The Earth is like our mother. Allah has created us from the soil of the earth 1, and after we die we return to earth 2, and on the day of resurrection we will raise from our graves and proceed to the event of judgment 3.
It is amazing to observe the various attributes Allah gave to earth when describing its relation to us human beings.
The earth is like a sleeping bed or a resting place (فراشا firash as in 2:22). Another word used to describe earth in the Quran is (مهادا Mihad) as in 20:53 and also in 78:6 which means a baby cot - a very passionate word related to motherhood. Earth is also a container (كفاتا kifata) where we walk on top of it, and after we die, the earth engulfs us inside her, as mentioned in 77:25. The earth is also like a spread carpet (بساط bisat) as in 71:19.
Allah has made the earth tame and subservient (ذلولا dhalula) for us. Otherwise, we would not be able to extract minerals, nor cultivate any plants from it (see for example 67:15). Rivers, mountains, seas and all other physical features of our planet are designed to serve us better (16:15).
This mother earth is a blessing from Allah to us. Allah has made everything on earth (and in the heaven) for us to enjoy and benefit from4. Often the Arabic word سخر Sakh khara is used by Allah in the Quran to describe how he made everything on earth and heaven subjected for our use. Allah has made this entire globe suitable for domestication by us, very similar to when a weak human being domesticates a giant elephant 5.
The first step is to consent that Allah is the owner of this earth 6, and -as a favor- He has created this earth as a very conducive place for us to live and use its resources for building civilization on earth 7.
The earth is a place of bounty to us. Allah has hidden many treasures for us inside this earth, so over generations we gradually discover them and use them for our benefit. Verse 2:267 points to this meaning. Note how in all such verses, Allah always attributes these favors to Him. Think of the water. What would happen if the water from rain sank deep inside earth’s crust to a level we can not reach? Allah points our to this possibility in places like 23:18, or 67:30.
Allah described in many locations how He empowered us on this earth. The word (مكن makkana) meaning empowered or established is used in verse 7:10. This empowerment by Allah enabled us to make livelihood on earth by domesticating plants and animals and going out in search of provisions. Another word used along this thread is (بوأ baow wa’) which could be translated as a station or place of return as in verse 7:74.
There is the word (بركة barakah) meaning blessings. Allah made certain geographic locations of this earth a place of barakah, like the Levant (21:81, 17:1). Human being can fetch such blessings to their own land wherever they live if they lead a life of religiosity (7:96).
With great responsibilities comes great accountabilities. We should stand up to this honor of stewardship by following a set of divine rules on how to treat this earth and utilize the resources it has. We are told not to be excessive in our consumption 8. A great deal of today’s problem comes from excessive consumption of everything: energy, food, drink, cloth, etc.
In numerous places we hear the Quran telling us not to do (فساد fasad) meaning ‘mischief’ on earth 9. Any human induced environmental damage is a mischief on earth. Quran ascertains that human indeed cause environmental damage with their irresponsible acts on earth 10. There are lot more than just CO2 emission that we contribute to this mischief. Big tickets -in this regards- are: genocides and killing of innocent civilians (30:41, 5:32), abstaining from struggle to establish just on earth (i.e.,Jihad) (2:251), capitalism (28:77, 11:85, 26:183), moral degradation and homosexuality (29:30), among others.
We are children of this earth. Like a plant we gradually grew on the surface of this earth. Let us all be kind to our mother.
And Allah hath caused you to grow as a growth from the earth, And afterward He maketh you return thereto, and He will bring you forth again, a (new) forthbringing. And Allah hath made the earth a wide expanse for you, That ye may thread the valley-ways thereof. [71:17-20]
Footnotes
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in fact the supplication we should use when riding transportation means (like camels, horses, cars, airplanes, ships) is mentioned in the verse 43:13 and this very word sakhkhara is used. ↩
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see 30:41, it is interesting to observe that this verse is wisely located in the chaptered name ar-Rum referring to Roman Empire on which model the modern Western civilization is built with all its neoliberal, greedy market economy, and climate damaging components. ↩