Attitudes and Practices by the Muslim Society towards

Environmental Issues: A Singapore Model

Masayu Fatimah Azzahrah

, Masayu Mashita Maisarah

and M. Qomarul Huda

UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Keywords: Environment, Sustainability, Religiosity, Muslim Singapore

Abstract: Relations between religion and sustainability has been discussed and documented widely throughout multiple

countries. However, few pieces of research have been done in Singapore to determine the involvement of

minority Muslim Singapore regarding earth conservation. By applying the descriptive qualitative procedure,

the study tended to deal with this gap in two different ways: firstly, to portray an outline of Singaporean

environmental perspectives and behaviours in general; and secondly, to identify the possibility of Muslims

Singapore on contributing in earth conservation. The paper attempts to explain the attitudes and practices of

the Muslim society in Singapore regarding environmental issues.

1 INTRODUCTION

Environmental problems are outspoken

worldwide nowadays due to the effects of

environmental degradation. Deforestation, air

pollution, water pollution and other issues related

have pushed the earth beyond its limits with an

exponential increase in world population, which

becomes a global challenge that requires a global

solution. Countless declarations have called for

changes in human activities that would harm the

environment less. Many possible keys for

transforming human behavioural direction have been

put forward. Notions on planned behaviour, norm

activation theory, the value-belief norm model, and

the focus theory of normative conduct have been

proposed as succinct models of environmental-

friendly concern and behaviour. Simultaneously, the

self-reported environmental concern often does not

decipher to the actual environmental-friendly

behaviour (Swim, et al., 2011). As stated in Grifford

(2011), this reality occurs partly because of as many

as 30 psychological barriers to behaviour change have

been described; the brief concepts and models may

help to capture important portions of the

manageability in environmental concern and

behaviour, yet a full account should incorporate an

expansive scope of social and political influences.

Different studies have tried to identify variables

that either foster or prevent environmental-friendly

attitude. In one pioneering study by Van Liere and

Dunlap (1980), age, sex, income, education,

occupational prestige, residence, political party, and

political ideology found to be associated with

environmental concern. In a recent review paper,

Gifford & Nilsson (2014) identified 18 variables from

personal and social factors associated with

environmental concern. The role of ‘religion’ among

those factors was considered significant, yet it was

uncertain whether increasingly religious practice

entailed progressively conservational concern or less.

A study by Chuvieco et al. (2016) depicts above

argumentation. With a result that the relevance of

religion to explain environmental quality is poor

compared to other controlling factors, such as

economic or social development; the paper concluded

as “… no religion can be considered statistically

friendlier to the environment, at least in consideration

of effective policies that improve environmental

quality. The religion should be associated with all

others to explain final environmental performance.”

Based on this finding, questions can be raised: to what

extent are religions bearing on environmental issues?

How do religious beliefs affect a person’s

environmental stance and conduct?

Palpably the above questions have been discussed

and documented throughout multiple countries

regarding the relations between religion and the

environment. Yet, to an extent the study on Singapore

setting is missing regardless of the nation-state being

home to multireligious traditions. Undeniably that

Singapore is an interesting exploration site in light of

the fact that within it lays a crossing point among

modernity and tradition: Singapore adheres to an

Fatimah Azzahrah, M., Mashita Maisarah, M. and Huda, M.

Attitudes and Practices by the Muslim Society towards Environmental Issues: A Singapore Model.

DOI: 10.5220/0009919208850892

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 885-892

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

885

advancement approach that centres on monetary

development and instrumental rationality, yet allows

its people to participate in religious activities with

certain degrees of autonomy.

With no intention to extend the discussion on

Singapore’s advantages; the nation has been criticised

for rapid development into an urban nation over the

last 30 years that neglected the natural environment,

which ranked the country as the ‘worst environmental

offender among 179 countries’ (Vaughan, 2010). On

the other hand, as reported by Singapore’s National

Climate Change Secretariat’s Climate Change Public

Perception Survey, it shows that over a third of

respondents in Singapore believed that their

individual actions would not have any kind of effect

to climate change (Tan, 2018). Concerning these

matters, a study will conduct to identify Singaporeans

viewpoints and behaviours towards environmental

issues particularly from a minority Muslim

perspective. Malay-Muslim Singapore was selected

with a purpose to determine the involvement of

minority Muslim Singapore regarding earth

conversation.

