Ecology and Tasawwuf

1
Ecology and Tasawwuf

• Shahidan Radiman
• School of Applied Physics
• Faculty of Science and Technology
• UKM
• E-mail shahidan_at_ukm.my
• Bengkel PengIslaman Ekologi dan Kajian Alam
  Sekitar anjuran ASASI
• (10-11 Mei 2008, EiMAS , UKM)

2
The quintessence of ecology was, of course,
expressed in the Koran BismillahirRahmanirRahim
-Eat, drink, but do not waste. (7 31)
3
Content of Talk

• I. Statement of Current Ecology Problems around
  the World
• II. Background of Talk
• III. The less known world of Tasawwuf
• IV. Ecological Ethics to be developed from
  Tasawwuf
• V. Tasawwuf in Modern Pespective and the Future.
• VI. Conclusions

4
I. Statement of Current Ecology Problems around
the World

• The roots of our ecological crises are
  axiomatic they lie in our belief and value
  structures which shape our relationship with
  nature , with each other and the lifestyles we
  lead Ziauddin Sardar , Islamic Futures p218
  , 1985.

5

• can we check this threat to our planet simply
  by introducing stricter legislation against
  pollution , industrial waste and nuclear spills?
  Can we reverse the degradation of our environment
  by adopting conservationist policies on both
  national and international levels? O could it be
  that the whole ecological imbalance betokens the
  spiritual and teleological crisis of modren
  civilisation itself? Does it require fundamental
  revision of our own way of life , our cherished
  goals , indeed our very conception of ourselves
  and the world? Parveez Manzoor , in Touch of
  Midas, 1985 ( Edit. Z. Sardar)

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• This gives rise to the need of ecological ethics
• There is no consensus about the form which in
  environmental ethic should take.
• There have been long (and inconclusive) debates
  about whether an environmental ethic should be a
  (Kantian) ethic of principles to guide our
  actions with respect to the natural world, or a
  utilitarian ethic of consequences according to
  which our activities with respect to the natural
  world should be concerned above all with
  mitigating destructive environmental
  consequences, or a virtue ethic according to
  which we should be primarily concerned with the
  development of virtuous dispositions for 2 agents
  when they make choices that affect the natural
  world. Each of these approaches has been explored
  at length and each of them has been found to be
  problematic.

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Approaches to Ecological Ethics

• Process Ecological Ethics (Christian viewpoint)
• Process metaphysical systems are mostly
  theistic, though even in the Whiteheadian camp
  there are also non-theistic versions (esp. Donald
  Sherburne). For our purposes, we may distinguish
  a spectrum of views from minimal religious
  naturalism' (Stone, 1993) to various maximal
  possibilities. Minimal religious naturalism talks
  in terms of immanent and transcendent resources
  for the task of living together in the natural
  world, without specifying a single metaphysical
  source for these resources. There is in our
  lives, for example, a lure towards goodness,
  truth and beauty, and perhaps something analogous
  to this further down the line.

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• There are a variety of maximal theistic
  versions, Whitehead, Hartshorne, Cobb, Griffin,
  Suchocki, the Christian Trinitarianism of Joe
  Bracken to mention some of them. Typically and
  deriving from Whitehead, God is noted as
  principle of limitation providing a kind of focus
  for the cosmic process also as principle of
  possibility and of novelty within the process.
  There is also a fairly common division made
  between the Primordial Nature and the Consequent
  Nature of God, with sometimes also a Projective
  or Superjective Nature.thrown in. Roughly, this
  comes down to, God as Creative, God as Receptive
  and God as Responsive. There is also the God as
  Primordial Qualification of Creativity of the
  Belgian philosopher Jan Van der Veken.

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Early Books on Theocentric Approaches

1. Originally published in 1972, Is It Too Late? A
   Theology of Ecology, by John B. Cobb, Jr., was
   the first single-authored book-length
   environmental ethics text to deal with the
   ecological crisis.
2. Originally published in 1989 by Prentice Hall,
   Foundations of Environmental Ethics, by Eugene C.
   Hargrove, is an investigation of the history of
   ideas behind environmentalism generally and
   environmental ethics specifically.
3. Max Oelschlaeger is the author of The Idea of
   Wilderness, The Environmental Imperative, and
   Religion in a Time of Ecological Crisis and the
   editor of The Wilderness Condition

