The Qatari Forum for Authors hosted the Lebanese writer Dr. Ali Adnan Al-Shaar, author of the book “The Environment Between the Justice of the Most Gracious and the Injustice of Man”, as part of a new session of the “Intellectuals in Doha” event. The session moderated by the writer/Mr. Saleh Gharib, discussed the reality of culture in the State of Qatar, the journey of the guest in addition to his most important cultural achievements, and the most prominent parts of his book.
The guest of the forum expressed his admiration for the cultural scene in the State of Qatar, which is witnessing exceptional momentum and movement, stressing that the activities of the Ministry of Culture and the Qatari Forum for Authors find great resonance outside Doha.
He praised the great efforts made by the Ministry of Culture and its affiliated centers during the (Corona) pandemic, as they were able to adapt to the situation and transfer the events to the virtual space, which made them more widespread and easier to reach for intellectuals and those interested in culture outside the State of Qatar, which indicates the clear vision of the Ministry and its ability to attract intellectuals, authors, and writers as well as bridging the gap between the Qatari intellectual and intellectuals across the Arab world.
Dr. Al-Shaar talked about the importance of social media platforms and the investment of virtual space to bridge distances as well as points of view, calling for conducting research on the efficiency of these platforms and their service to culture and giving many examples about the positives of modern technologies in several sectors and fields, including the environmental field, where most of the meetings are held at the regional and international level in a way that combines the physical and the virtual communications and this facilitated the exchange of ideas and opinions without the hardship of travel and its drawbacks, indicating that the West was ready and more prepared to move into the virtual space, while the experience was new to the Arab world.
In a related context, Dr. Al-Shaar speaks about his book “The Environment Between the Justice of the Most Gracious and the Injustice of Man”, which comes in the context of concern for the environment and sustainability, and about the efforts of the State of Qatar in the field of sustainability, and he said that Qatar is a pioneer in caring for the environment and signing international agreements in parallel with an interest in society, the individual, the economy and culture, noting that all these areas are interrelated. This is shown through the construction of sustainable stadiums to host the historic sporting event, the FIFA World Cup 2022, in accordance with global systems for preserving the environment.
Dr. Al-Shaar discussed the content of his environmental book, which is a scientific thesis that he submitted to Beirut Islamic University affiliated with Dar Al-Fatwa. This research took five years and he obtained an excellent degree with a recommendation for publication. Indeed, he printed and published the first edition, and he is now in the process of preparing for the second edition. Regarding the details of the research, he said that it is a study that contains an introduction, a preamble and two chapters, the first chapter dealt with the near environment, which is intended for water and land and the second chapter dealt with the remote environment, which is air.
The author of the research confirmed that he sought through his book to highlight the importance of the environment in the religious text and in the prophetic hadiths, as well as from the living, societal and scientific aspects as he analyzed the data in the Lebanese society and came out at the end of the research with a set of recommendations that serve the environment and help raise awareness of the importance of preserving it and the ways to do so, emphasizing the importance of religious faith to encourage community members to rationed consumption of natural resources.