And indeed We have honoured the Children of Adam, and We have carried them on land and sea, and have provided them with At-Taiyibat (lawful good things), and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preference. (17:70)

In the Holy Quran, God says human beings are His viceregents/stewards on Earth, that he has favoured humankind above the rest of his creation, and that He has made everything on the Earth and in the skies subject to us for our benefit.

All this, so that we may be grateful and worship Him exclusively. This necessarily entails a deep sense of humility and respect and awe for the rest of creation. The concept of stewardship necessarily entails a sense of duty and responsibility; a trust to be upheld, honoured, and fulfilled towards fellow humans and the rest of creation.But unfortunately, it is a mark of hubris that humankind has become arrogant instead of becoming humble and acknowledging the immensity of the responsibility.

On 24th June 2023, the terrible fate of the Titan submersible was confirmed. Operated by OceanGate, an American company which had previously been questioned for the safety of its expeditions, the Titan was one of the many tourist expeditions to see the wreck of the RMS Titanic, which sank 111 years ago and has been memorialised in film and countless documentaries. The wreck of the Titanic as it decays has a legion of fans who wish to see it before it fully vanishes; many of whom pay hundreds and thousands of dollars to be part of these privately owned and manned expeditions in ‘submersibles’, which are small underwater crafts which need to be transported and supported by a surface vessel or platform, unlike submarines which are independent and self-supporting. Following costly rescue operations by both the company in question, Oceangate, and national government authorities and dramatic media coverage, it was confirmed that its passengers had died due to the implosion of the vessel from external pressure of the water. It appears that the built of the Titan – built from carbon fibre as an experimental, cheaper alternative instead of the usual tried-and-tested materials used in such expeditions – was insufficient to withstand the immense pressure of the deep sea.

On 14 June 2023, a boat carrying migrants (of different nationalities including Egyptian, Syrian, Afghan, and Pakistani) drowned off the Greek coast. At least 82 people were confirmed dead with rescue operations still ongoing. Known as the Messenia migrant boat disaster, it carried anywhere between 400-750 migrants, with most bodies still missing.

According to an ongoing investigation, authorities deliberately took no effort to try and prevent the boat’s sinking. Fake lifejackets on migrant boats are a common phenomenon.

The reason is that nations of the Global North are strongly opposed to allowing refugee immigration due to political anti-refugee sentiments and supposed economic reasons.

Multiple studies have proven that the issue of hosting refugees is not one of financial or economic burden at all; the Global North countries have enough resources to bear the costs of the influx of refugees. Turkey is a positive example of a country that has hosted several thousand refugees, despite growing xenophobia and anti-refugee sentiment.

Rather it is a question of which lives are seen as fully human, versus those that are not.

The chilling apathy and jeopardization of the lives of immigrants is an indictment of the demise of even a commonplace sense of humanity, empathy, and justice by those same nations and power structures that are responsible for the refugee crisis in the first place.

There are several lessons one can take from these recent tragic events and to not do so would be to risk being ignorant at our own peril.

Firstly, a grim reminder of the distorted concept of human rights viz refugees.

It is yet again clear that human rights as conceptualised in the current world order of neoliberal capitalism and the modern nation-state model are not just deeply flawed but completely perverse.

The appalling disregard for the lives of refugees stems from the deep-seated liberal-democratic idea that rights are contingent upon citizenship; a morally untenable notion.

Human rights ought to be something every human being deserves simply by being human, irrespective of their political, social, or economic status. The fact that some lives are seen as more or less valuable than others due to artificially constructed and violently imposed constructs of race, caste, and citizenship, is an indictment of the failure of the liberal-democratic notion of humanity/human rights.

These refugees are seen not as fellow human beings in desperate need of support and humanitarian aid but as potential dangers to the host society. Whereas, members of the wealthy, global elite who are complicit in the swift unfolding of climate-change-induced natural calamities and the exploitation of global capitalism are seen as most deserving of sympathy and attention.

For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life
of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. (5:32)

Secondly, the ruthless impulse to conquer every aspect of the Earth for no other reason than to feel thrills and engage in power plays is an endeavour that can end only in disaster. To be clear, harnessing natural resources, discovery and exploration of the Earth is in and of itself a commendable pursuit. It’s the intentions and aims that make the key difference. God, Most High, says in the Holy Quran: Do you not see that Allah has made subject to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and amply bestowed upon you His favours, [both] apparent and unapparent? But of the people is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge or guidance or an enlightening BookSecondly, the ruthless impulse to conquer every aspect of the Earth for no other reason than to feel thrills and engage in power plays is an endeavour that can end only in disaster. To be clear, harnessing natural resources, discovery and exploration of the Earth is in and of itself a commendable pursuit. It’s the intentions and aims that make the key difference. God, Most High, says in the Holy Quran: Do you not see that Allah has made subject to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and amply bestowed upon you His favours, [both] apparent and unapparent? But of the people is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge or guidance or an enlightening Book [from Him]. (31:20) And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth – all from Him. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought. (45:13)

The exegetes posit two interpretations of these verses.

1. These natural resources operate by certain laws of nature. It is imperative that we understand these laws of nature and that we utilize the knowledge of the same for the benefit of fellow human beings as well as the rest of God’s creation – flora, fauna, etc.

2. God, Most High, Has, in His infinite Mercy, granted us complete control over these resources. He has made us their stewards. And thus it is our responsibility to harness these resources and derive maximum benefit from them to make life better for fellow creation. With the important caveat that we do so in a way that does not cause destruction; neither to these resources themselves nor to the fellow creatures, this is the concept of ‘Istikhlaaf’ and ‘Imaratul Ardh’.

It is when these resources are sought to be ruthlessly exploited for selfish aims without giving any heed to the ecological impacts of such usage, it is then that the same resources become calamities.

Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness]. (30:41)

In the greedy race to hoard resources for wealth, power, and excessive luxury, humankind has become the unwitting catalyst of grave ecological and environmental crises.

O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allah ]. (55:33)

There are certain areas of our planet and our solar system, that we will never be able to explore or conquer and it would be foolish of us to insist on trying to do so. That God, Most High, Originator of the heavens and the earth and the entire cosmos is the only Real Sovereign and the Only One in Actual Control over all of these. We have to be humble enough to understand this. Thirdly, the immutability of the Divine Decree and the inevitability of death. A trending social media post pointed out, when your death has been decreed, you will reach it even if you have to take a submarine to the bottom of the ocean for it.

Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But if good comes to them, they say, “This is from Allāh”; and if evil befalls them, they say,1 “This is from you.” Say, “All [things] are from Allāh.” So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement? (4:78)

These recent events are powerful lessons for humanity and we ignore them at our peril. Those who seek to justify exploitation in the name of capitalist development and unhindered futuristic progress. And also for those of us on the sidelines, who earnestly desire a better world, any effort for change in the existing state of affairs for the better cannot happen unless we acknowledge some self-evident truths. The Reality of God’s Oneness, His Sovereignty, and the fact that a better world can indeed only be achieved through following and practising the Divine Guidance that He has sent to us through Islam – through the teachings of the Holy Quran and the excellent example of His Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him). The author is Research Associate at CSR, New Delhi.