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• More recently , Ecological Ethics in general
• 1.Earth's Insights A Multicultural Survey of
  Ecological Ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to
  the Australian Outback (Paperback)by J. Baird
  Callicott (Author) "Since the 1960s, those
  Western scholars who responded professionally to
  industrial civilization's environmental crisis
  have argued that an implicit environmental ethic
  has existed in many..." 
• Publisher University of California Press
  (December 29, 1997)
• Language English
• ISBN-10 0520085604
• ISBN-13 978-0520085602
• 2. Ecological Ethics An Introduction
  (Paperback)by Patrick Curry (Author)
• Publisher Polity (November 11, 2005)
• Language English
• ISBN-10 0745629083
• ISBN-13 978-0745629087

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Ecological Ethics

• Something is rightwhen it tends to preserve the
  integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
  community it is wrong when it does otherwise.
  (Leopold, 1966)

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Some remarks by Ecologists/Environmentalists

• Constructing a sustainable world is a challenge
  to society on many levels. It is a philosophical
  challenge to construct a robust set of beliefs
  and values which provide support for the
  principle of sustainability. It is an economic
  challenge to build the technological
  infrastructure to support human flourishing in a
  sustainable world. This will increasingly be
  identified with a carbon-neutral economy.
• -William Grey , Univ. of Queensland.

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• We also need environmental philosophy
• Celia Deane-Drummond in The Ethics of Nature
  (Oxford Basil Blackwell, 2004) says the
  following
• ..to be credible an environmental philosophy
  needs to have four key components. These consist
  of (a) a theory about what nature is (b) a
  theory about human beings (c) a theory of value
  and evaluation of human action (d) a theory of
  method, or standards against which claims are to
  be tested or confirmed. (p31)

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Islam as a holistic religion have it all (ethics
, philosophy etc)

• Of course we can start with the syariah , the law
  and regulations but we shouldnt neglect the
  other 3 aspects ( tareqah , makrifah and haqiqah
  , the reality of things)
• It is the point of this talk to stress on the
  tasawwuf , the last 3 aspects mentioned , as the
  way of the Sufi.

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II. Background of Talk

• Islam comes from the Quran and the Prophet s.a.w
  (Sunnah) in 4 forms
• Syariah the rules and regulations and
  jurisprudence
• Tareqah the Sunnah of doing the rituals
• Makrifah what Rasulullah s.a.w put in the heart
  
• Haqiqah gnosis of Allah s.w.t ,what Rasulullah
  s.a.w feeled.

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• The Syariah has always been stressed in many
  forms of Islamic law , however the tareqah ,
  makrifah and haqiqah aspects has generally been
  neglected by the Ummah. (It is also for this
  reason that the Ummah has undergone a
  declination) The repositories of these has been
  the Sufis of various tareqah al muktabarah e.g
  Naqshabandi , Chisti , Shadzili, Ahmadi , Rifai,
  Shattari and others.

17

• Religion approach towards Ecology Crisis has
  been started by Mary E.Tucker and John Grim ,
  Harvard Divinity School who started to Conference
  series Religions of the World and Ecology
  since 1996.
• (see Tucker and Grim, Daedalus , Fall, 2001)
• The approach of Tasawwuf or Sufism has aspects
  of Universality especially among those of the
  Samawi Religions .
• (see S.Nomanul Haq , Daedalus , Fall 2001)

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• One main result of the Religions of the World
  and Ecology conference series is a book
• Islam and Ecology A Bestowed Trust Edited by
  R.Foltz,F.Denny dan Azizan Baharuddin , Harvard
  Univ. Press , 2003.

19

• An important aspect in Sufism is the following
• Advice of the Nobles Apostle (s) to Abu Dharr
  Ghifari, may God be pleased wide him
•  
•  ?????? ????????? ???????? ????? ???? ??????
  ??????? ???????? ??????????????
•  
• Worship God as if you see Him, and if you cannot
  see Him, then worship Him as if knowing that He
  sees you.'

