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Monday, November 17, 2014
Al-Monitor Week in Review: "Iranian officials privately signal that Assad may not be untouchable ..under the right conditions .."
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Muslims in China- Past and Present -By Ethar El-Katatney
Throughout 1400 years, Muslims in China have gone through many ups and downs, until they reached the state of "harmony" with non-Muslims Chinese.
Muslims in China began as traders and soldiers in the 7th century, therefore instilling in the early Muslim settlers a sense of belonging and legitimacy; they were not a burden on the country, but valuable contributors.
It was only in the 13th century, however, after the Mongols conquered China, that these Muslims who were classified as "foreign guests" were allowed to live wherever they chose and were granted full citizenship.
This started the development of a fully indigenous Chinese Muslim culture. The Mongols, a minority themselves, encouraged Muslim immigration to China and forcibly relocated millions of Muslim immigrants, employing them as government officials and dispersing them throughout China. In the Ming Dynasty, the Hui became the standard title for Chinese Muslims, who then flourished.
Centuries later, during the Manchurian (Qing) Dynasty, specifically in 1780, communal violence between the Han and Hui began and continued for 150 years. It began with the Manchurian's discriminatory policies toward Muslims, forbidding them from building mosques or slaughtering animals, paradoxically at a time when the Hui had become an integral part of Chinese culture.
One of the worst bloodbaths took place between 1862 and 1878 in the province of Gansu, where the population of 15 million was slaughtered down to one million, two-thirds of which were Hui.
The Manchurian Dynasty was overthrown in 1912, although violence against the Hui continued until 1930. But then, less than 20 years later, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China, a Marxist state that was antagonistic to all religions.
The Hui, with other religious minorities, were prosecuted and killed and had their places of worship destroyed. It was only after Mao's death that things started to settle down.
Realizing the economic potential of the Hui, the government sought to make amends and offered them special accommodations.
Imam Ali Noor El-Huda, Chairman of the Islamic Association in Beijing and imam of the gorgeous 1,000-year-old Niujie Mosque, told me that "the government is no longer repressing faith and allows everyone to practice their religion. It emphasizes respect to everyone. And although in our history there was fighting with the Han, it is mostly peaceful now. And for the most part, there is no ideological conflict between Muslims; we believe in one God and one Book. The differences are only in language, food, and tradition."
Although Chinese Muslims are currently disfranchised from political involvement (the Chinese Communist Party only admits atheists, as I was told by some students during my trip), the political stability of modern China is hopefully a good omen for the future of the Hui.
Today
Thirty-four years after the Cultural Revolution, Muslims — and indeed followers of other religions too — are in a much better position. Islamic associations, schools, and colleges are being created, mosques are being built, and there is a small but visible Islamic revival.
After years of repression, Chinese Muslims are flourishing, organizing interethnic activities among themselves and international activities with Muslims abroad.
China's one-child policy applies to the Hui, even though minority groups are allowed to have two or even three children, simply because the Hui's numbers are so substantial. The majority of the other Chinese Muslim minority groups, however, are allowed to have two children, and Chinese Muslim numbers are increasing.
"There is also a very small number of converts," says the imam of the Xiguian Mosque after a heartfelt Du`a' under the shade of a 500-year-old tree, the only original thing left in the mosque complex, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.
"But what is more interesting is that many people who would not admit to being Muslims before out of fear of harming their livelihoods, like doctors, are now openly saying they are Muslims."
Depending on the city you are in, the practice of Islam is different. In rural areas such as Little Makkah, where Muslims make up almost 60 percent of the population, Islam is evident in the number of mosques, halal restaurants, and women in headscarves.
It is wonderful and yet so strange to walk and hear a dozen Assalamu Alaikums(Greeting in Islam that means: peace be to you) or to hear the Adhan. In cosmopolitan cities like Beijing, however, as in every country of the world, globalization and consumerism affect spirituality.
Abdul–Rahman Haroun, imam of the 300-year-old Nan Dou Mosque, one of Beijing's 72 mosques, elaborated, "Here in the big cities, Muslims have to conform to the dress code. Women do not wear headscarves because they are inconvenient and would be incomprehensible. In the Southwestern parts of China, it is different."
Deea' El-Din, imam of the 85-year-old mosque in Shanghai, smiled when I told him that I am from Egypt and said that the years he spent at Al-Azhar University in Cairo were some of the best in his life.
"Unfortunately, the environment here is not conducive to being religious, and most mosque-goers are older men and women." He excused himself to call the Adhan for Maghrib and led us in Prayer; there were only half a dozen Chinese worshippers.
The Hui Experience
Muslim minorities around the world have much to learn from the experience of the Hui in China, even though many Muslim minorities today in the West have a millennium-long history of contributing to their countries.
By delving deep into the heart of Islamic beliefs and becoming just as knowledgeable of Chinese beliefs, the Hui scholars found common ground with faiths and traditions that on the surface seemed very different to Islam — but they found the human values that bind us.
The Islamic scholars of today have to do the same with Western traditions, which are much more similar to Islam than Chinese traditions: They share the same Abrahamic values and beliefs, and the two civilizations have histories that were often intertwined.
There are 10 Muslim minority groups in China, but never in the history of the world has there been such an ethnically diverse group of Muslims in non-Muslim countries as there are in the world today. From the example of China, we learn the importance of crosscultural communication.
The Hui experience also demonstrates that it is very possible that Muslims can live in harmony with very different civilizations and at the same time create a viable and unique indigenous culture.
The fusion of things Chinese and Islamic is unparalleled, whether it is in thought or cultural expression.
By expressing their spirituality through architecture, litrary works, calligraphy, and more, the Hui demonstrate to all Muslim minority groups that creating an authentic and genuine culture that is both Muslim and indigenous is not only possible, but beautiful.
My fondest memory of the entire trip is reading the Qur'an in a Chinese mosque, only to find an old Chinese woman dressed all in white sitting next to me smiling hugely, and pointing at the Qur'an. I looked at her askance, and she started pointing at the letters and at me.
I started reading from Surah Ya-Sin, and she read with me. And for the next 15 minutes, we read together.
Islam is truly a universal religion.
The Land of the Pure and True (Muslims in China) -By Ethar El-Katatney
I got into a rickshaw in Beijing and my 65–year-old wrinkled driver immediately whizzed me through the hutongs — old, narrow alleyways. He looked at me and talked in Chinese. I turned to my guide.
"He's asking where you are from." "Aygee," I replied in my broken Chinese — meaning "Egypt." He pointed at my headscarf. "Are you Hindu?" "No! Muslim." He smiled and pointed to himself. "Moosleeman."
For many people, it comes as a shock to learn that officially there are at least 20 million Muslims in China- that is a third of the UK's total population. Unofficially, the number is even higher, some saying 65.3 million and even 100 million Muslims in China — up to 7.5 percent of the population.
Regardless of the real figure, the reality is that Islam in China is almost as old as the revelation of Islam unto Prophet Muhammad. Twenty years after the Prophet's death, diplomatic relations were established with China by Caliph Uthman. Trade was followed by settlement, until eighty years after the Hijrah, pagoda-style mosques appeared in China.
A century later, in 755, it became common for Chinese emperors to employ Muslim soldiers in their armies and also as government officials.
Today, the population of China includes 56 ethnic groups, 10 of which are Muslim. Out of these 10 minority groups, the Hui (short for Huizhou) are the largest group at 9.8 million, making up 48 percent of China's Muslim population.
The second largest group is Uyghurs at 8.4 million, or 41 percent of the Chinese Muslim population. The Hui speak Chinese, unlike Uyghurs and five other Muslim ethnic groups, which speak Turkic languages. Overwhelmingly Sunni in belief and practice, the Hui are ethnically and culturally Chinese, virtually indistinguishable from the Han, who make up China's billion-strong community. If my rickshaw driver had not told me he was Muslim, I would have never guessed.
For over a millennium, and across five major imperial dynasties, the Hui have lived in China peacefully, spreading in every province and contributing to every aspect of Chinese life, from the military and economy to arts and sciences.
Thriving in a non-Muslim civilization, the Hui managed to create an indigenous Islamic culture that is uniquely and simultaneously Chinese and Muslim.
Their experience, as Dru Gladney, author of Dislocating China, puts it, is a "standing refutation of Samuel Huntington's clash of civilizations." No identity crisis whatsoever!
Harmony
Islam began in an Arab region.On the surface, it seemed to be at complete odds with Chinese traditions and Confucianism, which at the time was the official religion of China.
Ancient Chinese people saw their civilization as the epitome of human development, and had Islam been presented as an alien faith, they would have rejected it completely and seen it as unworthy, with no place in their world.Islam in China would have become isolated, and perhaps as fleeting as Christianity was.
"But this was unacceptable," said the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Xian, the first mosque to be built in China almost 1,400 years ago. Sitting in front of him, trying not to gawp at the incredible architecture surrounding me, I asked him why.
"Chinese Muslims love their country and its people. We are Chinese. We cannot be part of China. There is even a hadith that says, 'Love of your country is part of faith,'" he said.
The Hui scholars therefore searched to find the common ground between Islam and the main faiths of China: Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), and Buddhism. They became experts in Islamic and Chinese texts, traditions, and practices, and without their efforts, Chinese Muslim culture would have remained alien and foreign, isolated and far removed from the community.
In Western discourse, Dr. Umar Abdullah of the Nawawi Foundation told me, many scholars argue that in order to integrate into the country, Chinese Islam was Sinicized, which means orthodox Islamic faith and practice was made Chinese. The most evident example of how Chinese Muslims created their own unique forms of cultural expressions is their mosques, of which around 45,000 exist in China.
Stunningly beautiful, the mosques are quintessentially both Chinese and Muslim. My first sight of a Chinese mosque literally took my breath away. On the outside, they are built in traditional Chinese style, with pagoda-like roofs, Chinese calligraphy, and Chinese archways.
On the inside, however, the Islamic influences are crystal clear: beautiful Chinese Arabic calligraphy, an octagonal minaret, and a mihrab, a Chinese Imam lecturing in Mandarin and making supplication in perfect Arabic.
Examples of the fusion of Chinese and Islamic traditions are everywhere.
In Xian, where an estimated 90,000 Muslims live, while wandering through a noisy souvenir market, I came across traditional wall hangings with Arabic hadith written in calligraphy, porcelain tea sets with Qur'anic verses inscribed on them, popular red amulets with an attribute of Allah at the center rather than the traditional Chinese zodiac animal, rosaries with a Name of Allah printed on each bead in Chinese characters, and Qur'an copies printed in both Chinese and Arabic.
Writing
When it comes to language, rather than transliterating Arabic terms into words that might be mispronounced and misunderstood — since the Chinese writing system is not phonetic — the early Hui scholars decided to choose words that best reflected the meanings of the Arabic terms and, at the same time, were meaningful in Chinese tradition.
Their purpose in doing this was twofold: (1) They showed the Chinese community that they respected, believed in, and honored the Chinese tradition, and (2) Islamic concepts, which in Arabic might have seemed inconceivable, were not only relatable, but even similar.
The Qur'an, for example, was referred to as the Classic: The sacred books of China were called the Classics, and as such the Qur'an was psychologically put in the same category. Islam was translated as Qing Zhen Jiao ("The religion of the Pure and the Real").
At the great Mosque of Xian, Chinese characters proclaim, "May the religion of the Pure and the Real spread wisdom throughout the land."
Haroun Khanmir, a 24-year-old Islamic studies student at the Xiguian mosque in Lingxia, has studied Arabic for 4 years. "Being fluent in Chinese and Arabic allows me to appreciate the brilliance of the terms chosen.They have so many nuances that instantly explain the true essence of Islam using main Chinese values."
When comparing Islamic and Chinese traditions, the Hui scholars searched for common ground, coming up with five main principles that both traditions shared. And although they were clear about where Islamic belief deviated from Chinese thought, they did not set out to reject Chinese tradition and prove why it was wrong.
Instead, they showed how Islam added to it. By not painting Islamic and Chinese tradition in binary opposition where belief in the former meant rejection of the latter; they avoided distressing Muslims who were very much Chinese.
"I consider myself 100 percent Chinese," said smiling 18-year-old Ahmed Dong, dressed in a white thobe and turban. "And I don't see why, even with different politics and languages and beliefs, we can't be so; we share the same language, customs, and culture.”
