ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN ISLAM

Ali Al-Sallabi

 

Islam is keen to protect the environment with all its components by creating a complete conception of life and its system and what it requires of renaissance or development according to fixed rules that do not change and do not change with the change of time and place. The environment was not a fantasy or a myth from the myths of the Greeks and Romans, but rather it is part of the instinct that God created people with , in a sincere orientation to the Creator of all creation, the Almighty said: The right religion, but most people do not know.” (Al-Rum, verse 30).

Nature, including the resources that God has gifted to His servants, such as water, soil, sun, and air, it is the right of man in this society to preserve for him, if possible, these natural resources that God Almighty has brought to him. However, modern civilization, despite its undeniable services and achievements, took place on the human body. Many woes, apart from the work-related injuries mentioned above, including environmental pollution.

The environment is the home and what surrounds the individual or society and affects them. It is said: a natural environment, a social environment, and a political environment. What is meant here is the first - nature - which is the subject of our conversation. As for pollution, it is smudge, pollution of water or air and the like, mixed with harmful foreign substances.

Islam called for the safety of the environment and its corruption for people, and the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, confirmed these meanings, with his call to purify the environment from the evils that pollute it, including:

Prohibition of urinating in stagnant water: Water is a blessing from God Almighty who created it for people to drink from, wash and water their animals and crops, the Almighty said: “And We made from water every living thing. Do they not then believe?” (verse 30).

This blessing - water - turns into pure harm if the human hand tampers with pollution, and how many diseases arise from swamps with polluted water, so the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, forbade polluting water, especially stagnant water, as Jabir bin Abdullah, may God be pleased with him, narrated, That he, peace and blessings of God be upon him, forbade paying attention to stagnant water, because flowing water is variable and the cause of harm - pollution - on living organisms, unlike stagnant water, is not realized.

Purification and implementation of mosques: The teachings of Islam combine care for cleanliness, gentleness and forgiveness. Anas bin Malik, may God be pleased with him, narrated that he said: While we were in the mosque with the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace: If a Bedouin came and urinates in the mosque, the companions of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said He, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: “Meh-meh.” He, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: “ Do not purse him.” So they left him until he urinated, then the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, called him and said: “ These mosques are not suitable for any of this urine or filth, but they are for male God Almighty, prayer and reading the Qur’anHe said: So he commanded a man from among the people, and he brought a bucket of water and set it on him. There is no doubt that this modern Bedouin had a covenant with Islam that did not value the environment, and he did not know the teachings of Islam yet, so he urinated in the purest place and the most honorable environment after the Sacred House of God, so the Prophet, peace be upon him, explained to him May God’s peace and blessings be upon him that mosques are not worthy of this matter, neither repugnant nor refuted, and since the Prophet’s Mosque was furnished with pebbles, pouring some water on urine is sufficient, and he, peace and blessings of God be upon him, forbade polluting the mosque with slugs and the like, and on the authority of Abu Dharr, may God be pleased with him, who said The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “ The good and bad deeds of my nation were shown to me, and I found in the merits of their deeds harm is removed from the road, and in the bad deeds of their deeds I found marrow, which is in the mosque and is not buried. ” Rather, he ordered the mosques to be cleaned and perfumed, as Lady Aisha, may God be pleased with him, narrated. On her authority, she said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, commanded that mosques be built in houses and that they be cleaned and perfumed.

The cleanliness of roads and public facilities: The most frequented places by people are public roads, water resources, and places of sitting, such as shade and the like. Therefore, Islam warns against polluting them in particular, because that would harm people on the one hand, because they are places that are indispensable to them, and bring curses on the doer on the other hand. On the authority of Muadh bin Jabal, may God be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “ Beware of the three curses: excrement in sources, side of the road, and shade .”

