Within the Ghanaian context, environmental degradation has reached alarming proportions.

The destruction of forests, pollution of major rivers, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, bushfires, coastal erosion, and rapid urban expansion continue to undermine public health, agricultural productivity, and economic resilience (Environmental Protection Agency Ghana, 2024).

Particularly concerning is the widespread contamination of water bodies through illegal mining activities, which has rendered several rivers unsafe for domestic use and increased the cost of water treatment. These realities illustrate the tangible consequences of fasād described in the Qur’an more than fourteen centuries ago.

Islam does not merely prohibit environmental destruction; it encourages believers to become agents of restoration (iṣlāḥ). The Qur’an consistently contrasts corruption with reform, calling believers to promote justice, preserve creation, and contribute positively to society.

Environmental restoration through reforestation, river conservation, responsible waste management, and sustainable agriculture therefore constitutes an important dimension of iṣlāḥ.

Every effort to restore degraded ecosystems is not only a contribution to national development but also an act of obedience to Allah.

Understanding environmental degradation as fasād fundamentally reshapes the Muslim response to today’s ecological crises.

Pollution is no longer viewed merely as poor sanitation, nor deforestation as simply an economic issue. They become moral failures that violate humanity’s covenant as Khalifah and threaten the balance established by Allah.

This ethical perspective provides a compelling foundation for addressing one of Ghana’s most pressing environmental challenges—illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey-which represents one of the clearest manifestations of environmental corruption in contemporary society.

Illegal mining (Galamsey): An Islamic and national crisis

Among the many environmental challenges confronting Ghana today, none has generated greater national concern than illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Although mining has contributed significantly to Ghana’s economic development for decades, illegal mining has evolved into a major environmental, social, and governance crisis.

The indiscriminate use of heavy machinery, excavation of farmlands, destruction of forest reserves, and pollution of rivers with mercury and other toxic substances have left lasting scars on the nation’s natural resources.

Beyond its environmental consequences, galamsey raises profound moral and ethical questions that demand reflection from an Islamic perspective.

Ghana continues to experience substantial forest loss due to illegal mining, illegal logging, agricultural expansion and human settlement.

The degradation of forest reserves weakens biodiversity conservation, reduces carbon sequestration, and increases vulnerability to climate-related disasters such as flooding and drought (Forestry Commission Ghana, 2024).

The environmental cost of illegal mining is staggering. Rivers that once supplied clean drinking water and supported fishing communities have become heavily polluted. Productive agricultural lands have been rendered infertile, forests have been cleared indiscriminately, and biodiversity has suffered extensive loss.

These developments threaten food security, increase the cost of water treatment, reduce agricultural productivity, and compromise the health and livelihoods of millions of Ghanaians (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2023; Environmental Protection Agency Ghana, 2024).

Climate resilience is also weakened by illegal mining. Forests serve as important carbon sinks, regulate rainfall patterns, protect watersheds, and reduce soil erosion. Their destruction accelerates land degradation and increases communities’ vulnerability to flooding and drought.

Consequently, the environmental damage caused by galamsey extends far beyond mining sites, affecting entire ecosystems and future generations.

From an Islamic standpoint, such destruction constitutes a clear violation of humanity’s responsibility as Khalifah. Allah entrusted human beings with the care of the earth, not its reckless exploitation.

While Islam recognises the legitimacy of earning a lawful livelihood through commerce, agriculture, industry, and the responsible extraction of natural resources, these activities must be conducted within the limits of justice, public welfare, and environmental responsibility.

Economic benefit can never justify the destruction of Allah’s creation or the endangerment of human life.

The Qur’an repeatedly condemns those whose pursuit of worldly gain results in widespread destruction. Allah says, “And when he goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals.

 And Allah does not like corruption” (Qur’an 2:205, Sahih International). Although revealed in a broader ethical context, this verse powerfully illustrates the destructive consequences of human greed.

The deliberate destruction of fertile land, vegetation, water bodies, and wildlife for short-term financial gain closely reflects the type of corruption condemned by the Qur’an.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) established another enduring principle when he declared, “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 2341; Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik, Hadith 1461).

This legal maxim (lā ḍarar wa lā dirār) has become one of the foundational principles of Islamic jurisprudence. It requires Muslims to avoid actions that cause unjustifiable harm to individuals or society.

Illegal mining clearly violates this principle because its consequences extend far beyond those directly involved. Entire communities lose access to clean water, farmers lose their livelihoods, children face long-term health risks, and future generations inherit degraded ecosystems.

The crisis of galamsey also illustrates the relevance of the higher objectives of Islamic law (Maqāṣid al-Sharī’ah). The preservation of life (Hifz al-Nafs) is threatened when polluted rivers expose communities to toxic chemicals and waterborne diseases.

The preservation of wealth (Hifz al-Māl) is undermined through the destruction of farms, fisheries, and other sustainable sources of income. The preservation of intellect (Hifz al-‘Aql) is endangered by exposure to hazardous substances such as mercury, which can impair neurological development and cognitive function.

The preservation of lineage (Hifz al-Nasl) is compromised as environmental degradation jeopardises the health, livelihoods, and welfare of future generations. Even the preservation of religion (Hifz al-Dīn) is affected because Islam calls believers to uphold justice, fulfil trusts, and refrain from causing corruption on earth. Thus, galamsey undermines every major objective that Islamic law seeks to protect.