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A hadith qudsi which is central in Sufi literature

• Allah s.w.t says
• I was a Hidden treasure , I loved to be known ,
  so I created the world in order to become known
• It has now become a doctrine in Sufi literature
  that the world is created via the Act of Love
• (we will discuss this aspect from al-Farghanis
  viewpoint later)

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Example of Newpaper report on the role of
religion concerning the environment Environmental
ethics, religion and survival By Vivian Pulle On
27th June 2007, the Daily Mirror in an
introduction to Judge Weeramantrys article
entitled Islam, the environment and the human
future, called for readers to contribute towards
achieving inter religious understanding through
readers themselves contributing articles on the
attitude to problems concerning the environment
of one or other of the great world religions
which have occupied a long standing, respected
place among the indigenous population of Sri
Lanka. Judge Weeramantrys presentation on Islam
made to the World Future Council in Hamburg was
offered as a case in point. Without contesting
the excellence of the presentation, one note
nevertheless that religion can contribute to the
cause of human survival only in the long term.
The word problem no longer adequately describes
the seriousness of the current global situation.
What we have on our hands today is a global
emergency and one may legitimately ask what this
kind of discussion can contribute to the worlds
predicament. The world needs action and needs it
fast.
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III.The less known World of Tasawwuf

• The opposite of knowledge (scientific) is
  ignorance, while the opposite of marifa is
  denial. Marifa is the substance of knowledge
  attained through reflection, intuition, and inner
  perception. A person realizing marifa is
  imperceptible to others, who are without such
  knowledge. The following words are narrated in
  books concerning Sufism as a hadith qudsi-saying
  inspited by and received from God -

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• O humankind! One who knows his self also knows
  Me one who knows Me seeks Me, and one who seeks
  Me certainly finds Me one who finds me attains
  all his aspirations and expectations, and prefers
  none over Me. Oh humankind! Be humble that you
  can have knowledge of Me. One who renounces his
  self finds me. In order to know Me, renounce your
  own self. A heart which has not flourished and
  been perfected is blind.

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• In Sufism Tazkiyah an Nafs is particularly
  stressed and guided by a mursyid teacher to
  attain the maqam Ihsan there is a 100 stations
  to reach Allah as described by Sh. Abdullah
  Ansari of Herat, based on ayat 9 surah As Syams
  91
• Qad aflahaman zakkaha
• Lowness of ego and self-control as pointed out
  in ayat 45 surah al Baqarah 2
• Innaha lakabiratun illa alal khasiin

25

• According to Ibn Qayyim al Jauziyah there are 4
  jihad which is wajib upon a Muslim that is to
  reduce the ego, the fight the nafs , to fight
  against syaitan dan do not fall prey into love of
  the world (hubuddunya)
• It is also for this reason that Saidina Ali kar.
  was called Abu Turab (father of soil) by Prophet
  s.a.w

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The road to Sufism is not easy

• If you do not give up the crowdsyou won't find
  your way to Oneness.If you do not drop your
  selfyou won't find your true worth.If you do
  not offer all you have to the Beloved,you will
  live this life free of thatpain which makes it
  worth living.
• - Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Khair - "Nobody, Son of
  Nobody" - Vraje Abramian

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Views of the 4 Imams of Mazhab regarding Sufism

• Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal r.a praised Hariths
  al-Muhasibi by saying I have never heard words
  on the knowledge of haqiqah better than that from
  him .
• Imam Abu Hanifah r.a bacame a Sufi under the
  teaching of Imam Jaafar As Sadiq r.a, whereas
  Imam Shafie was the disciple of Imam Abu Hanifah
  r.a.

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"Sufism" has been defined as a type of knowledge
by the great Sufi masters. Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq, a
14th century Sufi who wrote "The Principles of
Sufism" defined Sufism as, "a science whose
objective is the reparation of the heart and
turning it away from all else but God. Ibn
'Ajiba, one of the best known Sufi masters
defined Sufism as "a science through which one
can know how to travel into the presence of the
Divine, purify ones inward from filth and
beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy
traits."
29
The conventional view is that the word originates
from Suf (???), the Arabic word for wool,
referring to the simple cloaks the early Muslim
ascetics wore. However, not all sufis wear cloaks
or clothes of wool. Another etymological theory
states that the root word of Sufi is the Arabic
word safa (???), meaning purity. This places the
emphasis of Sufism on purity of heart and
soul.Others suggest the origin is from "Ashab
al-Suffa" ("Companions of the Veranda") or "Ahl
al-Suffa" ("People of the Veranda"), who were a
group of Muslims during the time of the Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w who spent much of their time on
the veranda of the Prophet's mosque devoted to
prayer.
30
The Sufis stressed on Inner rather than Outer
dimensions
The position of the spiritual centers (Lataif) is
as under
31

