Abdul Rahman Chao

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great victory.

We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And all praise is due to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the evil that resides within our souls and from the evil that results from our evil deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none shall misguide, and whomever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows to be led astray, none shall guide them back to the straight path.

I bear witness that there's no God worthy of worship except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and I bear witness that Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, peace and blessings be upon him, is His servant and messenger.

The best speech is the speech of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and the worst of affairs is that of religious innovation, for all that is misguidance and all misguidance leads to hell.

Allah's Trust to Humanity

Allah tells us in the Quran that He announced His intentions to create mankind, and He told the angels, as we find in surah al-Baqarah:

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told the angels that He was going to create Adam, but He described him as a خليفة - as a vicegerent, someone who would... This word خليفة is someone that you leave behind as a representative, as a caretaker. He said I'm going to create a vicegerent that will be on earth - in other words, to represent My will.

The angels have knowledge of what has occurred, and the ulama of tafsir say that before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brought humans to this planet, there was another creation on earth and they had created a lot of fasad, mischief, and spilled a lot of blood. So the angels said, "Are you going to create something that will do that?" So Allah says, "I know and you do not know."

So after Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had created Adam and everything - you know the story, the whole creation story of Adam - Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala taught Adam الأسماء كلها. What does that mean? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala taught Adam the names of everything, and there are many different opinions among the scholars of what that actually entails, but He basically taught him all the names of everything and what they do and how to use it.

The Perfect System of Earth

So this dialogue that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is having with the angels is a foreshadowing of what is going to happen to the human race - that they will end up coming to earth after Adam and Eve had consumed the forbidden fruit from the tree.

When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brought Adam and his wife to this planet, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't send them to an inhospitable planet like Mercury or Saturn or something where everything is half frozen or on fire. He sent them to this perfect place.

And this planet, as you see, runs on a perfect system that Allah has created for it. There are multiple things that feed into one another that creates a perfect ecosystem. Allah says in the Quran:

Allah says in the Quran that He brings the living out of the dead - in other words, even from the things that have fallen and have died and wasted away, there is life that will come out of it. And He will bring out dead from the living - obviously the living passing away. And He gives life to the earth after its barrenness. And that is how you will be brought out.

Allah tells us: "And the good land, the fertile land rich, abundant with fecundity, its vegetation grows by the will of Allah, and the land that is barren and bad, nothing will emerge from it except something that is very sparse with great difficulty. And these are the many signs that Allah gives for people who are grateful."

So Allah handed Adam and Eve a situation where they came to an earth that was running in a perfect cycle and a system. But when He put them on this planet, He gave them a responsibility to take care of it, to nurture it, to guard over it.

(Sahih Muslim)

The Prophet ﷺ echoes this idea in which he ﷺ said: "This world is sweet and green, it's beautiful and verdant, and Allah will put you in charge, vice-gerent - He puts people in charge of this beautiful green world to see how you will behave."

The Reality of Climate Change

Brothers and sisters, we are living in a time where it is undeniable that climate change is a real topic. It is not a hoax, it is not a conspiracy theory led by people who are anti this or anti that. It is a real issue and that it is something that is going to be affecting billions of people - the mass weather changes, the fluctuations, the destruction of billions of dollars of crops because the weather suddenly changes from what is hot to suddenly freezing and snowing. All of these things point to the importance and the reality that we are living in.

How is it that Allah gave humans this nice perfect planet and now if we look at it, this planet is in many ways unrecognizable?

So this idea of sustainability is not something that is foreign to Islam. It is something that is deeply rooted in our tradition. When we look in the Quran and we look in the Sunnah of the Prophet, we will see multiple examples of how the Prophet and how the Quran encourage sustainability and taking care of this planet as it is a responsibility given by Allah to us.

Islamic Teachings on Environmental Preservation

First, Islam teaches us about the importance of preserving the environment, the natural beauty for future generations. The Prophet ﷺ encouraged the planting of trees and he says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2320)

"There is not a single person out there that plants a tree in which an animal or a bird or a human benefits from that tree except that that act is counted as an act of charity and reward for them."

