{"id":28436,"date":"2024-04-17T06:07:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T06:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/17\/what-can-green-islam-achieve-in-the-worlds-largest-muslim-country\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T06:07:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T06:07:06","slug":"what-can-green-islam-achieve-in-the-worlds-largest-muslim-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/17\/what-can-green-islam-achieve-in-the-worlds-largest-muslim-country\/","title":{"rendered":"What Can \u2018Green Islam\u2019 Achieve in the World\u2019s Largest Muslim Country?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/13\/multimedia\/00indonesia-greenislam-01-kqtp\/00indonesia-greenislam-01-kqtp-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"What Can \u2018Green Islam\u2019 Achieve in the World\u2019s Largest Muslim Country?\" title=\"What Can \u2018Green Islam\u2019 Achieve in the World\u2019s Largest Muslim Country?\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The faithful gathered in an imposing modernist building, thousands of men in skullcaps and women in veils sitting shoulder to shoulder. Their leader took to his perch and delivered a stark warning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOur fatal shortcomings as human beings have been that we treat the earth as just an object,\u201d Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar said. \u201cThe greedier we are toward nature, the sooner doomsday will arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then he prescribed the cure as laid out by their faith, which guides almost a quarter of humanity. Like fasting during Ramadan, it is every Muslim\u2019s Fard al-Ayn<em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">, <\/em>or obligation, to be a guardian of the earth. Like giving alms, his congregants should give waqf, a kind of religious donation, to renewable energy. Like daily prayers, planting trees should be a habit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The environment is a central theme in the sermons of Mr. Nasaruddin, the influential head of the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, who has tried to lead by example. Dismayed by the trash sullying the river that the mosque sits on, he ordered a cleanup. Shocked by astronomical utility bills, he retrofitted Southeast Asia\u2019s largest mosque with solar panels, slow-flow faucets and a water recycling system \u2014 changes that helped make it the first place of worship to win a green building accolade from the World Bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Grand Imam says he is simply following the Prophet Muhammad\u2019s instructions that Muslims should care about nature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He is not alone in this country of more than 200 million people, the majority of them Muslims, in trying to kindle an environmental awakening through Islam. Top clergy have issued fatwas, or edicts, on how to rein in climate change. Neighborhood activists are beseeching friends, family and neighbors that environmentalism is embedded in the Quran.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAs the country with the largest number of Muslim people in the world, we have to set a good example for Muslim society,\u201d Grand Imam Nasaruddin said in an interview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While other Muslim nations also have strains of this \u201cGreen Islam\u201d movement, Indonesia could be a guide for the rest of the world if it can transform itself. The world\u2019s biggest exporter of coal, it is one of the top global emitters of greenhouse gases. Thousands of hectares of its rainforests have been cleared to produce palm oil or dig for minerals. Wildfires and flooding have become more intense, byproducts of the extreme weather propelled by higher temperatures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Lasting change is a tall order.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Its vast reserves of nickel, which is used in electric car batteries, are a pathway to a cleaner future. But processing nickel requires burning fossil fuels. The president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, has campaigned to expand production of biofuels that could lead to deforestation. With the capital, Jakarta, sinking into the sea, the departing president, Joko Widodo, is building a new capital that is billed as a green metropolis powered by renewable energy. But to do this, he has cleared forests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some clerics see environmentalism as peripheral to religion. And surveys suggest there is a widespread belief among Indonesians that climate change is not caused by human activity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But educating 200 million Muslims, the proponents of the Green Islam movement say, can drive the change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPeople will not listen to laws, they don\u2019t care,\u201d said Hayu Prabowo, the head of environmental protection at the Indonesian Ulema Council, the nation\u2019s highest Islamic authority. \u201cThey listen to religious leaders because their religious leaders say you can escape worldly laws, but you cannot escape God\u2019s laws.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The fatwas issued by the council are not legally binding, but he said they have had a notable effect. He pointed to studies that found that people living in areas with rich forests and peatlands are now more aware that it is wrong to clear these lands because of the fatwas declaring these activities as haram, or forbidden.