An Islamic Ecological Activism: Uniting the Strands

Inter-connectedness

A core quality of an authentic spiritual tradition is that it offers practices and guidance for its followers that can reveal holistic solutions to the challenges of the time. I believe that this is true of Islam, yet I also believe that there is much work to be done to uncover the essence of the tradition, such that will allow its beauty and relevance to be known in the challenging times we find ourselves in.

In my own life, I find myself in a process of re-evaluating and gathering the different strands that represent my own core values and the different facets of my existence. Whilst one of these strands is the spiritual, however hard I look I can find no separation between this and other strands that represent me - my relationships with others, my means of gaining income, the passions to which I give my time, and so on. Neither can I separate these aspects of me from the wider community and political landscape. Life is just too interconnected.

This process of gathering is also reflected in my journey of initiating and co-participating within the UK’s first local Islamic ecological activist group.

Whilst my journey into initiating Wisdom In Nature arose in part out of my noticing the need for more ‘environmental’ awareness, more fundamentally it emerged out of sensing more intimately that we live in an inter-connected world - that humanity is not separate from nature, but is a part of it. My increasing appreciation of the latter has strong resonance with my deepening appreciation of the Islamic concept of tawhid, of Oneness or Unity. Ultimately everything arises from a single source, and to attempt to engage in life’s challenges by compartmentalising them - albeit convenient and with some limited use - cannot lead to real, long-term solutions and would go against the true nature of things.

This interconnectedness is increasingly self-evident in a world in which communication can travel wide and far so rapidly, and in which we have developed powerful, albeit questionable, technologies, both at the macro and the micro level, which very quickly can have profound far-reaching consequences - from the genetic modification (GM) of food, to advertising and nuclear technologies for instance. Thus, any awareness that inter-connectedness is a fundamental truth of existence is being amplified by the state of the world today.

To me, ecological activism - which is the activism that I strive to participate in - is activism that is guided by an awareness of this interconnectedness. It includes the so-called ‘environmental’ but is not limited to it.  With the principle of tawhid being such a core concept in Islam, activism that is Islamic must also, I believe, be ecological. We must act in a way that honours the relationship between the different strands of existence however much our cultural norms might choose to differentiate between them.

The name to reflect the reality

Hence, whilst I concede that Wisdom In Nature was initially called the ‘London Islamic Network for the Environment’ (LINE), the word ‘environment’ - which can imply separate-ness, as well as a competing of issues rather than their integration with respect to the natural order – was amongst the main factors that led us to re-evaluate and change that name. Indeed, the ecological challenges we face and the potential solutions are, in one sense, not bound by the environment but are in us. We have caused the problem, and thus it is our consciousness and patterns that must be transformed. It is for us to become the solution.

Consequently the word ‘nature’ in our new name, Wisdom In Nature, refers in part to our innate nature, or as in the Qur’an, to the fitrah. By living according to the fitrah or our natural disposition - which necessitates inner work and getting to grips with the nafs or ego and its disguised compulsions – we can with more ease live in harmony with the wider creation, or the ‘environment’.

Simultaneously, the laws and principles in nature can offer insights and inspiration that can move us to wholesome solutions in tune with the principles in creation that creatively nurture life. The Qur’an continually guides us to witness and observe the natural world which it refers to as ayat or ‘signs’ that when reflected on with receptivity can simultaneously draw us closer to God, and open us to reconnect to the fitrah.

In addition, having had Islam in our name easily led to assumptions about who we are and what we do. If we are an Islamic group, what does that really mean? Are all ‘Islamic’ groups very similar, or are they more diverse than we might like to think? We were also aware that we were sometimes wrongly considered a ‘Muslim’ only group by those somewhat over-enthusiastic to compartmentalise, yet we enjoy and are grateful to have the presence of participants that do not call themselves Muslim. The process, thus, of defining and re-articulating what we call ourselves was helpful in re-establishing what we are really about, what we understood to be the core values of Islam, rather than simply slotting the term into a name.

The means and the end

Whilst the grassroots and activist nature of the group can be seen in what we do, less visibly yet more importantly it is intrinsic to our process – i.e. how we do things. Rather than being led from the top-down, we lean strongly to using consensus-based, bottom-up processes that draw out the diverse voices, creativity, and wisdom of the group. We might also consciously bring in awareness around gender, power relations, privilege and class for example, helping to build cohesiveness and community as we move forward with our ecological work.

