World Faiths: The Sanctity of Nature

­There is not an animal that crawls in the earth, nor a bird that flies on its two wings, but they are communities like you. We have left out nothing in the Book. Then to their Lord shall they be gathered together.

Islam, The Holy Qur’an, 6:39

There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is regarded as a charitable gift.

Islam, the Holy Prophet (sa), Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari

Do reflect! A farmer must wait after they plant a seed into the earth. First, he must bury his valuable grain into the earth, even though it is vulnerable to being plucked out by various animals, rotting in the earth, or being ruined in some other way. However, experience gives the farmer comfort that despite these possibilities, a time will come when the seeds that he entrusted to the land will sprout and the crop will bloom and flourish, and this dirt-covered seed will turn into provision.

 Islam, the Promised Messiah (as), Malfuzat – Volume III, p. 122

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, 

the world, and those who live in it;

Judaism, The Tanakh, Psalm 24.1

Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse;

Christianity, The Bible, Romans 1:20

May those born of thee, O Earth, be, for our welfare, free from sickness and waste.
Wakeful through a long life, we shall become bearers of tribute for thee.

Earth, my Mother! set me securely with bliss in full accord with Heaven. Wise One, uphold me in grace and splendour.

Hinduism, Atharva Veda 12.1

Just as the consciousness of a man born without any sense organs [i.e., one who is blind, deaf, dumb, crippled, etc. from birth] is not manifest, likewise the consciousness of beings of earth body [e.g., atoms, minerals] is also not manifest. Nevertheless, such a man experiences pain when struck or cut by a weapon, and so also do the beings of earth body. Likewise for water beings…fire beings…plants…animals…air beings: their consciousness and experiences of pain are actual, though not manifest.

Jainism, Acarangasutra 1.28-161