Master Naturalist Kori Majeed: leading toward sustainability.
Embracing Sustainability and Heritage: Sister Kori Majeed's Journey with Green Ramadan
In this episode of the American Muslim Podcast, hosted by Imam Tariq Al Amin, Sister Kori Majeed shares her inspiring journey from her roots in Waverly, Alabama to her impactful work promoting sustainable habits among Muslims through her Green Ramadan platform. As a Maryland Master Naturalist and co-author of the '40 Green Hadith,' she discusses the influence of her grandmother, Mozelle Benson, and the military service of both her mother and herself on her outlook and practices. Majeed emphasizes the importance of sustainability aligned with Islamic principles, the significance of connecting with natural cycles, and fostering community practices like moon-sighting. Lastly, the importance of Bayan Islamic Graduate School and Bayan On Demand's role in educating and empowering community leaders is highlighted. This episode is rich with reflections on tradition, environmental stewardship, and spiritual growth.
00:00 Introduction to the American Muslim Podcast
00:33 Meet Sister Corrie Majeed
01:53 Roots in Alabama: A Childhood Story
03:21 Life Lessons from Mozelle Benson
06:33 Military Life and Its Impact
08:29 Sustainability and Green Ramadan
19:28 The Girl Scout Experience
21:21 Navigating Islam in Different Cultures
22:55 Introduction to Master Naturalist
23:08 The Role and Responsibilities of a Master Naturalist
24:13 Personal Experiences and Reflections
25:27 The Importance of Local Knowledge
28:21 Supply Chain and Local Farming
30:45 Authoring 40 Green Hadith
32:49 Meaningful Hadith on Environmental Justice
36:48 Community Leadership and Environmental Justice
37:38 The Joy of Moon Sighting
41:37 Reflections on Bayan Islamic Graduate School
45:58 The Importance of Love in Leadership
49:00 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Cover Art & Intro Music - Tariq I. El-Amin
Transcript
Master Naturalist K Majeed
[:[00:00:24] Imam Tariq: We not only tell the story of their work, but more importantly, we tell the story behind their work. So we get into who the people are that are doing the work. Today, we are blessed to have with us sister Corrie Majeed. She has used her Green Ramadan platform to encourage Muslims to eat mindfully and to tread lightly by cultivating sustainable habits during Ramadan.
[:[00:01:08] Imam Tariq: She's also the co author of a ebook, 40 Green Hadith, Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam on Environmental Justice and Sustainability. Welcome to the American Muslim Podcast, Sister Corey. Assalamualaikum. Walaikum
[:[00:01:30] Imam Tariq: Uh, you are very welcome.
[:[00:01:50] Imam Tariq: Majeed?
[:[00:02:05] Kori Majeed: Um, little town called Waverly, Alabama. It's got one little road that goes through it. People don't go to speed limit, probably one street light. It's got, it's got to start there. Yeah.
[:[00:02:26] Kori Majeed: So, you know how, when you think of home, sometimes you think of specific people and the home, the person who is my home is.
[:[00:02:40] Imam Tariq: Okay. All right.
[:[00:03:21] Imam Tariq: So in addition to everything that you described about the garden, the farm, who is Mozelle Benson?
[:[00:03:56] Kori Majeed: Get a watermelon, cut it open, sit on the porch, eat that [00:04:00] watermelon, spit out the seeds. She would be having cobbler cooking on the stove. She'd get greens fresh from the garden, and I remember the food at the end that people didn't eat. She'd just give it to the dog. This is a woman who also would collect scraps from people all over, and she would make them into quilts to warm her children and her grandchildren.
[:[00:04:34] Imam Tariq: Okay, now you have to tell us, who is this superwoman? Who is Mozelle Benson to you?
[:[00:04:44] Imam Tariq: You didn't say that.
[:[00:04:46] Kori Majeed: No. Oh my gosh, I said all that stuff and didn't say that she's my grandmother. She is my mother's mother. Yeah.
