In the name of our Creator, the most Gracious, the most Merciful
In November 2019 I sat in a class with two young students presenting the above topic, effectively focussed on the ecological crisis we find ourselves in. A thought provoking topic with lots of discussions and insights. They presented some interesting facts integrating ideas and solutions.
An important point was raised around how all the challenges and concerns around the state of our beautiful planet links to our responsibility and ultimately our purpose. One of the questions raised in the class was around the connection between the application of “Revelation”, focussing on the five pillars of our belief; and our responsibility towards our planet.
Is there a connection?
The five pillars include:
- Profession of faith, that there is no God worthy of worship besides God and that Muhammad Pbuh is the last and final messenger;
- Five daily prayers (with the first prayer commencing at dawn before sunrise);
- Giving charity (Zakkah);
- Fasting daily, once a year during the month Ramadaan (from dawn to dusk);
- Performing pilgrimage at least once in your life (if you can afford to).
I decided to pose this question to my daughter who was 9-years old at the time. Basically, whether she thought there was a link between the application of these five pillars and taking care of our planet and our environments. She pondered and initially struggled to link the question. She continued asking me questions to clarify. Eventually in her animated way began to explain her thoughts, with an analogy as she normally does.
Her approach and response was quite profound, Mashallah.
She firstly tried to analyse the benefits and the purpose of these pillars. What she felt happens when someone performs these pillars like prayers, fasting, giving charity, pilgrimage etc. She then linked it to what feelings she felt emanated from these experiences, linking to the state of mind. She basically concluded that when you perform these actions you are happy and peaceful.
She then went on to say “…yes mommy there is a connection. It is like a WIFI router. If you connect to the WIFI you can connect to many things but that depends on the strength of your signal. Sometimes depending on where you are, the signal may not be great so you can’t really connect to other things like Google, Youtube, etc. So sometimes you connect to this weak signal but you not really connected. So the same applies to this. If the signal is not good you are not going to be able to connect properly, but if you perform the five pillars as intended it helps to increase your signal then you can connect a lot wider and experience and see so much more.”
I then asked her what this meant practically i.e. to be more connected in this context around our ecological crisis, we used the example of litter; if she saw someone littering. She said, “I’ll tell them to pick it up, if they refuse, I will pick it up.”
An interesting, simple analogy of connecting the essence and purpose behind the application of these five pillars, i.e. To achieve a level of consistent maintenance and growth in consciousness and awareness/mindfulness physically, spiritually and emotionally, throughout your day, week, month, year, lifetime. In this context, referencing to ecological consciousness. Effectively all linking back to our ultimate purpose, “why” we exist…
Are we truly realising our humanity…our purpose…if we don’t evolve towards ecological consciousness…?
FJ
