Now that we get showers regularly, Alhamdulilah, the dry spell and the rain it did not bring us, also brought with it some good lessons... the importance of saving water.
While there were spurts of national initiatives to remind us on saving water, I thought it will be a good time to share on the responsibility that we as Muslims have in saving water. For me, I know I can go a long way more in being more conscious about how I use water. Alhamdhulilah for the blessings of Allah (S.W.T) for us living in this country - that drinkable water is just at the turn of the tap.
Here I some ways that we try to save water in our home (in fact for everyone else, these are auto-mode actions while I need the reminders! So by writing down and sharing, this is another form of reminder to me.)
- Turning off the tap while scrubbing dishes with soap when washing dishes
Something so simple like this as yet Mum and Brother, in fact, Father and AZ, too have to tell me when I don't.
- Using the water that rice was washed in to water our plants
Our plants basically do not require so much water but using this water brings the 'nutrients' from the rice to them. Our late great grandma used to say this.
- Adapting to the aerator that was fixed to our kitchen tap by the public utilities agency here.
Aerators are small fittings that are screwed to the tip of the tap which ensure less water is consumed in every household. They had them fixed and I remember telling Father to ask the technician if we could request to opt out. The technician gave a point blank, No. Of course it was inconvenient at first, because we wash vegetables, meat, fruits and many other stuff under that water from that tap.
But as Father always says, 'We had to queue for water with water rationing in the kampongs those days'. Then, I better be happy with what I have now. Alhamdhulilah.
So now, I have learnt to live with that much water from that tap and everything still goes on.
- Additional water that we may end up with, like when filling up water for the water flask, water in utensils that we leave on top of the pots when cooking rice varieties in big quantities, we use them to fill into our washing machine.
My first impulse is always to pour out the water into the sink. Astaghfirullah. Mum chides me a lot when she sees this. Among us, she really takes a lot of care in recycling and reusing things whenever possible. And at many times, Father and I will have to argue with her to convince her to discard items we perceive as 'old and unusable'. But somehow, she always wins the battle and will think of ways to use that particular item or give away to someone she knows. Just like mum-in-law! AZ says she packs items of all sorts (that sis-in-law and father-in-law coax her to put away) for giving to our folks in India. Her favourite line is, "We may not have any use for this but they may."
These two women in our lives are amazing, for the simple fact that they are Mothers.
- When taking Wudhu (making ablution for prayers)
In Islam, Allah (S.W.T) has taught us the way of living through our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and the Quran.
There are precise teachings on every deed we do, Masha-Allah, and we are accountable for our action.
The same with wudhu.
The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Do not waste water, even if you perform your ablution on the banks of an abundantly-flowing river.” [Ibn Majah], and he (pbuh) used to make ablution with one madd of water. [Bukhari and Muslim]
A madd was a measurement used in those days. Madd literally means to stretch, and the measurement was called a madd because food sellers would fill both their hands with food and the person selling would stretch their hands out to the buyer with that measurement. So imagine that the Prophet (pbuh) would perform wudhu with that amount of water!
(Source: http://sunnahaday.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/sunnah-75-do-not-waste-water-during-wudhu/)
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| Source: Internet |
