What did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him!) Said about the protection of forests?

Islam requires respect for all objects of animate and inanimate nature that surround us. Many instructions on this matter are contained in the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the website Fikriyat reports.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who said: “If the Day of Judgment has come, and you have a seedling in your hands, then plant it if you have the opportunity,” took care of the environment. In order to leave future generations a green planet, he instructed his companions to protect trees , forbidding them to be cut down unnecessarily.

Another hadith says: “The seven (things) will continue to bring reward for the slave (Allah) while he is in his grave after death: the knowledge that he taught, or the river that he made, or the well that he dug, or a palm tree that he planted, or a mosque that he built, or a copy of the Koran / Mushaf / which he bequeathed, or a child whom he left (after himself), and he will turn (to Allah) with prayers for forgiveness for him after his death “(Tirmidhi, Birr, 16). This hadith not only encourages the construction of religious buildings, raising children properly, acquiring knowledge, but also informs that planting treesis a good deed equal to the above, and is “sadaqa jariya”, i.e. benefits of this kind, for which a person receives a reward even after his death. As long as the living and inanimate, intelligent and unreasonable creatures benefit from the planted tree, the book of the Muslim’s good deeds will not close, they will continue to write down rewards (sawab) for him. Many hadiths express a similar meaning:

“If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, a person or an animal eats their fruits, this is considered as a donation (sadaqa)” (Bukhari, al-Hars wa al-muzara; Muslim, Musakat, 12).

“Whoever plants a tree and cares for it until it grows and bears fruit, then the benefit of each fruit from this tree will be counted to him as a donation (sadaqa)” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, IV, 61, 374 ).

“Whoever plants a tree, and this tree reaches maturity, Allah will plant for the person who has done this, a tree in Paradise” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, IV, 61).

“Whoever plants a tree, Allah will write down his reward in the amount of the harvest received from this tree ” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, V, 415).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade cutting down trees that do not bear fruit , since animals and travelers find shelter in their shade, and also cause any harm to plants even during a war or a siege on the territory of the enemy, as long as they do not contain any danger to Muslims.

Once, driving past the area of ​​Zuraiba at-Tawil, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “If someone chops down one tree here, let him plant another instead.” Thanks to this, after some time, this area turned into a forest.

Also, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) instructed to be merciful to all creation, both living and inanimate. He said, “Be merciful to those on earth, and those in heaven will be merciful to you.” Thus, one of the ways to get an easy calculation on the Day of Judgment and meet a friendly welcome in the afterlife is to take care of the environment , to be kind to living beings.

Islamosphere