The sermon titled “Keepers of the Trust: Justice and Responsibility of the Muslim Ummah,” penned by Prof. İbrahim Özdemir, Director of Üsküdar University Environmental Ethics Platform, was read simultaneously on three continents as part of April 22nd Earth Day. The sermon, delivered in numerous mosques in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, was regarded as a “historic contribution” to Islamic environmental ethics literature.
Prof. Özdemir said, "The balance of creation is not optional. It is neither a matter of choice nor policy. This is a law inscribed and engraved by Allah into the very fabric of existence."
The sermon titled “Keepers of the Trust: Justice and Responsibility of the Muslim Ummah,” a call for ecological responsibility based on the Quran penned by Prof. İbrahim Özdemir, Director of Üsküdar University Environmental Ethics Platform, was read simultaneously in mosques in the USA, UK, and Germany as part of April 22nd Earth Day.
Yale University, Forum on Religion and Ecology, also ensured the sermon's dissemination to a wide audience by publishing it on its website.
https://fore.yale.edu/World-Religions/Islam/Engaged-Projects/Links
“The balance of creation is not a choice, but a divine law”
The sermon was built upon the Quranic concept of al-mīzān, which signifies the divine balance of creation, drawing attention to verses 7-9 of Surah Ar-Rahman; it was particularly emphasized that the fourfold reiteration of the word mīzān in these three consecutive verses was not random.
Prof. Özdemir stated that this repetition was not a poetic embellishment but a divine insistence, saying, "The balance of creation is not optional. It is neither a matter of choice nor policy. This is a law inscribed and engraved by Allah into the very fabric of existence."
“Humanity is not the owner of the Earth, but its trustee”
The sermon reminded the congregation that ecological disasters such as melting glaciers, bleaching coral reefs, expanding deserts, and devastating floods are all signs (āyāt), and, based on the Quranic teachings of vicegerency (khilāfah) and trust (amānah), explained that humanity was created not as the owner of the Earth, but as its trustee and guardian; and that we will be held accountable to Allah for every extinct species, every polluted water basin, and every disrupted climate system.
The sermon also directly referenced the Sunnah of the Prophet, including the Prophet's establishment of ḥimā protection zones (the world's first natural parks) around Mecca and Medina, and a hadith stating that planting a tree is an ongoing charity (ṣadaqah jāriyah) whose reward continues even after death. The congregation was reminded of the hadith, "Even if the Last Hour were to come, and you had a sapling in your hand, plant it."
Ecological disasters linked with the Quranic concept of fasād fi'l-arḍ
The sermon also addressed the intersections of ecological and social justice, linking the desertification of the Sahel, the flooding of Pakistan, and the wildfires engulfing Mediterranean coastlines to the Quranic concept of fasād fi'l-arḍ (disruption of balance on Earth) and underscored that communities who contributed least to the crisis are disproportionately paying the heaviest price.
The sermon included the following statements:
"Floods, droughts, fires, species extinction are already occurring consequences. These are a call inviting us to turn away from our unsustainable consumption and lifestyle, to repentance, and to change direction."
Simultaneously read sermon regarded as an act of Muslim solidarity
This simultaneous sermon, read on a day when approximately one billion people worldwide celebrate Earth Day, rather than being co-opted from secular environmentalism, was regarded as an act of Muslim solidarity based directly on Islamic theological and jurisprudential sources.
The organizers emphasized that appealing to the legacy of classical scholars such as Imam al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah, Izz ad-Din ibn Abd al-Salam, as well as Ibn Arabi, Rumi, and Said Nursi, who described the universe as "a book," was a conscious choice; done with the aim of demonstrating that Islamic civilization possesses a unique and vibrant environmental ethic.
Strong academic foundation
Prof. İbrahim Özdemir also stated, "We are not the owners of the Earth; we are its trustees and guardians; we are obligated to protect what existed before us and to hand it over to those who come after us in a healthy and vibrant state. We will all be held accountable for whether we fulfilled this duty properly or not."
The sermon is a product of Prof. Özdemir's research on Quran-based environmental ethics. The main arguments were first developed in the chapter titled "Towards an Environmental Ethic from a Quranic Perspective" in the work Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust, published by Harvard University Press in 2003.
Sermon also reflects the framework of the global Islamic declaration Mīzān: A Covenant for the Earth
The sermon also reflects the framework of the global Islamic declaration Mīzān: A Covenant for the Earth (2024), prepared in partnership with UNEP's Faith for Earth Coalition, which accepts environmental responsibility as a theological imperative based on the Quran and prophetic tradition.
The book was published by Üsküdar University, one of the partners of this project.
(Click here for the E-book: https://uuyayinlari.com/mizan-dunya-ile-bir-sozlesme)
Call to Muslim communities
While participating mosques and Islamic centers in all three countries were invited to share their responses, decisions, and commitments to the sermon, the organizers also made a call for Muslim communities in the weeks following Earth Day to plant trees, reduce consumption, advocate for climate justice, and develop cooperation with Islamic environmental organizations; to live out these actions as a sustainable expression of the responsibility of faith articulated in the sermon.
