Sara Minkara is an American Muslim. On her seventh birthday, she woke up and realized that she could not see. Sara’s sister had also lost her sight a few years before. Sara’s parents assured her that everything would be fine. They were not discouraged by the stigma of blindness in society and did everything in their power to make sure that her disability was not an obstacle. Sara also had a safety net of support provided by the government and private institutions. She went to Wellesley College for her undergraduate studies and received a graduate degree from Harvard University. Sara is also the founder of Empowerment Through Integration, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth with disabilities around the world. Because of her work and advocacy for people with disabilities, in 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Minkara as the US special advisor on international disability rights.Footnote 1
Sara is an observant Muslim who wears a headscarf. It is not uncommon for her to make references to elements of Islamic theology when she relates to her life story. While she often points to the barriers in Muslim communities against people with disabilities, she also finds strength in her faith. Sara refers to her blindness as the “biggest blessing” of her life.Footnote 2 Her parents believed that her disability was part of God’s plan, and what comes from God is a blessing. Instead of asking “Oh God, why us, my daughters?” they believed there was a divine purpose for the disabilities of their daughters. The parents also never allowed the stigma about disability in society to enter their home. They embraced the disability and taught their daughters to do so as well. Blindness became a source of empowerment for the Minkara family. Sara points out that God will never test believers with something that they cannot handle. God is the creator, and he is the one who created her in this way. God only creates what is beautiful, and people with disabilities have something beautiful to contribute to society. Sara also criticizes the negative assumptions about people with disabilities in Muslim societies, as they are often marginalized, pitied, and seen as charity cases.
Sara is not alone in her disability. According to the most recent studies, around a billion people (15 percent of the world’s population) experience some form of disability in their lives.Footnote 3 The number is increasing significantly.Footnote 4 Sixty-one million adults in the United States have some type of disability.Footnote 5 That is why those without a disability are frequently called “temporarily abled bodies” in disability studies, since most disabilities are acquired after birth. Disability is often defined as a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, activities, and interactions. However, it is important to recognize the limits of definitions because of the diversity of disabilities.
While there are many models of disability, two of them became more prevalent. One of them is the medical model. According to this model, disability is a medical and individual problem. The impairment of a person needs to be treated and eliminated because it is a medical condition. The other approach is the social model, which focuses on the barriers that people with disabilities face in society. In this model, people with disabilities are not limited because of their impairments; the impediments are constructed by society. While the model does not disregard the challenges of impairment and its impact on individuals, it also does not view people with disabilities as “objects” of charitable work and social protection. They are “subjects” with equal rights, “capable of claiming those rights, able to make decisions for their own lives based on their free and informed consent and be active members of society.”Footnote 6
People have raised questions about and attempted to determine the origins of disability for centuries. The Greek and Roman cultures were concerned with the perfection of the body because beauty and strength mattered in their societies. While a healthy body was seen as a divine blessing, deformity was viewed as a sign of divine wrath. A child with a disability was believed to be an affliction upon the parents from God. Blindness, for example, was interpreted as a divine punishment for sin.Footnote 7 Plato believed that children with defects should be abandoned in “mysterious unknown places.”Footnote 8 The Romans viewed birth defects as an indication of a broken covenant with their gods; so-called monstrous births could incur the wrath of deities.Footnote 9 While there have been diverse interpretations of disability in Hinduism and Buddhism, it is usually associated with the concept of karma in these dharmic traditions. Disability might be related to a person’s actions in the past or their parents’ actions.Footnote 10 In Judaism, disability is seen as part of God’s creation. Examples of God punishing people because of their disobedience are part of the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, where breaking the covenant may result in certain disabilities, including blindness and madness.Footnote 11 In the New Testament, we repeatedly see Jesus healing people with disabilities miraculously. There are many examples in which Jesus cares and shows compassion for people with disabilities. However, it is not uncommon for disability to be seen as caused by sin and its healing as a means of purification and grace in Christian theology.Footnote 12
Islamic tradition also addresses the question of disability. In what follows, we explore people with disabilities in the sacred sources of Islam as well as its theology. We begin with the Qur’an.
The Qur’an and People with Disabilities
While there is no one term that refers to disability in the Qur’an, there are a number of occasions where it engages with people with disabilities. The Qur’an’s attitude toward disability is most evident in a story that is mentioned in chapter 80. One day, Abdullah bin Umm Maktum, a blind man, came to Muhammad seeking his guidance. At the time, the Prophet was in conversation with a number of elites of Meccan society conveying the message of Islam. When Abdullah kept asking for guidance, the Prophet then frowned at him and continued his conversation with the unbelievers. Upon this case, the first ten verses in the chapter were revealed, in which God admonished Muhammad for frowning at the blind man. The same chapter of the Qur’an also takes its name from the occasion, “He Frowned” (“Abasa”).Footnote 13 This became an occasion of learning for the Prophet and his followers. The Qur’an was delivering a clear message: Those who are blind to the truth in their hearts should not be preferred to a blind person who is open to and seeking the truth. Also, it is likely that the Prophet thought if he could convince the Meccan elite to become Muslim, their contribution to the Muslim community would be greater than the work of an old disabled person. The Qur’an challenges this approach, as people’s contributions and spiritual growth cannot be judged according to their rank and appearance.
Ibn Umm Maktum was at the center of another occasion of revelation. When it was revealed that those who attend the war to defend the Muslim community and those who stay at home are not equal, Ibn Umm Maktum told the Prophet that he is unable to attend because of his blindness. Another verse was then revealed, excusing the disabled from participating in wars. Ibn Umm Maktum still participated in a war with a major role and died on the battlefield.
It is reported that whenever Muhammad would see Ibn Umm Maktum, he would greet him by saying: “Welcome to him on whose account my Lord rebuked me.”Footnote 14 Ibn Umm Maktum remained a key companion of the Prophet. He was sent to Medina as a teacher alongside Musab ibn Umayr prior to the Prophet’s immigration.Footnote 15 During the Prophet’s time in Medina, Ibn Umm Maktum served as the person who issues the call to prayer (muezzin) for the Prophet’s mosque (Masjid al-Nabawi). Also, if the Prophet left Medina, he would put Ibn Umm Maktum in charge of the city.Footnote 16 He would even lead the prayer.
Another major example of disability is the story of Moses. The Qur’an mentions that Moses had a speech impediment, and Pharaoh belittled him because of his impairment: “Am I not better than this fellow, who is despicable and can hardly express himself clearly?”Footnote 17 Moses prayed for God to untie the knot from his tongue.Footnote 18 God eventually removed his impediment, and Moses was able to convey his message to Pharaoh and his people.Footnote 19 The Qur’an also relates the story of the prophet Jacob, who lost his sight because of his sadness concerning the disappearance of his son Joseph. His sight was eventually restored when he was gifted with Joseph’s shirt and placed it on his eyes.Footnote 20 Like the New Testament, the Qur’an brings up how Jesus healed the disabled. With God’s permission, Jesus would cure the blind and the leper and give life to the dead.Footnote 21
The Qur’an also uses disability as a metaphor to convey its message. For example, verse 58 in chapter 40 reads: “The blind and the seeing are not equal, nor are those who believe and perform righteous deeds and the evildoer. How seldom do you keep this in mind!”Footnote 22 In another place, the Qur’an uses a different analogy: “The worst creatures in the sight of God are the deaf and the dumb who do not use their reason. If God had known there was any good in them, He would have made them hear, but even if He had, they would still have turned away in rejection.”Footnote 23 Muslim scholars do not interpret these verses literally. With these passages, the spiritual disability of humans is emphasized. In the Qur’anic picture of community, people with disabilities are active participants, and they are a key dimension of forming a collective identity.Footnote 24 One can observe a similar approach in the life of Muhammad and his relationship with people with disabilities as well.
