Hafez Luqman, son of Malek and Zaini Issadeen, and RuqayyaParuk, daughter of Edris and FatimaParuk, announced their intention to get married.
The happy couple and their parents ask all CCN readers for their duas and for success and happiness in their marriage, inshaAllah.
Keep an eye for next week's CCN for more breaking news and announcements of a similar vein.
Its about being 'fair dinkum' folks!
During a week in which Australians celebrated Australia Day with a public holiday on Thursday 26 January, Mohamad Abdallah, occasional Imam at Kuraby Mosque and Director of the Griffith Islamic Research Unit at Griffith University, gave his personal views on what being Australian means:
"As for me, to be an Australian go(es) beyond a love of sport, the outdoors, meat pies, mateship and a fair go for all. It means:
To be liberated: Free to practice my beliefs without imposing them on others. Free to express my views whilst being mindful of the feelings of others. Free to choose while being aware of the consequences of my action.
To be tolerant: To accept the intrinsic value and essence of the 'other'. To tolerate 'others' based on understanding of differences. To reject anything that creates a dichotomy between 'us' and 'them' based on colour, ethnicity religion or gender. To tolerate multiculturalism based on its essential goodness for a pluralistic society. A fair go for all.
To be compassionate: Not to be egoistic (and) concerned only with oneself. To care for family, parents, neighbours, the elderly, the indigenous, the poor and the needy. To care not only for material progress alone, but for the moral, ethical and environmental sustainability of society".
Source: The Reporter 25 Jan 2006
Standing on Ceremony for Australia Day
Our Man-on-the-Mussallaah found himself amidst a select group of high flyers, politicians, and religious and community leaders at the 2006 Australia Day Multi-faith Ceremony held at the Celebration Lawn, Roma Street Parkland on Wednesday 25 January. A gathering of some 150 delegates heard Premier Peter Beattie deliver a welcome address which was followed by the Malu-Kiai Mura Buai Torres Strait Island Dancers.
Representative from eight different religious groups each gave their religious perspectives on the need to live and work together in harmony.
Imam Tariq Syed of Masjid Taqwa (Bald Hills) represented the Islamic faith.
Chris Cummins MP closed the ceremony and the Queensland Youth Choir, Stella Voce, sang
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian
while flags with messages of goodwill from the various groups represented on the evening fluttered on the fringes of the gathering.
Job Vacancy
Qld I-Care Assoc Inc. are looking for an experienced person to organise an interfaith camp to be held in May 2006.
The applicant will need to have experience in organising events, working within a team, have contacts in various communities and be proactive and timely.
The position will report to the Board of Qld I-Care and will be a paid temporary position.
In its Eight Biennial Conference held in the National University, Lahore, Pakistan during 19-22 December 2005 the delegates unanimously elected Dr Shahjahan Khan, Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, as the President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences (ISOSS).
Dr Khan will replace the Founding President of ISOSS, Dr Munir Ahmad who served on the position since the inception of the prestigious profession body in 1988. The ISOSS is an international organization of the professional statisticians, and is dedicated to the promotion and development of statistical knowledge and system globally with particular emphasis on the Islamic Countries. As per the tradition of previous ISOSS conferences over 300 delegates from all over the world participated in the recent conference, and presented research papers in different areas of theoretical and applied statistics.
Since its establishment the Society has been regularly organizing biennial conferences in collaboration with educational institutions/universities in various Islamic Countries:
The First, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Islamic Countries Conferences on Statistical Sciences were held in 1988, 1994, 1999, 2001 and 2005 in Lahore (Pakistan).
The Second was held in 1990 at Johor Bahru (Malaysia), the Third was held in 1992 at Rabat (Morocco); and the Fifth Conference was held in 1996 at Malang (Indonesia).
Dr Khan is the Vice President of the Islamic Council of Queensland
Source: USQ News
Rockies Gets Muslim Cemetery
Rockhampton's Memorial Gardens Cemetery is set to have the state's only Muslim burial site outside of Brisbane. And the man responsible for the design is the same man who fields gardening calls from ABC Capricornia and Tropical North listeners every week.
ABC's Gardening guru, Tom Wyatt is the designer for the cemetery which he describes as the most unique, modular grave system in the world. Tom explains that it's based on a recyclable system that maximises the use of land and can cater to all the religious beliefs of the world. For example, the Christian side the grounds makes use of plants that are mentioned in the bible.
Tom explains that the section on the outside near Ring Road is the section designated for other religious beliefs.