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Clerics have not always been on board with the movement. Two decades ago, a regional branch of the Ulema Council issued a fatwa against Aak Abdullah al-Kudus, an environmentalist in East Java Province who tried to combine a tree-planting campaign with the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad\u2019s birthday. He also received death threats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But support for Mr. Aak grew over time, and he went on to start the Green Army, a group of tree-planting volunteers working to reforest Mount Lemongan, a small volcano where 2,000 hectares of protected forest had been cut down. Today it is covered with verdant bamboo and fruit trees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOur task is to be khalifahs, the guardians, of the earth,\u201d Mr. Aak said. \u201cThat is the mission of Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Elok Faiqotul Mutia was inspired by the same sentiment. When she was 6 and growing up in a city in central Java, her father took her along to teak forests where she watched trees being cut down for her family\u2019s furniture business. She said she wanted to \u201creplace my father\u2019s sins to the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One of her first jobs was a researcher for Greenpeace. She later founded Enter Nusantara, an organization that aims to educate youth on climate change. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Mutia said she believed Islam could offer Indonesians a gentler message about environmental conservation, pointing to a survey that found that Indonesian Muslims heed religious leaders more than scientists, the media and the president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEnvironmental activism always uses negative terms like \u2018Phase out coal, reject coal power plants!\u2019\u201d Ms. Mutia said. \u201cWe want to show that in Islam, we already have values that support environmental values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last June, her group raised more than $5,300 so that a small mosque in the city of Yogyakarta could install solar panels. More than 5,500 people donated funds, which went to the Al-Muharram Mosque, where congregants often sat in darkness because of chronic power shortages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The new panels helped slash the mosque\u2019s monthly power bill 75 percent to $1, its leader, Ananto Isworo, said. Congregants were already using harvested rainwater to cleanse themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Ananto said many of his peers call him the \u201ccrazy ustadz,\u201d or the \u201ccrazy Muslim teacher,\u201d saying preaching about the environment has nothing to do with religion. He counters by saying there are roughly 700 verses in the Quran and dozens of hadiths, or sayings, by the Prophet Muhammad that speak about the environment. He cites Prophet Muhammad\u2019s dictum: \u201cGod is kind and likes kindness, God is clean and likes cleanliness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis is an order to preserve the environment by cleaning it,\u201d Mr. Ananto said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Istiqlal Mosque is a testament to what can be achieved. Mr. Nasaruddin said installing 500 solar panels has lowered the mosque\u2019s power bill by 25 percent. With slow-flow faucets and a water recycling system, worshipers use far less water to cleanse themselves before prayers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was the first place of worship in the world to be awarded a green building certificate by the World Bank\u2019s International Finance Corporation. The Grand Imam said that he wants to help transform 70 percent of Indonesia\u2019s 800,000 mosques into \u201ceco-masjids,\u201d or ecological mosques.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Green Islam movement is also getting a push from Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the country\u2019s largest Muslim grassroots organizations, which fund schools, hospitals and social services. Nahdlatul Ulama has recruited Mr. Aak, the environmental activist, for its \u201cspiritual ecology\u201d program that uses Islamic teachings to drive environmental conservation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One effort involves helping Islamic schools upgrade their waste management. Girls are encouraged to use reusable tampons, and the schools have a system that allows students to turn waste into things like organic fertilizer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On a recent Tuesday, Mr. Aak led more than 50 sixth graders up a small hill on a Green Army mission. Many of the students were panting and sweating as they carried backpacks with plants poking out of them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cLet\u2019s pray to Allah and plant more often, because the Prophet Muhammad once said that even if you know that the end of the world is tomorrow and there are still seeds in the ground, he ordered: \u2018Plant them,\u2019\u201d Mr. Aak said to them. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Stopping near the top of the hill, Mr. Aak knelt down to plant a banyan sapling. A breeze blew through, rustling the leaves of the nearby trees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Hasya Nindita<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/17\/world\/asia\/green-islam-indonesia.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The faithful gathered in an imposing modernist building, thousands of men in skullcaps and women in veils sitting shoulder to shoulder. Their leader took to his perch and delivered a stark warning. \u201cOur fatal shortcomings as human beings have been that we treat the earth as just an object,\u201d Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar said. \u201cThe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/13\/multimedia\/00indonesia-greenislam-01-kqtp\/00indonesia-greenislam-01-kqtp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3542,643,6740,24864,3493,28211,2306],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28436"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28438,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28436\/revisions\/28438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}