Cassie Cohen and
Jackson Bursill are currently
running 4000km from Cooktown to Melbourne,
sharing a story a day, for 100
days - that is a marathon a day
for 3 months!
For every day
that they’re running, they
feature someone from a refugee
or migrant background who is
local to the area that they are
running through that day.
Currently in now
in Poona, 1700kms in, they hit
the streets of Brisbane on
Friday 12 January.
Story 14:
Abdihakim and his wife Aqbal
were refugees from Somalia. They
arrived in Townsville in January
last year. With the help of a
local, David, they’ve opened up
a traditional Somalian Samosa
stall in the Flinders Street
Sunday markets. If you’re in
Townsville on a Sunday, we can
seriously recommend the Samosas!
Story 34 - Binil Kattiparambil is the
President of the Islamic
Society in Rockhampton. He
migrated from Dubai with his
wife and two sons, Omar (9)
and Ali (5) 7 years ago.
Binil is working as an
engineer at a mine site near
Rockhampton.
In 1896, an ‘Afghan’
cameleer by the name of Musa
Khan in Australia sent a
letter to Abdullah William
Quillium of Britain
requesting copies of the
Crescent Newspaper and the
Islamic World (Monthly)
Journal. The Crescent may
have been the first regular
Islamic newspaper to reach
Australian shores.
The Crescent (newspaper) and
the Islamic World (journal)
had gained large
international appeal in
Africa, Asia and Europe.
This also included
readership in the USA,
Canada and Australia in the
late 1800s and early 1900s.
Quilliam established the
first official Islamic
centre in Liverpool,
England. As a port city, the
location of the centre
attracted a number of
converts and migrant workers
as well as delegates and
visitors from over the
world, including dignitaries
and diplomats.
Printing of The Crescent
began in 1893 when donations
started rolling in. The
Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire, Abdul Hamid II
appointed Abdullah William
Quilliam as Sheikh al-Islam
of the British Isles. This
was the first (and last)
time such a title was used
in Britain. It was a
significant acknowledgement
that was also recognised by
Britain.
William Quillium accepted
Islam during the 1880s while
visiting Morocco. He gained
much prominence in his
society and was often a
target of the media.
Nevertheless, he persevered.
Other than the newspaper and
journal, Quillium also
published a book titled,
Faith of Islam. He also
established a Muslim home
for orphans or unwanted
children in 1895. The
Islamic Centre of Liverpool
also made sure the poor of
the society where fed during
Christmas.
Correspondence was made
between Quilliam and Hassan
Musa Khan of Perth. Khan
requested copies of The
Crescent and The Islamic
World in 1896. He also
sought previous editions and
hoped Australia’s ‘Afghan’
community could do more to
promote Islam in their
society. Khan claimed some
300 Muslims lived in
Victoria at the time, among
them were some converts who
had extremely limited
resources on Islamic
knowledge.
Quilliam used his weekly
publication to reach out to
people in various parts of
the world. For example, in
1886, Cecil John Reginald Le
Mesurier received dismissal
from his high-ranking civil
servant position in Ceylon
due to ‘becoming a
Mohammeden [i.e. Muslim].’
He became known as John
Abdul Hamid Le Mesurier. He
met with Quilliam at
Liverpool and made
arrangements to move to
Australia in 1904 after
completing his law exams. In
one publication (1904),
Quillium called on the
Muslims of Perth and
Freemantle to assist John
Abdul Hamid Le Mesurier with
his settlement in Australia.
Among other things, Quillium
performed a eulogy for the
Queen Victoria in 1902. The
Empress personally requested
a copy of the book Faith of
Islam from Quillium shortly
after it was published. She
also ordered copies for her
children. Some high-profile
figures in Britain became
Muslim through the efforts
of the Liverpool centre.
Many did not want to be
named and kept their beliefs
somewhat private. One public
figure was Henry Edward John
Stanley (Abdur Rahman), the
third Baron of Alderley.
Quilliam performed a Janaza
prayer for him. Hamid Bey,
the First Secretary of the
Ottoman Embassy in London,
was present among the
mourners.