The issue is not solely an environmental problem but also a governance challenge. Weak enforcement of environmental regulations, corruption, inadequate land-use planning, and economic hardship have all contributed to the persistence of illegal mining.

Ghana has enacted laws to regulate mining activities and protect the environment, including the Minerals and Mining

Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, and the Environmental Protection Act, 2025 (Act 1124).

Furthermore, Article 41(k) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana places a civic duty on every citizen “to protect and safeguard the environment. Effective implementation of these legal frameworks requires political commitment, institutional integrity, and active public participation.

I GUESS to become a very good cop master, one must have the patience to listen to plenty of nonsense without feeling dizzy. That is why I advised a policeman friend to eat four balls of Ga kenkey every morning to cope with the job.  He has taken my advice, and each morning, you can see him walking like a ball of kenkey.

The complaints come in many forms and ramifications. A husband who can’t take his wife’s nagging any longer bursts into the charge office fuming with red eyes and promptly declares that his wife is in danger. Asked to give details, he says that he has well-rehearsed plans to slap the woman with such horse-power that she’d get brain damage if she doesn’t fall into coma.

Asked to give further details, he says, his wife has been nagging him for 17 years now about frivolous matters including akpeteshie drinking, although he has told her there is no way he can stop drinking the stuff. In short, he is lodging a complaint to precede the domestic revolutionary action, which he believes can be comparable to the Iranian Ayatollah revolution.

The disgruntled husband then proceeds to define what a revolution is and elucidates on the different types of revolutions. By the time he ends his complaint, he has told his life history in perfect detail, beginning from where and when he was born.

If the policeman is not patient he cannot listen to such a complaint. But it is in listening that he can diagnose whether the complainant is merely suffering from a hangover or has a genuine case to contest.

Anyhow, the wife must be invited to give her version of the domestic palaver. But it is not in her nature to go straight to point. God forbid! She must give the account in such an elaborate manner to make it plausible, to portray her husband as Satan personified. Such an account must be bombastic in nature, alliterative in content, and proverbial in style.

But she must begin by driving home the point that she is from a royal family, quite similar to the circumstances of Lady Diana, and must be regarded as such. If the policeman says the point is irrelevant and, therefore, not germane to the case at hand, she insist that it is relevant, even pertinent to the case. And she’d prove why.

Before the policeman gets to listen to the real case 45 minutes has elapsed. And the real case. “My husband is the worst form of idiot you can find worldwide. He is a fool, he is a hopeless man, he’s a damn fool. In a nutshell, he is not normal…”

The policeman will raise a point of order and remind her that the forum isn’t for delivering abusive missiles but to solve a matter amicably so that husband can go back home hand-in-hand.

Wahalla

Finally, the woman, in boring detail will preach a litany of her husband’s misconduct and transgression which border on alcoholic predilections, chopmoney wahalla, extra-time demands for sex, total neglect of  the children, kola chewing, common smoking, insulting of mothers-in-law, whatever.

By the time she is half-way through, the policeman is no longer listening. Instead he’d be dozing, on the verge of snoring away.

In conclusion, the woman would swear that she has no patience for a man with so many problems and that is prepared for a divorce. If the divorce isn’t granted, she’d leave the children and run away so that the husband would learn sense.

At this point, the policeman comes to realise that he is dealing with exceptional couples who can talk for 24 hours non-stop and require more time to conclude. So he must not allow any of the parties to cross examine the other, otherwise, he’d lose stamina and run out of gas, despite eating four balls of kenkey early in the morning.

He must proceed to counsel the couple, pointing it out to them that their basic problem is that they talk too much for comfort. If they could talk less and concentrate on the solution of their problems, they’d be making a headway. Divorce may not be the answer. Life-long marriage demands mutual love and understanding. Case close! The couples go back home fuming and the policeman can breathe easily now. Too much tension to begin with!

Salute

He must now walk around and stretch his muscles. He walks outside the charge office yawning and is confronted by a laughing lunatic. He salutes the policeman.

Go away from here,” the officer orders promptly.

“Go away to where?” the mad man enquires. “I’ve come to lodge a complaint. I want you to go and arrest the government. From morning till now, I’ve not eaten yor ke gari. It’s not fair to me.”

After handling the crazy fellow’s complaint, a furious woman almost bounds into him. She has come to lodge a complaint that her next-door neighbour is fond of looking into her soup pot whenever she is preparing soup. This is her last warning, she swears.

Another comes to complain that a neighbour’s child has defecated all over her veranda and the mother is not willing to scrub off the green stomach matter.

The last ludicrous complaint a young woman of about 35 made to a police officer was about a fortnight ago. She had come to complain about a man who presented himself to her as a burgher from Germany. He promised to marry her and she obliged. The man promised to give her some dollars, so she allowed him to have sex with her so many times even when she was not in the mood for it. “The man likes the thing too much,” she lamented.

The last time they met, the man folded a GH¢500 note and tucked it into her palm when she went to see him off at night. She thought it was 100 dollars. She got home and realised that it was common GH¢500. She had since not seen the man. She was depressed and wanted to know from the cop whether the man could be jailed for the “offence”, coming to realise that the man was not a burgher after all?

The policeman was amused. “As for this one, please go and solve it yourself,” he said. “I tire!”

 This article was first published on Saturday September 19, 1998