[:[00:04:55] Kori Majeed: my gosh, I can't believe it. It's just so ingrained in me. Yeah.
[:[00:05:08] Kori Majeed: Of course not. So people of my generation didn't go to summer camps like we send, like I send my children to today. Our summer camp was grandma's house. And so this is where I would go for the summer. And this is where I will also go when my mother needed some extra support, she couldn't take care of me.
[:[00:05:46] Kori Majeed: So I would sneak and eat green plums and my uncle would tell him me and I get in trouble. This is the place where I would spend time with my cousins and we would get in trouble together and we had to go pick our own switch things like that. This is the place [00:06:00] where I would see my grandmother, you know, plow the ground till the earth plant some seeds and then.
[:[00:06:20] Imam Tariq: Okay, so, uh, obviously there's a big imprint in terms of your grandmother, uh, Mozelle Benson. What about your mom?
[:[00:06:33] Kori Majeed: My mother was in the Air Force.
[:[00:06:56] Imam Tariq: Would you say that your mother's military service, that it left an imprint [00:07:00] on you?
[:[00:07:27] Kori Majeed: I think I just have a ear , for languages and the way my mother did her military service, when we lived abroad in, , the Netherlands and in Germany for much of the time, we lived off base. We didn't live on base. My mother had the mindset like, well, we're going to be here. We're going to be here. We're not going to be in the bubble that is based.
[:[00:08:14] Kori Majeed: I can't go as far and do the things that I did. You know, there's a different level of safety
[:[00:08:19] Kori Majeed: um, we experienced living in Germany and in the Netherlands. So it's definitely had an effect on how I live my life today.
[:[00:08:45] Kori Majeed: So that definitely came from my grandma, Moselle Benson, where she would collect fabric scraps. She would have bags and bags of fabric scraps that she would collect during the summer. And then when it [00:09:00] comes to the wintertime, when. You know, the fields are resting. She would be, um, in her bedroom at her sewing machine, putting these fabric scraps together like a, a pure artist.
[:[00:09:25] Imam Tariq: mmmmm
[:[00:09:40] Kori Majeed: And so that way, and also, you know, she would work in the fields and harvest from the fields, but nothing would go to waste. So we would eat what we would eat and what we didn't eat. She would give to the hog. She would give to the dog. She would give to the chickens. She would give to the horse. So. Nothing will go to waste.
[:[00:10:17] Kori Majeed: So nothing goes to waste.
[:[00:10:23] Kori Majeed: Not at all. So it's just like maybe three storage buckets stacked on top of each other and not even stacked totally on top of each other. This is like a brick's worth of space in between the containers and it doesn't even smell.
[:[00:10:56] Imam Tariq: You know, you've just kind of brought back a memory of [00:11:00] the day after it rains and looking at the ground and seeing the worms. And there was definitely like this, like you said, like an earthy smell. You've just triggered a whole memory. I haven't thought about this in years, man. Okay. So is that something that is pretty commonplace for folks who are into sustainability?
[:[00:11:53] Kori Majeed: And so I got to spend COVID connected with the earth and breathing in [00:12:00] the particles from the soil. And one of the things on the farm is that they have a huge vermicompost setup, basically huge tanks of worms where they put the farm waste and the worms give what they call black gold that you put back into the soil as an enrichment.
[:[00:12:18] Kori Majeed: so they taught us how to just make a home one for our home, for our own garden. So I did it and it turned out great.
[:[00:12:30] Kori Majeed: Right now?
[:[00:12:34] Kori Majeed: In general. Right now, I'm just feeding. Yeah, because it's the time. There's not a growing season right now.
[:[00:12:51] Imam Tariq: Hmm. Okay. So there is an awareness of the cycle. , of the cycles, right, of growing that you have to have, [00:13:00] it's not just going out, putting seeds in the dirt.
