Members of a Blackburn mosque have launched a new campaign to clean up their city, collecting tens of rubbish bags from the streets during the weekend.
“Residents of each location will personally be met and engaged with by our team prior to the clean-up. Volunteers are not a taskforce, however we will support clean-ups led by residents,” Ismail Patel, joint Secretary of the mosque, and Mobin Chotia, one of the organizers, said in a statement reported by Lancashire Telegraph.
“The mosque is helping to encourage the residents to take pride in where they live and to keep the area clean. Kits are available from the mosque on the day.
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“We use these events to meet like-minded neighbors and we can support them to form their own sub-groups to look after their streets.
“We are taking a different approach and educating families in the community so the people living on the streets are helping out to give them ownership of keeping the area clean.”
New Campaign
The campaign, Keep Audley Tidy (KAT), was launched after they collected 250 bags in one afternoon in April.
Volunteers from the Masjide Noorul Islam in Audley Range collected 132 bags of rubbish from Audley and Queens Park.
“There was an amazing community spirit at the launch of our Keep Audley Tidy initiative,” Ahmed Hajee, KAT coordinator said.
“Approximately 60 volunteers dispersed from the Masjide Noorul Islam and formed four groups that worked on the different areas. A total of 132 bags were collected which shows the extent of the issue in our area.
“We will share the date and areas of the next monthly KAT event soon, so please join us.”
Mosque General Secretary Hasan Desai added: “We want to send a heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers, councilors who took part and Audley Junior School for their kind help and support.”
📚 Read Also: 10 Hadiths on Health and Hygiene
Cleanness
Health, cleanliness and hygiene are given a proper attention in Islam, as reported in the following Hadith:
Abu Malik Al-Ash`ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Purity is half of iman (faith).”
Earlier this year, Lancashire Muslim youth and mosque kids volunteered to clean up their city in campaigns led by the Muslim community to instill pride in the younger generations.
Allah has emphasized – rather, commanded – goodness to neighbors in the Qur’an when He said:
…And do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor, the neighbor who is near (of kin), the neighbor who is a stranger… (Quran 4:36)
The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
If anyone is pleased to love Allah and His Messenger, or rather to have Allah and His Messenger love him, he should speak the truth when he tells anything, fulfill his trust when he is put in a position of trust, and be a good neighbor.