The charter seeks to end all kinds of pollution

By Aya Farouk, IOL Staff

CAIRO, December 4 (IslamOnline.net) – A committee of Islamic university professors is currently drawing up the first ever Islamic charter on environment.

The committee is expected to submit its draft to the annual meeting of the league of Islamic universities next April in the Lebanese capital Beirut as a step towards being ratified by Islamic countries.

Ga'far Abdul Salam Ameen, the league's secretary general and one of the main authors of the draft, told IslamOnline.net that it is incumbent on Muslims to protect the environment "which was harnessed by God for the benefit of human beings".

"God the Almighty has created the environment pure and safe and made it at man's disposal," he stressed.

Ameen asserted that several Qur'anic verses pay due attention to the environment with its aspects and elements.

He cited the verse which reads: " O ye people! Worship your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness;  Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens; and brought forth therewith Fruits for your sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know [the truth]."

Therefore, Ameen maintained, "500 Muslim scholars and professors from 20 Arab and Islamic country agreed in an international conference last May on the importance of drafting an Islamic charter on the environment to be ratified during the league's upcoming meeting in Beirut."

The charter will make clear what does Islam say about the environment and how to protect it from pollution.

"The charter would underscore that Islam is a religion of cleanliness and reconstruction and not a religion of destruction and sabotage," the professor said.

He added that the mooted charter would deem harming the environment as a breach of the rules of Islam and urge Muslims to make the best use of natural resources for the welfare of mankind.

"It would further assert that environment security is part and parcel of the national security in the Muslim world," Ameen said, urging the media to draw people's attention to the importance of protecting the environment.

International Crime 

Ahmad Fouad, the vice president of Cairo University, said the charter would regard environmental pollution, whether caused by individuals or countries, "an international crime" punished by law.

"The charter's items are based on two basic principles: heading off everything that has a damaging effect on society, and contributing to the welfare and prosperity of humanity," he told IOL.

The professor hailed the charter as unique in its moderate Islamic approach, which is employed in protecting the environment.

But he also noted that the scientific approach is equally important when dealing with environmental issues, highlighting the importance of relevant scientific researches on the environment.

Muslim preachers are also expected to play a pivotal role under the proposed charter.

"The charter would highlight the key role to be played by preachers in adopting a religious discourse that helps enhance the Shariaa [Muslim Law]," Al-Ahmadi Abu El-Nour, the former minister of Egypt's religious endowments and one of the charter's architects, told IOL.