Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T20:18:12.944Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘… And We have made from water every living thing’: water conservation and the Holy Qur’an

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2024

Lisa A Blankinship ,
Sarah Gillaspie ,
Khaled Obaideen  and
Basil H Aboul-Enein Open the ORCID record for Basil H Aboul-Enein [Opens in a new window]
Lisa A Blankinship
Affiliation:
University of North Alabama, Department of Biology, Florence, AL, USA
Sarah Gillaspie
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
Khaled Obaideen
Affiliation:
University of Sharjah, Sustainable Engineering Asset, Management Research Group, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Basil H Aboul-Enein*
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London, UK
*
Corresponding author: Basil H Aboul-Enein; Email: Basil.Aboul-Enein@lshtm.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Water conservation is of particular importance for arid regions, including many Muslim-majority countries. With the added pressures of human population growth and expansion and global climate change, water conservation efforts are imperative to extending the life of current water supplies as well as to sourcing water treatment methods that are religiously congruent. We review Qur’anic verses that address water usage and conservation. We searched the English translations of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an and the King Saud University Electronic Moshaf Project for Qur’anic scripture related to water and water conservation. A total of 25 verses were found that related to creation, water usage for agriculture and food provision/production and as a common resource for humanity. Qur’anic scripture encourages gratitude for water and wise stewardship of this resource. Specific prohibitions against the reuse of water (e.g., treated water) were not found, and recent Islamic literature supports the use of cleansed greywater. Treated greywater may thus be an additional source for agricultural needs, thus reducing the stress placed on already limited water supplies. Water conservation falls within Qur’anic scripture.