Abdullah William Quillium
challenged the British
foreign policy and media
propaganda of the day. The
Crescent was a successful
publication that helped
newly emerging communities
establish themselves and
keep up with current topics,
while also maintaining a
sense of unity and
brotherhood from nations
abroad.
Muhammad Tahir from Pakistan
graduated this week with his
PhD in Psychology from
Griffith University.
Soon to be published is his
thesis on the
Development of Child's
Personality in the Light of
Sunnah and Contemporary
Psychology. This
will be published in
English, Arabic, Urdu and
Hindi.
Tahir has been a PhD
exchange student from
Pakistan with Griffith
University.
A Hafez (has memorized the
Quran by heart) Tahir has
been living in Brisbane for
two years and returns to
Pakistan soon.
Candalepas travelled to India
while forming his vision of a
mosque that could represent
Australia's Muslim community.
A new 99-domed mosque in
Australia is attracting
attention for its bold,
brutalist design. But the
architect behind the
project, Angelo Candalepas,
is hoping that his creation
can do more than win
plaudits -- he's wants it to
help improve interfaith
relations in the Sydney
suburb of Punchbowl.
Scheduled to open in time
for Ramadan this May, the
mosque has been designed to
feel welcoming to the whole
community, regardless of
religion.
"The courtyard enables all
people to embrace the use of
the building," Candalepas
said in a phone interview.
"The doors are absolutely
directed to the street
front, such that it will
always have its doors open
to the people."
At a September event called
"Meet the Aussie Mosque,"
the unfinished building was
opened to the public as part
of the Sydney Architecture
Festival. Architects led
tours of the mosque, while
members of Punchbowl's
Muslim community spoke to
visitors about their faith
and the fundraising drive
behind the A$12 million
($9million) project.
This view captures the
women's galleries on the left,
the concrete walls & ceiling,
the large timber dome, and the
vault of muqarnas above and to
the right.
"We wanted to bring the
great work of the modern
mosque out in the open, and
to normalize the building as
a work of architecture,"
said the festival's
director, Timothy Horton, in
a phone interview.
"The Punchbowl mosque is a
modern architectural
masterpiece. It is set to be
one of the new icons in
Sydney's west, one of the
most cultural diverse and
fastest growing parts of
Australia."
Reimagining mosque design
Candalepas' eye-catching
concrete design also
challenges preconceptions
about how a mosque should
look, according to Horton.
"The outside has been
totally reimagined," he
said. "Gone is the central
dome with four minarets
planted like garden stakes
at the corners. Candalepas'
mosque strings (together)
smaller spaces, like
washrooms, along the
boundary while scooping
light in as you would see in
a high-end art gallery."
Commissioning a contemporary
design (and a high-profile
architect) was a response to
the reported difficulty of
obtaining planning
permission for new mosques,
according to the vice
president of Punchbowl's
Australian Islamic Mission,
Zachariah Matthews.
"Our main concern,
initially, was, 'How do we
get approval given that
other projects have
encountered many
obstacles?'" he said.
In recent years, public
opposition has delayed or
permit the construction of a
number of proposed mosques
in Australia.
Last year, permission for a
new mosque in the Gold Coast
suburb of Currumbin was
denied on the grounds that
it was "too big" following a
high-profile opposition
campaign in which a
councilor reported receiving
death threats. Another
proposed mosque in Victoria
only got the green light
this July after three years
of legal hurdles and ongoing
media attention. A Facebook
group opposing the building
has almost 70,000 members.
Yet, Matthews said that
plans for his mosque were
unanimously approved by the
local council. Of
Australia's more than 340
mosques, almost half can be
found in Punchbowl's state
of New South Wales.
An act of faith
Finding a religious
architect was another key
priority for Punchbowl's
Muslim community, according
to Horton.
"It gave them confidence
that the foundations of
their faith would be
incorporated into a building
that may not appear ... to
be a traditional mosque, but
would retain all of the
meaning that is so much a
part of sacred spaces," he
said.
Candalepas, who is a Greek
Orthodox Christian, said
that he hesitated when first
approached by the Australian
Islamic Mission in Punchbowl
a decade ago.