We used these kinds of processes within the numerous meetings we had to complete our colour photo-booklet ‘Islam & Climate Change ~ A Call to Heal’. This took considerable time, but we gained a strong sense of ownership that helped take it to completion. None of our members were, or wanted to be paid (that includes myself!), to complete the project, and with minimal funds in our account we still beat the odds to finish it. The end-product clearly reflects the value we hold dear and the care that has gone into it.

Another aspect of our grassroots ethos is that we do not accept donations from government or corporations. Indeed our day-to-day funding comes entirely from donations from individuals. Whilst we need and are actively inviting more individuals to donate regularly, we remain true to our principles, despite there being the attractions of numerous external sources to whom we could go.

Thus, we have discovered ourselves to be a group that in its understanding of the term ecological, aims to weave together the different strands of activism - the inner, social, process, economic and ‘environmental’, within a common value system. Rather than simply campaigning for people to recycle more for instance, valuable though that is, we work to link issues and look deeper into them 

Opening the potential

There is a huge potential waiting to be born out of joining together theological knowledge and spiritual maturity with practical work to connect to the land and awareness of grassroots organising and social change. This is a potent combination that draws together the desire for social change within a world view of compassion and love. Separating the spiritual from the outer and the active is an illusion, and this is touched on in Surat Al-Ma ‘un, Chapter 107, in the Qur ‘an.

Our intention with Wisdom In Nature is to continue working within this integrated framework, a natural extension of which is to support, where we are able, the development of local initiatives that feel comfortable working in a similar way. Our community food project with Spitalfields City farm is an early example of this effort.

With our main geographical focus being in London and more recently in Brighton, as we draw more willing volunteers as well as funding from individuals, we look forward to collaborations and a growing contribution to an ecological activism as we further our work in these locations.

In whatever way you can, we invite you to join in.

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This is a version of an article that was originally published on the Muslim Institute website. 

Reflections Across the Pond: Green, Muslim and American

The flying question

It was 2004. I was at a public meeting on climate change. The lecture hall was buzzing with energy. Ideas, questions and answers were exchanged between the audience - mostly students - and the speakers, one of whom was Mayer Hillman. 

Mayer is the author of the informative 'How We Can Save the Planet', and during the course of this event did not hesitate in showing his distaste to flying. He also made it more personal and correspondingly more uncomfortable. 

"Who will now commit to never flying again?" 

He threw the question at us with force, like a long-standing campaigner who believed it was now or never. As he asked this, I checked in with myself and found myself grappling internally. I was aware that the warming effect of flying can be several times greater than other forms of transport because greenhouse gases have more of an impact at high altitude. Also, the distances we fly tend to be large with flying being a cheap and time-saving travelling option. The place that aviation takes with regards social norms and its contribution to climate change is hard to over-emphasise, which is why there is a necessary movement resisting its expansion.

In response to Mayer's question, a surprising number of people put up their hand. The part of me that wanted to be seen as righteous wished I was one of them, but I would have been lying if I did. With dozens of close friends and relatives in other continents, uncomfortable though it felt with Mayer's glare piercing the room, I had to keep my hand down. Although I had, by that time, virtually made an internal commitment to not flying for leisure holidays - and even in other situations to use coach, train or boat, for example - I could not commit to never flying again.

It was Autumn 2010. Here was another moment when I grappled with the flying question. My wife is from the US and I had not seen most of her immediate family for three and a half years. At the same time, she would be in the States for a significant period of time to complete her PhD. Was I to also go? Over a few weeks of consideration and weighing things up in my awareness, I began to move towards the idea of joining her and her family in New Jersey for part of that time. I also felt I could squeeze more from that one trip by also connecting with friends in nearby states.

In November, thus, I did set off, travelling by plane, for three weeks in the US. It so happened that whilst I was there I also managed to meet with some inspiring individuals in the US Green Islam movement. Here, I share some of these experiences as well other parts of my trip.

DC Green Muslims

Within a few days of my landing, I visited Washington DC to catch up with an aunt and uncle. I found out from my friend Mohamad Chakaki, co-founder of DC Green Muslims, that Sarah Jawaid from the group was speaking at an inter-faith climate change meeting on the day I was due to arrive! This sounded perfect, and I managed to make it just in time for this event, being met at the local metro station by Ryan Strom, another member of the DC Green Muslims team.

On the panel along with Sarah, was a Christian and Jewish speaker. Plenty of ideas were shared. Some of the more memorable comments included one from the Jewish speaker, Josh Tulkin, Founding Board Member of the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network, who pointed out the disconnect between our actions and climate impacts - that when we start our car, for example, it's not that we're literally putting a gun to someone's head, yet the accumulative effect of these seemingly innocent actions build up to cause loss of life, which goes against all faith traditions.

