From Green Iftars to Hima (الحِمى): caring for shared community resources
Ramadan has always been a month of worship. This worship takes the form of fasting, conscious living, collective responsibility, and a care for what surrounds us. Ramadan month is a time when values are truly practiced to protect the resources that we all share.
This year, our journey begins at the Iftar tables and expands to the land and water that sustain our communities.
Green Iftars: where daily sustainable actions start
As the world is more aware of the need to go easy on our resources, many Muslims worldwide choose to practice sustainability through green Iftars. They reflect everyday actions that many of us already understand and adopt including conserving water, reducing food waste, and a zero-plastic approach.
Green Iftars are an example that caring for Earth is not a burden, it can start with simple individual actions in our homes.
But, what happens after Ramadan month? And how can we collectively protect the resources that our communities rely on and share?
Green Iftar Guidelines
This guideline provides a practical pathway rooted in Qur’anic ethics, climate best practices, and field case studies for Muslims to plan and implement Green Iftars at their communities.
Hima (الحِمى): from individual actions to collective care
Deeply rooted in Islamic traditions, Hima (الحِمى) means protected areas, managed by the community, to conserve shared resources such as water, grazing areas, and land. Hima (الحِمى) is a perfect manifestation of Islamic teachings. It is a system built on balance, justice, and collective responsibility.
For centuries, Hima (الحِمى) helped protecting livelihoods, preventing conflicts over resources, ensuring fair access to water and land, and strengthening communities’ solidarity and resilience.
Hima (الحِمى) protects people as much as it protects nature. It gives communities the chance to manage their own local resources based on collective responsibility and knowledge. Instead of top-down solutions, Hima (الحِمى) is community-led, grounded in culture, and adaptable to different contexts and realities.
In an era with growing environmental pressure, Hima (الحِمى) provides a rare approach: restoring ecosystems while strengthening well-being, resilience, and social cohesion.
Help us revive Hima (الحِمى) starting Ramadan 2026
Ramadan month is the perfect time to re-imagine how we protect and look after our shared resources.
Hima (الحِمى) is a natural extension of the individual practices adopted during Ramadan month, however it is a long-term collective solution and response to socio-economic and environmental challenges.
This is why we are inviting you, this Ramadan month, to help us shape what comes next!
Take Ummah For Earth’s Hima (الحِمى) survey and support us to:
1- Revive Hima (الحِمى) initiatives
2- Identify at-risk areas in your community (degraded land, polluted streams, neglected shared spaces)
Take the Hima (الحِمى) survey and let us co-create solutions together