Category Archives: Mosques

SISTERS – The Green Edition: Faith, Families and Features

Posted on April 1, 2013 | 1 Comment

Screen shot 2013-03-26 at 20.27.29After lots of work and even more enthusiasm (well done Brooke!) the very lovely and very special green issue of SISTERS is out. It’s bursting with green quizzes, features, top tips for your home and also a round up of some great eco-Muslims organisations. I’ve  contributed an article on the issue of population growth and ask the whether large Muslim families are a blessing or a curse. Read on for more and also to download or buy your own copy.

Large Families SISTERS page 1Large families SISTERS page 2

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Posted in Children, climate change, Climate Justice, Economy, Environment, Ethical, Fashion, Food, Green, Hijab, Islam, Mosques, Muslims, Women, Youth

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Spiritual Connection With Nature Is Key – Green Muslim Muaz Nasir

Posted on December 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

“The environment is something everyone should be concerned about as climate change, water scarcity and pollution are issues that do not discriminate based on faith.” That’s Muaz Nasir’s response to what he likes to call constructive criticism that the Muslim Ummah focus its energies on ‘bigger issues’ rather than climate change.

Personally, I can’t imagine a ‘bigger issue’ then the future of our planet but I completely accept that this realisation hasn’t quite reached the wider Muslim community. Ground-breaking policies such as the Muslim Seven Year Action Plan on Climate Change were impressive but as Nasir points out, but they failed to “develop the necessary research or resources that would push the climate agenda into the mainstream Muslim community.”

As such, any progress has been slow and the product of hard working individual campaigners rather than national policies. Read on for more about the Muslim-environmental movement in Canada, Nasir’s green Muslim website Khaleafa.com and how he is getting mosques to ‘Ban the Bottle’ among other green ideas he is working to implement in the Muslim community – ideas which can spread around the world.

Here’s a snippet of the interview – to read the full thing go to GreenProphet.com

What do you think are the barriers holding the Muslim community from fully engaging with the climate change agenda?

I think there is a general lack of awareness of the severity of climate change as well as what actions individuals can do to decrease their carbon footprint. The issue is just not on the radar of many Islamic institutions here in North America as it is in Europe. The Muslim community in Canada is fairly young, so there are understandably competing priorities, such as establishing their families and integrating into the broader society; which often takes precedence over the climate change agenda. This is beginning to change as weather patterns shift and the trends in the climate become more visible.

What have been the responses to Khaleafa.com – have you had to face any negative reactions or had to deal with climate sceptics?

The response has been overwhelmingly positive for the most part. I try to keep my articles as neutral as possible, and encourage contributors to base their arguments on facts and to justify their opinions with reference to the Quran, Hadith and Sunnah…

There has been some negative feedback as well, mainly in the form of constructive criticism but also from individuals who feel that Muslims should be investing their resources to deal with bigger issues facing the Ummah. While I understand the direction they are coming from, my response has been that the environment is something everyone should be concerned about as climate change, water scarcity and pollution are issues that do not discriminate based on faith. We all have a collective obligation to ensure that we leave the planet in better condition for future generations and that we do not waste the resources Allah has blessed upon us.

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  • Green Muslim Blogger Muaz Nasir Says Spiritual Connection With Nature Is Key (INTERVIEW) (greenprophet.com)

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Posted in climate change, Climate Justice, Islam, Mosques, Muslims, Public Sphere, Recycling, Youth

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SISTERS – The Hajj Edition: Green Your Pilgrimage

Posted on September 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Posted in climate change, Climate Justice, Islam, Middle East, Mosques, Women

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Green Prophet: Vegetarian Ramadan Recipes From the Middle East

Posted on July 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

ramadan-green-vegetarian-iftar-maamoul-eidFrom Ma’amoul to Couscous, why not try a new vegetarian dish from the Middle East and North Africa region this Ramadan?

There are some dishes that evoke such strong memories of a festive occasion, that eating them any other time of the year feels wrong. For me, Qatayf (mini nut pancakes) and Mamoul (date cookies) are two things I only ever eat during Ramadan and so just seeing them gets me in the Ramadan spirit. Another great thing about these two succulent sweet pastries is that they are vegetarian and with enough sugar and calories to give you a post-fast energy boost. Indeed there is an amazing array of special Ramadan dishes from around the Muslim world that are suitable for vegetarians. In an effort toencourage more Muslims (and non-Muslims!) to reduce their meat intake during this holy month, I have collated a list of delectable dishes and pastries that would make the perfect Vegetarian iftar.

