In my previous column, I suggested that, in this month of worship, we (Muslims and others) should reflect with awe on the amazing and thought-provoking universe that science has revealed over the last century. I noted that this kind of reflection and meditation brings out a “cosmic spirituality” and is in tune with the contemplation that the Qur’an invites us to undertake.

There is, however, a similar and complementary type of reflection and contemplation, one that looks into nature here on Earth with its great variety of wonderful and surprising creatures; animals and plants, particularly trees. Indeed, connecting with nature can perhaps bring forth a “natural spirituality,” something we are very much in need of, as we currently suffer from a “nature deficit disorder.” We unfortunately no longer connect with nature — particularly plants, trees and forests — even though it has been proven that we work much better when we are surrounded by greenery. There are more than 400,000 species of plants in the world, 85 percent of which live underwater, and yet most of us couldn’t name more than a few.

A few years ago, Peter Wohlleben, a German forester, published a book titled “The Hidden Life of Trees.” It quickly became a huge bestseller, with over a million copies sold just in Germany and France. In it, he explains the extraordinary actions that trees perform individually and as groups. For example, plants and trees react to sounds, which may come from winds shaking branches, from insects moving about, from earth vibrations, or from humans around them. 

Of course, everyone knows that plants interact with light in the photosynthesis process, by which they absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. But the most impressive discovery of recent years is how trees form families and communities and communicate among themselves. Trees know each other and establish relationships with some species more than others, exchanging water and minerals, and sending chemical signals to “inform” each other about insects, droughts, or changing environmental conditions. Mother trees protect the young ones, and large trees interlink with hundreds of others through their roots (using mycelium, a fungus-like bacteria, as an agent), thus constituting a king of organic “internet.” Some have speculated that such a network could be considered a collective “mind.”

Let us contemplate the wonder of Earth's plants and animals to cure our 'nature deficit disorder.'

Nidhal Guessoum

In a very interesting TED talk titled “How trees talk to each other,” Canadian forest researcher Suzanne Simard showed the experiments she has performed, which show that trees exchange chemicals (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, water, and complex compounds) both underground and through the air. For example, they release chemicals to both resist attacks by insects and “inform” other trees of those attacks.

A few months ago, Wohlleben followed up his bestseller about trees with a similar book about animals, titled “The Inner Life of Animals.” Until recently, we thought that animals have no mind, no intelligence, no language, and no consciousness. But new scientific discoveries have shown the opposite: Dogs can be taught to understand numerous words (one learned more than 1,000); a monkey learned sign language and could understand the change in the meaning of a sentence if the words were switched around; animals communicate with each other by gestures, and monkeys even shake hands; and animals can not only use objects as tools for their needs but use objects to make tools.

Most impressively, researchers have recently shown the variety of personalities and behavior that animals can display: Affection, shyness, jealousy, shame, altruism, and more. Furthermore, extensive linguistic and cultural capabilities have been discovered. For instance, whales sing very complex songs — up to hours in lengths, with much variation in melodies, pitch, and other aspects. These songs vary from one group of whales to another, and even get transmitted: A real cultural phenomenon.

Researchers have found a full spectrum of language abilities in animals, including some commonalities with human languages. Most stunningly, a gene (FOXP2) was found to be common to humans and mice and, if it suffers a mutation, it leads to a disorder in the ability to communicate in both species.

The Qur’an describes animals as “nations like you.” Six of its chapters are named after animals, and these creatures are mentioned in more than 200 verses. Prophet Muhammad was known to have warned against the mistreatment of animals.

The great German philosopher Immanuel Kant said: “He who is cruel to animals becomes also hard in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” And the great Lebanese-American poet Gibran Khalil Gibran wrote: “Trees are poems that Earth writes in the sky. We cut them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness.”

Let us connect with nature and all its creatures, from the smallest plants and animals to the tallest and oldest trees, as “nations like us” and treat them with love, compassion and respect.