However, unduly exaggerating any aspect of the Islamic way of life distorts the true picture. It can be dangerous, for it can play right into the hands of those who wish to harm Islam and Muslims by promoting certain aspects of Islam and censoring others. Many of those who accuse Islam know full well that their words are little more than a shallow attempt to divert attention from true debate about the merits of the Islamic way of life. Moreover, their policy is aimed at  utting pressure on Muslims to leave the pure Islamic way of thinking. They wish, instead, that Muslims become preoccupied with cost-benefit analyses before undertaking any action, instead of looking to what Allah is most pleased with. By adopting a distorted Islam, we could be undermining the foundations of what it means to be a Muslim.

It is not uncommon to hear the phrase ‘Islam means peace’. It is said that Islam and salaam (Arabic for peace) have the same root, so therefore peace is the core of Islam. The inference is that Islam IS peace, meaning that wherever peace is found, then this is Islam. Islam can then become any form of peace – even by surrendering to or remaining silent about oppressive murderers; accepting a peace process with Israel (even though it is forbidden in the shari’ah); or indeed appeasing every occupation of Muslim lands. In this representation of Islam, the shari’ah ceases to be the measure to judge actions by, replaced by whatever is judged at any particular time as most peaceful.

Linguistically this is a mistake. Islamically it is a catastrophe. It may be true that both words share the letters S L M, however, there are many words sharing the same three root letters. Only silm, salm and salaam are mentioned in Arabic dictionaries as having peace (Did alharb) among their meanings. Even salm and salaam both have the meaning surrender as well. More importantly though, when understanding any word in the Qur’an or Sunnah it is necessary for it to keep the meaning as used by the Arabs at the time of revelation, unless there is text to give it a more specific meaning. For instance, Salah in the language of the Arabs means to supplicate (du’aah), yet Islamic texts gave it a specific meaning of the act of prayer performed five times a day by Muslims. No Muslim would argue that merely making du’aah five times per day fulfilled the second pillar of Islam.

In his tafsir of: “No, whosoever surrenders himself to God, while doing good, he will have his reward with his Lord. There will be no fear over them, nor will they grieve” [Qur’an 2:112] Tabari mentions “He means with ‘islam al-wajh (islam of the face): to make oneself low, and submissiveness to His order. The origin of ‘al-islam’ is: surrendering (istislaam), because it is from ‘I surrendered to his order’ meaning submitting to his order. The Muslim is only called a muslim with the submission of his body to the obedience of his Lord.”

Qamus al-Muhit defines al-islam as “obedience, concession and surrender” Qurtabi says in his tafseer “al-islam in the language of the Arabs: surrendering, obedience and submitting”

So, the word Islam has submission at the heart of its linguistic meaning, and has been given a specific Islamic meaning of surrendering, obedience and submitting to Allah without resistance.

In fact, this is the very heart of what it means to be a Muslim. Submitting one’s very desires to Allah is the highest form of worship. Submission is what Allah asks of us and is the naturally sensible thing to do. Every thing in existence is submitting to Allah against its will as all submit to the laws of the universe set by Allah. Humans have free will to choose what actions to perform. By submitting our actions to a system of rules (the shari’ah) designed by their Creator is certainly sensible. By willingly submitting our will to the Will of Allah, such that we do not even desire for that which would displease Allah, is an even purer worship to Him.

Allah asks us to ponder “Do they then seek the judgement of Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allah for a people who have firm faith?” [Qur’an 5:50]

He informs us that the path to betterment is willingly submitting ourselves to His system, by referring all matters back to what His Messenger, Muhammad (saw), brought.

“But no, by your Lord, they will not have faith, until they make you (Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept with full submission” [Qur’an 4:65]

The submitting Muslim is grateful to His Lord for all His favours. He is ever thankful that Allah has given clear guidance and the shari’ah as a way to Him. He turns in repentance to His Lord for past ingratitude and wants only to submit to whatever pleases Allah most.

The submitting Muslim, faced with any problem, asks ‘what solution would please my Lord?’ He searches the Islamic texts for a text or an indication whether Allah is pleased or displeased with a certain course of action. He then submits fully to that rule, adopting it as the hukm shari’i (Islamic rule) for him. Were he unable to derive the rule from the text, as most many Muslims today are, then he asks those who are able.

If the submitting Muslim heard that his adopted Islamic rule was disliked by other people, he does not go back to the text to find a more pleasing rule. That would not be submitting to Allah, but to peer-pressure or public opinion. Ultimately both would entail following his or their desires.

Allah says “And so judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their desires, but beware of them lest they turn you away from even some of what was revealed to you” [Qur’an 5:49]

The submitting Muslim is not like the lawyer, who looks at what technical point of law or precedent he can use to serve his purpose. It is the truth of the matter that counts. The submitting Muslim does not search the historical jurists’ opinions looking for a ruling that suits his own agenda, adopting any shaadh (obscure) opinion. Allah has warned against this grave error many times. The submitting Muslim has taqwa (fear and consciousness of Allah) to help him decide what ruling to adopt. His only concern is what is most pleasing to Allah. Without this, he has only legal wranglings which miss the very point of Islam: submission.

