Introduction

Words and Meanings

The term "conservation" as it is understood today is relatively new in its usage. It emerged out of necessity in the latter part of the twentieth century as the effects of human behaviour increasingly began to negatively impact on the environment. This also brought about a realisation that the entity we describe as the "environment" is at the receiving end of processes known as ‘pollution, degradation and deforestation’.

The environment also has other names that can be substituted in its place like nature, the natural order, the primordial pattern, the original state and so on. Each of these terms may be seen as abstractions used to describe collectively the elements, the flora, the fauna and their interactions and interdependence on each other. We, the human community, are of course intrinsically interwoven into its fabric.

The term the Qur’an uses to describe the environment or nature, etc. Is "creation" (khalq). This word is derived from the root Kh L Q in Arabic and there are estimated to be 261 verses in the Qur’an, which are derived from this root in its various grammatical forms. The very first revelation of the Qur’an contains the verb khalaq (created) derived from this root. This verse is translated thus: "Read in the name of your Lord Who created" (96:1). The clear implication here is that we are part of the totality of the creational process the responsibility for which has been Allah’s. The Qur’an is then a manual of life transactions for the human community on how to conduct itself in creation. At one level it is about conserving the body and the soul, at another it is about the forests and the rivers and at yet another level it is about the communities of beings that fly and crawl and lope and swim. The body of teaching in the Qur’an that deals with these matters may be described as ‘Ilm ul Khalq (Knowledge of Creation) which predates the science of Ecology by fourteen centuries.

The Images

The twenty-four images that form this teaching resource are divided, into three parts. Images 1 to 12 are mainly descriptive in nature and attempt to draw out the themes from the Qur’an on Creation itself - the cosmos, the flora, the fauna and the human community. In following the ethos of the Qur’an they attempt to show that each element in creation has a role of its own and in playing this role it helps the others to play their part. The human community is endowed with the status of guardianship and is thus placed in the role of conserver.

Images 13 - 18 form the second part and an attempt is made here to draw lessons from the Qur’an on human behaviour and its corrosive effects on the environment. The final section - images 19 - 24 - describes the balance that exists in the natural order and how tentative steps are being taken by many individuals and groups in various parts of the world to put things right. The concluding image summarises the role of the human species in its relationship with the rest of creation. It stresses the conscious striving that is needed by us to preserve the natural world as if it were our only home.