Deep Ecology is fundamental knowledge. It is not only difficult to understand but also impossible to accept, let alone implement. Deep Ecology even denies the existence of light outside the house (outdoors) at night. The presence of this illumination will seize the right to life of nocturnal creatures. Most modern people living in cities can no longer realize this.
If you learn from the Baduy people, they do not use kerosene or dig wells. What comes from below must not be pulled up, especially explored and exploited, even for prosperity. For lighting, they use castor oil or coconut oil. For drinking water, they take it from springs. Sloping land must not be leveled, even for housing. The height of the housing stage pole must adjust to the slope of the land. For agriculture, they are not allowed to turn over the land, let alone use hoes and ploughs.
Agricultural and farming patterns must not be permanent but must rotate. As such, the life of an elephant continues to move in circles until it returns to its place of origin when nature restores their food condition. Elephants know their rotation paths very well, including the path to bathing in saltwater in the sea and to the place where they die.
Nature does not demand anything from humans. Nature only needs time to recuperate. Nature does not want humans to plant because it already grows everything. Just throw the seeds from the fruit, and nature will nurture them. The seeds will grow to compete with other plants. According to Deep Ecology, the ideal life is a natural human being who hunts and gathers, like the people of Kubu and Anak Dalam. They never invest and save. If you want to eat fruit, you can pick it. If you crave animal meat, you can hunt it. Nature has provided all their needs. Even in their religion, nature has provided every living being with food and shelter as long as they maintain and preserve it.
The people of Kubu and Anak Dalam live in small groups. They are separated from each other. No matter how far they go, they could not cross the ocean. The sea is a natural boundary they must not violate. So it is very understandable if there is a dividing line like Wallacea. Creature life is separatist and must not mix, so they do not lose their pure strain. However, the problem is many people consider this lifestyle a threat. They label it as wild and encroaching territory. From a humanitarian perspective, they are seen as trash and uncivilized, so they need to be empowered. Moreover, from a religious perspective, it would be labeled as animist, idolatrous, and shirk.
Life is complex. The development of the times and limited land finally forced nomadic groups to settle. Intensive agricultural patterns have become necessary to overcome challenges in population growth and food needs. However, the impact of this sedentary agricultural pattern will make the land barren and threaten the excessive use of chemical fertilizers.
Communities like the Baduy are well aware of this. However, they do not want to sacrifice nature. Their standard of competition is with nature, not fellow humans. They do not want to sacrifice nature because it will impact humans in the long term. They will not live romantically, where they have to defend human life to the utmost. If a person is approaching death due to illness or other reasons, such a situation does not need to be maintained with various medical efforts. However, they allow it to happen.
The Baduy people are well aware that they are already at the limit of growth, as stated by the Club of Rome. Continuing beyond this point will lead to defeat and destruction. Therefore, they continue to carry out rotational cultivation even though it is in a small and limited radius. It is not just the farming that moves, but the villages or housing also move, although not too far away. Likewise, nomads who raise livestock will not graze their livestock but follow their livestock because the livestock know better where the food is.
Not only in Lebak district, Banten, but in Sukabumi district, West Java, there are also community groups that implement such a rotation pattern. The movement is around a radius of 4-5 km and over a longer period than in Baduy, which is only hundreds of meters. This group of people comes from the descendants of Gajah Buara, who must continue to wander like elephants. Initially, they were in Sinaresmi village, then moved to Cicemet village, moved again to Ciptamulya village, then returned to Ciptagelar village, and now to Gelaralam village.
What are the lifestyle patterns and views of Deep Ecology in the view of Islamic jurisprudence? It seems that Islamic jurisprudence deals more with relations between humans based on religious law and God but less on its relationship with nature and human life. The Koran only briefly touches on these things and does not discuss them in detail, for example, “‘Do not cause damage on the face of the earth,’ they answered, ‘Indeed, we are the ones who make repairs.’ Remember, indeed they are the ones who cause damage, but they are not aware” (QS al-Baqarah: 11-12).
This is different from traditional communities that have, from the beginning, followed and submitted to the natural order. They placed nature as a reference point and guide in carrying out all their work. For example, “Gunung teu meunang dilebur, lebak teu meunang dirusak” (the mountain must not be melted down, the lebak must not be destroyed). This sentence contains taboos and prohibitions against committing acts that are destructive and have long-term consequences, as well as guidance that shows interaction, attachment, and close dependence with nature, such as, “Mipit kudu amit, ngala kudu menta; ngali cikur kudu beunghar, ngala jahe kudu beureum” (taking requires permission, bringing requires asking for permission; digging kencur must be mature, taking ginger must say hello).
Thus, it is very natural that the issue of granting mining permits (coal) to NU religious organizations and the exploitation of other natural resources is not a binding subject in Islam, as stated by the intellectual Ullil Absar Abdalla. Islamic jurisprudence sees this more in terms of halal-haram or harm-benefit laws. Likewise, the environmental movement which wants to return to net zero emissions may not be a significant demand for Islamic jurisprudence.