After a long day of fasting, the last thing I want to eat is heavy, greasy food. It’s too demanding for your stomach and means you end up feeling very uncomfortable and lethargic. Vegetarian food is the answer. As long as you go easy on the pastries and sweets, vegetarian dishes tend to be fresher, healthier and lighter on the stomach.  Continue reading →

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Posted in climate change, Environment, Food, Islam, Middle East, Mosques, Muslims

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Mudbricks and Megamalls: Architect talks Sustainability & Corruption in the Middle East

Posted on June 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

I speak to award-winning architect Salma Samar Damluji about her mud architecture work in Yemen and why Dubai’s property development mentality is ruining the Middle East

The Middle East may be a fascinating place politically but architecturally, it’s on its last legs. Years of corruption and poor governance mean it’s slowly becoming one of the ugliest places on earth. You just need look at at the sprawling mess of glass and metal in Dubai to realise that something has gone awry. Salma Samar Damluji, an Iraqi architect of 30 years says that greed and corruption is behind the fall of architecture and insists that this money rush is destroying the region’s architectural heritage one building at a time.

And no-one knows this more than Damluji. She has fought what she calls architectural recolonisation in Egypt alongside Hassan Fathy who championed mud architecture practiced by the falaheen (rural peasants) in the 197os. And she’s also worked in Yemen restoring and renovating eco-friendly mud buildings in Yemen’s Wadi Hadramout where ancient building can disappear over night.

“In Europe, countries have been able to preserve their own culture, architecture and urban heritage but the rest of the Arab world hasn’t done that,” explains Damluji. “So as a result they have no architectural heritage left – everybody is imitating Dubai which is a complete disaster. Unfortunately you see the result of it now all across the Arab region.”

One country that Damluji believes has been able to hold back the mass commercialisation of architecture is Yemen. “When I first went in 1981, there was a kingdom of architecture and there was a huge rich resource of architectural heritage. Yemen, I felt, was the last place in the Arab world that had this incredible civilisation and urban heritage that had been going on for hundreds of years. They were so developed that they were creating these amazing palaces out of mud – very modern too. I felt that there was a cause there and I felt I had to take on that cause.”

She has been visiting Yemen ever since and from 2005, the Daw‘an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation has supported her work to restore buildings in Wadi Hadramout. Another important institution has been the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) of the The Prince Claus Fund in Netherlands, which funded restoration projects in ‘Aynat and Sah following a destructive flood in the region in 2008.

Damluji’s effort to protect and preserve the mud architecture of Yemen, however, hasn’t been easy. Civil war, political in-fighting and badly mismanaged resources mean she’s had to rely on outside support to carry out any restoration and she also has to take on other projects just to make a living. And it isn’t getting any easier.

“It’s harder now than it used to be to work in Yemen as a woman because there are more people in Hadramout who are more… I wouldn’t say fundamentalist. There is a worse level of education and people are taking the girls out of school at the age of 12 to get them married and people rely on money that comes from relatives living in Saudi and the Gulf.”

“So, things are difficult but there is still an architectural scene for me to engage in and there are all these builders who I adore but the people don’t like dealing with a woman… They think that to become good Muslims they need to do what the Saudi’s do and not talk to women. I think they’ve got the wrong end of the stick.” Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, Middle East, Mosques, Muslims, Protest, Public Sphere, Women

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Green Prophet: London Mosques Start Beekeeping Trend

Posted on May 30, 2012 | 2 Comments

Two mosques in London have taken up beekeeping – and there are plans to encourage more to join the quest to protect dwindling bee populations

When Kingston mosque in London introduced between 10,000 and 15,000 bees onto its premises last summer, the congregation was naturally quite concerned. Would it be safe? Would bee swarms gather at the mosque? Would it be dangerous for children? However, once local beekeeper Munir Ravalia explained that the beehive wouldn’t be a health and safety risk up on the roof, they were pretty eager to find out more. “Once we dealt with worries about safety, lots of people were just curious about how it would all work and when they would be able to get some honey!” explains Munir Ravalia.

