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Now, imagine you live in the desert where water is scarce and you need to eat everyday and make
sure your herd of camels is doing ok.
What primary concerns would be yours?
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Now, imagine you are living in Saudi Arabia, in the middle of the desert. This time, you are
living in an oasis, and you want your grove of palm trees to prosper.
What are your basic problems? What are the solutions you propose to solve them?
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Would you use pesticides or chemicals in order to grow more trees, protect them against insects
and to make them look healthier?
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Do you think it is possible to make the desert become green? Why? How?
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Now, do you think Allah Ta’alah gave some rules for the protection of the environment to protect
the plants from the man's abuses?
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Answers:
There are different kinds of pollution:
Garbage, waste
Chemical
Noise
Intellectual
Moral
The environment has been a great concern for many centuries, even if people did not call
the attitude of taking care of their surroundings as being "environmental" problems.
In arid regions of the world, people are still very concerned about the preservation of water. They
care not only about keeping suitable amounts of water for irrigation and mainly for drinking and
ablution purposes, but also they try to keep it safe from illnesses and impurities.
In the desert, water is a constant problem since the wells are not many and they are soon covered
with blowing sand, making it hard to find them and obliging locals to constantly dig for water. In
the desert, Bedouins say: "water is the greatest treasure, well before gold or gems." For them,
water is life. People of the desert hate to spill water and would go to the extent of killing a person
whom they see waste water intentionally. It is therefore still considered there a great crime to
waste water because to waste water is putting in danger many people.
For us Muslims, clean water is an essential problem since we need water to do our ritual ablutions
for the prayer, even if a smooth rock or sand can do the purpose for the minor ablutions.
Clean water is also necessary in hot countries were many dangerous diseases can spread rapidly
through water to contaminate entire populations. Usually, people boil the water before drinking.
Preserving the soil is also a great concern for many peasants. For instance, in Japan, there are so
many people and the country is so small that it is hard to find ground to cultivate crops. The
portion of earth they can get is dear for many Japanese since it means independence and comfort.
As far as the protection of wildlife is concerned, the forest is very essential. Most animals and
insects live in the forest; they need trees and green leaves in order to eat, mate and be well
protected against natural enemies.
Groves have been well kept by Muslims of all times since trees and especially fruit trees mean
life and a good source of income. Besides, there are many blessings coming from the fact that
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