Water pollution has once again become a hot topic of discussion. This is in response to an incident that occurred earlier this month. On 11 August, a traffic accident in Semantan, Pahang, resulted in chemical pollution that shut off water to 397 districts in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.
Following the incident, several recommendations to tighten the Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 have been made to address the issue. This includes a new section enabling those affected by water pollution to claim their losses from parties responsible for such acts.
A penalty and clean-up expenditures that could total several million Ringgit Malaysia or more are suggested in addition to the victims’ claims against the polluters. The amount is higher than the current penalty of RM500,000 under Section 34B (4) of the Act.
It should be interesting to note that the latest amendment of EQA will be tabled in Parliament in October this year. The amendments will include several measures such as harsher fines to be imposed on environmental offenders as well as proposals to improve rules relating to air, noise, soil, and other aspects of the environment.
It is worth mentioning that the latest EQA amendment is the seventh amendment since it was gazetted in 1974. In the effort to address numerous environmental issues, including water pollution, each amendment makes the specified penalties more severe. However, various environmental issues keep coming up and get more complicated over time. Does this imply that the act is unsuccessful in preserving our environment?
The solution to environmental issues, such as water pollution, cannot rely on laws solely. Therefore, the best strategy for solving numerous environmental issues is to take a holistic approach. Environmental problems must be resolved by measures including an economic approach, education, and awareness campaigns in addition to legal measures.
For education, there are two methods for educating people: formal and non-formal methods. Because of its flexibility and ability to accommodate a variety of non-rigid approaches, the informal method will be the main emphasis of this article.
It is crucial to point out that the religious approach is part of the non-formal education strategy. The religious approach has been used to raise public awareness and knowledge to address the current environmental issues. Muslim communities are one of the many religious communities that have adopted the religious approach. Religious communities cannot remain indifferent or unconcerned about the world around them. This is because Muslims also contribute to many contemporary environmental issues.
A religious approach is required because it will alter people’s perspectives on life and their relationship with their surroundings. An appropriate perspective on life will affect how one acts. Therefore, having the appropriate perspective on life and the environment will affect how people treat the environment.
In Islam, water is an important resource in life. Verse 30 of surah Al-Anbiya’ (21) states that, “And that We made every living thing out of water? Will they then not have faith?” The verse serves as a piece of evidence that water is essential to the creation of all living things. Additionally, water is also essential for drinking (Al-Nahl, 16: 10), sustaining the soil (Al-Baqarah, 2: 164), and nourishing plants and fruits (Al-Mu’minun, 23: 19).
Water is also crucial for maintaining personal hygiene and is required for prayer, bathing, and other activities in the life of a Muslim. Maintaining personal hygiene is a requirement of the Muslim faith and thus, Muslims must take great care to uphold this principle. Moreover, water is crucial to human economic activities such as industry, manufacturing, and transportation. The ability to produce renewable energy, that is, electricity in dams also depends on water.
The Prophet Mohammed SAW demonstrated an essential act of water conservation. Through the way he completed the ablution, he represents the ideal approach to sustainable water use. The notion of water conservation is nicely exemplified by the guideline for doing ablution (wudu’). In his words the Prophet SAW said, “Do not waste even if performing ablution on the bank of a fast flowing large river”(Tirmidhi). The Prophet himself would conduct ablution with one mudd of water (equal to two-thirds of a litre) and bathe with one saa’ of water (equivalent to around three litres in modern volume measurements). In conclusion, water is a blessing and one of the signs of Allah’s Mercy to living beings. So, let us protect the valuable resource and prevent water pollution. Life will be destroyed if we fail to do so. Remember, Allah SWT has destroyed the people who were ungrateful to His Blessings. For example, the people of Prophet Nuh, Prophet Hud (the people of ‘Ad), Prophet Saleh (the people of Thamud) and Prophet Shuaib (the people of Madyan). Whatever the reason for the destruction of these peoples, the truth remains that those who destroy Allah SWT‘s creation will receive retribution for their actions (Al-Rum, 30: 41).