"We approached the Muslim society in the design stage to see if they'd be interested," Tom says. "The Muslim community wanted us to develop a grave that reflected their belief that the body must be in touch with the earth all the time, and not in a concrete tomb."
"Our system is that all bodies are in touch with the earth," he says. "We will have to relay the crypt so they face Mecca," he says. "We don't know what plants will be used yet - they'll decide what has significance to their religious life."
"They've had very few demands and requirements so far," he says. "Because of our system we can accommodate them."
"Muslims have bricked in grave sites, they're not actually buried in a tomb so the body can sit up and that's exactly our system and it absolutely suits them," he says. "Our grave sites have four concrete walls with no bottom and because of the way it's designed and sealed, the body doesn't have to be covered."
Work will start on the Muslim section of the cemetery within 12 months. "We'll start off small and see what the demand is because it's a costly exercise with each grave costing around $2300," he says.
Until now, Muslim burials have had to go to Brisbane. "It's a very emotional time for everyone involved and this will make it much easier for them," Tom says.
Here you can also hear the audio of the discussion between the ABC reporter and Tom Wyatt on this topic.
Rockhampton is 650km north of Brisbane.
Comment from another gushing CCN reader......
"From the moment I click on the CCN link until l shut down my browser I am convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it."
Movie wins Award
Recently CCN, in issue No. 56, extolled the praises of the movie "Paradise Now".
Last week the film won the much coveted Golden Globe for best foreign language film. Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad used his acceptance speech to call for an independent state for his people and an end to the injustices done by the Israeli occupation.
"[The prize is] a recognition that the Palestinians deserve their liberty and equality unconditionally," Assad told a host of Hollywood stars, including Harrison Ford and Virginia Madsen, on Monday, January 16, reported Reuters.
The Palestinian filmmaker said he did not taken sides in his masterpiece "Paradise Now," but had tried to explain why two simple garage mechanics would be willing to kill themselves and others.
"I don't believe my film is controversial. It just shows something from a different side that we are all worried about," he told reporters backstage at the Globes.
On May 14 of every year, Palestinians commemorate Nakba Day, which marks the creation of Israel on the rubble of Palestine and the bodies of the Palestinians.
Run since 1944 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the Golden Globe awards are given to motion pictures and television programs.
Winning the Globe gives "Paradise Now" a major boost for a possible Oscar nomination. No Palestinian film has ever been nominated to the most prestigious prize in the showbiz.
The film made its World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival 2005, where it won the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film, the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Prize and the Amnesty International Award for Best Film.
“Injustice”
Assad said his film wants the viewer to understand the mind-set that produces such acts as bombings, mainly because of injustice done to Palestinians and peace impotence under Israeli occupation.
"The feeling of the impotence is so strong that they kill themselves and others to say, 'I am not impotent.' It is a very complex situation, but the overriding umbrella is the injustice situation."
The characters' words underlie that thought as they go through their daily lives in occupied territory, which the film presents as an airless, hermetically sealed prison.
"Under the occupation, we're already dead ... In this life we are dead anyway ... If we can't live as equals, at least we can die as equals" are typical refrains in the film.
"Paradise Now" tells the story of two young Palestinians as they embark upon what may be the last 48 hours of their lives.
The film shows their typical daily lives, which grind on Israeli rocket attacks and crushing poverty.
The two childhood friends have been preparing to blow themselves up in Israel for most of their lives but reconsider their actions at the end of the movie.
Assad wrote "Paradise Now" in 1999 and shot it in Nablus in 2004.
To make the movie, he had to dodge a missile attack from Israel plus skirt landmines and threats from some Palestinians.
Famed Israeli psychologist Yisrael Oran had underlined a stark difference between suicidal and "self-bombing" operations.
"The psychological incentive for committing suicide shows up as an internal unbearable pain and hopelessness the only way to stop is thought to be killing oneself," he said.
"But the "self-bomber" feels the only way to change the tough conditions others are inflicted by is to take it hard and give up his life as a last-ditch attempt to evade permanent threatening danger."
The best ideas and the best feedback come from our community of readers. If you have a topic or opinion that you want to write about or want seen covered or any news item that you think might be of benefit to the Crescents Community please e-mail theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org.
Share your thoughts, feelings and ambitions for our community through CCN.
If there is someone you know who would like to subscribe to CCN please encourage them to send an e-mail to theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org with the words “Subscribe Me” in the subject line.
Disclaimer
Articles and opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Crescents of Brisbane team, CCN, its Editor or its Sponsors.
Marriages are in the Air
Its about being 'fair dinkum' folks!
Standing on Ceremony for Australia Day
ICQ VP Elected ISOSS President
Movie wins Award