Faithful People Respect Nature
This is according to Iranian cleric Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad who addressed a gathering in the Vatican in October last year ahead of the COP26 conference.
He and scholars and figures of different faiths had been invited by the Pope to the Vatican to discuss the issue of protecting the nature and countering climate change in the world.
On the occasion of the World Environment Day, which is marked on June 5, we read excerpts from his speech at the gathering:
The environmental crisis that has made humans’ politics on the earth difficult today is a moral and intellectual crisis and in order to resolve it, religious leaders can play an important role.
Our view of the world can be two kinds: Divine and non-divine. In the divine view, the world before us, including human beings, animals, mountains, seas, on other parts of the nature are all sign of the Creator and point to Him (His existence). Thus, one who is faithful holds the nature in respect and considers himself as part of it. In the Holy Quran, the nature, like man, talks to God and glorifies Him. Therefore, the nature is sacred in view of the faithful and they never disrespect it.
Also, according to the Quran, God has ordered mankind at the beginning of creating him not to do two things: murder and pollution the environment. Today, unfortunately, mankind has failed to keep his promise to God as he murders the innocent and destroys the environment.
It is the duty of the followers of faiths to unite to convey the message of God (about protecting the environment and avoiding murder) and make sure that mankind will keep his promise to God.
