The Zongo Chief and the spiritual leader of the Shia mission in Tamale of the Northern Region of Ghana, Sheikh Dalhu Abdul Mumin has called on all, especially Muslims, to build the habits of Tree Planting as that has been the supreme desire of the Prophet Muhammed.
He noted that throughout his life, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had concerned with the environment and its protection, and a thus left behind “ecological sunnah (practices of the Prophet).”
Sheikh Dalhu Abdul Mumin was delivering a lecture in honour of Prophet Muhammad and also to launch the Dalhu Greening Project.
According to Sheikh Dalhu Abdul Mumin said the Prophet Muhammed instituted the hadiths which points to the need to keep “the masjids clean, not to urinate by the water sources, river sides and stagnant water; “Any of you shall not urinate in dead water because they may do ablution with that water later” (Bukhara, “Vudu” B.68; Muslim, “Taharat” H.No: 95-96).”
He averred that the Prophet had been closely involved with the environment and nature ever since he was a child and had displayed some exemplary behavior in the greening and afforesting of the environment.
“One of his greatest efforts in this context was to afforest an area called “Zuraybu’t Taweel,” where he announced: “Whoever cuts a tree here should plant a new tree instead.” Together with this regulation the area shortly turned into a forest,” Sheikh Dalhu Abdul Mumin said.He also noted that the Prophet declared an area of 12 mile distance from the center of Medina as haram (forbidden by religion) and also prohibited the cutting of trees and the killing of animals within its borders, hence the existence of many hadiths that encourage the greening and afforesting of the environment clearly reflects the Prophet’s concern.
“Prophet Muhammad himself made it clear in the Holy Quran, the importance of tree planning and gave us explicit orders to plant trees to save humanity. Tree Planting is very vital for this planet as they give us oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, stabilize the soil and give life to the world’s wildlife. That is what Sciences thought us,” he said.
Sheikh Dalhu Abdul Mumin said the rate at which trees are cut down must be minimized because, life is not possible without trees. “Instead of cutting them, we should grow more trees. People needs to be educated about the importance of trees and that every individual should play his/her role to protect the existing trees and also plant more,” he urged and mentioned that frequent awareness campaigns need to be run all over the world to create the awareness.
According to him, in the past, we have shared slogans on save trees to educate people to take care of trees instead of cutting them down and that our environment is important for us, not only locally but also globally.
He said: “We must continue to draw attention to the importance of combatting climate change as a way to protect and promote peace throughout the world. Climate change causes clear threats to international peace and security. Trees remind us of nature and the importance of climate and environmental protection.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, just Imagine if you could do something simple to beautify your community and help keep Earth habitable. Planting a tree is one way to do it. I am always moved anytime I read this saying : ‘He who plants a tree. Plants a hope and a nation that destroys its soils destroys itself,” he said.
By PROSPER AGBENYEGA