Keywords

IslamMuslimsQur’anwater conservation
Type
Subject Review
Information
Environmental Conservation , First View , pp. 1 - 6
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abderrahman, WA (2000a) Application of Islamic legal principles for advanced water management. Water International 25: 513–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abderrahman, WA (2000b) Water demand management and Islamic water management principles: a case study. International Journal of Water Resources Development 16: 465–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aboul-Enein, BH (2018) ‘The earth is your mosque’: narrative perspectives of environmental health and education in the Holy Quran. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 8: 22–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abusam, A (2008) Reuse of greywater in Kuwait. International Journal of Environmental Studies 65: 103–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmed, M, Prathapar, A, Al-Abri, A (2005) Greywater reuse guidelines for Oman: a proposal. Presented at: Second Oman–Japan Joint Symposium: Preservation of Environmental and Water Resources amid Economic Development. Muscat, Oman, February.Google Scholar
Al-Alawi, A, Sohail, M, Kayaga, S, Al-Alawi, A (2021) Water management in mosques of Oman. Sustainable Water Resources Management 7: 95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Al-Damkhi, AM (2008) Environmental ethics in Islam: principles, violations, and future perspectives. International Journal of Environmental Studies 65: 11–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atallah, S, Khan, MZ, Malkawi, M (1999) Water conservation through Islamic public awareness in the eastern Mediterranean region. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 5: 785–797.Google ScholarPubMed
Baig, MB, Alotibi, Y, Straquadine, GS, Alataway, A (2020) Water resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: challenges and strategies for improvement. In: Zekri, S (ed.), Water Policies in MENA Countries (pp. 135–160). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besari, ARA, Zamri, R, Yusaeri, A, Md.Dan MP, Prabuwono, AS (2009) Automatic ablution machine using vision sensor. Presented at: 2009 IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics and Applications, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 4–6 October.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhaduri, A, Bogardi, J, Siddiqi, A, Voigt, H, Vörösmarty, C, Pahl-Wostl, C et al. (2016) Achieving Sustainable Development Goals from a water perspective. Frontiers in Environmental Science 4: 64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bitton, G (2010) Wastewater Reuse. Wastewater Microbiology. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bsoul, L, Omer, A, Kucukalic, L, Archbold, RH (2022) Islam’s perspective on environmental sustainability: a conceptual analysis. Social Sciences 11: 228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gada, M (2014) Environmental ethics in Islam: principles and perspectives. World Journal of Islamic History and Civilization 4: 130–138.Google Scholar
Gade, AM (2012) Tradition and sentiment in Indonesian environmental Islam. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology 16: 263–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haron, M (2017) Drawing on African Muslims’ intangible assets: doing Jihad against climate change. The Ecumenical Review 69: 348–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamrah, A, Al-Futaisi, A, Prathapar, S, Harrasi, AA (2008) Evaluating greywater reuse potential for sustainable water resources management in Oman. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 137: 315–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jusoff, K, Samah, SAA (2011) Environmental sustainability: what Islam propagates. World Applied Sciences Journal 12: 46–53.Google Scholar
Khermimoun, J (2022) Environmental crisis, concept of sustainable development, Islamic values, and a global alternative. International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society 12: 191–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kula, E (2001) Islam and environmental conservation. Environmental Conservation 28: 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laxman, L, Ansari, AH, Zawawi, M (2014) The Islamic approach to conserving biodiversity for global sustainability: an exploration. Advances in Environmental Biology 8: 748–764.Google Scholar
Leas, EC, Dare, A, Al-Delaimy, WK (2014) Is gray water the key to unlocking water for resource-poor areas of the Middle East, North Africa, and other arid regions of the world? Ambio 43: 707–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lefers, R, Maliva, RG, Missimer, TM (2015) Seeking a consensus: water management principles from the monotheistic scriptures. Water Policy 17: 984–1002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhammad, S, Amal, S (2020) Religious based water management campaigns for sustainable development: prospects and challenges. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 477: 012018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obaideen, K, Shehata, N, Sayed, ET, Abdelkareem, MA, Mahmoud, MS, Olabi, AG (2022) The role of wastewater treatment in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainability guideline. Energy Nexus 7: 100112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prathapar, SA, Ahmed, M, Al Adawi, S, Al Sidiari, S (2006) Design, construction and evaluation of an ablution water treatment unit in Oman: a case study. International Journal of Environmental Studies 63: 283–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prathapar, SA, Jamrah, A, Ahmed, M, Al Adawi, S, Al Sidairi, S, Al Harassi, A (2005) Overcoming constraints in treated greywater reuse in Oman. Desalination 186: 177–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qadir, M, Sato, T (2015) Water reuse in arid zones. In: Eslamian, S (ed.), Urban Water Reuse Handbook, 1st edition (pp. 867–874). Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Redwood, M (2008) The application of pilot research on greywater in the Middle East North Africa region (MENA). International Journal of Environmental Studies 65: 109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sachs, JD, Schmidt-Traub, G, Mazzucato, M, Messner, D, Nakicenovic, N, Rockström, J (2019) Six transformations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability 2: 805–814.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suratkon, A, Chan, CM, Ab Rahman, TST (2014) SmartWUDHU’: recycling ablution water for sustainable living in Malaysia. Journal of Sustainable Development 7: 150–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Holy Qur’an (2023) The Holy Qur’an. King Saud University Electronic Moshaf Project [www document]. URL http://quran.ksu.edu.sa/index.php?l=en (accessed 22 August 2023).Google Scholar
The Noble Qur’an (1993) The Noble Qur’an: With English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary. Medina, Saudi Arabia: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an.Google Scholar
Tomalin, E, Haustein, J, Kidy, S (2019) Religion and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Review of Faith & International Affairs 17: 102–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development (2023) Global Sustainable Development Report 5 2023 [www document]. URL https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/Advance%20unedited%20GSDR%2014June2023.pdf (accessed 23 August 2023).Google Scholar
United States Bureau of Reclamation (2020) Water Facts – Worldwide Water Supply [www document]. URL https://www.usbr.gov/mp/arwec/water-facts-ww-water-sup.html (accessed 24 September 2023).Google Scholar
US Environmental Protection Agency (2000) Using Water Efficiently: Ideas for Communities [www document]. URL https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/ws-ideas-for-communities.pdf (accessed 23 September 2023).Google Scholar
Wilson, Z, Pfaff, B (2008) Religious, philosophical and environmentalist perspectives on potable wastewater reuse in Durban, South Africa. Desalination 228: 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Meteorological Organization (2021) Wake up to the looming water crisis, report warns [www document]. URL https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wake-looming-water-crisis-report-warns (accessed 5 September 2023).Google Scholar