Introducing the Book “Rumi’s Mystical Approach to the Environment”

The book Rumi’s Mystical Approach to the Environment has been written with the aim of reforming and correcting environmental perspectives and behaviors. Today, the importance of the environment for human life has transformed from an external or peripheral issue into a vital and existential one for humanity, and fundamentally, the subject of the environment and its challenges has a close and undeniable connection with human life; so much so that ignoring it amounts to disregarding human life and social existence. From the perspective of an interactive approach in the scientific realm as well, although interaction with nature, alongside social, individual, and religious (the divine) interactions, organizes the four primary relationships, the environment and its issues are matters that intricately permeate other interactive domains and will have a serious impact on our other approaches and relationships.

Alongside this special importance and status, what regulates the relationship between humans and the environment is their worldview, which organizes specific human approaches and human interactions with nature. At multiple levels—theology, cosmology, worldview, anthropology, and epistemology—humans strive, through patterns and rules, to achieve meaningfulness in the world, and through these matters, they arrive at various affirmations, denials, and explanations. Moreover, their type of outlook on the multiple levels of worldview defines the world for them and gives it meaning, and this meaningfulness leads to their type of interaction with multiple levels, including themselves.

Therefore, the human worldview is the creator of their type of outlook and performance in the universe and, ultimately, their lifestyle. It is worth noting that what definition a person holds of God in the realm of theology (or denies this existence), what general affairs and rules the cosmos encompasses in cosmology, how and with what quality and purpose they consider the world in their worldview, and what definition of humanity, its purpose, and its ultimate goal in life they incline toward in anthropology, are all highly influential in their type of interaction with the world and their internal and external performance. For this reason, the type of outlook of individuals and groups, and consequently their lifestyle and performance, causes us to witness human societies with diverse social (social environment), natural (in facing nature), divine (in facing spiritual matters), and human relationships. In the meantime, what has been examined with greater attention and emphasis in recent periods is the subject of human interaction with the environment.

Since the beginning of their emergence and settlement on Earth, humans have been in interaction with their surrounding environment, and nature has always held a special place for them. In the past, humanity's initial reaction in facing nature and its phenomena was an approach accompanied by sanctity and respect; but this changed with the expansion of human living spheres and population growth, and the ever-increasing progress of science and the expansion of technology intensified the domain of human encroachment and direct impacts on the environment. On the other hand, in the early periods of human interaction with nature, due to the fulfillment of human needs at a limited level and based on the essential needs of human society, nature had the capacity to regenerate and recover resources. Thus, resources (including soil, animals, and plants) met human needs within their cycle of regeneration, production, and regrowth. In the meantime, with the increase in human ability to exploit nature, the abundance of the consuming force, and the change in human perspective on their own status and the existence of nature, the exploitation of resources changed and came to serve humanity with a maximalist approach. Therefore, profit-oriented humans engaged in excessive exploitation, as a result of which many renewable resources diminished and numerous natural areas were destroyed. The direct consequence of this procedure was the emergence of environmental challenges for humanity.

The present era is the era of ecology and comprehensive attention to the issue of the environment. The characteristic of this era is the creation of a new understanding of the features and requirements of existence for a constructive and continuous interaction with nature (in its general sense), so that both environmental issues and problems improve and the human view of nature and the manner of interaction with it are reformed. This new approach is not a necessity for preserving nature, but a need of humanity; because the lack of this approach will cause the destruction of nature and, as a result, the annihilation of the human species from the chain of life. This very matter has necessitated attention to environmental discussions and caused humanity to recognize its need in ever-greater adaptation to nature.

It should be noted that the field of the environment is not limited to a specific part of nature, and with the growth of technology and its presence in all social spheres and human lives, human impact on the environment concerns every single person; therefore, many fields at scientific levels have turned their attention to humans and their mode of interaction with nature. In the meantime, with the expansion of attention to the type of human interaction with nature in the individual and social spheres, many solutions were formed centered on the type of human interaction with nature, and in a foundational and infrastructural approach, the most principal element of this examination and the cause of the crisis was recognized as the human being and their way of looking at nature; for this reason, the primary emphases in the area of providing solutions were devoted to changing the human attitude in encountering and the type of interaction with nature. However, the human being is a complex creature with multiple attitudes and insights who, despite their constant connection with the surrounding environment, often experiences and perceives themselves as an isolated entity (a single individual).

