The second leg of the "Mizan" Concept Workshop in Islamic Thought, first organized by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Üsküdar Üniversitesi in February 2022, was held on September 20-21, 2022, in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The workshop, held under the auspices of Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar Foundation, saw the participation of numerous academicians, representatives of environmental organizations, and students. Environmentalists emphasized that the modern world is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis.
At the workshop, three separate presentations were given by team members from Al Mizan, Earthna, and the Qur'anic Botanic Garden. Al-Mizan: Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir from Üsküdar Üniversitesi, who was part of the team preparing the World Environmental Convention, Dr. Iyad Abu Moghli from UNEP, and Dr. Odeh Al-Jayyousi introduced Al-Mizan and gave presentations on its contents. At the workshop, it was discussed how Al-Mizan could be used to re-establish the relationship between humans and nature.
Ruba Hinnawi presented Earthna's introduction, mission, and vision.
Subsequently, discussions focused on how Islamic values shape Earthna's sustainability strategy, how it can be implemented in practice, and how it can be communicated to young people.
In his opening speech, Prof. Dr. Recep Şentürk, Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at Ibn Haldun University, illustrated the place of the Al-Mizan concept in Islamic thought with examples; he underlined that through this text, Muslims can offer solutions to environmental problems.
Furthermore, on the second day of the workshop;
Ecologist and Executive Director Dr. Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, Qatar Foundation Representative Hend Zainel, Professor of Islam and Global Affairs and former Sudanese Foreign Minister Prof. Dr. Mustafa Elamin, Secretary General of the Global Public Diplomacy Network Darwish Ahmed Al Shebani, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Director Dr. Iyad Abu Moghli, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Prof. Dr. İbrahim Özdemir, and Sustainability and Innovation Specialist Prof. Dr. Odeh Al-Jayyousi also delivered presentations.
The speakers emphasized that the modern world is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis, highlighting the teachings of Islam on the matter.
Hend Zainel from Qatar Foundation presented Qatar's vision on environment and energy, emphasizing the great importance they attach to a sustainable future and renewable resources in higher education.
Policy principles compatible with Al-Mizan:
Utilizing and integrating a diverse portfolio of high-value energy efficiency, advanced natural gas, and renewable energy technologies.
- Significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Increasing society's resilience to disasters, drawing on the example of Pakistan.
- Considering customer priorities including sustainability, affordability, efficiency, safety, flexibility, and reliability.
- Reducing and managing energy consumption.
- Developing more resilient energy infrastructure.