The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
The New Zealand Merino Company, now rebranded as Zentera, has quietly removed the phrase “world’s leading ethical wool brand” from its website, a notable change that comes after a disturbing investigation by PETA Asia-Pacific into the company’s ZQ-certified wool supply chain, PETA reports to Green Prophet.
Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.
What Adital Ela has to say about making light from wind, and other sustainable design ventures.
We recently learned about Israeli sustainable designer Adital Ela’s work when we heard about her KickStart project to get WindyLights – a design that generates light from wind – on the ground. Since then, we’ve learned that Ela is a key figure in the sustainable design world. She is the founder of S-Sense Design, a design firm that “aspires to design products and systems that embody the outlook of sustainable design and support the promotion of sustainable lifestyles and cultures.” She is also one of the co-founders of the social-environmental design study track at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). Intrigued, we had a little chat with Ela to learn more about her work.
A new round of sanctions that further isolate Iran financially and politically is likely to bolster nuclear ambitions and keep pollution levels high.
Iran has been slapped with a new round of sanctions following a report from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which concluded that the regime is developing nuclear weapons. This move was so incendiary for the already financially and politically isolated country that they expelled the United Kingdom’s diplomatic team and yesterday hundreds of angry students stormed the British embassy in Tehran.
Although considered the best approach by the UK, U.S., and possibly the EU, to date these economic sanctions have done nothing but strengthen the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) influence and overall determination to see its nuclear program – innocent or not – gain ground. Meanwhile, air quality in one of the world’s most polluted cities continues to decrease as sanctions cripple imports of fuel and technology that can reduce harmful emissions.
“Let our lovely Gerze stay lovely,” reads the banner. “We don’t want a thermal power plant to come to our Gerze…”
On Saturday, the Turkish Black Sea town of Gerze — population 11,260 — was host to a 10,000-strong protest against a coal-fired power plant. Protesters arrived from all over the country to march and chant, undeterred by recent violent police crackdowns against environmental protests in the town’s province, Sinop.
In September, for example, the police responded to a smaller protest in the village of Yaylık (also in Sinop province) by beating peaceful activists with truncheons, injuring twenty-five people and spraying so much tear gas into the air that a nearby forest caught on fire.
Yearning for a doughnut or sufganyah, but horrified at all that oil? Try this tasty and healthier baked alternative.
While the menorah sheds its festive light, the Jewish family gathers at the table, noshing on traditional foods like sufganyot. You know sufganyot. Those brown disks of tender dough with hearts of jam and coats of powdered sugar that lingers on the lips. Doughnuts without holes. Filled doughnuts, with jam.
Israelis named them sufganyot after the verb lisfog – to absorb or soak up. Because sufganyot are deep-fried and absorb lots and lots of oil. In fact, you don’t have to invest in a menorah to light Hannukah candles – just insert wicks into stale sufganyot and presto – impromptu candles with built-in oil reserves. (Just a joke, folks.)
But there’s a healthy option to deep-frying the famous Hannukah donuts. Bake them. The lovely vegetarian 101 Cookbooks blog by Heidi Swanson gives a recipe for baked doughnuts that works very well for sufganyot. Just don’t make the doughnut hole.
Baked Doughnuts (Sufganyot) Recipe
Ingredients: 1 1/3 cups warm milk (divided) 1 packet active dry yeast (2- 1/4 teaspoons) 2 tablespoons butter 2/3 cup sugar 2 eggs 5 cups all-purpose flour A pinch or two of nutmeg 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt – just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed.
If your dough is sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. If too dry, add more milk a bit at a time. The dough should pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.
Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Stamp out circles with a 2-3 inch cookie cutter, or use the mouth of a large glass. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.
Bake at 375° F – 180° C until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes – start checking at 8 minutes. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and roll it in the sugar bowl. Eat immediately.
Another year, Hijri, has passed of the Islamic calendar. Over a thousand years since the first eco-mosque, but are Muslims any more greener at the end of it?
Like the Gregorian year, the Islamic calendar is made up of 12 months, each around 29 to 31 days. Unlike the solar year which follows the sun, the Islamic year is a lunar one (and no we are not talking about moon dwellings!), following the moon in its orbit and creating a more fluctuating time. In this sense a lunar year is more in tune with the natural order of the planet.
Months are not linked to seasons but the value of passing life.
