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Need some ideas to help inspire Muslims on environmental issues? Here are my ten top tips…

As much as I’d like to tell you that there is an easy and foolproof way to capture the imagination of every Muslim when talking about the environment, the reality isn’t so simple. Sadly, there’s no magic formula to dazzle every Muslim into going green or at least I haven’t found it yet! Fear not though, intrepid blogger, because there is something you can do to improve your chances of firstly tapping into a Muslim readership and secondly, encouraging them to green their way of life.

1.  Do Your Research- Whilst no one expects you to be an expert in Islamic jurisprudence, a basic understanding of Islam and Muslim culture will help you when you are blogging. Doing your research about the topic you’re discussing and referring to Green Islamic principles will show the reader that you’re serious about green Muslims and consequently they’ll take your work seriously.

2.  Do Keep Things Varied- From news, reviews and interviews keep things interesting with a diverse range of blogs that reflect the diversity of the Muslim readership. Remember to appeal to them on lots of diverse topics- whilst faith shapes many Muslim lives, they still have interests and passions so if you can appeal to them in these areas you will have a better chance of success.

3.  Do Celebrate Green Successes- Highlighting the existing work of Green Muslims is an important aspect of blogging for a Muslim audience as it will appeal to them directly and also show them that there is a well established link between environmentalism and Islam. This will also help you build networks with the leading green Muslims. Just remember to ask them to keep you updated with exciting goings on and other Green Muslims worth talking to!

4.  Do Use Social Media Networks – Sites such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are vital for keeping ahead of the news, getting in touch with people and even getting pictures to use on the your blogposts. As evidenced by the recent Arab revolutions that made the most of the social media networks, the Muslim world really is online- so make sure you’re signed up and are kept updated.

5.  Do Ask For Advice- If all else fails, just ask. We all learn through each other, so if after scouring the Internet you’re still not sure about a topic or issue then it may be worth dropping someone an email. The online Muslim community is pretty friendly and there are lots of people out there willing to help or at least try and help you.

6.  Don’t Rely On Islamic Verses Alone- The green roots of Islam should be a starting point onto other aspects of the environmental movement and ways to green the Muslim way of life. If you are just going to repeat the reasons Muslims should be environmentally friendly according to the Qur’an and hadith over and over again, it’s going to get very boring and repetitive very quickly. Trust me.

7.   Don’t Be Rude! - No, I am not talking about sex and swearing (Muslims are just open to these are the average person!) but certain topics which Muslims will be more sensitive about. Whether you’re reporting on topics such as the pilgrimage of Hajj or poisoned holy water, remember to apply a little bit sensitivity and care.

8.   Don’t Be Afraid To Tackle Controversial Topics- Debate and discussion are at the heart of every blog so embrace controversial topics and remember that nothing is off-limits if it is done with care and is backed with research. There will inevitable be some topics that must be approached with care when blogging for Muslims but that doesn’t mean that they should be ignored altogether.

9.  Don’t Preach- Avoid the temptation of seeing blogging for Muslims as an opportunity to teach them about being green and instruct them how to live their lives. This is a two-way street and there is probably a lot you can learn about being green from Muslims themselves. Listen out for their feedback and comments (you’ll be surprised how well informed some of your readers may already be) as these will also help you judge what blogs and topics attracted their attention and which ones don’t.

10.  Don’t Forget To Have Fun! After all these do’s and don’ts I just want to remind you the blogger to have a little fun with it all, add your own personality and flair to your blogs and stay positive. Engaging with Muslim audience will put you on a steep learning curve which is as fun as it is hard work- you can expect a lot feedback and encouragement, so good luck!

:: First Published at Green Prophet.

:: Image via Mrehan/Flickr.

Swapping fashion design for fish and wildlife, the film-maker Jonathan Ali Khan has been working on marine conservation in the United Arab Emirates for the past 25 years. His series ‘Arabia’s Cycle of Life’ reached 25 million viewers in the Middle East North Africa region and his latest project ‘Sharkquest Arabia’ is a 2-film TV documentary which uses natural history to communicate the issues facing sharks throughout Arabia’s waters. Green Prophet caught up with Jonathan Ali Khan to talk about the important role sharks play in keeping humans alive, what fisherman can do to protect sharks, the Japanese and Chinese lobby, and how TV and film may be the best way to reach a wide audiences about wildlife conservation.

