Plants are the special blessing of God, say Islamic teachings

Vegetation and plants have been described in the Quran as a special blessing of God. According to the Quran; Paradise is a world of highest quality, where the believers, God’s favoured servants, will be inhabited. This abode has been called Paradise, meaning a garden, which is a special feature of paradise, referred to in the Quran as ‘beautiful mansions in Gardens of eternity.’ (61:12)

A believer is God’s desired person. What is this desired person like? In the Quran he has been likened to a tree (14:24). This is a very meaningful simile. As we all know man receives shade, fruits and flowers from the tree. The sight of a green tree cools the eyes of the people. All such qualities should be found in God worshippers. Human beings should live in society in a manner that they may give comfort to everyone, they may benefit everyone, and they may become a source of coolness to all.

There is a hadith to this effect. The Prophet of Islam said: The believer is like a gentle plant. When the winds blow it does not show haughtiness, instead, it swerves to and fro with the wind, and when the winds are not blowing it stands in position once again. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 5644) Exactly the same is the case with the God worshipper. A true believer lives among the people with gentleness. He does not display arrogance. His way is that of adjustment and not of clash and confrontation. He follows the principle of persuasion and avoids the way of violence.

At one point in the Quran, honey has been mentioned in particular. Honey a valuable drink is produced from the plants. The Quran tells us about honey that therein is healing for men’ (16:69). This indicates symbolically that besides food and drink plants have another special quality that of having the healing effect. It is a fact that most of the medicines are produced from plants. This healing attribute of the plants is so great that even when a tiger, a carnivorous animal, takes ill; he eats grass to cure himself. So God has granted us double blessings in the form of plants. They serve both as food and as medicine.

The Quran repeatedly mentions plants as special blessings of God. Here are some verses in this regard:

Mentioning the initial stage of creation the Quran states that “after that bringing forth from it its water and its pasture land,” (79:31). Water and vegetation are closely related to one another as without water vegetation cannot come into existence. This precious vegetation is available nowhere in the vast expanses of the universe but on earth. That is why the existence of living things exist only on earth, because the existence of life is not possible without vegetation. A verse in the Quran is as follows:

“Let man reflect on the food he eats. We let the rain pour down in torrents and then w     e cleaved the earth asunder. We make the grain grow out of it, and grape vines and vegetables, and olive trees and date palms and burgeoning enclosed gardens and fruits and fodder as provision for you and for your cattle to enjoy.” (80:23-2425-32).