Another memorable comment came from Sarah, who described an innovative means by which the DC Green Muslims had stimulated people to be more present in themselves and to their surroundings. She and her co-organisers had invited people to a Green Dinner event. Shortly before the start time, the windows to the room were boarded up, and cardboard was balanced vertically on the tables to prevent people, once they had arrived and taken their seat, from seeing their neighbour. The idea was to wake people up to the space they were in and to notice how it made them feel, however awkward or uncomfortable. 

Sarah added that the state of the altered room was basically a metaphor for what we often experience daily in our lives, yet become desensitised to. Following a period of being present to this altered room, the participants were then given a chance to re-arrange it themselves to their liking! The DC Green Muslims have impressed me with their imaginative grassroots approach, and this is but one example.

Park 51

Back in New Jersey, my wife and I took a day trip to New York absorbing some of Manhattan. It was a Friday and we stopped for prayers at the Park 51 Community Centre, a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero. 

The sermon (khutba) was given by Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf, and was one of the most liberating I had experienced. It wasn't just the content, but the way it was delivered - with love and presence, opening up a space that was much bigger than just words being spoken . The content itself was about compassion, and inviting Muslim to move beyond the label 'Muslim' to what the term actually points to, the surrendering of the self  to the Divine - and to reflect on what that means including in our caring for those who might have different viewpoints to our own. I left the centre with a feeling of gratitude and hope.

Green Deen

That same evening, we were fortunate to be able to meet Ibrahim Abdul-Matin and to attend a workshop he was facilitating at Columbia University in New York. Ibrahim is the author of the newly released and very readable book Green Deen - What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet. 

At his workshop, there were about 30 participants, mostly students. After some mostly seated exercises, Ibrahim got us moving - we took positions in different corners of the room according to where we stood in response to questions he threw at us. We then shared with those standing with us, and then with the wider group. It was a well run, engaging workshop, and Ibrahim's background in community organising was evident. 

One of the comments he made to the group that stayed with me went something like this, 

"You have value not because of what you own, what you wear, nor because of what you earn. You have value simply because God created you". 

This wasn't academic stuff, rather a way - albeit pitched for those who believe in God - of getting to the basis of our self-worth that necessarily brings down the walls of an artificial value-system which society imposes onto us, and out of which arises consumerism and the compulsive pursuit of status. 

Massachusetts

It was the last week of my trip and I spent a couple of days in Boston, Massachusetts. From there, I visited Cambridge to connect with Mohamad Chakaki, a friend whom I mentioned earlier and with whom I thoroughly enjoy hearing and sharing ideas. I also met with Misha, a close relative and outstanding student, who is at Harvard, and an Auntie on my mother's side. This was my second time in Cambridge, having visited nineteen years previously after a period of working in Canada during a summer. The area I visited - around Harvard Square - was certainly much busier, with plenty more cars, but I could still sense some of the quality of intimacy that I had experienced the previous time. 

Progressive New York Radio 

After an extended  seven hour coach journey back to New Jersey, I took to the phone to be interviewed by Saadia Aslam from Radio Tahrir. Radio Tahrir is a weekly programme about the Arab and Muslim Community and is broadcast on the independent New York radio station, WBAI Radio. 

Saadia asked me about the work Wisdom In Nature is doing in the UK. I talked about our new booklet, Islam & Climate Change: A  Call to Heal, our Islamic Community Food Project, and our emphasis on process and  working in a holistic way that includes consciously integrating social ecology into our work. Saadia was also keen to hear my experiences of the Green Islam movement in the US. I enjoyed sharing and am impressed by the dedicated work the radio station is doing. 

The podcast of my interview can be found on the following webpage - It's the November 23rd 2010 broadcast, and the interview starts at about 30 minutes after the music piece by Maher Zain.

Progressive Muslims

During the course of my trip, on several occasions I heard the name IMAN. IMAN or the Inner-City Muslim Action Network is an organisation that Ibrahim Abdul-Matin profiles in his book, and which Mohamad Chakaki also enthusiastically talked to me about in Cambridge. 

I discovered that IMAN aims to weave together social justice with the arts, and to also bring in the environmental. One of their projects is called Project Green Reentry. This involves supporting ex-offenders in Chicago with on-the-job training as they essentially construct their own homes sustainably. This is meant to help them to socially integrate whilst simultaneously respecting the earth. As a keen believer in a holistic approach - I increasingly feel that isolated environmentalism, or indeed isolated activism of any kind, is ultimately self-defeating as it will work against the interconnected nature of things - I am keen to learn more about the intelligent work that IMAN is doing.