Muhammad and People with Disabilities
Muhammad had a number of disabled companions who were active participants in the Muslim community. One of them was Muaz Ibn Jabal, who served as the governor of Yemen. It is reported that one of the blind companions came to Muhammad and complained that it was difficult for him to go to the closest mosque in his neighborhood because of his disability. He asked the Prophet to come to his house and pray with him. Muhammad accepted his invitation and went to the companion’s house and prayed and enjoyed a meal with him.Footnote 25 In another case, Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet, and his father came to the mosque to see the Prophet right after the conquest of Mecca. Abu Bakr’s father had lost his sight in old age. When the Prophet saw the old man, he turned to Abu Bakr and said: “Why did you not leave the old man in his house so that I could come to him there?”Footnote 26
In one of the hadiths, it is reported that Muhammad said that God looks not at one’s appearance and property but at their heart and deeds.Footnote 27 The point is that no one will be judged based on the way they look or what disabilities they might have. What matters is whether they have a pure heart and good actions.
Islamic Law and Disability
Muhammad’s and the Qur’an’s approaches to disability are also manifested in Islamic law. Muslim scholars took this Qur’anic teaching as their departure point: “God does not burden any soul beyond its capacity.”Footnote 28 Experts of jurisprudence made certain accommodations for the participation of physically disabled people in religious practices.Footnote 29 They advanced the situation of people with disabilities based on the Prophet’s care and compassion in their writings.Footnote 30 In any discussions about the practices of Islam, people with disabilities were included, and their obligations were discussed like any other Muslim.Footnote 31
The books of jurisprudence discuss the questions of people with disabilities in the context of worship and rituals (ibadat) such as the five daily prayers, fasting, pilgrimage, transactions (muamalat), marriage and divorce, crimes (hudud), and leadership. Classical Islamic texts of law address the issues concerning disability along with people without a disability. Disability was not discussed in the books of law in a separate section. For example, in the case of blind people, the schools of jurisprudence examined whether they could lead the prayer (be an imam). The overwhelming majority of scholars maintained that it is permissible for a blind person to guide the ritual. For the permissibility, they pointed to the reports about the companions who led the prayer during the Prophet’s time. Also, having sight is not one of the requirements of leading the prayer. However, scholars still argued that a nonblind person is preferable to a blind person when it comes to conducting the prayer. The cleanliness of clothes and the space for the prayer are important. Also, the imam should know the time of the prayer as well as the direction to the Kaaba. The scholars’ concern was that a blind person may be in need of help for these requirements. To fulfill these conditions, it is safer to have a nonblind person lead the prayer. However, there are a number of scholars who argued that a nonblind person should not be preferred to a blind person. There are advantages on both sides. For example, a blind imam would be less distracted by their surroundings, and they can concentrate on the prayer better. Unlike a blind person, a sighted person can pay more attention to the cleanliness of dress and space for the prayer.Footnote 32
While Muslim jurists attempted to further the Qur’anic and the prophetic care and compassion for people with disabilities, it does not mean that their rulings were always practiced in Muslim societies. A case in point is a major mosque that was officially opened in the state of Maryland in the United States in 2016. It was constructed to replicate Ottoman architecture. A prominent element inside the mosque is a pulpit (minbar). This is where the leader of the congregation stands to deliver a sermon during Friday or holiday (eid) prayer. Like in other major Ottoman mosques, the pulpit has a nine-step staircase. The regulations of the state of Maryland require access to the pulpit for people with disabilities, and as such the pulpit needed either a ramp or an elevator. In order to deal with this complication, the representative of the mosque told state officials that a disabled person is ineligible to give a sermon and lead the prayer according to Islamic tradition.Footnote 33 He wanted to preserve the traditional architectural form of the pulpit. For him, installing a ramp or an elevator would distort the aesthetic of the pulpit. In this situation, appearance is preferred to accessibility. It excludes people with disabilities. Unfortunately, mosques are often known for their inaccessibility. In order to address this problem, a number of Muslims in the United States founded an organization called Muhsen in 2014. Among Muhsen’s services is a three-tiered certificate program (silver, gold, and platinum) for mosques in order to make them more accommodating for Muslims with special needs. Currently, there are around 3,000 mosques in the United States. So far, only seventy-five of them had received the certification, and among those, only a handful have qualified for the gold certificate, while none are eligible for the platinum.Footnote 34
Theological Views on Disability
Disability is an important theme of Islamic theology as well. There are a number of principles from the Qur’an that can be departure points for the theological discussions concerning disability and the problem of evil and suffering. First, misfortunes can only happen with God’s permission.Footnote 35 Second, God is not only compassionate and merciful; he is also just.Footnote 36 Third, God created humans in the best form.Footnote 37 Whatever God creates, he creates beautifully.Footnote 38 God is also the one who creates human faculties:
If God is compassionate and just and creates with perfection, then why is there disability? Here it is important to distinguish between the aspects of disability that involve natural evil and moral evil. In the cases that involve natural evil, we engage with the views of three theological schools: the Mutazilites, Asharites, and Maturidies.
For the Mutazilites, God is just and does not do anything unjust. He creates what benefits people. There is nothing unnecessary in his creation. If God’s creation involves disability, then it is there for people to learn from. God’s justice also requires an eternal reward for the people who are disabled as a result of natural evil. For the Asharites, however, God is free in his creation and creates people the way he wants. He is not obliged to create according to people’s benefit. God will reward people with disabilities not because he is required to do so but because of his power, compassion, and generosity. The third school, the Maturidies, emphasize God’s wisdom in creation including disability. Even if we cannot understand this wisdom, it does not mean that there is no plan behind God’s creation of disability.Footnote 41
The disabilities that involve moral evil can be discussed in the context of predestination and free will. For the Jabriya school, human movements are predestined, and therefore humans do not have power over what they do. For followers of this school, God is the sole creator, and everything depends on him. So he is the architect of all types of disabilities as the result of both natural and moral evil.
For the Mutazilite school, people are the originators of disabilities that involve moral evil. God is just, and disabilities because of human agency are incompatible with his justice. Moral evil is the result of the freedom that humans enjoy. Those who bring about disability will face severe punishment, and those who suffer at the hands of evil people will be rewarded.