This matter greatly influences the formation of their attitudes and insights and is directly reflected in their performance. Through experiencing external affairs and analyzing them within themselves, they arrive at perceptions and interpretations and, as a result, strive for the meaningfulness of the world around them (which includes the recognition of humans, the nature of relationships and structures, multiple patterns and the order governing them, and the like). What most of all affects human perceptions of themselves and others is the type of their fundamental attitude towards affairs, which even interprets their experiences of the world in a meaningful way. The set of a human's main and major attitudes, or their worldview, is the set of beliefs, presuppositions, and cognitive patterns of the human being about the whole world; this set has been interpreted as the "belief system," which directs all their attitudes and actions. It is worth mentioning that worldview in humans sometimes becomes so individual and unique that two people, placed in an identical situation, have completely contradictory and different perceptions and exhibit different behaviors.

It is worth noting that attention to the foundations and following what matters the human worldview and fundamental attitudes are formed is not the subject of this examination; however, the influence of worldview in producing human behaviors and the possibility of creating change or modification in the belief system to produce correct behavior in humans is an accepted and definite presupposition of this research. Human behaviors are inevitably influenced by the type of individuals' outlook and insight into the world. The experience of perceiving the world and analyzing and interpreting it leads to the production of belief systems in individuals, which directly leads to the production of behavior; in such a way that, considering our perception and interpretation of affairs, one can grasp the main reasons for the formation of a behavior. Maximum exploitation of nature merely by human ability, the extension of private ownership to natural resources in civil law (due to definitions of the limits of individual freedoms), and the type of view of animals as beings inferior to humans, indicate the type of their attitude towards major categories that reside in the individual worldview. In the meantime, how the human being perceives themselves and their surrounding environment may be effective in this matter.

In sum, the type of an individual's perception of themselves and the world around them directly influences their interactive behaviors with themselves and the external world and is more effective than external factors in producing, managing, and controlling behavior. The influence of worldview on human behaviors and actions is to the extent that many human emotions (whether those arising from the inner states of the human being or those obtained through experiencing and understanding the conditions of the external environment) directly return to the attitudes and beliefs of the human being. Albert Ellis says: "Almost all emotional disturbances are closely related to irrational beliefs. Emotional disturbances are mainly caused by incorrect thinking, and by changing thought, one can overcome their neuroses" (Ellis, The Happy Life, p. 16). "When humans become upset about something, that thing itself does not directly cause anxiety, depression, feelings of worthlessness, or in general, that 'emotional consequence,' but rather the belief system of individuals about those events that have occurred, are occurring, or future events is what causes the said emotional consequences; although the external activating factor is influential in the occurrence of the emotional consequence, the more important and direct role belongs to the belief system" (ibid., pp. 24-25).

It is worth noting that although the human view of oneself and the world is influenced by many factors, such as one's way of living, experience, and social interaction, what produces behavior is the type of perception, human interpretation, and the rules governing an individual's intellectual system, which make the world meaningful for them. This system evolves or expands with the individual's lived experience, yet it never loses its central role in generating behavior. On the other hand, belief systems are more changeable than the external activating events that lead to rhythmic and conventionalized human reactions. Consequently, individuals are obliged to change their insight, attitude, and practice in order to realize a more desirable life. In this study as well, what is of concern is proposing a model for changing the human view of nature through Islamic mysticism, with particular attention to the mysticism of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi.

Rumi is one of the great figures of Persian culture and literature whose works and thoughts have influenced many thinkers and intellectuals, to the extent that some Rumi scholars believe that in the West, no mystic or poet from the Islamic world is as famous as Rumi. Rumi's valuable legacy is replete with sublime human values and presents a kind of worldview that provides meaningful models for understanding existence. His thoughts are such that they can be taken as a touchstone and center, and the essence of the thoughts before and after him, both in the Islamic world and in Iran, can be examined through them.

In this research, an attempt has been made, through the thoughts and ideas of this Persian-speaking mystic, to present a model for changing the human view of nature, a model based on his view of the world and humanity. However, in explaining the model derived from Rumi's intellectual system, no attempt has been made to trace the roots of Rumi's thoughts and ideas on this matter, as that would require an independent study. The same applies to the subject of the place of nature in mysticism or nature in the view of Muslim mystics.

It is worth noting that although studies on providing solutions for changing the human view of nature have a long history, attention to mysticism as a model or solution for creating a different view of nature is a new subject, and in Rumi's mysticism, it is entirely and specifically novel. Research introducing Rumi's mystical approach to the environment, in addition to clarifying a part of the thoughts of this renowned mystic, is an effort to present a suitable model for changing the human attitude toward nature and, consequently, altering the process of destruction and annihilation of environmental resources—resources whose absence will also lead to the annihilation of humankind. Furthermore, by introducing Rumi's mystical approach (which is based on Islamic teachings), a kind of spiritual insight will be presented for the promotion and expansion of religious thought and a return to mystical foundations, enabling human beings to better attain the vision of the manifestation of the Divine in the phenomena of nature.

