Islamic scholars gathered in Istanbul recently to blend those two shades of green with a seven year action plan on global warming.
Mahmoud Akef representing non-profit Earth Mates Dialogue Centre, a UK based NGO in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, organised the action plan. Goals include climate change education, green cities and the grand mufti of Egypt even pledged to make his fatwa-issuing office in Cairo carbon-neutral. Mahmoud Akef says the inspiration comes from Islam's sacred texts, the Koran, and the Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
According to Akef, "Of course, Koran has a lot of verses with regard to the environment, with regard to working on the Earth, to look what God has created for the human being. And this human being should save and protect and enjoy this creations. And at the same time Prophet Muhammad has also many hadiths, or saying about the environment. There's a hadith [Arabic] means this mountain, Uhud, it is near to Mecca, and this mountain loves us and we love it. So it moves a level of caring about the mountain as a part of the environment from just to enjoy this beautifulness of the mountain to love and it's a symbol for the other parts of the environment. We should love the environment. And when we love the environment, of course, we will take care of it. We will protect it and we will save it"
The plan also includes proposals for developing the major Muslim cities as a green city model, which can act as a guidance for greening other Islamic cities. Besides, the plan attempts to develop an Islamic label for environmental friendly goods and services and create the best environmental practices for Islamic businesses. In addition, the plan is proposing to establish Islamic Waqf to finance its implementation.
The proposals will be managed through the umbrella organization 'MACCA', the Muslim Associations for Climate Change Action. The proposals have been endorsed by around 200 Muslim scholars, experts and representatives of Islamic civil society organizations, as well as representatives of ministries of environment and Awqaf of many Islamic countries, such as Kuwait, Bahrain, Morocco, Indonesia, Senegal and Turkey.
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