Does the Qur’an stipulate the basis of ecological balance? Professor Dr. Abdelrazak Mansour Ali
Does the Qur’an stipulate the basis of ecological balance?
Professor Dr. Abdelrazak Mansour Ali
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Abstract. Since everything created is accurately planned and obviously programmed in controlled precise measurements, so, there is no chance for the earth to be disturbed. Consequently, imbalance causes environmental disasters such as Lack of food to the point of famine because it affects the nutritional cycle of animals and humans as well - for example, expanding the killing of animals or birds at the time of their reproduction will lead people to be deprived of animal protein. There are uncertainties in future population growth, not only because there are uncertainties in the future trends in fertility, mortality, and migration, but also because there are many other factors that could affect these trajectories. International consensus on climate change and ecosystem protections may trigger population control policies, and the ongoing pandemic is likely to have some impact on mortality, migration, or even fertility. Physiological changes are triggered in birds which prepare them to breed. Most?eggs?are laid by birds during the spring and summer months. This is because these months are when birds become most active and have an abundance of food. The critical period for reproduction and caring for the young of these birds is approximately one month. Hunting birds is prohibited for every geographical and environmental area of the earth for a period of one month. The holy Qur’an ordered us to take care of and keep the life of animals and birds as seen from the basic rule of harnessing domestic animals to serve humans, including camels, sheep, cows, mules, horses, donkeys, poultry, birds, and fish. ?God prohibited hunting the animals particularly during the time of their breeding, hatching, reproduction and caring for their young’s. God Almighty did not specify the names of the four forbidden months for hunting because He knew that they differ from one region to another according to the breeding season of wild animals related to the environment. The four seasons of the year alternate due to the earth’s rotation around the sun, and we all know that there is no relationship between the moon and the four seasons of the year.
Keywords. Birds, animals, earth, food, population.
Introduction. The law of balance: God Almighty created the heavens and the earth billions of years before Adam and before the mission of the messengers. God Almighty created the earth in two days- (And He placed on it [i.e., the earth] firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its stockpiled sustenance in four days for the information of those who ask), Fossilat, verse 10 – This means that the earth carries within it the programs and systems of livelihood for its inhabitants of plants, animals, and humans. Since everything created is accurately planned and obviously programmed in controlled precise measurements, so, there is no chance for the earth to be disturbed, as God Almighty said (There is no moving creature on earth whose provision is not guaranteed by Allah. And He knows where it lives and where it is laid to rest. All is ?written? in a perfect Record) Hud, verse 6. ?Therefore, balance is the God’s law in the universe, and environmental balance is one of its manifestations.
Consequently, imbalance causes environmental disasters such as Lack of food to the point of famine because it affects the nutritional cycle of animals and humans as well - for example, expanding the killing of animals or birds at the time of their reproduction will lead people to be deprived of animal protein. (Do not commit the criminal of soul’ s murder, which is made sacred by Allah, except with ?legal? right) Al-Isra, verse 33.
This means that animals who have few offspring tend to have relatively low infant mortality, and animals who have large numbers of offspring typically have higher rates of infant mortality. In a stable population, most of the population at any time is very young animals who were just born and are just about to die. This does not mean that the population is in decline. Most animals who ever live die shortly after they come into existence, often in painful or frightening ways. This happens because the predominant reproductive strategies result in most animals dying in infancy. It is often said that only old and sick animals die in the wild, while young and healthy animals have happy lives. This is considered positive because the death of old and sick animals relieves them of the pain and distress they would otherwise experience from disease or other age-related harms. Populations decline or grow over time due to changes to limiting factors in their environment, such as the availability of food or the presence of predators. A population might have a period of growth when some of these limitations change [1,2,3,4].
Examples of animals that exhibit this reproductive strategy include amphibians and reptiles whose clutch sizes range in the tens, hundreds, and, in the case of the common cane toad, exceeding 25,000 [5].?Certain species of fish like the Atlantic Salmon might produce close to 20,000 eggs per clutch, while other common species of salmon, cod, and tuna reproduce in the millions [6].?Laying large numbers of eggs is also common among invertebrates. For instance, among crustaceans, crayfish can produce hundreds of eggs per brood [7],?and among mollusks, octopuses can reproduce in the hundreds of thousands. Land-based invertebrates including many arthropods can lay hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs at a time [8].
