In Islam it is considered an act of sadaqa or charity even to pick something up from the road or pathway that might be an obstruction and littering the way. It is important for all of us to take responsibility for the surroundings where we live, and from this Islamic perspective there is a spiritual reward in addition to the feel-good factor of making the neighbourhood a better place to be.

All the mosques of the Bahu Trust regularly organise community ‘clean-ups’ as a means to get together and tackle local hotspots where rubbish has been allowed to build up. This helps to build a sense of shared agency and purpose, and grounds us in our locality in a sociable and down-to-earth way, transforming the energy of our local environment.