Waving his finger in the air, Imam Sarr loses his temper, raising his voice he says: “This isn’t just a local problem, it’s a global issue. One the Muslim world is ignoring!”
So says the leader of a mosque in Guedwaye, an overpopulated suburb of Dakar in Senegal, a nation being overwhelmed by garbage according to a story at AllAfrica.com. He is calling for a united effort of holy significance to combat human pollution and to protect the environment.
From the story;
The UN estimates that 23 million people were displaced because of rising temperatures and sea levels due to the carbon emission in the atmosphere in 2013 alone. Many of those suffering are from poor Muslim countries from Africa’s Sahel region, and far fetched corners of Asia.
According to the World Health Organisation, the world’s top six countries with the worst pollution in the air are Pakistan, Qatar, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Egypt. All are Muslim countries.
Grass root organisations, like Green Muslims, or the Islamic Foundation for the Environment, are trying to address this issue and raise awareness.
As Imam Sarr says; “Protecting the environment is a moral calling; a message worth spreading.”
image from AlJazeera