Minister calls for treating haze from land fires as common enemy

Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag) Nasaruddin Umar has called on the public to make haze resulting from forest and land fires (karhutla) a common enemy, as its impacts threaten human health and environmental sustainability.

“Let us make that haze a common enemy,” said the Minister during the national-level commemoration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The Minister said that smoke haze from forest burning not only disrupts public activities and breathing, but can also cause serious health impacts, especially for groups with respiratory conditions such as asthma.

According to him, the issue of forest and land fires needs to be seen not only as an environmental problem, but also as a threat to human life. Therefore, the public must work together to stop the habit of damaging the environment in order to clear land.

The Minister linked efforts to prevent forest and land fires with the example set by the Prophet Muhammad in protecting nature. He reminded that the Prophet Muhammad forbade acts that damage nature.

He quoted a hadith of the Prophet regarding the importance of planting and protecting trees as part of efforts to care for the earth.

“Even if the world were certain to end tomorrow, continue planting trees,” the Minister stressed.

“Advise our brothers and sisters so that we do not make a habit of clearing or opening gardens by burning trees, because that will damage oxygen, damage nature, damage the lungs of the earth,” he said.

At this Maulid Nabi commemoration, the Ministry of Religious Affairs launched the National Movement for the Selawat Kebangsaan and the Study of the Prophet’s Biography (Ngaji Sirah Nabawi).

Carrying the theme “Emulating the Morals of the Prophet: Weaving Brotherhood, Glorifying Humanity”, the event became an important momentum not only for strengthening the spiritual life of the faithful, but also for affirming the stance of environmental preservation.

As the opening of the series, the Ministry also held the Maulid Commemoration and Ijazah Kubro Dalail Khairat. Director General of Islamic Community Guidance at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Abu Rokhmad explained that the National Movement for the Selawat Kebangsaan invites millions of Muslims to recite selawat simultaneously.

The movement targets the participation of 1,781,945 participants from across Indonesia, a figure chosen as a historical symbol of Indonesia’s Independence Day.

In addition, a relay of the Study of the Prophet’s Biography with religious scholars was also launched over seven days to thoroughly explore the history of the Prophet’s life and struggle.