When The Earth Smokes Cigarettes

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Can you imagine that your lung is burned and broken? Can you find another way to breath? How if it is happened to our beloved earth? Those are simple questions that do not really need to answer. We just have to deeply think about it. That is what happens to our beloved earth nowadays. The smog covering the large number of our motherland nowadays, even it spread to some countries in South East Asia.

This smog disaster is believed to be caused by forest fire in some spots of Sumatra and Kalimantan. As we know, Sumatra and Kalimantan is the lung of the earth because large numbers of jungle is in these lands. Indonesia forest area reached 162 million hectares of forest land and the largest are in Papua (32.36 million hectares). There are other locations Indonesian forests in Kalimantan (28.23 million hectares), Sumatra (14.65 million hectares), Sulawesi (8.87 million hectares), Maluku and North Maluku (4.02 million hectares), Java (3.09 million hectares), as well as Bali and Nusa Tenggara (2.7 million hectares). So that we as Indonesian people have a big responsibility to keep it save. Ironically, the fact we found in the field is totally different with the efforts of environmental conservation as the resolution of broken world. We forget about that important job to handle the lung of the earth in order to producing clean air for the whole of its civilians. We even damage the biggest source of oxygen by burning the forest for our own benefit. So let us think a bit more idealist about what makes the earth feels like active smoker who has a serious disease in his or her lung, then think further to find a better solution to figure it out.

The cause of smog

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Our motherland is currently facing a long dry season that is strongly believed as an effect of el-nino. It could cause the rising of sensitivity towards the environment where the slightest spark could cause forest fires. Then, polemic came out whether it is caused by natural disaster or human error.

Actually, forest fire is a common phenomenon as the part of forest regeneration. Orthodox seeds with a hard seed coat can germinate burnt by fire. The seeds can grow after getting special treatment from the fire that stimulates its growth. But if the fire was triggered by human intervention, it will have a negative impact on the environment.

Unfortunately, the forest fire that happened currently is not such a natural phenomenon. The experts around the world observe and conclude that human touch is the most responsible cause of the smog disaster that suffering a millions of civilians living nears the sources of smog. The haze was caused by a fire which destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and land. The fire scorched more than 40,000 hectares of land in Jambi. A total of 33,000 hectares were burning peat land (Kompas, 9/9). Ministry of Environment and Forests (KLHK) noted, the area affected by fire in Central Kalimantan (Kalimantan) reached 26 664 hectares (kontan.co.id, 27/09). Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Pekanbaru station detects as many as 591 hot spots spread across seven provinces in Sumatra Island, namely Riau, South Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bangka Belitung and Riau Islands (harianterbit.com, 22/9).

Voices in the smoky haze

The smog disaster has also caused the health crisis. A total of 25.6 million people are exposed to the smoke, which are 22.6 million people in Sumatra and Kalimantan 3 million people. Tens of thousands of people sick. On 28 September, Riau recorded 44 871 inhabitants Acute Respiratory Infections contracted / ARI (Riau Online, 28/9). The number is still likely to rise. There are an additional total of tens of thousands of cases of ARI in Jambi, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan and other areas. Even the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) recorded a death toll of five babies among the more than 15 babies were reportedly affected Upper Respiratory Infection (ARI) due to exposure to smoke forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan (antaranews.com, 9/10).

While Young lecturers and thousands of students at the University of Riau Friday morning held a peaceful demonstration demanding the settlement of the problem of smoke that continues to envelop Riau Province. These students take action in Cut Nyak Dien Pekanbaru siege amid thick smoke. In their claim, UR students and young lecturers demanded the government to arrest the owners of plantations and concession businesses which are large investors in Riau forest destroyers.

The Prophet SAW has solution

While the government are busy to figure out the smog as the effect of forest fire, our Honorable Prophet Muhammad SAW had given the way to prevent such a thing;

Prophet. He said:

 «المسلمون شركاء في ثلاث في الكلإ والماء والنار»

"Muslim associate in three cases namely pastures, water and fire (Abu Dawud and Ahmad)."

The word “pastures” here can be translated as plant. Then the bigger shape of plant is forest.

The smog is just an effect and forest fire is the cause. Then why don’t we try to prevent the cause? We all have a deal that preventing is much better than solving. So, we should know the basis problem of it.

The root of the problem is the system which is governing the land management. While the current policy of the government is giving the land ownership to the private companies, so that they can damage the land they owned as their will. If we take a look at the hadits above, the government would be better to go back to the Islamic system. The hadits shows that the government –as the leader of the nation– has responsibility to manage the use of land especially forest. Then there will be no other owners who can use it inconsequential. On the other hand, the government can conserve it effectively in order to give large benefit for the civilians.

The conclusion is, there must be solution by applying Islamic system. It does not matter how complex is the deal, Islam covering all aspects of life and serve a complete package of troubleshooting whether for the life we are living or the hereafter.