khutba - green khutbah april 242015_ver2
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The Green Khutbah Campaign aims to mobilize Muslims to become responsible stewards of the environment by caring for all of God's creations.On Friday, April 24th, 2015, Muslims will be encouraged by their religious leaders to look to the Islamic principles to 'Green their Deen' and promote greater environmental awareness.Join the growing world-wide movement of Muslims who are returning to a simpler lifestyle. For more information, please sign up below to be updated once the 2015 Green Khutbah Campaign is launchedTRANSCRIPT
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Green Khutbah Campaign 2015
Water A Sacred Gift
Consume wisely - Conserve responsibly - Care for our
waters
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Green Khutbah Campaign 2015
Water A Sacred Gift
Consume wisely - Conserve responsibly - Care for our waters
Praise be to God, to whom belongs all that is in the heavens and earth, and praise
be to Him in the life to come.
He is the All Wise, the All Aware.
He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out of it;
He knows all that comes down from the heavens and all that goes up to them.
He is the Merciful, the Forgiving (Quran, 34: 1 - 2).
I bear witness that there is no deity, no object worthy of any act of worship
except Allah, the One without any partners, associates or equals. And I bear
witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.
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People, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you
may be mindful [of Him] who spread out the earth for you and built the sky; who
sent down water from it and with that water produced things for your
sustenance. Do not, knowing this, set up rivals to God (2:21-22).
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Todays Khutbah is dedicated to the Green Khutbah Campaign that, every
year, aims to mobilize Muslims to become responsible stewards of the
environment.
The headlines around the world on March 20, 2015 read, Water crisis coming
in 15 years unless the world acts now, UN report warns.
The 2015 United Nations World Water Development Report warned of an
impending crisis - the world could suffer a 40 per cent shortfall in water in just
15 years unless dramatic changes are made on the use of the resource.
The report says that underground water reserves are running low, rainfall is
becoming more erratic due to climate change; and the worlds population is
expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 As a result more groundwater will be
needed for farming, industry and personal consumption.
Unless the balance between demand and finite supplies is restored, the world
will face an increasingly severe global water deficit, the UN Report noted.
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Some countries are already facing the impending water crisis.
Yemen, a desert country currently in the news for war and conflict, may soon
face such a crisis.
At current rates, it may become the first country in the world to run out of
water.
Experts have put 2025 as the year when the countrys capital, Sanaa, home to
nearly 2 million residents, runs dry out of water.
Many other countries are facing looming water shortages.
Americas water supply is in crisis.
California is facing its fourth year of drought.
40 US states expect water shortages to occur over the next 10 years.
The depletion of freshwater resources will inevitably lead to tension, conflict
and migration among large swathes of the worlds population.
Given the dire situation humanity is facing, the theme of this years Green
Khutbah Campaign is, Water A Sacred Gift.
Water is a significant theme in the Quran.
Allah states in the Quran, And God has created every animal of water.
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And God has created every animal of water, and some of them go upon their
bellies, and some of them go upon two feet, and some of them go upon four; God
creates whatever He will; God is powerful over everything. (24:45).
Water is a sacred gift from Allah.
This is a gift for which we must be thankful to Allah.
Consider the water you drink.
Is it you who brought it down from the rain-cloud or We?
If We wanted, We could make it bitter: will you not be thankful? (56: 68-70).
Water is the source of life it revives and nourishes.
It is God who sends water down from the sky and with it revives the earth
when it is dead. There truly is a sign in this for people who listen. (16:65).
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It is God who created the heavens and earth, who has sent down water from
the sky and with it brought forth produce to nourish you; He has made ships
useful to you, sailing the sea by His command, and the rivers too. (14:32).
Water is the drink that sustains us and it is the source for the produce, the
animals and plant that we need to live.
It is He who sends down water for you from the sky, from which comes a
drink for you, and the shrubs that you feed to your animals. (16:10).
It is He who sends down water from the sky. With it We produce the shoots
of each plant, then bring greenery from it, and from that We bring out
grains, one riding on the other in close-packed rows. From the date palm
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come clusters of low-hanging dates, and there are gardens of vines, olives, and
pomegranates, alike yet different. Watch their fruits as they grow and ripen! In
all this there are signs for those who would believe. (6:99).
Allah has indeed created water to sustain life.