In the central Superior National Forest in Minnesota, 209 white-tailed dears were observed from 1973 through the winter of 1983-1984; over one-third of the dears died during this time, and for both males and females, the deers in this study who were most likely to die were the youngest dears, those under one year old [9]. Another study analyzed 439 Isle Royale moose deaths between 1950 and 1969. Calf deaths accounted for 45% of total deaths [10].
There is documented research of the huge number of deaths that occur during the winter when the population density of a group of Soya sheep in Scotland rises above 2.2 per hectare. More than 90% of lambs and 70% of yearlings die under these conditions, compared with 50% of adults [11].
This has also been noticed with birds. One study found that the death rate of yellow-eyed juncos is highest in their first year [12].
Discussion. Population size is most influenced by the factors mentioned above: birth and death. For a population to be stable through time, the number of births must be matched by the number of deaths. Because there are limited resources like food and shelter, on average only one offspring per parent can survive to adulthood [13]. This means that animals who have few offspring tend to have relatively low infant mortality, and animals who have large numbers of offspring typically have higher rates of infant mortality.
There are uncertainties in future population growth, not only because there are uncertainties in the future trends in fertility, mortality, and migration, but also because there are many other factors that could affect these trajectories. International consensus on climate change and ecosystem protections may trigger population control policies, and the ongoing pandemic is likely to have some impact on mortality, migration, or even fertility [14]. Studies concluded that there was a marked decadal to multi-decadal variability of extreme climate events in East Asia in recent history, and the extreme events as observed during the last decades of the instrumental era were still within the range of natural variability except for some of those related to temperature. More severe and enduring droughts occurred in the early 20th century or the earlier periods of history, leading to great famines in northern China [15].?
A new?report?released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on? March 8th 2021, Rome showed that the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather disasters such as floods, droughts and megafires because of climate change is having a devastating effect on food security and livelihoods. The report highlights the need for stronger disaster risk reduction policies and intensified efforts to build resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change to ensure agriculture’s crucial role in achieving a sustainable future.
According to the report, the annual occurrence of disasters is now more than three times that of the 1970s and 1980s because of our warming climate. Relative to agriculture, industry, commerce, and tourism taken as a whole, on its own agriculture absorbs the disproportionate share of 63% of impact from disasters, with the least developed countries (LDCs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bearing the major brunt of these scourges. Thus, between 2008 and 2018, the impacts of natural disasters cost the agricultural sectors of developing country economies over USD 108 billion in damaged or lost crop and livestock production. Such damage can be particularly detrimental to livelihoods of smallholder and subsistence farmers, pastoralists, and fishers.
Over the analyzed period, Asia was the most hard-hit region, with overall economic losses adding up to a staggering USD 49 billion, followed by Africa at USD 30 billion, and Latin America and Caribbean at USD 29 billion [16].
Due to the importance of preserving the law of balance on Earth, God Almighty forbids humans from hunting during times of breeding birds and wild animals so as not to cause an imbalance in the earth’s ecosystem.
Climate change has diverse impacts on plants, animals, and ecosystems. Everything in the natural world is connected. Animals eat plants, insects pollinate flowers, microbes break down dead things. Living things are also connected to the “non-living” parts of their environments – they use rocks for shelter, they depend on rain to bloom, they hibernate when it gets cold. Taken together, these living and non-living components make up an ecosystem. ?Climate helps shape ecosystems, like average temperatures, humidity, and rainfall determine where plants and animals live. If a region’s climate changes, the ecosystems change as well [17].?
The estuarine habitat mosaic supports the reproduction, growth, and survival of resident and migratory fish species by providing a diverse portfolio of unique habitats with varying physical and biological features. Global climate change is expected to result in increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and changes in riverine hydrology, which will have profound effects on the extent and composite [18]. Many experimental studies of the fitness consequences of breeding time that have appeared in the last 15 years provide strong evidence for the importance of both timing and quality in causing the seasonal decline in reproductive success of birds [19].
