The reason why sustainability become a major issue for many nations and organizations is that the planet had suffered climate change crisis. The industrialization that was done since the 19th century had destroyed many parts of Earth environment, be it in land, ocean, and atmosphere. To resist the climate change, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) led the effort by introducing Sustainability Development Goals or SDG in 2015, introducing 17 goals that should be achieved in 2030. These goals become a guidance to all member nations to follow so that any development was made with future generation in mind. The idea that to be a developed nation, you need to build tallest building, wider highways and more cars should be over. Most nations subscribed and supported the SDG, but the implementation was varied. The goals were written as a commitment in the national plan, but rarely enforced in the law that would bring real change. Some nation had put a 10-year or 20-year plan to achieve the sustainability, but according to scientist, the climate change is already here and there is nothing humanity can do. While the leaders of the nation still meeting in the conference hall, the climate crisis had affected millions of people had displaced with flood, forest fires, drought, and typhoon.
The humanity arrogance especially the West in dealing with environment had been discussed by preeminent Muslim scholars, Seyyed Hussein Nasr, Islam and the Plight of Modern Man. The book was published in 1975 before the green and sustainability movement take off. The book reminds us about how environment was the creation of God, and human relations with God’s creation, be it animals or plants. The spiritual angle is important in building consciousness of protecting environment. The secular men, prevalent in the West from the 19th century had destroyed their link to the environment, believing that all creation on Earth was existed just for the sake of humanity to be exploited. This is not the belief of Muslims, or many religions. Every being has their own purpose in this world, and if transgressed, it will be resulted in disaster, just like what happened after Industrial Revolution, spearheaded by the West. The modern man, as defined by the West had brought upon the devastation upon environment and ecological crisis using the technology that was meant to bring the nature under his or her feet. This modern man had suffered forgetfulness because they are living without the Centre and hovering around the periphery, gaining only superficial knowledge.
Deforestation and mining without any regards to the environment cannot be undone. Until today, effects of Industrial Revolution were still visible in the Asian and African countries that was colonized by the West. After the independent, the local government continued the policy of the colonizer since that is the only policy that will ensure national prosperity and economic wealth.
The flood that was happened in Pakistan recently was a prime example of how climate crisis is global and interconnected. Pakistan is not the biggest polluter, but they are the one that effected because of the climate change from the melting of ice on mountains in North Pakistan. This also happened in Indonesia where the deforestation from crops burning that was done in Sumatera become the cause of haze in Malaysia and Singapore. But in this case, it was Malaysian company that was behind this burning. The capitalist greed did not recognize border and would done harm in any environment as long it makes them rich.
Seyyed Hussein Nasr also criticized the obsession of modern man in quantitative measurement without any regards of inner meaning of things. They collected information that was accidental and concluded it as undisputed knowledge. They never reached the substance in whatever knowledge they learned. The modern man also rarely encounters with a human being that live on the higher planes of consciousness, the sages and saints be in the Chinese, the Islamic or the North American natives, that displays constancy and permanence within human nature. Only interacting with superficial human being resulted in delusion that all human behaviour is the same and no one is above corruption. This corresponded with the third goal of SDG which is ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages. Is healthy means only in physical realms instead of spiritual realms?
The Muslims has a problem of making sustainability viable. Muslim is caught between traditions and modernity. Especially for those who live in urban and had more exposure to the Western culture. Around them, they see the traditions are slowly fading out and become irrelevant or cannot sustain the modernization. The changes happen in the Muslim world is happening at a faster rate, but compared to the West, it is not happening to the entire society. Muslims that were modernized still believe in tradition and lives in the environment that still has connection to transcendent dimensions, where majority of people still perform their religious duties. What kind of sustainability he or she supposed to perform. Is it to revive back of the old tradition? Or accept the West concept of modernity and change everything about their lives and tradition? The modern Muslim men are being pulled together from two worldviews and value system, and if there is no profound integration, they might not achieve anything remarkable in their lives.
How does one supposed to achieve sustainability? According to Nasr we need to preserve the authenticity of traditional authority. The Truth is not evolving, but it was man that need to prepare and make him or herself worthy of the message of Heaven. To be able to achieve sustainability, the goals that humankind wanted to achieve must be everlasting and unchanging. Constantly changing the goalpost will resulted in fatigue and hopelessness, since nothing ever achieved. This is the reason why religion and faith are important if we wanted to achieve sustainability. There is a lot of Quranic and prophetic teachings that are still relevant till today. It is indeed that Islam is a manifestation of sustainability, as promised by God that it was suitable for every nation and in any time in history.
Modern man through United Nations devised a plan for future sustainability of the planet. But as a Muslim, our True goal is not just for this world, but for the happiness in the Hereafter.