• The theory of Lataif was formulated during the
  early development of Sufism ( Hasan basri ,
  Junaid al Baghdadi and others ) but was finalised
  by work of Syed Ahmad Sirhind and Shah Waliyullah
  Dehlavi

32
All creatures are under the dominion of Allah
s.w.t.
In one hadith from Sunan Abu Daud Rasulullah
s.a.w made dua O Allah , I swear that all of
Your makhluk are brothers !
33
One important principle in Sufism is to apply the
akhlak of Allah to oneself
34
Sadi, the famous Persian poetand Sufi , echoed
the same sentiments when he said     (Higher
spiritual life is nothing but service of
humanity, It is not (chanting) the rosary,
(remaining on the) prayer carpet or (wearing)
coarse garments.)
35
Shaikh Abu Said Abil Khair on of a Famous
Khurasaian Sufi has his motto in life
                                    (Whoever
causes grief to us, May his life get more and
more happiness.)
36
Their approach towards human relationships
is neatly expressed in the imagery of eyes
                                                  
         (Learn from the eyes the way to
develop unity and oneness. The two eyes appear
different but their vision is one.) This reflect
the view of many of the Sufi paths
37
Some of the early Sufi resources are the
following Al-Wasaya wa al-Ri'aya (The Advices
and Observation of Rules) by al-Muhasibi,
Al-Ta'arruf li-Madhhab Ahl al-Sufi (A
Description of the Way of the People of Sufism)
byKalabazi, Al-Luma' (The Gleams) by al-Tusi, Qut
al-Qulub (The Food of Hearts) by Abu Talib
al-Makki, and Al-Risala al-Qushayri (The
Treatise) by al-Qushayri are among the precious
sources that discuss Sufism according to the
Qur'an and the Sunna.
38
After these great compilers came Hujjat al-Islam
Imam al-Ghazzali, author of Ihya' al-'Ulum al-Din
(Reviving the Religious Sciences), his most
celebrated work. He reviewed all of Sufism's
terms, principles, and rules, and, establishing
those agreed upon by all Sufi masters and
criticizing others, united the outer (Shari'a and
jurisprudence) and inner (Sufi) dimensions of
Islam.
39
Love (mahabbah) as the Cause of
Self-Manifestation (tajalliyat) of the Absolute
Mystery ( viewpoint of Said al Din al Farghani)

• Said al Din Abu Uthman Muhammad al Farghani is
  the disciple of Sadr al Din al-Qunawi who is the
  foremost disciple of Ibn Arabi. When young he
  was initiated into Suhrawardiyya Order .
• According to al-Farghani ( see Scattolin , JMIAS
  29, 2006 pp33 -) the Original Love ( Gods love
  for Himself) coming from the Absolute Mystery was
  the original impulse that drove towards the
  completion of the process of manifestation (kalam
  al-zuhur).Such a process is compared to the
  flowing of the breath (nafas) in the act of
  breathing.

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• This creative breath by which everything comes
  into existence is caklled Nafas ar_Rahman (
  Breath of the All-Merciful) and it is breathed
  from the Original Love (al mahabba al-asliyya)
  and the Essential mercy (al rahma al-Dzatiyya) of
  the Essence. The designation of the first two
  Self-Manifestation of the Divine Essence are
  al-ahadiyya and al-wahidiyya ( this has been
  accepted by all Sufi Orders ) the 7 levels of
  manifestation , the First Manifestation (tajalli
  al-awwal) of which is called reality of Realities
  ((haqiqat al-haqaiq).
• The station of the nearest (aw adna) is the
  station attained by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w , he
  alone reached the highest level of nearness i.e
  the Absolute Unity ( Ahadiyya ) whereas other
  prophets and saints can only reach the station of
  the distance of two extremes of the bow ( qab
  qawsayn) corresponding to the level of Related
  Unity ( al Wahidiyya).

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• Since the Universe and whatever is contained in
  it is created from Love , then everything is is
  related by Love and they should be in harmony and
  bliss . Islam in fact is the religion of Love as
  written in many Sufi literature . In fact, the
  prophet of Islam , Muhammad s.a.w is Habiballah
  ( the Lover of Allah) and he is rahmatul lil
  alamin Mercy for all the Worlds the Malaikah,
  the jinn, the man , the animal and the plant
  Kingdoms.
• We should learn and take example from the
  glorious life of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w about how
  he treated the animals and plants there are
  many hadiths about how animals and plants talk to
  him.

