In the Name of God The Most Gracious The Most Merciful

“By the sun and its brightness –

And by the moon when it follows it –

And by the day when it displays it –

And by the night when it covers it –

And by the sky and He who constructed it –

And by the earth and He who spread it –

And by the soul and He who proportioned it –

And inspired it towards its rights and wrongs –

He has succeeded who purifies it –

And he has failed who corrupts it –”

(Chapter 91 [The Sun]: 1 – 10)

Therefore from the chapter titled The Sun, solar power should be highly encouraged and revered among Muslims. This is because according to Islamic theology, anything which Allah (God) swears by in the Quran must hold significant value for humanity as God does not take an oath by anything other than that which is good. Ibrahim Abdul-Matin has therefore formulated the concepts of ‘Energy from Heaven’ (solar and wind) and ‘Energy from Hell’ (coal, oil, gas).

This is a clever play on words as solar and wind both originates from above us –“the Heavens”. Further, both the sun and the wind are brought to our attention in a number of verses in the Quran. Finally, Heaven is pure and reserved for those who have purified themselves and solar and wind energy are considered pure.

Similarly coal, oil and gas are found underground –in the “pit”, Hell is often used with reference to the ‘pit’. Further, coal, oil and gas are used in the form of fire or burning for generating heat or steam in energy generation. Hell is all about The Fire and burning therein. Finally, Hell is considered for those who are impure and have polluted themselves. Coal, oil and gas results in pollution and are therefore considered impure sources of energy.