In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ is narrated by a companion saying that he heard the Prophet ﷺ saying:

"Whoever plants a tree and he is patient - and you know a lot of times people just plant a tree and that's it, they leave - plants the tree and takes care of it and nurtures it until it bears fruit, then anything that comes and benefits from this tree and its fruits, even in the shade, this is all considered sadaqah."

Examples from the Companions

Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله تعالى عنه one time visited this friend of his, and so it is actually the son who is narrating this hadith. Ibn Khuzaymah ibn Thabit is saying that Umar visited my father, and my father had all this land. So he asked this old man, "What are you doing with this land? You're doing nothing with it, you're just letting it sit there not doing nothing beneficial."

And so the man said he told Umar, "I am already very advanced in age - basically I'm very old, I don't have time for this." Umar ibn al-Khattab looked at him and he says, "I insist that you plant and cultivate this land."

And so this man, Ibn Khuzaymah, he says, "I saw Umar ibn al-Khattab helping my father cultivate this land and plant trees and vegetation on it." All for what? All for the benefit of the future generation.

And another story - we find Abu Darda was one time asked about why are you planting this tree when you are basically going to go back to Allah very soon? He says, "What is the problem with that that I planted but someone else benefits from it? That's something good for me even if doom is on the way."

(Musnad Ahmad)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم encouraged and he says: "If you have a sapling in your hand and the Day of Judgment is about to start, and if you are able to plant it, then plant it." You might say, well who's going to benefit from it? The tree will benefit from it, even those few minutes or moments that are left. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم encouraged it.

Keeping Our Planet Clean

Additionally brothers and sisters, Islam encourages sustainability through keeping our planet clean, removing trash, removing filth. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells us in the very common famous hadith, he says:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 35)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says that faith is of 70-something branches, 73 branches or so. The highest of which is saying لا إله إلا الله - there is no God worthy of worship except God - and removing harm from the road, that is a sign of faith, and being modest is a sign of one's faith.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was one time with his companions and he said, "Be afraid of the two things that people will curse you for, they will condemn you for." And the companions they said, "And what are those two things, Messenger of Allah, that people will curse you for?" He said, "Those people that urinate or defecate in the ways on the roads where people walk and pass, or they urinate in these areas, urinate or defecate."

So brothers and sisters, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم warned us about this kind of pollution. And even in the Quran, Allah سبحانه وتعالى warns us about some people. Specifically, there was a hypocrite during the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who used to proudly walk around and beautify his speech and make people think that he was so pious, but he was on a path of destroying crops and destroying the environment. And Allah says in the Quran:

There are people in this world that will amaze you with their speech, and he will testify of what he has in his heart - he says, "By Allah, this is what is in my heart," being honest - and he is the most quarrelsome, most problematic. But when he turns around, he goes and he spreads mischief, he's destroying crops and destroying animals and destroying the environment. Allah سبحانه وتعالى does not like this.

Corporate Greenwashing

Right now we see this intense lobbying efforts from multiple billion dollar corporations, and it's a joke now because sometimes you will see these companies - they claim, oh, they have all these big ads in Times Square and on YouTube and Google talking about, "We do sustainable whatever it is that they are doing, sustainable," and so they will say on their clothing tag that this article of clothing was made from sustainable renewable resources, whatever. And you know what it is? The tag - the clothing tag was a renewable resource. It's not the actual clothing itself. And they're making you think that, "Oh, I'm being a society conscious person. I am aware of being following the way of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in watching out for the environment." No.

Reusing and Sustainability

Also, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to encourage sustainability through reusing things. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم one time had a cup, a wooden cup, and it broke. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم couldn't easily just throw it away and say, "I want another cup." No, he repaired it with some silver filling to keep it strong, and so he continued using it صلى الله عليه وسلم.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to mend his own sandals when they were ripped or broken.

We also find in the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم - to summarize - that some clothes were brought to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and among it was this khameesa. And a khameesa is sort of like a long shirt - both men or women they have different styles, and there's usually lines and designs on it. So among these clothes there was this khameesa that was given to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "Who do we give this to?" And no one said anything. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ائتوني بأم خالد - "Bring Umm Khalid."

