Many of you may not know this, but April 22nd was Earth Day. Aah, Earth Day. I love Earth Day. Really, I do. I feel like a tree-hugging hippie saying that, but it’s true. It’s the only non-Muslim “holiday” I actually recognize. Not surprisingly, it’s not very recognized or celebrated by the country. After all, there are no sales and nothing to buy for someone. No chocolates or presents are received or given. In fact, this day is actually about DOING something! *gasp* It’s about doing something selfless, something that you don’t get anything out of, at least not in the short run. But, I still love it. I won’t go into the dorky ways I’ve “observed” Earth Day, but it’s a special day for me because it’s a reminder of the gift we were given by Allah – our Earth.

But, as the saying goes, every day should be Earth Day. Most people don’t even take the time out on this ONE day to do something environmentally-friendly. That’s just sad. Really, it is. It’s sad because we, as Muslims, should be the most earth-conscious people. Sadly, I have to say that many Muslims couldn’t care less. What a shame. I know we are not perfect, we are all trying to perfect our Iman and get closer to Allah. But do you not realize that doing your part to help the environment IS a part of Islam? Since when is apathy part of our deen?

If anyone here knows me, you know I can be quite the “crazy environmentalist”. I am the Jesse Spano of the ISRU community. I used to watch and love Captain Planet. It irks me to no end when, after an ISRU event, there are plastic bottles in the regular garbage. I hate seeing Muslims unwrap something and throw the wrapper on the floor. It really hurts me to see this and I can’t help but try to rectify this somehow. I’ve gone as far as reaching down and saving those poor plastic bottles from the regular trash (don’t worry, I wore a plastic bag over my hand ;). I’ve even “lectured” my friends for not recycling. I won’t even go into how hard it is for me to go to another country or state where recycling doesn’t exist or where littering is completely acceptable.

Seriously, though, how hard is it? How hard is it to just separate the plastic from the regular garbage? It takes less than a minute and that small thing is a big way to help our environment. I’ve heard some people don’t recycle because the recycling bin is all the way over there. Come on, it’s not that far. Laziness is not a characteristic of a Muslim. And I’m not a scholar or very knowledgeable, but I KNOW that helping out environment is part of Islam. I can’t quote any hadith or ayat from the Qur’an, but I’m SURE Allah never meant for us to treat our Earth this way. He didn’t give us this world so we could abuse it and treat it like we do.

Please, don’t make me come after you. If I’m around, be assured that I WILL be watching to see if you recycle that empty plastic or glass container. The ISRU picnic is next week. Insha’Allah I’ll be doing my part. However, since the brothers’ side is so far away and since I don’t want to be mistaken for “checking the brothers out”, I’d love it if one (or more) of the brothers would volunteer themselves to be the “crazy environmentalist” who makes sure everything is recycled and nothing is left on the ground. Keep in mind that plastic cups are also recyclable. I know Johnson Park isn’t as convenient as Rutgers for their recycling receptacles, so you will have to walk to get to the recycling bins.

I’m not perfect nor do I claim to be. I know there are more things I can do to help the Earth and I’d like to do more. But let’s start small and move up…baby steps. Let’s do our part to take care of our planet. Don’t brush off recycling as a waste of time or something that’s not important (as, unfortunately, many Muslims do). It’s part of Islam to take care of this world, so don’t act like it’s a burden or some annoying task that you unfortunately have to do by NJ law.

Let’s protect our Earth, it’s the only world we’ve got. (Mars isn’t ready for habitation yet).

Jazak’Allah Khair.