A dentist and a committee member at the Kingston Mosque in the UK, Munir states that dwindling bee populations and the medicinal properties of honey pushed him to convince the mosque to host a beehive. “The issue of bee collapse is something we all need to look at, not just as Muslims but as mankind”, he explains. “I really hope that the work we do is changing perceptions of Muslims from some of the negative stuff you see in the media. I want this bee mosque project to show that Muslim care about the wider community and the environment.” Continue reading →

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Posted in climate change, Environment, Green, Islam, Mosques, Youth

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SISTERS: An Islamic Perspective on Ethical Shopping

Posted on May 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Posted in Environment, Ethical, Green, Human Rights, Identity, Islam, Mosques, Muslims, Recycling, Water, Women, Youth

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My New Green Column At Sisters Magazine

Posted on June 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

Yep, the title says it all. Sisters Magazine contacted me a couple of months ago about writing a green column for them and, of course, I said yes! So for the next couple of months I’ll be lovingly putting pen to paper (more like fingers to keyboard) on topics such as eco-mosques, solar power, meat-eating, growing your own veg and spreading the green Dawah. So keep an eye out and here’s my first on eco-mosques of the world. Read the full article here. Continue reading →

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Posted in climate change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen, Development, Economy, Environment, Ethical, Fashion, Food, Green, Green Energy, History, Human Rights, Identity, Islam, Middle East, Mosques, Muslims, Ramadan, Recycling, Water, Women

Green Prophet: The Do’s and Don’ts of Green Blogging for Muslims

Posted on May 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

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. Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, Art, Book Review, Cartoons, Children, climate change, Climate Justice, Economy, Environment, Ethical, Fashion, Food, Green, Green Energy, History, Identity, Islam, Journalism, Middle East, Mosques, Ramadan, Recycling, Water, Women, Youth

Why I don’t (totally) agree with Baroness Warsi

Posted on January 22, 2011 | 6 Comments

I am not sure why the recent statement by the Tory Baroness Warsi that Islamophobia is socially acceptable in the UK has attracted so much media attention (especially as she said something very similar last October) but it has. People either totally agree with her or totally don’t and I think the resulting debate perfectly illustrates the problems with her rather sweeping statements. As a Muslim, many would assume that I totally agree with her about rising acceptance of anti-Islam sentiments but I have my own reservations. I realise that numbered points isn’t the best way to discuss this issue but I just wanted to make some clear and concise points about issues I have with her statement so numbered points work best for me.

First of all, I totally agree with Warsi’s concerns about separating Muslims along the extremists (ie. effectively less ‘assimilated’ Muslim) and the moderates (ie. Muslims who don’t make white people uncomfortable) lines. I totally agree because the separation is unfair, arbitrary and totally misguided. A more ‘Muslim’ Muslim isn’t a more ‘extremist’ one- not at all. I think a focus on this issue could have been really useful as it would be a way to tackle those hidden stereotypes people have about what an ‘extremist Muslim’ actually looks like and believes in. However, Warsi seems to have decided to go down a less considered approach for very broad and useless statements which I think are problematic for the following reasons:

1. How it’s helpful to make these sweeping and unsupported statements about rising Islamophobia? Isn’t the root of Islamophobia that very same thing- sweeping and unsupported statements? Maybe it’s just me but I reckon that society is a lot more complex than Warsi is letting on and maybe there isn’t some countrywide conspiracy to talk Islam down at the dinner table… Clearly, anti-Islam sentiment does exist in the UK just as homophobia, racism, sexism and other prejudice does but they don’t exist totally unrelated from each other or in a vacuum- again I don’t see how it’s useful to talk about the issue in such broad terms.

2. What exactly are her statements based on? [If personal experience than that's worrying because as a Tory peer I reckon she probably mixes with a very difference crowd of people than your average Muslim.] I know this sounds a little pedantic but I don’t see how she can judge that UK citizens find Islamophobia acceptable just like people can’t look into the minds of every Muslim and judge whether they are moderates and extremists… well unless they reckon they can make that judgement based on appearances but let’s not open that can of worms. Also, last summer I did some research about the representation of Muslim women in women’s magazines which challenged my own assumptions about Islamophobia so I’m a little hesitant to make generalisation based on my own personal experiences or the statements of other Muslims (as Muslims we do have more authority to speak about the Muslim experience but we have to take our experiences with a pinch of salt and some consideration…

3. I  think that her statements, contrary to her aims of genuinely opening up the debate, is just gonna make everyone so defensive about proving that they’re not anti-Islam that it’s going to make the debate less transparent, honest and more superficial. I really don’t see what positive and productive things could come from her statements (other than temporary fame and a raised profile for her, of course..)

Thoughts?

(Image via Newton Graffiti on flickr.)

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Posted in Identity, Islam, Middle East, Mosques, Muslims, Women, Youth

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