"I never imagined myself as
someone who would build a
mosque," he said. "It wasn't
anything negative (but
rather) a sense of not
having been aware that I
could create something for a
faith that I knew nothing
about.
To find inspiration,
Candalepas traveled to
Ahmedabad and Agra in India
while forming his vision of
a mosque that could
represent Australia's Muslim
community.
"I wanted a building that
looked both ways -- forwards
as well as back," he said.
"There's no point in
ignoring history -- that
wouldn't make it relevant."
The Punchbowl mosque is set
to open in May.
The traditional dome is
still present in his design,
but it has been reimagined
as 99 half-domes cascading
down from a larger, central
one. In January,
calligraphers will arrive
from Turkey to spend a month
inscribing the domes with
Allah's 99 names in Arabic.
Candalepas said that much of
enthusiasm for the project
stems from the building's
longevity. After hearing
that the brief called for a
lifespan of 300 years, he
proposed 1,000.
"In the past, people knew it
was important to create
things that would last," he
said.
Community architecture
By eroding fear and
suspicion through design,
Candalepas follows in the
footsteps of Pritzker
Prize-winning Glenn Murcutt,
the architect behind another
new mosque in Melbourne.
Opened in the suburb of
Newport this year, the
building's doors are made
entirely of glass.
"We choose glass because
we wanted the building
to be very transparent,"
explained designer Hakan
Elevli, who collaborated
with Murcutt on the
project.
"People walking past on
the street can see
what's going on inside.
We wanted to show that
there is nothing to
hide.
"The Newport mosque also has
a library, cafe, women's
community centre and a
visitor's centre which, like
the mosque itself, are open
to all."
Murcutt's design eschewed
the more obvious Ottoman and
Arabic influences found in
many Australian mosques. The
minaret is a soaring
concrete wall, while the
roof is composed of 96
triangular lanterns.
Coloured glass filters the
light, acting as sun dial
and a substitution for
domes, with shades of red,
green, gold and blue
representing those typically
used in mosaics.
Coloured glass filters light
in the Newport mosque..
"When a lot of people look
at the building, they see it
as a contemporary building
and not something normally
associated with Islamic
architecture," said Elevli.
"But as soon as you walk
inside, you see that it's
Islamic, with Arabic
lettering and the 'minbar'
(pulpit)."
The mosque was also designed
to promote integration and
demonstrate the diverse
make-up of Australia's
Muslims, who account for
almost 3% of the country's
population. Typical curves
and arches were abandoned in
favour of straight lines and
linear shapes -- features
often found in Australian
architecture.
More than anything,
(Newport's Muslim
community) wanted
something Australian,"
said Elevli.
"They wanted to show
non-Muslims that a
mosque can be something
that relates to the
Australian way of life."
There are approximately 1.84
billion Muslims in the world
today, making up 24.38% of
the world’s population, or
just under one-quarter of
mankind. As well as being
citizens of their respective
countries, they also have a
sense of belonging to the ‘ummah’,
the worldwide Muslim
community.
The Muslim500 publication
sets out to ascertain the
influence some Muslims have
on this community, or on
behalf of the community.
Influence is: any person who
has the power (be it
cultural, ideological,
financial, political or
otherwise) to make a change
that will have a significant
impact on the Muslim world.
Note that the impact can be
either positive or negative,
depending on one’s point of
view of course.
"The unity between Muslims
and Coptic Christians of
Egypt is something of
absolute importance."
Grand Sheikh of the Al-Azhar
University, Grand Imam of
AlAzhar Mosque
Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad al-Tayyeb
was appointed as Grand
Sheikh of al-Azhar in March
2010, after the passing of
his predecessor, Dr Muhammad
Sayyid Tantawi.
Tayyeb was formerly the
president of al-Azhar for
seven years and prior to
that, served for two years
as the most powerful cleric
in Egypt as its Grand Mufti.
Influence:
Highest scholarly authority
for a majority of Sunni
Muslims, runs the foremost
Sunni Islamic university.
ANOTHER FROM THE TOP 50 INFLUENTIAL MUSLIMS
IN NEXT WEEK'S CCN
Following my
article a couple
of weeks ago in
which I
complimented the
Pakistani
cricket team for
snatching
victory from the
jaws of defeat
against their
formidable
arch-rivals
India, I
received a
couple of
comments that
left me puzzled.
