Azhar Academy Girls School’s Big Tidy Up
Year 8 students from Azhar Academy Girls School in London spent last Thursday, (19th March 2015) cleaning up the streets local to their school to raise awareness of community cleanliness. In just the course of a few hours the students managed to fill up 12 black bags with rubbish – clearly Londoners have been dropping a lot of litter!
During their litter picking campaign students drew spontaneous compliments from passers-by. A man in particular came over to the girls and said “you’re really doing something great for the community. Keep it up!”
Students were left inspired by their experience and humbled by the response they received from the wider community.
Teacher Apa Safiyyah agreed. “MashaAllah the litter picking campaign was a success. The girls were enthusiastic and we had good response from the community.”
And for student Jasmin Kalam the experience taught her a life lesson. “I will now put my knowledge in use by picking up litter every time I see it and show others so they can learn as well,” she declared.
Another student, Ishrat Tahira reflected that “As result of this lesson I understand that a good Muslim should help people for the sake of Allah. We benefitted from this and I am proud of myself for earning the reward.”
The experience taught the girls humility and the worth of people they see cleaning the streets. “I have learnt not to look down on workers who pick up litter and help others by moving away harmful things on the street,” said student Huda Ahmed.
Following an Ilm 2 Amal lesson on how Muslim should care for the environment, this session aimed to inspire within young Muslim students the importance of doing their bit to keep the city clean.
The Ilm 2 Amal curriculum spans from KS2 – KS4, and at the heart of this educational initiative currently being delivered at Muslim faith schools is the desire to help positively transform Muslim students into well-rounded, confident, active and ethical citizens who practise their faith in a way that benefits themselves and humanity.
The ‘Litter Picking’ campaign is one of many Ilm 2 Amal campaigns, all of which aim nurture and encourage the development of skills through experiential learning, learning through fun and reconnecting with nature.