Why are sharks important for preserving ecosystems and why should we be working for their conservation?

Jonathan Ali Khan: The role of sharks is to manage the food chain. It’s no mistake that these animals possess a formidable range of senses and qualities that have positioned them at the top of the aquatic food chain. As the apex predator, the role they play in the fundamental law of natural selection is in fact linked to the overall health of the seas of our planet. With 92% of our living biosphere being aquatic, almost 80% of our planet’s air is generated by the algae and microscopic phytoplankton that are found in the sea. Many thousands of fish species and other marine organisms feed on phytoplankton and algae. Sharks on the other hand prey on the fish that feed on plankton; right up through to the top of the food chain. So if we remove the sharks, as we are systematically doing at an unsustainable rate of over 70 million sharks a year, then it leaves the plankton feeders free of predation and free to gobble up the main source of our planet’s main oxygen supply! Therefore, it is in our interest to maintain a healthy source of oxygen and air, if we want to keep on breathing!

Some seas, such as around Japan, are already struggling with harmful algae blooms, forming red tides and anaerobic conditions that are causing explosions of super-jellyfish populations that are creating havoc with marine diversity, dominating and taking over what were once rich fishing grounds. Those same areas were once managed by a wide range of shark species that controlled the ecosystem effectively by feeding largely on the fish that preyed on the plankton feeders. Ever since those sharks were fished out from around the coast of Japan, the resulting imbalance has proven catastrophic. To a lesser degree, we have already seen similar results in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf with red tides and toxic algae blooms. Add to that the other man-induced impacts of pollution, dredging and detrimental activities, including over-fishing in general; we are bringing about our own downfall. So, taking into account that we need to keep breathing, we really shouldn’t allow sharks to be removed from performing their important role.

Green Prophet: Can you tell us a little about the work you do as project leader of Shark Quest Arabia?

Sharkquest Arabia is a 2-film TV documentary and awareness project using natural history as a way to communicate the issues facing sharks throughout Arabia’s waters. I chose sharks as the subject because I feel that what is happening to sharks around the world is the most shameful and biggest commercial sellout that man has ever perpetuated against the natural world. The consequences of the global shark fisheries for the fin trade is alarming at so many levels – and in my opinion is one of the biggest threats to our marine environment. I believe the shark story reflects the worst of mankind’s capacity and highlights the disconnection people now have from the natural world around us – if people are capable of allowing this genocide to continue to the point of extinction, then it is clear we are failing to communicate the right message.

It took nature over 400 million years of evolution and natural selection to create what is the perfect apex marine predator, positioning it at the top of the food chain to manage the resources of life on the reef and open oceans. It has taken man less than a hundred years to reduce their numbers to 20% of their population in most of our planet’s seas. I find that totally unacceptable and when I found out what role this region plays, I knew I had to try to open up the story for people in this region to start tackling the issues.

For me natural history television and films are the best ways to reach a wide audience with educational and factual content about wildlife conservation – and may well be one of the best chances that sharks have. My previous series “Arabia’s Cycle of Life” reached 25 million viewers in the MENA region and was later broadcast on Animal Planet Asia reaching another massive audience. However, natural history is still not widely supported by this region’s TV industry as it is not deemed commercially profitable with the media sales and advertising executives that sell sponsorship and airtime on regional channels. It’s sad to say that we really struggle to find support financially for this genre of programming as these executives in effect control what goes on air. I’ve actually been told there is no place for natural history on Arabic TV! That may seem ridiculous, but sadly it is currently still the case!

So, much of my time is spent on trying to raise sponsorship to find the last US$100,000 that we need to complete the 2 films and I am now reduced to only filming piecemeal as and when we have enough money to put together an expedition. What started off as a ‘2 year in the making project’, may take us 3 years to complete due to budgetary restrictions.

Green Prophet: You moved to the UAE around 25 years ago to work on marine conservation. What changes have you witnessed in terms of fisherman’s practices in relation to sharks and their attitudes towards sharks?