Lunar Vs Solar Calendar in Islam
For our astronomical readers, it is the Earth’s axial tilt that marks the seasons and hours of daylight. The word “month” itself is derived from “moon,” essentially measuring one lunar cycle: the roughly 28.5 days it takes the moon to circle the earth.
Because each day the Earth is in a different position in relation to the moon, the lunar year feels shorter, shifting by about 10 days so that the seasons are never in the same quarter for more than 5 years.
Muslims have a scientific history of environmental pioneers who were resourceful and adept craftsmen. Astronomy was a key area which Greeks and the later Arab Muslims excelled in to measure space, distance and time. Exquisite mechanical clocks were carved to beautify the measuring of time, an area that 1001 Inventions from Islamic history is exhibiting worldwide.
With this need for efficiency and accuracy, the Saudi government is pushing for a standardised Islamic calendar, beginning with its unsightly clock tower. And we also see the never-ending debates over moon sightings to begin the next month.
In 2002 Hajj pilgrimage was performed in March during a warmer climate in Saudi Arabia. Ten years on and it has shifted ‘backwards’ to the beginning of November and come 2020, Hajj will hit during peak heat season in August. The keyword for that year – sunscreen (you can make your own organic sunscreen here).
The Hijri Calendar of Islam
Ten points for guessing when the Islamic calendar began… A clue is in the title!
But what you might not have known is that it wasn’t the demise of the Prophet Muhammad, nor his birth, that was commemorated as Year Number 1.
It was the migration (hijrah) of the first Muslims from Makkah to Medina to begin new life and establish the first Islamic state, which worked alongside Jewish and Christian communities in Madina, 622CE. And it was the convert Muslim Umar, (Omar) who went about to create the dating system some 16 years later (638CE), Wikipedia explains.
Islam, Environment and Hijrah – Then and Now
From the first Islamic state 1433 years ago in Madina to 2011, Muslim communities have proactively demonstrated that the ground upon which Islamic seeds have grown, is ecological. After all, as Green Deen author Ibrahim Abdul Matin believes, “the whole earth is a mosque”.
ECO MOSQUES
The first mosque (Arabic, masjid), today more noticeable as the gleaming white Masjid al-Quba in Madina, was made from dry stones and built by the hands of Prophet Muhammad and his companions. As a place of cleanliness, Muslims were encouraged to wash at home, walk to the mosque to avoid (animal) congestion and pray on a dust-swept floor. This etiquette continues today while Quba mosque is surrounded by palm groves to remind worshippers of the grand pillar’s greener roots.
But on the other hand, lavish buildings of worship have overshadowed Islamic sites like the Kabah in Makkah with nothing less than an industrial ugliness. So we have to ask, what happened to Islam’s environmentally friendly architecture?
WASTE AND FAITH
Islam connected its teachings to controlled consumption and minimal waste. Islam has a relationship with water that outright exclaims if you’re using too much, you’re doing it wrong.
Men who ate too much were told to cut back and restore the hunger equilibrium. Women who threw out food were told to share meals with neighbours. When the ruling for the hijab (headscarf) came into action, poor women resorted to tearing extra fabric from their dresses to makeshift headscarves.
When Islam unfolded its message, its laws were passed in stages. The first Muslims prayed facing Jerusalem, they did not wear the hijab and alcohol hadn’t been completely forbidden until the 5 daily prayers were set.
Muslims believe God was telling people to not jump into a renewable lifestyle with eyes shut. Islam wanted to take things the natural human way, sustainable and less fussy.
Fashionable hijabs are all the rage for contemporary Muslim women while the more fashion conscious experiment with eco-hijabs. Again, the message is to simplify and reduce waste.
TERRORISM
Not always an easy subject to discuss but a real one nonetheless. Eco-terrorism and environmental sabotage has leaked its ways into many religious domains, with most of its media coverage falling on terrorist acts from Muslims. The European campaign Inspired by Muhammad was lead by eco-Muslim Kristiane Backer to expose and deal with this misperception, showing the mainstream and moderate environmental Muslims in action.
What Would Muhammad Do? Build a Green Bank Balance
Celebrations are a Muslim’s weakness. We like to party, we really want to “let our hijabs down” with our girlfriends (and we do), but apart from a sustainable Eid festival, and the remembered anniversary, Muslims do little to green up the new year.