There is no doubt that polluting these places is more harmful than others, as people multiply in them and harm will occur, so the warning was repulsive, describing the act as a fortified place to curse and insult people, because healthy behaviors repel that, in addition to polluting the environment. And public places, because it creates harm and damage in places frequented by people, spoiling the environment and causing oneself to be cursed.

Not blocking the wind from the neighbor: He, peace and blessings of God be upon him, made it clear that the fresh air is a person’s right to smell, and it is not permissible to block it from him in any case, so he said, addressing the neighbor in a good neighbourhood: “ Do not shelter him in the building, so the wind will be veiled from him except with his permission .” This hadith is a guide to the neighbor, and an indication that the air is a human right and it is not permissible to withhold it from him except with his permission, and the sun’s rays are attached to that because it is more important in some countries, places and seasons. It is more appropriate that he not put the trash in front of his house, or raise the volume of the radio, the recorder, and the television, so as to annoy him with noise, and not open the smoke holes of the bathrooms and kitchens in his house, all of that falls under his saying, peace be upon him: “ There is no harm, no harm.”From the foregoing, it became clear to us that Islam is keen on the environment, in its cleanliness and purity, good souls, and the safety of bodies, and since planting and planting increases the environment in freshness and beauty, Islam urged it, from Anas bin Malik, may God be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, said: There is no Muslim who plants a tree or sows crops and then a bird, a person, or an animal eats from it but that it is charity for him .”

Modern environmental pollutants : In the past, environmental pollutants were naive and easy, and they expanded in the modern era as a result of the industrial revolution. With human waste such as garbage and others.

Noise and its effect on hearing: There is a noise that distorts the environment and disturbs its peace and deafening the ears, exposing it to deafness sometimes, such as: the hum of planes, the sounds of cars, factory engines, the buzzing of fans and air conditioners, and the whistling of the radio and television, this constant noise causes the blood vessels to shrink, and paleness Skin, muscle contraction, and "adrenaline" rushes into the bloodstream, where severe tension occurs.

Pollution by smoke and gases: The smoke of factories, trains, automobile exhaust gas, burning of forests, and the shrinkage of green trees, a serious blow to the human body, when it caused air pollution that is much needed, but this pollution can be reduced by working to expand the green area, by planting trees.

Radioactive contamination: The waste is a scourge for humanity and a great danger to the human body. It distorts it if it does not destroy it, if it is neglected and it cannot be disposed of. Therefore, it must be placed in containers that do not corrode or rust where there are no living creatures, and where geological phenomena such as earthquakes do not reveal them, so they are returned. to exist.

Pollution with human excreta: It is known that garbage has a bad effect on the environment, from it emits unpleasant odors and various germs that transmit diseases, and all of this reaches the human body through the air and other things. On the one hand, it is used as energy on the other.

Also, water sewers - cesspools - pose a danger no less than the danger of garbage, if not more, as it spoils the environment very badly if it is not properly sealed and disposed of.

These are some of the basic pollutants of the environment: noise, smoke, toxic gases, atomic radiation, human waste, and many others, but the study was limited to these types because they are more comprehensive and more dangerous to the human body than others. There is pollution with oil waste, as a result of washing and cleaning oil tankers in the seas. And there is the mineral and chemical pollution resulting from the dumping of waste from chemical and petrochemical factories, and steel factories on the coasts, which are also dumped in sea waters. We should not miss the danger of modern weapons that pollute the atmosphere and disfigure bodies, as they are sometimes suffocating, and sometimes deadly, and whose danger does not stop at the borders of military armies Rather, it extends beyond them to the general public, and the effects of nuclear distortion remain among the Japanese as a result of the bombing of the atomic bomb in 1945 AD on Hiroshima and these weapons are such as:

Nuclear weapons, such as atomic, hydrogen and nitrogen bombs.

Chemical weapons, such as war gases and incendiary materials such as napalm and smoke.

Biological weapons, which are used in the form of liquid or dry biological preparations of mineral microbes, or the use of disease-carrying insects as a means of transmitting microbes.