The Environment and Nature in Contemporary Religious Contexts: A Comparative Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53762/alqamar.05.04.e02Keywords:
Nature, Environment, Sacred, Profane, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, IslamAbstract
The natural environment of our only living planet is suffering in an unprecedented manner globally from the onslaught of human beings. The environmental crises are now threatening the very fabric of life. The problem is too evident, that has finally caused many religious thinkers to describe the religious view concerning the order of nature. Because our natural world will not only be healed by changes in technology and some kind of social engineering but by rediscovering the sacred quality of nature and the rebirth of man as the custodian of it. It implies the rejection of the modern secular view of nature and its subsequent developments. In this regard, this paper tries to reformulate the traditional views of nature and environment held by various religious traditions including Indic religions, far eastern religious traditions, and Abrahamic religions. It defines the Divine Origin of all things. Through comparative study, this research motivates human beings to find sacred nexus in creation and develop a harmonious relationship with nature. This essay also encourages them to preserve the environment for future generations.
References
John Opie, “Renaissance Origins of the Environmental Crisis,” Environmental Review 11, no. 1 (1987): 2–17.
R. K. Khitoliya, Fundamentals of Ecology and Environment (India: Discovery Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, 2021), 45–46.
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John a Grim, “Introduction: The Emerging Alliance of World Religions and Ecology,” Daedalus 130, no. 4 (2001): 11.
Roger S Gottlieb, The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 402.
Tucker and Grim, “Introduction: The Emerging Alliance of World Religions and Ecology.”
Aubrey Rose, Judaism and Ecology (London: Cassell Publishers, 1992).
Elizabeth Breuilly and Martin Palmer, Christianity and Ecology (London: Cassell Publishers, 1992).
Fazlun M. Khalid and Joanne O’Brien, Islam and Ecology (New York, NY: Cassell, 1992).
Ranchor Prime, Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth (New York: Cassell, 1992).
Orlando O Espin Nickoloff, James B., An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies (Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Columba Press, 2007).
Ibid.
F Max Muller, “The Upanishads,” in Sacred Books of the East, ed. F Max Muller, Vol.1 (Oxford; New York: The Clarendon Press, 1879), xxxi.
Chandradhar. Sharma, Indian Philosophy: A Critical Survey (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1962).
Hermann Oldenberg, “Vedic Hymns,” in Sacred Books of the East, ed. F Max Muller, vol. 46 (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1897), 145.
D Brewer, Quotes of Mahatma Gandhi, a Words of Wisdom Collection Book. (LULU COM, 2019), 80.
“Vandana Shiva on Why the Food We Eat Matters - BBC Travel,” accessed February 4, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210127-vandana-shiva-on-why-the-food-we-eat-matters.
Pankaj. Jain, Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability (Farnham: Ashgate Pub. Co., 2010).
Prime, Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth, 111.
Wm. Montgomery Mcgovern, “Notes on Mahay Ana Buddhism.,” The Monist 29, no. 3 (July 1, 1919): 381–403, https://doi.org/10.5840/monist191929318.
Miranda Eberle Shaw , Buddhist Goddesses of India (Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2015), 17.
Shaw , Buddhist Goddesses of India.
“15 Green Religious Leaders | Grist,” accessed February 4, 2022, https://grist.org/article/religious/.
“How All Religious Faiths Advocate for Environmental Protection,” accessed February 4, 2022, https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-all-religious-faiths-advocate-environmental-protection.
Lao-Tze, Tao Te-Ching, ed. Ch’u Ta-Kao (London: Unwin Paperbacks, 1982), 17.
J.C. Cooper, Taoism: The Way of the Mystic (Wellingborough Northamptonshire: Aquarian Press, 1990), 14.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Religion and the Order of Nature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 41.
John H. Berthrong Mary Evelyn Tucker, Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans (United States: Harvard University Press, 1998), 173.
Joseph M. Kitagawa, Religion in Japanese History (London: Columbia University Press, 1966).
Sokyo Ono, Shinto: The Kami Way (Rutland, Vt., and Tokyo: Charles Tuttle, 1962), 97.
American Bible Society., The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared & Revised. (New York: American Bible Society, 1986), 2.
Ibid., 727.
“15 Green Religious Leaders | Grist.”
American Bible Society., The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared & Revised., 1494.
Ibid., 1416–17.
Md. Abu Sayem, “Religious Perspectives on Environmental Issues A Dialogue with John Cobb,” Process Studies 49, no. 2 (2020): 254–74.
“Environmentalism as Religion,” accessed February 4, 2022, https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/environmentalism-as-religion.
Ibid.
Ulfat Sadiqa and Dr. Amt ul Rafi, “Environmental Degradation and Interfaith Efforts: A Contemporary Discourse of Islam and Hinduism,” Al-Qamar 5, no. 3 (2022): 51–70, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.53762/alqamar.05.03.e04.
The Holy Qur’an, 39:62.
The Holy Qur’an, 11:61.
Ismāʿīl bʿUmar Ibn Kaṯīr, Tafsir Ibn Kathir: (Abridged) Surat Hud to Surat Al-Isra, Verse 38, Vol. 5, ed. Ṣafī al-Raḥmān al- Mubārakfūrī (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2003), 77.
The Holy Qur’an, 02:30.
Sayyid Abul A’la Mawdudi, Towards Understanding the Qur’an: Abridged Version of Tafhim al-Qur’an. Vol.1, ed. Zafar Ishaq Ansari (United Kingdom: Islamic Foundation, 1988), 60.
The Holy Qur’an, 02:60.
Mawdudi, Towards Understanding the Qur’an: Abridged Version of Tafhim al-Qur’an. Vol.1, 77.
Lewis Edwin Hahn, Randall E. Auxier, and Jr Lucian W. Stone, eds., The Philosophy of Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Chicago: Open Court, 2001), 516.
Nasr, Religion and the Order of Nature, 3.
Ulfat Sadiqa and Amt ul Rafi, “Earth-Man Relationship in Islam and Hinduism: A Comparative Study of Eco-Theological Response of Fazlun Majeed Khālid And Ranchor Prime,” Al-Basirah 11, no. 01 (2022): 17–34.
Fazlun M. Khālid, “ECOLOGY, SUSTAINABILITY & FUTURE GENERATIONS: An Islamic Perspective,” The Future Generations Journal 22, no. 1 (1997): 1–5.
Mawil Izzi Dien, “Islam and the Environment: Theory and Practice,” Journal of Beliefs & Values Vol. 18, no. 1 (1997): 47–57.
Harfiyyah Abd al-Halim, Islam and the environment (London: Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1998), 10.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2023 Al-Qamar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.