One was from a
Westerner while
the other critic
was an Asian.
The gist of it
was essentially
dressing me down
for
complimenting
what they both
termed as a
“failed state”.
They both
individually
felt that there
was not much to
Pakistan’s
credit to
mention, and
perhaps that was
why I praised
their team’s
victory.
But let’s take a
closer look at
this country
before we rush
to judgment.
Pakistan has
been listed
among the next
11 countries
that along with
the BRICS
countries
(Brazil, Russia,
India, China and
South Africa)
have a high
potential of
becoming among
the world’s
largest
economies in the
21st century.
In the last five
years,
Pakistan’s
literacy rate
has grown by 250
percent, the
largest increase
in any country
to date.
According to a
poll organized
by the Institute
of European
Business
Administration,
from 125
countries,
Pakistanis have
been ranked the
“fourth most
intelligent
people” across
the globe. The
Cambridge exams
of both A and O
levels have been
topped by
Pakistani
students and
this is a record
yet to be
broken. The
world’s youngest
certified
Microsoft
Experts, Arfa
Kareem and Babar
Iqbal, are from
Pakistan. The
seventh largest
pool of
scientists and
engineers come
from, you
guessed it,
Pakistan. The
fourth largest
broadband
Internet system
of the world is
in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the
first and only
Islamic country
to attain
nuclear power.
It is also
notable for
having some of
the best-trained
air force pilots
in the world.
The country’s
missile
technology is
one of the best
in the world.
The country has
produced a large
quantity of
various types of
missiles since
it has become a
nuclear power.
It also boasts
of the sixth
largest military
force in the
world.
In cooperation
with China,
Pakistan has
produced the PAC
JF-17 Thunder
aircraft, a
lightweight,
single-engine,
multi-role
combat aircraft
developed by the
Pakistan
Aeronautical
Complex (PAC).
The JF-17 can be
used for aerial
reconnaissance,
ground attack
and aircraft
interception.
Its designation
“JF-17” by
Pakistan is
short for “Joint
Fighter-17”.
It has also
constructed the
world’s largest
warm-water,
deep-sea port
situated on the
Arabian Sea at
Gwadar in
Balochistan
province.
Tarbela Dam is
the world’s
largest
earth-filled dam
and second
largest dam
overall. The
Karakoram
Highway,
connecting China
and Pakistan, is
the highest
paved
international
road in the
world. The
Khewra Salt
Mine, the second
largest salt
mine in the
world is in
operation in the
Punjab region of
Pakistan. The
world’s largest
irrigation
network is
present in
Pakistan. It
serves 14.4
million hectares
of cultivated
land. The
irrigation
system is fed by
water from the
Indus River.
Land of some of
the oldest
civilizations
(Indus Valley
and Mohenjo-Daro),
Pakistan is a
multilingual
country with
more than 60
languages
spoken. It is
the sixth most
populated
country in the
world and the
second-most
populous
Muslim-majority
country. It also
has the
second-largest
Shia population
in the world.
The Edhi
Foundation, a
non-profit
social welfare
program in
Pakistan,
founded by Abdul
Sattar Edhi in
1951 runs the
world’s largest
ambulance
network. The
country also
boasts of the
world’s youngest
civil judge,
Muhammad Illyas.
Pakistan is one
the biggest
exporters of
surgical
instruments in
the world. About
50 percent of
the world’s
footballs are
made in
Pakistan. Nestle
Pakistan is one
of the largest
milk processing
plants which
generates large
revenue every
year.
Among its
natural wonders,
Pakistan has the
highest mountain
ranges in the
world. The
world’s second
highest and the
ninth highest
mountains, K2
and Nanga Parbat
respectively,
are in Pakistan.
The Thar Desert
is among the
world’s largest
sub-tropical
deserts. The
world’s highest
polo ground is
in Shandur Top,
Pakistan at a
height of 3,700
meters.
In 1994,
Pakistan became
the first
country of the
world to hold
four World Cup
titles
tournaments in
different
mainstream
sports
simultaneously.