“Our country is so diverse, and yet unity is a value we all wish to have, rather than living separately."
One of the hundreds of students at the Xiguian mosque who come from a number of different ethnic backgrounds and study the Qur'an, Hadith, Arabic, English, as well as computer skills, Dong hopes to continue his studies in an Arabic country, and then come back and do Da`'wah in China, raising awareness of Islam.
Non-Muslims under Islamic Judiciary System -By Hady Ali and Mohamed Mostafa, History Researchers
Thursday, 25 September 2014 00:00
The Muslim state was mainly a state of institutions with a constitution and laws governing the relationship between successive governments and subjects of the state. Throughout Muslim history, this relationship has been safeguarded by a well-established judiciary system.
In this context, the judicial proceedings guaranteed by Islam for the protection of non-Muslims who lived in the territories under Muslim authority can be understood.
In fact, the Qur’anic directives for observing justice with all people including non-Muslims are quite general and comprehensive as is mentioned in numerous Qur’anic verses such as, “Verily, Allah commands that you should render back the trusts to those, to whom they are due; and that when you judge between men, you judge with justice.” [An-Nisa’ 4:58], and “… and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just, that is nearer to Taqwa.” [Al-Ma’idah 5:8]
In his Commentary on the Qur’an, Ibn Kathir says that this verse commands not to be carried away by your hatred for some people to avoid observing justice with them. Rather, be just with every one, whether a friend or an enemy.
Besides, there is a special command in the Qur’an for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he should judge with justice between non-Muslims in His saying, “And if you judge, judge with justice between them. Verily, Allah loves those who act justly.” (Al-Ma’idah 5: 42)
Indeed, this is a clear-cut directive for the Prophet and his Ummah to judge with justice and equity between People of the Book. The most outstanding example on this can be seen in the following verse, “Surely, We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Book in truth that you might judge between men by that which Allah has shown you, so be not a pleader for the treacherous.” [An-Nisa’ 4: 105]
This verse was revealed on the occasion of suspecting a Muslim and a Jew of a theft, whereas the Muslim was the perpetrator. The Muslim’s kith and kin wanted to go to the Prophet on his behalf to plead not guilty to the theft and to charge the Jew therewith. Therefore, Almighty Allah revealed the verse to declare the Jew’s innocence and to command the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Ummah to observe absolute justice with all people regardless of their faith.
Historical Muslim Practices
In the same vein, the protection covenants given by Muslim rulers to people of other faiths attest to this. This started with the Constitution of Medina which was endorsed by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after Hijrah, in which he defined the nature of the relationship between Muslims and the Jews as well as the stance of the rising state towards the latter.
It clarified the relationship between Muslims and Jews as one of its articles stipulated that, “If anyone attacks anyone who is a party to this Pact the other must come to his help. They [parties to this Pact] must seek mutual advice and consultation.”
One who browses through Muslims’ history will find that the legal and literary literature in the Abode of Islam has urged to the protection of non-Muslims’ rights. Judge and Jurist, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaibani (131-189 AH\748-804 AC), said, “If a dirham was unjustly taken from a Jew in the East, it becomes incumbent on ruler of the West and his Muslim subjects to head for the East to return that dirham to its owner. Unless they do this, they may be punished as if they were the unjust ruler’s accessories.”
As for Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (450-505 AH\1058-1157 AC), he wrote a letter to Seljuk sultan Sanjar (512-552 AH\1117-1157 AC) wherein he reminded him of the virtues of his late father, Sultan Malik Shah (465-485 AH\1072-1092 AC) who ruled over a great empire covering Iran, Iraq, and Central Asia.
Al-Ghazali advised Sanjar to emulate his father’s policy and gave him several examples such as: a Jew should not be unjustly expelled from his own land as his father had never expelled anyone or dispossessed anyone of his property and he was keen on pleasing his subjects.
Therefore, Muslim historians set criteria for measuring rulers’ justice that included the observation of their judiciary system and the laws governing affairs of the Jews and Christians under their rule.
Ibn Shaddad (613-684 AH\1217-1285 AC), who wrote the biography of Baibars the Sultan of Egypt and the Levant (658-676 AH\1260-1277 AC), pointed out the Sultan’s fairness through giving several examples from his life then he concluded, “Whenever a complaint was brought to him by a Jew, a Christian, or any common person against any of the heads of his administration, he would establish the formers’ right and forbid the heads from oppressing them. Consequently, all subjects became free from worry or fear due to his fairness and equity.”
Also, Persian historian Muhammad ibn Ali ar-Rawindi (6th–7th C., AH\12th–13th C., AC), in accounting for the reasons behind the corruption and ruin in Iraq and Iran that synchronized the collapse of the Seljuk State, outlined these reasons and underlined one of them as follows: when an Emir is appointed as ruler of a given territory, “he consequently appoints a mean minister and vile notaries and asks this minister to administer the territory.
Thereupon, the minister ignores all laws defining the collection of land taxes and\or the tribute to be paid by the Jews.” This means that ar-Rawindi considers the unjust treatment of the Jews and the manipulation of taxes levied on them as one of the reasons behind disintegration of the state.
Equality between Rulers and Non-Muslim Citizens
Not only statements by judges, scholars, and historians are to be cited to prove the validity and credibility of such judicial system, but also several incidents from Islamic history can be recalled here.
Foremost among which is the well-known incident where a Christian Copt complained to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (13-24 AH\634-644 AC) against the son of Amr ibn al-`As (d. 43 AH\663 AC) as he (Amr’s son) beat his (the Copt’s) son following losing before him in a contest. The Caliph immediately ordered the son of Egypt’s ruler to be flogged in return. He even wished that Amr ibn al-`As should be flogged as his son relied on his father’s position when he unjustly beat the Copt’s son. Then, Umar ibn al-Khattab declared his famous statement, “Since when did you enslave the people though they were born from their mothers in freedom?”
The judgment passed by Umar ibn Al-Khattab is associated with what is known as the Board of Grievances — a judicial system designed for holding governors and those in authority accountable for their acts and judging between them and the subjects.
This can be illustrated in the instance in which Caliph Umar ibn Abdel’aziz (99-101 AH\717-719 AC) judged between the Umayyad Emir Hisham ibn Abdelmalik and the Magian who complained against Hisham for usurping his farm. The Caliph ordered the farm to be returned to its Magian owner as his evidence was stronger than that of Hisham ibn `Abdel Malik.
This incident not only shows justice in restoring rights to their owners, but also in the judicial proceedings applied, as the Caliph rejected the Emir’s authorized representative and insisted that the Emir should be present in person during the trial. He also equally treated the two litigants in terms of seating and deterred Hisham from threatening the Magian.
Official documents and papyri provide us with information on examining grievances and complaints. In three notifications written in Coptic, Greek, and Arabic from the Abbasside Era (137-140 AH\754-757 AC), we find that the governor of Akhmim and Tahta of Egypt, Yazid ibn Abdellah received complaints against the tax executive, Amr ibn `Itas who was accused by the farmers of overestimating the taxes levied on and collected from them. Thereupon, Yazid ibn Abdellah ordered that the local chiefs, Muslims and Christians, should be gathered together to hear from them their testimonies in relation to the case at hand.
Likewise, two separate documents dated (91 AH\709 AC) that are administrative letters sent by the then ruler of Egypt, Qura ibn Shuraik (d. 96 AH\714 AC) during the Umayyad Era to the governor of a town ordering him to look into the complaint of two Copts whose money was taken by force. In these two letters, Qura ibn Shuraik stressed that no one should be done any injustice while investigating the case.
Non-Muslim Religious Elites
Besides looking into grievances and complaining to Caliphs and rulers, there were other judicial systems designed for the restoration of non-Muslims’ rights. Foremost among which was the appointment of Muslim judges for such purposes as cited by al-Kindi in his Rulers and the Judiciary. As Egypt’s Judge Ghawth ibn Sulaiman (d. 168 AH\784 AC) examined the grievance of a non-Muslim woman, as well as Judge Khair ibn Nu`aim al-Hadrami (d. 137 AH\754 AC) who used to look into the grievances of non-Muslims of his time.
In addition, Muslim rulers and sultans were keen on regulating the judiciary issues of people of other faiths by means of establishing some of their prominent figures to look into their own affairs.
Many examples can be cited to prove this, such as when the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih (855-886 AH\1451-1481 AC) when he regulated the judicial affairs of the Orthodox Christians in Constantinople and allowed them to elect one of their heads to look into their own affairs. He also allowed the non-Muslim religious elite to look after their community’s personal status law regulating issues such as marriage, divorce, etc.
An impartial researcher who looks into judicial systems in Muslim history will surely admit these systems’ superiority and loftiness.
He/she would also find out that Islamic legislation did not look down upon people of other faiths as savages or barbarians. On the contrary, they enjoyed the protection of Muslim rulers themselves as they were regarded as citizens with equal rights and duties entailed by their residence in Muslim territories.
Translated by Dr. Ali Al-Halawani
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
ISLAMIC STEWARDSHIP FOR SUSTAINABILITY -Prof. Amzad Hossain, Australia.
ABSTRACT
‘Stewardship’ is a multi-religious concept though the true spirit of stewardship is yet to be realised, especially with respect to sustainability management. The paper aims to examine the Islamic perspective of stewardship. Islam reveals stewardship as a covenant between mankind and the Creator. The covenant attaches obligation to human to acquire the attributes of the Creator to nurture nature in the capacity of ‘Khalifa’ (steward, vice-gerent) of the Creator. According to Islamic traditions including Sufi stories and Baul songs, it is human obligation to manage individual, social, economic and ecological sustainability. This makes the Muslims to position stewardship in the central themes of the creation of human.
The paper depicts how stewardship has to be achieved through acquiring values and reinforcing spirituality. It attempts to understand Islamic stewardship in light of how it can contribute to sustainability integrity by way of meeting people’s basic needs, increasing contentment and happiness with less, promoting socio-political and spiritual unity amid diverse cultures, underpinning social coherence, inspiring people for living simply in order to sustain economic solvency, and imparting mankind that ecologically sustainable development is the key means to holistic sustainability.
The paper concludes that amid growing unsustainability around, the integrated religious stewardship as practiced in Bangladesh where uneducated rural folks are distinctly better stewards than their elite counterpart, which also appears to be the case elsewhere, can be an example to follow.
KEYWORDS: Bangladesh, Baul, character, integrity, Quran, values
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Understanding Stewardship
‘Stewardship’ as a pluralistic religious concept appears in several religions in diverse synonyms. In Christianity human is given dominion over the earth, but must treat the earth with respect. Stewardship is management of the Earth and its resources in accord with Christian Ethics. Hinduism teaches that stewardship is right conduct to the Earth and its resources, and all who live on the earth - minerals, plants, animals and humans. Jainism-driven stewardship is non-injury to all living things; this includes the Earth and all its resources. Jainism has a 2000 year record of living with non-injury and no greed about the Earth and its resources. In Buddhism, compassion for all creatures and all living things must prevail. The Buddha spent his life searching for the ending of human suffering, eventually teaching that a balance must be established between self-destruction and self-indulgence. In Judaism, human is given the dominion over the Earth in the Torah; but God also says that everything that is created is good. So human must stay in the covenant with God and practice Talmud Torah teaches the Law of Moses with respect to pollution, waste, harm and ecological damage. In Islam, Muslims follow the teachings of the Quran as practiced by the Prophet and his bio-spiritual successors. [1]
Focusing on Islamic stewardship it appears that stewardship is the trustee of God in carrying out His commandments in relation to social and environmental sustainability management. The Quran regards human as God’s steward (Khalifa) on earth, possessing an innate disposition or capacity (fitrah) to know God and act righteously (Barr, 2002:121). Stewardship as a social science instrument currently appears to receiving much emphasis in the academic as well as political and business arena. The reality of human triggered global unsustainability scenarios substantiated by climate change, depletion of natural resource-base, unbalanced population growth and ever-widening poverty and pollution, urges for stewardship intervention as a possible solution. This suggests that the unsustainability factors in context are occurring due to anti-stewardship human intervention to nature and to human themselves. In other words, unsustainable intervention to nature is resulting in utter degradation of all natural resources, while mankind is ruining themselves in demographic, moral and economic aspects of social sustainability in many parts of the globe, including the West.
