Implications of Public Policy Priorities Based on Imam Ali’s Government, according to “AL Sahih Men Sira Imam Ali (a’s)”

This address opens with stewardship, a central theme relating theistic religions to ethics. This theme is central to modern Christianity and Judaism, and increasingly to contemporary Islam. It is accepted by Islamic scholars such as Azizan Baharuddin. While it is not itself an ethic, it is a model of the role of humanity within the created order, and one with ethical implications.
The most relevant field of science is ecological science. This science embodies widely accepted teachings about ecosystems. Climate science is an off-shoot, and is influencing international climate negotiations. We all need to accept and act on its findings.
    But ecology is grounded in Darwinism. Darwinism encountered resistance from some, as well as a welcome from other religious leaders. I have argued elsewhere that Darwinism and theism are compatible. One apparent problem concerned whether humans could have non-human ancestors. Another problem concerned pre-human suffering, which is a genuine problem for theologians. But we cannot discard Darwinism to solve this problem, as many Christians recognized. For there are many strands of strong evidence for Darwinism.
     Recognizing this problem suggests that we should discard metaphysical anthropocentrism, which clashes with the Hebrew Bible (for example, Psalm 104). This also allows us to recognize the intrinsic importance of animal well-being. But this recognition helps solve the problem of pre-human animal suffering, which is discussed in some detail, using Rolston’s arguments about the positive value of a world of fauna and flora over a world of flora only, and of a world of heterotrophs (which eat others) and predation over a world of autotrophs only.
     Ethical implications of all this are now elicited: Preserve biodiversity, species and habitats. Prevent animal cruelty and neglect. Stop factory farming, and imports from factory farms. Preserve creatures for our successors. Theological implications are also elicited. We should recognize that God wants all creatures to flourish, as well as human beings, and to be allowed space and opportunities to develop in accordance with their created natures.