2 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 The Concept of Sustainability: An

Overview

Sustainability has long been topics of public debate,

particularly when it related to social movement and

the politics of the environment. From its brief history,

environmentalism evolved in three distinct stages:

from nineteenth-century when preservationist

seeking to protect areas of wilderness and natural

beauty, to an interwar concern with urbanization and

conservation, and finally, into the post-1950s mass

environmental movement. Shortly, the

environmentalism transformed in the 1960s inspired

and influenced by the other social movements of the

period, which emphasized the negative impacts of

pollution on ecosystems and human health, and

encouraged radical direct action and a quality of life

approach to environmental politics (Hancock,

2018:19). This movements, according to Timberlake

(1984), have impacted the changing view of

‘environment’ itself; from the preservation of natural

life and pristine wilderness, to grasp such issues:

exhaustion of non-renewable resources, depletion of

species, squander, unequal distribution of assets,

monetary development, urbanization, uniformity of

industrial life, the non-sustainability of the modern

culture, the control of science over other approaches

to deal with information, the disintegration of local

cultures and the general powerlessness of the planet

to support present rates of industrial and populace

development. Hence, a definition was given in the

Brundlandt report (1987) mentioned that

sustainability is ‘development that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs.’

Based on above definition, sustainability can be

identified when a state with social harmony,

environmental wellness and economic prosperity or

the so-called ‘three main pillar of sustainability’,

concurrently exist in harmony. But how to

synchronize this three components? Obviously, there

is no single model of sustainable development works

for all countries. Each country must adopt solutions

to fit their specific circumstances and priorities. But

sustainable development is not a solo mission. It is a

collective goal and a country has much to learn from

each other’s experiences.

From a Singapore outlook, sustainability has

dependably been indispensable to the record.

Singapore venture towards sustainability began

during the 1960s before ecological issues turned into

a worldwide concern. Singapore was a juvenile

country confronting high joblessness with an

incompetent work drive, predominantly living in

urban slums that needed sanitation and the help of

sufficient public infrastructure. Nevertheless,

Singapore pioneers at that period made intense

inquiries to guarantee long-term sustainability. The

founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, stated

that, “I have always believed that a blighted urban

jungle of concrete destroys the human spirits. We

need the greenery of nature to lift up our spirits.”

(Singapore National Review Report,

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/). Hence, two

years after independence in 1967, Singapore launched

the Garden City programme with a vision to make

Singapore a highly liveable city filled with greenery.

Thus, Singapore’s sustainability efforts can be

refined into an efficient system that pioneers can

apply to their own urban communities. In its quest for

sustainable development, Singapore has held three

steady results. Competitive economics have attracted

investment and provided employment. besides that

the existence of a sustainable environment can help

developing cities, even though the available natural

resources are limited, in terms of land and fresh water

and quality of life. (Singapore Sustainability

Blueprint, https://www.mewr.gov.sg/). These results

are not generally at chances; solutions to accomplish

one outcome can make open doors for another.

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2.2 Singapore Environmental

Sustainability

Looking back, the reason that transformed Singapore

from a small city to environmentally sustainable is the

role of government in communicating the vision. The

Singapore government has constantly clarified to

people in general that the national priority placed to

the environment. The first yearly ‘Keep Singapore

Clean’ campaign was launched in October 1968 by

the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, to educate all

Singaporeans on the importance of keeping shared

public spaces clean. This yearly battle went up against

an extra measurement in 1971 with the launch of Tree

Planting Day. A long way from being only one day in

a year, Tree Planting Day symbolized the

government’s vision for Singapore to be transformed

into a tropical garden city – both clean and green –

and turn into a tradition panning for the following

twenty years. In 1990, the first Clean and Green Week

(CGW) was launched, incorporating both to Keep

Singapore Clean campaign and tree-planting

activities. The campaign educates each individual

about not making roads, waterways and public places

dirty (Soon, et al., 2016:5).