This essay depicts Islamic stewardship as an agent for sustainability re-fix by way of individual, social, economic and ecologically sustainable development. It focuses stewardship as a religio-spiritual tool for holistic sustainability management in terms of conservation, restoration, regeneration of natural and social capital. From Islamic standpoint, stewardship is, indeed, an act of Jihad (striving) against the norms of human’s egocentric nature. Hewer (2006:153) reveals that in order to counter egocentric tendency, each believer is required to make jihad a necessary compulsory duty. This form of jihad is known as the ‘greater jihad’ in Islamic tradition - the constant struggle against the wayward self.
Mankind differs diversely in their attitude and values (mannerism) resulting in both good and bad practices i.e. sustainable and unsustainable activities. Orr (1994:7) observes that in a typical day the earth loses 116 square miles of rain forest, or about an acre a second; 72 square miles to encroaching deserts, 40 to 250 species lost or threatened; and add 2,700 tons of chlorofluro carbons and 15 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The writer also stresses that many things on which our future health and prosperity depend are in dire jeopardy. Climate instability, diminishing resilience and productivity of natural systems, depleting beauty of the natural world, and decaying biological diversity - all these are not from the work of uneducated people. Rather, it is largely the results of work by people with high educational degrees including PhDs.
In order to stop this situation and also to do proper protection, regeneration, restoration and conservation of natural and human resources, the role of stewardship integrity, as advocated by Islam, needs to be practiced by all. MacCracken et al.(2008: 263) maintain that Islam teaches us that we should be cautious and vigilant against damages from pollution and global warming. From an Islamic point of view, protecting the environment to restore normalcy in climate change requires deep awareness of the elements that affect life on our planet, ensuring the continuation of life by avoiding pollution, and using the power of religion to channel human activity into these productive areas. All these responses will be required in order to confront the challenge of climate change in a morally responsible manner. Stewardship includes all these human qualities integrated in its philosophy, principles and practices.
In sum, it can be said that stewardship, by definition, is inherently meant to look after someone or something for somebody. It is an empowerment from God that a steward has been entrusted. The stewardship approach is applicable to all humans and non-human beings and things. Thus the approach is of two-prong: human management is to provide goods and services to humans, while the other is to use the environments for the acquisition of that goods and services for human. Hence, a good stewardship is respecting another person’s space, self-esteem or self-worth (Smith, 2005:22).
ISLAMIC STEWARDSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The Islamic code of life is focused largely to deal with stewardship development lessons and guidelines that inspire people to acquire knowledge to generate sustainability-positive belief, values, spirituality and practices. The Quran says,
"Allah will exalt the grades of those who have become believers among you and who have been given knowledge (Quran 58:11)."
Widely known saying of the prophet also reveals:
"Acquisition of knowledge is obligatory to all the Muslims".
Islam recognizes knowledge in two categories: knowledge gathered and knowledge generated. Renard (2004) agues: “Gathered knowledge is useless if it does not include knowledge generated; just as the sun is useless when the eye is incapable of receiving illumination” (p. 205). Observation of the signs of God helps acquire generated knowledge and the emphasis on such observation frequently appears in the Quran in different contexts. Thus do we explain the signs by various (symbols): that they may say, "Thou hast taught (us) diligently," and that We may make the matter clear to those who know (Quran, 6:105). And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. Lo! herein indeed are portents for men of knowledge (Quran, 30:22). The word “sign” appears 56 times in 52 verses of the Quran.
Islam asks people to know from who know. “When you do not know, then inquire of the people of recollection” (Quran, 16:43; 21:7). Renard (2004:127) points out: “ People of recollection when asked questions by public, God inspire them with right guidance and bestow wisdom”. Islam also stresses on to follow the footstep of the blessed and ever-living personages as the virtuous means to develop character towards stewardship integrity. This has been emphasized in the opening chapter of the Quran: “Show us the straight path, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray” (Quran 1:6-7). These are the people with the highest stewardship qualities, and Quran honour them as immortal, ever living. "And do not say - they are dead - of those who died in the path of Allah. No, never; rather they are alive" (Quran 2:154). "And no, do not even think that they are dead, those who are killed in the path of Allah. No, no, never - rather they are alive. They are getting sustenance from their Lord" (Quran 3:169). “And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the Torah - a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil)” (Quran, 5:46).
Muslims find the Quran a complete code of life (Murata and Chittick, 1994: pp. 182-184). Dahl (1997) considers Islam as a combination of law, religion and morality, providing a comprehensive framework for living of the individuals, families and communities. The Quran has lessons that can constitute a curriculum for stewardship education for sustainable development practices. The house of Islam rests on pillars that intrinsically link sustainable management of natural resources and socio-economic sustainability. Jihad or the personal struggle to achieve stewardship integrity as a way of living is also seen as a pillar of Islam (Murata and Chittick, 1994: pp. 21-22) and is at the core of the practice in maintaining peaceful sustainability conditions devoid of living with unsustainable consumption patterns.
2.1 Belief:
As culture is constituted of beliefs, attitudes and practices, there are no people without beliefs (Szostak, 2005: 103). Islamic belief is a belief in the unity of the totality of diverse sustainability scenarios. An important aspect of belief is the understanding that although humans are the “trustees” of nature, they do not possess all the supremacy to create, change or undo things. There are powerful forces beyond them, which have the capacity to drastically influence the outcomes of people’s actions, such as climate change and biodiversity depletion.
Belief in the Creator is the most important incentive to acquire stewardship righteousness. The Quran says: ‘It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness – to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfill the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of righteousness, the God-fearing’ (Quran 2:177).
2.2 Values
Values inspire practices. In order to be a righteous steward, values need to be acquired, for values guide people in their thinking and enable them to pursue actions that are pleasing to the Creator i.e. pro-sustainability actions. Islamic stewardship values are similar to Jewish and Christian values as they are all from the same source - God. However, to Islam the values are like a street directory that can guide people to the ‘right path’, a path to holistic sustainability. Among others, some of the core values that are required for stewardship practices include respect and kindness, modesty, justice, charity, honesty and truthfulness, forgiveness and patience.
All these values are at the core of traditional Islamic stewardship culture and guides human in all their relations and dealings - with the Creator, with people, with the environment and with themselves. Understanding a traditional perspective of values enables one to gain an insight into the ‘grass roots’ aspects of stewardship of human obligation to the sustainability of fellow beings and all creation.
2.3 Observation
Observation connotes inspection, testing, investigation, experiment, self-observation, introspection. To help develop stewardship, the Quran is constantly pointing to observe the diverse phenomena in nature for evidence and answer to questions with regards to developing stewardship integrity for holistic sustainability management. The Quran reveals: And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning) (Quran 17:36).
2.4 The development of character
Education for human development without an emphasis on character development has particularly no value in Islam. The Islamic concept of character, as Yunanto, et al. put it, is rooted in humility towards the Creator, love towards fellow creatures, perseverance at the time of affliction, honesty, decency, uprightness, courage to say the truth, a balanced attitude towards issues that involve human emotions (Yunanto et al. 2005:208). Character i.e. personality integrity building is considered as an effective and action oriented way of underpinning stewardship spirituality in Islam. Integrated character development exercise implies that the teacher usually adapts methodology far beyond from that of formal education. Under the guidance of a Sufi teacher, a shaykh or shaykha (fem.), the student might be given a particular name on which to meditate by many repetitions each day. This might be a quality that the teacher sees to be lacking in this individual. Someone lacking in patience, might be given the word As-Sabr (the Patient One) – one of God’s name - to repeat a thousand times each day to develop the quality of patience (Hewer, 2006:77).”
Writers have made claims that today’s character development is devoid of the approaches to instil values (Halstead and Taylor : 1996). Consequently, students are developed with knowledge about various things, but without their character development i.e. development of personality integrity. The Islamic purpose of education is to develop the character of students. The emphasis is on the ‘acquisition’ of qualities by observing the signs of the Creator in His creation as repeatedly appear in the Quran. There are specific areas of focus for nurturing character development that includes control of personal Nafs (temptation), social harmony and ecological aspects of sustainability. Renard (2004) observes that according to Islamic view of the world “Your wealth is not wide enough to encompass the people, so let your cheerful countenance and beautiful character surround them” (p. 243). This suggests that character development helps a steward to instil self-reliance, courage, endurance, determination, and the ability to deal with adversity and fortune. Holm and Bowker (1994) find that these qualities in stewardship character inspire Muslims to live in equilibrium with nature and their environment (p. 90). They take seriously the Quranic observation that: ‘Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what human hands have done’ (ibid. 97; Quran 30:41).
Islamic way of character development starts from childhood years. The parents, out of their religious obligation, are required to make intention every morning to raising their children to be a successful vicegerent of God who will resultantly help build up a sustainable world for the present as well as for future generations. So, it is the parents’ duty to present themselves as vicegerents depicting a sustainable model of human being to follow up. Yust et al. reveal that according to Islam children are born sinless and viewed as precious gifts from God and need to be taken care of and protected by their parents and their surrounding communities. “The primary way for children to attain spiritual development is to observe the personal spiritual practices of adults in their surrounding communities. Therefore, Islam not only gives these people the responsibility for the spiritual well-being of children but also makes them accountable” (2006:pp. 70-71).
The anti-thesis aspects of spiritual education is crucial for achieving stewardship integrity, for a steward must make his/her judgement based on both sides of an object. According to Sufi saying: ‘sometimes the truth lies in the opposite’. All these suggest that Islam, by way of its strong stewardship spirituality and practices, can provide a panacea for fixing sustainability mishaps of the day in a sustainable way.
3. LIVING STEWARDSHIP : BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVES
The syncretistic religious traditions of Bangladesh overwhelmed by Sufi Islam manifest the practice of stewardship. The Sharia literature, mysticism, sayings and doings of Sufis and saints, including the mystic Baul[2] singer-philosophers of the country, practice stewardship manifesting a lifestyle that can reinforce regeneration of ecological goods. The Bauls are utterly environmentalists by their spirituality and practice; their spontaneously revealed songs are truly soul stirring and take the listeners closest to nature. Their stewardship is reflected through simple, natural, unembellished lifestyle rooted in the soil of environmentally peculiar Bangladesh. They advocate for a non-violent and non-destructive deployment of values. Bauls are unlettered, but the messages they convey through their innumerable spontaneously composed songs, however, cannot but portray them as supreme Pundits (scholars). The impact that they have on listeners (Bangla speaking people all over the globe) in shaping behaviour and values is enormous. Despite the fact that the majority of the Baul-philosophers come from an Islamic background, they display a religious indifference or neutrality of Sufism, which suggests that the practice of religious secularism by “people who understand” can also reinforce the proper management of natural resources (Hossain, 1995).
The Baulism inspired stewardship fulfils religious unity within the cultural diversity of Bangladesh, which is one of the most important goals of the Islamic messages (Mondal, 1997:47). In regards to the unity within the cultural diversity, the Quran also reveals: For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had Allah willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in good works. Unto Allah ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ (Quran 5:48).
3.1 Sustainability Stewardship for Bangladesh
The Baul philosophers of Bangladesh view sustainability of the country as a dynamic entity generated by the synergies between stewardship attitudes to social growth and managing ecological footprint. They discard economic growth, which is an increase in quantity, cannot be sustainable indefinitely on a finite planet (Costanza et al. 1991). Conversely, the writers also point out that economic development, which is an improvement in the quality of life without causing an increase in the quantity of consumed resources could be sustainable. Over-extraction of finite resources for over-consumption in order to lead wasteful lifestyle is repeatedly prohibited in Islam (Quran 2:60, 2:205, 5:64, 7:56, 28:4). Islam also prohibits the generation of growth in money by charging interest or excessive profit. Islam considers money just as a convenient medium of exchange. Its use as a commodity to lend or hoard for excessive profit can injuriously deprive others and is strictly prohibited. People can have surplus money to lend to those in need, but with profit sharing, not with fixed rate interest or high profit. For economic health, money ought to circulate in a community like blood. In the case of piling up of wealth, the Quran warns: “Who pileth up wealth and layeth it by, Thinking that his wealth would make him last for ever! By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into That Hell which Breaks to Pieces” (Quran 104:2-4). Living simply and without greed for more than required is the standard of maintaining economic sustainability in Islam.
