202 In 1m Footsteps of 1m Prophet
not mutilate, you sh all not kill children nor rh e inhabitants of h ermitages
[ashab as-sau'amt]."s \,\7ar was never desirable, but when Muslims were co m-
pelled [0 it because they were attacked or because their survival was
threatened, they had to keep strictly to what was needed to fight enemy
forces who were armed and/or determined to fight. If the latter wished
for peace or surrendered, the war must be stopped, acco rding to th e
Quranic injunction: ''Bm if they incline toward peace, do you [also, in th e
same way] incline toward peace, and trust in God, for He is the One that
hears and knows [all rhingsj.,,9
\'.;;rc have seen that the Prophet made an exception when he cut down
palm trees during the siege of the Banu Nadir. That exception, mentioned
in Revelation, proved the rule of respect for narure, especially in wartime.
Creation is filled with signs that tell of the goodness and generosity o f its
Creator, and it is hence a sacred space: respecting it is akin to charity
(sadaqah) or invocation. T he protection of palm trees, fruit trees, and othcr
vegetation in wartime is the consequence of a more general teaching con-
veyed by the Prophet to all Muslims. One day, as he passed Sad ibn Abi
Waqqas, who was performing his ritual ablutions, the Prophet said to him:
"\,{'by such waste, 0 Sad?" "Is there waste even when performing ablu-
tions?" Sad asked. And the Prophet answered: "Yes, even when using th e
water of a running stream.,,10 \'\fater is a central dement in all the teachings
and ritual practices, for it represents the purification of body and heart, o f
physical outwardness as well as spiritual inwardness.l1 But the Prophet
taught Sad and his other Companions never to consider watet, or any o ther
element of narure, as a simple means toward their spirirual edification; on
the contrary, respecting narure and using it moderately was already, in itself,
a spiritual exercise and elevation, a goal in their quest for the Creator.
The Prophet'S insistence on not wasting any narural resource, "even
when using the water of a running stream," indicates that he placed
respect for nature on the level of an essential principle that must regulate
behavior whatever the situation and whatever the consequences. This is
not an eco logy springing from the anticipation o f disasters (which result
from human actions) but a sort of "upstream ecology" that rests people's
relatio n to nature on an ethical bedrock associated with an understanding
o f the deepest spiritual teachinb'S. 12 The believer's relation to nature must
be based on contemplation and respect. Indeed, this respect is such that
the Prophet once said: "If the hour o f Judgment Day co mes while one o f