DC’s Growing Green Muslims

Community News - Community News

Written by Administrator

Saturday, 16 February 2008 10:06

Environmental activism group attracting young, urban professionals

By Zainab Cheema
Muslim Link Staff Writer

In the winter of storm, tornado, and the bipolar fluctuation of heat and cold, a network of Muslims has coalesced around our environmental responsibilities as world citizens: the DC Green Muslims.

Their 3rd monthly potluck dinner on February 8th, 2008 was hosted at the Josephine Butler Parks Community Center in DC’s Columbia Heights and attended by over 100 young Muslim professionals and interfaith partners interested in environmental sustainability.

The DC Green Muslims began with a small core of Muslims who became convinced of the pressing need for environmental activism. They began reaching out to the community in iftaar dinners, using food and social congress in Ramadan as a platform for growing activism in the community. Today, the group describes itself as “a network of Muslims in the District of Columbia (and surrounding areas) working proactively to help our communities understand and implement sustainable and eco-conscious ways of living while relating it to our deen, and a holistic world-view.”

Members of the founding group hail from diverse backgrounds but share a number of key features: they are young Muslim Americans who were able to harness their outreach and communication savvy into a booming network. Sanjana Ahmad is a Domestic Policy Fellow at the Pew Center for Global Climate Change. Mohammad Chakaki is an environmental consultant. Nadia Janjua is an architect intern who has worked at the California Earth Art and Architecture Institute, and Esa Syeed is a high school history teacher. Sajjid Anwar works in environmental policy.

Not that they were prepared for the rate of growth. The first green dinner was an iftaar in October 2007 attended by 16 people. The second dinner took place in an apartment in December 2007 and drew 50. The February 2008 potluck, held at the Renaissance-style Center that still boasted of graces from its days as an embassy mansion, flowered with 100-strong diners. “This has really snowballed,” remarked Janjua.
As Imam Johari, one of the presenters at the Green Dinner noted, the peril to the environment posed by global warming, irresponsible industrialization, carbon emissions, deforestation and other human practices is an issue that trumps political jockey. “If there is no planet, then it doesn’t matter which group is at the head of things,” he pointed out, “this supercedes any minor differences about how the earth ought to operate.”

He noted that its easy to get overwhelmed by the scope of the problem, but also that we can start to do something about it in daily life by small acts of consciousness. The simple act of performing wudu from water in a pitcher or basin rather than running the tap, fulfills the Prophetic injunction not to waste water even if close to a river. “It’s a contradiction to destroy the environment while we are preparing to worship God,” he said, critiquing the waste of water by Muslims in many masajids.

“As Allah placed human beings as trustees on earth, its important for people to take an active role in the environment.”

Allison Fisher, another presenter, highlighted the divinely bestowed role trusteeship as a common thread in world religions. “In various forms, faith communities including Jews, Protestants, Hindus, and Muslims talk about how we are supposed to be taking care of creation.” Fisher works with the Greater Washington Power Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL) to help faith-based communities transition to eco-friendly and holistic living. In her work on recent project for instance, she has assisted a Jewish community settle in green housing and low-income communities switch to energy efficient practices.

A network’s key feature is exchange of information. The Green Muslims’ first forum was a yahoo group and now, announcements at Green Dinners provide another community message board for environmental activities, events, programs, and tips.

Updates spotlighted community-supported agriculture, which involves purchasing shares at a local farm and receive fresh deliveries of organic produce through the summer. Supporting local agriculture helps the planet by cutting down on the fuel needed to transport produce from far flung locales, and also gives small, environmentally conscious farmers an advantage over multinational food corporations.

The Green diners also learned about the latest energy-saving social movement to crescendo on Facebook: Earth Hour, when citizens of countries around the world turn off all nonessential lighting from an hour in a particular month. In Sydney, Australia, the origin of this voluntary load shedding initiative, a total of 2100 businesses and 2.2 million people got in synergy to turn off the power for one hour. This mass movement reduced the city’s energy consumption by 10.2% during the 60 minutes. This effort is now sparking in cities and communities worldwide. More information can be accessed at www.earthhour.com

Green diners also learned tips such as buying reusable bags for groceries to say no to petroleum-consuming plastic bags, lighting up their homes with energy efficient light bulbs, and eating organic and natural produce grown without toxic pesticides. “It’s not just a trend, these are all tips that we can sustainably implement in our lives such as being responsible about how we buy food” says Malika Bilal. The Green Muslim e-vite requested that diners only bring organic dishes and foods with them.

“This is an innovative forum,” comments Yawar Herekar, a young DC professional, “I work in the field of climate change and sustainable development so these aren’t new issues for me. But I definitely think it’s about time for something like this to happen.”

Faiza Ali who works with the State department was inspired by Imam Johari’s speech. “I’m going to start doing some of the tips we learned today,” she says, “I’m going to start taking shorter showers and conserving water.”

It makes perfect sense that young Muslim Americans in their 20s and 30s are stepping up to save the planet. “It’s a wonderful idea to gather young Muslims on this issue,” exclaims Reem Sahad, the host of a television show on an Arab channel, “it’s the time of our lives to make the biggest impact.”

Tauhirah Abdul Matin didn’t hesitate in driving 3 hours to attend the Green Dinner. “To me, human survival depends upon our ability to minimize our impact on this planet,” she says. “So when I heard about a group of Muslims in DC getting together to discuss what we, as Muslims, can do to contribute to the environment, I didn’t hesitate make the trip down from New Jersey.”

The founders of DC Green Muslims also believed that environmentalism is an expression of their Islam. “This work definitely resonates with my faith,” says Ahmad, “I work on environmental policy, and I feel this helps me become a better Muslim.” The young professionals in the network agree. “Increasing your environmental consciousness is part of part of increasing your God consciousness,” says Sara Ibrahim, a lawyer at the American Friends Service Committee. “The people that I’ve met serve as a reminder to me that the work I do as an environmental engineer is Islamic in and of itself,” says Abdul-Matin.

As Islam is at its essence a religion of justice, Muslims have a unique responsibility to the environment. “Environmental justice is social justice,” says Anwar, “because it involves access to land, water and the food supply, which are all basic human rights. Climate change threatens all of that.”

Scientists reading the pulse of the earth are becoming increasingly alarmed. There is almost unanimous agreement that the climate is warming based on increasing air and ocean temperature, melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels. The oceans are relieving the polluted atmosphere by absorbing carbon, only to reach acidity levels that threaten marine communities. Extreme weather including heat waves, cyclones, tornadoes, storms, landslides and floods will displace millions of human beings, usually from low-income brackets that can ill brook disaster.

Higher temperatures, water shortages, and extreme weather will also affect agriculture and increase the spread of diseases, such as malaria. Weeping polar ice caps threaten to drown coastal cities. If effective action is not taken soon, scientists forecast an environmental holocaust.

The interdependence of a network is the perfect parable for biosphere, with its fragile interconnections that sustain life. The Green Muslims’ network is an idea whose time is now.

The network is open to all who are interested. To join the Green Muslims google group and receive updates about the next Green Dinner, please visit the DC Green Muslims blog at http://dcgreenmuslims.blogspot.com.