Indonesia

Mistakes are made on individual levels as well as on national, regional and international levels. Indonesia’s government is being pressured by the transnational corporations, as well as the simple system of global demand and supply of palm oil, to keep on burning forests and making space for palm oil plantations. According to Zen from PM.Haze, the blame for the deforestation and haze can largely by put on companies who burn the trees to clear the land, and who dig huge canals to drain water out of wet peat swamp forests, despite being well aware of the risks.

The Indonesian government is trying to take on the haze problem, however due to the vast size of Indonesia itself and the various other social problems the country is facing which are more pressing, the government is unable to provide rapid responses. The best solution right now would be if consumer demand for palm oil products went down, so that the companies are not motivated to create more plantations.

As a result, it is not a question of faith, or believing in an islamic environmental paradigm, but more of external forces pushing Muslims in Indonesia to continually cause harm to the environment.

Middle East

As mentioned before, the reason for the environmental destruction in Kuwaiti oil wells was due to eco-terrorism. Again, these are external forces which are beyond the control of the local people. I am sure that the local people hate the fact that 15-25% of their desert vegetation was uprooted, tramples, and destroyed over the course of war. Agricultural production in the Kuwaiti region was excessively damaged due to acid rains.

Hence, when faced with forces, far beyond their control, people cannot be blamed for the environmental destruction in their countries.

So what can be done?

Muslims have an obligation to live sustainably as caretakers of the earth. Despite being faced with external obstacles, there are still ways for them to adopt greener lifestyles. This can be done through normal, everyday things. For example:

1. Many Muslims waste water while taking their mandatory ablutions (washing) before prayers, although the Prophet urged his followers not to waste water while taking ablutions ‘even if they were at a running stream’. If Muslims were to cut down the water used for ablutions to 1 mudd (a measurement used during the time of the Prophet in Arabia, roughly amounting to 600ml, or a standard water bottle), lots of water could be saved.
2. Muslims today tend to eat a lot of meat although to the Prophet eating meat was a rarity and a luxury. His main diet consisted of dates, milk, and cereals like barley. Today, the meat industry is one of the major proponents of climate change. The livestock sector generates 18% more greenhouse gases in CO2 equivalents that transport. If Muslims could cut down on their meat intake, the demand on the livestock industry would fall and less water and resources will be funnelled there.

 

Education in Indonesia

Educational programs are good in helping to changing attitudes and values. When partnered with attitudes and values already present within the person, education can result in behavioural change.

There have been a chain of eco-pesantrens set up in Indonesia. Pesantrens are boarding schools which teach religious studies in addition to the standard secular studies. Eco-pesantrens are schools which have begun to incorporate greener habits into the everyday lives of the students. The major components of these eco-pesantren are the Ustaz (religious teacher), the mosque, the students themselves and the school building, how its built, its location and proximity to rivers and forests.

In these pesantrens students are taught the importance of environmentalism using Islamic texts. Many pesantren are built close to rivers and rice padi fields so that students have the opportunity to enjoy nature during their leisure time. Eco-pesantren are a relatively new idea and hopefully in a few years the schools will be able to document their success in inculcating greener values and habits among their students.