Going to Copenhagen (COP15)?

[mcha...@yahoo.com]

Greetings all,

Is anyone planning on being in Copenhagen for the climate conference (http://en.cop15.dk) next month? If so, please let Imam Johari (copied here) know.

salaam
Mohamad

[Safia Aoude]

Salaam,

Welcome to Copenhagen!

My name is Safia Aoude and I am the editor of Green Guide to Islam
(http://ggislam.dk), among others I also work extensively with Islamic
issues at the Danish Islamic Center and among Muslims in Copenhagen. I live
there, and we are quite a number of Muslims in Copenhagen caring about the
environment.

So...who is imam Johari?

Could he be interested in participating in a public seminar on climate and
environment when he comes to my town?

Fi amanillah,
Safia Aoude

[Safia Aoude]

Just a note, I forgot to tell you.
I had the honor of visiting ADAMS CENTER in Dulles, during July earlier this
year together with Muslims in Dialogue from Denmark.
Is anybody from ADAMS CENTER coming to Copenhagen in December for COP15???

Wassalâm,

[Safia Aoude]

Assâlum aleikum dear brother/sister:

Please note attached invitation to the 2009 Networking Event for Muslim
Climate Activists attending the COP15 summit in Copenhagen.

Best regards wassalâm,

Safia Aoude
Editor of Green Guide to Islam
Copenhagen, Denmark

[Safia Aoude]

Danish Muslims are planting a forest

by: Safia Aoude/photo: Jakob Jakobsen

The sun was shining and the birds were singing beautifully on Saturday,
April 24, as about 30 happy Muslims were spotted walking through the woods
of Hareskoven Forest, North of Copenhagen, with sticks, axes and spades in
their hands. Their goal and destination: to follow the sunna of the Allah´s
messenger (Allahs peace and blessings upon him) by planting new trees.

A hadith from Bayhaqi says: “If you have a sapling, if you have the time, be
certain to plant it, even if Doomsday starts to break forth.”, and from this
point of view the web portal Green Guide to Islam together with the Danish
Nature and Forest Board had invited Danish Muslims to come and expand their
knowledge about human interaction with and their responsibility for Allah´s
created nature. Events that day contained both practical as well as
spiritual guidance on the importance of the forest for the environment and
for mankind. The event was to culminate with planting lots of trees.

As a starter Jens Nielsen and Stephan Springborg from the Danish Nature and
Forest Board gave every attending Muslim a short introduction to Hareskoven
Woods and the how the Board carried out its work.

Useful trees
Then it was time to gather large sticks and to cut them right in order to
use them for measuring purposes. Before cutting down a tree, it has to be
measured. You don´t have to use any sophisticated electronic measurement
equipment to do that; it´s adequate to use materials already present in the
woods; namely the 2 feet long sticks, cut to be used as a visual aid to
measure a tree´s height. You can actually use measuring sticks to measure
the heights of any given object, not just trees.

Forest worker Morten had used red ink tagging some of the trees to be cut
down. Some of those trees had to be cut down because of fungal rot, others
had to be cut down to make more space for the sun light for other trees to
grow better.

The attending Muslims measured the trees with their measuring sticks, and
then they used saws and manpower to cut the trees down. It didn´t take long
before each group had cut down the selected trees, without hitting any other
group with falling timber. After cutting the trees down, they were measured
once again, this time with conventional measuring tape in order to compare
it to the first measurement carried out with the homemade measuring sticks.

Some of the brothers turned a bit “Viking”, but also the sisters managed to
cut down trees so heavy, the earth shook with tremor each time a tree hit
the ground next to them.

All attending Muslims received genuine introduction on how to produce items
from the cut timber: wooden cooking pot pads, marking posts and other
exiting things. Among the most popular items was the so-called “bull roarer”
, a 10 inch long wooden chip that can be used both as a musical instrument
as well as a communication device. Using axes and knives, most of the
attendees managed to make their “bull roarers” produce a loud humming sound
when whirled through the air on a string.

The trees in the forest can be used for many purposes. People learned which
parts of the trees are edible, and how to use the paperlike bark of the
birch tree for kindling a fire, even when the tree has been soaked in water,
due to the high tar content of the birch bark. They also learned how to date
the age of any tree by counting its side sprouts, and after cutting it, to
count the rings of the stem. Stem rings also revealed the weather conditions
of the last 10-15 years, Muslims learned.

Forest Mosque
Last, but not least, the attendees learned how to use a tree to find
directions, including how to find the qiblah. This was indeed useful soon
after, when time for dhur-prayer drew near. That day the forest became a
mosque with carpets made from soft, brown leaves and the Allah´s clear blue
sky as the roof. Below, the praying brothers and sisters could fall down to
worship their Creator with soon-to-be-green beeches as silent witnesses
standing next to them.

Due to earlier days´ heavy rainfall it was impossible to kindle any fire
from the gathered wood; instead a gas-driven flame thrower was used to
kindle a bonfire to grill halal-hot dogs and delicious Pakistani sandwiches
for everybody.

After dhuhr-prayer and a well deserved lunch, people proceeded to the spot
in Hareskoven Forest where the planting was to take place. On a wide acre
between Sletten Camp and the Highway to Hillerod the Danish Forest and
Nature Board last year had to cut down all the aged trees to sell timber
wood. Thus the area looked like a chaotic lunar landscape of twisted old
roots, bog water pits and cone cemetery. The area had to be re-planted with
new Norwegian spruces and a new American spruces, more adept to natural
propagating.

Forest worker Morten had brought lots of wooden baskets in his pickup truck.
The baskets were filled with spruce saplings to be planted by the Muslims.

540 trees in one hour!
”He who has planted a tree, has not lived in vain”, forest guide Stephan
explained, as a curious buzzard circled over the heads of the waiting
Muslims, whose eyes were glued to the wooden baskets containing the numerous
spruce saplings. 40 red digging spades were lined up in long rows at the
side of the planting area. Following a short lesson on the Prophet´s
(Allah´s peace and blessings upon him) own efforts to take good care of
Allah´s nature and his intense work for conserving the environment and a few
ahadith, Denmark´s Muslims finally started digging.

Everybody worked enthusiastically. Using an aerosol can to mark the spots
where to plant each sapling, forest worker Morten literally had to run to
keep up with the people planting trees. In just one hour Danish Muslims had
filled 60 holes with spruce saplings, in nine rows. All in all 540 new, tiny
spruce trees had been planted firmly in the ground, taking roots in their
new homes.

Those newly planted trees will inshaAllah benefit in numerous ways: as
natural containers for CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, or as a living
environment for the animals of the forest and in many other ways,
benefitting Allah´s creations in the years to come.

It is almost a dazzling thought to realize that perhaps in 20 years time or
so, there will be a small forest on this very spot, planted by persistent
Muslims, grown by the mercy of Allah (swt). After a short du´a everybody
left, carrying new knowledge, conscious about our responsibility for Allah´s
creations and the environment, and conscious about – perhaps – not having
lived in vain.

Because, according to an authentic hadith from Musnad, Allah´s messenger
himself (Allah´s peace and blessings upon him) once said: “Whoever plants a
tree and it matures, Allah plants a tree in paradise for that person.”

From: Green Guide to Islam, April 2010






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