The Language of Trees

This workshop, led by Sheikh Muhammad Foulds, offers an introduction to understanding the language of trees, exploring their symbolic and spiritual significance as reflected in the Qur’an and Hadith. Participants will engage with selected Qur'anic verses that emphasise perception—particularly the senses of seeing, observing, and listening—as tools for recognizing divine signs in the natural world. Through contemplative practices such as sit spot activities, we will cultivate deeper awareness and reconnect with nature through a Qur’anic lens.

Additionally, the workshop will address the current crisis in perception shaped by modern Western civilization, examining how it contributes to a disconnection from truth and the emergence of a Dajjalic system that influences global consciousness. We will reflect on how to navigate and resist this system in order to preserve and strengthen our Iman.

The workshop will be followed by a guided Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku) experience, led by certified Forest Therapy Practitioner, Farrah. This gentle, meditative experience is designed to help you slow down, awaken your senses, and deepen your connection with the natural world. Through a series of guided invitations, you'll explore the forest with mindfulness and intention, allowing nature to support your well-being.

Buffet lunch and refreshments will be provided.

About the teacher

Sheikh Muhammed Foulds is currently serving as Head Imam and Principal of Religious Affairs in the UK Prison Service. He has developed pathways and treatment ideas inspired by nature’s systems to help the prisoners and their views on the world. His early career started as a paramedic and then he moved into roles in the natural world.

Sheikh Fould pursued degrees in human ecology and raptor biology and became a professional falconer for over 20 years as weil as holding positions such as Director of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park. He has actively contributed to conservation and education initiatives at various zoos and parks in the United Kingdom. His journey led him to religion and he became a Christian minister but then embraced Islam in 2000 whilst researching for his MPhil in the Eurasian Griffon Vulture in Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Foulds is predominantly from a Hanafi background and enriched his knowledge by studying under diverse scholars, including Shafi, Maliki, and a few Hanbali. He is rooted in a sound Aqeedah based on the Quran, the Sunnah, and the practices of the first three generations of companions. Sheikh Foulds’s Islamic Studies journey has taken him to prestigious institutions such as Taif Islamic Institute in Saudi Arabia, Dar ul Loom Azaadville in South Africa, London Muslim College in the UK, and Gloucester Islamic Centre in the UK.

Whilst completing his Aalim studies in South Africa, he also trained as a safari guide and tracker. Hearts SEE was founded on 40 years of learning and based on 5 principles Sheikh developed during his journey. He is currently working on promoting these with work he is doing with the Prince’s Trust in the UK to target the curriculum in schools and scholars from the Al Maqaasid Institute in Canada to target the teaching given to ulema and teachers.