Join Green Muslims and Green Ramadan Sunday, January 21, for the start of a new year of Khalifa Conversations. Our guest speaker, Kadija Kamus, will share reflections from the Quran in Nature.
As a trained Weed Warrior for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, she will talk about invasive species removal from a Muslim perspective.
This year’s Khalifa Conversations is made possible by grant funding from Islamic Relief USA.
Central to Islam, and thus Islamic environmentalism, is the concept of balance. There is balance in terms of opposites — night & day, birth & death, sun & moon, fire & water, heaven & earth — and balance in terms of moderation — seeking the middle path between rights and duties.
Balance itself is a creation of Allah (glorious & exalted is He) and one of His signs that point to His existence, magnificence, and mercy. Seeing His creation out of balance is also a sign that we need to pause, reflect and take action.
We can clearly see the earth is out of balance: extinction and loss of species biodiversity, extreme temperatures, glacial melt, rising sea-levels, as well as increased frequency of intense weather events like hurricanes, fires, and droughts.
Our goal as Muslims is to move away from the extremes of extravagance, excess and wastefulness that have contributed to an unbalanced earth, and return to a moderate and just way of living and being.
And the heaven He raised and imposed the balance That you not transgress within the balance. And establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance. Holy Quran, Surah Ar-Rahman 55:7-9
English translation by Sahih International via Quran.com
Set your intention to do one small thing this Ramadan.
Eat less meat. Use reusables. Make wudhu responsibly.
Allah (glorious & exalted is He) has called us khala’ifa in the Quran. We are stewards or caretakers with a sacred responsibility to protect & nurture our shared Earth.
“And it is He who has made you successors upon the earth and has raised some of you above others in degrees [of rank] that He may try you through what He has given you. Indeed, your Lord is swift in penalty; but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.” The Holy Quran, Surah Al An’am 6:165
English translation by Sahih International via Quran.com