[:[00:13:13] Imam Tariq: Hmm. So every area is different, , potentially. When it comes to being fruitful. Right. There is also that goes along with sustainability is the idea of replenishing what has been used.
[:[00:13:39] Kori Majeed: That term is not coming to me right now, but, , maybe you're talking about crop rotation and a cover crop is something that you plant. This crop during the winter time, well, during the late fall, and then it grows during the winter time and it puts nutrients back into the soil.
[:[00:13:58] Imam Tariq: So when it comes [00:14:00] to the work that you do with regard to helping people to develop more sustainable habits, and you do this during the month of Ramadan, that's the, the launching path for it. How do you frame that? Because we know how difficult it can be to develop new habits.
[:[00:14:21] Kori Majeed: I told you my mother was in the military and I was in the Air Force as well.
[:[00:14:27] Kori Majeed: , thank you. So, , I think of Ramadan as kind of a boot camp for the soul. And I remember going to boot camp. We did so much in one day. And at the end of the day, you're like, how did I put all that?
[:[00:14:51] Imam Tariq: I think
[:[00:15:17] Kori Majeed: Those three simple things is to use reusables. The second one is to eat less meat. And the third one is to use water responsibly. And that means like when you're making wudu, make wudu like a prophet. Peace and blessings be upon him, make wudu , there was very little wasted. He could make wudu with just a small cup of water.
[:[00:15:48] Imam Tariq: Yeah.
[:[00:16:10] Imam Tariq: So you've got three main asks that you present to people. using water responsibly, eating less meat and using reusables. And a big part of the American identity is wrapped up in consumerism. How much you have or how much you're able to buy or spend is a reflection of your worth. Now, it's not always said like that, but That's certainly the message, you know, we're not even called citizens, we're referred to as consumers.
[:[00:17:00] Kori Majeed: You know, one thing I say often, And I definitely remind myself of often, especially living in the area that I live in, Allah did not make us consumers, Allah made us Khalifa, right?
[:[00:17:32] Imam Tariq: just, you got to say that again. I'm sorry. Say it again for the people in the back.
[:[00:17:43] Imam Tariq: Come on now.
[:[00:18:18] Kori Majeed: You're going to give it back. insha'Allah better than you found it. I'm also a girl scout and that's, that's a girl scout thing. You return things better, return things better than you found it. That's what, you know, that's what girls scout do, but that's also what Muslims, that's what Muslims, uh, Khalifa, that's what we do.
[:[00:18:37] Imam Tariq: That's right. That's right.
[:[00:19:02] Kori Majeed: Oh, no, I'm from Alabama. Okay. All right. I was actually born in Alabama.
[:[00:19:27] Imam Tariq: Okay. So where did the Girl Scouts come in?
[:[00:19:40] Imam Tariq: know how
[:[00:19:47] Kori Majeed: So this is when there's an East Germany and a West Germany. Don't you know, my mother made me put on my Girl Scout uniform. And go with her into East Germany as some type of, I don't know, prideful [00:20:00] thing. I don't know. She made me wear my Girl Scout uniform in East Germany. I was so, so embarrassed. But, you know, years later, years later, I have five daughters.
[:[00:20:22] Imam Tariq: I think that is so awesome to be able to have that experience. My wife and I, we have three girls.
[:[00:20:56] Kori Majeed: That is a good question. Well, [00:21:00] being a child of a parent who was in the military and also being in the military, you know, I'm familiar with, guidelines, protocols and rules and, , I'm good at following rules. I have, that's not a, it's not a problem for me. I like to know the protocols and things, so, you know, I can do them, do them well.
[:[00:21:52] Kori Majeed: So as far as being in the military, I've learned how to learn the protocols of how to move in different spaces.[00:22:00]
[:[00:22:35] Imam Tariq: It's not only somewhat of a representation of how we are all under the banner of Islam. But our cultural, our ethnic, , national identities all play a role in coloring the way Islam is represented or presented in our lives. So thank you for that. Now let's turn the [00:23:00] page. You are a master naturalist. Tell us, what does that mean?
