by Amb. Alfredo Maiolese, President of the European Muslim League (EML)
Every day we receive unmistakable signs: glaciers melting, seas poisoned, forests destroyed, storms devastating cities and villages. Can we not understand that God is speaking to us through these signs?
The question of protecting creation is not only ecological, but deeply spiritual. The three great monotheistic religions left us clear guidance.
In the Torah we read:
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15)
The Garden of Eden was not heaven in the afterlife, but a place on Earth, entrusted to humankind to cultivate and protect. A responsibility, not ownership.
In the Gospel Jesus warns:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
Profit without ethics leads only to destruction.
In the Qur’an we read:
“It is He who has made you successors upon the earth…” (Surah 6:165)
Human beings are trustees, not absolute masters.
The urgent question is: can we still save the Earth?
We all live on this fragile sphere suspended in space. No one will escape the consequences: neither poor nor rich, neither those who pollute nor those who suffer. Even those who devastate the Earth for the sake of profit will end up endangering their own children.
As Muslims, and as believers in God, we have a duty: to remember that the Earth is an amanah, a sacred trust given to humanity. It does not belong to us — it has been placed in our care, and one day we will be held accountable.
The future of our planet is not only a matter of science, but of conscience. If we listen to God’s call, we can still change our path. But if we continue to ignore it, we will be remembered as the generation that betrayed the greatest gift: our Earth.
