Foundations for Sustainable Development: Harmonizing Islam, Nature and Law
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Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Dissertations & Theses School of Law 7-2017 Foundations for Sustainable Development: Harmonizing Islam, Nature and Law Norah bin Hamad Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawdissertations Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, International Law Commons, and the Natural Resources Law Commons Recommended Citation Norah bin Hamad, Foundations for Sustainable Development: Harmonizing Islam, Nature and Law (July 2017) (SJD dissertation, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University), http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawdissertations/20/. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FOUNDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: HARMONIZING ISLAM, NATURE AND LAW A dissertation submitted to the Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Judicial Studies (S.J.D.) in environmental law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University By Norah bin Hamad Under the supervision of Nicholas A. Robinson, University Professor on the Environment and Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus Draft Date: July 19, 17 i ABSTRACT Human society is weakening Earth’s environment, its only home. In 2015, nations agreed on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide restoring and sustaining the wellbeing of peoples everywhere. If the SDGs are to succeed, all cultural and religious communities will need to urgently implement them. Islam offers a holistic view of God’s creation and the Qur’an clearly sets forth duties to care for the Earth. In the past, most people have ignored the world-wide trends of environmental degradation which scientist have reported. There is a pressing need to expand education and public awareness about the threats to the environment. Islamic principles mandate both such education and stewardship of the environment. At present, however, these spiritual values are not fully observed, as can be seen in case studies of countries such as Jordan, Morocco, or Pakistan. Sacred duties to protect the purity of water are insufficiently observed. Because the daily lives of Muslims are not guided by legislation, environmental treaties, or SDGs, but rather by the Qur’an, SDGs will be successfully implemented if the harmony between Islam and the SDGs is clear and celebrated. Understanding the spiritual knowledge of the Qur’an can motivate the people in Islamic nations, and everywhere, to design resilient practices that restore the environment and sustain it for future generations. ii Acknowledgements My sincere thanks are due to everyone who has given me advice, assistance and motivation. In particular, I must extend heartfelt thanks to that genius of international environmental law -- the “father of the environment” -- my advisor Professor Nick Robinson for inspiring me to set out for this study, for his patience and advice throughout the process and simply for being so freely available to help in countless ways. Without his warm encouragement and guidance, this dissertation would not have materialized. I would like also to express my gratitude to Ms. Deborah Zipf –the “mother of all students”—for all of her efforts, and how she made me feel welcomed and at home these past years. My gratitude also extends to the wonderful librarians at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law for their great assistance over the past several years. Finally, I am grateful for my parents, husband, kids, and my friends who have always been the light that shines through the darkness that sometimes stood in my path by supporting me during this journey with love. March 24, 2017 Norah Bin Hamad iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………ii Chapter 1. Introduction 1. Overview ......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Pollution in the history of environment .......................................................................... 5 3. The purpose of this thesis ............................................................................................... 6 4. The significance of this thesis ......................................................................................... 8 5. The symbolic force of water and wild nature ............................................................... 11 Chapter 2: Basic Source Of Islamic Law 1. Overview ....................................................................................................................... 16 2. Sources of Islamic Law ................................................................................................. 19 a. The Book: the Holy Qur’an....................................................................................... 19 b. The Sunnah: .............................................................................................................. 22 c. The Consensus .......................................................................................................... 23 d. Inference ................................................................................................................... 24 3.Water and Animal and Plant life .................................................................................... 25 4. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 3: The Environmental Norms Under Islamic Law 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 28 2. Environmental terms in Islam ....................................................................................... 31 3. Environment and Islam ................................................................................................. 32 a. The Holy Qur’an ....................................................................................................... 32 b. Sunnah....................................................................................................................... 41 4. The spiritual value of water and nature in Islam ........................................................... 44 5. Animals and Islam ........................................................................................................ 45 a. Animals in the Holy Qur’an ...................................................................................... 45 b. Animals in Sunnah (Hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH) ............................................... 46 5. Islam prohibits harm and that which leads to harm is forbidden .................................. 50 6. Protecting the Environment .......................................................................................... 53 7. How do humans think about the environment? ............................................................ 54 8. Future generations ......................................................................................................... 58 9. Future Dimension.......................................................................................................... 59 10. Scientific research in Islam: ........................................................................................ 60 11. History of Arabic Islamic science ............................................................................... 63 12. Golden Age ................................................................................................................. 64 Chapter 4: Environmentally Sustainable Development 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 69 a. The Global Setting .................................................................................................... 72 b. Manifestations of Planetary Deterioration ................................................................ 74 2. The Definition of the World Commission on Sustainable Development ..................... 76 a. Acceptance of the Idea of Sustainable Development ................................................ 77 3. The concept of sustainable development ...................................................................... 78 a. Physical definition of sustainable development ........................................................ 78 iv b. Economic definitions ................................................................................................ 78 d. Human status within the definitions of sustainable development ............................. 80 e. The status of technology in the definition of sustainable development .................... 81 f. Equity in the definition of sustainable development ................................................. 81 g. Water and sustainable devolopment ......................................................................... 81 4. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities................................................................ 82 a. Existence of Common but differentiated responsibilities in Islam. .......................... 84 5. Soft law and Sustainable Development .......................................................................