So the Islamic new year is not so much a bang as it is a mellow hurray. We reflect, we pray and the Eco-Muslims amongst us recycle resolutions and plant trees.
There is more of an acknowledgement of the passing of time. We take the time to assess our annual actions as a kind of ‘green bank balance’. Did we meet our resolution(s), did we fund water pumps for third world countries, did we plant those trees as promised?
A quotable quote from the Quran sums up the Islamic new year in an allegory, “A good word is like a good tree, with firmly fixed roots and branches high in the sky” (14:24). So we may not have lived up the prophetic ideal of mud, rocks and astronomical genius, but like the seed that grows with patience and nurturing, Muslims have new time to go back to green.
Clever info:
CE = Common Era, or Christian Era, measuring time since the traditional birth of Christ.
AH = (AH = Anno Hegirae = year of the Hijra).
The Islamic year ended 26th November 2011, with the 27th November being the 1st of Muharram, 1433, the first Islamic month.
*Peace be upon him, a Muslim phrase used to bless historic prophets and figures. In Arabic: `alayhi salaam.
A Dubai Big Bus passing ultra luxurious Atlantis on the Palm hotel. Green is where the money is.
The futuristic city of Dubai is often hailed as the showcase of the Arabian Gulf. Dubai has many attractions including the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building and so big that it needs a huge waste disposal vehicle to periodically remove accumulated human waste, 13 tons daily, from its more than 160 floors. Dubai has other architectural and geological wonders, including its seven star ultra luxurious icon, the Burj al Arab Hotel, where each suite comes with a personal butler to cater to the guest’s every whim and desire. Now poor folks and eco-minded ones too, can visit these extravagant wonders by bus.
Eco-lovers beware: Artificial light at night may be associated with an increased risk for breast and prostate cancers.
Next time your partner suggests you keep the lights on in your bedroom, tell him his prostate and your breasts are better off under the illumination of the moon, and your want to make sure your personal life is as sustainably safe and pleasurable as possible. The link between artificial light and prostate and breast cancer has been attributed to exposure to artificial light, with the recent study from Haifa University confirming that it’s not just exposure to outdoor or workplace lights, but light at home that elevates one’s risk for developing both diseases.
Another world’s first for the Israeli-born solar power giant that pioneered solar thermal.
BrightSource Energy announced this week that they could chop down the size of their giant 750 MW project in California by 200 MW and yet still make the same 4,000 gigawatt-hours a year of power they are contractually required to produce for California, by adding their proprietary SolarPlus night time storage.
The seven-plant power tower project is under a power purchase contract with Southern California Edison which supplies electricity to customers in Southern California. But BrightSource spokesman Keely Wachs told Todd Woody on Monday that by adding storage for use for several hours at a time that only six of the seven planned solar “power tower” stations will need to be built, saving some 1,280 acres of desert land.
Kosher-keepers can thank the organic market for a new taste sensation: flesh that tastes exactly like pork, only kosher. Pork-flavored goose, from Spain, that is. The phenomenon is attributed to a particular organic feed that the geese eat.
It would be interesting to know if Halal authorities would approve this meat. If the thinking on Arwa’s post regarding the Halal status of GM food corresponds to this, it may well be so. High-end organic products are appearing everywhere in the Middle East these days. There’s almost certainly a market among observant Moslems and Jews for a permitted taste of illicit foods.
A team of two designers, Godspeed, will be creating furniture from raw and trashed materials in Jaffa within the framework of a single hour.
Pop-up stores may not sound like the most sustainable ventures, but the pop-up shop that will open in Jaffa on December 1st and feature the work of the Godspeed design team will be a little bit different. Firstly, it will be situated at an existing location, Hasadna (a local design workshop). And secondly, the items for sale in the shop will not be shipped from far away – rather, they will be created on the spot, with no item taking longer than an hour to produce. Oh, and most of the materials used to create Godspeed’s design items will be trash.
The Festival of Lights gives spiritual and historical messages. This year, add a green message to the lights.
Hannukah falls on December 20th this year. Among the laws of lighting the menorah – one of the Hannukah traditions that Jews follow for eight days – is one that requires placing it where the lights can be viewed from the street. This is to proclaim the miracles of the days when the Jewish minority in Israel revolted against a tyrannical ruler and won liberty.
