Akhlaq
Trustees, not owners
If the Hour comes while you hold a seedling, plant it.
3 min, Intro, Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
Part 1 of 3
Before creating Adam, God told the angels He would place a khalifah, a successor or trustee, on earth. Muslims read this as responsibility: the earth is held in trust, not owned outright.
Qur'an 2:30
وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلࣰ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةࣱۖ قَالُوٓاْ أَتَجۡعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفۡسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسۡفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحۡنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمۡدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَۖ قَالَ إِنِّيٓ أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ ٣٠
30 And [remember] when your Lord said to the angels, “I am going to appoint a vicegerent on earth.” They said, “Will You appoint on it someone who will spread corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with Your praises and proclaim Your holiness?” He said, “I know that which you do not know.”
Lesson
Muslim scholars read the earth as held in trust, not owned outright.
Part 2 of 3
The Qur'an says: eat and drink, but do not waste; God does not love the wasteful. The Prophet made wudu' with very little water. A narration graded weak has him forbidding waste even at a flowing river.
Qur'an 7:31
۞ يَٰبَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمۡ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسۡجِدࣲ وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ وَلَا تُسۡرِفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُسۡرِفِينَ ٣١
31 O children of Adam, dress well for every prayer. Eat and drink, but do not waste, for He does not like the wasteful.
Lesson
In the Qur'an, eating and drinking come with a limit: God does not love the wasteful.
Part 3 of 3
The Prophet said that when a Muslim plants a tree and a bird, a person or an animal eats from it, it counts as charity. Another saying: if the Hour arrives while you hold a seedling, plant it.
Lesson
In this narration, doing good does not wait for results, even at the end of the world.
Reflect, just for you
Seen by lamplight. It gives more each time.
If the Hour comes while you hold a seedling, plant it.