......a sometimes
self-deprecating and occasional tongue-in-cheek look at ourselves and
the world around us ......
Sunday, 28 June 2009
.Newsletter
0242
News you won't find on CNN!
CCN
Competition Winner
The winner of
the "Group of Five" ticket
drawn from the CCN Inbox for
the Sounds of Light concert
on 10 July is:
Amra Zlatic-Dhedhi
Congratulations!
The correct
answer was FIVE.
Nikah
Invitation
Mr and Mrs
AK Surtie of Brisbane
cordially invite you to
witness the nikah of
their daughter Mariam
to MuhammedKuramNasir, son of Mr and
Mrs M. Ramzan at
Kuraby Mosque on Saturday 4
July 2009 at 10.30 am.
Healthy
Eating for Filipinos and Indians
In the past year four Nutrition and
Dietetics students of Griffith University and Queensland
University of Technology, had their student placement
with Public Health Nutrition, Southern Population
Health, Queensland Health.
They developed and piloted the
Healthy Eating program for Sudanese, Vietnamese,
Bosnian and Spanish speaking communities, in partnership
with the Ethnic Communities Council Queensland (ECCQ).
This semester two students from the Griffith University
Master Nutrition and Dietetetics programme, Katie
Dowling and Melissa Scattergood, who have
been working on the development of two new programs, for
Filipino and Indian backgrounds, together with ChetnaSeth, NitiSeth and Demi
Fanjek, the Indian and Filipino Multicultural
Community Health Workers, ECCQ.
They would love to present and share
their work in a short presentation;
Date: Thursday 2 July
Time: 10.00-11.30 am
Venue: ECCQ House, 253 Boundary Street, West End,
Brisbane.
Phone 07 3844 9166 ext 115 or ext 104
Morning tea will be provided.
Please RSVP by Monday 29th June.
Little
Mosque on the Prairie: Season 3 Episode 9
A Hard Days Fight
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
'Choice,
freedom, identity': wearing the veil
By News
Online's Amy Simmons
The idea that
the Muslim burqa represents
the enslavement of women and
undermines their dignity is
an ignorant misconception,
according to a young,
part-Australian Muslim
woman.
French President Nicolas
Sarkozy has said the burqa
is "not a sign of religion",
but a sign of "enslavement
... and subservience".
Mr Sarkozy spoke in favour
of a recent call by 65
French MPs to create a
parliamentary commission to
study a small, but growing
trend, of wearing the
full-body religious garment
in France.
"We cannot accept in our
country women imprisoned
behind netting; cut off from
any social life, deprived of
any identity," he said.
"This is not the idea the
French republic has of a
woman's dignity."
But Nada Ibrahim, a Griffith
University PhD student, (pictured
right) says the veil is
an integral part of her
identity.
She says she chooses to wear
the veil not to satisfy any
male influence, but because
she believes it is a
commandment from God.
"It is actually an
obligation that is put in
the Koran," she said.
"If you go into a chapter
called 'the light', God
particularly tells us
Muslims to cover ourselves,
so it's a commandment from
God."
A 2007 study in the Journal
Of Muslim Minority Affairs
revealed that non-Muslims in
Australia feel threatened by
burqas and headscarfs.
But Ms Ibrahim says this is
an ignorant fear.
"It has nothing to do with
Muslim men being oppressive
and controlling ... nothing
to do with terrorism ... it
has everything to do with
God commanding you to do
it," she said.
"People don't dig further,
they don't say 'hang on a
minute, is this really
true'.
"People don't actually ask a
Muslim woman if she is
oppressed."
Ms Ibrahim says Muslim women
have been wearing the veil
for about 1,430 years and
that their dress was only
put on trial after the
events of September 11.
She says people find the
female Muslim identity
confronting because it does
not comply with Western
societal norms.
"More than anything, for a
lot of people who resist the
veil, what they are
resisting is that
confrontation of identity of
a Muslim woman," she said.
"I'm a Muslim woman, I am
prepared to wear this and I
don't fall into whatever
fashion dictates, because at
the end of the day I'm not a
slave of that - I'm saying
no to that.
"And I'm saying no to a huge
cosmetic industry; to a huge
fashion industry."
Nada says one of the biggest
misconceptions about Muslim
women who choose to wear the
burqa is a lack of
education.