Unlike the Mutazilites, the Asharites and Maturidies believe that God is the creator of the events that involve moral evil. In this regard, God is the maker of all kinds of disabilities. However, humans will still be held accountable for their actions leading to disability. They explain this view with the doctrine of acquisition (kasb), because people made moral evil as their choice through their free will. While humans are not the creators of their actions causing disability, if they desire or wish to cause disability, then God creates the conditions for them.Footnote 42
Spiritual and Practical Responses to Disability
Islamic tradition not only engages with disability theologically; it has also developed spiritual and practical approaches. First, one of the key responses to disability is patience. In a hadith, it is reported that God said that when he tests his beloved servants with blindness and they respond with patience, he rewards them with heaven.Footnote 43 Second, disability is a test not only for people with disabilities but also for temporarily abled people. It is a reminder for them to be thankful for what God has given them. Third, people with disabilities are often discussed in the context of the “needy.” Muslims are encouraged to be compassionate, charitable, and accommodating toward them. Among the charitable acts listed by the Prophet Muhammad are removing harmful obstacles that might be in one’s way, helping those who have speech impediments express themselves, leading blind people on their path, and offering help to those who are in need of it.Footnote 44 Fourth, people with disabilities should have the space to participate in all matters of life, including spirituality. For example, blind people served as muezzins and huffaz al-Qur’an (those who know the entire Qur’an by heart) in Muslim societies. Some of them became celebrities because of their beautiful voices as well as their ability to memorize the scripture. In many cases, they would learn the Qur’an alongside sighted Muslims at the Qur’an schools. In rituals that involved the recitation of the Qur’an in people’s homes, the blind huffaz were favored by women who preferred gender segregation. This way, the women would be out of the sight of men. One example is Shaykh Muhammad Rifat (d. 1950) of Egypt. He memorized the Qur’an by the age of ten and became one of the most gifted Qur’an reciters.Footnote 45 He was the first hafiz to recite the Qur’an on Egyptian Cairo radio in 1934. Rifat served as the official reciter of the Qur’an at Mustapha Pasha Mosque in Cairo for twenty-five years. Fifth, while people with disabilities will be compensated in the hereafter for their struggles and sufferings in this world, people who treat them with dignity and respect will be rewarded for their actions.
Despite the stigma toward people with disabilities in Muslim societies, disability is not regarded as a punishment or a sign of sinfulness in Islamic theology.Footnote 46 The sacred sources of Islam, including the Qur’an, hadiths, and sharia books, discuss the situation of people with disabilities and create a vision for a positive attitude in society toward them.Footnote 47 In forming a collective identity, people with disabilities have been included and remain active participants in the Muslim community from the inception of Islam. The Islamic tradition emphasizes the weakness and vulnerability of all human beings in relation to God’s power, so the idea of “temporarily abled people” fits into Islamic theology. It is a reminder that life is fragile and temporary. This approach can potentially form an environment where people are more mindful of people with disabilities and their dignity and become part of the effort to build a more accommodating space for them.
The well-being of humans and other species, including animals and plants, depends on a healthy environment. However, our planet is experiencing an alarming environmental crisis because of a number of threats, including climate change, deforestation, pollution, loss of biodiversity, oceanic dead zones, overfishing, and waste disposal. All these risks are interconnected, and they already have a significant impact on the living species, weather, and natural resources of the earth. Air pollution, for example, is considered the largest environmental health threat, causing seven million deaths every year around the world.Footnote 1 Pollution because of waste disposal can lead to increased water and marine contamination. Plastic debris can damage the soil’s health and composition. It is nonbiodegradable and can stay in the soil for thousands of years, if not forever.
Global authorities have been alarmed by climate change as well. Humans have accelerated the pace of warming because of their activities such as burning fossil fuels (e.g., coal and oil), cutting down forests, and farming livestock. This has dramatically increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Human-produced greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) remain the leading causes of global warming. Because of these gases, heat that radiates from earth toward space is trapped in the atmosphere, which leads to climate change.Footnote 2 The decade 2010–20 was recorded as the warmest in history. The global average temperature increased by 1.1°C in 2019. Global warming because of human activities is currently increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade. An increase of 2°C will have devastating effects on the climate, the natural environment, and human health. That is why the international community has recognized the need to limit warming well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C.Footnote 3 The world is already experiencing some of the consequences of climate change, such as prolonged heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods, stronger storms and hurricanes, decreases in crop yields, loss of wildlife species, and increases in sea level.
Many major religions make a connection between the natural environment and divinity, and Islam is no exception. In this chapter, I discuss the natural world in relation to God and attempt to develop an Islamic ecological theology as a response to the environmental crisis. I begin with the natural world as a revealed sacred book.
The Natural World as a Revealed Sacred Book
The tradition of viewing the natural world as a sacred book is rooted in the Qur’an. It repeatedly draws the attention of believers to the beauties of the universe. In the scripture, for example, God swears by the olive, fig, stars, mountains, sky, and sun as the signs of God’s creation.
One of the most frequently used words in the Qur’an is aya (sign; pl. ayat). As the verses of the Qur’an are referred to as ayat, likewise the creation is also called ayat. For this reason, some scholars refer to the creation as a scripture that should be read and contemplated. The creation is regarded as the expanded Qur’an of the world, and the scriptural Qur’an is its translation.Footnote 4 The natural world is a form of revelation.Footnote 5 The Qur’an is sacred, and Muslim scholars often discuss the etiquette of approaching the revealed text and provide a number of criteria for a proper engagement with it. Because of their respect for it, Muslims not only read the Qur’an and embody its messages in their lives; they also elevate the scripture whenever there is a chance – for example, by placing their copy on a high shelf. In addition, before reciting from the Qur’an, Muslims usually perform minor ablutions, physically purifying themselves with water.Footnote 6 Like their approach to the Qur’an, Muslims can look at the natural world in the same vein. Every single creature is a part of the pages of this book. They are sacred and should be valued like the verses of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an persistently invites believers to contemplate the natural world in relation to God:
Indeed, there are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of the night and the day for the people of understanding, who remember God standing, sitting, and lying upon their sides, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: “Our Lord! You have not created all this in vain. Glory be to You! Protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”Footnote 7
This passage indicates that everything that is created in the universe is a “verse” of God. People should contemplate creation as such. In fact, this aspect of the natural world is also emphasized by Muhammad. According to a hadith narrated by his wife Aisha, a pair of visitors asked her to tell them something very important about the Prophet. Aisha told them that one night when the Prophet got up, made ablution (wudu), and performed his prayers, she saw him weeping. Tears were falling upon his beard, and his rug had become wet. Bilal, the companion of the Prophet, came for the morning prayers. He asked the Prophet: “Since all of your future and past sins are forgiven, what makes you cry?” The Prophet responded that a revelation came down the previous night, and its message caused him to weep. It would be a great shame, the Prophet said, if one were to recite it yet not engage in contemplation. The Prophet was referring to the verses cited previously. It is reported in another tradition that the Prophet said: “An hour of contemplating the creation of God (tafakkur) is better than one year of worship.”Footnote 8 Humans are to contemplate the pages and verses of the revealed natural world.
