The CresWalk organizing team are putting the final touches to next Sunday's event which starts at the later time of 9am this year.
If you have not yet registered to join the rest of the 600+ runners, walkers, crawlers and stragglers then you'll miss out on what promises to be a great morning out along the Brisbane River.
There are a few new surprises in store this year.
CCN's Man-on-the-Mussallaah will be plodding the route on the look out for the winner of this year's Compton Road Dental Biggest-and-Brightest-Smile Prize (and no, it's not a two-extractions-for-the-price-of-one type offer!).
The 3-6 year-olds will have their special event at the Park at around 11am. In addition to the trophies for the winners in the 13 different categories, there will be random draw prizes, special awards and good fare. So, inshaAllah, we'll see you there!
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Late entries will be accepted until 17 May and you can register online until then.
Race packs for registered entrant should be picked up on Saturday 20 May at the Kuraby Community Hall between 2 and 5pm.
Cindy Sheehan is a peace activist and mother of an American serviceman killed in Iraq.
Salam Ismael belongs to Doctors for Iraq. DFI is a group of doctors who have experienced the destruction of the infrastructures of the health system in their country after the invasion in 2003, and have set up the organization to help relieve the suffering of their fellow Iraqis.
Made up of junior doctors at the beginning of their careers they individually volunteered to go from hospital to hospital and area to area to provide medical care to those in need. However, they soon realized that they needed to organize themselves and work in a team. So in October 2003 they held a conference and formed Doctors for Iraq, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) with 100 doctors volunteering to become established members.
The Minister for Small Business, Information Technology Policy and Multicultural Affairs, Chris Cummins, announced in State Parliament this week that the Multicultural Assistance Program grants round was now open for 2006/07.
Last year 71 multicultural festivals and projects across Queensland received funding through the program. This year there is $600,000 in funding available, with an extra $65,000 available for the second round of grants under the Muslim Community Engagement Strategy.
Grants of up to $10,000 are available for multicultural festivals and events, and up to $30,000 for community development and community relations projects. In addition, $100,000 will be allocated under previously approved funding for six major multicultural festivals across the State.
The Multicultural Assistance Program helps all Queenslanders of ethnic and culturally diverse backgrounds feel at home and proud of their origins. The festivals, events, and programs that is funded are "important forms of expression and sharing that enable people from diverse backgrounds to better integrate into society".
"They also allow people the satisfaction of being able to give back to the wider community cultural experiences that Queenslanders might otherwise never enjoy without going overseas".
Local community groups are encouraged to submit an application by 28 July 2006. If you need assistance or more information contact the Grants Coordinator on 3224 5690 or 1800 053 739, or email maq@premiers.qld.gov.au.
Is there Life After CresWalk?
You've come all the way to the city for CresWalk2006 and after a most satisfying day's "work" you find yourself with the rest of a relaxing afternoon ahead of you but with nothing better to do.
Are you the type of person who always wanted to know what the insides of the hallowed walls of the Queensland Parliament looked like; or haboured a burning desire to explore its buildings (especially the parts usually only accessible to its Members); or just wanted to learn more about the workings of modern day Parliament?
Satisfy all your curiosities at the Queensland Parliament Open Day on 21 May (runs until 4pm).
Life as a Muslim student at Queensland Universities
How do students from Muslim countries who come to Australia to study at our Universities cope with their religious requirements?
Queensland University of Technology Vice President of the Muslim Students, Waleed Al Marzouqi, is studying Quantity Surveying and is an international student from the UAE. “QUT provides prayer rooms on all three campuses and ensures things like halal food are available. The staff try to make sure our timetables do not clash with holy days. This is pretty amazing considering the university has 40,000 students,” he said.
QUT’s Muslim Students Association is a community focused, student group providing a support network for new international Muslim students. New students are provided with induction packs which include lists of mosques in the surrounding areas, localities to purchase halal food and access to the web.