[:[00:23:34] Kori Majeed: C. which touches Maryland and I believe a portion of Virginia and , we are trained and. The flora and fauna and geography and biology of our natural area, and then we are obligated to. Share that with others through service. And also we have the obligation to continue learning. So we have to do 40 hours of [00:24:00] service in our community, whether that be teaching others or serving through trash cleanup.
[:[00:24:13] Imam Tariq: What has that experience been like for you?
[:[00:24:33] Kori Majeed: So for a lot of people, I think our world is kind of narrow where we go to work. We go to school, we go shopping, go on vacation, but , there's so much in just like one foot of space. Even in your backyard, there's so many signs that are waiting for us to connect with them and these little signs where it could be a [00:25:00] seed, it could be a roly poly, it could be a worm, it could be a blade of grass.
[:[00:25:27] Imam Tariq: Sitting here listening to you, it is dawned on me that we have been cheated. You should know the flora and fauna of your local area. Like that should be a part of a standard education. And maybe I missed it. I'm not sure, but I do not remember learning about these things and I feel cheated.
[:[00:25:57] Kori Majeed: I don't know. I saw something, I don't know, somewhere in social media [00:26:00] where we can identify commercial brands, but we can't identify a plant that will stop mosquito bites from itching. It's literally. Well may not be in other people's yards, but it's definitely my yard because I don't use pesticides On my yard.
[:[00:26:24] Imam Tariq: We
[:[00:26:43] Imam Tariq: You know, that's going to be, I'm sure in multiple khutbahs, the Friday sermon or halakahs, study circles, the idea that we can recognize luxury [00:27:00] brands and car brands and all of these other things quicker than we could recognize. The plants, the flora and fauna, and the areas that we live in. Many of us have been in the same places our whole lives, and would be at a complete loss if we had to tell you what we were looking at.
[:[00:27:57] Imam Tariq: And if we did have to go out and fend [00:28:00] for ourselves. Many of us would be in some serious trouble because we would be as likely to pick up Something out of the ground out of the earth that would bring us harm as we would Be to pick up something that would actually be a nourishment for ourselves. So that's a problem
[:[00:28:27] Kori Majeed: Like, you should know your local farmers. You should know where you can go and you can get the basics that can supply you for a week or two. There's a, the farm that I did my beginner farmer training with, I could walk to it. I could walk to it. It'd be like maybe a 20, 25 minute walk. You wouldn't even know because it's in a neighborhood in the cut.
[:[00:29:16] Imam Tariq: That's right. I agree with you a hundred percent. And, , I love the farmer's markets. And I think about the folks who are showing up there and sometimes they are coming from maybe an hour, two hours away to , first of all, let you know that they're there. And of course, secondly, what, which really is the first thing they're there to sell , their produce.
[:[00:29:52] Kori Majeed: An hour away, two hours away is a lot closer than, um, Ecuador, you know, where we get. [00:30:00] Well, we can get strawberries, you know, uh, and avocados out of season. What's growing in your area is probably going to be what you need nutrient wise.
[:[00:30:14] Imam Tariq: You know, what I'm also hearing here is that we need to be able to make the distinction between necessity and convenience. And that there are a lot of things that are actual necessities that we look at. As if they are conveniences and being quite clear and deliberate and reiterating what you said, knowing who the farmers are in our communities is a necessity, not a convenience.
[:[00:30:57] Kori Majeed: I remember when I said I was a nerd, [00:31:00] so I'm on all the knowledge. I want all the skills. And I also want to not only to learn, but also to teach. Inshallah. So there is a program that I heard of through someone.
