‘Together For an Eco-Friendly World’
The Muslim Council of Britain celebrated its seventh annual Muslim Leadership Dinner, welcoming over three-hundred guests, with leading figures such as foreign ambassadors from the Saudi, Kuwaiti, Turkish Embassies, as well as, politicians, journalists, community leaders and students in attendance. The dinner this year, on 23rd May 2016, focused on our duty towards the environment and celebrated the role of British Muslims in tackling climate change.
The Muslim Council of Britain’s Secretary General, Dr Shuja Shafi, welcomed guests at the Millenium Gloucester Hotel in Kensington, London. In his speech, he identified the importance of stewardship in Islam stating that “In the Qur’an, we are told that God has entrusted men and women as vicegerents on earth. Paramount here is our attitude to the environment”. Dr Shafi continued on to praise the work of current ‘green’ mosques and Islamic institutions within the United Kingdom, but stated that more needed to be done to increase awareness of the issue within the Muslim community.
The Keynote speaker, Caroline Lucas MP, echoed Dr Shafi, saying, “I knew that environmental stewardship was very important in the Qur’an – but until Dr Shafi just spoke, I had no idea that no fewer than 700 verses are devoted to it”. She then outlined actions society can take to alleviate the effects of climate change. “We need a major investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and greening our transport system. This could generate a million new Green Jobs. We desperately need the government to lead the way on this, so we have to make our voices heard at the highest level”.
Attendees also heard from two speakers from MCB’s Presenting Partner, Islamic Relief. Tufail Hussain, Deputy Director, spoke about the charity’s inspiring work around the globe, whilst Martin Cottingham, Head of Communications, detailed the impacts of global warming and Islamic Relief’s role in tackling these. Addressing the audience, he asked “which would you prefer – aid workers ride to the rescue after disaster strikes, or protect you better beforehand?”
The final speech for the evening was by Afsheen Kabir Rashid MBE, Co-Founder Director and Chief Operating Officer of Repowering. Afsheen spoke about current nationalised energy system and how it does not engage with or empower communities to take ownership and control of their generation and use, “however, we are part of a growing movement – there is an energy revolution taking place where local people and communities own their own energy infrastructure such as solar panels, they manage and control it and sell their energy, income earned is ring fenced for the benefit of the community” she said.
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Assistant Secretary General of the MCB, closed the evening’s event with a short prayer and thanked all sponsors for their generosity.
(Videos and Pictures to be uploaded soon).