......a sometimes
self-deprecating and occasional tongue-in-cheek look at ourselves and
the world around us ......
Sunday, 25 October 2009
.Newsletter
0259
News you won't find on CNN!
Earthquake & Tsunami Appeal
TODAY
CCN encourages you, with a little help from 13-year
old Declan Galbraith, to support today's fund raiser at the Islamic College of
Brisbane
Crescents of Brisbane Gives
Women a Chance to 'Chill Out'
Independent report by Farzanah
Ally
Giveaway to all guests -
handcrafted CD fridge magnets and gift
vouchers
Whilst many of us have so much to be grateful for we
often do not have the opportunity to truly celebrate our lives and each other.
All that changed on Saturday (yesterday) for over 140 women of all ages who let
down their hair (and their scarves) and celebrated being a woman.
With no
cooking lessons or vacuum cleaner demonstrations in sight we enjoyed a sumptuous
lunch and afternoon tea (and offcourse Crescents of Brisbane’s famous desserts),
all in the name of a very dedicated cause, the Mummy’s Wish Charity!
Mummy’s Wish is a not-for-profit charity focusing on supporting mothers
diagnosed with cancer while either pregnant or with young children in South East
Queensland. Their mission is to support mums with young families to help them
and their family cope with many of the challenges they face while undergoing
treatment.
In addition to the ticket sales, 10 percent of all proceeds from the sales of
products on the demonstration display stands including Beauty Spells, Larissa
Bright, Runway Culture Jewellery and Galvanic Spa will be donated to Mummy’s
Wish.
Lucky draw prizes and
giveaways
If you would like to support Mummy Wish please contact Gayle Richardson at
www.mummyswish.org.au.
The afternoon breezed by as we were dazzled by the energetic and glamorous
dancers from Rise & Shine who we cheered on enthusiastically as they
performed the Can Can Dance.
We were spoilt with many wonderful prize giveaways
and competition prizes including a Pellowes Gift Certificates, Babylon Day Spa
Packages, Emerging Swan Coaching Packages, a new release babyhood Diva Glider
Chair and much more.
We learnt from the inspiring Vicki Lennox from Emerging Swan Coaching how
to facilitate change in our lives so that we glide joyfully and elegantly on
swan lake and not drown in a duck pond.
We heard from Bronwyn Buckley, a
Health Promotion Officer about the long term strategies to improve our body
image.
Lunch fit for a Queen!
This was followed by the always passionate Sylvia Pellowe from
the Pellowe Wellness Centre who enlighten us about putting ‘the balance’ back
into our life through health and fitness.
This fabulous luncheon was not just supported by our local community but
attended by MP Judy Spence (Member for Sunnybank), the Ethnic Communities Council of Qld, ACCESS,
Logan Women’s Centre and Al-Nisa.
Finally but certainly not be forgotten are the true heroes of the day:
Saalihah Seedatandthe always dedicated and hard working team of
Crescents of Brisbane and the many volunteers who made this event a truly
indulgent and fun filled celebration for all that attended.
What some had to say......
Thank you so much for inviting me to today's
celebration of womanhood. I really enjoyed it and I met so many wonderful woman.
I hope you will let me know when a similar get together happens
The food was
fabulous!
Excellent
event.. Good
balance of speakers, games and socialising People
bingo game was great fun Everyone
was welcomed and made to feel special...it truly was a celebration Great
hospitality! Rise
and Shine Dancers were amazing...would love to see them again Convenient
venue...decor spectacular All
the speakers were very interesting... Fabulous
MC...good on you Saalihah...keep it up! Yet
another successful event from the Crescents...congratulations on a job well
done! Well
presented hall Most
delicious layout and variety of food and desserts..yummy An
amazing
effort from the Crescents to raise funds for such a worthy cause
More images
Vicki Lennox - Life Coach
Sylvia
Pellowe
Rachel
from Galvanic Spa
Saphena
Aku and Aameena Cajee
Table
Setting
Deb
McCulloch - Beauty Spells Mineral Makeup
Anisha Esat and Asma Motiwala
Rise and Shine dance group with Saalihah Seedat
Y_Care donates vehicle to Muslim
Organization
(left to right)
Mohammed Afzal, Matthew Swift, Janeth
Deen and Osman Rane at the handing over
ceremony
The students of Y-Care (SE QLD) Inc. and Logan City Youth
Services presented a vehicle to the Queensland Muslim Welfare
AssociationInc. (QMWA) last week to help the association
with its work providing clothes, household items and furniture to low
income and struggling families.
On the 19 October members of the Queensland
Muslim Welfare Committee attended a morning tea at the YMCA premises in
Slacks Creek for the presentation of the Falcon Station Wagon.
The vehicle will be used to deliver and
collect items.
Students at Logan City Youth Services
mechanically worked on the vehicle bringing it up to road worthy
condition and getting it registered in the name of the QMWA.
Members of the community donate vehicles to
Y-Care to support programs assisting marginalized and at risk youth
learn automotive skills. Some of the donated vehicles are repaired and
donated to victims of crime; others are used as training tools and later
sold as scrap metal or sold to raise funds to purchase parts.
