UK's Al-Maghrib Institute Plants Olive Trees for Palestine

From Green Prophet | By Zaufishan | February 8th 2010

For the past two weekends I attended a Quran study seminar hosted by the Al-Maghrib Institute in Bradford, UK. Throughout the course the staff and speakers directed our attention to the environmental schemes that they ran.

As a representative of Green Prophet I seized the opportunity to look into the ways British citizens were contributing towards a greener secure future for Middle Eastern countries.

In between breaks a stall displayed a Muslim Hands scheme called Plant an Olive Tree in Palestine. Middle Eastern countries are mostly arid; the lack of water and rain in Palestine means the main sources of agricultural development are the rivers Rubin and al-‘Ajwa.

With a donation of £10 per sapling tree, Muslim hands purchases trees from local sources and throughout the planting season distributes them to suffering farmers. The Islamic Foundation of Ecology and Environmental Sciences also run a Plant a Tree project in aid of their Greening Indonesia campaign. Of course I bought a tree at the seminar and excitedly await my certification!

See video of Mr. Fazlun Khalid from the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences:

Continuing with our group studies I noticed several labeled recycling bins and posters that encouraged the re-use of cups and reduction of waste that re-enforced the Eco-Muslim in us.

Inside the venue not a scrap of paper was left uncategorized and outside, permanent metal bins encouraged sensible waste disposal. It was a good deed in itself.

Check out more information on the UK Greening Indonesia initiative on Islam Online.net.