You may know her from her delicious recipes. Or maybe you or your children planted trees with her during boomplantdag. Or maybe you just remember her positive energy and presence during the walks. Emine has been a vibrant part of our community and has served as our General Board Member for well over a year. As such, we are grateful to have her as this month’s Green Muslim of the Month! In this interview she reflects on her time on the board, on Islam and sustainability and on raising little Green Muslims. 

What motivated you to join Groene Moslims?

A few aspects…

Me and my husband, met exactly 10 years ago at a conference on Islam and Environment in Berlin. It was a great conference where we had talks and workshops learning about how “environmentalism” is embedded in the core of our deen. I must say that I had my moments of realisation and inspiration at that conference when it comes to protecting and preserving the earth, our one and only home. In one of the workshops by the author of Green Deen (a highly recommended read!), Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, we studied the hadith “The world is beautiful and verdant, and verily God, be He exalted, has made you His stewards in it, and He sees how you acquit yourselves.” From then on I have felt the responsibility of raising awareness and taking actions within my capacity towards living green. It is also one of the pillars that we aim to stick to in our family as much as we can. So when the opportunity of joining Groene Moslims came up, both me and my husband took it as a sign to “give back” to the community what we learned at that conference. It was officially me on the board and us at home working on the tasks together 😊

I also had a social motivation to join. Six years ago I moved to the Netherlands from the UK and needed a new social environment. Being part of a community with a great vision really excited me. I met wonderful people within a year, at the board level as well as the volunteers who either took part or organised activities. May Allah (swt) bless you all, I am grateful for having had this opportunity.

Can you tell us a little about your time on the board of Groene Moslims? What were personal highlights?

I acted as the general board member for the past year. I wanted to go for this role as it allowed the flexibility to move between tasks from organising activities to content management of Groene Moslims social media channels.

Coming from the UK, it is truly unique to see how a small country like the Netherlands makes it possible for an organisation like Groene Moslims to operate very well. In the UK, nationwide monthly walks is an impossible concept or people driving to a different city to plant trees on boomplantdag. This is definitely something to cherish in this country.

My personal highlight was also to see how open-minded the board has been and flexible to switch to English communication when I joined. Each and every board member and volunteers created a platform to grow and develop ideas. They made the conscious decision to become international and reach out to a wider community. I’d definitely recommend any new-comer to this country to join with the monthly walks not only to explore the Netherlands but also to meet this wonderful community and be part of it.

Why is sustainability important to you?

Because we don’t live in a world of endless resources. Clean water, air, soil.. they all have their lifetime and it is worrying to see that some are nearing their ends. There are UN reports showing that by 2025, in only 2-3 years, half the world population will be affected by water scarcity in one way or the other. As a mother, I feel responsible over consuming the share of the upcoming generations. If I use too much water on my daily tasks for example, it’s as if I’m not leaving enough water for my children to use.

Also, to me sustainability feels like a newly-emerging, undiscovered or relatively unknown area of our deen. It excites me to learn about how sustainable the Prophet (saw) lived and find new ways to follow his footsteps. Just think about how little water he used for his wudu or ghusl. He only used 5 liters for ghusl compared to an average of about 50 liters for a shower in our time.

Does your Islamic identity inspire you to live green?

There are some ayahs and hadiths that really touch my heart when it comes to living green. In surah Al-Baqarah it is asked “who can give a better colour than Allah?” (2:138). I always remember this ayah when I’m on a walk in nature seeing all the colours that Allah (swt) has put out for us. You go to the Haagse Bos in spring and see all shades of green presented before our eyes, in summer colourful flowers join along, autumn is astonishingly beautiful with all the yellows, oranges and greens. Exact same place dressing up in different colours and showing us the circles of life. As khalifahs on this earth, we are responsible for maintaining the balance of nature and its resources. Extravagance and overconsumption are highly disliked in Islam as they disrupt this balance. That is something that I aim to avoid.

You recently had your second child mashallah! How do you try to raise your children with a consciousness of sustainability?

Alhamdulillah we have been blessed with another bundle of joy. With both of our children, we started off very minimal. No baby rooms or extra spendings we did. This was a conscious decision as we believe how you start sets the tone for the coming years. We are very lucky to have many nephews and nieces who handed down their clothes and other baby essentials to us. Our children grow up hearing that the t-shirt they are wearing is from cousin A, the bike is from cousin B and that next year they will be wearing the coat that cousin C is wearing this year. Normalising to use preloved items is one of the ways to raise consciousness towards sustainability.

We talk a lot about earth and how we should be its protectors. It’s amazing to see how much children absorb from what they hear and see. Last year on the world clean-up day, we picked trash at the local playground and since then our 4 year-old notices trash on the ground and asks if he can put it in the bin. One small act made a great impact on his life. Every little bit does count..

Last but not least, we spend a lot of time in nature. Hiking has been a family entertainment and often we collect twigs, leaves, stones etc. to play at home. It’s a great opportunity to ponder upon Allah’s creations together. Once they enjoy the nature, they would never want to let go off it.

What are your hopes/dreams for Groene Moslims?

My hopes for Groene Moslims is for it to become a volunteers movement. Volunteers from all ages coming together to follow the footsteps of the Prophet (saw) to protect and preserve our “home” in the form of different activities. Having had a successful tree planting and its reunion, my dream would be to organise regular activities for (grand)parents and children and/or scouting programmes for the youth. Monthly walks are a great accomplishment of Groene Moslims, how lovely it would be to have many activities as successful!

Has Emine inspired you to become a Groene Moslims board member or volunteer? Please reach out to us at contact@groenemoslims.nl 

The picture used for this interview was taken by Umar Chaudry and shows, from left to right, Jamilah Sherally (chair), Wietske Merison (secretary) and Emine Taskiran (former general board member)