Religion and Environment: A Comparison of Islamic and Christian Views

This essay compares the views of Islam and Christianity on the environment. While Islam emphasizes the preservation of the environment, Christianity does not have a clear mandate on the issue. Religion plays a vital role in shaping an organized environment and inspiring individuals to protect it.

Running head: RELIGION AND ENVIRONMENT
Religion and environment
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Section 1
The study of religion and environment has remained an argumentative topic in the
recent times. Many critics and researchers have made effective study on the nature of the
religion and the relation of the religion on nature and the shaping of a safe and healthy
environment. The sacred books of religion included the norms and the rules that stated the
role and function of the religion in shaping a good environment. Religion is a system that
binds the human and it enables the human beings to perform a certain set of rules. Religion is
the only thing that binds the entire world. Therefore, in order to build a good environment
religion can play a major role. People is bound to follow all the rules under the religion
factor. The essay compares the two different religions and it brings out the contrasting idea
both the religions have regarding the environment. The two different religions that has been
considered in the essay are Islam and Christianity. According to Islam and the religious book,
Quran, the prophets held the environment to be sacred. The religion believed that God created
the universe for a particular reason. The environment is considered to be the reflection of
truth. The human beings must preserve the environment as the environment gives knowledge
to the human beings. There are many chapters in the Quran that have the headings like, ‘The
Sun’, ‘Dawn’, and ‘Morning hours’. Man is considered to be the representation of god on the
planet. The Christian beliefs stands in contrast with the Islamic views. Many social scientists
have found the fact that the conservative Christians and the members of the Christians are not
concerned about the environment. In Bible the fact about environment is not stressed upon
(Raei & Vaezi, 2015).
Section 2:
The issue of environment has always remained an important issue in the earlier as
well as in the contemporary. Religion is the aspect that binds people and that enables an

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individual to follow the norms and the rules of the environment. There is no other way that
will compel the individuals to follow the rules of nature and environment. Therefore, it is
important for the people to know whether the religious texts is in favor of saving the
environment and does it include any preventive measures for making the individuals aware of
the need to preserve the environment (Konisky, 2018).
It is an important topic as it would enable the individuals to understand the difference
between the treatments of two different religion. The two different religions that has been
taken into account in this essay are Islam and Christianity. Islam is an ethnic and eastern
religion whereas Christianity is a western religion. The two different religion have different
rules written in the holy books. The holy book of Quran, is in favor of preserving the
environment and it puts forward a religion angle in order to maintain the same (Arbabi &
Noormohamadi, 2014). According to Islam, the ecology has been created by God and it is the
responsibility of all the human beings to save the environment. On the other hand in Bible
there is no such mention of conserving the environment and nature. The believers of
Christianity does not believe in this idea. In order to mark the huge contrast between the two
religions this topic has been selected. The difference include the difference between the two
culture and the difference between the two beliefs and practices of the religion (Clements,
Xiao & McCright, 2014).
Section 3:
Islam and environment:
The religious text of Islam directly speaks on the issues that are faced by the
individuals regarding the conservation of the ecosystem. It calls all the individuals to
recognize the contribution to the crisis that is occurring in the nature (Meraj, 2016). It is
mentioned in the text that,

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“Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which means men’s hands
done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they
may return. (Quran 30:41).
According to the above verse it is believed that God has given the opportunity to taste the
own medicine of the people so that the people may be able to return from the wrong
directions that have been taken by every individuals in their life. In order to make some
amount of deterioration of the environment every individual must make hard choices and
change the practices. The change that is brought in the ecology intends for the change
brought in the personal identity. It is possible for a man to get rid of all his punishments and
rectifying himself only by bringing a good change in the nature and the universe (Akhir,
2017).
Section 4:
Christianity and environment
There have been many arguments on the teachings of Christianity on the care for the
environment. It has been challenged from outside the church as well as inside the church. The
ones who challenged this concept from outside the church opines the fact that the Christian
faith has been accused of holding to a theology that encourages the exploitation of the
environment. This has been thought to be considered as the misleading of the Holy Scriptures
as well as the misleading practices of the Christians. However some argumentative thoughts
have been put forward to defend the above theory. These include the theories put forward
from inside the Church. They have put forward five challenges related to this: the utilitarian
earth view, the gnostic world view, the conflation of earth keeping with environmentalism,
the fear of Samaritans syndrome and the no crisis or no stewardship philosophy. The concept
of environment and nature varies among different denominations of Christianity. The major

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denomination endorse that the prime responsibility of every individual according to Bible is
to preserve the natural creation that has been created by God. It varies from the other angle.
Some social science researchers opine the fact that the conservative Christians are not
worried about the issues of the environment (Arumugam, 2017).
Section 5:
Comparison between the two:
While comparing both the religions in the context of environment this can be
mentioned that Islam is more clear about the function and the role of every individual on
taking measures to protect the environment. The holy book of Islam have few chapters
dedicated on Environment and the aspects related to it (Akhir & Halim, 2017). All the
believers of Islam religiously follow the holy text and they had no confusion in the fact that
God has made the environment and it was their duty to preserve the same. On the other hand,
Bible did not had any specific chapter on environment and ecology. There were different
classes of believers who had different thoughts on environment. The conservative Christians
did not even consider the depletion of the natural resources to be an issue. The other school of
believers identified the broad field that encompassed the Christian theology on the reflection
on nature (Alexander, 2018). However there was no mandatory rule that was followed by the
Christians regarding the preservation of environment and it was completely in contrast with
the Islamic religion.
Conclusion
While concluding this can be mentioned that religion plays a vital role in shaping an
organized environment. It has the capacity to inspire the individuals to protect the
environment and to shape the same and to make it a better place to live in. Religion forms a

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set of rules that instructs the way of living. Islam has a clear mention of the same in the holy
text and Christianity does not define the individuals in maintaining the same.
Religion can bind every individual and therefore the religious texts must have the
power to shape the identity of every individual.
Religion is sometimes restricted to the relationship between people and that which
they regard as holy, often in the terms of supernaturalism. It always had a close relationship
with the environment. Some religion have less influence on the environment and some have
more but all religions are designed for the good for every individuals living on Earth.

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