Another reason was related to strict law

enforcement. Based on a reality that regardless of

how fruitful public education initiatives may be, there

will constantly be a little gathering of people who

remain recalcitrant. In 1968, the Ministry of Health

carries out its battle against litterbugs through the

Environmental Health Public Act (EHPA). The Act

in its fourteen sections covers all fields of natural

wellbeing. Specifically Part 3 (Public Cleansing), it

manages with the cleansing of the street, the

collection and removal of refuse, and the cleanliness

of ‘public places’. Comprehensive provisions against

littering and the disposal of refuse in the public places

were introduced. To accomplish the ideal results of

enhancing public cleanliness, strict legislative

provisions accompanied by equally serious

enforcement. The combination of anti-littering laws

with fines as penalties and the series annual ‘Keep

Singapore Clean’ campaigns, and the Corrective

Work Order (CWO) in place of a hefty fine, have

helped reduce the littering problem to a large extent

(2016:22). Other than littering, vandalism, chewing

gum, smoking, urinating in elevators, not flushing

toilet was other environmental issues related that

become Singapore’s concern on keeping the city safe

and clean.

Further reason regarding the Singapore successful

story on environmental sustainability is that

Singapore applying economic principles to

environmental policy. There are four key zones in

which financial matters has assumed a key role in

managing environmental policy: (i) in deciding

between which projects or options to implement; (ii)

in setting appropriate prices or user fees; (iii) when

introducing market competition; and (iv) how market

failures should be dealt with (2016:45).

Notwithstanding the economics, to quicken the

development of the environmental industry and to

keep up Singapore’s image as a City in a Garden, the

government additionally started a few subsidizing

and motivating force plans related to energy

efficiency, clean energy, green buildings, water and

environmental technologies, green transport and

shipping, waste minimization, energy and greenhouse

gas management, and environmental initiatives and

training. Based on a compilation by Singapore

Sustainability Alliance, presently, Singapore has 72

groups that are doing work related with the

environment; and 35 government funding and

incentives for the environment (Singapore

Sustainability Alliance, http://ssa.sbf.org.sg/).

Singapore is certifiably not a green ideal world

with zero carbon emissions, extensive scale

sustainable energy sources, or cutting edge zero-

energy buildings. As Singapore is in the Inter-tropical

Convergence Zone (ITCZ), its air composition and

climate are vigorously affected by the breezes that

bring mists and air from the northern and southern

halves of the globe and natural and anthropogenic

activities within the region. The activities such as

land-use change and the related exercises in peat-

terrains would add to Singapore’s air quality through

trans-boundary transport, notwithstanding nearby

emanation sources. Moreover, Singapore’s

geography is generally level, with most land under

than 15 meter above sea level. Subsequently, this

low-lying, densely populated country in profoundly

defenceless against climate change effects (National

Environmental Agency, https://www.nea.gov.sg/).

Addressing this matter, in 2007, the Singapore

government commissioned a Climate Change Study

to investigate Singapore’s defencelessness on climate

change. The specialists give a projection of climate

change effects, i.e. changes in temperature, sea level

and rainfall patterns in Singapore in the following

century, and the impact of such effects, including

increased flooding and impacts on water resources

(National Climate Change Secretariat,

https://www.nccs.gov.sg/). By result, Singapore

pledged to reduce the Emissions Intensity (EI). The

government through the National Environment

Agency (NEA) actively promotes energy efficiency

in the industry, household, and public sectors through

legislation, incentives, and public education. In

addition, set yearning focuses under 2030 pledge, and

meeting them will require purposeful endeavours by

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887

the administration, organizations, family units and

people. These schemes are laid out in the Climate

Action Plan: Take Action Today, For a Carbon-

Efficient Singapore (National Climate Change

Secretariat, 2016).

2.3 Sustainability and Islam

An interesting polls result sponsored by the Pew

Forum Research shows that in contrast to abortion,

gay marriage and other hot-button cultural issues,

there is a fairly strong consensus across faith

traditions on environmental policy. Protecting the

environment become a priority after terrorism, the

economy, health care and education across the

religious spectrum (Pew Research Centre,

http://www.pewforum.org/). This result accentuated

that religion concerned with environmental issues. By

principle, religious belief should be a strong

motivation for environmental concern, as religions

provide a cosmological view on how humans should

relate to other creatures. Even more important,

religious practices foster a moderate living, restricting

consumerism.

