By: Rosie Ferawati (Volunteer Bumi Panda) & Natalia T. Agnika

The issue of environmental damage is of concern to many. Various efforts are made to address this, one of which is through a religious approach. Bumi Panda as an environmental education house owned by WWF-Indonesia tries to invite the public to open up insights in an effort to preserve nature through a discussion entitled "Walking Gently on Earth" on Saturday (07/23) ago.

The discussion that presented speakers Nana Firman, Coordinator of GreenFaith USA (an interfaith environmental community based in America) and Nissa Wiradiguna as the founder of Pesantren Ath-Taariq, Garut was attended by students from several universities in Bandung. Both speakers explained the values of Islam that support environmental conservation efforts.

Nana Firman said that all religions teach to do good on earth and there are several principles in religious teachings that teach about maintaining environmental balance. Islam is one of the religions that has a message about nature conservation. This environmental activist explained the verses in the Al-Quran and Hadith that discuss the environment and our obligation as humans to protect the environment.

The verses that discuss the environment are found in Q.S. Al-Zalzalah verses 1 to 8, Q.S. Ibrahim verse 32, Q.S. At-Taqwir verse 26, Q.S. Al-Ahzab verse 72, and in Q.S. Ar-rahman. Nana said that there are two messages in Islam about the environment. "First, we are given a mandate that as long as we live in this world, we must protect the earth because it will be asked about in the afterlife. The second message is that we are khalifah, which does not only mean leader, but khalifah has a broad meaning, it can be a person in charge, a manager, utilizing the environment but must be responsible, and of course khalifah as a representative of Allah SWT on earth to protect the earth," said the GreenFaith USA Coordinator.

In addition, there are many recommendations and obligations in the Quran that can be used as a guide for a green lifestyle. For example, the recommendation to save energy contained in the hadith which reads "turn off the lights or other lighting when you go to bed". In addition to supporting the energy-saving movement, the hadith is very supportive of the health of the human body because during sleep there are several cells in the body that need a dark atmosphere to improve the state in the body. Closing his presentation, Nana invited the participants to try to be more aware and understand more deeply the content of the verses that Allah has given regarding our obligation to protect the environment so that we can prevent any damage that will occur.

In the next session, Nissa Wiradiguna as the founder of Pesantren Ath-Taariq, Garut shared about the activities in the pesantren known as eco-pesantren. "The pesantren that we manage is ecology-based because ecology has an understanding of equality. Living beings are not only humans and not only Muslims. When it comes to nature, it becomes a shared responsibility," said Nissa.

Not only telling about the activities in the boarding school, Nissa also brought some examples of grains that can be utilized for an environmentally friendly lifestyle. One of the highlights was the klerak fruit. The fruit is an ingredient that can be used as a substitute for soap. According to her, the chemicals from the soap we use daily are very harmful and can kill every organism that lives in the soil. Chemicals from soap also make the inner layer of the soil even more destroyed. With the use of natural ingredients, it is hoped that it can help preserve nature and not add to the damage that has occurred at this time.

"The command to protect the environment is already there, we just (whether) want to understand and learn each of the holy verses of the Koran and certainly run it too," concluded Nana Firman to conclude the "Walking Gently on Earth" discussion at Bumi Panda.