Forests, Oceans and Micro cosmos.
We live in a remarkable place. Consider how planet earth is at the perfect distance away from the Sun. Any closer or further, all life on earth would probably no longer be possible. Consider that in the vastness of space, among all the planets, we inhabit one with all the right conditions to cultivate life. Perhaps, we need some perspective on what it means to live on planet earth. We have water bodies to sustain micro-organisms, marine life, mammals, insects and a rich diversity of creatures.
Recently, there was a film festival held by the French Embassy in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. In the spirit of cultivating the french culture, three french-made movies were showcased over three days to the general public. The first film, entitled, "Once upon a forest", directed by Luc Jacquet, tells the extraordinary story of how an entire ecosystem of rain forest grows and sustains a rich biodiversity of animate life. I didn't get to see much of this film as part of my job that night involved managing the backstage preparations, but it seemed like it was beautifully well-made. The second movie that was showcased, entitled, "Oceans" by Jacques Perrin, attempts to reveal all the grandeur of our Oceanic wildlife. It began with a marine iguana on the coastline and the story transitioned seamlessly from one life form to the other. For instance, among the creatures showcased were the humpback whales, horseshoe crab, great white shark, dolphins, orca, leopard seals, swordfish, sailfish, blanket octopus, turtles and a whole myriad of exotic creatures rarely seen.What I liked most about this movie was how elegantly smooth the cinematography was and how captivating the story was put together, such that one finds themselves pulled into the ocean itself to truly understand the mysteries of what lies below. It's as if the movie has piqued my interest in marine life and conservation, for all this while I have never been the sort to vouch for these things. The third and final movie was entitled, "Microcosmos" and it depicted the alien world of insect life. This one was truly astounding to see because it became clear to me that an entire cosmos exists through the world of these insects. The film punctuates with baritone notes for dramatic effect during fights between two beetles and leaves the viewer curiously dissatisfied and craving more.
These 3 films left me in complete disgust at myself. In a good way, it left me feeling like a complete hypocrite, for all this while I believed I had championed for good causes but it's clear now that I am nowhere near that idealized self-image. "What have I ever done for the oceans, forests and earth?". "Can I say that my life has been a testament to the message of the Prophet Muhammad sall Allahu alayhi wasalaam?" It becomes obvious that as we dig deeper into ourselves, our layers of hypocrisy manifest themselves for us to see. We can claim to love the Prophet, or Jesus (peace be upon him), or God (exalted is he), or the community, or the hungry people, or the sickly, or the oppressed, or the abused and trafficked, but until we make a decision to change our personal lives we will never rise up to this state of honor. We love ourselves too much to spare a thought for others. We post on facebook the horrors of the Palestinian dilemma yet spend the night snoring away. We ramble on about how we need to stop human trafficking and the carnage of pornography addiction but waste time idling away. What has become of our humanity? So you can see how frustrated I was at my state when I try to reconcile the human condition and what the Prophet Muhammad sallAllahu alayhiwasallam taught us. It's difficult to understand this world without trying to get to the roots of the problems. We were apart of the sacred pact, or primordial pact, that "Indeed, God is our Lord". What has become of our people? These 3 movies showed me just how much work there is for human beings to do to heal our planet, who for the last few centuries have done nothing but wreak havoc on mother earth.
Emile Durkheim, french Sociologist
Mahatma Ghandi, peace advocate
Mother Theresa, peace advocate
I am bewildered that we can even think of wanting to change our condition without changing our own selves. The problem, truly lies in ourselves. Mother Theresa said it best when she said, "If only everyone would sweep their own doorstep, the whole world would be clean". And Mahatma Ghandi said, "Be the change that you want to see in the world". Just look at what these transformed human beings had to say about "revolutions". Surely they knew that in order to change conditions of suffering and alleviate pain one needs to unearth all of that greed, selfishness, enmity, pride, conceit, sloth and other inner ills of the sickly heart.