Who's Umm Khalid? Umm Khalid bint Khalid was married to Zubayr ibn al-Awam - not the mother of Abdullah ibn Zubayr, that's the son of Asma bint Abi Bakr - but she came, she was a young girl at that time, and her parents had migrated to Abyssinia, so she was born in Abyssinia and she came back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم brought her and then he put the dress on her, and then here is the most beautiful du'a he said for her, he said:

And in Arabic when you say أبلي وأخلقي, it means - it's a du'a for longevity: may you live so long that this piece of clothing that you have, even if it's torn and tattered, that you keep mending it, you keep reusing it over and over again. And that's why the scholars they said the meaning of this is عيشي وخرقي ثيابك وارقعيها - live and you're gonna rip your clothes living through it, and you're going to mend it.

Brothers and sisters, this is the way of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. This is the way that the Quran has taught us about the importance of sustainability.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله.

The Greatest Preventative Measure: Avoiding Waste

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء المرسلين نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters, we cannot emphasize the importance of sustainability, and we would be remiss if we didn't talk about the greatest preventative measure to help preserve the environment, and that is to avoid waste. And waste, brothers and sisters, is something that is condemned in the Quran, no doubt.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى that even describes people who are wasteful - He describes them as مسرفين and مبذرين - the extravagant and wasteful people. So the scholars they have discussed what is the difference between المسرف and مبذر, and there is sometimes it's synonymous and sometimes they are not. But the general meaning is الإسراف - to be wasteful as we find in the Quran - is to spend on something more than what it deserves, even if it is something halal. And the other phrase is to spend on something, to waste money on something that is haram. So it's both wasteful.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى associates waste and extravagance and associates those people with the brethren of the devil. What does Allah say in the Quran? "Those people who are wasteful, they are the brothers, they are the brethren of the shayateen." May Allah سبحانه وتعالى protect us.

Even waste can come in things that are halal. Allah says in the Quran:

"O sons of Adam, take your adornments" - meaning wear nice clothes to the masjid - "and eat and drink" - these are things that are halal - "eat and drink, but do not be extravagant and wasteful. He does not like those that are wasteful."

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also says: "Eat and give charity and wear nice clothes as long as there is no waste and to show off."

The Scale of Waste Today

On average, brothers and sisters, the EPA they've come out with studies showing that every human, every person throws away on average 1,300 pounds of trash a year - 1,300 pounds. And they said that food waste in the United States of America amounts to at least 60 million tons, 160 billion dollars worth of food. 50% of all this food that you see in the grocery stores, in the restaurants, 50% all thrown away, waste.

Even in Acts of Worship

Brothers and sisters, waste can happen even in acts of ibadah. A Bedouin came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:

(Sunan an-Nasa'i)

A Bedouin came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he asked him how to make the wudu. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم showed him how to make the wudu as we know - three times for each - and then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says, "And whoever goes beyond that, then they have transgressed the limit."

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم witnessed another person making wudu and he says, ما هذا السرف - "What is this wastefulness?" And he says, "Ya Rasul Allah, even in wudu there could be waste, making ablution for salah?" He says, نعم وإن كنت على نهر جار - "Even if you are on the banks of a river that is flowing, there could be waste."

The Root Cause: Human Greed

Finally, brothers and sisters, sustainability - the root cause of why we cannot sustain our planet and our environment is because of human greed. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells us that if the son of Adam had a valley of gold, he would have wanted a second one. Humans have this propensity to want more and more things of the same thing and different varieties to show their wealth and their power and their influence.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he even says, "The worst vessel that you can fill the son of Adam can fill is his stomach" - meaning basically overeating - "but it is enough for him to eat a few bites to straighten his back" - meaning to live so you don't starve to death - "and if you cannot, then one third for water, one third for food, and one third for air."

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم held this standard even to his family, in which he said he made a du'a, he says:

"Oh Allah, make the sustenance of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم enough for them." That's it - he doesn't need that much excess.

And brothers and sisters, look at the life that we live. Think about what areas you can cut, think about what areas you can save, so that you can live out the responsibility that Allah has given you in making this planet more sustainable for the future generations.

Oh Allah, give us the best that is in this world and give us the best that is in the next life and protect us from the hellfire. Oh Allah, we ask you in this hour of time and need that you help all of the brothers and sisters around the world who are being oppressed, who are being detained, who are being subjugated to all forms of abuse. We ask Allah that you protect them and give justice to them.