Muslims believe that Islam gives meaning to individual human activities and to society as a whole. One's belief in Islam may be viewed as a reflection of society: or the state of society may be regarded as depending upon the beliefs and actions of the individuals within it. Like other religious groups, Muslims believe that the morality of individuals within a society is its basic building block. Morality overrides all material benefits that a Muslim stands to gain, and thus represents the necessary basis for that society (Hamdan et al. 1997).
The Islamic education system offers several fora for delivering Islamic teachings. The mosque is the best forum for addressing the general public at all levels on matters covering all the issues of daily life. At a minimum, the Friday prayer represents a weekly opportunity to address the public. However, in most Muslim countries, there are daily gatherings where imams can address people on issues that are felt to be important. In a survey conducted in Amman, 64 per cent of respondents thought that imams had an important role in environmental education and public awareness – although only 34 per cent indicated that imams were already filling that role (Al-Sodi 1993).
In Islam, everyone is responsible for education, from the family level up to the whole society. Although this applies to all aspects of life, the mufti of Jordan delivered a specific fatwa that environmental education is wajeb, or an obligation: under such a fatwa, all Muslims are responsible for participation in environmental education. This fatwa is based on a basic Islamic rule that "whatever is mandatory for completing wajeb is wajeb" (Al-Tamimi 1991). Therefore, Islam provides a dynamic forum that is capable of reaching the entire Muslim population – in the house, street, school, and mosque.
This universal responsibility for education provides ideal tools and fora for reaching the public in Muslim countries. Unfortunately, these have not been used efficiently. In the few countries where religion has been used to support public awareness campaigns, this has been limited to the use of some texts from the Holy Quran and sunnah in posters and articles in the newspapers. But water-conservation must involve all people and requires behavioural changes. It involves sacrifices and social and financial costs, which necessitate the full co-operation and integration of efforts of all stake-holders. Hence, isolated activities will not achieve tangible results. What is needed is water resources management and conservation strategies and plans that incorporate Islamic concepts and tools in their public awareness activities. This chapter attempts to provide a mechanism and some guidelines to help interested agencies adopt and implement effective public awareness programs, strategies, and activities based on Islamic concepts.
