Fruit seller Kher Uddin and his two sons regularly attend Friday prayers with other laborers at a mosque in Bagrami, on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, according to Reuters.
But during recent prayers, the message – delivered to rows of worshipers clad in warm winter cloaks and jackets – took a somewhat different turn, to the need for action on climate change and environmental concerns, through measures such as reducing litter and planting trees.
“It is a common lesson of moral and Islamic teachings not to create extra and hazardous waste in public places and water bodies, be it plastic, bottles or whatever,” said Mawlawi Obaid Ullah, the mosque’s imam, after the prayers.
“I teach people to the best of my knowledge on being responsible and sensible”, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Uddin, 40, said he found the sermon “very different than usual” but also “much needed and relevant”.
The past year of harsh drought and frigid winter weather in Afghanistan is “all in the hands of Allah – but we can do our bit of good work,” he said.
“I have almost lived my life,” he added, smiling at his sons. “Now we need to think and act for our future generations.”