Fluehr-Lobban argues that poverty-like simple way of life in Islam is not for the sake of hardship (2004:188), but for the sake of managing long-term stewardship sustainability within the regenerative capacity of renewable resources. In many ways attempts coming from outside Islam directed towards what is known as “poverty alleviation” clash with the fundamental Muslim values and effectively push countries including Bangladesh, towards unsustainability (Hossain and Marinova, 2005).
The Baul tradition supports a self-reliant way of living with family and social and environmental bondage: “The less you have, the more you are”. Gandhi expanded this concept to incorporate a simple life style asserting that nature produces enough for our wants, and if only everybody took enough for him/herself and nothing more, there would be no people dying of starvation (Kripalani, 1965: 130). Lorey (2003: 44) also talks about achieving satisfaction with less and with what you already have.
Ecological sustainability exists where the natural resource-base and ecosystem health are not negatively affected by development. It is believed that everything God created is an essential part of the sustainability management by nature .Islam stresses that, as the Torah does, even things which appear trivial to you such as flies, fleas and mosquitoes, they are also part of the creation, and God executes His operations through the agency of all of them, even through a snake or frogs (Mulder 2006: 37). The writer also explains that as recently as in the 1960s, most people perceived the natural environment as infinite until Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring exposed that the opposite is the case (ibid:15). God informs human beings of the rights of animals by comparing them (animals) to humans: There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms of) communities like you (Quran 6:38). Contrasting Western scientific understanding of the world with that of the Islamic belief, Fazlun and O’Brien (1992:42) argue that in Western science theories are always open to rejection and change while Muslim scientists explain the “natures” of created things in terms of their supernatural origin. This emphasises the sacred character of creation. To show lack of respect for nature is tantamount to show lack of respect for the Creator.
CONCLUSION
Islam requires human attitudes to be entirely in line with stewardship principles in carrying out sustainability practices. Attitude towards maintaining sustainable footprint is an example. Due to a lack of this stewardship attitude, the earth is being overburdened. In 2003 the global human population’s ecological footprint overshot the planet’s capacity by the equivalent of 0.25 Earths (Global Footprint Network, 2008). In other words, we needed 1.25 planet Earths to meet the human demand on nature if we were to remain within its regenerative capacity. Not surprisingly the current ecological crisis cannot be met without a change in human priorities, values (attitudes) and lifestyles. To accomplish this there is a need for holistic stewardship ethos, which the Islam tradition can offer (Edwards, 2006:100).
Islam warns the viceroys against over-extraction of degradable natural resources and over-consumption. According to the Tradition: “Your wealth is not wide enough to encompass the people, so let your cheerful countenance and beautiful character surround them”. One of the ancestors in faith said: “A little humility suffices for a lot of action, and a little spiritual science suffices for a lot of knowledge” (Renard, 2004:243). Islamic stewardship strictly prohibits the belongings of extravagance: “Who pileth up wealth and layeth it by, Thinking that his wealth would make him last for ever! By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into That Hell which Breaks to Pieces” (Quran,104:2-4).
Since Islam has authorised human as God’s Khalifa on earth, stewardship inherently requires human to acquire integrity in values from 99 virtues of God. This suggests that Islam has a code of outcome-based stewardship development guidelines. The guidelines include stewardship education central to belief, values, spirituality and practice, which inherently requires the teachers to be qualified with stewardship knowledge, guidelines and practices to transmit and demonstrate how to integrate stewardship into people’s lifestyle management. Islam as a religion contains a range of guidelines and prescriptions for people to live in a way that does not destroy the finite natural resources and to live a life of modest consumption. Islam also emphasises one of the main principles of sustainability i.e. one should contribute to the common and not just to the private good (Mulder, 2006).
In order to achieve stewardship integrity and integrate it into one’s lifestyle requires two types of education. One is about general code of life relating to socio-economic aspects of moral values such as belief, respect, honesty, truthfulness, modesty etc. The other deals with the inter-relationships between human and rest of nature. Islamic mystics (Sufis, Pirs and Baul gurus) are the guides for stewardship education. A renowned mystic of Bangladesh namely Hason Raja expresses his stewardship spirit, thus:
People say, they say, my house is no good.
What house will I build,
There's nothing here
I’ll build a house, But how long will I stay for?
I look in the mirror,
I see grey hair that I have.
Thinking of this,
Hason Raja hasn’t built a house.
Where will Allah take and keep him,
For that reason he cries.
If Hason Raja knew, how long he would live for,
then he would have built his house and rooms in many colours.
Finally, what we witness around the world nowadays are the differences in lifestyles and value systems resulting in outcomes that are drastically contrary to Islamic stewardship oriented way of life.
REFERENCES
Book
Arkoun, M. 1999. Rethinking Islam – Common Questions, Uncommon Answers, translated and edited by R.D. Lee, Westview Press, Oxford.
Barr, Michael D. 2002. Cultural Politics and Asian Values. Routledge, London.
Chittick, W.C. 1983. Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, State University of New York Press, Albany
Costanza, R., Daly, H.E., Bartholomew, J.A. 2001. Goals, Agenda and Policy Recommendations for Ecological Economics, in Costanza, R. (ed.) Ecological Economics, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 1-21
Cragg, Kenneth. 1976. The Wisdom of the Sufis. Sheldon Press, London.
Dahl, T.S. 1997. The Muslim Family, Scandinavian University Press, Boston
Edwards, D. 2006. Ecology at the Heart of Faith – the Changing of Hearth that Leads to a New Way of Living on Earth, Orbis Books, New York
Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn. 2004. Islamic Societies and Practices. University Press of Florida, Florida.
Global footprint network Global Footprint Network. 2008. Humanity’s Footprint 1961-2003, www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=global_footprint, accessed 16 March 2008
Halstead, J.M. & Taylor, M.J. 1996. Values and values education in schools. In Halstead, J.M, & Taylor, M.J. (Eds). Values in education and education in values (pp. 3-14). London: Falmer Press.
Hossain, A. 1995. Mazar Culture in Bangladesh. Ph.D. Thesis. Murdoch University, Perth, Australia, 419 p.
Hewer, C.T.R. 2006. Understanding Islam – The First Ten Steps, SCM Pres, London.
Holm, Jean and Bowker, John. 1994. Attitudes To Nature. Pinter Publishers, London.
Huckle, J., Sterling, S. 1996. Education for Sustainability, Earthscan Publication, London.
Johnson, M.A., K. Jung & W. Schweiker. 2006. ‘Introduction.’ In: W. Schweiker, M.A. Johnson & K. Jung (eds), Humanity before God: Contemporary faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic ethics, 1-18. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press.
Kripalani, K. 1965. All Men Are Brothers: Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi as Told in His Own Words. Columbia University Press, New York.
Lorey, D.E. 2003. Global Environmental Challenges of the Twenty-First Century: Resources, Consumption and Sustainable Solutions. SR Books, Delaware.
MacCracken, Michael C., Moore, Frances, and Topping, John C. Jr. 2008. Sudden and Disruptive Climate Change – exploring the real risk and how can avoid them. Earthscan, London.
Mittal, Sushil and Thursby, Gene, eds. 2006. Religions of South Asia – An Introduction. Routledge, London.
Mondal, S.R. 1997. Educational Status of Muslims – Problems, Prospects and Priorities. Inter-India Publication, New Delhi
Mulder, K. 2006. Sustainable Development for Engineers: A Handbook and Resource Guide. Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, UK.
Murata, S. and Chittick, C.W. 1994. The Vision of Islam, Paragon House, New York.
Orr, David W. 1994. Earth in Mind – On education. Environment, and the human prospect. Island Press, Washington.
Peters, R. 1979. Islam and Colonialism. Mouton Publishers, The Hague.
Quran. Any translation.
Renard, John. 2004. Knowledge of God in Classical Sufism: Fundation of Islamic Mystical Theology. Paulist Press. New York.
Smith, George P. II .2005. The Christian Religion and Biotechnology – A Search for Principled Decision-making. Springer, The Netherlands.
Sweet, William and Feist, Richard. 2007. Religion and the Challenges of Science. Ashgate Publishing, England.
Szostak, R., 2005. Unifying Ethics, University Press of America, New York.
Thornhill, J. (2000) Modernity. Christianity’s Estranged Child Reconstructed, W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Yust, Karen Marie; Johnson, Aostre N.; Sasso., Sandy Eisenberg; and Roehlkepartain (eds). 2006. Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality – Perspectives from the World’s Religious Traditions. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. London.
Yunanto, S; Wasik, A; Harun, B; Effendy, F; Nuryanti, S; and Hidayat S. 2005. Islamic Education in South and Soth East Asia. The RIDEP Institute, Jakarta.
Conference
Hossain, A., Marinova, D. (2005). Poverty Alleviation – a Push towards Unsustainability in Bangladesh? Presented at the International Conference on Engaging Communities 14-17 August, Brisbane. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Engaging Communities. Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Department of Main Roads [E-text type]. Retrieved 18 July 2010 from www.engagingcommunities2005.org/abstracts/Hossain-Amzad-final.pdf
[1] http://religion.answers.wikia.com/wiki/What_other_religions_believe_stewardship_is
[2] Bauls-philosophers are the mystics of Bangladesh. They educate people with their spontaneous songs that include metaphysics, religio-philosophy, socio-economic and political issues, solutions to environmental problems and naturalism. The Bauls’ way of stewardship with happiness and simple lifestyle is the national model of lifestyle to follow by others. They are highly respected in Bangladesh for their voluntary contributions to Bangladesh culture.
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I’m Harun Baul Speaking (part 21)
-Md. Amzad Hossain
I’m Harun Baul Speaking (part 20), published on March 13, 2012 was paused with Lalon Fakir’s revelation:
Tomra sab Kalifa role, Je ja bujhe dio bole.
Osoth obhakta jona, Gupta bhed tare bolona
Bolileo se manibena, Karbe ahangkari.
Nekton bandara joto, ved pore auliya hoto
nadanera shul chachito, Monsur tar sabed ase.
Lalon Fakir
(The Prophet (sm) instructed the Khalifas to advise the general people in accordance with their levels of understanding. The dishonest and non-devotees should not be told about the higher truth, for they are likely to reject it. All the righteous people can become Auliya (Godly) by understanding the higher truth while the fools are engaged in sharpening their spears. The case of Mansur (Hallaj) bears witness to it (whom they killed).
Guru Aziz Shah Fakir (104) relates the above notion of the Prophet Muhammad to his Khalifas in political terms of the Khelafat governance. It clearly suggests that under the Khelafat system of good governance, the citizens should be dealt with in accordance with their level of understanding. This wisdom is also equally applicable in the cases of dealing with economic and other needs of the people of a given time and place. Linking the concept to the case of present governance in Bangladesh, the guru recognises a lack of good governance (Sushason) that persists at the heart of the present untenable situation. He emphasises good governance as the jugular vein of a nation; and the practice of Khelafat’s good governance duly powered by the Islamic deliberative democracy can revitalize the sharply depleting happiness, traditional self-reliance, religiosity, patriotism, family and social bondage and eco-spirituality. The Khelafat system of governance is therefore a sustainable alternative that can transform Bangladesh to be (re)branded as the happiest nation on earth.
Bangladesh being predominantly a fertile land of population growth, agriculture and fisheries, it is a superior country for long-term sustainability. But unfortunately, the country has hardly experienced good governance that could potentially allow for political stability, and foster the human-nature interconnectedness through sustainable development. The guru stresses that the rising degradation of natural resources, water crisis, the widening gaps between the rich and poor, corruption, crimes and gender conflicts, are largely due to persisting mal-governance. The guru also stresses that politicians’ commitment to good governance has not been possible because it is integrally connected to people’s values system; and the current political as well as cultural values system of Bangladesh is at its worst. This values system is severely inflicted with selfishness and self-centricity that is intensely opposed to share things with fellow beings and care for natural resources. This disconnection of sharing and caring leads people to disengage themselves from their spiritual core of self-reliance and happiness.