QUT also provides support for young Muslim women. The university ensures there is access to female counsellors and International Student Services (ISS) works in conjunction with groups like the Muslim Students Association to provide separate social activities and events like prayer nights for the female students.
Graeme Baguley, Head of International Student Services, said activities like these not only provide practical assistance but also creates a sense of community and personal support. “The Muslim Students Association is one of the groups closest linked with the community,” he said.
QUT’s Accommodation Officer, Nazrin Rashid agrees, “The Muslim group encompasses many nationalities. If the students choose to be involved, there are a lot of activities,” he said.
They range from trips to Mount Warning and Stradbroke Island to evening prayers and Eid celebrations. Evening prayers are an essential way to meet new friends and create networks. Friday prayers at Gardens Point often involve professionals from the city who need a venue to pray. Mr Rashid said, “Many of these professionals are ex-students who need to find a mosque close to their workplace so they come to the only prayer room that is close to the city”.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt –The audience, mostly young Muslim women in veils, clapped, swayed and sang along as Sami Yusuf belted out a love song.
The object of his adoration? Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
With a British accent, Islamic lyrics and trendy video clips, 25-year-old Yusuf has become a music idol to a young generation of Muslims eager to reconcile their religious impulses with the appeal of modernity and pop and to proudly display an Islamic identity many feel is under attack. He rejects the “clash of civilizations” theories fueled by the current angry exchanges over cartoons of prophet Muhammad. He seeks to dispel stereotypes and to show that the Western and Muslim cultures he straddles can coexist.
“I don’t call it a clash of civilizations. I call it a clash of the uncivilized,” Yusuf said of the cartoon controversy. “On one hand, you find these extremist people who are anti-religion. They’re really creating Islamophobia. … On the other hand you find these other extremists who are burning flags.”
Islam and the West have much to offer each other, he said in an interview at the British Embassy in Cairo, wearing a beige suit, trendy striped scarf and trim beard. “I am an example of that. I am a British Muslim. I am a proud Brit who is also proud of his religion.”
Yusuf was born to Azerbaijani parents and raised in London where he has non-Muslim friends, including Christians and atheists. “The diversity that exists in the United Kingdom is close to the Islamic understanding of tolerance,” he said.
The British government, contending with the extremism that spawned the bombings of a London bus and subway trains in July, appears happy to help spread the message; its embassy is listed on Yusuf’s Web site as a supporter of his Egypt tour.
Yusuf learned music from his father, himself a musician, composer and poet, and studied with composers from the Royal Academy of Music. His lyrics and music are mostly in English, with some verses in Arabic, Turkish and Hindi. Yusuf said he didn’t have the mainstream West in mind when he worked on his first album. “I wanted to do something for the minority Muslims living in the West, especially in the U.K., to bring up their morale a bit. They need to be proud of their religion,” he said.
But the Arab world has been listening, too, especially to “Mualim,” or Teacher – his song about Muhammad:
“We once had a Teacher,
“The Teacher of teachers,
“He changed the world for the better.
“And made us better creatures.”
His appeal was evident at a recent concert in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. “I just feel psychologically calm when I listen to his music and when I praise God and the prophet with him,” said Fairouz Yaseen, 34.
“He shows that Islam is not about (Osama) bin Laden or terrorism.”
What do coffee beans, torpedoes, surgical scalpels, arches and observatories all have in common?
Were Leonardo da Vinci’s flight ideas originals?
Who devised the casing for pill capsules and where did Fibonacci learn to flex his mathematical fingers?
The Islamic contribution to the science, culture and heritage of our modern world is often forgotten. From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life.
Every so often, over the next few weeks, CCN will bring you an invention inspired by the Islamic World.
Worth noting, Mate!
The musical notes we play on our recorder or piano are actually the Arabic alphabet read out aloud.
The basic scale do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and ti comes from Arabic alphabet: Dal-Ra-Mim-Fa-Sad-Lam-Sin.
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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.
It's all systems go! 