"People think just because I
am covered, my brain is
covered," she said.
"No, it is not. I have my
own thinking brain.
"People think that I don't
have my own opinion - they
get baffled and taken back
when they meet Muslim women
with strong careers, strong
values, strong opinions, and
they think 'that doesn't fit
the stereotype that I have
in my mind about you'."
She says people also impose
cultural practices, carried
out in various countries, on
Islam as a whole.
"For example, it would be
unfair and unjust to say
that a Muslim woman like
myself, living in Australia,
is living with the cultural
values of Saudi Arabia or
Afghanistan," she said.
"I don't know Saudi Arabia
or Afghanistan - I've never
lived there or observed
their cultures - so people
should not make judgement
calls about what is the
Muslim culture."
Nada says there have been
some occasions, since living
in Australia, where she has
felt discriminated against
for choosing to wear a veil.
She says it is a matter of
respect.
"Yes, you get a lot of
comments about the scarf,
but at the end of the day
how you carry yourself is
what matters," she said.
"But if I'm carrying myself
and I'm proud of carrying
this veil because it is
something of my identity as
a person, then people
respect you for that."
Nada was born in Kenya,
raised in various countries
around the world, including
Egypt, India and Fiji,
completed her undergraduate
studies in Malaysia, and has
lived in Australia for the
last 20 years.
She has a Masters of
Education in guidance and
counselling, and is
currently researching her
PhD on intimate partner
violence in Muslim
communities.
Muslims
across the world paid
tribute on Saturday, June
27, to American pop
superstar Michael Jackson,
who died of an a cardiac
arrest this week.
"It's hard to overestimate
the impact Jackson had on
the world in general, much
less the Muslim world,"
Zahed Amanullah, associate
editor of the London-based
altmuslim.com, wrote in an
article on his website.
"Like young people elsewhere
around the world, many
Muslims simply loved
Michael, for his gentle
persona, his raw talent, or
the pop culture seed planted
in their subconscious.
The objective
of the MBN careers evening
is to assist persons to
position themselves in the
current environment where
unemployment is rising and
salaries and promotions are
being frozen.
The event is focused on
positioning/advising:
• Graduates on how to
optimize their opportunities
for employment in a market
where graduate applications
exceed graduate job
vacancies (depending on
industry);
• Current professionals who
are seeking/contemplating
new opportunities; and
• Existing professionals to
manage their careers.
A senior recruitment
consultant will be the
keynote speaker for the
evening.
MBN has
sourced material from a wide
range of recruitment
agencies and employers –
thereby ensuring that
relevant advice is provided
to existing and emerging
professionals.
Research
Study FAQ
A call was
made recently in
CCN240 to assist in a
research project being
conducted by
Ms Nada Ibrahim of the
Griffith Islamic Research
Unit (GIRU).
Since that
initial call, a number of
questions concerning that
research and the survey have
been raised with Ms Ibrahim
by respondents and
prospective respondents.
To clarify
the questions raised and
allay any concerns about the
conduct of the survey, Ms
Ibrahim has prepared an FAQ
which you can read
here.
A/Professor of
Statistics
Department of Mathematics & Computing
University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba, Qld.
Dear Editor,
I
would really appreciate if you could send this call
out in your next newsletter.
I am looking at organising the Inaugural "Muslim
Masters Golf Tournament" shortly after the end of
Ramadan. It will be a one-day event, winner take
all. I would like to find out if there is any
interest out there in the Queensland community.
If anyone is keen to participate please email me at:
abdul.khan@stonebridgegroup.com.au so that i can
start to get some numbers and plan the bookings.
Also please feel free to mention your favourite golf
course.
Jazak-Allah AbdulKhan
Around
the Muslim World with CCN
Britain could never
debate the burka like France
President
Sarkozy's proposed ban may be pure
politicking, but it does expose a
fundamental cross-Channel difference
I agree with David, Kent. many
moslems demand their traditions,
culture and religious beliefs be
respected, but they're quite
prepared to ignore our tradition
and culture.Many do not even
bother to learn english.Willing
to take the benefits of living
in the UK, but not willing to
truly integrate.
JJ, Glasgow, Scotland
Simple solution: All or no Moslems
wear burkas - Male, female, and
their children.