Against this backdrop, the guru explores ways to restore just governance within the framework of the Khelafat system as was implemented by the Prophet Muhammad and the first four Khalifas of Islam (Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali). The guru asserts that the Khelafat system can create competent, honest, responsible and patriotic civil servants, activists and other actors. In this context, the guru adds that a Khalifa as a human representative or Vicegerent of God on earth can be a person of any colour, culture or religion, who, in congruence with the Quranic revelation, can coulour oneself with the colour of God. This means that a Khalifa has to acquire collective knowledge, lessons and wisdom for governance purposes and also for transmitting them to other people in order to maintain individual, familial, social, economic, religio-cultural, political and ecological sustainability. Then, how to acquire diverse knowledge for achieving Khalifaship (stewardship) integrity in order to keep natural system healthy for human sustainability? Most religions talk about acquiring diverse knowledge. The knowledge of nurturing nature and the realization of human’s absolute dependence on eco-resources intrinsically help acquire the wisdom for understanding the inner meaning of humanity (i.e. know thyself). The notion of human as the Ashraful Mukhlukat (the best of creation) is embedded in this concept.
The notion of ‘Know Thyself’, which has been propagated by the great people of most religions throughout the history of mankind is integrally linked to the inter-connectedness between human and nature. This view suggests us to ‘know thyself’ in terms of our surrounding environmental manifestations. Considering this, most teachers teach that ‘know thyself’ require a pathway to know: who you are, who is your Sustainer, where you were, why you are here, where you go hereafter, what elements you are built of, what is the purpose of your life, what is your position in the environment, and what role you are required to play for your survival amidst other beings and non-beings for now and for tomorrow. When you understand all these and know about how your surrounding ecosystems function, it is likely that you know your own self. To make the notion more objective oriented, the Bauls, follow ‘know thyself’ in accordance with prophet Mohammad’s “Know thyself to know your Sustainer (of the environment)”.
Lalon says:
Je lila brahmander upor Se lila ai vando majhar
Hale apon janmer bichar sob jante pai.
Aponar janma lata Janga tar multi kotha
Lalon bale pabi setha sain porichoy.
(That what is in the universe (macrocosm) is in the human body ( microcosm). By understanding one's own (mystery of) birth, one can know all. By searching out the root source of one's life’s career, one can lead to a clue towards knowing about the Supreme Lord (the Sain) - says Lalon).
The Bauls believe that God has housed all things of the universe in the human body. This has made human body a microcosm of the universe. They also strongly hold the view that human body is the abode of God while heart is His throne. This assertion inspires Bauls to spiritualise ‘know thyself to know thy Sustainer’. The issue still remains as to how to know what is in the macrocosm? The Baul gurus show the pathway how to know oneself by contemplating about the microcosm.
Lalon reveals:
Se boro ajab kudrati, atharo mokamer majhe jolse ek ruper bati.
Ke bujhe kudrati khela, joler majhe onol jola.
(That is an incredible mystery. A manifesting lamp illuminates the house of 18 dimensions. Who does understand the mysterious play (?) where fire is sustained in water).
Most non-Baul promoters of this view maintain that a qualified master (guru) is essential for teaching about how to ‘know thyself’. This is, of course, true; but it is neither essential nor practical for all the Khalifas and their co-workers (teachers, health workers, religious leaders) at the Ward and Union level. It is reasonably adequate for them if they know how to integrate the management of human and other beings and non-beings on earth for sustainable coexistence. It is not so difficult for the Khalifas as they have spiritualised their acquired stewardship values such as patriotism, simplicity, justice, honesty and eco-spirituality practices in terms of nurturing finite natural resources. But, the Khalifas of the Thana level and above are required to be vigorously trained by the adequately qualified masters of sustainability spirituality. The naturalist Baul gurus and Marfati Pirs of Bangladesh are recognized masters of sustainability sciences.
Guru Aziz Shah Fakir claims that particularly qualified masters who can train the Khalifas for pursuing good governance are rare. The Pirs, priests, monks and Sanyasins with diversified integrity are not currently abundant in the country. That is why we need to find alternative ways. The guru stresses that for a country like Bangladesh where both people and nature are bestowed with multiplicity of cultural, geo-environmental and natural characteristics, the Khalifas can be adequately trained to understand the relationships between human survivability and ecological systems. It is to emphasize that humans are completely dependent on ecological resources for their sustenance, whereas eco-world is unrelated to humans for their self sustainability.
The guru reveals that natural diversity manifests diverse signs for the wise. Thus, nature is the house of knowledge, understanding and the source of acquiring moral values and wisdom. This clearly indicates that pondering about the natural world is essential for attaining stewardship integrity for upgrading people’s morality, happiness and economic self-reliance. In case of any failure on the part of the local Khalifas, they can seek help from the respective Thana Khalifas to take appropriate measure for correction.
In order to provide self-reliance and happiness for people, each Ward Khelafat as part of National Khelafat system, must implement the Dawa program. The guru sings a Dawa song:
Pare ke jabi nabir naukate ai.
Rop kasther nauka khani nai dubar bhoy.
Beshara neye jara
Tufane jabe mara
Ek e dhakkai.
(Ride on to the boat (Tarika) of the Prophet, if one who wishes to go across (the river of life). The boat is made of such a timber (virtues)) that has no fear of drowning. But those who are undisciplined boatman, they will ruin by a single blow).
The guru observes that Islamic original political culture as devised by the Prophet has hopelessly failed to demonstrate its ingeniousness over the global political culture, only due to the lack of maintaining the chain (Silsila) of succession after the fourth Khalifa Hazrat Ali. In fact, this deviation has eventually resulted in the downturn of Islamic governance worldwide; and currently, it has probably reached to its worst. However, the Sufi Islam that is still prominent in Bangladesh has the Tariqat (way) for safeguarding the politicians (Khalifas) who chose to embark on the Prophet’s and the four Khalifas’ Shariah of good governance.
The renowned Fatemolla is the guru of Sharia matters. As a vicegerent of the Creator, he must have moral obligations to outline the implementable Sharia governance of the Prophet and the four Khalifas for the spiritualistic cultural framework of Bangladesh. The Molla can comfortably compile a Sharia-based encyclopedia of good governance in Bangladesh culture where The Jama’ati Aqidah (creed) and Tabligi Aqidah will be left out for their incompatibility. Harun Baul colours them as ‘Beshora Neye’ (the uninitiated boatman). The undisciplined politicians, religious bigots, ignorant pundits and egoistic civil servants who now own in the country’s governance are the Beshora Neye according Harun Baul’s sustainability assessment criteria. Consequently, the political culture in the land of Sufis which has been devoid of the spirit(uality) of Sufism, is justifiably failing to demonstrate the Banglalee cultural ingeniousness over the Western socio-political culture.
However, a new Nauka (boat) is to be built under the guidance of the Tarikat of the Sharia of Khelafat’s good governance system in order to carry out the following sustainability precepts and practices:
1. Practice of Religious and Cultural Values
Culture reflects the colour of a religion. Secularism of Sufi spirituality is prominent in Bangladesh and therefore communal conflict is almost non-existent. Khalafat governance will enrich the culture by wiping out the impurities generated by the Western democracy. Guru Aziz Shah Fakir has the code of life(style), religion and culture – the main aspects of human life. The following examples manifests guidelines for the aspects.
a. Satya bal su pathe chal, o re amar mon.
(O my mind, always tell the truth and remain on the 'Straight Path').
Guru Aziz Shah Fakir says that this is the seed ‘spell’ (mantra) for all religions.
b. The second mantra is:
Manush guru nishtha jar
Shorbo shadhon siddha hoy tar.
(All aspirations are fulfilled if endeavours for learning are guru-centric)
c. Thirdly:
Age ki sundar din kataitam
Gramer naojoan, hindu musalman
Milia bauls gaan ar murshidi gaitam – Baul Abdul Karim shah
(What a delightful time we had in the past. The village youths from the Hindu and Muslim communities used to sing Baul and Mushidi songs together).
There are hundreds of examples in this context that are practical in nature. Whatever we learn needs to be practiced. The Sufi culture requires the Khalifa to ‘learn from the people who know’ and follow the path and doings of the blessed people who are known as the Aulyia or friends of God. Teachings of a wise master or a Khalifa – formally or otherwise – is primarily to teach people how to practice charity, modesty, live simply, honesty, truthfulness, tolerance, respectfulness, trustworthiness, responsibility, discipline, sociality, care taking and nature nurturing. These values can cause to vanish growing corruption, cheating, bestiality and lawlessness as water can extinguish water. The legal framework of the Khelafat governance is to implement the moral principles so that people’s mindset becomes values-driven. The corrective measures are to be provided in order to treat the odds.
2. Fish and tree for everyone
Everyone needs fish and fruit trees. This is achievable should the Ward Khalifas know how to initiate and implement fishing and plantation programs in their respective area. To avail fish and fruits for everyone, watersheds need to be maintained so that they are deep enough to hold knee-level water in the summer as a poem reads:
(ameder soto nodi chole babnke banke;
boishakh mashe tar hatu jol thake)
Fishing, especially the immature, fingerlings and mother fish with eggs must be stopped seasonally, and fish export can be allowed only after meeting the local people’s needs. Plantation for regeneration and restoration of fruit trees in abundance must be done throughout the banks of watersheds and roadside including some timber trees, cane, bamboos and medicinal plants and herbs on the roadsides. If this is implemented, it will not only help avail fruits and meet household needs for those who have no place to grow, but also meet the needs of the present and future healing of illness, it will also ensure environmental sustainability. Perceiving this, Baul Bijoy Sarkar reveals:
Ai prithibi jemon silo, Temoni thik robe
Sundar ai prithibi sere chole jete hobe.
(We are obliged to leave this beautiful earth, keeping the earth in its natural form).
The song implies that one generation should leave this beautiful earth aesthetically and eco-systematically unchanged for meeting the needs of the generations to come; and next generation will be obliged to follow their ancestor’s tradition. This notion is also the core of the concept of sustainable development.
3. Full support for the people willing to work overseas
Almost every family with workable manpower wants to send a family member overseas. The Ward Khalifas can implement this national project giving financial support from the Khalifa’s local development fund to those who are in need. Producing exportable workforce with values, quality and skill is the holy responsibility of the Khalifas. This responsibility will inspire the Ward Khalifas and the candidates (present and future) to introduce adequate logistical support for the same).
4. Facilities for small-scale industrial productivity
This will help families needing extra income. The Khelafat system of governance can launch a revolutionary industrial transformation process towards achieving economic self-reliance as Gandhi propagated. The households can spin, weave and make their own dresses and sell to others. Cotton, jute, silk, wool and other local fibers can be used. This provision can employ a huge amount of workforce including women, children, and the aged. The Khelafat governance can introduce a policy that the country’s local needs for garments are to be wholly produced locally.
5. To narrow down the lifestyle gaps between rich and poor
This can be achieved through a national policy which can motivate the rich or elite class to come closer to the poor in their dress and food habit; addressing poor with respect; and sharing each other’s joy and sorrow. A national policy with wide manifestation of better-off people’s brotherhood/sisterhood mannerism to the ordinary folks (sub-ordinates, employees, servants, labourers); a habit of sharing food, dress, affordable money, and joy and sorrow with the have-nots; the well-offs' visit to poor neighbourhood and hospitals; modest and simple lifestyle in terms of dress - all these will automatically bring down poverty situation both materially and psychologically. Harun Baul asserts that alleviation of poverty is neither possible in the geo-environmental and cultural conditions of Bangladesh, nor it is at all desirable for the sake of a long-term sustainability of the renewable resources of the county. Thus, a poverty-like modest lifestyle is the sustainable direction for Bangladesh. And this applies also for the global sustainability.
6. Self-reliance centric foreign policy
Diplomatic relationship with foreign countries needs to be central to earning foreign currency to assist our self-reliant sustainability in terms of cotton, oil, chemicals, minerals, etc that our country currently lacks. In the wake of declining population growth in the developed countries where the primary schools suffer from the scarcity of the starters and industries are closed down because of the shortage of labour force, it is clear that the present rate of population growth is sustainable if they are properly educated and trained for employment or migration.
Finally, the guru is also concerned about the number of ministries. For a country like Bangladesh where the prevalence of immorality such as corruption, cheating, exploitation, extortion, lawlessness and bestiality is rampant, it is essential that the existing numerous ministries be integrated into a few Apex Ministries; and they are to be controlled by lowly paid or Honorary Executive Khalifas.
