Cohousing and Sustainable Living: An Islamic Lifestyle?

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DC Muslim Groups Aims to Create Cohousing Neighborhood

The evening of Saturday, May 14, 2011 was a major milestone for the Muslim community here in the DC-metro region. A discussion was held on the subject of sustainable living for the Muslim community, and the issues brought up to help make this lifestyle a model of ‘Islamic living’ were important enough that one person stated, “We should consider it our Islamic duty to get the word out about this.” The event included a discussion with Liz Walker, author of Choosing a Sustainable Future (New Society Pub., 2010; $19.99), followed by her addressing questions from the attendees about getting started with sustainable, cohousing communities.

The founders of Good Tree Village organized the event. Good Tree Village is a group of Muslims in the DC area trying to start a physical community of around 15-20 families in a “co-housing” type of neighborhood. There was a unique energy in the room as the attendees listened, learned, and discussed how to move forward with an exemplary community life.
 
The subject of sustainable living is of vital importance to the Muslim community. Our Islam, how we invite others to our Deen, and preserving an excellent example of life on earth for future Muslim generations all rest squarely in this discussion on ‘sustainability’.

One attendee stated, “We often hear about the need to ‘relieve our hearts of the love of this world’, and sustainable living is how it starts.” Sustainable living attempts to lessen the use of natural resources by a group while acquiring key necessities of human life including transportation, energy consumption and diet. ‘Sustainability’ refers to meeting these modern human living demands without compromising them for the future. Cohousing is the simple process by which people work to create and maintain their own neighborhood. Located in rural, suburban, or urban settings, the cohousing design may be tailored to a particular group; the homes are always self-contained and have access to shared facilities. The overall intention is to create opportunities for interaction among neighbors. Thus, ‘cohousing’ along with an ‘eco-friendly lifestyle’ are both key aspects of sustainable living. To put this in perspective, what we see exemplified by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a frugal lifestyle is in fact the best example of ‘sustainable living’ – Islam in practice. So before reading further, we must understand that sustainable living, where everyone in the world could afford to live fairly without going hungry or lacking shelter – is a core Islamic virtue. Another attendee stated that indeed, Allah (Subhanahuwata’ala) has mentioned in the Qur’an as part of (Al-‘Araaf; 31), “…Eat and drink, but be not excessive...”

The event’s focus was cohousing, which is present today in 113 communities nationwide. It continues to grow each year as the benefits are realized. The founders of Good Tree Village explained, ‘Cohousing provides personal privacy along with the benefits of living in a community where neighbors interact. It’s about living in a world that has changed dramatically in the last fifty years; home life has changed, more women are in the labor force, resources are reaching limits, environmental concerns are rising and many people feel overextended. Cohousing offers hope through building a rich sense of community where everyone contributes to a more sustainable world.” Examples can be found in Liz Walker’s book, and as technology advances, practical cohousing and eco-friendly living are becoming increasingly accessible.

In the U.S., cohousing relies on one of three legal forms of real estate ownership: individually titled houses with the common areas owned by an HOA (homeowner’s association), condominiums or a housing co-operative. Condo ownership is most common because it fits financial institutions’ and cities’ models for multi-unit owner-occupied housing development. Additionally, banks lend more on single-family homes and condos than housing co-ops. Cohousing differs from standard condos and master-planned subdivisions because the development is designed with significant input from its future residents. Thus the process emphasizes consciously fostering social relationships among residents. Common facilities are based on residents’ needs as opposed to what developers think will sell units. Turnover in cohousing developments is typically very low, and there is usually a waiting list for units to become available. So if someone wishes to sell their unit and move, they may do so provided they find a replacement.

However, cohousing is rarely subsidized. Though participants generally buy their own home at approximately market rate, new finance and development models for cohousing are being explored for affordability. Also, some communities have created a number of “affordable” homes below market rate for those who qualify for assistance; investment returns can be offered to those who fund the equity portion of the development to reduce the final home purchase price. With their professional team’s help, members of the group establish size, quality and cost guidelines for the project. Essentially, members determine what they want to pay, and the project is designed to match those needs including unit prices. One of the simplest methods to set up the development is to incorporate as a standard corporation. This structure limits liability for members, is both most flexible and easily recognized by lending institutions. On completion of the development, the legal status will change to allow for individual home ownership.

The sustainability model begins with the frank realization that the perceptions of success in our Muslim communities – that young couples should get their own house big enough for three families, or that a large car or SUV is an investment to be proud of – are Islamically invalid, and certainly not sustainable in the United States beyond a few future generations. In addition, aspiring for such goals while many Muslims in America and abroad cannot afford a house, or even afford to get married makes the injustice of un-sustainability all the more poignant. The desire for a community-wide eco-friendly lifestyle must become part of the dialogue of our Imams and community leaders. In fact, the importance of environmental sustainability, the benefits of cohousing, and the overall subject of sustainable living are rarely the subject of Friday lectures or public discourse.

Practically, there is much that can be done to ‘retrofit’ existing housing and community infrastructure to help develop sustainable lifestyles. Recycling and reuse are major steps that any community can begin right now. Mosques rarely have recycling programs and those that do, have difficulty following them. To begin, environmental sustainability can be made an important part of Muslim children’s education at home and at the masjid. Muslims can start local gardens with neighbors as a method of social involvement and the physical activity and spiritual effects of these practices have untold benefits, especially for children at home during summer vacations. Neighbors in close proximity can help each other and promote love and good-will by sharing the duty of shopping so that one pays the other to get some basic items that would otherwise require a trip to the grocery store – something that young couples with children may have difficulty with. Additionally, Muslims can try using the commuter-friendly public transport systems in the DC-metro region as well as use the increasing network of bicycle paths that cross DC, Baltimore, and many subdivisions for commuting to work. Our heavy dependence on cars is not only unsustainable, but takes away from a more active lifestyle.

When discussing the process of making cohousing a reality among Muslims in the DC metro region, some of the brothers who attended the event stated that “As a Muslim community, we  can return to a lifestyle that is increasingly sustainable as long as time and personal convictions are invested further.” Not long ago, the ‘all-together-now’ recycling system in place in most metropolitan areas was not present, the electric car an unlikely concept, and solar paneling was only for those who could afford an ‘eco-friendly’ lifestyle. Today, however, nearly everything is recyclable; Chevrolet’s Volt can be spotted on DC streets, and with the help of subsidies and tax breaks, the average homeowner can start to turn a net gain on solar panels in less than eight years after purchase. Likewise, even as the concepts of ‘cohousing’ and ‘eco-friendly’ living seem out of reach for some, soon they will be commonplace, driven by social acceptance and ultimately, resource competition; those at the forefront of this change will stand to gain the most, especially when sustainable living is a tenet of our Islamic way of life. As some of the attendees stated when discussing cohousing in the DC-metro region, “In truth, we [Muslims] should be the driving force for this change; the diversity that is already found in this region… there are existing communities of people from around the globe living in close proximity… there is a lot of potential among us – we simply need to get the word out.”

May Allah (Subhanahu-wata’ala) help Good Tree Village and the Muslim community at large adopt a more sustainable way of life that at is invariably more Islamic. Ameen.

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More information can be found at
http://goodtreevillage.org/

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