Global mean sea level has risen about 8–9 inches (21–24 centimeters) since 1880. The rising water level is mostly due to a combination of melt water from glaciers and ice sheets and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms.?In 2022, global mean sea level was 101.2 millimeters (4 inches) above 1993 levels, making it the highest annual average in the satellite record (1993-present).
The global mean water level in the ocean rose by 0.14 inches (3.6 millimeters) per year from 2006–2015, which was 2.5 times the average rate of 0.06 inches (1.4 millimeters) per year throughout most of the twentieth century. By the end of the century, global mean sea level is likely to rise at least one foot (0.3 meters) above 2000 levels, even if greenhouse gas emissions follow a relatively low pathway in coming decades [20,21].
At least 155 million people are facing acute hunger because of conflict, economic shocks, and extreme weather. The?Global Report on Food Crises 2021?says the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased the risk of severe hunger in some regions of the world. Long-term environmental, social, and economic trends compounded by increasing conflict and insecurity are eroding the resilience of agri-food systems,” the Global Network warns. It hopes to help address these challenges by stepping up efforts to promote resilient agri-food systems that are socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable [22].
Throughout the year, most birds use day length to tell what season it is. When the number of hours of daylight exceeds a certain critical level, physiological changes are triggered in birds which prepare them to breed. Most?eggs?are laid by birds during the spring and summer months. This is because these months are when birds are most active and have an abundance of food [23]. However, before nestlings arrive, birds need to select a breeding territory. Non-migratory species may either maintain a territory throughout the winter or establish a new one in the spring. Migratory birds begin looking for and defending a territory as soon as they arrive in the spring. Good territories provide potential nest sites, reliable food sources, and protection from predators [24].
Immediately after hatching, altricial birds can do little more than open their mouths to beg for food. They remain in the nest where the parents can feed and protect them while they continue to develop. For the first week of life, most altricial birds cannot control their own body temperature and must be constantly brooded (kept warm) by their parents. By the end of the first week, their eyes are usually open, and their feathers are beginning to emerge. During this period, nestlings can experience remarkable growth by doubling their body weight several times. To keep up with the food demands of nestlings, their parents continuously forage for food. This is an extremely dangerous time for both the adult and young birds because the increased activity and begging cries of nestlings can attract predators. After 2 or 3 weeks, most songbirds are usually ready to leave the nest [25].
The studies discussed go some way towards providing a better understanding of the causes of seasonal variation in reproductive success, and hence the timing of breeding, but only on a relatively fine scale, since the breeding season is a fixed window in the annual cycle and data can only be collected within this window [26]. Studies indicated that the breeding season for wild birds usually lasts one or two weeks. After that, one of the parents is responsible for caring for the young during the maturity stage until they become independent birds “in the range of two to three weeks” - meaning that the critical period for reproduction and caring for the young of these birds is approximately one month. Which means that hunting birds should be prohibited one month for every geographical and environmental area of the earth, according to documented information about the conditions that must be met for the breeding season and the time required for the breeding process [27,28].
As humans, we often forget the impact our actions on nature. Bird mating season is just one example of how human activity can disrupt the natural world. The beauty and wonder of this annual event may be lost if we don’t take steps to protect it. One significant way that humans affect bird mating season is through habitat destruction. As we continue to clear forests and build homes and businesses, birds lose their natural nesting areas. This loss of habitat makes it difficult for them to find a mate or successfully reproduce. Another factor that affects bird mating season is climate change. Changing weather patterns can alter the timing of migration and breeding cycles, throwing off the delicate balance between male and female birds. These disruptions can result in lower reproductive rates and fewer offspring being born each year [29].