42
New Paradigm Thinking in Science, by Fritjof
Capra (These ideas are in line with the Syariah
as well as Sufism ) The old scientific paradigm
may be called Cartesian, Newtonian, or Baconian,
since its main characteristics were formulated by
Descartes, Newton and Bacon. The new paradigm may
be called holistic, ecological, or systemic, but
none of these adjectives characterises it
completely. New-paradigm thinking in science
includes the following five criteria - the first
two refer to our view of nature, the other three
to our epistemology.
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1. Shift from the Part to the Whole In the old
paradigm it was believed that in any complex
system the dynamics of the whole could be
understood from the properties of the parts. In
the new paradigm, the relationship between the
parts and the whole is reversed. The properties
of the parts can be understood only from the
dynamics of the whole. Ultimately, there are no
parts at all. What we call a part is merely a
pattern in an inseparable web of
relationships. 2. Shift from Structure to
Process In the old paradigm it was thought that
there were fundamental structures, and then there
were forces and mechanisms through which these
interacted, thus giving rise to processes. In the
new paradigm every structure is seen as the
manifestation of an underlying process. The
entire web of relationships is intrinsically
dynamic.
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• 3. Shift from Objective Science to "Epistemic
  Science"
• In the old paradigm scientific descriptions were
  believed to be objective, i.e. independent of the
  human observer and the process of knowledge.
• In the new paradigm it is believed that
  epistemology - the understanding of the process
  of knowledge - is to be included explicitly in
  the description of natural phenomena. At this
  point there is no consensus about what the proper
  epistemology is, but there is an emerging
  consensus that epistemology will have to be an
  integral part of every scientific theory.

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4. Shift from Building to Network as Metaphor of
Knowledge The metaphor of knowledge as building -
fundamental laws, fundamental principles, basic
building blocks, etc - has been used in Western
science and philosophy for thousands of years.
During paradigm shifts it was felt that the
foundations of knowledge were crumbling. In the
new paradigm this metaphor is being replaced by
that of the network. As we perceive reality as a
network of relationships, our descriptions, too,
form an interconnected network representing the
observed phenomena.
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• 5. Shift from Truth to Approximate Descriptions
• The Cartesian paradigm was based on the belief
  that scientific knowledge could achieve absolute
  certainty.
• In the new paradigm, it is recognised that all
  concepts, theories, and findings are limited and
  approximate. Science can never provide any
  complete and definitive understanding of reality.
• Scientists do not deal with truth (in the sense
  of exact correspondence between the description
  and the described phenomena) they deal with
  limited and approximate descriptions of reality.

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Key concepts in Tasawwuf/Sufism

• Muraqabah
• Tawbah
• Jihad al-Nafs and the 7 nafs (and the Lataif).
• Stages in tazkiya to attain makrifah and seeing
  Reality as in the dua of Rasulullah s.a.w
• O Allah , make me see the truth as truth and the
  batil as batil

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(No Transcript)
49

• The World of Nature (in Sufi literature)
• Water (sea , lakes , glaciers etc) the
  dominion of Khidr a.s
• Land (forests , hills, mountains , islands etc)
  the dominion of Ilyas a.s
• So, these resources are not be spoilt but looked
  after to respect these Prophets.

50

• Nature and al-Quran
• The Universe as a whole is Quran Tadwini whereas
  the real al-Quran (the Kitab) is Quran Taqwini.
• If you destroy Nature, youre destroying the
  al-Quran.
• In fact, one day (near Kiamah) the Quran will be
  lifted! And thats when humanity is at its worst
  stage !

51

• Man and God relationship
• For man to reach God they need Muhammad s.a.w
  and also the anbiya a.s . Without them , you
  cannot do tawassul , no tabarruk , no selawat ,
  no dua , etc.
• On the other hand , without Nature and
  environment , man would not be able to understand
  himself ( as a creature of God) and thereby will
  not be able to know God (as Creator).

52

• The secrets to understanding God is through the
  tasbih of all the creatures
• e.g Daud a.s do the tasbih followed by mountains
  and birds .
• Of course , at the higher and deeper level, the
  tasbih and dua of Angels are to be followed e.g
  dua Kanz al-Arash.
• See for e.g Tasbih al Kawn by Dr. Ahmad Syauqi
  Ibrahim (Nahdhah , Cairo 2004)
• So, how can you know God if you destroy Nature?

