Ways of Water Management in Islam: Potential Insights for Future Water Governance

Abstract

AbstractWater is recognized as a universal right and a crucial component of the people’s life and a country’s security and sustainability. The Holy Qur’an and Hadith instill in their followers’ values of social justice and equity, which extends to the practice of conserving the earth’s natural resources, most notably water management. According to Islam, water is a communal resource and a human right. This article discusses water availability and use, ethics, and overall management from an Islamic perspective. This chapter examines water’s legal, political, and social implications in Islamic law (sharia) for water management. The issues discussed include the law and political complexities associated with water, the basics of sharia and water, the significance of practice in that relationship, the development and practice of water codes and their relationship to sharia, the reforms in the modern era, the dominance of Western law and its significances, the continual consequence of sharia to water, and the ecological conservation. This article also explains the ethics of water management in terms of stewardship, conservation, water pricing, and privatization in the light of sharia (Islamic law based on the Holy Qur’an and Hadith). It puts the potential insights forward to solve the current challenges of water management for which a considerable number of people suffer worldwide and enhance future water governance.KeywordsWater managementReligious viewsIslamic shariaEnvironmental conservationWater ethics