Green Prophet: Covering Eco-Islam In the Middle East

Well, about a month ago I joined Green Prophet as their “Eco-Islam Affairs Editor” which is a very fancy title for saying someone who will cover Muslim related Environment news. So far, its been great!

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!