My Organic Husband

He's made from earth and smells like trees. My Husband, the plant-man.

Photo: Husband decided to climb a tree during our walk at Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.

We got married two years ago and just celebrated an anniversary in August. I wore green on our Walimah (Islamic wedding) and he wore brown, "I'm the trunk and you're my leaves", he whispered to me when we looked in the mirror.

Who Is The Eco Muslim's Husband?
His name is Aasim Hussain and he's younger than me. Not by much, but it definitely makes him more ideas-based, whereas I look at functionality first. I'm pragmatic, he's adventurous, I'm into compost, he's into exotic flowers.

I was once asked what is an organic husband? and I replied I could stick him in soil and watch branches grow out of his hands. He turns old into new in ways you'd have to witness yourself.

Living With Organic Man
For our very first 'date' we went to a woodland that had small streams and a tree swing. He read Dhikr out loud and sang Urdu Naats while I walked in wellingtons, beaming ear-to-ear.

Photos: Our Walimah marriage celebration; Husband sat (and swinging) for spiritual meditation.

Other husbands buy jewellery and desserts for their wives, or treat them to whatever they think their wives will adore. My Husband bought me a white aquilegia flower plant. He used leftover wood panels to build me a rose box. He gifted me with a bird-print scarf, fairtrade dark chocolate and organic ice-cream that we'd eat at one in the morning.

Photo: Listening to Allah's creation say His Name.

Before we got married I had presented a Trees For Life certificate honouring the saplings that were planted in Scotland in his name. Later I gave him a customised beard kit with natural beard brush and organic oils, which he still uses today on the beard he never shaved.

What Makes My Husband 'Green'?
He's a concientious craftsman. He constructs, builds, paints and analyses. His mother told me in his teens he'd take apart house gadgets and clocks to see how they work. He's into raw materials and energy efficiency so he hates it when the quickest, shortest route from A-Z is not taken. Every conversation we have includes the words 'health, spirituality, productive, environment'.

Photos: Husband's gardening project; our trip to Tropical world; the plant he bought me

In our first year of marriage he surprised me with a trip to Tropical World in Leeds which made me laugh out with joy because the last time I went there I was twelve years old. We ended up strolling in gardens and he attracted a kaleidoscope of butterflies that landed on his hands and shoulders.

Last year he organised a gardening project at the campus at which he worked and I studied. He wanted to collect old gardening tools and seeds to revive the grassy land surrounding the building. He had bought flowers and containers which still bloom with random plants on the main entrance.

He made pumpkin soup for his sick friend and taught me to bake a fantastic apple strudle/tart. He adds coriander to every dish and insists that spinach can be a main course on its own. We also designed an illustrated guide to prayer together (IBEQ) and he designed an Arabic book for kids.

Photos: Husband doing Wudu in a stream; the apple tart he taught me to bake

I feel like I ought to tell you these things not so you can revere what my Husband is like, but because I owe it to him to tell you what he is like. I had a green criteria of the man I'd marry before I knew him - he must recycle, he must be aware of poverty, love nature and planting seeds; he excelled it. I'm Mrs Eco Muslim, he's Mr.

Mr + Mrs Eco Muslim
Although I started this website and gardening years before we met, he's a part of my work now and supports me, or balances me, which is why it's important to give credit to the man that fuels me with ethics and motivation.

We have green goals for our future and we're designing things together. We hope to insha-Allah, one day own happy chickens and goats for eggs and milk, to plant vegetables in land that we can harvest and cook from, and to have little eco-muslim child(ren) that follow and exceed their parents' green footsteps.

All in due time. For now - the journey to source raw milk from hand-milked cows!

Peace + eco-jihad.
Zaufishan, The Eco Muslim

More
+ About The Eco Muslim
+ 9 Ways To Convince Family To Buy From Thrift Stores