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| Environmental Health:
Islamic Perspective
In Islamic communities there is a major
guaranteed method of seeking advantage and combating corruption, which is
the promotion of good (maarouf) and the censure of abominations (munkar).
This is an obligation that goes beyond mere education and information
availability and involves checking that the information is actually put to
practical use. Preserving Trees The Prophet (pbuh) sought to encourage
agriculture in order to increase vegetation resources and enhance a
benevolent environment. The Prophet (pbuh) was the first to establish environmental reservations, where trees could not be cut down and animals could not be killed. God's messenger protected the whole of Medina, section by section, where no tree could be uprooted and nothing bigger than what can be used to drive a camel could be cut. He did not allow any trees of Medina to be cut down. He said about the city that: 'Its game may not be scared, and none of its trees may be cut, except for a man feeding his camel". He also said: "I forbid the trees between the two lavas of Medina to be cut down and the game to be killed". Referring to the Wajj Valley in Taif, he
said, "The
game and trees of Wajj are forbidden".
A Muslim is even compelled by force to
irrigate palm trees if neglecting to do so would cause them to die. The
same thing applies to other plants. The evidence in support of this is
God's words: As soon as they hold authority, they go over the earth to
spread corruption, destroying tilth and progeny. God does not like
corruption. (2:205) Caring for Animals These injunctions were thoroughly
understood and acted upon by Muslims. Refer, if you will, to what imam Ibn
Hazm says in Al-muhalla: To keep an animal from the feed or grazing
necessary for its survival, and to neglect the irrigation of fruit trees
and plants until they perish, is according to God's own words corruption
on earth and destruction of tilth and progeny. It is something that God
does not like! Roads The Prophet (pbuh) Muhammad (pbuh) used to urge people to clean and not pollute their environment. He said: "To clear the road of all sources of harm is a benefaction". Benefaction or sadaqa, is a
term used in Islam to refer to what we call today civilized behavior or
civilized conduct, because as the derivation of the Arabic word suggests,
it is the true evidence that an individual belongs to the civilized Muslim
community. Water The Prophet (pbuh) 's (pbuh) guidance also
includes his injunction "Let
no one urinate in stagnant water".
"The Prophet (pbuh) has forbidden anyone to urinate where he
bathes." He used to say:
"Avoid the two actions that bring peoples curses!" He was asked:
"What are these?" "The one who defecates in the road and
the shade used by others." The great scholar Al-Izz ibn Abd al-Salam
summed up the rights of other people to be observed by a rational free
adult as "bringing them all types of good and sparing them all kinds
of harm... Good is used to mean bringing benefits and preventing evils,
and harm is used to mean bringing evils and preventing benefits." This prohibition on polluting
water sources and roads is only one of the Islamic directives that aim to
keep the environment healthy. We have a complementary order to keep it
clean and pollution free. Food and Drink The Prophet (pbuh) prohibited the
contamination of food and drink with what human bodies discharge, because
these discharges carry germs and spread infection. Community The
Prophet (pbuh) forbade causing harm to individuals and to the community,
as he said: "There shall be no infliction of harm on oneself or
others". excerpt from: |