In another verse, the Qur’an points out that everything in the universe glorifies God. There is not a single thing that does not celebrate God, although people do not understand this way of worship.Footnote 9 Because of this Qur’anic approach to the creation, some commentators indicate that “one should never show disrespect to any animal, or indeed any creature, for they too are possessed of spirit and praise.”Footnote 10
The Natural World as the Manifestation of the Divine Names
The natural world is not only a sacred book of revelation; it is also the manifestation of God’s names (asma al-husna). Here we examine just three names. First, God is called the Pure One (al-Quddus). The Arabic root of the name (q-d-s) has the connotation of being pure, clean, and holy – away from impurity and imperfection. The ecological system in the natural world is the manifestation of this name of God. Nursi, for example, points out that without the appearance of this name of the Creator, the scene from the natural world would look as follows:
The corpses of a hundred thousand animal species and the debris of two hundred thousand plant species each year on the face of the earth resulting from the alternation and struggles of life and death would have so utterly contaminated the land and the sea that conscious creatures, rather than loving and delighting in the face of the earth, would have felt disgust and aversion at such ugliness and fled to death and non-existence.Footnote 11
Humans, then, should not only reflect on the manifestation of this name of God in the natural world; they should also strive to preserve and embody it in their lives. One way to do this is to revere and protect the ecosystem of God. Humans must avoid actions that can harm the environment. This way, people will also attract God’s love. The Prophet said that cleanliness is half of faith.Footnote 12 The Qur’an points out that God loves those who keep themselves pure and clean.Footnote 13
Second, God is called the Preserver (al-Hafiz). The word in classical Arabic means “to protect, guard, take care of, and retain.” One of the ways of witnessing the manifestation of al-Hafiz is to look at the seeds of trees, flowers, and plants.Footnote 14 They find life in the spring season. The safety and security of beings are the manifestations of this divine name. The Qur’an stresses that God is the guardian over everything.Footnote 15 Humans can embody this name by acting responsibly in the natural world and protecting all its creatures. Preserving life is also one of the objectives of Islamic law. Sharia not only forbids killing, including suicide, but also prohibits harmful acts toward fellow humans, animals, and even plants. It aims to create a safe space for people to live with dignity and in harmony. For violators of this principle, sharia ensures punishment in this world as well as in the hereafter.
Third, God is known as the Just (al-‘Adl). The root of the word is rendered as “to act justly, fairly, keep things in balance, and make things equal.” The balance of the ecological system in the natural world is the manifestation of this name. All the species in the natural world are related to one another with a fine equilibrium and measure that demonstrate the manifestation of God’s name the Just. Humans aim to embody this name by preserving this system. They should be just and frugal in their relations with the natural world. People should not be wasteful of the world’s resources, as they will violate the rights of future generations and become objects of anger and disgust for all beings in the universe.Footnote 16 They will be held accountable for their actions on earth. The Qur’an points out that on the day of judgment, the earth will recount everything about what humans did on its surface.Footnote 17 They will be shocked by and made to cry from the accounts of the earth.Footnote 18
Vicegerency as Responsibility
The Qur’an mentions that God created humans as the khalifah on the earth, which is often rendered as vicegerent, successor, or steward.Footnote 19 Despite their weakness and vulnerability, humans are privileged in the universe. However, this advantage is not about superiority and the freedom to exploit the natural world; rather, it is about their accountability. In fact, when God offered this designation to other beings such as the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, they declined it because it required too much responsibility, and not fulfilling it would have consequences.Footnote 20 The Qur’an also mentions that humans are often ignorant of the enormity of their obligation.
Muhammad pointed to the vicegerency of humans in relation to the natural world. In one of the hadiths, he said:
The Earth is green and beautiful. God has appointed humans as His stewards over it. The whole earth has been created as a place of worship, pure and clean. Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded. If a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and humans and beasts and birds eat from it, this is a charitable act.Footnote 21
Here the Prophet indicates that as part of their stewardship of the earth, humans should aim to preserve the ecosystem. The natural world was created as clean, green, and beautiful. People should preserve it as such, and God will reward their efforts. Based on these Qur’anic and prophetic approaches, hunting for fun has been mainly impermissible in Islamic law. The natural world should even be preserved during armed conflicts. Islamic law, for example, “prohibits poisoning water supplies, destroying crops, cutting down trees, and demolishing beehives because of the vital role food and water play for all sources of life” in times of war.Footnote 22
Environmental Virtue Ethics
Islamic environmental virtue ethics is another area in which to address the environmental crisis. In what follows, I discuss some of the virtues that can be used to tackle the problem.
Frugality (iqtisad): One of the most recited passages related to frugality is in the seventh chapter of the Qur’an – “Eat and drink, but do not waste.” The same verse then concludes that God does not like those who are wasteful.Footnote 23 Frugality is considered a form of thankfulness (shukr) in Islamic literature.Footnote 24 The continuity of the grace and blessings including the natural resources are related to being thankful to God.Footnote 25 The opposite of frugality is extravagance. The Prophet taught his followers not to be wasteful even when they did their ritual washing (wudu) before the prayer. On one occasion, he saw that one of his companions was using more water for his washing ritual than was needed. The Prophet asked him, “Why are you being wasteful?” The companion responded, “Is there a waste in ablution?” The Prophet then said, “Yes, even if you are making your ablution from a river you should not be wasteful.”Footnote 26 Consumerism and greed can be driving forces for wastefulness. The teaching of Islam encourages believers to be content and seek simplicity in their lives. The best example for Muslims is Muhammad. He was remarkably frugal and avoided luxuries. The Prophet lived in a modest house and would sleep on a straw mat that would leave marks on his body. He would eat very little and frequently have only dates and water as his meal. Muhammad would often fast in addition to the month of Ramadan. In one of the traditions, he said: “Humans cannot fill a vessel worse than their stomach, as it is enough for them to take a few bites to straighten their back. But if they want to eat more, they then should leave one-third of their stomach for food, one-third for drink, and one-third should remain empty to breathe.”Footnote 27 He only had two pairs of clothing and would repair them when needed. Muhammad also encouraged his followers to live a frugal life, as it is considered part of the faith (iman).Footnote 28
Humility: Being humble and dealing with everything in the universe with kindness and respect is one of the key teachings of Islam. The opposite of this virtue is arrogance. The Qur’an mentions that humans should not walk on the earth arrogantly. They can neither tear the earth apart nor match the mountains in height.Footnote 29 This verse is a reminder that humans should not regard themselves as superior to other creatures. The fact that so many things are in service to humans does not mean that humankind is greater than other beings; it points to their weakness and dependence. Recognizing this aspect of human nature is a means of receiving God’s mercy and grace.