[:[00:31:48] Kori Majeed: At that point, it had been the most amount of Muslims, , at that time, I think it was like, I want to say like five Muslims or so, but there are people from different countries, different faith [00:32:00] traditions, and we got together to learn from each other to learn how to share the message with our communities.
[:[00:32:34] Kori Majeed: Of 40 Green Hadith because it's a resource that we as Muslims needed, , to educate our communities, but also it's something that we could share with people in other faith traditions who are , working for our planet and for, , humanity.
[:[00:33:01] Imam Tariq: Maybe one or two of the Hadith.
[:[00:33:09] Kori Majeed: , it, it very much is. And it's something that I, you know, I referenced to this day and I share to this day, it's something that I always get something from, and just as a side note, we have it. In English, but we also working with another green faith fellow, we were able to get it translated to Spanish and I know the Spanish speaking community is growing among Muslims.
[:[00:33:56] Kori Majeed: But that's relate to that. Is [00:34:00] that, , there are small deeds. There are small deeds that we should try to do, but a lot of loves when we. , do these small things. These small good deeds, even if they are a few. So that's why I try , to, , to keep it simple, , with those three things.
[:[00:34:38] Kori Majeed: This is something that we have to do in order to pray. Right. This is something that puts us in a state of ritual purity. So there's wastefulness in that. And the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, even if you're by a flowing stream, use water responsibly. And so there's something that I remember learning in the master naturalist program, [00:35:00] and it's that most of the water is seawater.
[:[00:35:24] Kori Majeed: And I also think about, the water cycle where you have the water that's, trapped in the clouds, and then, comes down as rain and then, , flows over the land and goes into our rivers and streams and goes out to the ocean and then it comes back up and you have this beautiful water cycle.
[:[00:36:10] Imam Tariq: Well, thank you very much. , sister Kori, what you have been able to do is to demonstrate the value of being able to give simple instructions to people that empower them. And that I believe is a, a core, , representation of leadership, right? As being able to get people to move from point a to point B, to be able to give an objective to say that this is.
[:[00:37:07] Kori Majeed: So the, what I use the green team as is a way to promote the prophetic model of environmental justice and sustainability and community life. I think we talked about, individual ways that we can live more sustainably and live as Khalifa, but the green team is more of a way of promoting that in community.
[:[00:37:59] Kori Majeed: And, , [00:38:00] revive this sooner and then make an effort to connect with the signs of Allah and this sign that you see in the sky, this little sliver of the moon that's, , Quran describes it. It's just , like the sheet that's on top of the pit of the date. It's just so tiny, but it brings so much joy and you can understand, when you make this dua, Oh moon, your creator and my creator are the same.
[:[00:38:41] Kori Majeed: It's like, you need to sight every moon, you know? And it's such a joy that I'm inviting a lot of Muslims to this joy, this sunnah of sighting the moon that starts the beginning of the month. When people actually come out and try it, there's this [00:39:00] excitement. They're like, okay, I know, I know that Ramadan has started because Allah has shown us the moon.
[:[00:39:28] Kori Majeed: It's a practice and submission. Allah didn't want me to see the moon and I have to do what I have to do, , in order to, for this month to start.
[:[00:40:07] Imam Tariq: I mean, I hate to define a process by using the same word, but it, it grounds you, it connects you and the sighting of the moon. Likewise it's, it is a, a sort of celestial grounding. Well, we're connecting ourselves to the creator through the creation. And I think that is, , that's just awesome. So I really appreciate the way that you framed that.
[:[00:40:49] Kori Majeed: When you said grounding, like taking off your shoes, putting your foot in the soil, you know what, there is no, no sweeter grounding than putting your [00:41:00] head on the soil, none. None. I really feel, I could feel like the curvature of the earth. And then there's the sense of the soil. , and then, your senses are like, you hear the birds and you hear like the crickets.
[:[00:41:27] Imam Tariq: hmm. Hmm. Okay. So that's two things folks need to try, right? Yes,
[:[00:41:37] Imam Tariq: Well, I didn't mention at the outset that you are a 2022 graduate of Bayan Islamic Graduate School, as am I.
