By Şeyma Acar
Amidst the chaos of modern life, many feel a profound sense of loss—a fragmented state that yearns for a deeper connection to the self, nature, and the Creator. As Ibn Sīnā once observed, “Man’s perfection lies in the harmony of his soul with the order of the universe”. Yet, the modern human has lost this essential harmony, unable to preserve the balance within their being because of a broken bond with nature.
The signs, which the Qur’an calls āyāt, are not confined to the revealed words alone. They wait to be read everywhere: in the sky, in the gaze of an animal, and in the silence of the mountains.
One figure devoted to interpreting these signs is Shaykh Mohammed Foulds. Through his Hearts SEE approach—centered on “seeing with the heart”—he offers a compelling call to fragmented modern minds that have forgotten how to think holistically. For him, forming a true bond with nature is the path to rediscovering one’s own essence.
We embark on a journey into the heart of nature with Shaykh Mohammed Foulds, whose gaze invites us to listen to the voice of nature and awaken to the awareness of listening to ourselves and the Creator.
A Childhood in the Woods: First Contact
Shaykh Foulds’s deep connection to the natural world began in childhood.
“I’ve been rather fortunate throughout my life,” he reflects. Before traveling the world as a Muslim for 26 years, he spent his youth as a non-Muslim. “My father worked for the Forestry Commission in England,” he recalls vividly.
Those early days were spent right in the heart of the pine forests, where his father’s office was located. They would do animal and squirrel counts with the rangers, unknowingly learning “the language of nature”.
“Those memories remain deeply etched in my mind. That, I suppose, was my first real contact with the natural world,” he says. Looking back, he sees the profound meaning, as today he teaches about “the language of forests”.
The Two Books of Signs
Shaykh Foulds calls the Qur’an “the Book of Signs” and views the natural world in the same way. This gives us both the revealed word and what scholars of old called kitāb al-kawn—”the book of creation”.
The Qur’an’s very first verse, “Read in the name of your Lord who created” (Al-Alaq 96:1), is a lesson on how to read. Since the Qur’an constantly references nature and the cosmos, the essential question is: How are we to read the book of nature? It, too, has its own language.
- Beyond the Surface: Scholars regarded nature as a book to be read—a reservoir of knowledge and a tapestry of signs embedded within the Qur’an.
- The Guideposts: Both revealed verses and natural signs are guideposts that direct us towards the Creator, Allah (c.c.).
- Perceiving Meaning: Every sign—every letter, word, and sūrah—invites us to look beyond the tree or the bird themselves. While we can study them biologically, the true aim is to perceive the meaning that lies beyond.
This is where the concept of tadabbur (contemplation) comes into play: to look behind something, to contemplate what lies beyond the visible.
From Falconry to Faith: The Desert Calling
The Shaykh’s path toward Islam was intrinsically linked to his contemplation of nature. As a biologist focused on birds of prey like falcons, hawks, and eagles, he was commissioned to study the Eurasian griffon vulture (or red vulture) in the southwestern mountains of Saudi Arabia, near al-Baha.
It was there, “some 8,000 feet above the clouds,” that he heard the magnificent call to prayer, the adhan. In that moment, he embraced Islam. This transformation—his “first true encounter with Islam”—began in the stillness of the Tanuma mountains, between earth and sky.
“What took me there in the first place was falconry—a tradition that is also mentioned in the Qur’an,” he notes. His journey as a professional falconer ultimately opened the doors of the Islamic world31.
A Crisis of Perception and The Path to Reconnection
Shaykh Foulds argues that we are experiencing a “crisis of perception,” with 99.99% of humanity disconnected from the natural world.
To face today’s crises, individuals must simply reach the first level of Islamic contemplation: to reconnect with the natural world.
- True Connection: This is not about superficial activities like walking a dog or having a barbecue. It is the concept of “nature connectedness”—truly connecting through our senses.