Not only humans, but animals, plants and flowers need water to survive.
Water is a symbol of resurrection as the Quran describes paradise with
flowing rivers.
They will enter perpetual Gardens graced with flowing streams. There they
1will have everything they wish. This is the way God rewards the righteous.
(16:31).
Water is associated with purification and personal cleanliness.
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Remember when He gave you sleep as a reassurance from Him, and sent down
water from the sky to cleanse you, to remove Satan's pollution from you, to
make your hearts strong and your feet firm (8:11).
Allah has provided water for our life but it requires wise use because fresh
water is limited.
Over 70% of our Earth's surface is covered by water.
Although water is seemingly abundant, the real issue is the amount of fresh
water available.
97.5% of all water on earth is salt water, leaving only 2.5% as fresh water.
Nearly 70% of that fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica
and Greenland.
Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or lies in deep underground
aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human use.
This leaves less than 1% of the world's fresh water accessible for direct human
uses.
This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground
sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost.
And only this amount is regularly renewed by rain and snowfall, and is
therefore available on a sustainable basis.
Therefore, water is a very precious resource.
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And it is very precious because water is vital for the survival of all living
things.
In some organisms, up to 90% of their body weight comes from water.
Up to 60% of the human adult body is water.
The brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83%
water.
Generally, an adult male needs about 3 liters of water per day while an adult
female needs about 2.2 liters per day.
Without water, living beings would not be able to survive very long.
But . there is a water crisis in the world we spoke earlier of the pending
water scarcity but there is also reckless water pollution taking place around
the world.
Already, countless children and adults die of waterborne diseases every day
because they have no access to clean water.
783 million people do not have access to clean and safe water.
In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water
and sanitation conditions.
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Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-
related disease.
A recent report says that Canada is taking its vast freshwater resources for
granted, wrecking them in the process.
The report titled, Blue Betrayal, warns that climate change; industrial farming;
melting glaciers; oil, gas and mineral extraction; and dumping of waste
sometimes toxic waste into our waterways are all growing threats to our
diminishing water supplies.
The starting reality is that less than 1% of the fresh water is available for use
and we are polluting the worlds water supplies and recklessly using it.
We are failing in this trust and upsetting the balance of the environment.
Our affluence and extravagant lifestyle comes at a high environmental cost.
Our consumption, indeed overconsumption, has done a great wrong and a
great injustice to the planet.
Human beings are defiling Allahs creation - from our use of water to our
extraction of fossil fuels to our creation of vast amounts of waste.
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Human actions are not only threatening our own health and quality of life but
our future generations.
Corruption has flourished on land and sea as a result of peoples actions and He
will make them taste the consequences of some of their own actions so that they
may turn back. (Quran 30:41).
The pending water crisis is not just a scientific problem or an environmental
one but the result of a deep, inner crisis of the soul - it is a moral issue.
We need to return to our sacred sources, the Quran and Prophetic traditions,
as well as the example of our righteous predecessors, to re-calibrate our
relationship to the Earth, its environment and all of Gods Creation.
This years Green Khutbah Campaign is calling all Muslims to join with
others to protect our water resource through a 3 C Action Plan:
Consume wisely - Conserve responsibly - Care for our waters
To create a sustainable future means to meet our needs without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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A sustainable lifestyle is about caring and of not being harmful to the
environment or depleting water resources, and it is about supporting long-
term ecological balance.
Let us be reminded that .
Islam is based on the understanding that Allah is One (Tawhid), and
everything comes from Allah He is the Creator and Sustainer.
Everything in the natural world is a sign (Ayat) of Allahs creation.
Islam seeks for us to establish justice (Adl) and to maintain the Earths
delicate balance (Mizan).
We are required to honor the trust we have with Allah (Amana) and be
stewards of the Earth (Khalifah).
And we are to be moderate (Wasat) in our lifestyle and be
compassionate (Rahmah) to all of Gods creation.
These are some of the principles from the Islamic sources for living a
sustainable life.
These principles affirm the integral relationship between our faith and the
natural world.
Indeed, the signs (ayaat) in the Universe are "messages for those who reason
and think" testifying to the presence and infinite generosity of the One God
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Who has laid out the Universe as the outspread book (al-kitab al-manshur)
containing signs mirroring the signs of the written book, the Quran (al-kitab
al-mastur).