In conclusion, Harun Baul suggests that it is crucial for the pro-Khelafat parties such as the Khelafat Majlish to start their work at the grassroots level to find competent Khalifas at the Ward, Union and Thana level. They should also seek support from the Non-Residential Bangladeshi (NRB) for outlining working papers for triggering the Khelafat system of deliberative democratic governance.
‘Stewardship’ is a multi-religious concept though the true spirit of stewardship is yet to be realised, especially with respect to sustainability management. The paper aims to examine the Islamic perspective of stewardship. Islam reveals stewardship as a covenant between mankind and the Creator. The covenant attaches obligation to human to acquire the attributes of the Creator to nurture nature in the capacity of ‘Khalifa’ (steward, vice-gerent) of the Creator. According to Islamic traditions including Sufi stories and Baul songs, it is human obligation to manage individual, social, economic and ecological sustainability. This makes the Muslims to position stewardship in the central themes of the creation of human.
The paper depicts how stewardship has to be achieved through acquiring values and reinforcing spirituality. It attempts to understand Islamic stewardship in light of how it can contribute to sustainability integrity by way of meeting people’s basic needs, increasing contentment and happiness with less, promoting socio-political and spiritual unity amid diverse cultures, underpinning social coherence, inspiring people for living simply in order to sustain economic solvency, and imparting mankind that ecologically sustainable development is the key means to holistic sustainability.
The paper concludes that amid growing unsustainability around, the integrated religious stewardship as practiced in Bangladesh where uneducated rural folks are distinctly better stewards than their elite counterpart, which also appears to be the case elsewhere, can be an example to follow.
KEYWORDS: Bangladesh, Baul, character, integrity, Quran, values
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Understanding Stewardship
‘Stewardship’ as a pluralistic religious concept appears in several religions in diverse synonyms. In Christianity human is given dominion over the earth, but must treat the earth with respect. Stewardship is management of the Earth and its resources in accord with Christian Ethics. Hinduism teaches that stewardship is right conduct to the Earth and its resources, and all who live on the earth - minerals, plants, animals and humans. Jainism-driven stewardship is non-injury to all living things; this includes the Earth and all its resources. Jainism has a 2000 year record of living with non-injury and no greed about the Earth and its resources. In Buddhism, compassion for all creatures and all living things must prevail. The Buddha spent his life searching for the ending of human suffering, eventually teaching that a balance must be established between self-destruction and self-indulgence. In Judaism, human is given the dominion over the Earth in the Torah; but God also says that everything that is created is good. So human must stay in the covenant with God and practice Talmud Torah teaches the Law of Moses with respect to pollution, waste, harm and ecological damage. In Islam, Muslims follow the teachings of the Quran as practiced by the Prophet and his bio-spiritual successors. [1]
Focusing on Islamic stewardship it appears that stewardship is the trustee of God in carrying out His commandments in relation to social and environmental sustainability management. The Quran regards human as God’s steward (Khalifa) on earth, possessing an innate disposition or capacity (fitrah) to know God and act righteously (Barr, 2002:121). Stewardship as a social science instrument currently appears to receiving much emphasis in the academic as well as political and business arena. The reality of human triggered global unsustainability scenarios substantiated by climate change, depletion of natural resource-base, unbalanced population growth and ever-widening poverty and pollution, urges for stewardship intervention as a possible solution. This suggests that the unsustainability factors in context are occurring due to anti-stewardship human intervention to nature and to human themselves. In other words, unsustainable intervention to nature is resulting in utter degradation of all natural resources, while mankind is ruining themselves in demographic, moral and economic aspects of social sustainability in many parts of the globe, including the West.
This essay depicts Islamic stewardship as an agent for sustainability re-fix by way of individual, social, economic and ecologically sustainable development. It focuses stewardship as a religio-spiritual tool for holistic sustainability management in terms of conservation, restoration, regeneration of natural and social capital. From Islamic standpoint, stewardship is, indeed, an act of Jihad (striving) against the norms of human’s egocentric nature. Hewer (2006:153) reveals that in order to counter egocentric tendency, each believer is required to make jihad a necessary compulsory duty. This form of jihad is known as the ‘greater jihad’ in Islamic tradition - the constant struggle against the wayward self.
Mankind differs diversely in their attitude and values (mannerism) resulting in both good and bad practices i.e. sustainable and unsustainable activities. Orr (1994:7) observes that in a typical day the earth loses 116 square miles of rain forest, or about an acre a second; 72 square miles to encroaching deserts, 40 to 250 species lost or threatened; and add 2,700 tons of chlorofluro carbons and 15 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The writer also stresses that many things on which our future health and prosperity depend are in dire jeopardy. Climate instability, diminishing resilience and productivity of natural systems, depleting beauty of the natural world, and decaying biological diversity - all these are not from the work of uneducated people. Rather, it is largely the results of work by people with high educational degrees including PhDs.
In order to stop this situation and also to do proper protection, regeneration, restoration and conservation of natural and human resources, the role of stewardship integrity, as advocated by Islam, needs to be practiced by all. MacCracken et al.(2008: 263) maintain that Islam teaches us that we should be cautious and vigilant against damages from pollution and global warming. From an Islamic point of view, protecting the environment to restore normalcy in climate change requires deep awareness of the elements that affect life on our planet, ensuring the continuation of life by avoiding pollution, and using the power of religion to channel human activity into these productive areas. All these responses will be required in order to confront the challenge of climate change in a morally responsible manner. Stewardship includes all these human qualities integrated in its philosophy, principles and practices.
In sum, it can be said that stewardship, by definition, is inherently meant to look after someone or something for somebody. It is an empowerment from God that a steward has been entrusted. The stewardship approach is applicable to all humans and non-human beings and things. Thus the approach is of two-prong: human management is to provide goods and services to humans, while the other is to use the environments for the acquisition of that goods and services for human. Hence, a good stewardship is respecting another person’s space, self-esteem or self-worth (Smith, 2005:22).
ISLAMIC STEWARDSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The Islamic code of life is focused largely to deal with stewardship development lessons and guidelines that inspire people to acquire knowledge to generate sustainability-positive belief, values, spirituality and practices. The Quran says,
"Allah will exalt the grades of those who have become believers among you and who have been given knowledge (Quran 58:11)."
Widely known saying of the prophet also reveals:
"Acquisition of knowledge is obligatory to all the Muslims".
Islam recognizes knowledge in two categories: knowledge gathered and knowledge generated. Renard (2004) agues: “Gathered knowledge is useless if it does not include knowledge generated; just as the sun is useless when the eye is incapable of receiving illumination” (p. 205). Observation of the signs of God helps acquire generated knowledge and the emphasis on such observation frequently appears in the Quran in different contexts. Thus do we explain the signs by various (symbols): that they may say, "Thou hast taught (us) diligently," and that We may make the matter clear to those who know (Quran, 6:105). And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. Lo! herein indeed are portents for men of knowledge (Quran, 30:22). The word “sign” appears 56 times in 52 verses of the Quran.
Islam asks people to know from who know. “When you do not know, then inquire of the people of recollection” (Quran, 16:43; 21:7). Renard (2004:127) points out: “ People of recollection when asked questions by public, God inspire them with right guidance and bestow wisdom”. Islam also stresses on to follow the footstep of the blessed and ever-living personages as the virtuous means to develop character towards stewardship integrity. This has been emphasized in the opening chapter of the Quran: “Show us the straight path, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray” (Quran 1:6-7). These are the people with the highest stewardship qualities, and Quran honour them as immortal, ever living. "And do not say - they are dead - of those who died in the path of Allah. No, never; rather they are alive" (Quran 2:154). "And no, do not even think that they are dead, those who are killed in the path of Allah. No, no, never - rather they are alive. They are getting sustenance from their Lord" (Quran 3:169). “And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the Torah - a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil)” (Quran, 5:46).
Muslims find the Quran a complete code of life (Murata and Chittick, 1994: pp. 182-184). Dahl (1997) considers Islam as a combination of law, religion and morality, providing a comprehensive framework for living of the individuals, families and communities. The Quran has lessons that can constitute a curriculum for stewardship education for sustainable development practices. The house of Islam rests on pillars that intrinsically link sustainable management of natural resources and socio-economic sustainability. Jihad or the personal struggle to achieve stewardship integrity as a way of living is also seen as a pillar of Islam (Murata and Chittick, 1994: pp. 21-22) and is at the core of the practice in maintaining peaceful sustainability conditions devoid of living with unsustainable consumption patterns.
2.1 Belief:
As culture is constituted of beliefs, attitudes and practices, there are no people without beliefs (Szostak, 2005: 103). Islamic belief is a belief in the unity of the totality of diverse sustainability scenarios. An important aspect of belief is the understanding that although humans are the “trustees” of nature, they do not possess all the supremacy to create, change or undo things. There are powerful forces beyond them, which have the capacity to drastically influence the outcomes of people’s actions, such as climate change and biodiversity depletion.
Belief in the Creator is the most important incentive to acquire stewardship righteousness. The Quran says: ‘It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness – to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfill the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of righteousness, the God-fearing’ (Quran 2:177).
2.2 Values
Values inspire practices. In order to be a righteous steward, values need to be acquired, for values guide people in their thinking and enable them to pursue actions that are pleasing to the Creator i.e. pro-sustainability actions. Islamic stewardship values are similar to Jewish and Christian values as they are all from the same source - God. However, to Islam the values are like a street directory that can guide people to the ‘right path’, a path to holistic sustainability. Among others, some of the core values that are required for stewardship practices include respect and kindness, modesty, justice, charity, honesty and truthfulness, forgiveness and patience.
All these values are at the core of traditional Islamic stewardship culture and guides human in all their relations and dealings - with the Creator, with people, with the environment and with themselves. Understanding a traditional perspective of values enables one to gain an insight into the ‘grass roots’ aspects of stewardship of human obligation to the sustainability of fellow beings and all creation.
2.3 Observation
Observation connotes inspection, testing, investigation, experiment, self-observation, introspection. To help develop stewardship, the Quran is constantly pointing to observe the diverse phenomena in nature for evidence and answer to questions with regards to developing stewardship integrity for holistic sustainability management. The Quran reveals: And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning) (Quran 17:36).
2.4 The development of character
Education for human development without an emphasis on character development has particularly no value in Islam. The Islamic concept of character, as Yunanto, et al. put it, is rooted in humility towards the Creator, love towards fellow creatures, perseverance at the time of affliction, honesty, decency, uprightness, courage to say the truth, a balanced attitude towards issues that involve human emotions (Yunanto et al. 2005:208). Character i.e. personality integrity building is considered as an effective and action oriented way of underpinning stewardship spirituality in Islam. Integrated character development exercise implies that the teacher usually adapts methodology far beyond from that of formal education. Under the guidance of a Sufi teacher, a shaykh or shaykha (fem.), the student might be given a particular name on which to meditate by many repetitions each day. This might be a quality that the teacher sees to be lacking in this individual. Someone lacking in patience, might be given the word As-Sabr (the Patient One) – one of God’s name - to repeat a thousand times each day to develop the quality of patience (Hewer, 2006:77).”
Writers have made claims that today’s character development is devoid of the approaches to instil values (Halstead and Taylor : 1996). Consequently, students are developed with knowledge about various things, but without their character development i.e. development of personality integrity. The Islamic purpose of education is to develop the character of students. The emphasis is on the ‘acquisition’ of qualities by observing the signs of the Creator in His creation as repeatedly appear in the Quran. There are specific areas of focus for nurturing character development that includes control of personal Nafs (temptation), social harmony and ecological aspects of sustainability. Renard (2004) observes that according to Islamic view of the world “Your wealth is not wide enough to encompass the people, so let your cheerful countenance and beautiful character surround them” (p. 243). This suggests that character development helps a steward to instil self-reliance, courage, endurance, determination, and the ability to deal with adversity and fortune. Holm and Bowker (1994) find that these qualities in stewardship character inspire Muslims to live in equilibrium with nature and their environment (p. 90). They take seriously the Quranic observation that: ‘Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what human hands have done’ (ibid. 97; Quran 30:41).
