Green Options » Muslim

New NGO Green Ramadan Links Month-Long Fast to Environmental Protection

Amiel Blajchman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:38:37 +0000

As Muslims the world over celebrate Ramadan, a new organization called Green Ramadan is looking to turn one of the 5 pillars of Islam into a monthlong activity that helps the environment as well as fulfilling a religious obligation.

Targetting Muslims and non-Muslims alike, Green Ramadan’s mission is

To bring people from all over the world together, regardless of their faith. nationality or color, for one month every year, to care about our environment, the earth, animals and our health, practice positive and healthy habits, to make a positive impact and make a difference.
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Sheik Says Biofuels Are Prohibited by Islam

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:54:53 +0000

Biofuels may have hit an unexpected roadblock with a pronouncement by Sheik Mohamed al-Najimi of the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy that the fuel may be prohibited by Islam. According to al-Najimi, the prophet Muhammad prohibited the buying, selling, transporting, drinking, and manufacturing of alcohol - including the ethyl alcohol present in ethanol.

Indonesian Fatwa Banning Yoga Ineffective

Jennifer Lance — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:35:13 +0000

On January 28, 2009, the Indonesian Ulemas Council issued a fatwa, a religious edict, forbidding all Muslims from practicing yoga
that includes meditation and chanting.

The council is not a government entity, but it receives funding from the Ministry of Religion. The fatwa is an attempt to influence morality in Indonesia, but yoga class attendance has not been affected by the fatwa. There is a formal ban on yoga in neighboring Malaysia.

Image: j / f / photos on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Does Terrorism Have An Economic Motive?

Reenita Malhotra — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:31:31 +0000

In the world Islamic fundamentalism, most of us believe that terrorism is brought about by religious bias. But the terrorist might in fact have an economic motive. It is abundantly clear that he who risks and often sacrifices his own life in the very act of creating terror does not have a personal economic motive however it is likely that he is motivated to destroy economies. Wealth, abundance and prosperity after all symbolize the ‘evil’ that the Islamist sees as an adversary.

Terrorist attacks occur almost daily in larger and smaller numbers impacting civilians all over the world (Terrorism Research Center) however it is the large scale attacks in major global financial centers that leave the world reeling in shock. An attack on a town in Afghanistan, Gujarat or Dagestan is quickly forgotten as people resume their daily lives the next day. But an attack on New York or London destabilizes the country’s entire economic machine for several days, leaving its citizens and those elsewhere in the world fearful and helpless. When the major financial center is Mumbai, the nerve center of an economy that is growing at 9% per annum, the terrorist’s motive is greater. Perhaps because economic growth in a country with which a terrorist can ethnically identify, is a telling sign that the threads of ‘evil’ have become deeply ingrained within his own people.

BBC released a documentary in 2005 entitled “The Power of Nightmares.” It outlines the history of the Neo-Conservative movement in America and interestingly enough it shows how Al-Qaeda and the Neo-Conservatives were rooted in the same ideology: that the economic prosperity of the West represented a decline of social values. For the Neo-Cons this spurred a desire to create state terror in the guise of war. For Al-Qaeda it spurred a desire to declare war in the guise of terror.

Faith Leaders Call for Action on Global Warming

Maria Surma Manka — Mon, 28 May 2007 12:16:09 +0000

Last week, leaders of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths formed a pact to fight global warming. They delivered a letter to the White House and Congress announcing their alliance and calling on lawmakers to create limits on carbon global warming pollution.

Citing the Koran, the Hebrew Bible, and the teachings of Jesus Christ, the interfaith body declared global warming “a moral issue” in An Interfaith Declaration on the Moral Responsibility of the U.S. Government to Address Global Warming:

“All of our traditions call us to serve and protect the poor and vulnerable. And it is the world’s poor, who contribute the least to this problem, who will suffer the most from global warming.”

The group asks fellow people of faith to see beyond their differences and make the protection of life on earth a priority. But besides working on global warming soluations, faith communities must prepare to care for those who will be displaces and impoverished by its effects.

Advertisements, meetings with elected officials, and campaigns in individual congregations are planned for the near future.

Christian Post Reporter
Episcopal Life Online
An Interfaith Declaration on the Moral Responsibility of the U.S. Government to Address Global Warming