522: Abdal Hakim Murad, part 1: Britain’s most influential Muslim thinker
A reader followed up on my conversations with religious figures and authorities from branches of Christianity and Judaism. He wrote
You have presented religious people with The Book. That’s good, and I hope you will find space for a muslim person/scholar and relate it to your concern about the sustainability and climate. I can recommend one person. He is, I believe the leader of Cambridge Muslim College, UK. Abdal Hakim Murad (actually British who converted to islam). He is highly and well respected and also provide guidance on the contemporary society to the community of muslims in UK and also in Europe.
While I know about Islam, I don’t know many Muslims, so loved the suggestion and connected with Abdal Hakim.
Beyond his leadership role in Cambridge, England, his personal story and accomplishments intrigued me. The conversation was for me enlightening, especially his insider view of communities that, to the extent I’ve learned of them, I got a one-sided, American view. He shared of erudite sophistication. We spoke about cultures intersecting and intermingling.
He also share of Islam’s long history in Europe, patiently given my knowing little, so if you’d like to learn more and don’t know much, I think you’ll appreciate our conversation.
Religion and the environment
Our conversation also reinforced my impression that religious people connect with sustainability and stewardship with emotions mine are closer to: beauty and joy, for example, more than obligation and chore, which I hear from environmentalists. He recounts examples of Islam and sustainability, practiced naturally, not just following a recent trend.