Islamic way of character development starts from childhood years. The parents, out of their religious obligation, are required to make intention every morning to raising their children to be a successful vicegerent of God who will resultantly help build up a sustainable world for the present as well as for future generations. So, it is the parents’ duty to present themselves as vicegerents depicting a sustainable model of human being to follow up. Yust et al. reveal that according to Islam children are born sinless and viewed as precious gifts from God and need to be taken care of and protected by their parents and their surrounding communities. “The primary way for children to attain spiritual development is to observe the personal spiritual practices of adults in their surrounding communities. Therefore, Islam not only gives these people the responsibility for the spiritual well-being of children but also makes them accountable” (2006:pp. 70-71).
The anti-thesis aspects of spiritual education is crucial for achieving stewardship integrity, for a steward must make his/her judgement based on both sides of an object. According to Sufi saying: ‘sometimes the truth lies in the opposite’. All these suggest that Islam, by way of its strong stewardship spirituality and practices, can provide a panacea for fixing sustainability mishaps of the day in a sustainable way.
3. LIVING STEWARDSHIP : BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVES
The syncretistic religious traditions of Bangladesh overwhelmed by Sufi Islam manifest the practice of stewardship. The Sharia literature, mysticism, sayings and doings of Sufis and saints, including the mystic Baul[2] singer-philosophers of the country, practice stewardship manifesting a lifestyle that can reinforce regeneration of ecological goods. The Bauls are utterly environmentalists by their spirituality and practice; their spontaneously revealed songs are truly soul stirring and take the listeners closest to nature. Their stewardship is reflected through simple, natural, unembellished lifestyle rooted in the soil of environmentally peculiar Bangladesh. They advocate for a non-violent and non-destructive deployment of values. Bauls are unlettered, but the messages they convey through their innumerable spontaneously composed songs, however, cannot but portray them as supreme Pundits (scholars). The impact that they have on listeners (Bangla speaking people all over the globe) in shaping behaviour and values is enormous. Despite the fact that the majority of the Baul-philosophers come from an Islamic background, they display a religious indifference or neutrality of Sufism, which suggests that the practice of religious secularism by “people who understand” can also reinforce the proper management of natural resources (Hossain, 1995).
The Baulism inspired stewardship fulfils religious unity within the cultural diversity of Bangladesh, which is one of the most important goals of the Islamic messages (Mondal, 1997:47). In regards to the unity within the cultural diversity, the Quran also reveals: For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had Allah willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in good works. Unto Allah ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ (Quran 5:48).
3.1 Sustainability Stewardship for Bangladesh
The Baul philosophers of Bangladesh view sustainability of the country as a dynamic entity generated by the synergies between stewardship attitudes to social growth and managing ecological footprint. They discard economic growth, which is an increase in quantity, cannot be sustainable indefinitely on a finite planet (Costanza et al. 1991). Conversely, the writers also point out that economic development, which is an improvement in the quality of life without causing an increase in the quantity of consumed resources could be sustainable. Over-extraction of finite resources for over-consumption in order to lead wasteful lifestyle is repeatedly prohibited in Islam (Quran 2:60, 2:205, 5:64, 7:56, 28:4). Islam also prohibits the generation of growth in money by charging interest or excessive profit. Islam considers money just as a convenient medium of exchange. Its use as a commodity to lend or hoard for excessive profit can injuriously deprive others and is strictly prohibited. People can have surplus money to lend to those in need, but with profit sharing, not with fixed rate interest or high profit. For economic health, money ought to circulate in a community like blood. In the case of piling up of wealth, the Quran warns: “Who pileth up wealth and layeth it by, Thinking that his wealth would make him last for ever! By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into That Hell which Breaks to Pieces” (Quran 104:2-4). Living simply and without greed for more than required is the standard of maintaining economic sustainability in Islam.
Fluehr-Lobban argues that poverty-like simple way of life in Islam is not for the sake of hardship (2004:188), but for the sake of managing long-term stewardship sustainability within the regenerative capacity of renewable resources. In many ways attempts coming from outside Islam directed towards what is known as “poverty alleviation” clash with the fundamental Muslim values and effectively push countries including Bangladesh, towards unsustainability (Hossain and Marinova, 2005).
The Baul tradition supports a self-reliant way of living with family and social and environmental bondage: “The less you have, the more you are”. Gandhi expanded this concept to incorporate a simple life style asserting that nature produces enough for our wants, and if only everybody took enough for him/herself and nothing more, there would be no people dying of starvation (Kripalani, 1965: 130). Lorey (2003: 44) also talks about achieving satisfaction with less and with what you already have.
Ecological sustainability exists where the natural resource-base and ecosystem health are not negatively affected by development. It is believed that everything God created is an essential part of the sustainability management by nature .Islam stresses that, as the Torah does, even things which appear trivial to you such as flies, fleas and mosquitoes, they are also part of the creation, and God executes His operations through the agency of all of them, even through a snake or frogs (Mulder 2006: 37). The writer also explains that as recently as in the 1960s, most people perceived the natural environment as infinite until Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring exposed that the opposite is the case (ibid:15). God informs human beings of the rights of animals by comparing them (animals) to humans: There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms of) communities like you (Quran 6:38). Contrasting Western scientific understanding of the world with that of the Islamic belief, Fazlun and O’Brien (1992:42) argue that in Western science theories are always open to rejection and change while Muslim scientists explain the “natures” of created things in terms of their supernatural origin. This emphasises the sacred character of creation. To show lack of respect for nature is tantamount to show lack of respect for the Creator.
CONCLUSION
Islam requires human attitudes to be entirely in line with stewardship principles in carrying out sustainability practices. Attitude towards maintaining sustainable footprint is an example. Due to a lack of this stewardship attitude, the earth is being overburdened. In 2003 the global human population’s ecological footprint overshot the planet’s capacity by the equivalent of 0.25 Earths (Global Footprint Network, 2008). In other words, we needed 1.25 planet Earths to meet the human demand on nature if we were to remain within its regenerative capacity. Not surprisingly the current ecological crisis cannot be met without a change in human priorities, values (attitudes) and lifestyles. To accomplish this there is a need for holistic stewardship ethos, which the Islam tradition can offer (Edwards, 2006:100).
Islam warns the viceroys against over-extraction of degradable natural resources and over-consumption. According to the Tradition: “Your wealth is not wide enough to encompass the people, so let your cheerful countenance and beautiful character surround them”. One of the ancestors in faith said: “A little humility suffices for a lot of action, and a little spiritual science suffices for a lot of knowledge” (Renard, 2004:243). Islamic stewardship strictly prohibits the belongings of extravagance: “Who pileth up wealth and layeth it by, Thinking that his wealth would make him last for ever! By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into That Hell which Breaks to Pieces” (Quran,104:2-4).
Since Islam has authorised human as God’s Khalifa on earth, stewardship inherently requires human to acquire integrity in values from 99 virtues of God. This suggests that Islam has a code of outcome-based stewardship development guidelines. The guidelines include stewardship education central to belief, values, spirituality and practice, which inherently requires the teachers to be qualified with stewardship knowledge, guidelines and practices to transmit and demonstrate how to integrate stewardship into people’s lifestyle management. Islam as a religion contains a range of guidelines and prescriptions for people to live in a way that does not destroy the finite natural resources and to live a life of modest consumption. Islam also emphasises one of the main principles of sustainability i.e. one should contribute to the common and not just to the private good (Mulder, 2006).
In order to achieve stewardship integrity and integrate it into one’s lifestyle requires two types of education. One is about general code of life relating to socio-economic aspects of moral values such as belief, respect, honesty, truthfulness, modesty etc. The other deals with the inter-relationships between human and rest of nature. Islamic mystics (Sufis, Pirs and Baul gurus) are the guides for stewardship education. A renowned mystic of Bangladesh namely Hason Raja expresses his stewardship spirit, thus:
People say, they say, my house is no good.
What house will I build,
There's nothing here
I’ll build a house, But how long will I stay for?
I look in the mirror,
I see grey hair that I have.
Thinking of this,
Hason Raja hasn’t built a house.
Where will Allah take and keep him,
For that reason he cries.
If Hason Raja knew, how long he would live for,
then he would have built his house and rooms in many colours.
Finally, what we witness around the world nowadays are the differences in lifestyles and value systems resulting in outcomes that are drastically contrary to Islamic stewardship oriented way of life.
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Yunanto, S; Wasik, A; Harun, B; Effendy, F; Nuryanti, S; and Hidayat S. 2005. Islamic Education in South and Soth East Asia. The RIDEP Institute, Jakarta.
Conference
Hossain, A., Marinova, D. (2005). Poverty Alleviation – a Push towards Unsustainability in Bangladesh? Presented at the International Conference on Engaging Communities 14-17 August, Brisbane. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Engaging Communities. Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Department of Main Roads [E-text type]. Retrieved 18 July 2010 from www.engagingcommunities2005.org/abstracts/Hossain-Amzad-final.pdf
[1] http://religion.answers.wikia.com/wiki/What_other_religions_believe_stewardship_is
[2] Bauls-philosophers are the mystics of Bangladesh. They educate people with their spontaneous songs that include metaphysics, religio-philosophy, socio-economic and political issues, solutions to environmental problems and naturalism. The Bauls’ way of stewardship with happiness and simple lifestyle is the national model of lifestyle to follow by others. They are highly respected in Bangladesh for their voluntary contributions to Bangladesh culture.
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I’m Harun Baul Speaking (part 21)
-Md. Amzad Hossain
I’m Harun Baul Speaking (part 20), published on March 13, 2012 was paused with Lalon Fakir’s revelation:
Tomra sab Kalifa role, Je ja bujhe dio bole.
Osoth obhakta jona, Gupta bhed tare bolona
Bolileo se manibena, Karbe ahangkari.
Nekton bandara joto, ved pore auliya hoto
nadanera shul chachito, Monsur tar sabed ase.
Lalon Fakir
(The Prophet (sm) instructed the Khalifas to advise the general people in accordance with their levels of understanding. The dishonest and non-devotees should not be told about the higher truth, for they are likely to reject it. All the righteous people can become Auliya (Godly) by understanding the higher truth while the fools are engaged in sharpening their spears. The case of Mansur (Hallaj) bears witness to it (whom they killed).
Guru Aziz Shah Fakir (104) relates the above notion of the Prophet Muhammad to his Khalifas in political terms of the Khelafat governance. It clearly suggests that under the Khelafat system of good governance, the citizens should be dealt with in accordance with their level of understanding. This wisdom is also equally applicable in the cases of dealing with economic and other needs of the people of a given time and place. Linking the concept to the case of present governance in Bangladesh, the guru recognises a lack of good governance (Sushason) that persists at the heart of the present untenable situation. He emphasises good governance as the jugular vein of a nation; and the practice of Khelafat’s good governance duly powered by the Islamic deliberative democracy can revitalize the sharply depleting happiness, traditional self-reliance, religiosity, patriotism, family and social bondage and eco-spirituality. The Khelafat system of governance is therefore a sustainable alternative that can transform Bangladesh to be (re)branded as the happiest nation on earth.
Bangladesh being predominantly a fertile land of population growth, agriculture and fisheries, it is a superior country for long-term sustainability. But unfortunately, the country has hardly experienced good governance that could potentially allow for political stability, and foster the human-nature interconnectedness through sustainable development. The guru stresses that the rising degradation of natural resources, water crisis, the widening gaps between the rich and poor, corruption, crimes and gender conflicts, are largely due to persisting mal-governance. The guru also stresses that politicians’ commitment to good governance has not been possible because it is integrally connected to people’s values system; and the current political as well as cultural values system of Bangladesh is at its worst. This values system is severely inflicted with selfishness and self-centricity that is intensely opposed to share things with fellow beings and care for natural resources. This disconnection of sharing and caring leads people to disengage themselves from their spiritual core of self-reliance and happiness.
Against this backdrop, the guru explores ways to restore just governance within the framework of the Khelafat system as was implemented by the Prophet Muhammad and the first four Khalifas of Islam (Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali). The guru asserts that the Khelafat system can create competent, honest, responsible and patriotic civil servants, activists and other actors. In this context, the guru adds that a Khalifa as a human representative or Vicegerent of God on earth can be a person of any colour, culture or religion, who, in congruence with the Quranic revelation, can coulour oneself with the colour of God. This means that a Khalifa has to acquire collective knowledge, lessons and wisdom for governance purposes and also for transmitting them to other people in order to maintain individual, familial, social, economic, religio-cultural, political and ecological sustainability. Then, how to acquire diverse knowledge for achieving Khalifaship (stewardship) integrity in order to keep natural system healthy for human sustainability? Most religions talk about acquiring diverse knowledge. The knowledge of nurturing nature and the realization of human’s absolute dependence on eco-resources intrinsically help acquire the wisdom for understanding the inner meaning of humanity (i.e. know thyself). The notion of human as the Ashraful Mukhlukat (the best of creation) is embedded in this concept.