Sustainability has a strong relation with

religiosity, especially Islam. The basis of

environmental protection in Islam is found in the

notion that God created the world and set human

beings in it to appreciate and painstakingly use it;

environmental parity and sustainable care of nature

are encouraged (Deen, 2012:299). Proceeding with

the subject of stewardship and trusteeship (khilafah),

individuals are allowed to appreciate the products of

the earth, yet the earth must not be demolished for

their descendants: ‘Individuals ought not manhandle,

abuse, or distort the natural resources as each

generation is entitled to benefit from them yet is not

qualified for “possess” them in an flat out sense’.

Being caring to creatures is an ‘article of faith’ in

Islam. Like humans, other living creatures have

comparative rights to exist and flourish in this planet,

and individuals are ‘commended’ with a

responsibility to protect the environment and caring

for the earth (Saniotis, 2011; Islam, 2012).

This above clarification shows that mankind in the

world is not solely obligated as Allah’s steward on the

earth, yet likewise be considered responsible in the

hereafter if there is any straying. Every single

generation is obliged to enhance the condition in

which preceding generations have left the earth. No

generation has a privilege to contaminate the earth in

a way that exhausts its assets and degrades its

biological systems. Hence, Muslims are religiously

compelled to manage the environment wisely

manifesting their trusteeship to Allah. In so doing, it

charts an environmental ethic and morality in Islam

that melds human attitudes towards the environment.

3 METHODOLOGY

As an attempt to gather information on the attitudes

and practices of Muslim Singapore toward nature,

this study framed by a qualitative approach: a method

that uses the natural setting as the direct source of data

and the researcher as the key instrument (Rossman &

Rallis, 1998). Such research involves a range of well-

defined, through variable methods: informal

interviews, direct observation, analyses of

documentation by surveying a number of relevant

libraries.

3.1 Naturalistic Observation

The investigation utilized a participant observation

technique, in which the observers partake in the

activities of the subjects. The primary information for

the study is accumulated from an intensive fieldwork

that occurred over than two weeks, from August 21 -

September 4, 2018. The object of research was varied,

consists of: 3 mosques, 1 madrasah, 1 public school,

1 wet market, 1 shopping centre; which located at

different part of Singapore.

3.2 Informal Interviews

In selecting respondent, a purposive sampling

technique was utilized to the preferred subjects due to

specific attributes. We ended up by having interview

with 12 muslimah from category: 3 elders, 5 students,

2 teachers, and 2 housewives. The little number is due

to the limit time and inaccessibility to be piece of our

respondent in the interview, some of them were

rejected and a few acknowledged our demand.

In this paper, the reference to ‘Muslim Singapore’

are refers to Malay–Muslims. The Indian Muslims

and Muslims from the ‘Other’ category are not

included due to time.

3.3 Documentation

Finally, as an essential technique to break down the

examination issue, bibliographical or library research

is completed by reviewing number of significant

libraries from which, books, articles, containing early

discoveries are acquired.

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4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Muslim Singapore Religious

Attitudes towards Nature

In quest of examining through deep search on

religions and environment on literature, the authors

have only found two papers related with Muslim

Singapore context.

Firstly, a book chapter written by Sofiah Jamil

(2009:119) emphasized on the need to promoting

environmentalism within Singapore’s Muslim

community based on her preliminary attitudinal

responses amongst Singapore’s Muslim youths in

Islamic environmentalism. Focusing on climate

change issues, the author analysed the perceptions of

on-the-street Singapore’s Muslim youths toward

Islamic environmentalism. The author found that only

60% of Singapore’s Muslim youths considered them

to be environmentally friendly; 50% never heard of

Islamic environmentalism; while another 27% were

unsure about it. From this outcome, respondents that

positively made up approximately 23%, who cited

cleanliness, no wastage, and man’s responsibilities

and role as the steward on earth as the main tenets of

Islamic teachings on the environment. An

overwhelming 78% agreed that Muslims would be

more environmentally friendly if their religious

leaders advocated the importance of caring for the

environment; 89% noted that they would like to see

more done by their religious leaders in promoting

environmental awareness; and 77% respond

positively to the question: ‘Can Singapore Muslim

Youths make a difference in encouraging people to be

environmentally friendly?’ These preliminary survey

findings show the indicative of Singapore Muslim’s

attitudes toward the role of Islam in addressing

environmental issues.

