The Chancellor of the Universiti Malaya, His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah officiated the book Tafsir Maudhu'iy Sungai written by Dato' Professor Dr. Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff and Dato' Seri Dr. Zaini Ujang.
Sultan Nazrin in his speech stated that new policies and approaches are needed to address weaknesses in river basin management and issues related to the sustainability of rivers.
“River preservation means a framework for repairing and improving the quality of river water so that it is always clean and usable. River preservation is the responsibility of all parties, not a responsibility limited or specific to an agency or a non-governmental organisation.
“The responsibility of preserving the river needs to be highlighted in the form of environmentally-friendly living practices and a proactive attitude to contribute or be willing to pay the necessary costs,” said His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin.
According to Dato’ Professor Dr. Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff, the motivation behind creating this book stemmed from our recognition of the abundant references to water sources, particularly rivers, in the verses of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad SAW.
“Despite this rich content, there has been a notable absence of discussions regarding rivers in the context of community development, environmental activism, or the formation of knowledge councils worldwide as outlined in the Qur'an and hadiths,” he added.
Based on the Environmental Quality Report 2021 of 670 rivers monitored in Malaysia, 489 of the rivers or 73% showed a clean water quality index, 24% (158 rivers) were moderately polluted and 3% (23 rivers) were polluted.