53

• In Nature/Universe is reflected infinitude of
  Gods Name and Attributes.
• Grand Unification scheme in High Energy Physics
  and Anthropic Principles in Cosmology all point
  towards Tawhidic principle.
• These Tawhidic principles are revealed by
  concrete physical laws but yet defy understanding
  e.g CP violation , quantum non-locality etc.
• So , you need Nature to understand yourself to
  understand and attained Allah ( liqaullah)

54

• We understand Nature by Duality e.g wave-matter ,
  time-space, deterministic-chaotic , Boson-Fermion
  etc , so is God known through duality (of
  opposites) The First The Last , the Outer
  the Inner , the Creator the Annihilator etc.
• So, if you destroy Nature , you wont be able to
  understand God. Even if you dont destroy Nature
  ( i.e you preserve them) you wont understand God
  until you experience it yourself like Sufis do!

55

• As revealed by studies in Quantum Mechanics and
  Complexity , tasawwuf bring you back to your
  nature (fitrah) and the Universe and Nature is
  that fitrah heritage ( the macrocosmos) to which
  your are suppose to be identified ( make
  identical to you , because you are microcosmos).
  So, you must be harmonious to Nature !

56

• Either you believe/practice Wihdatul Wujud or you
  believe/practice Wihdatus Syuhud , you have to be
  with Nature !
• Quantum Mechanics (operational at Cosmological
  scale as well as femtoscale), causality as
  exemplified by Al-Ghazali is occasionalistic !
  Quantum Cosmology and Transplanckian footprints
  suggest
• I was a hidden treasure and I wanted to be
  known .

57
Universality of Gods Law at all lengthscale

• This idea of Universality ( from galazy formation
  of bacterial colonies and shapes of leaves) is
  exemplified in Fractals and Multifractal .
• At the abstract level , this universality comes
  in the form of Renormalisable theory and
  universal critical indices.
• If you destroy nature and the environment , then
  you will destroy evidence of these at some
  lengscales !

58
What chastisement for those who destroy Gods
sculpture?

• We all know what is the chastisement for those
  who paint or sculptor figures ( not allowed in
  Islam ).
• What do you expect (on the other hand) a person
  or people who destroy Gods sculpture and
  creations ( the flora and fauna , landscapes etc
  )?

59
IV. Ecological ethics to be developed from
Tasawwuf

• In general it can be said that once human
  behaviour is under Gods pleasure , everything
  else will be harmonious to him and this start
  by being able to inculcate the traits of mahmuda
  and destroying/leaving the traits of mazmuma.

60
A model of Hakim Tirmidhi(kitab Manazil al Ubbad
min al- Ibadah)
Steps Action/ exemplified
1.Tawbah -Rasulullah s.a.w perform Istigfar 70x daily Comes after muraqabah
2. Zuhud live economically Look into the life of the Sahabah r.a Taken by disciples of Malamatiyya (the path of the blame)
3.Jihad/tazkiya al-Nafs Lower oneself to the point of abd ( slave of Allah) Exemplified by al-Hariths al Muhasibi
4. Love (hubb) of Allah (and Rasulullah s.a.w) Exemplified by Rabia al Adawiyya , Rumi , Ibn Arabi, Ahmad al-Ghazali
5. Control of Nafs The nafs is 1000x stronger than syaitan
6. Tawaqqul 7. Nearness (qurb) to Allah a surah in the al-Quran Total reliance to Allah s.w.t and no dependence on own effort Alim rabbani know what God want from you every second
61
Knowing and then attaining the accepted Nafs a
model base on 7 types of Nafs

• The 7 types of Nafs are
• 1.Nafs i-ammara ( The commanding self)
• 2. Nafs-i-lawwama (The regretful self)
• 3. Nafs-i-mulhamma (The inspired self)
• 4. Nafs-i-mutmainna ( The contented self)
• 5. Nafs-i-radhiyya ( The pleased self)
• 6. Nafs-i-mardhiyya (The pleasing self)
• 7. Nafs-i-kamaliyya /safiyya (The complete/pure
  self)

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• Sufis know that the lowest accepted nafs by
  Allah is Nafs-i-mutmainna.
• So, you must at least attain this nafs.
• To purge Nafs-i-ammara you have to throw away the
  following false pride (takabbur) , greed (hirs)
  , jealousy (hasad) , lust (shahwa) , backbiting
  (ghibah) , stinginess ( bakhil) and malice
  (keena). This is just a stage of awakening,
  nafs-i-lawwama
• Nafs-i-mulhamma is the stage of action and you
  need the following qualities ( laid down by
  Saidina Abbas Ibn Abdul Mutallib r.a)
• (i) tajil (swiftness) in doing good deeds
• (ii) tahqir (contempt) you must look at your
  own good deeds with comtempt
• (iii) secrecy (ikhfa) you must keep secret all
  your good deeds forever

