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The Influences of Jalal Al-Din Rumi in Seyyed Hossein Nasr’S Sufi Diagnosis of the Environmental Crisis

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The Influences of Jalal Al-Din Rumi in Seyyed Hossein Nasr’S Sufi Diagnosis of the Environmental Crisis WHAT WAS SAID TO THE ROSE THAT MADE IT OPEN WAS SAID TO ME, HERE, IN MY CHEST: THE INFLUENCES OF JALAL AL-DIN RUMI IN SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR’S SUFI DIAGNOSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS BY CORY WENSLEY BA, St. Francis Xavier University, 2013 A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies January, 2015, Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright Cory Lee Wensley Approved: Dr. Syed Adnan Hussain Supervisor Approved: Dr. Anne Marie Dalton Examiner Approved: Dr. Linda Darwish Reader Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Genealogical Methodology ........................................................................................................... 10 Chapter One: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Two: Jalal al-Din Rumi’s Understanding of the Natural Environment and Humanity’s Relationship with It ....................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter Three: Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s Sufi Diagnosis of the Environmental Crisis .................. 82 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 109 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 113 2 Abstract What was said to the rose that made it open, was said to me, here, in my chest: The influences of Jalal al-Din Rumi in Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s Sufi Diagnosis of the Environmental Crisis By Cory Wensley This thesis traces the genealogy of contemporary Muslim scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s diagnosis of the environmental crisis. I argue that if one understands the thought of thirteenth century Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi’s approach to the Quran, there are incursions of this in Nasr’s diagnosis of the environmental crisis as an eco-theological crisis in the hearts and minds of human beings. These men envision nature as a signifier of the existence of God, and that all of creation is on a journey returning to its Creator. In addition, Rumi and Nasr see a dichotomy between the purposes of human knowledge and divine intuition for understanding these truths about the natural world. And, when one recognizes such evidences of nature’s sacred quality, the Sufi on the path to God evolves, spiritually, into the perfect human (insan al-kamil). Moreover, this being is responsible for maintaining the balance and harmony of the natural world. This thesis aspires to add a notable contribution to the ongoing discussion for understanding the way human-earth relationships have been conceptualized. November, 13, 2014 3 WHAT WAS SAID TO THE ROSE THAT MADE IT OPEN WAS SAID TO ME, HERE, IN MY CHEST: THE INFLUENCES OF JALAL AL-DIN RUMI IN SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR’S SUFI DIAGNOSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS BY CORY WENSLEY BA, St. Francis Xavier University, 2013 A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies January, 2015, Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright Cory Lee Wensley Approved: ____________________ Dr. Syed Adnan Hussain Supervisor Approved: ____________________ Dr. Anne Marie Dalton Examiner Approved: ____________________ Dr. Linda Darwish Reader Date: ____________________ 4 Introduction This thesis explicates the possible influences of Jalal al-Din Rumi’s understanding of the natural environment, and humanity’s relationship with it, in Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s Sufi diagnosis of the environmental crisis. Nasr calls for a return to traditional religious views of nature so as to offer an alternative approach to how some people today interact and understand the qualities of the natural environment. Generally, there are influences from certain Sufi thought in the way Nasr explicates his interpretation of the causes of the environmental crisis. This is due to Nasr’s lifelong study of Sufism, as well as his claim to be a practicing Sufi. When delving into Nasr’s affiliation with Sufism, there are incursions from Rumi’s Sufi thought and practice as Rumi, especially with Nasr’s approach to the environmental crisis. With this in mind, I will discuss how the influences from Rumi’s interpretation of the qualities of nature, and the interaction that humans have with it, resonate in Nasr’s diagnosis. One reason that Rumi influences Nasr relates to Nasr’s lifelong affiliation with Rumi’s poetic works, and his advocacy of Rumi’s work as a perennial wisdom for how humans relate to nature, and to God. In my view, Rumi’s interpretation of human-earth relationships that are based on Qur’anic principles, perhaps make their way into Nasr’s diagnosis of the environmental crisis. With this in mind, I support Nasr’s appeal for the importance of returning to religious views of nature, like those presented by Sufis, like Rumi. Nasr shares a common advocacy for changing the way humans interact with the natural world, and the importance of the place of religion in the matter. This is prominent in many scholarly approaches to environmental ethics. Many religion scholars view the relationship between religion and ecology as timeless because they go hand in hand with one another. In This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment, editor, Roger Gottlieb, offers three general reasons that support the idea of incorporating 5 religious views in the study of ecology and the environment. First, he claims that religious accounts of creation explain that people have desired to understand nature in a humanly comprehensible framework. Second, religious accounts of nature are to be made sense of in a way that connects them to the fundamental values of human existence. In other words, the universe is enchanted, it is the gift from a loving God, a land destined for holy people, a setting filled with spirit forces who are to be our guardians. Third, though religions view and interpret nature in various ways, sometimes one draws upon religious understandings of the natural world in order to recover some ecological sanity.1 Thus, religion offers a way for people to comprehend their relationship with the natural environment. In line with those who express the importance of coalescing religion and ecology is scholar, Mary Evelyn Tucker. Tucker agrees with Gottlieb’s assertions and declares that religion is playing a role in the field of ecology as a result of the environmental crisis and the need to formulate a viable human-earth relationship for a sustainable future for the planet: Religions are being recognized in their great entirety as more than simply beliefs in a transcendent deity or means to an afterlife. Rather, religions are providing a broad orientation to the cosmos and to human roles therein. Attitudes toward nature have thus been significantly, although not exclusively, shaped by religious views for millennia in cultures around the globe.2 Due to the tribulations facing the natural environment, many scholars who study the role of religion and environmental issues declare that, for many people, this concern is not solely the result of economic, political or social factors, but is a moral and spiritual crisis.3 The concerns 1 Gottlieb, 6. 2 Mary Evelyn Tucker, “Religion and Ecology,” in Peter B. Clarke, The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, Oxford Handbooks Series (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). 819-20. 3 Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, “Series Foreword,” in Richard Foltz, Frederick Mathewson Denny, and Baharuddin Azizan Haji, Islam and Ecology : A Bestowed Trust, Religions of the World and Ecology (Cambridge, Mass.: Center for the Study of World Religions Distributed by Harvard University Press, 2003)., xv-xvi. 6 are looked upon from a perspective of religious understandings regarding the processes of life and humanity’s place in them.4 In short, religious interpretations of the function and purpose of creation can be examined in light of the environmental crisis.5 In the same vein, Lawrence Sullivan, the director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, maintains that “religious life and the earth’s ecology are inextricably linked and organically related… [Moreover], human beliefs about the nature of ecology are the distinctive contribution of our species to the ecology itself.”6 Additionally, he states that placing religious worldviews in an environmental context propels communities into the world with fundamental predispositions toward it because such religious worldviews are primordial, all-encompassing and unique.7 Nasr agrees that having an eco-theological approach to the protection, conservation, and preservation of the natural environment is significant. He has studied the natural world from both secular and religious perspectives, and he does not envision the problems concerning the latter evolving from a variety of separate causes. By this he means that each problem the natural environment has experienced, such as global warming, destruction of forests, and exploitation of resources, are the
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