of the grandest themes of the Qur˒ān. It is alluded to either philosophically in a symbolic language or biologically, employing the medium of natural science. Philosophically, the first assertion is that of the purposefulness and meaningfulness of human life. The Quranic teleology is preeminently moral: humans are to execute the will of God, but it is an undertaking which they have imposed upon themselves. It is a pledge made by man and woman to God. Hence, God, for His part, has endowed them with all the faculties essential to undertaking this august...

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York

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Manzoor, P., Sardar, Z. (2008). Environment and Nature: Islam. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9565

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9565

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4559-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4425-0

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