Sunnah Towards Environment

We often heard of the global crisis people are facing today; global warming and rapid climate change. Ever wonder why all of these happened? It is all because of the humans’ wrongdoing. As mentioned in the Quran:

"Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which men’s hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return". (Quran 30:41)

According to the verse, Allah is giving us a taste of our own medicine (punishment) so that we may return from the wrong directions we have taken in life. As the saying, "What you give is what you get". In simpler words, Allah will punish humans for their bad deeds so that humans will realise that they have did something bad and then repent for Allah's forgiveness.

In order to preserve our environment, we need to change our daily practices according to the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad. Preserving the nature has positive impacts not just for humans, but also for the whole ecological system including animals and plants. One of the significance of maintaining the environment is that sanitary environment maintains the community.

Hygiene and cleanliness (tahara) is so integral to Islam that it is actually a major sub-branch of Muslim belief. Without physical hygiene, prayers are broken. Without clean facilities pollution ruins cities, and without any effort to improve one's own purity, it becomes more difficult to prevent external corruptions like littering. According to Rasulullah, among the practices we can do in keeping the environment are:

1.      Street clean-ups

As narrated by Abu Dharr Al-Ghafari:

"Removing harmful things from the road is an act of charity (sadaqah)."

From the above narration, it is very important for us to remove any harmful objects from the road as it might cause injury to anyone who is using or going to use the road. For example, removing fallen branches from the middle of the road. This is to allow vehicles to go through the road safely as well as to avoid any serious accidents.

2.      Planting trees

Some Hadiths of the Prophet connected with planting trees and protecting them:

“If you have a sapling, if you have the time, be certain to plant it, even if Doomsday starts to break forth.”

“Whoever reclaims and cultivates dry, barren land will be rewarded by God for the act. So long as men and animals benefit from it He will record it for him as almsgiving.”

“Whoever plants a tree, reward will be recorded for him so long as it produces fruit.”

All of the 3 hadiths emphasized on the importance of planting trees. Not only it will benefit the one who planted it (getting Allah’s reward), but it will also benefit animals and other people who uses the tree as shelter or eat the fruits from the tree.

3.      Consider recycling and fixing before buying new items

When asked about how the Prophet used to live in his house, the Prophet's wife, `A'ishah, said that he used to repair his own shoes, sew his clothes and carry out all such household chores done without complaint or want for more.

(Authenticated by Al-Albani).

The idea behind this was to show Muslims that humble tasks were not degrading for God's Prophet. Reusing and repairing things instead of always buying new is not a sign of poverty. Instead, they are a sign of power. By performing household duties, the Prophet was saying we can build foundations on less 'stuff', that we are in control of what we consume and we don't need more.

Using container of fruit juice to make a bird feeder

Painting an old cabinet to make it look more attractive

Fixing a jean's zip instead of buying a new pair