Why Muslims need to encourage careers in the natural sciences and academia, and to engage in conservation and research.

Researchers at Stellenbosch University have found that the termite mounds of Namaqualand are the oldest known on Earth — and that they have been storing carbon for thousands of years. It is a reminder of how much of the world’s scientific interest sits in our own landscape, and how little of it we are present for.

A tradition that noticed the small creatures

Surah An-Naml — “The Ants” — takes its name from a moment of exactly this kind of attention (27:18–19):

And when they came across a valley of ants, an ant warned, “O ants! Go quickly into your homes so Solomon and his armies do not crush you, unknowingly.”

So Solomon smiled in amusement at her words, and prayed, “My Lord! Inspire me to always be thankful for Your favours which You have blessed me and my parents with, and to do good deeds that please You. Admit me, by Your mercy, into the company of Your righteous servants.”

The same care runs through the Sunnah. Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported that on a journey the companions took the chicks of a red sparrow, and the mother began to flap her wings in distress. The Prophet ☵ asked who had upset her, and told them to return her young. Seeing an ant colony they had burned, he asked who had done it, and said that no one should punish with fire except the Lord of the fire. (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 5268)

Read the research

World’s oldest termite mounds discovered in South Africa — and they’ve been storing precious carbon for thousands of years — Michele Francis, Stellenbosch University, The Conversation, 16 June 2024.

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of promoting academic research, conservation of our natural environment, and careers in academia.