Muslim community to plant 10,000 trees

From Daily Monitor | By Isaac Khisa | August 21st 2010

The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council will this year plant trees to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in an effort to fight climate change.

The project dubbed “Green Friday”, which was launched yesterday in partnership with British Council and National Forestry Authority (NFA), will see 10,000 trees planted by Muslim communities.

“Climate change is a great threat to humanity today with many adverse effects on lives and property through the shift in rainfall patterns, droughts, flooding and landslides and has accelerated the spread of diseases like malaria,” said Hajjat Sebyala Aphwa, British Council climate change icon.

She said the recent increase in industrialisation and deforestation has accelerated the rate of global warming. She said the problem of climate change, which is worsening every day, needs a combined effort from all partners including religious leaders, who should spread message of environmental conservation.

‘Green Fridays’, according to Hajjat Sebyala, will be dedicated entirely to planting trees in different parts of the country starting with the central region.

The British Council, in partnership with Makerere University and NFA, has already scheduled to plant 30 million trees in two years and NFA will plant 33 million trees in the next one year.

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Videos from Seekers Guidance: Habib Ali, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf & Imam Muhammad Magid

From Seekers Guidance

Videos from Healthy Hearts Webinar: Habib Ali, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Mohamed Magid.

This webinar was conducted jointly with Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad and the Cambridge Muslim community in commemoration of the memory of Imam Ghazali and looking forward to the future, in establing a new mosque for the Cambridge Muslim community

The Cambridge Mosque – Past and Present from Cambridge Mosque is Moving on Vimeo.



Imam Mohamed Magid :: Adab with Allah, Others & Oneself from Cambridge Mosque is Moving on Vimeo.


Heart has to be sound, and there is no life in the heart without dhikrillah. Diagnosing these problems was the specialty of Imam Ghazali, curing from the vast pharmacy of Muhammad salallahu alayhi waslaam…What makes us human beings is the heart that Allah has put in our chests.
-Imam Muhammad Magid



Shaykh Hamza Yusuf :: On Cambridge New Mosque Project from Cambridge Mosque is Moving on Vimeo.


The Muslim leadership in Cambridge is the highest caliber in the country. The mosque is not going to be your average run of the mill Islamic center, but is really going to have an important impact. Any initiative he (Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad) is involved in should be supported by the community 
– Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

UK Imams Get Healthy Heart Training

From Muslim Voices | July 29th 2010

The British Heart Foundation and QUIT are working together to encourage the Muslim community to stop smoking and lead a healthier lifestyle this Ramadan.

Statistics suggest that South Asians in the UK are 50 per cent more likely to die from heart disease than those in the general population .

As part of the Ramadan campaign, the BHF will be training 300 imams in major cities across the UK.

Trainees will receive information they need to help their congregation make positive lifestyle changes including stopping smoking, improving their diet and exercising more. The initiative will take place in Manchester, London, Blackburn and Bradford.

Qaim Zaidi, Ethnic Strategy Manager for the BHF said: “During Ramadan Muslims do not eat, drink or smoke from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. For many it’s the ideal time to kick the smoking habit and lead a healthier lifestyle. Stopping smoking is one of the most important things you can do to benefit your health.

“This campaign aims to give anyone looking to quit the help and support they need to make a change for the better. Imams can play a vital role in encouraging their congregations to make small changes now, in order to protect their heart health in the future.”

Imams will refer people in their congregation to health services, such as their local free NHS Stop Smoking Service, for advice and support on health matters. With local partners BHF will also be providing support to smokers in local mosques across the UK.

The Asian Quitline, a stop-smoking service funded by the BHF will have extended opening hours and offers advice in Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali to help smokers quit during Ramadan.

For more information visit www.bhf.org.uk/southasian

Suffolk Muslims’ environment talk

From BBC News | By Jon Wright | March 15th 2010

BBC Suffolk

The head of a Muslim charity has said more needs to be done to promote environmentalism in the Islamic world.

“These are new issues which haven’t yet been addressed as strongly as they need to be by Muslim scholars,” said Manwar Ali, the chief executive of Jimas.
The group is holding a public meeting to debate how the community in Suffolk should respond to climate change.
One Community in Conversation (OCC) is on Tuesday, 16 March at the University Campus Suffolk building in Ipswich.
“If you go back to classical material you will always find teachings about how we are meant to be kind and to look after the environment as a trust from god,” said Manwar Ali, speaking on BBC Suffolk’s Sunday breakfast programme.
“The Islamic perspective is always not to deface what is natural, to maintain sustainability, to conserve and to share, the same kind of ethos we share with other revealed religions as well.
“But the process is very much incomplete as far as modern scholars are concerned regarding modern technology.”


Being green in an oil producing world


Despite the Middle East being the centre of world oil production, Manwar feels Islam’s environmental message is the same for everyone.
“They will all agree on the basic fundamental tenets which oblige Muslims, theoretically, to protect god’s creation from destruction, wastage or abuse.
“So, Saudi Arabia may take a policy on board which helps them to make more money through the oil industry and they might want justification for that through religious teachings to perhaps appease or control their populations.
“But those are like games and deceptions and in the end no Muslim would differ from what is stated in the Koran or a prophetic narration which clearly tell us to be just and responsible.”


Bringing people together



The OCC events are run several times a year, with an invited panel of speakers helping to guide the public debate. They also start with free food and a chance to mingle.
Lee Choudhury is the charity’s outreach officer and feels the events do attract more than just the usual faces.
“We’ve always invited as many people as possible from a wide range of backgrounds, so it’s not just the same types of people who come and we definitely find a tangible benefit,” said Lee.
“Free food and having a bit of fun together is essential.
“We focus on issues which are of importance locally. So the next OCC could be something about immigration, because it’s something close to people’s hearts, or the general election.
“In fact we are organising a hustings.”
Manwar Ali agrees that the group will continue to focus on mainly local subjects.
“There are pressing issues like the buses, the schools and how they are performing or immigration, because that is really a hot topic and not enough of us, frankly, openly discuss it, for fear of many things.
“So Jimas prioritises relationships – building good relations and understanding.”


The OCC starts at 6.30pm on Tuesday, 16 March at the main University Campus Suffolk building on Ipswich waterfront.


Jimas says its aims are: to promote an organic, home-grown, indigenous following of Islam which is relevant to British Muslim concerns in particular and issues of the UK in general.