The Qur’an points out that living creatures are communities like human beings: “There is no animal that walks on the earth, nor bird that flies with its wings, but that they are communities like you. We have left out nothing in the Book, then to their Lord they will be gathered.”Footnote 30 In other places, the Qur’an reminds readers that God revealed knowledge to the bees, and it is because of this revelation that they know how to make honey.Footnote 31 In a number of passages, the scripture indicates that there is nothing in heaven or on the earth that does not glorify God.Footnote 32 The mountains and the birds, among other creatures, sing God’s praise along with the prophet David.Footnote 33 The implication of these verses is that all the beings on earth are part of the community of God, they are sacred, and they have rights independent of humans. Nonhuman creatures have a conscious relationship with God as well. Therefore, they should enjoy “the right to ethical treatment and consideration” alongside humans. People should be humble and “must consider what right they have to treat God’s creatures cruelly or without regard for their innate spiritual value or to utterly destroy them by using or consuming them rapaciously, irresponsibly, or wastefully.”Footnote 34
Compassion: God’s mercy and compassion infuse the natural world.Footnote 35 The Qur’an repeatedly refers to God as the Most Compassionate (al-Rahman) and the Most Merciful (al-Rahim). In a number of hadiths, the Prophet encouraged his followers to be compassionate toward the creation: “If you are merciful, God is merciful to you too. Have mercy on the creatures on the earth, so those in heaven have mercy on you too.”Footnote 36 In another hadith, he said: “Whoever is merciful even to a sparrow, God will be merciful to him on the Day of Judgment.” Another hadith reads: “A good deed done to an animal is like a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as cruelty to a human being.” One of the companions of the Prophet asked him if there would be any reward for those who would serve animals. Muhammad replied, “There is reward for serving any living being.”Footnote 37 A conversation between Nursi and one of his students captures the Islamic teaching of compassion toward the natural world. On one occasion, Nursi learned that one of his students killed a lizard. Nursi was very saddened and told the student that he had committed a grievous mistake. Nursi then sat the student down for a serious lesson:
Nursi: Did the lizard attack you?
The student: No, it did not.
Nursi: Did it grab anything from you?
The student: No, it did not.
Nursi: Did it occupy your own land?
Nursi: Are you the one who provides food for this animal?
The student: No, I am not.
Nursi: Did you create this animal?
The student: No, I did not.
Nursi: Do you know the purpose and wisdom behind the creation of these animals?
The student: No, I do not know.
Nursi: Did God create this animal so that you kill it?
The student: No, I do not think so.
Nursi: Then who told you to kill this animal? The wisdom behind the creation of such animals is boundless. Indeed, you committed a grave mistake.Footnote 38
With these questions and conclusions, Nursi wanted to teach that there is no justification for harming animals. They should be handled with respect and compassion.
Eco-jihad: Jihad is one of the most important teachings of Islam. Today, the term “jihad” is almost always reduced to a fixed meaning in popular literature and often used synonymously with “holy war” or “armed combat.” While seeing jihad as a fight on the path toward God became a dominant approach in some Muslim societies, the concept of jihad has always had larger implications. In reality, it encompasses an entire way of life – living in a way that is pleasing to God. Meeting this goal requires struggle and submission. Following the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad is jihad. Following through with the five daily prayers may be an important jihad for a believer, as it is not easy to do the prayers in a modern environment with so many distractions. Giving to charity might be another form of jihad. For a social worker, taking care of the needy is a form of jihad. The jihad of a firefighter is to save lives. For a student, seeking knowledge is a jihad. According to a hadith, the Prophet said: “On the day of resurrection, the ink of scholars will be compared with the blood of the martyrs on the scales, and the former will prove to be higher in status.”Footnote 39 Fighting the ego is considered the greatest jihad.Footnote 40 It is believed that there is a spiritual reward for all types of jihad. This key teaching of Islam can be utilized to deal with the environmental crisis. Efforts to address this question can be considered as eco-jihad. In this regard, recycling is jihad, avoiding the exploitation of natural resources is jihad, and overcoming one’s selfish desires and unnecessary consumption is jihad.
Some Initiatives in the Muslim World and the United States
Muslims around the world are making some progress toward putting the teachings of Islam into practice concerning taking care of the environment. For example, the Cambridge Central Mosque, which opened its doors to worshipers in 2019, made major news headlines as the first fully sustainable eco-mosque in Europe with a zero-carbon footprint. The project was spearheaded by two major British Muslims, Yusuf Islam (better known as Cat Stevens) and Timothy Winter, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Cambridge. Concerning the project, Winter remarked, “Islamic civilization has been based on the rejection of waste as an underestimation of God’s blessing, and so in the construction of the new mosque here in Cambridge, we were very much at the forefront of the local environmental movement.”Footnote 41
Because mosques are important centers of social life in Muslim societies, they can set the tone for works on environmental protection. The Moroccan government, for example, initiated a Green Mosque Project in 2015. Collaborating with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, they upgraded around 900 mosques for energy efficiency by 2021.Footnote 42 The upgrades included LED lighting, solar thermal water heaters, and photovoltaic systems.
Another interesting initiative came from a group of higher education students in Abu Dhabi. Their project is called the “water-saving mosque initiative.” As part of the practice of the five daily prayers, Muslims have a washing ritual (wudu). One Muslim believer can consume up to nine gallons of water a day. A usual mosque can potentially use up to a few million gallons of water annually. The project aims to separate and repurpose the water that is used for the washing rituals in the mosques. By using this green washing method, mosques around the world can save this resource.
Muslims in the United States have also tried to be creative in dealing with the environmental crisis. Because of the possibility of overeating during the breaking of the fast (iftar) and generating excessive waste during the month of Ramadan, many Muslim organizations in the United States make efforts to educate the community about having a “green” Ramadan. The motto of one such organization, aptly named Green Ramadan, is “Green your Ramadan with zero-trash iftar kits.”Footnote 43 The same organization has also campaigned for a meatless Ramadan.Footnote 44 An Islamic organization in Chicago issued guidelines for the community during Ramadan to share food with one’s neighbor, not waste food or water, plant trees, recycle materials such as plastic, and not use Styrofoam cups and plates. Ramadan sermons also urge the community to care for the environment, use energy-saving light bulbs, organize mosque cleanup days, and post signs around the mosque to “go green” for Ramadan.Footnote 45
Many Muslim-majority countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Sudan, are impacted by climate change the most. Unfortunately, some Muslim-majority countries are also known to be the most polluting states. Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, for example, remain on the list of the top-ten countries producing carbon dioxide emissions in the world.Footnote 46 Religion is still one of the most important phenomena in Muslim societies. Islamic ecological theology can contribute much to the discourse on the environmental crisis because it teaches that the entire creation is the sacred revelation of God. The creation should be loved, revered, and read like the scriptural Qur’an. The heart of the Islamic view of the natural world is eloquently articulated by Saadi Shirazi (d. 1291). I end this chapter with his words:
Probably nothing has caused so much suffering in a more comprehensive way than the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in recent times. It is the manifestation of the collective pain associated with old age, sickness, and death. The pandemic hit the elderly harder than anyone. Hundreds of millions of people tested positive. Many of them got severely sick. The disease has also been one of the most deadly pandemics in history. By January 2022, almost six million people had died because of the virus – not to mention the mental illness, isolation, and unemployment that many more suffered.
