Islamic Leaders Issue Fatwa on Indonesia’s Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

Indonesia has been plagued by intense smog and smoke in recent years from a growing number of wildfires set to clear land for the production of pulp, paper, and palm oil. In 2015, the fires — large enough to be visible from space — caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, grounding hundreds of flights, closing schools, and creating respiratory problems for an estimated 500,000 Indonesians. This week, Indonesia’s highest Islamic council issued a fatwa, a legal religious ruling or decree, discouraging companies and individuals from using slash-and-burn agriculture. The council said any burning that “causes environmental damage”¦ is illegitimate,” Reuters reported. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim community — 205 million people — making up 87.2 percent of its population.