Environmental Protection in Islamic Shari’ah

A Word From the Foundation

“We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of the creation.”

Holy Qur’an (Isra’17:70)

Surely, the Almighty Allah has deposited His blessings and wealth in this world, exceeding human needs, in order for man to live in problem-free comfort and has also created him in the most appropriate form and given him a mind and body which helps him utilize these bestowed blessings; like, day and night, the earth and heaven, rivers and trees, the sun and the moon…etc.

But, with all these blessings and great treasures surrounding us, existing on the surface of the earth and beneath it, one-fifth of the world population, i.e., one billion and two hundred million people, are living on the verge of poverty.

In light of all the technological advancement in the present era with diversification of industrial products and services, obsessive fear is still in the mind of man from the West to the East, where the present man may be more anxious than yesterday’s man, because of what is threatening him from the dangers of polluting the environment, nuclear radioactivity, lack of natural resources, as well as wars.

In this our present world, a person who has abundant food to eat cannot be regarded as someone who lives comfortably, because it is possible that an epidemic, diseases or other destructive elements, like hidden micro radiations will attack him under conditions he is familiar with those of which he is not, and which can enter his home through contaminated and polluted bottles of milk or through the poisonous air that he breathes.

Therefore, it is not surprising for the Chairman of the ‘Conference for Social Development’, which was conducted in March, 1995, in Copenhagen, Denmark, to announce to world leaders that the aim of the conference “is to reduce the unrest and insecurity which threatens people all over the world and put more effort on securing a suitable life for society”.

And prior to this, another conference was held, which emphasized the lack of possibility of dividing the factor of development and environment under whatever circumstances.

Then, there are the dangers of environmental pollution, the penetration of harmful and destructive solar rays to the ozone layers, the danger of deformity in children and the spread of cancer by nuclear pollution, and likewise, the dryness of rivers and deforestation and cessation of thousands of plants and animals is not confined to a particular region, north to south, in developed countries or underdeveloped ones.

Thus, there is a serious need for a collective effort toward achieving the international resolutions for protecting the environment and the plant and animal species, so as to protect and guarantee the existence of man, which is also the resolution of the United Nations, UNESCO, and the 12th Earth Conference.

But, unfortunately, some countries, especially the industrially developed countries, are not respecting these resolutions by continuing their nuclear tests and producing other destructive products for their own selfish, material interests, without the least consideration for human beings and the future of the world.

This is what UNESCO confirms in its analysis on world environmental problems, thus: “Surely, the problem of production and consumption of the industrial countries carries a preference on all those problems, where the effort and striving toward a great and quick profit means overlooking the trouble and hardship of environmental disorder…and this kind of act and behavior will create and give way to a great and tremendous damage, which will cause stress on the exhaustion of natural factors in the developing countries…”

The evidence of this inhuman act and the selfishness of those developed countries can be seen in the insistence of France testing her nuclear power in the Caribbean sea, the continuance of nuclear testing by the American government after all the agreements against this had been signed, or the danger of the spreading of nuclear weapons.

There are the events of leaking nuclear plants occurring in America in 1985, which only confirms the occurrence of 2300 events, the exportation of nuclear wastes, as well as dumping them in some third world countries and the ugly exploitation of natural wealth in some African countries without paying heed to the environment.

And still, the British export of beef to other countries, affected with mental disorders, and other unaccounted examples witnessed by us, are causing great damage and discomfort to human existence on this planet.

Al-Balagh Foundation