While there have been diverse reactions to the pandemic, many people turned to God and religion as a response. According to one study, for example, the number of people who turned to Google searches for prayer increased significantly. More than half of the global population sought divine help to end the pandemic in the early months of the virus in 2020.Footnote 1
Many people also emphasized the role of God in the pandemic. According to a poll conducted in 2020, more than two-thirds of religious Americans believe that the pandemic was sent by God as a warning to humans. One in ten stated that the coronavirus is related to human sinfulness. More than half of those who were surveyed noted that God would protect them from the infection.Footnote 2 Congregations of various religious traditions continued to hold their religious services communally before the vaccines became available because they believed that God would shelter them from the virus. Some of these congregations became hot spots for the spread of the virus.Footnote 3
This chapter explores Muslim approaches to plagues and pandemics in general and COVID-19 in particular. I begin with a few verses from the Qur’an to outline some of the principles of Islamic theology concerning the pandemic.
Principles from the Qur’an and Implications for Coronavirus
First, everything is in the knowledge of God. There is nothing beyond his knowledge; God knows what is concealed in hearts and what is revealed.Footnote 4 Not even a leaf falls without his knowledge.Footnote 5 Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to God. He has control over all things.Footnote 6 Based on these principles, the pandemic is not only in the knowledge of God but also in his control.
Second, the Qur’an mentions that God tests people with “fear, hunger, [and] loss of property, lives, and crops.”Footnote 7 It encourages believers to be patient in times of trial and tribulation. In another verse, the Qur’an reads: “We will test you until We know those among you who strive and those who are patient, and We will test your reactions.”Footnote 8 The pandemic can potentially be a form of test for people.
Third, the Qur’an repeatedly reminds people of the nature of this world; that it is uncertain and impermanent.Footnote 9 All that is on earth will perish.Footnote 10 The scripture points to the temporary nature of the world as follows:
The parable of the life of this world is like this: rain that We send down from the sky is absorbed by the plants of the earth, from which humans and animals eat. But when the earth has taken on its finest appearance, and is adorned, and its people think they have power over it, Our Command comes upon it by night or by day, and We turn it into a mown field, as if it had not flourished just the day before. This is the way We explain the revelations for those who think.Footnote 11
If there is anything that the coronavirus disease has demonstrated, it is that nothing is certain. While people are often attached to what they have, the pandemic has shown that things are not worth being attached to. Attachment to this world is a distraction from the hereafter.
Fourth, whereas human beings are weak and vulnerable, God is all-powerful and almighty.Footnote 12 The coronavirus has revealed the weaknesses of human beings despite the progress that has been made in many areas, including medicine. The creation, including COVID-19, is the indication of God’s names. The virus’s power over people can be seen as the revelation of God’s name the Almighty (al-Qadir). The death of thousands of people because of the pandemic can be considered as the manifestation of God’s name the Bringer of Death (al-Mumit). Millions of people recovered from the virus, which can be seen as the expression of God’s name the Healer (al-Shafi).
Fifth, the pandemic forced people into lockdowns. The Qur’an often refers to the spiritual progress of prophets such as Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad while in seclusion from people. The Prophet Muhammad, for example, would retreat to the cave of Hira on the mountain Jabal al-Noor in Mecca and isolate himself from society for days. It was during one of his spiritual quarantines that he received his first revelation. Social isolation was part of the spiritual journeys of many Muslim saints (awliyah) as well. This practice is known as ‘itikaf in Islamic spiritually. Many Muslims made connections between quarantine due to the pandemic and the tradition of ‘itikaf. Some Muslims even used the term “qu’rantine,” meaning that quarantine can be taken as an opportunity to engage with the Qur’an.
Sixth, trials and tribulations are times to worship God. The idea is that people should be thankful to God not only in times of prosperity but also in times of struggle. One of the best examples is the story of Job in the Qur’an. Sickness became an occasion of worship and prayer for him. Likewise, many Muslims took the challenges of the pandemic as an opportunity to demonstrate their trust in and devotion to God.
The Prophet Muhammad and Pandemics
Muslims turned not only to the Qur’an but also to the teachings of Muhammad. His sayings and approach have been widely cited and shared in discussions about the pandemic. In one of the hadiths, the Prophet said: “Do not enter a place where there is a plague, and those who live in a place where there is a plague should not leave the area.”Footnote 13 Another commonly related story is attributed to the Prophet’s companion Omar. According to the account, when Omar was about to enter Damascus with his army, he was told that there was a plague in the city. Omar then did not enter the place. When he was asked whether he was running away from God’s predestination, he answered that he was running away from God’s predestination to seek refuge in his predestination. He implied that escaping from the plague was part of God’s will as well.
While scholars used principles from the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet in their understanding of the pandemic, a number of approaches and controversies became apparent.
Coronavirus as a Punishment from God
Many preachers implied that the pandemic might be a warning and a punishment from God. They often gave examples from the Qur’an as well as hadiths of the Prophet. The Qur’an relates the stories of the communities who sinned, committed injustices, and disobeyed God. They faced severe punishments of plagues and natural disasters. To illustrate just a few examples, while those who believed in the message of Noah were saved, those who rejected it were drowned.Footnote 14 In the case of the prophet Saleh, those who disobeyed him were caught in an earthquake.Footnote 15 Because of their wrongdoings, Pharaoh and his people were also plagued with floods, locusts, lice, frogs, and blood and were eventually drowned in the sea.Footnote 16 In one of the hadiths, Muhammad said: “When people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from doing oppression and evil, it is likely that God will punish them all together.”Footnote 17
Martyrdom and COVID-19
Another major discussion has been whether those who lost their lives because of the pandemic, including medical staff, are considered martyrs, the highest spiritual status in Islam. For example, amid the initial global outbreak in March 2020, a story from Iran made headlines in major news outlets. According to the news, the country’s highest religious authority, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had declared the Iranian medical staff who lost their lives by contracting coronavirus while treating patients in hospitals as martyrs (shahid), a status that can only be attained through jihad. Those who sacrificed their lives caring for the people of Iran during the pandemic would be considered equal to Iran’s fallen soldiers who defended the country during wartime. Like military martyrs, the families of fallen medical staff will now receive payments and benefits.Footnote 18
There are a number of hadiths that imply that those who die because of a pandemic can be considered martyrs. In one of them, the Prophet said: “Any servant who resides in a land afflicted by plague, remains patient and hoping for a reward from God, knowing that nothing will befall them except what God has decreed, will be given the reward of a martyr.”Footnote 19
Proper Burial and Funerals
Having proper burials and funerals in the context of the coronavirus was another controversy among Muslims. Funerals are personal in Islamic communities. The corpse is considered to be sacred, and there is a washing ritual before the burial. However, what should be the approach to someone who died because of the coronavirus? What should be the process of burial?
