The Earth, the Quran says, has been spread out like a carpet beneath our feet:

“God made the Earth for you a carpet so that you may travel on its open roads.” (71:19-20)

This “carpet” is the Earth’s crust: a thin layer of only a few miles, resting on a sea with a radius of 3,750 miles. At the bottom of the sea is a foaming layer of hot fluid; above that are rocks still in fusion; then rocks undergoing geological transformation; then cold water which is the very life of the earth above it. Folds have been formed in the earth, fashioning mountain ranges above, and forging the earth into its substrata like a boat in water. The earth is dependent on subterranean fluid to stay afloat just as a boat is dependent on water.

This is an intricate system, delicately balanced. If the system is misused, the balance will be disturbed. Overuse of water, for instance, through overpopulation or over rapid industrialization, besides causing pollution in the atmosphere above, causes the earth to sink on its bed below.

This is what is happening in Mexico City. With 16 to 17 million people living in just 590 square miles of federal territory, it is the most populous conurbation in the world. The city is already situated in a bowl between high mountain, which act as a trap for air-pollution. Now this bowl is sinking still further. First detected in 1925, submergence of the city at a rate of about 10 cms per year, is thought to have commenced much earlier. It is caused by over-exploitation of the water layer in its subsoil.

The mountains have been fixed into the earth, the Quran says, and the earth made even, so that man might take thought (88:19-20). If he does this, aware of the way in which nature has been made to accord with his needs, then he will be careful to live in a way that does not disrupt the order that sustains him. If he plunders nature, or disturbs its balance, then he will be digging a hole in his own boat. □