Islam and nature conservation

Abstract

The main question of the present study is what the Islam's attitude and recommendations are in the biodiversity conservation issue and the way to interact. This paper deal with major theories of Anthropocentrism, Eco-Centrism, and Biome-Centrism. While reviewing Holy Quran and exploring Islamic literature using keywords like nature, trees, animals, conservation, organisms, diversity, oceans, earth, mountains I found that Islam has a positive attitude and many recommendations toward the moral and intrinsic value of the other beings. The difference between the Islamic view and other theories toward the natural environment is that they equate the intrinsic value of man with other beings, while in Islam, human is distinguished from other beings since he has an intellect and has accepted the providence and guardianship of God. Human seizure in the nature must be done with responsibility and commitment. The Islamic view is in line with the comprehensive intermediate theory of the environment, and the statement that humans and animals have the same intrinsic value and respect, and that the intrinsic value of life-capable beings cannot be graded, is not acceptable in Islam. Islam has very restricted rules toward the nature conservation and recommends the human to protect habitats, animals, and overall biodiversity.