Islam and water: putting faith in traditional approaches
Book claims Prophet's teachings guide management of scarce resource

by: Raghida Haddad
Daily Star, 20 November 2002

Water management projects in the Middle East and North Africa are more likely to be sustainable if they take Islamic teachings into account, argues Naser Faruqui, Asit Biswas, and Murad Bino, the co-editors of the recently released book Water Management in Islam.

Faruqui was in Beirut last week for the launching of the Arabic edition of the book at the Arab Book Fair. First published in English in 2001 by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), it was published in Arabic by the Technical Publications and Environment & Development magazine in November 2002.

"The region has one of the highest average population growth rates in the world ? around 2.8 percent ? and scarce natural water supplies," the book states. "As a result, renewable available water in the region dropped from an average of 3,300 cubic meters per person per year in 1960 to 1,250 in 1996, and is expected to decline to 725 by 2025."

The book grew out of a 1998 workshop, hosted by IDRC, on water resource management in Muslim countries, where both Muslim water management experts and those of other faiths met in Jordan to derive a general set of principles. Faruqui, a Canadian who emigrated from Pakistan, is a senior water specialist at IDRC. Faruqui explained that the book dispels persistent notions among some Muslims that waste water re-use and charging for water services is against Islam. "It also outlines the conditions and limitations for such policies within Islam, the most important of which is that equity must be preserved or enhanced," he says. The book is interesting in that, until recently, the influence of religious belief had not been considered in the development of water conservation policies or even in international development projects.

"On the surface, at least, there appeared to be the potential for conflict between (Islamic teachings) and what are slowly being recognized as essential principles for sustainable and equitable water management ? in particular, pricing water at a level that reflects its true value, and waste water re-use," says Faruqui. However, "other emerging principles such as water conservation, the right of the environment to a minimum amount of water, and community consultation are strongly and specifically supported in Islam.

"In fact, given that Islam emerged in a water-scarce area, it says a lot about such issues, in surprising detail, which can help inform the development and implementation of such policies," he says.

One of his discoveries was the importance of water in Islam. The Koran uses the word for water 63 times. "We found that water is a vital social good and a fundamental human right in Islam, and that water conservation was explicitly encouraged by the Prophet," he says.

Another major finding is that Islam does not forbid the use of waste water, provided it is treated sufficiently to render it safe. According to Faruqui, the book's main implications concern water demand management ? the idea that governments must focus more on managing demand rather than on trying to increase supply, which is becoming ever more difficult and costly.

Islam supports this approach, he says, because the Prophet encouraged people to use water sparingly even for very important purposes, such as washing and ablutions.

The book also argues that Islam allows water providers to recover their costs, noting that, in Iran, private water companies are allowed to charge up to the average total cost of providing water services. However, they must also provide 25 liters of water per capita per day for free, as a "lifeline tariff." Faruqui hopes this book will help the Middle East address food and water security challenges. Currently, about 80 percent of water consumed in the region is used for irrigation, although with rapid population growth and urbanization, not enough is available for domestic purposes.

For example, in Amman the middle class (which is provided with government water) receives water for only a couple of hours once a week, while the poor pay 10- to 20-fold higher prices from unregulated, private water-sellers. To preserve equity, fresh water must be diverted to urban areas, and then reused in agriculture as treated waste water, he argues. Faruqui adds that most development agencies are just beginning to appreciate the importance of understanding social and cultural context, and of incorporating local values into their projects. Religion often affects all of these issues. In the Middle East, he says, the context is predominantly Islamic

But a similar approach to the water management workshop could work, for example, with the Hindu faith and soil management in India, or Catholicism and family planning in Latin America. "The broader lesson to draw here is that wherever we are working, it's important to examine the local culture and belief system, and to try and learn from it and work within it instead of imposing our own beliefs," concludes Faruqui. "We've learned that the most sustainable solutions are those that researchers within developing countries develop themselves and that reflect the values of their societies."