The notion of ‘Know Thyself’, which has been propagated by the great people of most religions throughout the history of mankind is integrally linked to the inter-connectedness between human and nature. This view suggests us to ‘know thyself’ in terms of our surrounding environmental manifestations. Considering this, most teachers teach that ‘know thyself’ require a pathway to know: who you are, who is your Sustainer, where you were, why you are here, where you go hereafter, what elements you are built of, what is the purpose of your life, what is your position in the environment, and what role you are required to play for your survival amidst other beings and non-beings for now and for tomorrow. When you understand all these and know about how your surrounding ecosystems function, it is likely that you know your own self. To make the notion more objective oriented, the Bauls, follow ‘know thyself’ in accordance with prophet Mohammad’s “Know thyself to know your Sustainer (of the environment)”.
Lalon says:
Je lila brahmander upor Se lila ai vando majhar
Hale apon janmer bichar sob jante pai.
Aponar janma lata Janga tar multi kotha
Lalon bale pabi setha sain porichoy.
(That what is in the universe (macrocosm) is in the human body ( microcosm). By understanding one's own (mystery of) birth, one can know all. By searching out the root source of one's life’s career, one can lead to a clue towards knowing about the Supreme Lord (the Sain) - says Lalon).
The Bauls believe that God has housed all things of the universe in the human body. This has made human body a microcosm of the universe. They also strongly hold the view that human body is the abode of God while heart is His throne. This assertion inspires Bauls to spiritualise ‘know thyself to know thy Sustainer’. The issue still remains as to how to know what is in the macrocosm? The Baul gurus show the pathway how to know oneself by contemplating about the microcosm.
Lalon reveals:
Se boro ajab kudrati, atharo mokamer majhe jolse ek ruper bati.
Ke bujhe kudrati khela, joler majhe onol jola.
(That is an incredible mystery. A manifesting lamp illuminates the house of 18 dimensions. Who does understand the mysterious play (?) where fire is sustained in water).
Most non-Baul promoters of this view maintain that a qualified master (guru) is essential for teaching about how to ‘know thyself’. This is, of course, true; but it is neither essential nor practical for all the Khalifas and their co-workers (teachers, health workers, religious leaders) at the Ward and Union level. It is reasonably adequate for them if they know how to integrate the management of human and other beings and non-beings on earth for sustainable coexistence. It is not so difficult for the Khalifas as they have spiritualised their acquired stewardship values such as patriotism, simplicity, justice, honesty and eco-spirituality practices in terms of nurturing finite natural resources. But, the Khalifas of the Thana level and above are required to be vigorously trained by the adequately qualified masters of sustainability spirituality. The naturalist Baul gurus and Marfati Pirs of Bangladesh are recognized masters of sustainability sciences.
Guru Aziz Shah Fakir claims that particularly qualified masters who can train the Khalifas for pursuing good governance are rare. The Pirs, priests, monks and Sanyasins with diversified integrity are not currently abundant in the country. That is why we need to find alternative ways. The guru stresses that for a country like Bangladesh where both people and nature are bestowed with multiplicity of cultural, geo-environmental and natural characteristics, the Khalifas can be adequately trained to understand the relationships between human survivability and ecological systems. It is to emphasize that humans are completely dependent on ecological resources for their sustenance, whereas eco-world is unrelated to humans for their self sustainability.
The guru reveals that natural diversity manifests diverse signs for the wise. Thus, nature is the house of knowledge, understanding and the source of acquiring moral values and wisdom. This clearly indicates that pondering about the natural world is essential for attaining stewardship integrity for upgrading people’s morality, happiness and economic self-reliance. In case of any failure on the part of the local Khalifas, they can seek help from the respective Thana Khalifas to take appropriate measure for correction.
In order to provide self-reliance and happiness for people, each Ward Khelafat as part of National Khelafat system, must implement the Dawa program. The guru sings a Dawa song:
Pare ke jabi nabir naukate ai.
Rop kasther nauka khani nai dubar bhoy.
Beshara neye jara
Tufane jabe mara
Ek e dhakkai.
(Ride on to the boat (Tarika) of the Prophet, if one who wishes to go across (the river of life). The boat is made of such a timber (virtues)) that has no fear of drowning. But those who are undisciplined boatman, they will ruin by a single blow).
The guru observes that Islamic original political culture as devised by the Prophet has hopelessly failed to demonstrate its ingeniousness over the global political culture, only due to the lack of maintaining the chain (Silsila) of succession after the fourth Khalifa Hazrat Ali. In fact, this deviation has eventually resulted in the downturn of Islamic governance worldwide; and currently, it has probably reached to its worst. However, the Sufi Islam that is still prominent in Bangladesh has the Tariqat (way) for safeguarding the politicians (Khalifas) who chose to embark on the Prophet’s and the four Khalifas’ Shariah of good governance.
The renowned Fatemolla is the guru of Sharia matters. As a vicegerent of the Creator, he must have moral obligations to outline the implementable Sharia governance of the Prophet and the four Khalifas for the spiritualistic cultural framework of Bangladesh. The Molla can comfortably compile a Sharia-based encyclopedia of good governance in Bangladesh culture where The Jama’ati Aqidah (creed) and Tabligi Aqidah will be left out for their incompatibility. Harun Baul colours them as ‘Beshora Neye’ (the uninitiated boatman). The undisciplined politicians, religious bigots, ignorant pundits and egoistic civil servants who now own in the country’s governance are the Beshora Neye according Harun Baul’s sustainability assessment criteria. Consequently, the political culture in the land of Sufis which has been devoid of the spirit(uality) of Sufism, is justifiably failing to demonstrate the Banglalee cultural ingeniousness over the Western socio-political culture.
However, a new Nauka (boat) is to be built under the guidance of the Tarikat of the Sharia of Khelafat’s good governance system in order to carry out the following sustainability precepts and practices:
1. Practice of Religious and Cultural Values
Culture reflects the colour of a religion. Secularism of Sufi spirituality is prominent in Bangladesh and therefore communal conflict is almost non-existent. Khalafat governance will enrich the culture by wiping out the impurities generated by the Western democracy. Guru Aziz Shah Fakir has the code of life(style), religion and culture – the main aspects of human life. The following examples manifests guidelines for the aspects.
a. Satya bal su pathe chal, o re amar mon.
(O my mind, always tell the truth and remain on the 'Straight Path').
Guru Aziz Shah Fakir says that this is the seed ‘spell’ (mantra) for all religions.
b. The second mantra is:
Manush guru nishtha jar
Shorbo shadhon siddha hoy tar.
(All aspirations are fulfilled if endeavours for learning are guru-centric)
c. Thirdly:
Age ki sundar din kataitam
Gramer naojoan, hindu musalman
Milia bauls gaan ar murshidi gaitam – Baul Abdul Karim shah
(What a delightful time we had in the past. The village youths from the Hindu and Muslim communities used to sing Baul and Mushidi songs together).
There are hundreds of examples in this context that are practical in nature. Whatever we learn needs to be practiced. The Sufi culture requires the Khalifa to ‘learn from the people who know’ and follow the path and doings of the blessed people who are known as the Aulyia or friends of God. Teachings of a wise master or a Khalifa – formally or otherwise – is primarily to teach people how to practice charity, modesty, live simply, honesty, truthfulness, tolerance, respectfulness, trustworthiness, responsibility, discipline, sociality, care taking and nature nurturing. These values can cause to vanish growing corruption, cheating, bestiality and lawlessness as water can extinguish water. The legal framework of the Khelafat governance is to implement the moral principles so that people’s mindset becomes values-driven. The corrective measures are to be provided in order to treat the odds.
2. Fish and tree for everyone
Everyone needs fish and fruit trees. This is achievable should the Ward Khalifas know how to initiate and implement fishing and plantation programs in their respective area. To avail fish and fruits for everyone, watersheds need to be maintained so that they are deep enough to hold knee-level water in the summer as a poem reads:
(ameder soto nodi chole babnke banke;
boishakh mashe tar hatu jol thake)
Fishing, especially the immature, fingerlings and mother fish with eggs must be stopped seasonally, and fish export can be allowed only after meeting the local people’s needs. Plantation for regeneration and restoration of fruit trees in abundance must be done throughout the banks of watersheds and roadside including some timber trees, cane, bamboos and medicinal plants and herbs on the roadsides. If this is implemented, it will not only help avail fruits and meet household needs for those who have no place to grow, but also meet the needs of the present and future healing of illness, it will also ensure environmental sustainability. Perceiving this, Baul Bijoy Sarkar reveals:
Ai prithibi jemon silo, Temoni thik robe
Sundar ai prithibi sere chole jete hobe.
(We are obliged to leave this beautiful earth, keeping the earth in its natural form).
The song implies that one generation should leave this beautiful earth aesthetically and eco-systematically unchanged for meeting the needs of the generations to come; and next generation will be obliged to follow their ancestor’s tradition. This notion is also the core of the concept of sustainable development.
3. Full support for the people willing to work overseas
Almost every family with workable manpower wants to send a family member overseas. The Ward Khalifas can implement this national project giving financial support from the Khalifa’s local development fund to those who are in need. Producing exportable workforce with values, quality and skill is the holy responsibility of the Khalifas. This responsibility will inspire the Ward Khalifas and the candidates (present and future) to introduce adequate logistical support for the same).
4. Facilities for small-scale industrial productivity
This will help families needing extra income. The Khelafat system of governance can launch a revolutionary industrial transformation process towards achieving economic self-reliance as Gandhi propagated. The households can spin, weave and make their own dresses and sell to others. Cotton, jute, silk, wool and other local fibers can be used. This provision can employ a huge amount of workforce including women, children, and the aged. The Khelafat governance can introduce a policy that the country’s local needs for garments are to be wholly produced locally.
5. To narrow down the lifestyle gaps between rich and poor
This can be achieved through a national policy which can motivate the rich or elite class to come closer to the poor in their dress and food habit; addressing poor with respect; and sharing each other’s joy and sorrow. A national policy with wide manifestation of better-off people’s brotherhood/sisterhood mannerism to the ordinary folks (sub-ordinates, employees, servants, labourers); a habit of sharing food, dress, affordable money, and joy and sorrow with the have-nots; the well-offs' visit to poor neighbourhood and hospitals; modest and simple lifestyle in terms of dress - all these will automatically bring down poverty situation both materially and psychologically. Harun Baul asserts that alleviation of poverty is neither possible in the geo-environmental and cultural conditions of Bangladesh, nor it is at all desirable for the sake of a long-term sustainability of the renewable resources of the county. Thus, a poverty-like modest lifestyle is the sustainable direction for Bangladesh. And this applies also for the global sustainability.
6. Self-reliance centric foreign policy
Diplomatic relationship with foreign countries needs to be central to earning foreign currency to assist our self-reliant sustainability in terms of cotton, oil, chemicals, minerals, etc that our country currently lacks. In the wake of declining population growth in the developed countries where the primary schools suffer from the scarcity of the starters and industries are closed down because of the shortage of labour force, it is clear that the present rate of population growth is sustainable if they are properly educated and trained for employment or migration.
Finally, the guru is also concerned about the number of ministries. For a country like Bangladesh where the prevalence of immorality such as corruption, cheating, exploitation, extortion, lawlessness and bestiality is rampant, it is essential that the existing numerous ministries be integrated into a few Apex Ministries; and they are to be controlled by lowly paid or Honorary Executive Khalifas.
In conclusion, Harun Baul suggests that it is crucial for the pro-Khelafat parties such as the Khelafat Majlish to start their work at the grassroots level to find competent Khalifas at the Ward, Union and Thana level. They should also seek support from the Non-Residential Bangladeshi (NRB) for outlining working papers for triggering the Khelafat system of deliberative democratic governance.
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