A visible miracle was that one day’s oil dedicated to the menorah in the Temple burned for eight days. Wouldn’t a similar, energy-saving miracle be amazing? We’ll have to discount supernatural intervention, but can seek green lighting alternatives like the Nokero solar light bulbs.
Despite the mainstream news depicting nothing but political drama and violence, there are all kinds of great green projects ongoing in the Middle East. Take a look at 7 that might surprise you.
Most people who think about clean tech developments in the Arab World immediately think of Masdar City, since it is probably one of the most publicized projects in this region. But we have compiled a short list of 7 other noteworthy initiatives that are either being developed in or benefit the Arab World.
It is a well known fact that Muslims don’t drink alcohol. It is haram or not halal, which means forbidden. Muslims don’t eat foods or consume drinks with any kind of alcohol or ethanol, they don’t wear perfumes containing alcoholic ingredients and they stay away from all forms of intoxicating substances. Muslims in Dubai also don’t tolerate medical cannabis of any form, even harmless CBD oil.
This abstinence from drugs and alcohol is a command from God, the law maker for Muslims’ health and environment. But why else is alcohol, and drugs in general, haram in Islam? Is biofuel haram? According to one leader in Saudi Arabia it is. Let’s take a look.
Alcohol in Islam
Linguistically, khamr (خمر) the Arabic word for “wine”, is alcohol derived from grapes. This is what is prohibited by specific texts of the Quran (see 5:90). Therefore alcohol is categorically unlawful (haraam) and considered impure (najis). Consuming any amount is unlawful, even if it doesn’t create any drunken effects. This is opposite to Judaism which consecrates its Sabbath every Friday night using alcohol specifically made from grapes.
But when we go back to Islam, the Prophet Muhammad of Islam said, “Intoxicants are from these two trees,” while pointing to grapevines and date-palms. Alcohol derived from dates or raisins is also prohibited, again regardless of the amount consumed.
At first, a general warning in the Quran was given to forbid Muslims from attending prayers while in a drunken state (Quran, 4:43). Then a later verse was revealed to Prophet Muhammad which said that while specifically alcohol had some medicinal benefits, the negative effects of it outweighed the good (Quran, 2:219).
Finally, “intoxicants and gambling” were called “abominations of Satan’s handiwork,” which warned people with self-consciousness to not turn away from God and forget about prayer, and Muslims were ordered to abstain (Quran, 5:90-91).
The Prophet Muhammad also instructed his companions to avoid any intoxicating substances (paraphrased), “if it intoxicates in a large amount, it is forbidden even in a small amount.” For this reason, most observant Muslims avoid alcohol in any form, even small amounts that are sometimes used in cooking.
6 reasons why Muslims don’t drink alcohol
1. Alcohol and prayer do not mix
Prayer (salat) is a fundamental part of the Muslim lifestyle, an obligatory call to God five times a day. A ritual eco “wudhu” (woo-dhoo) is necessary before the prayer which involves a water saving ablution to spiritually connect to environment, health and creation. The presence of alcohol in the same room does not affect the prayer, according to Islamic scholars, but anyone who drinks alcohol cannot pray for a month, unless he or she repents. Another obligation to Muslims is the annual Hajj or Haj pilgrimage, at least once in their lifetime.
2. It’s addictive
Even when the early Muslims recognised alcohol for its medicinal uses, Prophet Muhammad likened the drink to a “disease”, saying there is no cure in things that God has forbidden. Like the first puff of a cigarette, it is up to individual will-power to continue or stop drinking. Nonetheless, some Muslims seek alcohol treatment.
Khamr also describes how alcohol consumption makes it difficult to differentiate between right and wrong. Muslim faith is founded on the intellect, rational thought and good judgement. Anything that could jeopardise this behaviour is forbidden, and another reason why Muslims don’t drink.
4. It gives the wrong message to children
Sitting in a restaurant where alcohol is served is not the same as drinking it. This is why Islamic law has the flexibility to say if someone needs to sit in such a restaurant for a work meeting or because no other diners are available, he/she can, but should not sit at a table where alcohol is served.
Bars and environments where alcohol is served could lead to drinking and in the presence of children, it could teach them to explore drinking. Mature Muslim adults are role models and carry a message that you don’t have to drink to have a good time, to work or to socialise.
