Environmental Approach in Sufism Special of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi and Mevleviyeh

The word environment has a wide range of uses. Environment is defined as the setting in which people live and carry out their activities, or the conditions in which an organism exists. Environmental issue is considered as one of the most important issues of today's world. There are certain aspects, such as increasing population density, accompanying urbanization, industrialization, that imposes environmental pollution on the people of the modern era as a serious problem that needs to be dealt with. For this reason, this topic has become the interest of many disciplines and has made it almost mandatory for almost every science field and organization which has a claim for the future of humanity to determine their attitude and offer a solution. When we talk about our environment, we think of all living and non-living beings that both affect and are affected by humans. Allah has created human beings as notorious creatures in an environment and has placed all living and non-living creatures on earth under his command. The destruction of the nature which is created by the humans who were sent to earth as a caliph, is seen as one of the great dilemmas of the modern world. The pollution of rivers with chemical waste, the pollution of the sea and its gulfs, the indescribable slaughter of vegetation and many similar destructions are among the most important problems that need to be resolved in the near future. Sufism is the knowledge of ethics and self-discipline. It is the science of knowing Allah directly and serving Him sincerely in accordance with His consent. Sufism aims to purify people from all kinds of bad morals and behaviors and to reach the good, the right and the beautiful. The most distinctive feature of mysticism, which transforms people on the path to perfection and returns them to their original and natural qualities, is its holistic view of man and the universe. In Sufism, the spiritual structure of man has been handled in two ways; the brutish and the sultanic spirit. The brutish spirit is about maintaining life in this World by eating, drinking, having fun, etc. And the sultanic spirit is about goodness, worship, contemplation, etc. matters pertaining to the hereafter. The excessive desire of people who want to fulfil their passions and their dreams has caused the corruption of the balance of the nature. Therefore, environmental issues have led people to reconsider and make sense of the meaning of life and nature. In this article, we study the human-nature understanding of the Islamic wisdom tradition by exemplifying verses and hadiths. This article will be based on the thoughts of the important thinker Jalal Al-Din Rumi and Mevlevi, and it will point out how to provide environmental awareness.