Differ from the previous study, the second paper

was related to the issues on extremism. Mustazah

Bahari and Muhammad Haniff Hassan (2015) in an

article named Islam’s Moderate (Wasatiyah) Vision

and Jihad through Service to the Environment –

Analysis, draw the significant Muslims’ commitment

to preservation fill in as a solid case of jihad in the

more extensive setting. The ‘jihad’ represents the

wasatiyah (moderate) vision of Islam. Hence, the

endeavour to advance wasatiyah ought to run

simultaneously with other efforts to counter the

present issue on radicalization of Muslim youths

globally.

As decade progressed, the perceptions of Muslim

Singapore nowadays might gradually change. They

more concerned about environmental protection.

Respondents indicated that the need to protect the

environment is part of Islamic teaching. Although

some of our respondents have never heard about the

term ‘Islamic environmentalism’, they are motivated

to preserve the environment for the future

generations. Even one of the respondents stated that

she prefers her children to connect more to nature

rather than technology.

Moreover, a few respondents implied that they do

not want to predominantly conserve plant and

species, or natural habitats over any other

straightforwardly. They are bound to display the

‘introverted’ or thoughtful preservation practices by

utilizing environment-friendly products, no littering,

and include keeping the public clean. On the other

hand, different respondents prone to act more by

presenting a request of to an applicable government

organization to take up preservation causes and

furthermore signing a pledge for Climate Action.

Clearly, this above outcome indicated an

environmentally-friendly attitude and practical from

Muslim Singapore views. Regarding this Muslim

Singapore pro-attitude, according to Ivy, et al. (1998)

it was contributed from several factors: levels of

education, social class, time perspective and

knowledge on environmental issues. With these four

factors, Singaporeans are definitely well equipped to

understand the environmental messages taught to

them.

In addition, Singapore religious groups desired for

progressively societal activism and support as to

protecting the environment. As indicated in the work

of Andrew Chan and Md. Saidul Islam (2015):

“The issues of religious ecological concern can be

proceed as a powerful overarching framework in

directing the state and/or religious environmental

policy to create both multicultural social cohesion

and additionally environmental protection, and by

doing as such add to maintaining the fundamental

pillars of religious and national harmony in

Singapore while simultaneously encouraging the

participatory citizenship.”

The above statement is in tune with the Islamic

environmental ethics which can be emphasized

through community participation. Herein lays a

chance to create approaches that would be reasonable

and adaptable, and would help to understand the

environmental standards of Islam in in different

agrarian and urban settings. Ecological principles

communicated in the shari’ah may help with

delivering rules in protection and contamination

control. The manners by which principles of

stewardship and accountability can be actualized for

all intents and purposes will be dependent upon the

explicit financial setting of every Muslim country.

This will be an arduous task, consolidating the

scholarly and monetary assets of policymakers, civil

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889

servants, ethicists, scientists, religious leaders, and

the private sector.

As we presented earlier about the attitude of

Muslim Singapore toward nature, it is interestingly to

highlight that the previously distinguished research

has not yet assessed the practical aspect of

environmental issues. Thus, the following section

will elaborate on the behaviour of Muslim Singapore

towards nature.

4.2 Muslim Singapore Religious

Practical towards Nature

In regard to Muslim Singapore action and movement

toward nature, we highlighted several possibility

contributions to environmental protection.

4.2.1 Wudhu (ablution) with Less Water

For Muslim, notably, water is an essential need to

clean their body before performing worship. They do

this 5 times per day, 35 times each week, 150 times

each month, which all this means a ton of water.

Notwithstanding, since water protection is an

imperative inhabitant in Islam, one way Muslims can

moderate water is to reduce the measure of water use

amid wudhu.

In Singapore, wudhu usually has done with

running water from a tap. Muslim Singapore have

been taught to wudhu with less water. We visited

mosques to observe the sermon and to look at the

mosque's water-saving strategies. We saw how the

mosque collects rainwater and condensate from the

air-conditioning system for watering plants and

cleaning floors.