I’m no scientist. But as a natural history filmmaker I’m totally obsessed with the science and wonders of the natural world around us. Especially in this region that has been my home for 25 years. In that time, I have dived and explored all the seas of the Arabian Peninsula and witnessed many changes. I didn’t always have these interests. I started off my working life as a fashion designer having studied at the London School of fashion and worked in Italy for 3 years designing ladies lingerie and menswear. I was totally oblivious of the pressing concerns of the world, until one day I had a personal awakening that transformed me into a photo-journalist covering war and famine in Africa, Afghanistan and the Middle East. But fortunately I was a lousy photojournalist as I couldn’t remain impartial and I didn’t have the emotional detachment to continue down that road; alarmed as I was by the atrocity of what human’s perpetuate against each other! It’s no mistake that that experience led me to prefer the company of fish and wildlife.

All the same, I have somehow come full circle and even as a natural history filmmaker, I am still inescapably being forced to deal with the dark side of the human condition! Now I get to see the atrocities we perpetuate against our natural resources.

Since starting this project, I have to say that I have become more understanding towards the predicament of shark fishermen in this region. For the most part, the overall consensus of Omani fishermen for example, is that sharks are only an opportunistic catch and more than often not the main target. However, the scale of that opportunity is huge! So even if their intent was to catch tuna (which is generally more profitable for them on a good day), the conditions here allow them to catch staggering numbers of sharks. But more recently, fishermen are increasingly aware that numbers are down as they are catching less sharks than 10 or 20 years ago. But despite that, they are still very happy to land sharks as the unit value of a single shark increases all the time. So a shark that might have earnt them Dhs.2000 a couple of years ago, can now earn them between Dhs.5000 to Dhs.10,000, depending on the species and size. Try to tell a fisherman not to land a big hammerhead with rates like those!

But on the other hand, we have seen efforts to self-impose a 6 month ban on landing sharks by fishermen in a village in the Musandam in an attempt to give sharks a chance to re-populate an area. Although the intention is good, the effectiveness is totally lost– as sharks are slow to reproduce and gestate, not like other fishes that spawn billions of larvae repeatedly throughout the year. Sharks on the other hand may only have between 20 to 50 pups depending on the species and some will only reproduce once every two years. But equally important – if sharks become extinct in a specific area, there is little if any recruitment at all in sharks from other areas and that fished out area may remain so forever.

All the same, I am encouraged that it might be possible to work with these fishermen to create a better management of their resources, especially since they have been trying to do so themselves as they seem to understand what is happening. But like anywhere, it is a matter of enforcement that weakens the process. If the village is not doing well financially due to poor catches of other species, they will break their own self-imposed ban in order to bring in the money. The moment one starts, the others follow suit.

Jonathan discussing study dive-sites whilst on the Sharkquest Arabia Musandam Expedition in March 2011 with Dr. Ralf Sonntag (Director of IFAW Germany) and Al Reeve (Researcher, Oman Shark Study, Sultan Qaboos University of Oman).

Green Prophet: When people think of shark fishing or shark fining, they probably don’t make the connection to the Arab world, however, the region is increasingly involved in the hunting of sharks. Can you tell us a little about the growing threat to sharks in the Middle East?

Actually the threat to sharks in this region has been a threat for ages. But since the demand from China has been growing at a rate of 5% annually over the last 10 years, the situation has become critical. The fin trade has been active here for over 20 years but was simply overshadowed below a strata of amazing regional growth and development that no one realized it was as significant as it was. Certainly no one realized it was a serious threat to the marine environment as much of the science that has started to educate the world is relatively recent. Traffic International first tried to draw attention to the UAE’s role back in ’89 as their research revealed that Sharjah was at that time the 6th biggest exporter of fins to Hong Kong. Since then, the trade has shifted to Dubai in line with the efficiency of the transport system as a distribution hub. In talking to just one shark fin trader in Dubai, I have been told how they used to ship 7 containers of shark fins to Hong Kong every month 20 years ago! The volume of shark fin involved was staggering. Now it’s barely 400 kilos a month as far as he is concerned. He predicts the end of the shark fin trade in the UAE in 5 years time.