Of course, it should not be overlooked that environmental issues, and even the science of the environment, are new subjects in science; the issues and themes raised within it were not common topics in Rumi's era. Nevertheless, within Rumi's intellectual framework, there are capacities that can be considered as solutions for environmental challenges. Consequently, in expanding and linking the concepts present in Rumi's discourse, one cannot find explicit indications and references regarding environmental discussions. Therefore, the audience should not seek direct statements and quotations from Rumi on these topics; rather, it is only through the analysis of this mystic's mystical concepts that connections can be established between his mystical thought and environmental issues.

In establishing this connection, the discussion is not about the environmental challenges of our time; for these issues were not relevant then and were not posed as challenges. On the other hand, the term “environment” (muhīṭ-i zīst) in Persian is a new and recent word, and to discover and understand it in Islamic mysticism and the mystical literature that follows it, one must search for its meaning and content within the context of the Persian language and mystical literature. The closest semantic equivalent to the term “environment” is the word “nature” (ṭabīʿat) or the compounds “abode of nature” (sarā-yi ṭabīʿat) and “world of nature” (ʿālam-i ṭabīʿat), which are widely used in the prose and verse texts of classical Persian literature. However, the word “nature” in Persian literature has various meanings, such as “human disposition and essence,” “the truth and essential element of a thing,” and “the lowest level of the world of existence (the lower world) as opposed to the supernatural world (the higher world),” and the semantic equivalent of “environment” for this word is very recent. Consequently, extending the meanings used by Rumi toward environmental approaches is inevitable.

On this basis, the main element in the emergence of environmental issues and challenges is human action and the way humans view nature, which has been taken as the foundation, and an effort has been made to change this mode of action and view of the world through Rumi’s mystical concepts. Therefore, in formulating and selecting the chapters, the focus is on cases that have the potential to connect with environmental issues. After the introduction, the present study, in its first section entitled “Environment,” examines the meaning and concept of this subject, provides a report on various approaches and definitions in this field, and finally presents the chosen approach of this research. Furthermore, human interaction with nature and its consequences, namely environmental crises, are discussed, followed by an examination of the solution to environmental challenges and the central position of the human being.

In the second section, Rumi’s mystical approach to the environment is presented. After a brief look at his life, the content of this section is organized into four chapters with the titles “Main Elements in Rumi’s Worldview,” “Characteristics and Features of the World from Rumi’s Perspective,” “The Human Being’s Place in the System of Existence from Rumi’s Perspective,” and “Rumi’s View of Natural Elements and Phenomena.” In the first chapter, five main elements in this poet’s worldview are examined, which form the basis of his thought in entering into discussions and matters. Under each principle, its connection to environmental thought is addressed so that the research basis for linking Rumi’s thoughts with environmental issues becomes clearer. The next chapter focuses on examining the characteristics and features of the world according to Rumi and his particular view of nature—a view that can be considered, within the context of environmental thought, a constructive model for changing human attitudes toward nature. This section addresses topics such as life, the continuous creation of all elements and beings, and their speech. The reason for selecting these axes is specifically the attention to and emphasis on the common bonds between humans and all beings and components of nature; thus, it includes features that are, above all, human characteristics. Rumi’s view on the special place of the human being in nature is the subject of the next chapter of this section, which clarifies, from his perspective, the duties and mode of human action in encountering nature, focusing on axes such as the homogeneity of the human being with nature, the human being’s place in nature, and the human being’s relationship with the world.

In the final part of this section, an effort has been made to give the presented model of Rumi’s environmental approach a more objective aspect. In this chapter, water (the sea), plants, and animals are examined from the perspective of this great mystic. The fact that Rumi pursued a symbolic and metaphorical approach in using these elements and beings does not mean that the real existence of beings and elements was devoid of value concepts for him; in other words, in his view, these beings and elements possess characteristics that caused them to connect with his desired metaphorical concepts. Consequently, where he speaks of the value or special status of a being or phenomenon, his words will not be unrelated to his particular way of viewing that phenomenon or being.

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The Book “Rumi’s Mystical Approach to the Environment”

Author: Seyed Hamidreza Raouf (Faculty Member, Institute for Humanities and Social Studies, ACECR)

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