A Roma, Miami, Fl., USA
I don't think the burka should be
outlawed. I sell them.
Abdul, London, UK
Agnès Poirier
Times Online
"The burka is not
a religious problem, it's a question
of liberty and women's dignity. It's
not a religious symbol, but a sign
of subservience and debasement. I
want to say solemnly, the burka is
not welcome in France. In our
country, we can't accept women
prisoners behind a screen, cut off
from all social life, deprived of
all identity. That is not our idea
of freedom.”
So spoke Nicolas Sarkozy in
Versailles during his first state of
the nation address to France's two
chambers, the National Assembly and
the Senate. He won rapturous
applause and there is little doubt
that an overwhelming majority of the
French agreed with his every word. I
say an overwhelming majority because
this issue crosses all party lines
in France. Republican principles of
equality and secularism are so
deeply grounded in the French mind
that they belong as much to the Left
as to the Right.
For someone like me, firmly on the
Left, the defence of secularism is
the only way to guarantee cultural
diversity and national cohesion. One
cannot go without the other.
However, when I get on Eurostar to
London, I feel totally alien. To my
horror, my liberal-left British
friends find such a position closer
to that of the hard Right.
So does Mr Sarkozy's speech mean
France is about to forbid its
citizens to wear the burka on the
streets? Unlikely. Mr Sarkozy's
speech should be seen as piece of
politics; he wants to reassure his
party of his allegiance to the
ideals of the French Republic and to
undermine even further the awkward
position of the Left.
The Prague mosque can
hardly accommodate the increasing number of
worshippers, especially for the Friday
prayer. (IOL photo)
PRAGUE -- Not so long ago the words
Czech and Muslim were two polar opposites and it would
be almost unthinkable to use them together. But now, two
decades after the fall of the Communist regime in
Czechoslovakia, Muslims are increasing in numbers,
becoming more active and founding new organisations to
represent them.
21-year-old fresh convert
Jitka Cervinkova has created a a new
Facebook Group called Muslims from Czech
Republic.
"I think Facebook is great
for meeting other Muslims as I don’t really
go to the mosque here in Prague because it
is too far for me and it seems that women
there are mainly mums with children,"
"I didn’t meet any young girls of my age
when I visited."
"About 300 come to the main mosque and at least 200 come
to the prayer hall in the centre," Vladimir (Umar) Sanka,
one of the managers of the main mosque and prayer hall
in Prague, told IslamOnline.net.
He said the numbers of Muslims are slowly but surely
growing in the Czech Republic.
"The prayer hall is so overcrowded every Friday that we
have been forced to have two Friday prayers and lectures
so that all the Muslims can even fit."
The mosque had to hire a sports hall for `Eid Al-Adha,
one of the two main religious festivals on the Islamic
calendar which was celebrated in December, to
accommodate the record-breaking number of 1,500 Muslims
who showed up.
The increase of Muslims is linked to the growing number
of Czechs embracing the Muslim faith.
"In our mosque in Prague we are honoured and happy to
witness a new conversion almost every week," says Sanka.
The last recorded number of Muslims was around 12,000 in
2007, but the latest estimate is around 20,000,
including 400 converts.
The first official Muslim organisation, the Islamic
Foundation, was established in 1991.
In 1998 it opened its first mosque in Brno and then one
year later in Prague.
There were also attempts to build mosques in smaller
cities, mainly Spa towns which are popular with Arab
clients, but these plans were met with resistance from
both the public and churches.
Islam itself was not legally accepted as a religion by
the Czech state until 2004.
Q: Dear Kareema, you always talk about using our own
body-weight while exercising to achieve great results.
Are you able to give us more examples of the type of
exercises We can do?
A: Try any or all of the following body-weight
exercises:
PUSH-UPS: for chest, arms and core.
DIPS: for triceps and chest.
CHIN-UPS: for lats (muscles in your back)
BODY-WEIGHT SQUATS: for quads, hamstrings,
glutes and posture.
SIT-UPS: for abs (tummy)
HOVER / BRIDGE: for strengthening your core
muscles.
SIDE-LYING BRIDGE: for sides / waist (obliques).
STEP-UPS: for quads, hamstrings and glutes.
LUNGES: for quads, hamstrings and glutes.
