Trees are a support that meets the need of both us human beings and many other creatures for shelter, nourishment, and the security of leaning against their trunk and taking refuge in their shade.
A tree is a cradle for the baby, a pen for the youth, and a cane for the elderly. It is a shade in the heat of summer and a shield against the wind of winter.
As we all know, trees are the lungs through which the world renews its breath. For the continuation of the diversity of the ecosystem and for the air we breathe to stay clean, we are in need of trees from their trunk to their leaves, from their branches to their fruit. (Trees do not only benefit us materially; through their roots they also convey to us the cultural codes that come down from the past. To lean against a tree in your village is to lean against your culture.)
Making Hopes Bloom
In our world, which is rapidly turning into a desert because of causes such as the changing of climates, the unconscious destruction of green areas, and erosion, a great duty falls upon all of us so that we and the generations who will come after us can also benefit from this blessing.
To plant a sapling is to look to the future with hope and, however small, to do something to the best of one’s ability.
The importance of planting trees in our religion;
Protecting trees and planting new ones are among the deeds that are recommended to us and that bring great reward when performed. Moreover, it is not a one-time reward, but rather a sadaqah jariyah (ongoing charity), that is, a deed whose reward continues even after death.
Sadaqah jariyah is raising righteous children, leaving behind a work of knowledge, and planting trees — and planting trees is the easiest of them.
Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in one of his noble hadiths: ‘’Even if the Day of Judgment is upon you, if you have a sapling in your hand, do not refrain from planting it.’’ This noble hadith points to the fact that the most beautiful deed to be done, even in difficult times, is to plant a tree.
And in another noble hadith: ‘’If a person plants a tree, the reward is recorded for the one who planted it as long as that tree bears fruit and people benefit from it. That tree becomes the planter’s sadaqah jariyah. Even if the place where that tree stands later becomes the property of someone else, or even if that tree was planted as a charitable act on someone else’s land.’’
A mulberry tree lives 400 years, a walnut tree 700 years, a chestnut tree 900 years, and a plane tree 1,500 years. The linden, on the other hand, is the most healing. In Bursa there are thousand-year-old plane trees planted by Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi.
Our ancestors planted trees while thinking of us. We have benefited and continue to benefit from them. This task belongs to us so that our future generations may benefit too.
Not everyone can have a mosque, a fountain, or a bridge built. However, planting a tree does not require any financial savings. All it takes is a tiny seed or a small sapling, a little water, a little patience and sunlight, and plenty of love and hope…
