By Dalia Rakha

Sept/Oct 2023

Environmental sustainability and its execution have been greatly debated across the globe. From discussions on waste management and restoration techniques to health concerns and global disasters, the sustainability movement has attempted to define the ideal relationship between humans and the natural world. Yet, these definitions have only gone as far as physical manifestations, detailing the how but not the why.  More than 1400 years ago, Islam filled the gaps through the revelation of a single verse.

“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” (Quran 6:165). 

The God-given responsibility of being His vicegerents on Earth and emulating His Divine traits of mercy, justice, and wisdom is at the core of how Muslims look at their relationship with the natural world. Islam offers a unique perspective on how and why taking care of this planet is important not only for one’s physical well-being, but also to the well-being of the soul and to fulfilling the fundamental purpose of life. Deeply spiritual, God-centric, and ethically founded, the Islamic worldview on environmental sustainability is a rich tradition being actualized through various methods in Islamic organizations across North America.

Zaytuna Modeling Vicegerency 

In the U.S., Zaytuna College is on the front lines of a movement towards self-sustainable agriculture and reconnecting with the natural world. As the first accredited Muslim American college, Zaytuna has used the Islamic lens to not only inform its academic curriculum but also its experiential learning initiatives through the Zaytuna College Center for Ethical Living and Learning (ZCELL). 

“ZCELL is a place to model methods of actualizing Muslims’ vicegerency on Earth,” said Rhamis Kent, a scholar-in-residence and instructor for Zaytuna’s Permaculture Design Certificate Course. “As a modern human society, we have accepted unexamined lives where we no longer take responsibility for our existence. We have outsourced everything that makes our lives possible to someone else, merely consuming what is grown and produced by others and never truly connecting to its origin.”

Kent is also the co-founder of the IGE-PEARL (Islamic Gift Economy — Program for Ethical Appropriate and Regenerative Livelihoods). He believes one of the most important ways of connecting to the Earth, to ourselves, and to God is through the cultivation of land. Kent shared that in the Islamic tradition, what we eat is often tied to our spiritual state. As modernity has deprived us from connecting with the Earth and fulfilling our responsibility to it, he believes that this has also resulted in a disconnection with each other, for the deepest bonds come from struggle and self-sufficiency as a community. His work aims to empower Muslims to retake this essential responsibility, knowing it not only reconnects humans with each other and all of creation, but most importantly with the Creator.  

Muslims and Indigenous Communities in Canada

The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) is a charitable grassroots organization aimed at helping Muslims revitalize their faith to better serve society. It promotes local community building and education through various programs, all within Islamic ethical frameworks. One of MAC’s directors, Memona Hossain, focuses on community-based learning initiatives to help Muslims reconnect with nature through the lens of Islam.  She is also a lecturer at the University of Toronto and a current PhD candidate in Applied Ecopsychology.

Through conversations with Indigenous peoples, Hossain has come to learn that the centralization of God in the way Muslims see the world is what often allows Muslims and Indigenous communities to relate to and connect with each other. She has had opportunities to engage in dialogue with and to learn from Indigenous communities across Canada to understand how this Creator-centric worldview fundamentally changes conversations on environmental sustainability, as well as in the ways justice is addressed and perceived. 

While secular worldviews often face these issues with a sense of despair, Hossain noted that because a Muslim’s understanding of justice and success are not limited to worldly outcomes, it is profoundly hopeful. Muslims believe even the smallest of acts do not go unnoticed by God. It is this hope that distinguishes Islam’s understanding of the world, and according to Hossain is one of the most beautiful gifts Muslims can bring to the sustainability movement.

Environment in the Quran

In both of these examples, it is clear that the most essential part of the Islamic environmental worldview is its connection to God. Throughout the Quran, God mentions the miracles of creation as proofs and reminders of His existence, signs of His perfection and mercy, and expressions of His love and generosity. Verses that describe the life-giving properties of rain (16:65), the marvel of milk (16:66), and the healing of honey (16:69) are all examples. This creates a much deeper relationship with the land, a profoundly spiritual bond. God revealed in the Quran that humans are made from clay (15:26) and water (21:30), a reminder that human beings and the Earth are intimately related. Thus, in understanding the natural world, humanity is better able to understand and connect with ourselves.

Kent emphasized that when Muslims emulate the life of Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), it is at its core “modeling a behavioral pattern that permits us to benefit everyone and everything.” The way Muslims treat all of creation is based upon this lens. This seemingly small shift in worldview fundamentally alters everything. Instead of looking only at preventing harm, Muslims are asked to heal, to mend, and most importantly, to improve conditions. Muslims have been given a rich and deeply rooted tradition in building and maintaining relationships with the Earth and all that is in it. 

The world is in desperate need of alternative methods to connect with each other and all of creation. Islam provides a beautiful example centered around God and His attributes, rooted in ethics and sustained with soul. It is a gift too precious not to be shared. 

Dalia Rakha holds an MS in environmental engineering from UC Davis, is a graduate of Tayseer Seminary, and is pursuing a career in water quality and health within a spiritual framework.

Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Centering God in Environmental Sustainability appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

Sept/Oct 2023

In about mid-July, the major news was not about the war in Ukraine or local politics. Rather, the headlines read, “History-making heat set to spread after weekend of triple-digit temperatures,” and “Heatwaves hit new heights across West and South.”

More than 100 million people, around a third of Americans, were under extreme heat advisories. The Southwest Heat Dome broke all-time records, which is also delaying the Southwest monsoon from getting going by blocking most moisture from pushing into the region from Mexico or the nearby eastern Pacific waters. The National Weather Service warned that a “searing heat wave was set to engulf much of the West Coast, the Great Basin, and the Southwest.” Canadian wildfires also affected the air quality in 11 states affecting nearly 60 million Americans.

Heat waves are not only impacting the U.S. but other parts of the world too. According to the European Space Agency “Temperatures were sizzling across Europe amid an intense and prolonged period of heat. Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Poland are all facing major heat waves with air temperatures expected to climb to 118F on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia with potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.”

According to an Asian Development Bank blog, South Asia experienced its highest temperatures in the last 122 years, leading to at least 90 heat-related deaths in Pakistan and India. The People’s Republic of China suffered three consecutive heat waves, breaking long-standing records, with temperatures exceeding 107F.

The World Meteorological Organization said that such temperatures are highest since instrumental measures of air temperatures began in the 1850s. On top of these record-breaking temperatures, a growing El Niño event in the Pacific began to make its presence felt across the globe. El Niño is a periodic climatic event that occurs when the circulation of the equatorial Pacific Ocean shifts and its temperature rises, causing knock-on heat impacts around the world.

“We should not be surprised…This is all a stark reminder of what we’ve known for a long time,” said Prof. Richard Betts, climate scientist at the Met Office and University of Dexter, told the BBC. “We will see ever-more extremes until we stop building up more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.” Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and an unusual band of strong winds that have hovered over the Atlantic have already triggered heatwaves.

As the world continues to use more fossil fuels and produce excess greenhouse gasses there is a continued possibility of climate anomalies as were in June 2023 shown in the map by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Consequences of extreme heat waves

Climate change caused by greenhouse gasses from burning fossil fuels will make heat waves longer, more intense, and more frequent. These heat waves are serious threats to health, agriculture, energy, and infrastructure, especially for the vulnerable population of poor countries. Such heat waves also set off other natural disasters such as drought, bushfires, and forest fires which consequently damage crops and livestock. This can lead to insufficient supply, price hikes and even food insecurity. During a heat wave, energy consumption often skyrockets to cool down the temperature. Air conditioning is constantly used where accessible, leading to power shortages in many places. Increased greenhouse gas emissions cause severe climate change impacts in the long term, triggering more heat waves.

Major causes of extreme heat waves

Most of the greenhouse gasses resulting from human activities include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gasses. Burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of increasing greenhouse gasses. Burning coal and oil produces carbon dioxide by combining oxygen in the air with carbon. Clearing land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities contributes carbon dioxide to a lesser extent than fossil fuels. Human activities often occur in a manner that multiplies negative effects on the atmosphere. The resources used by the larger population often involve burning fossil fuels, while more land may be cleared for agriculture. Carbon sinks, such as forested areas, decline as burning fossil fuels increase. Unless the major users of fossil fuels like the U.S, China, and India change to use renewable energy, the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere will continue to increase.

Need to manage extreme heat waves

The ongoing heat waves around the world need to be managed sooner than later to save lives. Particular attention must be paid to communities that cannot rely on safe and affordable water or air conditioning to cool down. The underlying long-term causes also need to be addressed. If not, the heat waves of the future could be far more intense and disruptive than what we are experiencing today. Governments must invest in better urban planning and infrastructure to adapt to heat waves and reduce the urban heat island effect. This includes transitioning from conventional to cooling material for roofs and pavements that absorb less solar energy and reflect more sunlight and expand green spaces and green corridors.

Our Role as Muslims in reducing the production of greenhouse gasses

God has repeatedly reminded us to take care of the earth as designated caretakers.

“Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of people’s own hands have wrought. So that they may taste something of what they have done; So that hopefully they will turn back.”  (Quran 30:41)

Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The world is sweet and green with vegetation and verily God has made you stewards in it, and He sees how you acquit yourself (Sahih Muslim).

The Islamic Declaration on Climate Change (Istanbul, August 2015) asks peoples of all nations and their leaders to aim in phasing out greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to stabilize their concentration in the atmosphere and commit to adopting renewable energy sources. It also calls upon all Muslims to tackle the habits, mindset, and root causes of climate change, environmental degradation, and loss of biodiversity in their sphere of influence. The severe heat wave enforces upon all of us the necessity to do our share.

ISNA Green Initiative is your voice for protecting the climate. Contact your representatives in the city, state, and federal governments to take actions necessary to mitigate the effect of climate change and adopt an environmentally friendly way of life.

