Books

Green Deen

Eco-Islam is made accessible in Ibrahim Abdul-Matin’s book

Photo by Voice of Sky on Unsplash

I’m currently researching environmentalism in Islam for a literature review. Environmentalism and tackling the climate crisis is, of course, an important and pertinent topic — and one which has a long history in Islam. There is Islamic guidance on water usage and division, the protection of important wildlife areas, and the importance of trees. There has also been a recent push towards ‘eco-mosques’, with the Cambridge Central Mosque being a notable example.

‘Green Deen’ by Ibrahim Abdul-Matin

‘Green Deen’ by Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, however, is written for the everyday reader and is split into four parts: waste, watts (energy), water and food.

The first part, ‘waste’, tackles the problem of overconsumption, the second, ‘watts’, looks into energy sources and the push towards renewables. Both parts encourage the reader not just to look at the home environment, but also at the mosque and greater community. The third part, ‘water’ regards the necessity of water, protecting its purity and reducing wastage, and the final part, ‘food’, encourages the reader to look at the entire supply chain, and not just at the halal…