Sayyidina Sulaiman (a.s.) and the ants

وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيمانَ جُنودُهُ مِنَ الجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ وَالطَّيرِ فَهُم يوزَعونَ

حَتّىٰ إِذا أَتَوا عَلىٰ وادِ النَّملِ قالَت نَملَةٌ يا أَيُّهَا النَّملُ ادخُلوا مَساكِنَكُم لا يَحطِمَنَّكُم سُلَيمانُ وَجُنودُهُ وَهُم لا يَشعُرونَ

فَتَبَسَّمَ ضاحِكًا مِن قَولِها وَقالَ رَبِّ أَوزِعني أَن أَشكُرَ نِعمَتَكَ الَّتي أَنعَمتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلىٰ والِدَيَّ وَأَن أَعمَلَ صالِحًا تَرضاهُ وَأَدخِلني بِرَحمَتِكَ في عِبادِكَ الصّالِحينَ

And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers of the jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows, Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, "O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they perceive not." So [Solomon] smiled, amused at her speech, and said, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants." (An-Naml 27:17-19)

This story is for me the best example of how man’s relationship with nature should be. Sulaiman (a.s.) and his armies were marching until they came to a valley of ants. When the ants saw them approaching, one of the ants implored the other ants to quickly enter their nest lest they be trampled upon by the army without them realizing it. The last part of that verse, ‘while they perceive not’, is key to understanding the verse properly. The ant could have just stopped short of mentioning that last part, but it was mentioned nonetheless for an important purpose. The implication of the verse is that the armies would only trample on the ants if they did not realize the ants were there. If they did, they would not trample on them. Such is nature’s expectation of the righteous. They are expected to care for nature and not cause her harm without just cause. We are not even supposed to step on an ant for no reason if we can see it, let alone destroy whole forests and oceans because of our insatiable appetite and greed. 

Everything in the universe is a sign of God and all are in constant praise and glorification of Him.

إِنَّ في خَلقِ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ وَاختِلافِ اللَّيلِ وَالنَّهارِ لَآياتٍ لِأُولِي الأَلبابِ

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.” (Ali ‘Imran 3:190)

سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ ما فِي السَّماواتِ وَما فِي الأَرضِ ۖ وَهُوَ العَزيزُ الحَكيمُ

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allāh, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (As-Saff 61:1)

Thus, we have no right to destroy anything of the creation without purpose because the creation is constantly making tasbih of Allah. It is bad enough that we are slack in remembering Allah, so at least we should let the creation live in peace and continue their tasbih of Allah. But no, we throw rubbish everywhere, we pollute the environment, we cut down forests, we consume far more than we need, we cannot be bothered to recycle or reuse and and and…… We are selfish and do not have an iota of shame or guilt in the way we interact with the environment.

If we claim to be Muslims and khulafa’ of Allah, then we must care for the environment since that is what the ‘alam (nature) expects of us, as per the words of the ant. It is this realization that caused Sulaiman (a.s.) to smile in amusement, and make a dua’ so Allah grants him the strength to be grateful for all the blessings Allah has given him and his parents and to do righteous deeds, which naturally and perhaps particularly in this context, includes guarding the ‘alam to the best of his ability. Say ameen!