Many Muslim organizations issued legal opinions (fatwas) noting that the washing ritual can be avoided if the ritual endangers the lives of the people who are handling the process. The funeral prayer can be done with two people, and those who cannot attend can do it as absentees.Footnote 20
A more controversial issue concerning Islamic burials during the pandemic concerned the cremation of the body, which is impermissible in Islamic law. The UK government, for example, amended an emergency COVID-19 bill in March 2020 to stop the cremation of Muslim and Jewish bodies. Families of these faiths could opt for a traditional burial. In Sri Lanka, however, the government enacted a law in the early months of the pandemic making cremation mandatory for all people who died because of the coronavirus disease. This included Muslims, who make up 10 percent of the population. Because of the opposition from the local and international Muslim community, the government eventually stopped the cremation of Muslim bodies almost a year after the breakout of the pandemic.Footnote 21
Vaccination and Permissibility
Many Muslims questioned the permissibility of the COVID-19 vaccines because some of them may contain animal ingredients such as gelatin or animal fat, small traces of ethanol, and fetal cells (the cell lining from an aborted fetus). Muslim fatwa organizations concluded that despite what they contain, vaccines are permissible, as they save lives. The protection of life is one of the most important objectives of Islamic law.Footnote 22
Spiritual and Practical Responses: The Case of Mehmet Görmez
Many scholars and preachers responded to the pandemic to provide spiritual and practical guidelines for Muslims. One of them was Mehmet Görmez, who served as the president of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Turkey from 2010 to 2017. He is also an academic specializing in the field of hadith. Görmez delivered a talk concerning understanding the trials and tribulations that people endured because of the coronavirus in March 2020.Footnote 23 In what follows, I engage with some of his major points.
Görmez begins his talk with a short prayer highlighting God’s name the Healer (al-Shafi) and prays for God to heal all of humanity through this name. He also prays for God to bestow his mercy and compassion upon people and dispel fear and anxiety from their hearts. However, Görmez points out that there should be a methodology guiding believers to understand the pandemic. He raises a number of questions that people often ask: Is the pandemic a punishment or a mercy from God? Is it a sign (ayah) of the end of the world (qiyama)? Is it a sign of God’s creation and lesson? How should one distinguish between the roles of science and religion? He attempts to answer these questions in light of the Qur’an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Role of Religion and Science
The pandemic not only is a physical health issue, Görmez indicates, but also has spiritual aspects. Science explains the problem and its causes. Philosophy encourages us to think according to reason. Religion provides meaning. It guides us to think about the visible and invisible implications of the pandemic. Religion is not indifferent to the explanations of science and philosophy because science is the interpretation of God’s signs (ayat) and creation in the universe. Reason and thinking are God’s greatest gifts to humans. Religion always played a major role in addressing people’s fear of death and anxiety in the midst of calamities. Like in history, we can understand the meaning of what we are going through via religion without being indifferent to science and philosophy. Before the coming of the revelation (wahy), people would often interpret calamities as wars among gods, their punishments, or signs of evil people.
The Pandemic as a Divine Sign versus Punishment
If we think in light of the revelation, these trials are divine signs. We cannot think of a pandemic such as COVID-19 as a punishment. Görmez supports his interpretation with a verse from the Qur’an: “If God were to punish people for what they have earned, there would not be a single creature left on the surface of the earth. But He respites them until a specified time, and when their time comes, surely God sees His servants.”Footnote 24 In another verse, the Qur’an stresses the justice of God: “Your Lord is never unjust to His creatures.”Footnote 25
As many people have claimed, the pandemic is not a sign of the end of the world either. Even Muhammad did not have the knowledge of the end of the world. On one occasion, a person came to the Prophet and asked him about the end of the world. The Prophet asked: “What have you prepared for it?”Footnote 26 He also told believers that if they knew tomorrow was the end of the world, their responsibility was to plant the tree they have in their hands.Footnote 27
Commenting on “So take a lesson, O you have insight!” from the Qur’an, Görmez indicates that the pandemic should be seen as a lesson from God.Footnote 28 Even the disaster inflicted on the prophet Noah’s people was not a punishment but a lesson, as pointed out in the Qur’an.Footnote 29 People will naturally have different interpretations of the pandemic. Some will say it is because of the injustices in the world; some will say it is because of the way people treat God’s creation; some will say it is because of the injustices done to Muslims in China, Myanmar, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, and so on; and some will say it is the result of people forgetting their creator, violating the rights of their families, or being indifferent to the starvation in Africa. However, the pandemic should be a means of thinking about our own responsibility, which can turn the pandemic into a mercy from God. When it is read as a sign of God, then humans can reconsider their actions and their relations with one another and with their Creator. It is also incorrect to associate the pandemic with the wrongdoings of a particular group of people. The signs of the pandemic cannot be exhausted.
Listening to Medical Experts and Prayer in Action
The recommendations of medical experts should also be taken as the instructions of the religion. The safety of people is one of the major objectives of Islamic law. Rules concerning the pandemic are consistent with the teachings of the Prophet. Following the rules initiated by medical experts is part of our religious duty. The works of scientists and medical experts are sacred because finding a cure to save lives has the highest spiritual merit. In one of the hadiths, Muhammad said the best of humans are those who benefit people.
Lockdowns can be turned into blessings. While we are away from mosques, we can turn our houses into places of worship. Görmez encourages people to rely on prayer and points to this verse: “We sent messengers before you [Prophet] to many communities and afflicted their people with suffering and hardships, so that they might learn humility. When the suffering reached them from Us, why then did they not learn humility? Instead, their hearts hardened and Satan made their deeds appear good to them.”Footnote 30 He also notes that the best prayer is one that is done in action. He provides a few examples:
Landlords can waive their rents during the pandemic.
People can extend their hands of generosity to those who are in need.
Employers can continue to employ their employees and pay their salaries even if they are unable to come to work because of the pandemic.
You can take care of your neighbor and run the errands for them if needed, especially those who are vulnerable.
Because of the pandemic, you may not able to give hugs, but you can still touch the hearts of people with your actions.
Görmez finishes his talk with the prayer of Job in the Qur’an: “Remember Job, when he cried unto his Lord, ‘Suffering has truly afflicted me, but you are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ We answered him, removed his suffering, and gave him back his family along with others like them, as a mercy from Us and a reminder to the worshippers.”Footnote 31
I end this chapter with Nursi’s interpretation of the Qur’anic statement that God “created everything in the best way.”Footnote 32 It illustrates the Islamic theological approach to evil and suffering, including plagues and pandemics. His comments are lengthy but worth quoting:
In everything, even the things which appear to be the most ugly, there is an aspect of true beauty. Yes, everything in the universe, every event, is either in itself beautiful, which is called “essential beauty,” or it is beautiful in regard to its results, which is called “relative beauty.” There are certain events which are apparently ugly and confused, but beneath that apparent veil, there are most shining instances of beauty and order.
Beneath the veil of stormy rains and muddy soil in the season of spring are hidden the smiles of innumerable beautiful flowers and well-ordered plants. And behind the veils of the harsh destruction and mournful separations of autumn is the discharge from the duties of their lives of the amiable small animals, the friends of the coy flowers, so as to preserve them from the blows and torments of winter events, which are manifestations of Divine might and glory, and under the veil of which the way is paved for the new and beautiful spring.
