Photo retrieved from: www.greenprophet.com
“In the arid landscapes of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, water has always been a huge issue. Whilst desalination which removes salt from water may have offered a temporary (and very expensive) solution to this age-old problem, in the past, drought and a dwindling supply of naturally available water meant that waste wasn’t tolerated and conservation was the order of the day. Nothing attests to this more than the two and half thousand year old architectural water wonder that is the ‘Aflaj‘ system.
The aflaj water system (falaj in singular) is an ancient technique by which underground tunnels are dug to channel water from distant sources to villages where it was needed. It’s a tried and tested method which helps conserve water and is still used around the world today in places such as the Sahara desert and Oman.
In Islam, water is held in such high regard that its life-giving properties are mentioned in the Qur’an sixty-three times and paradise is described as “gardens beneath which rivers flow.” Muslims also make wudu before prayers five times a day by washing with water and the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) stated that amongst the people God will ignore on the day of resurrection include those “[who] possessed superfluous water on a way and withheld it from travellers.”
As such, water is declared a public good that must be available to all and shared between everyone fairly.”
Read more: Green Prophet
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