Sustainability is a religious obligation, says QF professor

A professor from the College of Islamic Studies at Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has urged Muslims to use Ramadan to adopt responsible and sustainable practices.

“Islam has always promoted sustainability; this is evident through several Quranic verses and Hadith. 1,500 years ago, long before the concept of sustainability was born, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) encouraged efficient use of water, and clearly forbade destruction of trees, even during war,” said Dr Abdulazeem Abozaid, Professor from the College of Islamic Studies at HBKU.“Just this one Hadith is enough to highlight the importance of sustainability in Islam,” said Dr. Abozaid. “Sadly, however, Islam’s teachings of sustainability are seldom seen in the majority of our lives these days.”We know from several reports that the Prophet (PBUH) would use less than half a litre of water for ablution. In contrast, people today use at least 10 litres of water, which is 20 times more than what the Prophet (PBUH) used. “The excessive use of water when doing ablution is not only a blatant disregard of what our beloved Prophet (PBUH) said, but also makes the otherwise rewardable act of ablution disliked (Makruh),” explained, Dr Abozaid.The academic highlighted that Islam calls for the efficient use of natural resources. “Allah’s command to not be wasteful applies to everything in life, whether its wasting food, water, electricity or even wasting time. Rather unfortunately, our blessing of having everything in abundance often results in excessive and wasteful behaviors. We need to change as a society, we need to unlearn and relearn, and become responsible consumers and in turn better Muslims, and what better time to start it than Ramadan,” he said.Dr Abozaid called on parents to instill the values of responsible consumption and sustainability in children. “Home is the first school and parents are the first teachers. The responsibility to educate and inform might lie primarily with schools, but the responsibility of instilling values lies with parents. “Children and adults alike must be reminded that it isn’t just a matter of water and electricity bills to be paid. As Muslims, we believe in the Day of Judgement – the day on which humans will be judged for their actions in this life – and on that day, we will be questioned on all our willful actions which will include how we spent our wealth and how we used precious resources such as water.”Qatar is a water-scarce country, not that water should be wasted anywhere, but especially not in a country where it is already scarce. “Each one of us is aware that as we stand today, there is not a chance we will be able to justify our consumption before Allah, and if we truly realise this, then we can use it to drive behavioral change,” said, Dr Abozaid.He also called on the youth to be mindful of their actions and put a stop to detrimental traditions. A classic example of which is the local annual Ramadan car parade, wherein young people, in their best cars, aimlessly cruise up and down the Corniche shortly before sunset. “Reflect and think about it. What benefit does it bring? Not only is it a waste of valuable time in the most Holy Month, it’s also a waste of petrol and of course, is unsustainable. There are better ways to have fun – ways that don’t come at the expense of our environment.”Food waste is inarguably the biggest challenge in Ramadan. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while his neighbour goes hungry.” "Instead of filling our tables with every food we can think of and then end up wasting half of it, let’s instead share it with those around us, whether it’s our neighbours or domestic workers or delivery drivers," he added.