- The Simple Steps: Begin with small steps, such as engaging in “sit-spot” exercises—practices of sitting still, listening, looking, and truly seeing. Our Lord repeatedly asks us, “Why do you not look, why do you not observe, why do you not see?”.
- Cultivating the Bond: If possible, practice permaculture, establish food forests, or cultivate small gardens. These are simple yet profoundly effective ways to reconnect not only with nature, but also with the Divine order itself.
When we recalibrate our senses, we begin to see the world through a Qur’anic lens, breaking away from the reductionist and fragmented perspective of the world imposed by thinkers like Descartes.
The Heart That Sees
For Shaykh Foulds, solving the ecological crisis requires more than technical or political conservation. It demands hearts that respond. This “heart” is not the physical organ, but the heart that sees, thinks, and perceives—the heart that will ultimately save us in the Hereafter.
- Fitrah and Transformation: We must re-establish a spiritual bond with nature, which is the very essence of fitrah, our innate nature. As human beings who hold the position of khalīfah (stewards) on Earth, we must first undergo an inner transformation: a release from the one-sided, mechanical, and left-hemispheric thinking imposed by Western civilization.
- The Heart-Brain: While references to “looking” are often understood as senses, the heart is what is truly being addressed. Science has even confirmed that the heart possesses its own brain that thinks before the main brain. This profound teaching is rooted in the Qur’an and the saying of the Prophet (pbuh): “There is a piece of flesh in the body; if it is sound, the whole body is sound”.
By descending into the heart, one encounters profound realms of vibration, frequency, and resonance, which ancient sages and Islamic scholars intimately linked to the heart and to light (nūr).
The Continuous Unfolding of Creation
A relationship with the Qur’an simultaneously forms a bond with creation. It is a continuous process: looking at the world through the lens of the Qur’an, and then turning that gaze from the Qur’an back to nature and the cosmos.
“We see that everything is alive and in motion, that creation is a ceaseless unfolding. Nothing is static,” he says. “And so, from the written revelation, we turn towards the ongoing act of creation before our eyes and within our hearts. It is then that we are truly connected to the Most Beautiful and Most Exalted Names of Allah”.
The honeybee, a creature deeply interwoven with its ecosystem, stands out to the Shaykh (a professional beekeeper and instructor). It connects us beautifully to Surah An-Nahl, which speaks of vibration, resonance, and language. The order within the hive, with its single queen, teaches tawhīd—the unity underlying all creation—and serves as a reminder of how human societies can form harmonious communities.
Ultimately, establishing a harmonious connection with nature requires re-establishing a living relationship with revelation. Our relationship with nature is severed because our connection with the Divine plan has been broken.
The Shadow of Colonialism and Ecocide
Shaykh Foulds does not shy away from the hard realities of the modern world. He argues that the mindset that destroys nature is inextricably linked to systems of oppression.
We must look behind the curtain of “conservation,” which he calls a deception. What truly governs the natural world today are three forces operating in harmony: colonialism, capitalism, and the corporate sphere.
- Greenwashing and Genocide: The rhetoric of “preservation” is a banner of deception—a façade under the umbrella of “greenwashing”. The mainstream conservation movement stands at the forefront of a new form of genocide and colonialism.
- Ecological Warfare: In Palestine, we see clear “ecological colonialism” at play. What is happening is a “landscape ecological warfare,” aiming to reconstruct a “biblical” order by eradicating the organic life that naturally exists there.
- The Elite’s Playgrounds: The so-called “30×30 plan” and even safari parks in Africa are examples of a false agenda serving the “white elite,” often leading to the displacement of indigenous peoples and serving Western civilization’s resource needs.
“In short, we remain standing in the shadow of Western civilisation,” he concludes.
The awareness of the interconnected and harmonious order of nature ultimately leads to “the science of balance”—an understanding of what harms and what heals. This allows one to see where the harm truly comes from and transform the weariness of crisis into hope.