The sports
included
cricket, hockey,
squash and
snooker.
The Lonely
Planet, a global
tourist guide,
has listed
Pakistan as
being tourism’s
“next big thing
for more years
than we care to
remember. But
world media
headlines always
send things off
the rails.”
Perhaps my
critics too have
been unfairly
influenced by
media headlines.
I urge them to
take a second
look at this
country before
they rush to
judgment. Beauty
is in the eyes
of the beholder.
It is the usual policy of CCN to
include notices of events, video links and articles that
some readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices
are often posted as received. Including such messages/links
or providing the details of such events does not necessarily
imply endorsement or agreement by CCN of the contents
therein.
Egypt's
Salah wins African Footballer of the Year
prize
Salah has scored 23 times in 29
appearances for Liverpool after
his transfer
Egypt forward Mohamed
Salah has capped the most successful
period of his career by winning the 2017
African player of the year award.
Following a record number of votes, the
Liverpool star was awarded the
Confederation of African Football Player
of the Year accolade on Thursday at a
ceremony in Ghana's capital city, Accra,
ahead of fellow Liverpool star Sadio
Mane of Senegal and Gabon's Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang.
"It's never easy to win a big award like
that," Salah said on Thursday.
"It's an honour for me to be nominated
with these two great players tonight."
The 25-year-old described winning the
award as a "dream come true", before
dedicating the accolade to "the children
in Egypt and Africa ... to remind them
to never stop dreaming and never stop
believing in themselves.”
Salah was the favourite to win the award
having made an incredible impact at
Liverpool since joining the club from
Italian side AS Roma over the summer.
He is currently the Premier League's
second top scorer with 17 goals, and has
enjoyed a stellar year for both club and
country.
In early 2017, the forward was the
central figure for Egypt as they
finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of
Nations.
He also had a hand in all seven of the
goals that took the Pharaohs to
qualification for their first World Cup
since 1990.
Salah made two assists and scored five
goals, including the stoppage-time
penalty against Congo that sealed their
ticket to the event in Russia, which is
due to be held later this year.
Salah is the first Egyptian and third
North African - after last year's
Algerian winner Ryad Mahrez, and
Morocco's Mustapha Hadji in 1998 - to
win the prestigious individual honour
since its inception by CAF in 1992.
Police
in Tehran say women will no longer be
arrested for not wearing a hijab
An Iranian
woman shows her ink-stained
finger after casting her vote
during elections.
IRAN: Authorities in
Iran’s capital city Tehran announced
this week that women who walk around in
public without the proper head coverings
will no longer be arrested. Compulsory
hijab has been the law of the land in
Iran since the 1979 revolution. Women
have been compelled to wear a
strictly-enforced conservative dress
code consisting off a headscarf to cover
their hair and long loose fitting
clothing ever since.
“Those who do not observe the Islamic
dress code will no longer be taken to
detention centres, nor will judicial
cases be filed against them,” Tehran
police chief General Hossein Rahimi
said, according to local media reports.
Instead of being placed under arrest by
morality police or issued fines for “bad
hijabs,” as has often happened in the
past, women seen in public not wearing a
hijab will be forced to attend Islam
educational classes.
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian expat and the
founder of the popular My Stealthy
Freedom Facebook page, which has been
campaigning against compulsory hijab in
Iran for years, saw the policy shift as
a moderate success, but was sceptical of
Rahimi’s carefully-worded announcement.
“In his statement, the police chief said
if the scarf falls off ‘accidentally,’
the women will not be arrested but sent
to educational classes,” Alinejad told
Women in the World in an email. In
today’s Iran,” she added, “no one takes
off their headscarves accidentally.”
Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip Hop in the
United States
by
Su'ad Abdul Khabeer
Description
Interviews with
young, black Muslims in Chicago explore the
complexity of those with identities formed at
the crossroads of Islam and hip hop.
This
groundbreaking study of race, religion and
popular culture in the 21st century United
States focuses on a new concept, "Muslim Cool."
Muslim Cool is a way
of being an American Muslim--displayed in ideas,
dress, social activism in the 'hood, and in
complex relationships to state power.
