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Background material by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. for Year 1 Semester 1 Medical PPSD on 13th August 2008
VISCEGERANCY, khilafat
The human is a special creation put on earth to fulfill the mission of vicegerency which is summarized as preventing evil and protecting human life. Vicegerency has a very wide scope that embraces all human endeavors including relations of the human with the creator, with fellow humans, with other living things, and with the whole eco-system. It is an honor for humans who were set upon the earth to build a civilization. The Creator prepared humans for the duty of vicegerancy by making the earth subservient to them. He also gave them an intellect and a free will. Vicegerancy is a trust and entails accountability. A human who feels the heavy responsibility of vicegerancy will take good care of his health; protect other humans and the environment from harm.
RESOURCES OF THE EARTH UNDER HUMAN DISPOSAL, taskhiir
The creator made all other creations subservient humans. Living and non-living things are used by humans for their benefit. Humans are the only living things able to change the environment around them. Putting resources under human control carries responsibilities. It is a privilege and not a right. The power given to humans to control the environment must be exercised with care maintain harmony and equilibrium in the ecosystem and the universe. Humans have however transgressed and have undertaken activities that have polluted the environment or failed to conserve resources. All these eventually will lead to degradation of health status.
The superior human intellect is the main tool given to humans to control and exploit resources of the earth. The human is not biologically the best-endowed creation. There are many animals bigger, stronger, and faster than humans. Humans are however able to control and use them because of a more developed brain and intellect. It is the intellect that enables humans to understand the universe and to benefit from its resources. Human intellect enabled the development and use of tools. This gave humans more ability to exploit and benefit from the earth’s natural resources. Using their intellect humans have developed sophisticated communication and are able to learn. They also have developed sophisticated means of transportation that enable them to travel far.
Study of the food chains shows that it is not only humans who use and benefit from other creations. Humans are on top of the food chain; they can benefit from all other creations.
The term 'natural resources' refers to sources of energy and raw materials that Allah placed in the universe for the service of humans. This includes air, water, energy, minerals, the soil, plants and animals. Air provides the life-giving oxygen and is also a form of transportation. Wind movements clear the air, help in stabilizing temperatures and transfer pollen from one plant to another to cause fertilization. Water is the most important natural resource. It is the source of all life. It can irrigate arid land and return it to productivity. It is needed for growth of plants. The large body of water in the oceans has many benefits for humans such as transportation and as a source of marine food. Fire is the earliest and still the most important energy source. Other sources of energy are wind, electricity, light, sound, mechanical, nuclear, chemical, solar, and magnetic energy. The energy sources are inter-related and inter-convertible. The bowels of the earth provide minerals and metals that humans use as tools, ornamentation, and manufacture. The soil, clay, and stones are used in construction of houses. Trees are cut to provide fuel and building materials. Most of human food is of plant origin. Animals provide food and transportation. Many of their products are used by humans as medicines, clothing, ornamentations, and tools. Soil is used for farming and animal husbandry. It is used to build homes as shelters from the elements of the weather. Mountains are a source of esthetic pleasure.
Ecosystem refers to the physical environment and the organisms that it supports. The relations of mutual interdependency and harmonious existence of living and non-living things in any ecosystem are further evidence for existence of one creator. Too many creators could not have reached perfect agreement to produce such a well-coordinated ecosystem. The stability and harmony of the eco-system depend on balanced mutual exploitation with renewal such that all benefit. Water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, and noise pollution are increasing. Whole habitats and ecosystems are being destroyed. Conservation is protecting the resources and using them wisely.
BUILDING THE HUMAN CIVILIZATION
General concepts of civilization: History teaches us moral lessons. The origin of all civilizations is one. Each civilization has a fixed life-span. Humans developed civilization because of a sophisticated brain, erect posture, and a versatile hand that makes tools. Civilization went through stages of hunting & gatherers, agriculture, technology, and social development. Conflict and cycles of civilization are constant in human civilization. The weak become strong and the strong become weak. Each civilization has a fixed life span. The rise and fall of civilizations follows fixed social laws. The reasons for rise of civilizations are: innovation and dynamism, courage, adventurism and risk-taking, internal freedom, law and order, outward-looking, group feeling, big population, and natural resources. The reasons for fall of civilizations are intellectual stagnation, narrow ethno-centricism, oppression, demographic contraction, economic contraction, imbalance between reason and emotional, and imbalance between man and technology. No civilization can be eternal. The climate determines the type of civilization.
Pre-history was before development of writing. In the Paleolithic pre-historic era, humans were food gatherers. They used stone tools. They discovered fire for warmth and cooking. They lived in caves and wore skins. Later they started hunting and living in villages. Civilization developed in the settled farming communities. The first civilizations developed in the fertile valleys of rivers: Euphrates & Tigris, Indus, Nile, and Huang Ho in China
Production of enough food has seemed from the historical record to be a major factor in the growth and survival of civilizations. Adequate nutrition means increase of population and human resources for building a material civilization. Inadequate food or starvation results in poor economic productivity and eventually general weakness of a civilization.
The process of building a civilization can give rise to many physical and social problems that eventually will affect health. These aspects should always be considered because a civilization with citizens who are physically or mentally unhealthy will be a weak civilization that cannot last.