The UAE is not a significant shark fishing nation in itself. But it is still the main regional shark fin trade hub, collectively re-distributing fins from throughout the whole region, including Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen and Iran along with all the other GCC states. According to FAO [Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations], it is supplying around 8% of the fins reaching Hong Kong alone. These stats are more than likely very conservative and the number in fact a lot higher. Seeing as there are no trade controls, its hard to know.

As more and more awareness about the plight of sharks spreads across the world and even here through conservation authorities and decision makers, we believe that the next CITES conference [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species] will be different. Last year, CITES held their international meeting in Doha. For the first time ever, the international community was prepared with proposals to add 8 shark species to the CITES Appendix II list. Amongst those species proposed, 5 occur here in the seas of Arabia and are actually a big component of the shark landings and fin trade from our waters. Sadly the only species that made it through is the porbeagle shark (which doesn’t occur here).

I consider this a lost opportunity for the region. Sharkquest Arabia presented our promo and spoke to Arab delegates at a special screening organized by IFAW [International Fund for Animal Welfare] – all the same, the Japanese and Chinese lobbies were too persuasive and the tuna issues stole the moment. Despite the negative outcome, what has since transpired is an opportunity to enter into dialogue with conservation authorities and ministries. They know they need to address this issue and we all need to encourage them to do so. I firmly believe that it might be possible to ban the fin trade in the UAE with the right arguments

Green Prophet: What one thing needs to change- either right away or in the next couple of years- if we want to continue to see sharks in Arabian waters?

Awareness! Normally awareness happens at the end of a conservation project based on the outcomes and deliverables of years of research, etc. In this case, we need to shift the onus of awareness to the front end and in doing so, highlight the need for more scientific research (upon which to base the right management decisions) and in order to target decision makers with a view to making them realize there is actually more than enough information and motivation to stop the fin trade or at least to educate the fishermen as to how they can better manage their resources. It all comes down to exposing honest and care driven information delivered in the right way.

:: Originally published at Green Prophet.

:: Top photo via Dan Beecham. Other images via Jonathan Ali Khan.

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Regular readers of Muslimah Media Watch may remember last year’s article criticizing the coverage of Muslim women in Marie Claire. Guest contributor Asma Uddin pointed out that the magazine’s coverage showed Muslim women as “sequestered, brainwashed, and victimized, if by no one else than their own, naive, unknowing selves.” She went on to assess four articles from the U.S. edition of the magazine that illustrated this, which you can read here.

This is where a confession comes in. When I was younger, I used to read Marie Claire, and I have vague memories of enjoying flicking through its pages—even getting excited at its coverage of Muslim women. For my masters in International Journalism, I wanted to look at the representation of Muslim women in the media, and I focused my research on the coverage of Muslim women in women’s magazines and Marie Claire in particular.

I analyzed ten years’ worth of U.K.-edition Marie Claire magazines (minus 35 magazines which were missing from the archives) to measure the amount of times Muslim women were covered. Then I used content analysis (essentially codes or themes that are counted in the articles) to assess whether Muslim women were represented as powerless victims or empowered women.

The results I found were surprising. My research found that Muslim women were covered in around 44% of all the magazines I searched: roughly, one article per magazine was deemed as representation in that issue. Most of that coverage was on Muslim women from developing countries such as Afghanistan (a whopping 11 articles) rather than those from Britain (only 4 articles), but overall Muslim women were well-represented.

When I assessed the articles, I found that exactly half portrayed Muslim women as victims, while the other half showed them as independent, empowered women. This may seem like a mixed outcome, but the fact that half of the article showed Muslim women as non-victims is a pretty unexpected result. What’s more, the veil was barely mentioned in articles as oppressive (the only two cases were in Afghanistan, so they may even be justified) and Islam was rarely mentioned as imposed or oppressive.

I don’t want to say that the notion that Muslim women are stereotyped as powerless victims oppressed is false, but just maybe it’s more complicated. Looking back, there were some really awful articles, like “My husband was a suicide bomber” or “Sold into marriage at 11,” which definitely painted Muslim women as victims. But there were also some really great articles, such as “I am Muslim and British” and one that covered the biggest matriarchal society in the world (which happens to be in the heart of Muslim Indonesia).