Constructed through hip hop and the performance
of Blackness, Muslim Cool is a way of engaging
with the Black American experience by both Black
and non-Black young Muslims that challenges
racist norms in the U.S. as well as dominant
ethnic and religious structures within American
Muslim communities.
Drawing on over two
years of ethnographic research, Su'ad Abdul
Khabeer illuminates the ways in which young and
multiethnic U.S. Muslims draw on Blackness to
construct their identities as Muslims. This is a
form of critical Muslim self-making that builds
on interconnections and intersections, rather
than divisions between "Black" and "Muslim."
Thus, by countering
the notion that Blackness and the Muslim
experience are fundamentally different, Muslim
Cool poses a critical challenge to dominant
ideas that Muslims are "foreign" to the United
States and puts Blackness at the center of the
study of American Islam.
Yet Muslim Cool also
demonstrates that connections to Blackness made
through hip hop are critical and
contested--critical because they push back
against the pervasive phenomenon of
anti-Blackness and contested because questions
of race, class, gender, and nationality continue
to complicate self-making in the United States.
KB says:
Trust
me you won't want to eat store bought jam after
this. It's as simple as that!
Strawberry Jam
1 kg hulled
strawberries. (see below)
Pulse in the food
processor but not too processed.
Place into a pot and add 1 T lemon juice and ¾
cup sugar
Boil on medium heat for approx. 8-10mins until
thickened.
Since we have an abundance of strawberries in
the market place a great idea would be to make a
large quantity and freeze in batches as it
freezes really well
To prepare strawberries:
Prepare the strawberries by wiping them with a
piece of damp kitchen paper. (Wiping the
strawberries rather than washing them ensures
the fruit doesn’t absorb lots of water – too
much water and the jam won’t set easily.) To
hull the fruit, use a knife to cut a cone shape
into the strawberry and remove the stem. Cut any
large berries in half.
Do you have a recipe to share with CCN
readers?
Send in your favourite recipe to me at
admin@ccnonline.com.au and be my "guest chef" for the week.
Welcome to my weekly
column on
Self-Care and
Clarity of Mind.
If you’re taking
time out to read
this, pat yourself
on the back because
you have shown
commitment to taking
care of your mind
and body.
Today, In Shaa
ALLAH, we will
explore the topic:
Awaken Your
Entrepreneurial Mind
It was 2pm on a
Wednesday afternoon
in November of 2016
when it dawned on me
that I must rise
above the oppression
of my then toxic
workplace and walk
out forever. I
didn’t have a job to
go to. I didn’t have
any savings as I
lived from pay week
to pay week, a
fortnightly cycle of
existence. I recited
Surah Fatiha, begged
ALLAH for strength,
took a deep breath
in, exhaled with
total faith that
ALLAH would open a
new door for me to
earn a halal income.
I collected my
personal items and
left quietly, never
to return to that
toxic setup.
An hour later, as I
was riding home on
the train, shaytan's
whispers, like an
incessant
fear-mongering
track, began in my
mind: What have I
done? I’ll never be
able to survive.
Where is the money
for rent, food and
bills going to come
from? I’m such a
stupid, idiot for
leaving a permanent
job. Go back, go
back.
These whispers
gnawed at my
conscience like a
hungry mouse
devouring a piece of
cheese. I started
shaking with panic.
One of the
strategies I always
use in times of
panic is to bring my
awareness to the
present moment, the
NOW, and breathe
deeply, slowly and
exhale slowly. So, I
closed my eyes and
started breathing,
with each breath,
reciting Allahu
Akbar. As I breathed
and recited, I
started reminding
myself the meaning
of Allahu Akbar.
Tension started to
melt away, I could
breathe better.
When I got home, the
first thing I did
was pray my salah.
Then I showered,
turned my phone off
and slept. Upon
waking, I began
affirming these
words to myself: I
am free. I am free.
I am free.
The positive energy
in me increased. And
then the doorbell
rang. It was my
teenage daughter,
home from school.
One look at me and
she knew there was
something different.
“You okay, mum?”
“Alhumdolillah,
baby. I am free. I
am free to work for
myself now.”