Ihya Ulumiddin, "Revivication of Islamic Sciences" by Imam al-Ghazali (1058–1111)
That is why Imam al-Ghazali, one of the greatest theologian, jurist and Sufi Masters of Islam was so influential - he was himself a transformed human being through a spiritual struggle of his inner self. Imam al-Ghazali was among the best of orators and easily the most knowledgeable scholar of his time but a tongue-tied dilemma happened one day which left him to set out on a solitary journey into the harsh desert in search for the truth, only to completely transform himself in the process. Through this remarkable change, he wrote his magnum opus, the "Ihya Ulumiddin", or the "Revivication of the Islamic Sciences", which encapsulates the teachings of the scholars of Islamic Creed (aqida), Sacred Law (sharia) and Muhammadan Character (tasawuf). We have fallen short of the kind of honor and standard that our scholars have set for us. Human kind has failed mother nature. But yet, it is only human kind that possesses the ability to repent and right it's wrongs before we are called to stand before God on the day of Judgement. Like what the notable scholar, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf said, "We need Global Taubah". In other words, we need a collective global community of repented human beings who realize their true end is not for the delights of this world, far from it, in fact our true success lies with Allah (exalted is He). We do not build for this world because this world will end and it will wither away. It will die just as it had life. We build for the afterlife and what's to come, which is the only thing that matters.
We all can make changes in our lives. It is just a matter of being true to the Prophetic message. And following in the footsteps of prophecy is the humanistic and responsible thing to do. So how can we change and what can we do immediately to heal the world? Well, we can start with educating ourselves about our religion. We can start by sitting with the scholars who have purified themselves and also embody the Muhammadan message through their life and acts. We can start by finding the saints of God who only reveal themselves to those who seek them. We can start by not wasting water at home. We can start by spending the night in supplication, prayers, recitation of the Qur'an, educating ourselves on the global issues, organizing coastal clean-ups, starting book club meetings on environmentalism, showcasing films like "Oceans", starting a small plant nursery at home, the possibilities are endless. It just takes a commitment to standing by what great men and women have long preached - knowledge of the self and knowledge of God. Let's create communities that build serious students of knowledge and sacred spaces where healing can take place. All it takes is a brief reading of Emile Durkheim, the french Sociologist, to know that the capitalistic system is bound to lead us to doom, like the higher occurrences of suicide cases. It doesn't take a genius to know that when Max Weber said that capitalism promotes individualism for us to know that the system we have has failed us. Our social ills are much more deeply rooted than we want it to be but we can do something about it. We just need to wake up ! and stop sleeping. We need to wake up because we have fallen asleep for far too long.
Just look at the Muslim community now. We have civil wars, countries in and out of wars, gross unemployment in many countries, disgusting numbers of Muslims watching pornography, our women are deprived of proper education, our children are exposed to television and the carnage of mass communication, we can't read anymore, we don't care about the preservation of family anymore- it is just one nightmare after another. Shame on us. We should be ashamed that we ourselves have oppressed our own people. We cannot point the finger at anyone else but ourselves. WE need to rise up!
Allah, written in Arabic
Having said all that, we take comfort in knowing that whatever that happens is by the will of God and that God will not change our condition until we change ourselves. In these troubled times, it is reassuring to know that we still have a few living saints who can guide us through this nightmare. Praise be to God for being merciful to us that we can still repent and start doing something to change our condition. Let us retreat into our homes and create spaces of remembrance of God (dhikr), Qur'anic recitation, supplication, wholesome consumption of food and nights spent pleading at the door of God. This post is a reminder to myself, first and foremost, that truly "Verily, in the friends of Allah, there is no God, nor shall they grieve..". We need now, more than ever, to rise up to the message brought for us. Our agenda to change our condition is now. It is real, it is necessary and it is something we all need to work towards. God help us all. There is no Power and Strength except in Allah. amin.
