In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace.
"Which of your Sustainer's favours will (do) you deny?"
A refrain from Surah Ar-Rahman (S55) in the Qur'an has been running through my mind the last few days. The past week has seen Singapore and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia covered in haze (smog) due to forest fires in Indonesia. At times, the haze was so high as to reach dangerous levels.
When this happens, we realise how much we take the clean air (relatively clean in the city) around us for granted as well as the sun and the blue skies. Taking things for granted is part of human nature and the above refrain takes us to task about our "forgetful" nature.
So how do we ensure that we don't take things for granted and more critically, how do we show our gratefulness? For this discussion, I will confine myself to the relationship between human and nature. Consider the reasons for taking nature for granted:
1. Usually it is because we assume it is something constant in our life, something that will always be there no matter what. Like the air we breathe or the sun or the tide. A few weeks ago, I was talking to this person discussing about tidal power as an alternate source of energy when he said about how unlike wind or solar, tides are a constant. And it is true that tides are a constant so much so that I never really thought much about them.
2. We also seem to have this sense of entitlement over nature, as if nature is there only for us and us alone. Seyyed Hossein Nasr describes it in his book 'Man and Nature' as 'for modern man nature has become like a prostitute - to be benefited from without any sense of obligation and responsibility toward her.'
3. A friend, when I asked the question, boils it down to our selfishness. We take and take from nature but never think to give back.
So what is the solution? I will try to elucidate my thoughts on this in another post.
"Which of your Sustainer's favours will (do) you deny?"
A refrain from Surah Ar-Rahman (S55) in the Qur'an has been running through my mind the last few days. The past week has seen Singapore and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia covered in haze (smog) due to forest fires in Indonesia. At times, the haze was so high as to reach dangerous levels.
When this happens, we realise how much we take the clean air (relatively clean in the city) around us for granted as well as the sun and the blue skies. Taking things for granted is part of human nature and the above refrain takes us to task about our "forgetful" nature.
So how do we ensure that we don't take things for granted and more critically, how do we show our gratefulness? For this discussion, I will confine myself to the relationship between human and nature. Consider the reasons for taking nature for granted:
1. Usually it is because we assume it is something constant in our life, something that will always be there no matter what. Like the air we breathe or the sun or the tide. A few weeks ago, I was talking to this person discussing about tidal power as an alternate source of energy when he said about how unlike wind or solar, tides are a constant. And it is true that tides are a constant so much so that I never really thought much about them.
2. We also seem to have this sense of entitlement over nature, as if nature is there only for us and us alone. Seyyed Hossein Nasr describes it in his book 'Man and Nature' as 'for modern man nature has become like a prostitute - to be benefited from without any sense of obligation and responsibility toward her.'
3. A friend, when I asked the question, boils it down to our selfishness. We take and take from nature but never think to give back.
So what is the solution? I will try to elucidate my thoughts on this in another post.