“Are we okay with
money, mum?” she
asked, concerned. I
realised I had
imposed my own fears
on my child
regarding money and
sustenance.
“Ar-Razak, Allah
Provides,” I
reminded us both.
That evening I
poured my heart out
to my husband, who
was at the time
caring for his ill
father overseas. He
listened patiently
and reminded me that
I had been through
worse situations and
this was one more
step towards my
growth.
Alhumdolillah.
In my reflective
journal that night,
I wrote about the
time in India
several years ago
when I was working
for myself as a
full-time freelance
writer and writing
therapist. I wrote
down, in dot points,
all my skills, my
qualifications and
my yearnings. I took
each one of those
points and wrote out
a possible way to
turn it into an
income generator.
Next morning, I sent
a bulk email and
text message out to
people offering my
services.
Alhumdolillah,
within minutes I
began getting
messages enquiring
about my English
tuition services,
just one of the many
services I was
offering. Soon, my
diary was booked for
two weeks to teach
English to a sister
who was preparing
for her IELTS exam.
I knew I was on the
right track. I knew
I had more in me to
share with the
world. I prayed for
a miracle, begging
Allah to guide me so
that I could start
living my purpose.
While taking a walk
in the park and
being in complete
silence I heard my
intuition, my soul's
voice. I saw an
image in my mind - a
purple thought
bubble and three
'M's...and I thought
what could these
mean? I started
making dhikr and
asked Allah to give
me a more specific
guidance so that I
could decipher this
image. This time,
almost immediately
after I made this
duaa, I clearly saw
the words flash in
my mind "Muslimah
Mind Matters".
Muslimah Mind
Matters celebrates
one year anniversary
this month. I am
grateful to ALLAH
for awakening my
entrepreneurial
mind.
Eight Steps To
Awaken Your
Entrepreneurial Mind
1. Write down
what you enjoy
doing most, what
gives you peace
and joy.
2. Write down
what is
fulfilling in
your current job
and why. Are you
growing in your
current job?
How?
3. Write down
what your skills
are.
4. Write down
what your
hobbies are.
5. Which skills
and hobbies
relate to each
other and can be
matched? For
example, if your
hobby is
swimming and
your skills lie
in teaching,
they could be
matched up as
“teach
swimming”. Or if
your hobby is
cooking and one
of skills is
graphic design,
how could you
match them up?
6. Ask yourself
this question
and write an
honest answer:
If money, age,
traditions and
location were
not my barriers,
what would my
ideal job look
like?
7. Write down
what you can do
every single day
to make this
ideal job become
a reality.
8. Write down
what you can do
today, this very
moment, to make
a start towards
making your
ideal job a
reality. It
could be a
simple thing
like making a
specific duaa to
ALLAH.
Do not be stuck in a
life that is not
moving you towards
your purpose. You
are a joyful being
and your life is
precious. You are
blessed with
abundance. Remember
to be grateful to
ALLAH for this
abundance. Rizq
comes from ALLAH. If
you are not joyful
where you are right
now in your life,
take charge and do
something about it.
Fear is from shaytan...Faith
is from ALLAH.
Choose faith.
If you wish to know
about a specific
topic with regards
to Self-Care and
Clarity of Mind,
please text or email
me or visit
www.muslimahmindmatters.com.
If you wish to have
a FREE one hour
Finding Clarity
telephone session,
contact me on
0451977786.
Q:
Dear Kareema, I’ve been active for a few months
now and can finally see some changes in my body.
I’m feeling much more comfortable in my clothes
as well. Now need help figuring out how to keep
it up?
A:
The hardest part is getting started and you
nailed it. Great work!
Let your long-term vision now be your
motivation.
Set a benchmark for the next few months (small
achievable weekly goals for example), and commit
to it. Think progress, not perfection.
Keep workouts simple but challenging & keep
re-visiting your end goal.
"If I sold my house
and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money
to the Mosque, would that get me into heaven"? Mula
Nasruddin asked the children during a madressah lesson.
“NO"! the children all answered.
“If I cleaned the Mosque every day, mowed the yard, and
kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into
heaven"?
Once more they all answered, “NO"!!
“Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave lollies
to all the children and loved my wife, would that get me
into heaven"? Mula Nasruddin asked them again.
Once more they all answered, “NO"!!!
“Well,” Mula Nasruddin continued, thinking they were a
good bit more theologically sophisticated than he had
given them credit for, “Then how can I get into heaven?”
O you who believe! Among
your wives and your children
are enemies to you, so
beware of them. But if you
pardon, and overlook, and
forgive—Allah is Forgiver
and Merciful. Your
possessions and your
children are a test, but
with Allah is a splendid
reward.
Sisters Support Services will be holding
a stall at the Logan Roos fundraising carnival to
promote our activities to support sisters in Brisbane
and we will be selling drinks and sweets.
If anyone would like to donate
• cans of soft drink
• small bottles of water
• desserts / sweets
that we can sell to raise money to help Sisters Support
Services please let me know.
Soccer 365
is now enrolling children for our summer vacation
program 2017 commencing on the 15th of december up until
the 20th january @ Svoboda park in Kuraby.
The sessions available this term:
- Fridays 3.50pm-4.30pm for children
aged 4-6 (toddlers)
- Fridays 4.30-6pm for children aged
6-8 (minis)
- Saturdays 4.30pm-6pm for children
aged 8-12 years old (juniors).
The lessons shall cover the
fundamental rules and skills of soccer encouraging
social skills, motor skills and recreational fun.
As it is summer holidays there will
also be a range of additional activities such as
scavenger hunts, free time in the playground, other
sports games, competitions and prizes.
Toddler sessions will be priced ay
$10per lesson
And mini and junior sessions will be
$12 per lesson.
Pay as you play sessions can be
booked on the day but please still register in advance
Places are limited so please contact
us to book a place for your child now.
Also please check out our Facebook
page Soccer 365 Brisbane for pictures, videos and
information on the sessions.
$300k needed
Bank details
Suncorp bank
Account name: Islamic
Association of Logan city
BSB: 484799
Account number:603274926
GOLD COAST
ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTRE
Update as at
December 2017
Construction of
the Cultural Centre (Dawah &
Youth Centre) is progressing
well.
This week the doors, windows and
beams for the roof of our GC
Islamic Cultural Centre have
been installed. The plumbing
work is currently in progress
and the interior walls have been
partitioned for rooms and
toilets..
We still need donations to fund
this construction.
Please donate
generously.
Due
to the ongoing drought
affecting farmers in west
Queensland, MAA have joined
local organisations to help
Aussie farmers in their time
of need by trucking hay
bales from Victoria and New
South Wales to farmers in
west Queensland.
Farmers impacted by drought
often struggle to ask for
help and many due to the
financial strain of trying
to keep the farm afloat also
battle mental health issues.
By providing bales to help
farmers feed their animals
you'll be taking a huge
financial burden from them
as well keeping their
livestock alive.
1. All Islamic Event dates given above are supplied by
the Council of Imams QLD (CIQ) and are provided as a guide and are
tentative and subject to the sighting of the moon.
2. The Islamic date changes to the next day starting in
the evenings after maghrib. Therefore, exceptfor Lailatul
Mehraj,
Lailatul Bhahraat
and
Lailatul Qadr – these dates refer to the commencement of the event
starting in the evening of the corresponding day.
HikmahWay offers online and
in-person Islamic courses to
equip Muslims of today with
the knowledge, understanding
and wisdom to lead balanced,
wholesome and beneficial
lives.
Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the CCN Team, its Editor or its
Sponsors, particularly if they eventually turn out to be
libellous, unfounded, objectionable, obnoxious, offensive,
slanderous and/or downright distasteful.
It is the usual policy of CCN to
include from time to time, notices of events that some
readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are
often posted as received. Including such messages or
providing the details of such events does not necessarily
imply endorsement of the contents of these events by CCN
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Egypt's
Salah wins African Footballer of the Year
prize
Due
to the ongoing drought
affecting farmers in west
Queensland, MAA have joined
local organisations to help
Aussie farmers in their time
of need by trucking hay
bales from Victoria and New
South Wales to farmers in
west Queensland.
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7
August 2011