Earth Day: Why It Matters - Everyday

Information may not be reliable

Today is Earth Day! Learn about the history and significance of Earth Day here.

The word used in the Quran for "earth" is أَرْض [arD]. It is used over 450 times in the Quran, to refer to the planet we live on - the Earth - but also to: land, ground, soil, city, country, domain, the surface of the Earth, the floor, something that is flat, a tremor, anything that is low.

Allah SWT created the Earth as a place for us to settle in and enjoy for the short duration of time that we live on it:

"It is Allah who made for you the earth a place of settlement and the sky a ceiling and formed you and perfected your forms and provided you with good things. That is Allah, your Lord; then blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds." (40:64)

Allah SWT also filled the Earth with so many things that are beneficial to us, without us even asking for them subhanAllah: water, trees, mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, fruits, vegetables, fertile lands…

"And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the growth of all things. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains arranged in layers. And from the palm trees - of its emerging fruit are clusters hanging low. And [We produce] gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar yet varied. Look at [each of] its fruit when it yields and [at] its ripening. Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe." (6:99)

But these gifts, these signs of Allah SWT, come with responsibilities that we will eventually have to answer to: consciously destroying the signs and gifts of Allah SWT, or doing so out of ignorance, will cause great trouble to the human being in this life but also in the next.