ISNA Green Initiative Team: Huda Alkaff, Saffet Catovic, Nana Firman, Uzma Mirza, S. Masroor Shah (Chair)

Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Extreme Heat Waves Impact on Climate Change appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

July/August 2023

There is more than enough food produced in the world to feed everyone on the planet. Yet as many as 828 million people still go hungry.

After steadily declining for a decade, world hunger is on the rise, affecting nearly 10% of people globally. From 2019 to 2022, the number of undernourished people grew by as many as 150 million, a crisis driven largely by conflict, climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Bank estimates that an additional 75 to 95 million people could be living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared to initial pre-pandemic projections.

An estimated 60% of the world’s hungry live in countries experiencing active conflict, mostly caused by disputes over food, water, or the resources needed to produce them. Conflict disrupts harvests, hampers the delivery of humanitarian aid, and forces families to flee their homes.

Climate change has a dramatic impact on the quantity and nutritious quality of food produced around the world. Drought, floods, fires, heatwaves, and other climate shocks are also forcing out people from their localities, destroying livelihoods, and pushing communities deeper into hunger.  

In 2022, the war in Ukraine has made conditions worse. Restricted global food supplies drive up prices, and threaten the world’s most vulnerable people and countries. More than 48 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger, with the threat of acute malnutrition, starvation, and death, according to the World Food Program (WFP). According to the report of the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), about 193 million people in 53 countries/territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse in 2021.

Over 45 million children are affected by the most visible, severe, and potentially life-threatening form of acute malnutrition. Globally, 1 in 5 deaths among children under 5 is attributed to severe malnutrition resulting in the death of more than 1 million each year. 

Global Food Waste

The UN Environment Program (UNEP) and partner organization WRAP, Food Waste Index Report 2021 estimates that food waste from households, retail establishments and the food service industry totals 931 million tons each year. Nearly 570 million tons of this waste occurs at the household level. The report also reveals that the global average of 74 kg per capita of food wasted each year is remarkably similar from lower-middle income to high-income countries. 

Nearly half of all fruits and vegetables produced globally are wasted and nearly 1/3 of all food produced globally is lost or wasted annually. This costs the global economy around $940 billion annually. 

Food waste isn’t only what consumers scrape off their plate or leave to rot in their refrigerator. Global food waste begins from agricultural production and continues to the landfill. At the farm, the waste can be driven by a whole host of factors beyond the grower’s control. Weather, pests, disease, low market prices or high labor costs all lead to food left in the field. Food that may look perfectly ripe and edible in the field may be too ripe by the time it reaches the consumer, so it’s never harvested. 

The U.S. discards more food than any other country in the world, nearly 40 million tons or 30% of all food worth $48.3 billion is thrown away each year. It is estimated that about half of the water used to produce this food also goes to waste since agriculture is the largest human use of water. China and India produce more household food waste than any other country at an estimated 92 million and 69 million metric tons every year, respectively. This is unsurprising, considering both countries have by far the largest populations globally. 

In the U.S. and other developed countries, grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers are all responsible for most of the food waste. Grocery stores contribute to food waste by encouraging consumers to buy more than they need, overstocking shelves, and inaccurately predicting shelf life of damaging products. Even slightly blemished food items are taken off the shelf as they know customers want perfect looking produce.

“It’s not that easy to solve this complicated problem,” said Ned Spang, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Spang led a team of researchers examining global food loss and waste. The comprehensive review finds that there are larger systemic factors that drive food waste. The study points to the need to look at structural, cultural and social factors rather than only focusing on actions by individual producers and consumers. It’s not just consumers that are picky about their produce. 

Market-based quality or grade standards also play an unintentional role in food waste. “A lot of the criteria are based on the appearance of the product and may not have anything to do with eating quality or utility of the product,” said Elizabeth Mitcham, a postharvest extension specialist and director of the Horticulture Innovation Lab at UC Davis.

Losses after harvest are most pronounced in less-developed countries, where an estimated 30 percent of food is wasted. In tropical countries where humidity is an issue, food can rot or mold quickly if not dried properly or cooled. Growers and distributors often can’t afford the energy costs of drying, adequate storage or refrigerated transportation. Inadequate road infrastructure can also lead to higher levels of spoilage.

In the Quran, God has at many places warned us against waste: “…But waste not by excess: for Almighty God loves not the wasters.” (Quran 6:141).

Therefore, it is our responsibility to not only avoid waste but create awareness against waste. We need to urge governments and society to adopt policies which result in reducing waste from the farm level to consumption. 

ISNA Green Initiative has always been promoting awareness against waste in food or other aspects of life. The Green Ramadan campaign is a constant reminder about food waste. Unfortunately, Muslims around the world waste more food in Ramadan than any other time of the year. The ISNA Green Initiative team urges individuals and communities to join us in raising their voice against systematic problems of food waste. Reduced global food waste means more food available to the hungry population of the world.

ISNA Green Initiative Team Members: Huda Alkaff, Saffet Catovic, Nana Firman, Uzma Mirza, S. Masroor Shah (chair)

Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Global Hunger and Food Waste appeared first on Islamic Horizons.