Environmental Ethics of the Ikhwân al-Safâ’: A Lesson from Rasâ’il’s Zoology
Dr.
Center for Islamic Philosophical Studies and Information
The influence of the secular world view on modern man has been very great. Consequently, the world has been understood simply as an inanimate physical entity, having nothing at all to do with spirituality. As modern man lost his sensitivity to the natural world and began to approach it in a harsh manner, it began to suffer ecological catastrophes. This is one of the serious problems we face today. We are, therefore, in dire need of a wisdom which can curb the acceleration of the secularization process and thus preserve the natural world from further destruction arising from our own irresponsible mentality and behavior. In this paper, I would like to address an ethics for the environment which can be drawn from a treatise on zoology in the Rasâ’il of the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ – a group of tenth century Muslim philosophers.
First, I will discuss the Ikhwân’s cosmological and psychological doctrines, where the world was considered as the ‘great man’ (al-insân al-kabîr), and man as the microcosm (al-‘âlam al-saghîr). The concept of this mutual relation between man and the world, once understood and practiced, carries important implications with respect to the maintenance of environmental equilibrium and quality which have been lost from modern man’s mind and insight. Next, I will discuss the Ikhwân’s environmental ethics, drawing from selected parts of an imaginary dialogue in a Jinni court, wherein the animals have brought a legal case against humanity, challenging the legitimacy of humanity’s maltreatment towards them, and critically examining humanity’s claim of mastery over them. In the process of refuting almost all the arguments on behalf of humanity, our misconduct towards animals and the environment are very clearly revealed. Through this dialogue, the Ikhwân al-Safâ’ are teaching us how human beings should behave toward the environment, in order to promote and preserve the equilibrium and quality of the only inhabitable but fragile planet: our beloved earth.