The Covenant presents an Islamic outlook on the environment in a bid to strengthen local, regional, and international actions to combat the triple planetary crises defined by the United Nations as climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. It is a global endeavour to engage Muslims from all levels of society in the development and adoption of this call.
Al-Mizan - A Covenant for the Earth is a restatement of the principles governing the protection of nature in a form that meets current challenges. It examines the ethics behind the social patterning of human existence and enquires into how they could be brought to life today working in harmony with the heartbeat of the natural world.
Environmentalism is deeply embedded in the veins of Islam. It is about personal behaviour and how it manifests itself in our association with others and also about being considerate in our relationship with the natural world and other sentient beings.
These principles grew out of the foundations established by Prophet Muhammad into a range of rules and institutions that manifested an expression of life that was truly holistic. It was based on the Qur’an and it could be distilled into three categories namely encouraging public good, forbidding wrong action and acting in moderation at all times:
‘So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance’
(Quran 55:9)
AL-MIZAN (‘Balance’ in English) is based onSurah Ar-Rahman (The Merciful)
in which Allah Almighty describes the creation in its perfect balance:
The All-Merciful taught the Qur’an
He created man and taught him eloquence.
The sun and moon both run with precision.
The stars and the trees all bow down in prostration.
He erected heaven and established the balance
so that you would not exceed the balance
Establish weight with justice
and do not fall short in the balance
(Quran 55:1-9)