Classical and contemporary Islamic scholars have helped explain why an alcohol zone can be as bad as drinking itself,
“The difference between [prohibitions in environment] and [prohibitions related to the end goals] is that while both are forbidden, the former is considered lesser in weight because it is related to causes, whereas the latter is related to an actual forbidden act. Thus, sitting at the table, although not the same as drinking, could lead to it whereas drinking in itself is absolutely forbidden,” says Dr. Abdullah bin Bayyah from Suhaibwebb.
5. Alcohol makes one forget
Any intoxicating substance, whether it’s wine, beer, gin, whiskey or drugs, affects a person’s faculties and behaviour. The result is the same, and the Quran outlines that it is the intoxication-which makes one forgetful of God and prayer-that is harmful.
6. Alcohol can lead to crime
Think about the ridiculous things you might have done when drunk. Although a controversial statement, in Islam alcohol is viewed as the “key to every evil” (hadith), because of its close relation to creating or making criminal behaviour easier to commit. That isn’t an omission of the medicinal uses of alcohol, but to say that a prevention is better than a cure. Thus, the Quran explains, “in alcohol there is a great sin, and some benefits, but the sin outweighs its benefit.” (2:219).
Why Muslims don’t do drugs
All intoxicants were made haraam in Islam’s religious scripture at different times over a period of years. Over the years, the list of intoxicating substances has come to include more modern street drugs and the like. But some plants with intoxicating effects such as chewing khat in Yemen and cannabis have slipped into Islam. According to this site, the Muslim scholars are divided over khat, sometimes spelled ghat or gat:
“The three main positions on khat are that it is halal (permissible), makruh (detested or discouraged) or haraam (forbidden). It may be shown that each view has some support in the scholarly literature of Islam.
“Each was accepted by some members of the focus groups. Most of those who participated in the focus groups had a strong view on the correct position pursuant to Islam and this view influenced their decision to support or reject prohibition and to chew or not to chew khat.”
Young man selling khat, gat or qat leaves in Yemen
Islam prohibits the use of narcotics noting that “every intoxicant is haram (unlawful)”. Recreational drugs have become the social culture and despite religious prohibitions, Muslims are just as susceptible to cannabis (marijuana), hashish, and the supposedly herbal ‘hukkah‘ (a tobacco smoking pipe).
We suggest you speak to your local clerics about individual use because the use of these substances is not cut and dry. Nonetheless, this drug abuse is also haram, not to mention encouraging illegal drug trade and addiction.
Wine that’s halal?
Without side-sweeping the nutritional value to alcoholic beverages, we must accept that wine in particular is not completely “evil”. Wine contains coronary benefits and according to studies, decreases the risk of peptic ulcers.
Hippocrates recommended specific wines to disinfect wounds, and even the great Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir noted wine’s force for better digestion.
In the Quran is the promise of Paradise for people who conserve God’s laws on Earth and leave it as they found it, or better. This Paradise contains rivers of honey, milk and wine which does not intoxicate (see 47:15):
The description of the Paradise promised to the righteous is that in it are rivers of fresh water, rivers of milk that never changes in taste, rivers of wine delicious to drink, and rivers of pure honey. There they will ˹also˺ have all kinds of fruit, and forgiveness from their Lord. ˹Can they be˺ like those who will stay in the Fire forever, left to drink boiling water that will tear apart their insides?
Some great entrepreneurs took this verse from the Quran as inspiration, leading to the production of halal approved wines such as Halal Champ Wine, and Australia’s Patritti Wines of Dover Gardens, which was accredited by the Islamic Council in 2003.
A contemporary fatwa (Islamic ruling) classified non-wine alcohol as permitted in external uses such as perfumes and soaps so long as it’s not used in vain or for intoxicating purposes. However, the main consensus is to religiously avoid it.
Buying and selling wine in Islam
For Muslims, when something is made haraam, this means that thing is harmful to one’s health and contribution to the community. That also means Muslims aren’t supposed to encourage others to consume in any haraam, irrespective of who they are.
Dealing with the alcohol trade comes under the haraam category. The Prophet Muhammad forbade people from all actions related to the wine industry, including pressing wine, drinking it, serving it, selling it or buying it. This severity is to stop the expansion of harm caused by alcohol.
And above all, drinking is a lifestyle choice for socialising and enjoying food, a lifestyle that Muslims simply do not indulge in. That said, if you want to try a alcoholic summer drink, here are 10 mocktails for Muslims.