I am in no way saying that Marie Claire is some great women’s glossy magazine that covers Muslim women just right, because it’s not. But we also have to accept that there (usually) isn’t a concerted effort to show Muslim women as victims. Most of the time, articles are mixed and show Muslim women as both victims of their circumstances, but also empowered to make a change. In fact, most of the articles followed the typical “Triumph over Tragedy” trajectory popular in women’s magazines, which go into painful detail about how women are oppressed and then conclude that, by some miracle, a woman has stepped up to challenge this oppression and will emerge triumphant.

[Womens magazines' complete inability to trace the problems that women face to their political sources is another issue altogether, as is their complete phobia of ever suggesting political solutions. Yes, we can talk about sex, abortion, anorexia—but politics or religion (God forbid!) is completely out of the question.]

At the risk of undermining my findings into insignificance, I have to add that my research was based exclusively on the U.K.-edition of Marie Claire magazines, that one article per magazines counted as representation in that issue, and that of course researcher bias in terms of interpreting the articles is unavoidable (no matter what others will tell you). Marie Claire is also quite a pricey and highbrow magazine, which since 2009 is becoming more like your average glossy mag in terms of its focus on fashion and sensationalist articles. So things could change.

Finally, are the words and pictures on the paper the only way that readers judge Muslim women? Obviously not and there are a lot of factors such as existing views and personal experiences that will influence how readers will see Muslim women.

My research is not perfect—no research is—and although I don’t feel comfortable saying an outright “No,” I can confidently say “No, Muslim women are not consistently portrayed as victims.” What stood out to me was that articles were overwhelmingly mixed and it would probably depend on the reader whether they felt that the Muslim woman was represented as a victim or not.

For example, there was an article titled “I am a suicide bomber,” about a Palestinian woman who tried to blow herself up. Although I concluded that she was portrayed as a victim, I was honestly surprised at the amount of agency she was granted. The entire article was in her own words and she explained that she took the decision entirely on her own, and that she did it for revenge against Israeli oppression and violence that she had personally witnessed.

While this example does illustrates the serious topics that were on discussion when it came to Muslim women (which Uddin also points out in her piece), there were also articles in Marie Claire on light-hearted topics, such as celebrating Eid, Muslim fashion, or visiting the beach.

Okay, so sometimes coverage of Muslim women is so bad that you want to just scream at your TV/computer screen/radio/magazine, but most of the time, it’s mixed. This isn’t a neat conclusion to my question, but I think it perfectly illustrates the complex and contradictory way that Muslim women are represented in the media today.

I’ve always felt that the green message of Islam never gets enough coverage and now, hopefully I will be contributing to righting that wrong. I’ve been getting very nosy and asking people to tell me what fascinating things they are getting up to. And this is what I’ve found out so far!

There was a great campaign called ‘Inspired by Muhammed’ which was attempting to end the association of Islam with terrorism by highlighting the prophet’s love of the environment.

I also broke the story of Cambridge’s plans for a faulous Eco-Mosque with stunning skylights and renewable energy- this story got picked up far and wide and even got picked up by Treehugger! Woohoo!

I’ve had the opportunity to speak to two lovely eco-Muslimahs about how Islam inspires them and also their intiatives towards changing attitudes towards climate change in the environment. Rianne spoke to me about how to ‘Green’ a Muslim wedding and Kristiane about her journey from globetrotting MTV presenter to spreading the eco message of Islam.

I’ve pondered on the (very slowly) changing attitudes towards climate change in the Middle East and also reported on a young Muslimah in Jordan who wanted to promote vegetarianism- wearing a suit of lettuce.

It’s been fun and I have lots of ideas for future posts- I will be looking at organic hijabs and the rise in ethical Muslim fashion as well as sustainable Arab designers making waves in the design world. So I guess stay tuned in and check out my work at Green Prophet!

Thankfully, the people at Bitch were great and Andi Ziesler was so generous with her time and getting useful feedback to me. Being a young freelancer, the one thing I crave is feedback! Constructive, of course I am only human

Enjoy. And feedback anyone?

Link to the Article on the Bitch website.