Islam is the Remedy to the Malady of Smog

News:

Experts say India’s worsening air pollution is having a ruinous impact on its economy – with one study estimating losses to the tune of US$95 billion annually, or roughly 3 percent of the country’s GDP. One by the global consultancy firm Dalberg concluded that in 2019, air pollution cost Indian businesses US$95 billion due to “reduced productivity, work absences, and premature death”. (Source)

Comment:

As the world bowed down to science, it forgot that experimentations have no rules and ethics. This is one reason that details of new developments are kept secret till the world experiences an atomic experiment like Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One nation's attainment of power resulted in absolute physical destruction of a huge part of another and emotional and psychological enslavement of the rest of the world. This kind of experiment made the world witness ghastly effects of development, but was tagged as a one-time happening as the world had already embraced the shift from imperialism to capitalism as it promised growth and success. Thus, we witnessed data and calculations of financial losses. Approximately the economic costs of air pollution to the Indian economy is more than $150 billion annually. Impacts are estimated to be about $47.8 billion per year. Equivalent to nearly 6% of Pakistan’s total GDP.

In Islam, economic stability does not mean only to have an excellent GDP, and humongous amounts of production, with people working and producing like machines. Rather, material and riches in Islam are meant to improve the quality of life of the people so the world becomes a better place, where people can live with dignity and offer that life to the creation of Allah.

It was narrated from Abu Dharr that the Prophet (saw) said:

«عُرِضَتْ عَلَىَّ أُمَّتِي بِأَعْمَالِهَا حَسَنِهَا وَسَيِّئِهَا فَرَأَيْتُ فِي مَحَاسِنِ أَعْمَالِهَا الأَذَى يُنَحَّى عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ وَرَأَيْتُ فِي سَيِّئِ أَعْمَالِهَا النُّخَاعَةَ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ لاَ تُدْفَنُ»

“My nation was shown to me with their good deeds and bad deeds. Among their good deeds I saw a harmful thing being removed from the road. And among their bad deeds I saw sputum in the mosque that had not been removed.” Sunan Ibn Majah 3683

Nature does not have a nationalistic approach and its devastation also does not pick and choose areas according to its emotional or political attachment. The smog that is lurking over Delhi and Lahore is a direct reaction of abuse of nature. The most heavily accused action, and a significant contributor to the pollution is crop burning, a centuries old agricultural practice. Though the smog itself has not developed until more recently. During the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental conditions became favourable despite crop burning being practised during those years, so it is safe to state that crop burning is not the only factor adding to the heavy Smog.

According to the data collected during the pandemic, AQI readings have varied between 18-65 which experts say is way below the hazardous range that Lahore has crossed several times in the past. Presently in Lahore, the Air Quality Index rose to 1900 on November 2nd, as per a report by IQAir, a Swiss company that monitors air quality around the world, which was worse than the Air Quality Index of Delhi. When smog was observed in Pakistan in 2015, WHO presented a horrific report. The World Health Organization’s data of 2015 demonstrated that almost 60,000 Pakistanis died from a high level of particulate matter in the air, making it the highest death toll from air pollution in the world.

The pressure on third world countries to meet the economic standards, set by the IMF and other international competitors, forces them to take decisions with poor long term effects for temporary relief. According to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 70,000 used vehicles were imported into Pakistan in 2017, from Japan and South Korea. These vehicles often do not meet the emission standards set by the Pakistani government, leading to increased air pollution and negative health impacts for the population. The EPA report also highlights that most of these vehicles are not properly maintained, leading to increased emissions and further environmental degradation. Similarly across Delhi hundreds of illegal factories storing and retrieving electronic wastes and metal scrap in Loni continue to burn e-waste. Pakistan has over 100,000 tons of e-waste imported into the country each year. This e-waste often contains hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can contaminate soil, water, and air.

 The filth in the environment is the result of capitalist greed and only solution to get rid of this is to follow in the footsteps of Rasool Allah (saw) and his rightly guided Caliphs. We have the example of Hazrat Uthman RA, who bought a well, known as Bi’r Rumah, the owner of which used his virtual monopoly on the local water supply to charge an exorbitant price per bucket. Hazrat Uthman brilliantly negotiated an agreement to buy half of it, i.e. on alternating days. Uthman made the water available for free on the days the well belonged to him, and everyone began to use it only on those days, to avoid paying the high costs the previous owner charged. Out of desperation, the previous owner asked Uthman to buy out the well entirely.

This is just one of the many examples that Islamic history is full of and that helped Islam spread from the desert of Arabia to the whole world.

 The Caliphate will bring back the relief to mankind and the greed will fail to grow and spread in the purity of Islam and as Allah (swt) promised the cure of every disease but death, people on this earth will breathe in prosperity and tranquility.

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (saw) as saying:

«لِكُلِّ دَاءٍ دَوَاءٌ فَإِذَا أُصِيبَ دَوَاءُ الدَّاءِ بَرَأَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ»

“There is a remedy for every malady, and when the remedy is applied to the disease it is cured with the permission of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.” Sahih Muslim 2204

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Ikhlaq Jehan