By Amalia Rehman
Muslim Link Staff Writer
It was a Friday afternoon after the Jummah prayer and a journalist from National Public Radio asked a woman exiting the prayer, “How would you define the American Muslim.” The woman answered, “I really don’t know if there is an American Muslim identity yet. The American Muslim identity still in many ways is the Pakistani-Muslim community, the Arab-Muslim community and many others. There is still considerable division in the American Muslim community. But I see that changing as time goes by. For example, I see my children and their peers in the Muslim community developing a more united Muslim community. They become united on issues that are affecting all of them. Issues like social justice, discrimination against Muslims, the environment, etc. You will see, the identity of the Muslim American will be dynamic and something we can all be proud of.”
This seems to be truer each day. There are so many Muslim organizations in which our youth can become involved. There are the national groups like MYNA (Muslim Youth of North America) and MSA (Muslim Student Association). And then there are the more local groups, affiliated with national interests, but their activities are local. One such group is the “Green Muslims in the District”. According to their website, greenmuslims.com are “a network of Muslims in the District of Columbia (and surrounding areas) working proactively to help our communities understand and implement sustainable and eco-conscious ways of living while relating it to our faith and a holistic world-view.” Their approach is, “start small, be local, stay relevant... and have fun!”
Within the DC area, they have sponsored activities like film showings of the documentary “Renewal” which discusses the faith based environmental movement. They organize local retreats and activities into nature and sponsor awareness events to promote sustainable industries and employment. They organize and do community service activities in park renewal and clean up. They organize “green iftars” and their website is filled with blogs of advice on environmental issues linked to Islam.
This past Ramadan, the group took part in a program called “Skip Lunch, Feed a Bunch” supporting the Capital Area Food Bank. In conjunction with the All Dulles Area Muslims Society (ADAMS) center, this effort helped to feed 1,635 people through the food bank during the last two weeks of Ramadan. The DC Muslim/ADAMS team was thanked formally on Fox 5 as well as in The Washington Post. The amount raised by DC Green Muslims placed them in the number five position among DC area participating organizations, after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Embassy of Australia, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and Burt Hill.
The Green Muslims group was started by a female PhD student in environmental justice from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the spring of 2006. Soon there were Green Muslims in Chicago and Boston, keeping in touch through a yahoo group. It was not until the spring of 2007 that a group of Green Muslims in the DC area started to organize locally and take action. The group started to make local visits to mosques and schools. Their ideas took root and they celebrated their first green iftar in Ramadan of 2007.
Locally and nationally, the Muslim community is defining itself as a dynamic, motivated and socially conscious community.
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