The Function of Servitude on Social Ethics and the Environment from the Perspective of Islamic Sufism

Providing ethical patterns and solutions in relation to improving the human-human relationship as well as the human-environmental relationship is very important today. The concept of servitude (ʿubūdiyya) is one of the important religious concepts in Islam and especially in Islamic mysticism and Sufism. The purpose of this study is to draw a pattern of the ethics of practical altruism and environmental protection, considering the ancient, rich and valuable heritage of Islamic Sufism. In the books of Islamic mysticism, conditions and principles have been mentioned for the concept of serving God, and acting, behaving and observing them leads to the emergence of proper moral behavior towards man and nature. This research has been done by library method and the description and analysis of the collected data show that the essential principles of the character of servitude from the perspective of Islamic mysticism include: modesty (tawāḍuʿ), poverty (faqr), service (ḵidma) and beneficence (ʾiḥsān). The results of this study show that modesty leads to better human interaction with humans and other creatures and prevents arrogance and domineering behavior, and belief in poverty and homelessness leads to greater human contentment and less greed to own and use environmental resources, and the principle of beneficence leads to service and help to man and nature.