This is certainly different from the shopping

centre, since not all public toilets provide water.

Concerning this issue, our respondents give solutions:

(1) return back home quickly to perform prayer, (2)

find the nearest mosques, (3) performing the jama’

prayer, (4) keep ablution for the next prayer, and (5)

bring a small bottle. The last solution was shown by

a student in a mosque before, how she practices her

ablutions in a water-efficient way with a small bottle

of water. Last but not least, the Islamic Religious

Council of Singapore (MUIS) also has launched

‘MuslimSG’ app, to help Muslim Singapore to stay

connected with the prayer times, nearest places for

pray, halal food, khutbah, classes & e-learning and

religious matters.

4.2.2 Consuming NEWater

NEWater is the product name given to recycled

water manufactured by Singapore's Public Utilities

Board. Explicitly, it is dealt with wastewater (sewage)

that has been filtered. The water is drinkable and is

devoured by people.

With respect to this product, respondents

concurred that the water can be consumed by Muslim

and they consider it as halal. This is based on the 53rd

Muzakarah of the Fatwa Committee National Council

of Islamic Religious Affairs Malaysia that held on

November 2002 which examined the utilization

of NEWater from an Islamic law point of view, and

even MUIS has given a green light concerning the

product.

4.2.3 Green Ifthar

Ifthar is the evening meal which Muslims end

their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. In Singapore,

mosques around the island will be working with

government organizations to urge their congregants

to have a more beneficial and greener Ramadan as

component of their Touch of Ramadan campaign

(Abdullah, 2016). The Muslim started to cut down oil

and salt for its meals, as well as offer a platter of fruits

and vegetables. They offer brown rice and grilled fish

for up to 100 worshippers as well as hold talks

throughout the month on the topic of healthy living

from a religious perspective. In addition, this

movement aims to get mosques to save up to 250,000

litters of water a week by getting worshippers to use

less water when making ablution. The mosques also

encouraged to move away from offering styrofoam or

plastic utensils for their congregants to break their

fast and to switch to reusable or biodegradable

alternatives instead.

Unfortunately, this practice does not applicable

yet to all places. Especially in Eid Fithri celebration,

where there are so many guests coming to the house.

Most houses have to cook plenty of food including

meats to show a respect as a tradition and to show a

respect towards the guests. And for convenience

purposes, most houses will use disposable dishware

which was made from plastic or styrofoam.

4.2.4 Social Organization

Other than above movement, we also search for a

Muslim social organization that works for the

environment. From 72 non-profit groups, we only

found one group that obviously stating Islam and the

environment protection. FiTree, under Ms. Nur

Khairiana binte Mohd Malek, sorts out exercises

including youthful Muslims from different mosques

and madrasahs to advance familiarity with natural

issues and open doors for positive commitments

towards ecological protection. Most of the tasks are

synergetic in nature, to build mindfulness that ‘being

Green is part of our Deen’.

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Other than FiTree, we also found Singapore

Youth for Climate Action (SYCA), under the

supervision of Ms. Nor Lastrina Hamid, a young

Malay-Muslim Singapore. SYCA is a community of

young Singapore residents who come together with a

common goal: to take climate action. SYCA was

started by a group of young Singaporeans who are

already active on the local environmental scene.

5 CONCLUSIONS

We have presented the attitudes and practices of

Muslim Singapore regarding earth conservation.

Globally speaking, Muslim Singapore mostly has an

environment-friendly attitude. However, there is a

question on these Muslim attitudes and practices are

based on the religious act or under control?

Attributable to the complexity of Malay-Muslim

Singapore as the minority, this paper asserts that there

is a requirement for an inspection into various parts

of Muslim environmentalism, and to what degree

environmental practices are impacted by Islamic

environmental ethics.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work conducted within the Master Program of

the Graduate School UIN Syarif Hidayatullah UIN

Jakarta, and supported by Institution of Research and

Community Engagement (LP2M) UIN Syarif

Hidayatullah Jakarta. The authors gratefully

acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions

of the reviewers, which have improved the

presentation.

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