Does Islam say anything about environmental protection?

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Does Islam say anything about environmental protection?

God has created everything for us (al-Baqara 2:29). He hasn’t created anything what is useless (al-Anbiya 21:16; al-Dukhan 44:38). There is measurement and balance in Allah’s system (Fatir 35:41; al-Hajj 22:65; al-Infitar 82:7; al-Qamar 54:49; al-Rahman 55:7).

“Corruption has appeared in land and sea because of the doings of human hands, that He may make them taste something of what they have done, so that they may come back.” (al-Rum 30:41. The Quran uses past tense for things, what will definitely happen).

The Quran has generated an environmental consciousness with his order, “Do not infringe the balance!” (al-Rahman 55:8). The Quran says this too: Land and sea corrupted because of what humans did. The humans got the effect back. Therefore humans should realize this truth (al-Rum [30] 41). The emphasis about the sea in al-Rum 30:41 is very important. Prophet Muhammed didn’t live at the seaside. At the time of revealing the Quran there was no massive industrial production, which could harm the seas. The people could see the effects of, for example, burning down the forests. However, it wasn’t possible to see the effects of polluting the seas. The seas began to be harmed in the 18th and 19th centuries, thus after the industrial revolution. From this point is this verse in the surah al-Rum a warning about likely problems in the future. Therefore Islam is a religion which mentions environmental protection.

Special thanks to Professor Caner Taslaman.