Safeguarding Environment through Religion: A Study of Prophet Muhammad (PUBH) Sunnah

Abstract

Environmental degradation forms one of the main concerns of humanity world-wide. Environment receives high proportion of toxic waste in each possible form - solid, liquid, and gaseous, each passing day. All this should call upon the attention of human beings to think on the grave issue of environmental pollution. Every year June 5 is celebrated as the World Environment Day (WED) under the aegis of United Nations, intending to raise awareness about the environmental issues within the global society. Seminars, Symposia, and conferences are held world-wide to seek strategies and tools to minimize the harmful effects of environmental pollution. There is no denying of the fact that all such human endeavors bear fruits. However experts at such events fail to invoke the teachings of religious scriptures. As the post-modern man still believes in the inviolability of nature, which forms the trust of God in the hands of man, to call upon the religious teachings on the environmental preservation and protection will help a lot to build our healthy relationship with the environment. In the paper my venture is aimed to explore the Prophetic Sunnah of Muhammad where in the conservation and care for the environment is deeply cherished. The study could prove useful to both religious and ir-religious in drawing vital insights and handy conclusions for the preservation of the environment that we all are part of.