EnviroMuslims has launched its Eco-Ramadan Challenge, aimed at getting Muslims to think about making their Ramadan more eco-friendly.

There was a time when all babies used cloth diapers and were born at home. While our world is characterized by technology and rapid change, there is a movement towards reclaiming natural, organic ways of the past.

For many Muslim parents part of their job includes taking care of the world their children will grow up in. Bumbini is a Canadian, Ottawa-based cloth diaper company that also offers a large selection of environmentally friendly and organic products for babies and moms.

Muslim Link caught up with Event Director Tariq Syed about MuslimFest's successes this year, and what we may look forward to in 2018, which will be Mississauga's Muslim arts and cultural festival's 15th year!

TorontoMuslims, a project of the Muslim Canadian non-profit organization Dawanet, launched a brand new environmental campaign aimed at promoting sustainable practices within Mosques and Islamic centres. #WasteFreeRamadan has distributed 10,000 free Eco-friendly reusable drinking containers across Muslim places of worship. Participating Masjids have discouraged salat-goers from bringing disposable plastic bottles, instead opting for the colourful range of BPA-free bottles provided by the campaign.

When Ahmad Iqbal moved to North America, he was surprised by this culture’s bathroom habits. A Pakistani Canadian who grew up in the Middle East and Asia, he was used to washing with water after using the toilet. Seeing as this is the religious requirement for all Muslims, bidets are staples of most modern Muslim homes and are even common in countries like South Korea and Japan. However, they are not commonly found in North American households.

But Ahmad hopes to change that. He founded Nadeef (clean in Arabic), a company which sells easy to install hand-held bidets, offering a simple and affordable solution for anyone in North America who wants a more hygienic and environmentally friendly alternative to toilet paper.

Muslim Link interviewed Ahmad about Nadeef Bidet and the lessons he has learned from his experience in business that he hopes will help other aspiring entrepreneurs.

Faith & the Common Good, a non-profit multi-faith coalition, through its Greening Sacred Spaces program organized a green building tour of the Ottawa area dubbed the Sustainability Bus Tour. The tour introduced eco-tourists to various buildings around Ottawa which implement environmental initiatives or innovations in their design or practice. The tour involved a number of places of worship across Ottawa.

The tour was made up of people from all walks of life. From builders to community workers, businessmen to faith leaders, all were interested in learning about what faith-based organizations and communities in Ottawa are doing to reduce their ecological impact in our city. Some were even interested in implementing some of what they saw on the tour in their own community's places of worship.

The first mosque Masjid al-Quba in Madina, was made from dry stones and built by the blessed hands of Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, and his companions. Being a place of cleanliness and worship, Muslims were encouraged to wash at home before coming to pray. They were taught to walk to the mosque to avoid (animal) congestion and pray on a dust-swept floor.

Picture the super-luxurious towers of Mecca and the blinged-out buildings of Dubai, and it seems Muslim architecture these days is all about opulence, grandeur and over-indulgence. But there may be hope for the environment. The government of Qatar announced late last year that it is assessing its building policies so that every new mosque built in the country will be based on environmentally friendly models which help save water and energy.