We cannot be Muslim without a connection to all of creation.
We cannot be Muslim without being responsible stewards of the environment
by caring for all of Allah's creations.
We cannot disregard our moral responsibility to Allahs creation.
Those who violate or abuse the Trust are described in the Quran as those who
corrupt, degrade and bring ruin on earth (mufsidin fil-Ard).
The corrupters (mufsidin fil-Ard) abuse the Trust (amana) and are in clear
contrast to the stewards of the earth (khulafa fil-Ard).
As such, we must be, not just friends of the earth, but its guardians.
Let us supplicate ..
O Allah, forgive us for every blessing which You bestowed upon us but
which we used in disobedience to You.
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PART 2: Consume wisely - Conserve responsibly - Care for our waters
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All Praise be to Allah and His choicest blessings on our beloved Prophet
Muhammad, peace be on him, and on his family, companions and the righteous
ones until the Last Day.
The environmental crisis is asking us to look at ourselves - how we act, behave
and live.
Water is a key resource vital to meet basic human needs.
This years Green Khutbah Campaign, is requesting each one of us to live a
simple, sustainable lifestyle by committing to follow the 3 C action plan:
Consume wisely ~ Conserve responsibly ~ and Care for our waters.
We can fulfill this action plan by making wudhu (ablution) a part of our eco
lifestyle to remind us to be more conscious in using water, one of our most
precious blessings from God.
Muslims are intimately connected to water through its use for cleanliness and
wudhu and the frequent daily ablution is a significant means to make us aware
of our responsibility in using water.
One practical step is to check our wudhu count.
Time how long it takes for you to complete wudhu while leaving the tap
running on normal pressure.
Next time place a bucket under the tap and leave the tap running for the same
amount of time it took for you to do wudhu.
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Measure this water - this is your wudhu count.
I measured my wudhu count that came to nearly 2.5 litres of water.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, performed his wudhu with 16
handfuls of water!
We ask Allah to make us responsible stewards of the environment.
O Allah, forgive us, have Mercy on us, guide us, support us, protect us,
provide for us and elevate us.
O Allah, forgive us for every blessing which You bestowed upon us but
which we used in disobedience to You.
Our Lord, accept our repentance, cleanse us of our misdeeds, answer our
prayers, substantiate our pleas, guide our hearts, straighten our tongues and
banish all ill-will from our breasts.
And we send peace and blessings on our beloved Prophet Muhammad,
peace be on him.
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References:
Abdul Matin, Ibrahim (2010). Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Abdel Haleem M.A.S (2005). The Qur'an. Oxford University Press.
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Matali, Zabariah. Sustainability in Islam. Retrieved February 25, 2014 from
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/invent/images/uploads/10%20Manuscript_Zabariah
.pdf
Other references / resources:
o http://khaleafa.com/greenkhutbah/
o http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_s
upply/freshwater.html
o http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/water-crisis-coming-in-15-years-
unless-the-world-acts-now-un-urges/article23551722/
o http://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/water-scarcity-
risks-being-a-source-of-conflict-28740/
o http://www.canadians.org/media/former-un-advisor-issues-scathing-report-
harpers-legacy-water
The headlines around the world on March 20, 2015 read, Water crisis coming in 15 years unless the world acts now, UN report warns.The 2015 United Nations World Water Development Report warned of an impending crisis - the world could suffer a 40 per cent shortfall in water in just 15 years unless dramatic changes are made on the use of the resource.The report says that underground water reserves are running low, rainfall is becoming more erratic due to climate change; and the worlds population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 As a result more groundwater will be needed for farming, industry and personal consumption.Unless the balance between demand and finite supplies is restored, the world will face an increasingly severe global water deficit, the UN Report noted.Some countries are already facing the impending water crisis.Yemen, a desert country currently in the news for war and conflict, may soon face such a crisis. At current rates, it may become the first country in the world to run out of water. Experts have put 2025 as the year when the countrys capital, Sanaa, home to nearly 2 million residents, runs dry out of water.Many other countries are facing looming water shortages.Americas water supply is in crisis. California is facing its fourth year of drought. 40 US states expect water shortages to occur over the next 10 years.The depletion of freshwater resources will inevitably lead to tension, conflict and migration among large swathes of the worlds population.