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The earth is divided geographically into four regions: (East - West - North - South) and seasonally into four seasons: (Spring - Autumn - Winter - Summer). If each region requires a month to ensure the reproduction process, then the earth needs four different months to secure the reproduction process of birds and wild animals around the globe by preventing hunting during this period. Through research in the context of the Qur’anic verses that dealt with the prohibition of hunting, we found that the prohibition is four months when the context speaks about the globe in general, such as the Almighty’s saying (You may travel freely through the earth for four months, but know that you will have no escape from Allah, and that Allah will disgrace the disbelievers) Al-Tawbah verse 2- and said, (Indeed, the number of months ordained by Allah is twelve, in Allah’s Record?since the day He created the heavens and the earth, of which four are sacred. That is the right way. So do not wrong one another during these months). Al-Tawbah 36 - Note that God mentioned the sacred months in the indefinite form and not in the definite form, to highlight that the sacred months are not specifically nominated because they differ from one region to another according to the conditional breeding seasons of different wild animals in different geographical regions.
However, if the context of the verses speaks of a region or part of the earth such as Mecca or the Arabian Peninsula, then the prohibition of hunting is described for one month only, that is the average length of seasonal animal breading period particular to this region. God Almighty said (Allah had made the Ka’bah, the Sacred House, a sanctuary of well-being for all people, along with the sacred month of animals, and the ?decorated medals. All this so you may know that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and that He has ?perfect? knowledge of everything) Al-Ma’idah 97 - And His saying (They?ask you about fighting in the sacred month Say, “Fighting during these months is a great sin, and hindering ?others? from the Path of Allah, rejecting Him. Expelling the worshippers from the Sacred Mosque is ?a? greater ?sin? in the sight of Allah) Al-Baqarah, verse 217.
Conclusion. It is concluded from the verses of the Holy Qur’an that.
1- The holy Qur’an ordered us to take care of and keep the lives of animals and birds as noticed from the concept of harnessing domestic animals to serve humans, including camels, sheep, cows, mules, horses, donkeys, poultry, birds, and fish. ?God prohibited hunting the animals particularly during the time of their breeding, hatching, reproduction and caring for their young’s. (And He created the cattle for you as a source of warmth, food, and ?many other? benefits, they are also pleasing to you when you bring them home and when you take them out to graze, and they carry your loads to ?distant? lands which you could not otherwise reach without great hardship. Surely your Lord is Ever Gracious, Most Merciful, He also created? horses, mules, and donkeys for your transportation and adornment. And He creates what you do not know). An-Nahl, verses 5-8.
2- In terms of measurements, the lunar calculation should be subordinate to the solar calculations, that is, it should be evaluated and adapted according to the solar calculations, and this is what we infer from the context of keeping mentioning the moon after sun.
3- The word “day” was mentioned in the Qur’an 365 times, and this has a significance, which is that the year is equal to 365 days in the records of God Almighty, meaning that the solar year is the earthly year. The earth of God Almighty is vast, and it is not just the Arabian Peninsula, and the word “month” is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an (12) times, i.e. the number of months of the year.
4- God Almighty did not specify the names of the four forbidden months for hunting because he knew that they differ from one region to another according to the breeding season of wild animals related to the environment and the four seasons of the year that alternate due to the earth’s rotation around the sun, and we all know that there is no relationship between the moon and the four seasons of the year.
5- Logically, the lunar date does not determine the true date. Rather, it is a deceptive date that is not proportionate or consistent with cosmic events and the succession of the four seasons of the year - so it could not be relied upon in planning for the future or knowing the past - for example, it is inappropriate to use lunar calculations and Hijri dating among the research foundations if we decide to launch a serious, long-term research project that requires establishing environmental conditions and challenges as a possible influential factor in terms of causes and conclusional results!.
6- The correlation of the of life on Earth with the four seasons and the earth’s rotation around the sun is mandatory and? true since God created the heavens and the earth, which means that the solar date ”not the lunar date” is what is considered and should be; God said (Indeed, the number of months ordained by Allah is twelve in Allah’s Records?since the day He created the heavens and the earth, of which four months are sacred. That is the right religion. So do not wrong one another during these months. And fight the polytheists together as they fight together against you) Al-Baqarah, verse 36.
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