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• 3. Nafs-i-mutmainna this is the ideal beginning
  stage for a Sufi
• 4. Nafs-i-radhiyya one is pleased with whatever
  comes from Allah s.w.t and doesnt live in the
  past opr future and become ibn waqt. The Sufi
  will say Ilahi anta maqsudi waridhaka matlubi
• 5. Nafs-i- mardhiya here , the akhlaq of the
  person follows that of Rasulullah s.a.w and Allah
  s.w.t . He is at peace with humanity and Nature.
• 6. Nafs-i-kamaliyya the person is dressed with
  the attributes of Insanul Kamil (the Perfect Man)
  exemplified by Rasulullah s.a.w and the anbiya
  a.s

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Examples from the various Sufi orders

• A. The Qadiriyya Order
• This order emphasize (i) emptying the sirr from
  all thoughts other than God (ii) purification of
  self from blameable , animal and satanic
  qualities. Human spirit comes from alam Amr and
  reflect Divine Effulgence , thus the hearts and
  lataif must be clean.
• B. The Naqshabandiyya Order
• Emphasize on contemplation . Concentrate on
  reality . Constant remembrance of God is the
  most important achieved through exercise of suluk.

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• C. The Chistiyya Order
• Emphasize on the Love of Allah (mahjub ,
  mahbub). To create this love they started by
  doing zikir bil jahr (loud zikir) to burn the
  heart at times they need to listen to Sama (
  sufi music ).
• In general all the Sufi orders agree that the
  final stage of ibadah is liqaullah (meeting with
  Allah) in this world which can be achieved by
  various means of mujahadah and prescirptions from
  the mursyid teacher.

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V. Tasawwuf in Modern Pespective and the Future.

• In applying tasawwuf/sufism to population , the
  level of acceptance should be considered since
  and to this fact and truth refers the following
  tradition which is accepted unanimously both by
  the Shi'ah and the Ahl al-Sunnah
•  
•  ?????? ????????? ????????????? ????????? ????
  ????????? ???????? ?????? ??????????.??????
•  
• We prophets have been commanded to speak to the
  people in accordance with the level of their
  intellects.

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• The fact is that
•  
•  ????? ?????? ???? ????????.
•  
• Nothing except good is to be found with Allah.
•  
• And
•  
• ??????? ????????? ???????????? ?????????????
  ???????? ???? ???? ??????????.
•  
• As to evil, ugliness and darkness, they derive
  solely from ourselves.

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• Hence it has been stated in traditions that the
  main product of faith is affection for God's
  creation
•  
• ???????? ?????????? ??????? ??????? ????
  ????????...
•  
• O my God, I beseech You to grant me Your love
  and the love of those who love You.
• All creatures love Allah and do zikir to Him and
  only Man and Jinn that are forgetful.

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Voices of Sufi Poets about Nature

• Hakim Sanai of Ghazna
• Follow The Path"Do not speak of your
  heartache-for He is speaking.Do not seek Him -
  for He is seeking.He feels even the touch of an
  ant's footIf a stone moves under water-He knows
  it.If there is a worm in a rockHe knows its
  body, smaller than an atom.The sound of its
  praise, and its hidden perception,He knows by
  His divine knowledge.He has given the worm its
  substanceHe has shown you the path of the
  Teaching."

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• Khwaja Abdullah Ansari of Heart
• "From the unmanifest I came,And piched my tent,
  in the Forst of Material existence.I passed
  through mineral and vegetable kingdoms,Then my
  mental equipment carried me into the animal
  kingdomHaving reached there I crossed beyond
  itThen in the crystal clear shell of human
  heartI nursed the drop of self in a Pearl,And
  in association with good menWandered round the
  Prayer House,And having experienced that,
  crossed beyond itThen I took the road that
  leads to Him,And became a slave at His
  gateThen the duality disappearedAnd I became
  absorbed in Him."

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• Hafiz
• We are the companions of His BeautyWe are the
  guardiansOf Truth.Every man, plant and
  creature in Existence,Every woman, child, vein
  and noteIs a servant of our Beloved -A
  harbinger of joy,The harbinger ofLight.

