By Shah Sayfullobekov, Summer Intern
Looking back on this internship, I can genuinely say that I learned much more than I expected. I originally entered this experience wanting to better understand the relationship between Islam and climate change, but one of my biggest takeaways is that, through trying to learn how to help the environment, I ended up helping and changing myself even more.
Roland and I approached the internship differently and often learned in different ways. However, because we were approaching these questions from the same Sunni Islamic tradition and the Maliki school, we often arrived at similar conclusions. For me, the internship became especially personal. It made me think more deeply about gratitude, responsibility, food, water, animals, and the everyday choices I make as a Muslim.
One of the most influential parts of the internship was reading Green Deen, which was provided to us by our supervisors, Irene and Tim. The book helped me better understand the Islamic idea that human beings are caretakers of the Earth. Being given responsibility over the Earth does not mean that we have permission to exploit it however we want. It means the opposite: we have been entrusted with something, and therefore we have a responsibility to protect it.
The idea of tawhid, or the oneness of Allah, also changed the way I thought about environmentalism. Creation is interconnected. What we do to the land, water, animals, and other people eventually comes back to us. When we damage the environment, we are also damaging ourselves. When we care for it, we are helping ourselves as well.
This realization actually changed how I think about Islamic obligations more generally. Sometimes we hear that something is obligatory and think only about the fact that we are required to do it. Prayer, for example, is an obligation, but Allah does not need our prayers. We need prayer. It disciplines us, reconnects us with Allah, and benefits our own souls. I began seeing environmental responsibility in a similar way. Caring for the Earth may be an obligation, but it is an obligation that ultimately protects and benefits us.
Another major area of growth for me was learning more about our food system. I became much more conscious of how meat, especially poultry, reaches our plates and of the industrial systems behind it. Researching these issues pushed me to reconsider my own understanding of halal, animal welfare, and responsible consumption. As a result of this journey, I stopped eating machine-slaughtered meat and decided that, when I do eat meat, I want it to be halal and hand-slaughtered. Because that can be difficult to find, I now eat mostly fish and have effectively become pescatarian.
The internship also made me much more interested in buying locally and organically whenever possible. Learning about agricultural runoff, pesticides, water quality, and environmental health concerns in Iowa made these issues feel much closer to home. Before this internship, organic or locally produced food could seem like simply another option at the grocery store. Now I think much more about where my food comes from, how it was produced, how animals were treated, and what effects that production may have on people and the environment.
At the same time, some of my most valuable learning happened through people rather than books or research. I had opportunities to connect with imams, religious leaders, mosques, and Muslim communities across Iowa. Through those conversations, I became more confident communicating with people, asking questions, explaining our work, leading conversations, and building relationships between communities. I learned that meaningful environmental work is not only about knowing facts. It is also about knowing how to listen, communicate respectfully, and connect an issue to the values people already hold.
By the end of this internship, climate responsibility no longer feels separate from my religious life. It has become connected to the way I understand worship, food, water, consumption, community, gratitude, and responsibility. Some of the most meaningful changes were not changes I originally expected to make. They happened because the internship forced me to examine my own habits before asking other people to change theirs.
Ultimately, that may be my greatest takeaway from this experience: I began the internship trying to understand how Islam could help me care for the Earth, and I finished realizing that caring for the Earth was also teaching me how to better care for myself, my faith, and the people and creation around me.