The two sides of the Pond

So, how does the 'Green Islam' movement in the US compare with that in the UK? 

Whilst I haven't explored the movement in the US sufficiently enough to give a confident answer, it was clear that the folks I met there hold alot of respect for the work going on here! Whilst it's true, however, that we've been working with this for a longer period, perhaps they underestimate what they have achieved in such a short space of time. 

My own sense about the movement in the US, from direct contact with a few key individuals, is that it has set in motion a creative energy and quality of work that is refreshing. There also seems to be a healthy experimenting with ways, verbally or otherwise, to express Islamic principles so they can be practical and alive to those of us growing up in contemporary western culture. I felt that our more 'mature' movement in the UK can certainly take inspiration and lessons from the movement there. 

At the same time, we have a grounding and a history through which many lessons have been learnt and a certain degree of resilience developed. All in all, there appears to be much scope for a mutually nurturing relationship, whose benefits can and must extend beyond our immediate space and time.

Back in the UK

Now in the UK, I am soon met by the graceful dance of snowfall, and the corresponding clumsiness of our predictable inability to cope well with it! I am grateful for having had the privilege of being able to travel to the US. The technology we have today can make vast distances appear small and I am acutely aware of the need to take time to reflect and to be grateful, and to also acknowledge that there are physical limits to the pace of consumption that our planet can take. Although I have not chosen never to fly again, I have consciously chosen to not take flying for granted. 

So, now it's also time to get some more work. The economic situation. Hmm, that's another aspect which, in this inter-connected world, needs co-healing...

© Muzammal Hussain

Come to the Edge: A Muslim & an Ecologist

“Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, he said. They came.
He pushed them…and they flew.”

Guillaume Appollinaire

Being an ecologist and a Muslim, I often experience what seem to be two distinct worlds. The first is the world of low carbon lifestyles, non-hierarchical decision making, and compost toilets in which you can’t pee, interspersed with questions like “are you sure it’s vegan?” The other is the world of high carbon jumaa’s, and a string of questions such as “where’s the lamb bro?”, and “what do the scholars say about that?”

Enriching though this cultural commute might be, the overhanging cloud that moves with me is that I often do not feel like a true citizen of either world. Rather, I feel like someone who gets a kick out of living in lands in which I understand the language, but am unable to properly speak it – and whilst I admit that I have to an extent generalised in my description of these two worlds, there are nonetheless elements of reality I have experienced that fit the cultural outlines rather well.

It’s not that I don’t strive for a low-carbon life-style, or that I wouldn’t refer to a scholar, or that I don’t see the value of non-hierarchical organising, for example (I do and would on all three accounts!), but more that associated with the cultures in which these behaviours and comments are norms, can be a cargo of assumptions. These assumptions, like any that are deep-rooted enough, can give rise to blind-spots to perspectives which need wider awareness if those perspectives are to be perceived, given breathing space, and dialogued with.

My personal journey, is guided I hope by spirituality, by Islam, and the knowledge that Islam is intrinsically ecological, that the world of a ‘Muslim’ is in truth, inseparable from the world of an ‘ecologist’. However, a commute of the kind I described earlier is inevitable for me on at least two accounts - firstly because of a role I have landed in, as an activist, student and mentor in an Islamic environmental network, and secondly because of my belief that the meeting of worlds can be a place of richness and beauty. Thus, I can find myself conversing with a hard-core anarchist, a mosque regular, a rep from an NGO driven by funding targets and a member of the Transition Town Network all within the space of a few days.

A conversation with a member of any one of the above groups might make me feel both inspired and humbled. In some instances, however, I might feel less an equal party to a conversation and more like a recipient of a robotic sermon from an over-zealous citizen of another world. Whilst after the latter experience, my belief that a meeting of worlds is a great thing could benefit from gentle resuscitation, both instances are nonetheless examples of what permaculturists might call ‘the edge’.

‘The edge’ was explained to me during a two week permaculture and activism course I participated in during the summer of 2009 in Devon. One of the course instructors was a woman called Starhawk. A humble character, she is the author of about a dozen books, and also has a wealth of experience in activism, including on the Middle East, corporate globalisation, environmentalism as well as on economic justice. Her approach is such that she is committed to creating the kind of world she wants to live in, rather than simply campaigning against the one she doesn’t. What particularly impressed me about Starhawk (as though the above wasn’t enough!) was her understanding of diversity issues that I had picked up through some of her writings. She seemed be one of the few ecologists in the North who really knew what it was like to be in a marginalised group, and how to be inclusive to those who were.

