{"id":29601,"date":"2021-07-09T10:01:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T02:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=29601"},"modified":"2021-07-09T10:01:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T02:01:07","slug":"sustainable-development-goals-and-the-shariah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/sustainable-development-goals-and-the-shariah\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable Development Goals And The Shariah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Of\nlate there has been mounting pressure from many quarters regarding the plight\nof the environment, most dramatically encapsulated by the climate change\ncrisis. Internationally, there is even talk of criminalizing destruction and\nmismanagement of forests for example, wherein such actions are going to be\nconsidered as ecocide<\/strong> which is not\nyet illegal at the present time. After 50 years of sounding the alarm bell,\nenvironmentalists are also hopeful that the moral power of those who are\nadvocates would increase with the interest taken by the International Criminal\nCourt currently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nparallel to this perhaps there should also be an expansion of the role of\nreligious leaders in the efforts to curb the escalating dangers to mankind as a\nresult of the inadmissible behaviours towards earth\u2019s finite resources. Just as the quarantines imposed due to the\npandemic has been a time for reflecting on the meaning of one\u2019s religiosity so\ntoo should policy makers, manufacturers, economists, consumers, and the layman alike\nbe able to receive inputs into their thinking from the religious dimension,\nabout the imminent and critical dangers we have put the planet into due to our\nintended or unintended actions. Morality and ethics or akhlak <\/em>after all, is the forte of religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nIslamic environmental ethics, mankind carries the mission of imarah<\/em> (to make prosperous) the gift of\nnature, often synonimised as a trust or amanah<\/em>.\nIt could be summarized therefore that one of the central missions of humans\n(that means each and everyone of us if possible) is to preserve or sustain the\nwellbeing of nature so as to bring peace and wellbeing to its inhabitants\n(human and non-human) who by the way are all related to one another as the word\necology<\/strong> presumes and science provides\nthe evidence for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious\nleaders need to embark on ensuring that curricula, policies and practices of\ntheir jamaah<\/em> (their followers) embody\nthe adab<\/em> or ethics towards the\nenvironment or nature which Allah has created for his sustenance and sustained\nexistence on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mischief has appeared on land and sea\nbecause of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned, that (God) may give\nthem a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from\nEvil)<\/em>.  (Quran, Surah ar-Rum, 30: 41)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nMuslims for all ranks, reflection on this ayat<\/em>\nis critical today if they are to prove that Islam has something to offer in\nterm of arresting ecocide and climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nterm the Quran uses to describe the natural environment is khalq <\/em>(creation) which significantly is mentioned no less than 261\ntimes. In a broader sense, man is part of the totality of the creational\nprocess and the Quran is the manual that lays down the foundations of the guideline\n(shariah<\/em>) of our conduct in the\naffairs between man and man, man and nature, and man and the Creator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shariah<\/em>,\nwhich derives from the Arabic word shara\u2019a<\/em>:\nmeans the clear path, way, or the road to a watering (nourishing for life)\nplace. This latter idea clearly indicates the relationship between shariah<\/em> and the environmental elements,\nnotably water (al-ma\u2019<\/em>), and water for\nexample, is mentioned 63 times in the Quran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nwe take the link between life and water as an analogy, similarly there is no proper\nlife without shariah<\/em>. The objectives\nof the shariah (maqasid al-shariah<\/em>)\nconsist of five essential values namely preservation and protection of faith,\nlife, intellect, property, and lineage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nIslamic approach vis-\u00e0-vis<\/em> the\nenvironment is neither ecocentrism nor anthropocentrism per se<\/em>. It strives to create a just balance between the rights and\nobligations of humans and those of his fellow creatures. Indeed, man is given\ndominance over nature. Yet, nature is not his to do as he pleases without\nlimits.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nshort, Islam has underlined many adab<\/em>\n(ethics) of human\u2019s relations with the environment. Plants and animals for\nexample are substantial beings that always interact and in total contributes to\nhuman life. In the Quran, flora and fauna are given special attention and\nspecific surah or chapters are named after plants and animals, such as Surah\nat-Tin (the fig tree) and Surah al-Nahl (bee), Surah al-Ankabut (spider) etc.\nFurthermore, there are numerous verses that explains human interactions with\nthe environment; such as in Al-An\u2019am; 141 (He is the One who has created gardens, trellised and\nuntrellised, and date-palms and crops with a variety of edibles, and the olive\nand the pomegranate, (some) similar to one another, and (some) dissimilar. Eat\nof its fruit when it bears fruits, and pay its due on the day of harvest, and\ndo not be extravagant. Surely, Allah does not like the extravagant<\/em>),\nand many others that explains about the biodiversity that has been created,\nwhich is now being destroyed at a rapid rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nseparation between science and religion which led to the peripheralisation of\nvalues, meanings, purposes as well as the importance of the demarcation of\n\u2018rights\u2019 and \u2018wrongs\u2019 that affect all areas of life is seen to be instrumental\nfor bringing about the currently dominating man-centered worldview (MCW). The\nMCW also known as the \u2018planetary management worldview\u2019 has been the most\ndominant in the last 70 years in industrial societies of today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nsummary of its values\/principles include the ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We are the planet\u2019s\nmost important species; we live apart from and are in charge of nature;<\/li>
  2. There is always more\n(resources) and it\u2019s all for us;<\/li>
  3. All forms of economic\ngrowth is good and desirable even if it is leads to ecocide<\/strong>;<\/li>
  4. A healthy environment\ndepends on a healthy economy (when it should be the reversed); <\/li>
  5. Our success depends on\nhow well we can understand, control and manage the planet for our benefit\n(only);<\/li>
  6. Other species have a\nmere instrumental value; <\/li>
  7. As the most dominant\nspecies, man can and should manage the planet for his benefit alone; with no\nclear guidelines on why<\/strong> the rich\nshould take care of the poor. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFrom the standpoint of ecological knowledge, it\ncan be argued that the MCW principles are definitely ignorant of the\ninappropriateness of such a chauvinistic stance towards nature. The Islamic\nperspective would inevitably not be in line with it, nor will it be supporting\nthe Sustainable Development Goals the world is struggling to achieve.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Of late there has been mounting pressure from many quarters regarding the plight of the environment, most dramatically encapsulated by the climate change crisis. Internationally, there is even talk of criminalizing destruction and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}