Allah says “Whoever accepts other than Submission as his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter, he will be with the losers” [Qur’an 3:85]

Peace has its place in Islam. It is what we wish for each other in the next life, as we pray to Allah in our standard
greeting ‘As-Salaamu alaikum’. It is a rule of foreign policy after treaties have been concluded. It is the natural consequence of implementing the Islamic shariah in the Islamic state, as it is the basic way of dealing between the citizens of society, Muslim or not. It is the settled state of the heart and mind of the believing submitting Muslim. Other beliefs may give temporary or partial peace of mind, but only Islam gives permanent inner peace, as only Islam is built upon the mind and agrees with human nature.

In the end, despite whichever label people wish to place on Islam, Islam has submission to Allah’s deen at its heart.

“Have you seen those who claim to believe in what has been sent down to you, and what was sent down before you? They wish to go to the taghut for judgement, while they have been ordered to reject it. Shaytaan wishes to lead the far astray.”

So what is Global warming?

Global warming and climate change refer to an increase in average global temperatures. Natural events and human activities are believed to be contributing to the increase in average global temperatures. This is caused primarily by increases in the greenhouse which is the rise in temperature on Earth as certain gases in the atmosphere trap energy gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2).There are other views on the causes of temperature increases and intense research still continues.

The largest body dealing with climate change is the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) where its climate scientists have released a number of reports detailing the progress in understanding climate change.

From the outset they have recommended that there be emission reductions. This body is comprised of hundreds of climate scientists from around the world. The last major report by them in January 2007 summarised that they were even more certain than before of human-induced climate change because of better scientific understanding, they believed there was a 90% chance of them being correct with their conclusions.

Based upon this understanding the emission from the worlds industry into the atmosphere has led to global temperatures to increase, hence global emission reductions is seen as the solution to global warming, how much the worlds industrialised nations should reduce their emissions is where intense debate continues at G8 summits, Kyoto protocol meetings and on future treaties.

How did we get into such a position?

In terms of historical emissions, industrialised countries account for around 80% of the carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere to date. Since 1950, the US has emitted a cumulative total of roughly 50.7 billion tons of carbon, while China (4.6 times more populous) and India (3.5 times more populous) have emitted only 15.7 and 4.2 billion tons respectively. Annually, more than 60% of global industrial carbon dioxide emissions originate in industrialised countries, where only about 20% of the world’s population resides.

US has obstructed International deal

Much of the growth in emissions in the developed world stem from rapid industrialisation from the industrial revolution era. The US with its $14 trillion economy is the world’s largest polluter and has acted as an obstacle to any agreement on emission reduction targets. This is because the US is unable to decouple economic growth from its huge energy use. In other words,economic growth needs to be protected and any agreement on emissionreduction would effect economic growth as industry would be restricted on the amount it can pollute the air. Hence the largest polluter of all the US has announced its own conference in tackling climate change which will protect US industry and it was the US’s insistence on not agreeing reduction targets that led to the collapse of the Kyoto Protocol – an international treaty.

The US is not prepared to enter any deal which requires it to cut its consumption levels. This is why instead of calling for a radical cutback in automobile use the US accepts that the number of motor vehicles will double. It proposes to expand production and accelerate development of non-fossil fuel alternatives for future cars such as synthetic bio fuels and carbon dioxidefree hydrogen.

Capitalism at the centre of the problem

Reducing emissions would mean industry in the West would need to produce less – this would lead to the economies of the West to shrink rather then grow. To reduce consumption is considered Shirk in Capitalism. By the same token, the rate of consumption of fossil fuels in developed countries is also extremely high relative to the rest of the world. The depletion of non-renewable resources and environmental destruction is primarily caused by the consumption patterns of such nations.

Global warming is the result of rapid industrialisation from the West with the sole concern of profit making. Although there exists technologies that allow the development of clean low-emission industries, their costs are high and as a result have been unable to break into the mainstream market. China and India have only in the last 20 years seen rapid development, global warming was already high prior to that. However, the US continues to blame China and India for developing too quickly, in other words the US is shifting the blame away from itself.

The worlds developed nations are trying hard to avoid radical controls on growth, consumption and profits. They have attempted to stave off a looming climate catastrophe by voluntary cuts, techno fixes and carbon trading; all these are desperate efforts to prevent the inevitable.

An Islamic Approach

The planetary system, the earth and its ecosystems, all work within their own limits and Islam sets limits to human behaviour as a control against excess. In essence, Islam describes an integrated code of behaviour which deals with personal hygiene, at one end of the spectrum, to our relationship with the natural order at the other. Regarding the environment Islam contains regulations concerning the conservation and allocation of scarce water resources; it has rules for the conservation of land with special zones of graded use; it has special rules for the establishment of rangelands, wetlands, green belts and also wildlife protection and conservation. Allah (swt) exhorts mankind to be moderate

“it is He who produces gardens, both cultivated and wild, and palm trees and crops of diverse kinds and olives and pomegranates both similar and dissimilar. Eat of their fruits when they
bear fruits and pay their dues on the days of their harvest, and do not be profligate. He does not love the profligate” (TMQ 6:142)

Conclusions
Present consumption patterns are leading to the depletion of key minerals such as water wells, fossil fuels and agricultural land. At the same time the consumption of such minerals is leading to pollution to enter the atmosphere and the effect of this is now being felt across the world. Although most if not all of the models used to track the temperature in the atmosphere or the cooling effect is debateable and open to speculation, one thing that is for certain is Capitalism has no intention of reducing its consumption of the world’s limited minerals.