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All praise is for Allah, and blessings and peace be upon His Messenger (saw). Allah (swt) says in Surah Ar-Ruum ayah 41: “Corruption (pollution) has spread on land and sea as a result of what people’s hands have done…” and He says in Surah Hadid ayah 17: “Know that Allah revives the earth after its death…”
The world which we live in is very alive. People weaken it and eventually kill it by being oppressive, unmerciful, cruel, careless, selfish and unjust. The land of Pakistan has been unjustly utilized for the temporary benefits of the powerful people of this country. And the land of Karachi and the area around it have been tortured to such devastating limits that sometimes its inhabitants can even hear it crying.
Karachi is a beautiful city, but its’ beauty is veiled by the actions of its inhabitants. Situated around the Indus Delta, a coastal city, with unique biodiversity, its position places it between four topographical features, and politically near the border of Sindh and Baluchistan. The inhabitants of Karachi are also very diverse, people from all around Pakistan and India have migrated to live here. For this reason, it is sometimes called mini Pakistan.
The four topographical features which influence Karachi and from which this city can greatly benefit are: 1. Arabian Sea coast 2. Indus Delta. 3. Kirthar Range. 4. Baluchistan Coast Range. The oppressive mentality of people has destroyed the natural resources of Karachi and the topographical features around it. The government of Pakistan continuously talks about sustainable development of natural resources. However, sustainability cannot be achieved when the mentality of people in power is of a destructive nature.
The ‘Emergence of Pakistan’ in the year 1947 is embedded as an ‘end’ itself in the minds of people. When in reality it was not an end but a ‘means’ to a greater end of striving to get closer to Allah (swt) and eventually be able to enter His heaven after death and judgment. Pakistanis believe that they already have achieved heaven and now they just have to consume all of it and leave nothing for future generations. No matter what contradictory lessons are taught in their pathetic academia – directed towards consoling the population to think everything is fine, when in reality everything is being corrupted – it will not affect anybody even if this education is effective (which it is not). What is needed is a complete shift of paradigms directed towards Allah (swt) and the success in the Hereafter, which can only be achieved by following the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw).
The destructive mentality of the powerful people is actually imported from the West. From the ideology of Capitalism, with its biggest tool of the ‘interest-based banking system’, which in turn promotes ‘materialism’. Feudalism is also a type of this mentality where land replaces money. Before anything can be done we must shift our paradigms and break free of the bondage of foreign ideologies which we have accepted as ‘freedom’, but in reality it has been falsely labelled and we have been fooled. The greatest ‘weapon’ that we possess to break these paradigms is the Holy Quran, the word of Allah (swt). Only our Holy Book can make us turn towards our Creator permanently and then we will start respecting the land in which we live and begin taking care of it.
Allah says in the Quran in Surah ar-Ruum Ayah: 41: “Corruption (pollution) has occurred in the land and the sea by the actions of peoples’ own hands…” Since the birth of Pakistan, our consumerist ideology and actions have destroyed our lands and its productivity. In the 1940s there used to be fish in the Lyari River that runs through Karachi. Now, people do not even consider it as a river, they think it’s a sewerage drain emitting a foul smell.
But we should not lose hope, as Allah (swt) says in Surah al-Hadid Ayah: 17: “Be known! Indeed Allah gives life to the earth after it’s’ death…” Like our sins, bad deeds and our carelessness have polluted our land, likewise, our good deeds and conscientiousness will return it to its former glory and beyond.
In other words, if we want to change our lands towards higher productivity and awe-inspiring beauty, we must first change ourselves and our actions, which will only change when we change our paradigms and ideologies. A serious paradigm shift is required.
Sustainable Development is not the ultimate way to utilize and develop our resources. Permaculture is beyond sustainability; it means ‘permanent agriculture’. The basic idea here is to achieve self-sufficiency in every field to the ideal point of everything becoming free of cost; i.e. no outside investment would be required to maintain and produce surplus value. (But that is the ‘perfect ideal’ level. It may not seem achievable at first, but believe me, it is very much possible if we perfectly obey our Lord. And Allah will make this happen in the future through Prophet Isa (as).)
We need to apply this ideology for the development of our lands in and around Karachi. Allah (swt) has blessed this city with rivers and coasts, and intelligent, competent and hard-working people. Human resource is perhaps the most important and effective resource towards the achievement of permaculture. Karachi is ripe with intelligent youngsters. Perhaps there are better ways than permaculture – the ways beyond it – but right now this seems a reasonable approach towards greater productivity, the one which leads towards getting closer to our Creator.
The beauty of Islam is such that it promotes the health of all things in our environment, from the purest of all lives in Human Beings to the tiniest particles that make up our world. The goal is to utilize all particles in the way of Allah (swt). To do this we need to purify our souls – first and foremost – through great struggle. Correction of our conduct by disciplining our ego. Mujahada-tun-Nafs. We need to get closer to our Creator to understand and then utilise all His creations for His cause. And to do that we must hold His rope (the Holy Quran) tightly and act according to it by acting according to the Sunnah of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Man cannot reach his fullest potential and in turn cannot utilize all of Earth’s potentialities by following ideas other than Allah (swt), as anything other than Allah leads towards destruction. The Modern way of life is self-evident of its destruction. How it destroys Humans (the most sophisticated creation of Allah), by destroying their souls and moving them away from their Creator. The Western way is the way of Satan, this is evident in what it promotes.
If we are not sincere to ourselves we cannot be sincere to the world. Sincerity is emphasized in a beautiful Hadith: Sunan an-Nisai: 4199: It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah said: “Religion is sincerity, religion is sincerity, religion is sincerity.” They said; “To whom, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the imams (rulers) of the Muslims and to their common folk.”
Coming back to Karachi. Our city can be healed. Fishes can return to the River Lyari. The Malir River can become pure and can again be gushing water to the Arabian Sea. The Hub River can become fast again. There can be countless streams coming out of the Kirthar Range. Agriculture can start in a vast area in and around Karachi. Our industries can be very productive and self-sufficient. There can be free and clean energy for the masses of our population. The lands can be inhabited by diverse species of animals, the waters can be filled with fishes and the air can be swarming with countless birds of different types. But we need to turn towards our Creator for this to happen.
As stated in this Hadith: “Ibn ‘Umar reported God’s Messenger as saying, “Enforcing one of God’s prescribed punishments is better than forty nights’ rain in God’s land.”” (Mishkat al Masabih 3588, 3589). So really, obeying God is the way towards productivity. We need to seriously study the religion of Allah (swt) and the worldly sciences in its light and then start to apply it to ourselves and on our lands. Specifically, we need to study permaculture and apply in and around Karachi.
For this purpose, I propose the creation of an Indus Delta Rally, a Kirthar Rally, a Hingol Rally, and a Coastal/Arabian Sea Rally, based on the principles of Quran and Sunnah, utilizing permaculture. As our Lord is infinite, his bounties are infinite, we just have to realize it.
The dimensions in which these rallies will work are: 1. Clean Energy Production. 2. Agriculture. 3. Transportation. 4. Rehabilitation 5. Accommodation. 6. Animal Husbandry. 7. Livestock Farming. 8. Construction. 9. Research and Development. 10. Entertainment (Halal ones). 11. Industry. And 12. (Perhaps most important of all) Education and Multidimensional (Spiritual, Mental and Physical) Training.
The four rallies will be interdependent and Karachi will be their centre. Basically Karachi will expand to the far reaches. Its concentrated population will disperse over the lands, beautifying a vast area from Makli to Pasni and from Kirthar to Arabian Sea.