Beneath the veil of events like storms, earthquakes, and plague, is the unfolding of numerous hidden immaterial flowers. The seeds of many potentialities which have not developed sprout and grow beautiful on account of events which are apparently ugly. As though general upheavals and universal change are all immaterial rain. But because man is both enamoured of the apparent and is self-centered, he considers only the externals and pronounces them ugly. Since he is self-centred, he reasons according to the result which looks to himself and judges it to be ugly. Whereas, if, of their aims one looks to man, thousands look to their Maker’s Names.Footnote 33
Nursi maintains that there is no event in the universe that does not have beautiful and meaningful aspects. The transitions from one season to another manifest this reality. Humans can only see the beautiful picture behind what seems to be evil if they overcome their self-centered views and look at the events of creation from the perspectives of the divine names.
A number of years ago, I read an article about forty maps one could study to understand our world. One of them was about Nutella, a brand of chocolate spread. The map described the process and the involvement of countries to make a single jar of Nutella. It requires natural resources and ingredients from four continents. Hazelnuts come from Turkey, cocoa is produced in Nigeria, palm oil arrives from Malaysia, Brazil provides sugar, and France contributes with its vanilla flavoring. The company that makes Nutella is based in Italy and has factories in Europe, Russia, North America, South America, and Australia. The company also has a supply and distribution chain all over the world. Millions of people with diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds are involved in the process to bring a jar of Nutella to the breakfast table.Footnote 1 Probably no one articulated this aspect of interconnectedness and dependence better than Martin Luther King Jr.:
You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that’s handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that’s given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that’s poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that’s poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you’re desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that’s poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that’s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured; this is its interrelated quality. We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.Footnote 2
This reality of interconnection and mutual dependence can make us more thoughtful toward one another. One can think of evil and suffering in the same context. It is a universal experience. It is a problem that makes us all equal because it is part of human nature. Evil and suffering transcend artificial borders. If an individual has not lost their consciousness, they have the ability to have empathy not only for the suffering of their fellow humans but also for other living beings in the natural world. It does not matter whether one is part of a religious or an atheist community. Understanding the problem of evil and suffering is a struggle for both sides. While in the literature the problem is seen as a dividing question, it can also connect people regardless of their view on religion. I have observed this aspect of evil and suffering among my students. While they come to class with stark views about the issue, in the end, they come to the conclusion that the reality is more complex than they thought. There is no absolute answer to the question. For example, in facing the death of a loved one, both religious and nonreligious people struggle and grieve.
However, the role of religions in offering consolation and meaning in times of grief and suffering cannot be overstated. In this context, the strength of religion has been recognized even by thoughtful atheists and agnostics. Stephen T. Asma, an American scholar of philosophy, for example, points to this characteristic of faiths as follows:
I’m an agnostic and a citizen of a wealthy nation, but when my own son was in the emergency room with an illness, I prayed spontaneously. I’m not naive – I don’t think it did a damn thing to heal him. But when people have their backs against the wall, when they are truly helpless and hopeless, then groveling and negotiating with anything more powerful than themselves is a very human response. It is a response that will not go away, and that should not go away if it provides genuine relief for anxiety and anguish.Footnote 3
Alain de Botton, an atheist, maintains that some practices of religions are beneficial for society and can be used by unbelievers as well. While religious traditions have the ability to provide meaning when people suffer and teach them how to be grateful even for small successes, the secular world lacks similar skills.Footnote 4 It is in this vein that one can view the Islamic theological approach to the problem of evil and suffering in relation to God with empathy, if not admiration. In a world that looks cruel, unjust, frightening, and meaningless, the tradition offers hope, clarity, and meaning to its adherents. In what follows, I highlight some of the findings of this research.
First, God as the sole sovereign over all things is one of the most important characteristics of Islamic theology. The entire creation, including what is considered evil, is the manifestation of his names (asma al-husna). Without this approach, it is almost impossible to understand the problem of evil and suffering. The revelation of God’s names requires diversity in the universe, which includes not only natural evil but also moral evil. There is nothing outside of God’s power. This view of evil is manifested in one of the phrases that are invoked daily by Muslims: “Alhamdulillah ala kulli haal” (Thanks to God under any circumstances). They praise God in both good and bad times. The Qur’an mentions that when believers are afflicted by a calamity or go through suffering, including the death of a loved one, they remember God: “We belong to God and to Him we shall return.”Footnote 5 While suffering might be a threat to their material progress, it can bring about spiritual advancement.
Second, the Islamic theological framework emphasizes humanity’s limitation and imperfection in relation to God. Humans are weak and vulnerable. Suffering is part of their nature. Aging, sickness, and death are signs (ayat) of God’s creation. Because of their freedom, while humans can potentially be very good, they also have the ability to be extremely destructive. Their selfish desires and urges are usually the root causes of moral evil. They are also limited in their knowledge of God’s creation, including what they regard as evil or good. The Qur’an alludes to the inadequacy of humans as follows: “It may be that you hate something while it is good for you, and it may be that you love something while it is evil for you.”Footnote 6
Third, faith in the hereafter and accountability are significant elements of the Islamic understanding of evil and suffering. Without life after death, it is problematic to argue that God is just and benevolent. There is so much injustice in the world. Bad people who commit major atrocities often leave this world without facing the consequences of their actions. There are so many good and innocent people who suffer without any apparent justification. God’s justice and compassion will be fully revealed in the hereafter. Those who cause suffering and grief will be held accountable. Good people will be rewarded for their virtuous actions, and innocents will be compensated for their suffering. Also, people long for eternity and wish to be reunited with their loved ones who have died. God will respond to their request, as he is known to be the most powerful, generous, and compassionate.
Fourth, the Islamic approach to evil and suffering falls in between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. While theology is key to understanding the problem of evil, practical responses are equally emphasized, if not more important. The matter should not be exhausted with theology but rather be balanced with practice. In the case of moral evil, while the tradition attempts to provide theological answers, it also encourages believers to be just in their affairs and stand for justice, to repel evil with good, and to be forgiving and compassionate toward their fellow human beings. In facing sickness, in addition to theological responses, the tradition teaches believers to be patient and rely on God. It admonishes those who are around sick people to be caring. For those who are vulnerable in old age, it teaches filial piety. Islam’s emphasis on practice has parallels with John Swinton’s “practical theodicy.” Grounded in the Christian tradition, Swinton believes that the classical philosophical and theological approaches to the problem of evil alone are not able to address the suffering of people. Instead, there should be responses that can benefit people in the midst of suffering to maintain their relationship with the creator.Footnote 7
Fifth, this book does not aim to solve the problem of evil and suffering. Despite the creative efforts of Muslim scholars, there is much mystery around this matter. The Islamic approach’s strength is not in offering a conclusive answer to the question but in providing meaning. This is probably the most important role of religion. As Huston Smith rightly put it: “Religion is not primarily a matter of facts; it is a matter of meanings.”Footnote 8
Finally, religion still infuses almost every aspect of life in Muslim societies. One can hardly make progress without religion in areas such as the rights of people with disabilities, the environmental crisis, and the coronavirus disease. Islam’s theological framework can help tackle the problems related to these cases. Followers of religious traditions, including Muslims, and those without religion can collaborate to overcome global challenges.
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