MUI Fatwa to 'extinguish' forest fire

Forests are an important gift of Allah SWT to protect and preserve. The existence of forests will bring benefits not only to society, but also to the ecosystem in general. Nevertheless, it is difficult to stop forest and land fires in Indonesia. Moreover, entering this August, drought accompanied by drought has already hit.

Forest fires seem to be an annual event that occurs during the summer. In some areas, particularly Sumatra and Borneo, fires have already occurred. According to the UNHK-run Si Pongi Karhutla monitoring system, there were 463 fires throughout July. Until the middle of this August, the number of hotspots reached 243 points of all provinces.

If we look at the number of fires in 2023, the trend is indeed increasing compared to the last three years. The total area of karhutla by the end of December reached 1.16 million ha or nine times the area of Java island. Still from the MoD monitoring data, the graph of emissions generated by Karhutla crawled up rather than in 2020. During 2023, for example, there were more than 182 million tons of CO2/ha emissions generated as a result of Karhutla while in 2022 the number reached only 23 million tons of CO2/ha.

Attempts at burning are arguably the easiest and cheapest for those who want to clear land. In fact, the impact that arises is huge. In addition to causing emissions in the form of dense smoke, karhutla will also disrupt the life of biological ecosystems.

The existence of Karhutla has actually attracted the attention of scholars who belong to the Indonesian Ulama Assembly (MUI) to take a stand. In 2016, the Indonesian Ulema Assembly (MUI) Fatwa Number 30 of 2016 on the Law on Forest and Land Burning and its Control was released.

The MUI includes eight verses of the Quran and seven hadith that serve as the basis for the fatwa. Some scholars have also endorsed the MUI fatwa to stop businessmen and communities from burning forests and land.

These two verses of the Quran talk about how God describes the destruction of the earth as a plague from the hands of men. Another verse reveals how threats against people who commit crimes will be reciprocated.

“It appears that the damage on land and in the sea is caused by the works of the hands of men, so that God may feel to them a part of their deeds, that they may return (to the right path).” (QS. ar Rûm: 41)

“And those who do evil (receive) an equal reward, and they are covered in disgrace. There is no protector for them from Allah, as if their faces were covered with dark fragments of the night. They are the inhabitants of hell; they abide therein forever” (Q.S. June:27).

This fatwa also outlines the hadith about how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade mankind to do injustice to the earth. Sa'id ibn Zaid said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah say: “Whoever commits an injustice to the earth, even if it is only a part of it, it will surely be covered with seven layers of earth (H.R. Ahmad).

The MUI also cited the opinion of prominent scholars, on how legal it is for the person doing the eroding. One of them is Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Fasiy, in al-Itqân wa al-Ihkâm, Volume II, page 105.

“Everyone who commits destruction is obliged to bear it, and is charged with replacing it. If something that is broken is an object that has similarities, then it replaces it with the same thing. And if something that is broken is an object of which only the value of the price can be known, then he replaces it with the value of the price.”

MUI also insists that burning forests and land that can cause damage, environmental pollution, harm to others, health disorders, and other adverse effects, is illegal. Thus, the party that facilitates, allows, and/or takes advantage of the burning of forests and land, then the law is also illegal.

MUI insists that the burning of forests and land is a crime and the perpetrators are sanctioned according to the level of damage and the impact it causes. According to the MUI, forest and land fire control as referred to in the general provisions of its law is mandatory.

Nevertheless, MUI tolerates the use of forests and land that can be done on condition of obtaining a legitimate right to use, obtaining a utilization permit from the competent authorities in accordance with the applicable provisions, intended for the environment, does not cause damage and adverse effects, including environmental pollution. MUI also prohibits the use of forests and lands that do not comply with these requirements.

National University researcher Fachrudin Mangunjaya revealed that the fatwa is effective in preventing forest and land fires in Indonesia. In fact, he said, the karhutla events have declined considerably. Wildfires did rise again in 2019 but are now much less. “There should be further research, but the fact is that karhutla declined as soon as the fatwa came out,” he said.