All questions sent in are published here anonymously
and without any references to the author of the
question.
CCN
Readers' Book Club:
You are what you read!
This week
CCN
recommends
God Is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is
Changing the World
by
John Micklethwait and
Adrian Wooldridge
Editorial Review
Two Economist writers show how
and why religion is booming around the world and reveal
its vast effects on the global economy, politics, and
more
On the street and in the corridors of power, religion is
surging worldwide. From Russia to Turkey to India,
nations that swore off faith in the last century—or even
tried to stamp it out—are now run by avowedly religious
leaders. Formerly secular conflicts like the one in
Palestine have taken on an overtly religious cast.
God Is Back shines a bright light on this hidden
world of faith, from exorcisms in São Paulo to religious
skirmishing in Nigeria, to televangelism in California
and house churches in China.
Since the Enlightenment, intellectuals have assumed that
modernization would kill religion—and that religious
America is an oddity. As God Is Back argues,
religion and modernity can thrive together, and America
is becoming the norm. Many things helped spark the
global revival of religion, including the failure of
communism and the rise of globalism. But, above all,
twenty-first century religion is being fueled by a very
American emphasis on competition and a customer- driven
approach to salvation. These qualities have
characterized this country’s faith ever since the
Founders separated church and state, creating a
religious free market defined by entrepreneurship,
choice, and personal revelation. As market forces
reshape the world, the tools and ideals of American
evangelism are now spreading everywhere.
The global rise of faith will have a dramatic and
far-reaching impact on our century. Indeed, its
destabilizing effects can already be seen far from Iraq
or the World Trade Center. Religion plays a role in
civil wars from Sri Lanka to Sudan. Along the tenth
parallel, from West Africa to the Philippines, religious
fervor and political unrest are reinforcing each other.
God Is Back concludes by showing how the same
American ideas that created our unique religious style
can be applied around the globe to channel the rising
tide of faith away from volatility and violence.
Using the book
club you can see what books fellow CCN
readers have on their shelves, what they are
reading and even what they, and others,
think of them.
Ingredients
4 cups Flour
125g Butter
2 tbls Sugar
1 tsp Salt
10g Yeast
1 ½ to one and three quarter cups - lukewarm
Milk.
Filling
Cook 1 Kg cubed chicken with green chilies,
ginger garlic, salt, lemon juice and jeeru.
Add 1 Grated tomato and braise, then add
frozen corn and grated carrot or mixed
vegetables.
Sauce
11/2 cup milk. 1 tbls Corn Flour, ¼ tsp
pepper, Add to filling and braise. Allow the
filling to cool.
Method for Dough
Sift Flour and salt and add sugar. Rub in
butter and then add yeast. Make a soft dough
with lukewarm milk & leave to rise. Divide
dough into 6 equal portions. Roll each ball
out and then fill like a swiss roll. Slice &
sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in a moderate oven until light brown.
Do you have a recipe to
share with CCN readers? Send in your favourite recipe
to
ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org
and be our "guest chef" for the week.
The CCN Chuckle
A young Mula Nasruddin Jr. gets 0 in his exam paper.
Mula Nasruddin Snr. angrily asks what is this?
Mula Nasruddin Jr. replies, Teacher has no star to give
me and so, she gave me the whole moon!!!
University of Queensland,
323 Hawken Drive, St. Lucia
Every Monday
Event: Weekly Learning Circle: Sharh
Riyad-us-Saliheen (An Explanation of
'Gardens of the Righteous'
Venue: Prayer Room, University of Queensland
Time: 6.45pm to 7.30pm
Every Friday
Subject:
Fiqh Made Easy
Venue: Room E215 Building 1 (Forgan Smith),
University of Queensland
Time: 7pm to 7.50pm
Every Friday
Subject:
Tafseer al Qur'an (Explanation of the
Qur'an)
Venue: Room E215 Building 1 (Forgan Smith),
University of Queensland
Time: 8pm to 9pm
Sunnah Inspirations is a
non-profit organisation to cater for Muslim
social support and supplying information to
Muslims and non-Muslims. They have
been doing various activities around
Australia, and have organised Da'wah
information stalls at various universities
in Brisbane. More info can be found on
their website above.
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
ccn@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
ccn@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,
particularly if they eventually turn out to be libelous,
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 either CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.
C
