A GROUP of Ahmadi Muslim women, with shovels in hand, have helped protect the planet by helping in the campaign to plant thousands of trees around Coventry.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association (AMWA) is an auxiliary organisation of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community established in 1922 as an independent and empowered women’s organisation.
Planting trees is given a special significance in Islam and considered as an unending charity.
Reflecting on that, the AMWA has taken the initiative in the national drive to plant 100,000 trees across the UK to commemorate its centenary.
In collaboration with Trees for Cities, the women from Coventry have helped plant a variety of different trees in numerous green areas, including Allesley Park, Sowe Common, Longford Park, Floyds Field and Park Wood.
The move will help both beautify the areas concerned and combat climate change and air pollution.
Many dignitaries and other community groups attended the planting, including lord Mayor of Coventry Coun John McNicholas.
The group said by coming together as one, it provided support and thoughtfulness, spread messages of peace, unity and multiculturism and showed Coventry truly as the UK’s City of Culture.
Iftikhar un Nisa Yusaf, the regional head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s organisation, led the tree planting project in the Midlands.
She said: “Trees are vital to all life on earth and we should stop taking trees for granted and should do our best to plant more trees to leave the environment greener and cleaner for our future generations.”
Deforestation is a significant cause of climate change, and the worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, emphasised the importance of planting trees to combat deforestation.
He added: “You have to be very particular that whenever one tree is cut, two trees should be planted in return.”
The Ahmadiyya Muslim women in Coventry have vowed to help the local community, the environment and UK’s wildlife at every available opportunity, giving back to a country that has given us so much.
