Al-Mizan: Covenant for the Earth

Under the patronage of H. E. Ms. Leila Benali, the Minister of Energy of Morocco and President of the United Nations Environment Assembly, and other dignitaries, Al-Mizan: Covenant for the Earth was launched at the margins of UNEA 6 in Nairobi on 27 February 2024.

The Al-Mizan Covenant for the Earth is an Islamic charter based on concepts rooted in Islamic teachings that emphasize the balance, harmony, and stewardship of the Earth. In Islam, the term "Al-Mizan" refers to balance or justice, and it is often used to describe the equilibrium that should be maintained in all aspects of life, including the relationship between humanity and the environment.

The Al-Mizan Covenant for the Earth calls upon individuals and communities to recognize their responsibility as stewards of the Earth and to act in ways that preserve and protect the natural world. It emphasizes principles such as conservation, sustainable development, and environmental justice, drawing upon Islamic teachings that emphasize the interconnectedness of all creation and the importance of preserving the Earth for future generations.

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 inquires 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:

“Let there be a community among you that calls for what is good, urges what is right and forbids what is wrong, they are the ones who have success” (3: 104)

AL-MIZAN (‘Balance’ in English) is based on Surah Ar-Rahman (The Merciful) in which Allah Almighty describes the creation in its perfect balance:

"The Most Merciful,
Taught the Quran
Created Humankind
Taught him Eloquence
The sun and the moon move in precise calculation
and the stars and the trees prostrate
and the heaven He raised and imposed the balance (Mizan)
That you not transgress within the balance (Mizan)
and establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance (Mizan)”
(Quran 55:1-9)

In essence, the Al-Mizan Covenant for the Earth is a call to action for Muslims and non-Muslims alike to embrace their role as custodians of the Earth and to work towards a more sustainable and equitable future for all beings.

REFERENCE: Othman Llewellyn, Fazlun Khalid and others. Al-Mizan: Covenant for the Earth. The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Birmingham, UK, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-7385385-1-5

The website where the document can be downloaded in English or Arabic is https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/44949

English version: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/44949/Al-Mizan_EN…

SOURCE in part: https://www.unep.org/al-mizan-covenant-earth