This year’s Green Khutbah will be on Friday, April 22 2022.. The theme this year is changing hearts and minds through action.
Muslims across the world will commemorate Earth Day on Friday, April 22, 2022 with the Green Khutbah Campaign as religious leaders deliver a sermon to raise awareness on the environmental challenges facing humanity.
“We are encouraging mosques, schools, universities and Islamic Institutions to devote their Friday Khutbah to celebrate the blessings, graces and beauty of all of God’s creation and to raise awareness on the environmental challenges facing humanity,” said Muaz Nasir, the publisher of the Canadian environmental website, Khaleafa.com and one of the founders of the Campaign.
“This year the theme of the Green Khutbah Campaign is ‘Changing Hearts and Minds Through Action’ whereby we encourage Muslims to evaluate their contribution towards global warming and consider the implications for current and future generations,” Nasir added.
The Campaign was launched in 2012 in Canada and, every year, Imams across the world are encouraged to deliver a message that reminds their congregations of the Qur’anic message to be stewards of the earth and its environment.
The first Earth Day, held on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
More than 1 billion people across the world now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
Recently the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report warning that for the world to stave off the worst ravages of climate breakdown it would require a “now or never” dash to a low-carbon economy and society.
Greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025, and be nearly halved this decade, according to IPCC, to give the world a chance of limiting future heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
But the world is failing to make the changes needed, the scientists warned. Temperatures will soar to more than 3C, with catastrophic consequences, unless policies and actions are urgently strengthened.
“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5C. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible,” said Jim Skea, a professor at Imperial College London and co-chair of the working group behind the report.
Muaz Nasir says that Muslims cannot tune out from this environmental crisis.
“Tuning out would mean that we are disregarding our moral responsibility to God’s creation,” he said.
“Those who violate or abuse the Trust are described in the Qur’an as those who corrupt, degrade and bring ruin on earth,” Muaz Nasir added. “The corrupters abuse the Trust and are in clear contrast to what Muslims must be - the stewards of the earth.”
An extensive online resource has been created by Khaleafa.com (www.Khaleafa.com/greenkhutbah) to support the Green Khutbah Campaign and Islamic organizations and well-known leaders are throwing their support behind the initiative.