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• Abdul Rahman Jami (Diwan)
• Who is man?     The reflection of the Eternal
  Light.What is the world?     A wave on the
  Everlasting Sea.How could the reflection be cut
  off from the Light? How could the wave be
  separate from the Sea?Know that this reflection
  and this wave are that very Light and Sea.

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• Jalaluddin Rumi
• Listen for the streamthat tells you one
  thing.Die on this bank.Begin in methe way of
  rivers with the sea.      Translated by
  Coleman Barks - from "Say I Am You"

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The Real Tawhid from Rabia

• O Lord,If tomorrow on Judgment DayYou send me
  to Hell,I will tell such a secretThat Hell will
  race from meUntil it is a thousand years away.
• O Lord,Whatever share of this worldYou could
  give to me,Give it to Your enemiesWhatever
  share of the next world You want to give to
  me,Give it to Your friends.You are enough for
  me.

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• O Lord, If I worship YouFrom fear of Hell, burn
  me in Hell.
• O Lord, If I worship YouFrom hope of Paradise,
  bar me from its gates.
• But if I worship You for Yourself aloneThen
  grace me forever the splendor of Your Face.
•      Rabia al-Adawiyya, translation by Andrew
  Harvey and Eryk Hanut - 'Perfume of the Desert' 

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We can learn many things from the Quran

1. The story of Sulaiman a.s who heard the ants .
   This means , please do not destroy the fauna !
2. The story about Maryam r.a who got dates from the
   palm tree that goes down to her .This means ,
   please the flora can speak and help us
   (especially during Food Crisis!)
3. The genetic conservation work of Nuh a.s who
   brought the animals in pairs and also the plants
   (in some tradition).

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VI. Conclusions

• 1. The modern society need to believe in
  miracles i.e all of Nature are doing the zikir to
  Allah s.w.t and they response to us in a positive
  or negative way. ( Even in High Energy Physics we
  believe strings and membrane vibrations
  plethora of particles (baryons and mesons)
  zikir to Allah s.w.t , since mass existence is
  still a mystery ( due to non-discovery of Higgs
  boson yet).

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• 3. The true heritage for the Malay world which
  became Islamised by exemplary Sufis as the Wali
  Songo (Nine Saints) and much later by the ahlul
  baits from Hadhramauts (Yemen) who still become
  the repository of makrifah and knowledge of the
  Haqiqah (in various pesantrens/khanaqah) in
  Nusantara should be public supported and
  modernised , to not only Islamised knowledge
  and implementations of Ecology Management but
  also its basic philosophy and understanding of
  the Reality behind this beautiful work of Allah
  s.w.t.

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• 2. Not just Nature and Ecology but humanity in
  general need to be imbued to aspects of Sufism.
  This already started with the works of sincere
  Western Islamist or Sufi researchers like
  Annemarie Schimmel , William Chittick,
  Claude-Addas , Michael Sells, Nicholas Heer ,
  Martin Lings (now Abu Bakar Sirajuddin) , Michael
  Chockiewidz , Stephen Hirstenstein and many
  others.
• Unfortunately , the Malay world has stopped and
  stooped from such works and scholarship started
  by Hamzah Fansuri and continued by Abdul Rauf
  Singkel , Yusof Taj al-Khalwati and Daud
  al-Fathani.

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FINALE

• Acknowledgements
• I would like to thank the Workshop Committee and
  Management Committee of Akademi Sains Islam
  Malaysia for giving me the opportunity to present
  some of my ideas about Ecology and Tasawwuf .
• To the audience ,
• Thank you very much for willing to listen to us
  and May Allah s.w.t accept all of our prayers and
  efforts.

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Brief CV
Phd (Cambridge) , 1990 Expt. Physics BSc
(London), 1982 Theoretical Physics Research
Interests Soft-condensed Matter ,
Instrumentation Material Physics
specifically Nanomaterial Synthesis and
Applications Complex Fluids and Nanotechnology
Applications And Small-angle Scattering
Techniques (X-ray,neutrons, synchrotron) Islamic
Interests Tasawuf and Sufism specifically that
of Ibn Arabi and Najamudin Kubra and Sufism in
Nusantara. Currently I have 8 MSc and 7 Phd
students (main supervisor) and another 5 postgrad
students (co-supervised)