The other lead instructor, Andy Goldring, in his deliciously animated and energetic style, explained that in terms of natural systems, ‘the edge’ is an area where two eco-systems come together to form a third. For example, this could be where a forest meets with a meadow, or a lake with woodland, or a pond with grassland. Because they contain species from both eco-systems, edges are areas of dynamism, diversity and creativity. Hence, this is why spiral and curved shapes are common in systems based on permaculture principles. A spiral shaped pond offers several times more edge than a rectangular or round one of equal size. This allows for greater interaction and hence gives more opportunity for biodiversity to develop.

Starhawk then followed by pointing out the cultural ‘edge’. In music for instance, the meeting point, or edge

between two musical cultures can give rise to an altogether new musical form. And for me, the presence of two distinct groups, such as certain Muslims and certain ecologists can give its own unique edge experience! Naturally, the meeting point between two systems or social groups is also a vulnerable place where there is potential for tension, though if each system is also given its own space, this provides conditions which can enhance resilience.

A good dose of edge-ness can thus be a blessing, whilst too much, or at least edge without room to breathe, might make us… edgy, I suppose! 

The Qur’ an points to the importance of edge in the context of cultural diversity through the following verse:

O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. (Qur’ an: 49:13)

Islam also values another kind of edge. That is the edge within daily cycles, the junction points between times of the day, such as during sunset and dawn, for example. These points of transition are, for Muslims, a time to

punctuate worldly activity with formal worship through salaat. Performed with presence, it is a step towards the unity behind cultural and natural diversity, the constancy behind change, the unseen behind the seen. A frequent dose of such an experience nurtures an attitude of compassion, something that is essential if the meeting between elements from two worlds is to be a healthy one.

As well as outwardly, there are inner edges. For instance, an over-guarded edge can create in me walls of separation, and herein lies a fragmented consciousness. Yet, if I begin to reflect on how different beliefs I hold exist in the context of each other and deeper levels of my self, then I am opening myself up for new ideas and inspiration. My thinking can become more whole.

Through the financial and ecological crises, strands connecting different areas of life have become more visible. The financial system is, as our relationship with the earth – it is unsustainable - and indeed our financial system, entrenched in money creation, interest-based lending and growth is a core contributor to resource depletion, pollution, climate catastrophe and violence. Simultaneously, with the increasing rate of change that such an economy brings, our attention is like a feather on a stormy day, blown from place to place with no time to settle. Thus, the essential space needed to reflect on experiences, on what it means to live according to the fitrah, for insights to emerge, and to create a world that is more meaningful is being constrained by the world as it is.

Yet, opportunities for transformation can form with only slight adjustments to our way of life. These opportunities are contained, for instance, in situations in which wisdom and insights can be shared, when skills or talent that any of us has can find their ways to others. This is the nature of many traditions, and skills-sharing has also become common in Transition initiatives, a movement originating in Kinsale, Ireland, that aims to respond to the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. Thus, a dinner invitation can be modified into a pot-luck experience coupled with the sharing of skills or a passion. On the same occasion that we savour some culinary delights, a close friend might teach us how to mend clothes, weave a basket out of items we might otherwise throw away, or grow our own mint on the windowsill. Another friend might share some poetry, be inspired to play out a meaningful sketch, or teach calligraphy.

Thus, a simple and common social event, such as having dinner together can through almost no extra effort become even more sociable and fun, whilst helping to create a more wholesome world. This would be analogous to the example described earlier, of one pond having more edge than another of exactly the same size, simply by virtue of being a different shape. There is greater scope for interaction, drawing out diversity, creativity and resilience. In the social context, it can mean in the example given, deeper human relationships, a move from consumerism to sharing, from corporations to community, and the opening of innumerable doors from which further possibilities can emerge.

With the environmental crises being widely recognised, green has become the colour of the day – and can thus be a safe paint to use, particularly in a society in which we feel we must struggle hard to be accepted. It is my prayer that our becoming green couples itself with the kind of transformations that are needed to be truly green. With simple changes that enrich relationships, as one important dimension, we can begin to move through the challenges of our time. Thus, by increasing the community ‘edge’, we can help turn crises into transformative, soul nurturing opportunities. It is not always new technologies that we will need, and we must be mindful of the attraction of green consumerism. Ultimately more powerful, more available, and yet more easily overlooked is the poorly tapped potential of the human soul and community spirit, through solutions that we can implement without corporate involvement, solutions that help us better see and appreciate what and who has been there all along.

© Muzammal Hussain 

A version of this article was published in the Oct 2009 edition of Emel magazine.

Wisdom In Nature have organised an Islam & Permaculture Introduction day on Sat 27th March 2010 in Tooting, London. To find out more, please click here