[:[00:42:00] Kori Majeed: I guess the biggest takeaway from my journey through Bayan is learning the breadth, breadth, like the, the vastness of Islam, there's so much knowledge and so many wells to take knowledge from, and, , That was, yeah, that was it.
[:[00:42:36] Imam Tariq: So,
[:[00:42:46] Kori Majeed: You know, there are several doors to Jannah, right? It's like these wells of knowledge. Can connect us to any of those doors are, and, you know, our favorite door, like my favorite door is [00:43:00] connecting with the signs of law and inshallah, you know, the small deeds that I do and that I share can inshallah help that door open to Jenna, you know, for me and, , others that I'm able , to share with.
[:[00:43:56] Imam Tariq: And number two, [00:44:00] also have provided a space where someone, you know, like myself, and I'm not an anomaly. Coming to this space as a, as an older learner,
[:[00:44:13] Imam Tariq: and of course, you know, that means that we bring a lifetime of experience with us and some things to be refined and some things to, to be critiqued and investigated, but certainly not a blank slate.
[:[00:45:01] Kori Majeed: That reminds me of, um, my grandmother's quilts, you know, we're, we all come with, our knowledge, but people share things with us.
[:[00:45:45] Kori Majeed: So those 2 things together that, the intensive weeks and also, you know, getting to know each other in that short week in that intense time, such balance right there.
[:[00:46:18] Imam Tariq: I believe that if you don't really love people, you can't serve people. If you don't, Again, if you don't love people, your knowledge will not be used in service of people, it will be used to their detriment. If you don't love the creation. , no. Let me rephrase that. If you don't love the creator, then you will not love the creation.
[:[00:47:13] Imam Tariq: That's love. And it seems like her imprint on you, her example, and what she's poured into you. She's not just home. She's also pointed a direction for you.
[:[00:47:46] Imam Tariq: You know, listening to you talk about your grandmother, likewise made me reflect on mine. Elizabeth Smith, who I sometimes call one of the best Muslims I have [00:48:00] known, , and she was Baptist, but she gave me some of the most wonderful advice that stays with me to this day. She said, baby, stay in prayer, stay in prayer.
[:[00:48:37] Kori Majeed: that's how, you know, that's how, you know, there's one source.
[:[00:48:41] Imam Tariq: that's right. That's right. And, and I guess from that, I'd like to say that my. Grandmother was teaching me Islam before I even knew Islam. All right. This is not about me. So we are going to get ourselves back on track as we prepare to, , get out of here. [00:49:00] So please let the listeners know where they can get the ebook.
[:[00:49:15] Kori Majeed: One of the things about this is that we wanted to, you know, spread this wide and make it available to anyone who can get it. So, it is free. All you have to do, just literally search for 40 Green Hadith.
[:[00:49:46] Imam Tariq: So that's 100 percent free.
[:[00:49:50] Imam Tariq: Okay. So people can get it for free from you, or they can get it from me for 7 and 99 cents. No,
[:[00:49:58] Imam Tariq: I'm just [00:50:00] joking. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. No. You know, people are always trying to sell you something that's free. Uh, we're not doing that here. , in all seriousness, sister, Kori, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us about your journey and about your work, may Allah continue to bless you and your family.
[:[00:50:45] Imam Tariq: We're adding more classes. You get all of this for 10 a month. Get yourself a subscription, get your family member a subscription, get the person that you have been having difficulty with, right? The person that's given you , the [00:51:00] side eye, because why useful knowledge produces what produces peace.
[:[00:51:34] Imam Tariq: So support those who are supporting those who are doing the work in the community. Remember, we are here every week. If you've not already done so, subscribe wherever you get your podcast at, subscribe, share, tell somebody about the program, Inshallah, with God's permission, we will see you again next week.
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