The 51st street Mosque Rules!

One of the exciting things about living in a big city like Chicago is it has a lot to offer including a big number of Muslims from all walks of life.
Living in the south side of Chicago means a lot of African American Muslims, hence local black Imams.
Most mosques tend to have immigrant imams which is good Alhamdulilah, but having a local Imam makes the congregation more interesting and vibrant. Particularly at the 51st street mosque.
The Imam may Allah protect him is a giant pillar holding the mosque, he understands the community's needs and works so hard at addressing them.
Another great thing about this mosque is how loving and accepting everyone is. They have true love for this deen ( religion) and I think pure understanding. The mosque is located in one of the poorer parts of the city. Yet the congregation is one of the best congregations I attended in my short mosque visits in the U.S.
The Friday Khutbas flash images in my head of black church congregations interacting passionately to their priests firey sermons.
This was quick summary of the spirit navigating this mosque.
Why is this relevant to the topics on this blog? Here's the thing, the only thing that bothered me and almost stopped me from going there was how I reacted to the intense chemical carpet and air freshener they used. The smell stuck to everyones clothes. My baby girl coughed and sneezed intensely when she was exposed to these chemicals, and finally I went home with a clogged throat that stung when I tried to swallow.
Most of the people there are very conscientious about their health and diet. The Imam and his wife are Vegan, Raw foodists. So I thought to myself theres noway if they found out how bad this stuff is for them they would continue using it.
All I said was the stuff in these products is very poisonous and they didn't need no proof no nothing.
This friday they used a carpet natural scent that I made for them, and they even suggested that they pay for the products I make instead of buying the chemical stuff from the store. So InshaAllah the mosque is switching to all green cleaning products soon:) Becoming one of the first Eco-friendly mosques at least in the south of Chicago. ( Still working on the soup kitchen trash situation).

Here's my no funky feet carpet freshening recipe':

The biggest hard plastic spray bottle you can get( never re-use in any of my recipes old spray bottles from chemical products. They react and give out toxic fumes)

Your favorite essential oil( I use lemon scent)

Tea tree oil

Soft water or distilled if you have hard water.

Cloth wipe

Fill the bottle with water, add from 30 to 40 drops of lemon oil ( depending on how funky the carpet smells, the smell of feet tend to stick!) add one drop of tea tree oil for it antiseptic quality. Spray away and leave a vent open to air, or wipe with cloth while spraying.
This recipe is intended for stinky big area rugs. For spot cleaning use the all purpose cleaning recipe.