Islamic Water Management

Abstract

Islam offers its followers extensive guidelines on all aspects of life including how they should use and manage the natural environment. This religion's teachings on matters related to, for example, family affairs and inheritance are well developed and widely applied in the Islamic World. However, the hydrological dimensions of Islam are underdeveloped. This paper is a small step towards the development of Islamically-inspired water management principles. It illustrates that the Koran and hadith have relatively elaborate strategies for water conservation and pollution-prevention. The rationale that water management policies need to fit the cultural norms of the affected people guided the approach to this paper. It hence argues that a carefully-calibrated, Islamically-grounded water management policy is likely to lead to wider acceptability and broader compliance by Muslims because it reflects their value system.