The Prophet’s birthday… when values are one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Every year, the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday returns, bringing with it a question that goes beyond being a religious occasion: What remains of the fragrant biography of the Prophet in people’s lives after its celebration has ended? It is an occasion that gains its value from its ability to transform the positive meanings called for by the Holy Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – into a sustainable impact in various aspects of life.

From this angle, the Prophet’s biography does not seem far from the questions that occupy the world today, those questions related to building more just and sustainable societies. Solidarity, work, responsibility, and community service; All of these are values ​​for which we can find contemporary extensions in the paths ofSustainable development socially, economically and environmentally.

This comes in conjunction with the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday, which falls upon us tomorrow on the 12th of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1448 AH, corresponding to the twenty-fifth of this month of August, and it is a memory with which the biography of the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – is renewed with the human meanings and cultural values it carries; His honorable birth marked a new phase in the history of humanity, a phase based on mercy, justice, the preservation of dignity, solidarity, and the promotion of work and construction.

Here we should clarify that although the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda are a framework that is not based on purely religious dimensions; There is a close relationship between it and the honorable birth of the Prophet, and this relationship is within a social, economic, and environmental framework.

That is because the nationsUnited places the eradication of poverty and hunger, health and well-being, quality education, decent work, reduced inequality, responsible consumption and production, peace, justice and strong institutions; Within an integrated global system for sustainable development.

In light of the above, there is a clear link between prophetic values and contemporary development issues. This makes the Prophet’s birthday a cultural and intellectual gateway to rereading these values ​​in light of the challenges of the times, imposed by social mobility and economic transformations in the entire world.

The Prophet’s birthday is a lasting memory

Perhaps the most important question on the anniversary of the Prophet’s birthday is: Do we restore the biography as history, or do we restore it as a method? Because the difference between the two matters is wide; The memory can remain inThe limits of memory, and it can turn into a driving force for reforming reality.

If sustainable development is based on the fundamental idea that the needs of the present should not come at the expense of the ability of future generations to meet their needs; Evoking the fragrant biography of the Prophet can meet with sustainable development and its goals based on the concept of extended responsibility. That is, a person’s responsibility for himself, his society, and the resources he leaves for those after him.

Mercy is the beginning of the path

When compassion becomes a social behavior, it goes beyond its emotional dimension to building a network of mutual responsibility, and here the intersection is highlighted with the first goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to the eradication of poverty, the second goal related to eliminating hunger, and the goalThe third relates to good health and well-being.

What highlights this is that the Sunnah of the Prophet was full of the values of solidarity, helping the needy, and providing relief to those in distress. The developmental meaning was present in building a societal culture that rejects indifference towards poverty and the poor. Because the state – any state – needs policies for social protection, society needs institutions of solidarity, and the individual needs awareness that his well-being is inseparable from the well-being of those around him.

Work and mastery are economic levers

Also, economic development is not correct unless growth is linked to humans; The eighth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for promoting sustainable and comprehensive economic growth and providing decent work, when the ninth goal is linked to industry, innovation and infrastructure.

So,The values ​​of honesty, mastery, and fulfillment of rights seem to be of great importance in promoting economic growth, which is built on trust between its individuals and institutions. Because the honest merchant, the skilled worker, the official who preserves public money, and the institution that is committed to its societal role; They all contribute to building a more sustainable economic environment.

Here lie the moral values that we highlight here by celebrating the occasion of the noble Prophet’s birthday. Sustainable development, with its seventeen goals, means that every individual in society must produce and work in a more fair, honest and responsible manner.

Responsible consumption is an issue for the future

The environment is perhaps the most important reason that prompts a person to reconsider his daily behavior, which is what the second goal calls for.Ten Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); That is, responsible consumption and production, which brings to us the value of moderation and non-excessiveness as an ethical rule capable of supporting responsible behavior towards resources.

To achieve this, the biography of the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – urged one to be intentional in living and to abandon extravagance without frugality, in an attempt to form the cultural basis that encourages more responsible patterns of consumption, which we find present in the twelfth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and other goals.

In conclusion, the noble Prophet’s birthday has profound value that appears when it becomes an occasion to review the distance between what we believe in and what we practice, between the mercy we talk about and the weak who need solidarity, and between the call for moderation and the way we consume food, water, and energy.

Hence, the The Earth Guards Foundation believes that sustainability begins with the values that create behavior capable of achieving and maintaining those indicators; Then the noble Prophet’s birthday becomes an occasion to renew the pledge to the values ​​that make development humane in its essence and sustainable in its impact.