‘Everything Praises Him’

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

‘Everything Praises Him’
Ghazi bin Muhammad & Others




Every single thing in creation glorifies and praises God. The seven Heavens and the Earth and all that they contain glorifies Him; nor is there anything that does not glorify Him in praise; yet you understand not their praise … (Surah Al-Isra’: 44; see also Surah Al-Hadid: 1; Surah Al-Hashr: 1; Surah As- Saf: 1; Surah Al-Jumu’h: 1; Surah At-Taghabun: 1; Surah An-Nur: 41 and Surah Al-Hashr: 24)
This in itself is enough to explain another facet of the Islamic attitude towards the environment: whether we understand it or not, everything in nature is God’s creation that constantly praises God; the mountains, seas, trees, sun, moon, stars etc and all living creatures hymn His praise.
Everything and every natural phenomenon must thus be respected for its being a creation of God, and / or for being a sign of God, and for its devotion to God.
Indeed, the Remembrance of God is in every single thing down to the smallest insect. God makes this abundantly clear in the Holy Qur’an:
“God is not ashamed to strike a similitude even of a gnat, or anything beyond it; as for the believers, they know it is the truth from their Lord; but as for disbelievers, they say, ‘What did God desire by this for a similitude?’ Thereby, He leads many astray and thereby He guides many; and thereby He leads none astray except the wicked.” (Surah Al-Baqarah:26)
“O mankind, a similitude is being struck, so listen to it: truly those on whom you call besides God will never create a fly even if they rallied together to do so. And if a fly should take away something from them, they would not be able to recover that from it. Feeble is the seeker and the [thing] sought.” (Surah Al-Hajj:73)
Muslims thus need to be aware of the origin, beauty, function and mystery of everything in creation. The recitation of the Holy Qur’an itself helps Muslims do this.
For example, in the following verse, after providing the mental key to understanding the environment, the Holy Qur’an proceeds to provide an existential key to this understanding.
“Do you not see that everything that is in the heavens and the earth praises God? And the birds with wings outspread? Of each He knoweth the worship and the praise (‘wa’ltayru safatin—kullun qad ‘alima salatahu wa tasbīha’) …” (Surah An-Nur:41)
When reciting these words according to tajwid (ritually correct intonation) one cannot escape the onomatopoeic effect of the ‘alif’ (the vowel ‘a’) in the word ‘safatin’ which must be prolonged to at least 6 beats: the result is that one recites the word in a manner which evokes the reality of the flight of the birds.
This enables the attentive reciter or the listener of the Holy Qur’an to experience the praise of all things not just as a theoretical or mental understanding concept but as an actualised reality through the very sound of the Qur’an. The impact of this then should gradually sensitise Muslims to the universal praise and glorification in the environment and in nature.
Moreover, there is more than just existential praise of God in nature. There is praise that is active, aware and deliberate. God gives us insight into this in the following verse about bees:
“Your Lord has revealed unto [awha] the bee: ‘make your home in the mountains and on the trees, and the trellises which they erect; / then eat from every fruit and follow humbly the ways of your Lord’. There comes forth from their bellies a drink of diverse hues, wherein is a cure for mankind.” (Surah Al-Nahl:68-9)
Thus even the tiny bee receives a form of Revelation (‘wahi’) from God. ‘Revelation’ here can perhaps be understood to mean that ‘inspired instinct’ which is given naturally to all creatures to: (1) follow their instincts for growth, self-preservation and reproduction (make your home in the mountains, and on the trees, and the trellises which they erect; then eat from every fruit) and (2) worship God in their own way (and follow humbly the ways of your Lord).
Comparing the second aspect of this form of ‘inspiration’ to creatures with the Revelation granted human beings through God’s Messengers, we see that the mass of human beings, in their ‘fallen state’ in the post-Edenic period, have to learn to do through Supernatural Revelation, what bees (and other animals and creatures) are given naturally. Now the worth of creatures is in their real consciousness (and therefore piety, ‘taqwa’) for God says in the Holy Qur’an:
“O mankind! We have indeed created you from a male and a female, and made you nations and tribes that you may come to know one another. Truly the noblest of you in the sight of God is the most pious (atqwa) among you. Truly God is Knower, Aware.” (Surah Al-Hujurat:13)
It thus follows that all of the creatures of the world (save for mankind and the jinn) are less astray and less ‘bestial’ than the human beings and jinn who are heed less of God. Indeed, God confirms this exactly in the Holy Qur’an.
“And We have indeed urged unto Hell many of the jinn and mankind, having hearts wherewith they do not understand, and having eyes wherewith they do not perceive, and having ears wherewith they do not hear. These, they are like cattle — nay, rather they are further astray. These — they are the heedless.” (Surah Al-A’raf:179)
This then is another very potent and powerful reason why Muslims need to respect nature and its creatures: not only were they created by God; not only do they contain signs (ayat) of God; not only do they all glorify God in praise, but nature and all its creatures are inherently less astray and thus nobler in God’s sight than heedless human beings!
Finally, it should be noted that all creatures form interactive communities (‘umam’, singular: ‘umma’) much like ourselves. God says in the Holy Qur’an:
“There is not an animal on earth nor a flying creature with wings which do not form communities [umam] analogous [amthalukum] to you.” (Surah Al-An’am:38)
Each species, then, is an ‘umma’, is a divinely-willed community of beings, which are receptacles of ‘natural revelation’.
Moreover, each one of these communities or species has its own distinct mode of receiving natural revelation (which is precisely what makes it different from any other species), and thus their own way of naturally engaging in prayer and glorification.
Each species then has its ‘religion’ so to speak and a ‘people’ in itself ‘like ourselves’, and this in itself should be a powerful warning to us to respect, cherish and empathize with nature and all its creatures.
One of the implications of a truly Qur’anic awareness of the natural world is this: the loss of any kind of species, any kind of creature, is not just a catastrophe; it is a kind of cosmic sacrilege.
Each species, being an umma, is not just some accidental feature of evolution, the loss of which may be somehow justified by the greater cause of our progress on the evolutionary scale. On the contrary, it is a direct and blessed manifestation of divine creativity.
The loss of any species of life is thus not just tragic, cruel and immoral but blasphemous and a direct revolt against God. God says in the Holy Qur’an:
“Because of that, We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever slays a soul for other than a soul, or for corruption in the land, it shall be as if he had slain mankind altogether; and whoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers have already come to them with clear proofs, but after that many of them still commit excesses in the land.” (Surah Al-Maida:32)
It can be inferred from what we have seen above that the extinction of a whole innocent species is as grave as the killing of an innocent soul, and that it is thus comparable to the slaying of all mankind. And God knows best.