Wudu ritual washing in Islam Zaufishan gives some tips for making wudu greener
It was over five years ago when I first learned about a wuduthat was environmentally friendly. Despite being a keen Eco-Muslim, I didn’t see how clean water for ritual ablutions could get, well, any cleaner. After one Hajj pilgrimage in 2005 and many cold water washes however, here is proof that wudu really can be part of the active green faith.
Wudu (woo-dhoo) is a physical ritual where Muslims immerse themselves in a symbolic purification before prayer and every act of worship. The word itself comes from the Arabic root “wa-da`a” which means to make brighter. Wudu is essential to connecting with God and seeing His signs – water from rain, a lake, small streams becoming oceans, or a running tap.
How to make wudu ablution
The ablution consists of an important routine: rinsing the mouth 3 times, the nose, washing the whole face 3 times, each forearm, the top of your head, behind the ears, neck, feet and between each toe.
Wudu is ritual washing in Islam. Face, feet, clean.
Each movement with water physically washes away dirt and in essence the negative actions of that limb. Wudu is a reminder of blessings; it’s a control switch, a health check.
The Prophet Muhammad of Islam said, “cleanliness is part of faith” (tahoor shatril imaan). He also warned against “squandering water” even if next to a river; the Prophet always advocated an eco-wudu.
An eco-Wudu
Muslims make wudu up to five times a day, and the amount of water spilled can add up. Growing an ‘eco-beard‘ can saves masses of water whereas shaving can use up to 11 gallons of water on average per household. Most of this is wasted from keeping the tap running and more energy is eaten up by using hot water instead of cold.
As believers, wudu can be a part of our eco lifestyle and a more conscious effort of resourcefully using one of our most precious blessings from God.
I haven’t perfected my wudu and in those panic-last-minute-prayermoments, I confess that I have left the tap running in the past. No more! Here are several winning ideas that could just make our wudu more wonderful:
Tips for making your wudu green:
Turn tap off: It sounds obvious but closing your taps when making wudu will significantly change how you use water. Fill a pot or bucket for your ablutions. Use a glass to rinse your mouth. Take a jug of water with you outside and perform a spiritual wudu in nature.
Check your wudu count: For experimental purposes time how long it takes for you to complete wudu while leaving the tap running on normal pressure.
Next time place a bucket under the tap and leave the tap running for the same amount of time it took for you to do wudu. Measure this water. This is your wudu count. I measured my wudu count which came to nearly 2.5 litres of water. The Prophet Muhammad performed his wudu with 16 handfuls of water! It isn’t a scientific test but it’s useful for directly seeing your water impact, and as the idea creator Ibrahim Abdal-Matin said, “Having a number can help you determine a goal for reducing that number.”
Water saving toilets: Install a toilet with an inlet valve that reduces the water volume used to flush clean, saving up to 25%.
Personal hygiene is fundamental to the wudu but does not come with practical solutions, especially in public restrooms. That awkward moment when someone walks in on you with your foot in the sink… You can buy water carrying pouches created specifically for such scenarios. One can hold 1 litre of water, is ergonomically designed with spout and folds away for discretion. The product can save water and save a lot of public bother
Wudu with dust
These suggestions can be implemented in our homes and mosques. With enough awareness I hope to see a change in our value system so that while others have to perform their wudu in dust – known as tayammum, we’re not pouring away our blessings with water.
“Nature has provided ecosystems and their benefits to us for free… perhaps because this capital has been provided freely to us, we humans have tended to view it as limitless, abundant, and thus perhaps always available for our use, exploitation, and conversion.” (p.3)
The modern economy’s obsession with competitive consumption and endless exploitation of natural resources is at the root of the environmental mess we find ourselves in. It has forced us to digger deeper for oil, experiment with all sorts of ecologically dubious methods to secure cheap energy, cut down trees to make way for industrial-scale food production, ruin mangroves for shrimp farms and spew out pollution which has now been shown to cause extreme weather.
However, in his latest book, ‘Capitalizing on Nature- Ecosystems as Natural Assets’, Edward Barbier argues that the economy can also be part of the solution. If we are able to conceive of natural ecosystems and the various services and benefits they provide us with as a form of wealth, they could be protected. The benefit of exploiting natural assets would then be weighed up against the benefits of converting them into other forms of wealth, and hopefully, this would lead to better ecological decisions.
