KARACHI: On Wednesday, the Sindh branch of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) held its second follow-up coordination meeting on climate change with eminent religious scholars and other stakeholders at the Emergency Operations Centre Hilal-e-Ahmer House Karachi.
The PRCS and religious scholars vowed to preach the adaptation of good ways to live a healthy life and reduce the negative effects of climate change in the context of the Islamic teachings.
The event was presided by the Chairman PRCS-Sindh Mrs. Shahnaz S. Hamid and former Federal Minister and Chairman of Al-Mustafa Welfare Society Haji Muhammad Hanif Tayyab and attended by Mufti Muhammad Zubair, Maulana Abdul Waheed, Maulana Tanveer-ul-Haq Thanvi, Mir Muhammad Abbass, Ziaur Rehman Akhwani, besides a large number of renowned religious scholars from different sects and people from different professions.
The purpose of this coordination meeting was to get the consent of religious scholars on a declaration to effectively disseminate the message of climate change from an Islamic perspective, including various training on different components of climate change, disaster management, and first aid to increase the capacity of Madaris and Masjid.
Chairman Mrs. Shahnaz thanked all the participants and said that this initiative of the Red Crescent was not only appreciated by all but also vowed by the religious scholars of all schools of thought and technical professionals of various universities to work together to reduce the negative effects of the climate and preach to adopt good practices for healthy living. She further said that the role of Ulema in raising awareness about climate change is of paramount importance and will be even more critical in the years to come. “This challenge could be effectively tackled if the Ulema sensitizes the public in their Jumma sermons and spokes on different occasions,” she added.
Haji Hanif also suggested to the religious scholars that the Imam of the mosque should talk about the negative effects of climate change in the last few minutes of the Friday sermon so that more people are aware of this important message. In addition, he also suggested spreading this awareness through Nikah’s sermon.
Mufti Zubair commended the PRCS for holding this follow-up meeting on climate change and said that the move showed the seriousness of the PRCS on the critical issue of climate change. Maulana Tanveer-ul-Haq Thanvi and other scholars also vowed to perform their role effectively and create awareness among the people about the serious environmental issue.
The coordination meeting was also attended by the technical professional, including representatives of IBA urban lab, Institute of Oceanography Pakistan, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Pakistan Meteorological Department, Urban Forest, and seniors journalists from various media houses.