Matthew Swift the Manager of the
YMCA spoke to the audience about the reason he decided to donate the car
to the Welfare organisation and spoke of the good work the QMWA was
doing in the area.
Mohammed Afzal then spoke about his experiences with the QMWA and
how it had helped him settle in a new job and move his family to
Toowoomba.
Janeth Deen accepted the car and thanked the YMCA for their
generosity and spoke about how important it was for the Muslims to be
involved in community work and also talked about the good work the YMCA
have carried out over the years.
Osman Rane followed with a presentation on the newly constituted
Muslim Charitable Foundation and how Muslims would now be able to
help with natural disasters and other areas of need more effectively and
efficiently.
Rees would have El Masri on his
team
Target ... Hazem El
Masri would be welcomed by NSW Premier
Nathan Rees (inset top) and Opposition
Leader Barry O'Farrell (inset bottom).
NEW South Wales Premier Nathan Rees says he would welcome retired NRL star
Hazem El Masri as a Labor Party candidate.
But he warned that having high profile politicians is no substitution for good
policy.
The NSW Liberal Party has already approached El Masri to run as a candidate for
Lakemba in the 2011 state election, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Rees said if El Masri did run for Labor it would not be in the Lakemba seat.
"We have a member there already, Rob Furolo, who's doing a terrific job and he's
well respected in the community,'' Mr Rees told Fairfax Radio Network today.
"I've worked with him in his campaign in and around his community and he's very
well regarded.
"Now, I have the greatest respect for Hazem El Masri but any political party
needs to know that selecting high profile candidates is not any substitution for
good policy.''
Mr Rees said he had not made a personal approach to El Masri but said the Labor
Party head office may have and that he would welcome him as a candidate.
"In another seat, were there a vacancy and Hazem put his hand up I'd be more
than happy to have a discussion with him.
"He's been an extraordinary exemplar for both his religion and his football.''
El Masri told The Daily Telegraph he could not comment on any approaches made by
the Liberal Party.
"I'm just having a break at the moment, I don't know what the future holds at
the moment, I have to go and think about a lot of things,'' he said.
The Jannanza
(funeral service) of Mrs. Vazira Ally (Ma) (82),
mother of Mustafa Ally and mother-in-law of
Nazima Hansa, was conducted at the
Kuraby Mosque after Zohr (midday) prayers on
Tuesday 20 October.
Mrs. Ally was laid to rest
soon after at the Mt Gravatt Cemetery where her husband
Abbas Hassan Ally also lies.
The Ally family thanks the
many people who with visited Ma at home and in hospital through her illness and
for their comfort and support during the past week. They
also wish to acknowledge the numerous emails and messages they
received from all parts of the world.
''Innaa lillah hi wa Innaa
ilay hi Rauji'oon''
To Allah do we belong and to Him is our return
Little
Mosque on the Prairie: Season 3 Episode 14
Raised Expectations
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
QMT Turns 5
CCN
congratulates the Queensland Muslim Times on turning 5 recently.
In 2004 Aslam Nabi, Ismail Jangda,
Saaid Saalie, and Dr. Sadeq Mustapha, Dr. Shabir Hussain and
Dinmahomed Karim set out the format, structure and scope of the
first registered Muslim newspaper in Queensland.
Thus the bi-monthly QMT was born with the help of a
few well-wishers. The newspaper primarily covers Brisbane and a few towns in
Queensland and is distributed through Mosques and Muslim-owned shops. QMT boasts
a readership of 25 000 with the local Muslim community as its predominant reader
base.
The current team comprises of Aslam Nabi,
Saaid Saalie, Habib Jamal, Dr. Sadeq Mustapha, Farah
Suleman, and Rehana Bibi as its Editor-in-Chief and Kawthar
Girarch its political and legal editor.
The CCN
Centre Link
Teachers for Madrasah
Holland Park Mosque
Madrasah is seeking the services of qualified
Teachers or person/s with previous teaching
experience to fill two available positions
The first position is available to a female teacher
to conduct classes for female students of the
recently established Madrasah in the areas of
Islamic Studies and Quran recitation.
The second position available is for a male Hafiz to
conduct Quran recitation and memorisation classes.
The agency
and US Airways acknowledged
the six imans taken off a
flight in 2006 were
improperly treated.
Three years after six Muslim
men were arrested on a US
Airways jet in the Twin
Cities, the "Flying Imams"
have reached a legal
settlement they say
acknowledges they were
treated improperly because
of their religious and
ethnic backgrounds.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
The imams (one
of whom is pictured left in
2006) were arrested in
November 2006 as they were
returning home from the
North American Conference of
Imams. They had prayed on
their prayer rugs in the
Minneapolis-St. Paul
International Airport before
the flight, and after they
boarded, a passenger passed
a note to a flight
attendant.
FBI Special Agent Michael
Cannizzaro and airport
police officers had argued
that the arrest and removal
of the imams was valid
because there were reasons
to be suspicious of a crime.
They argued that a law
passed by Congress to
protect people who report
suspicious activity from
being sued also extends to
them.
But Montgomery's opinion and
order stated that they were
bound by longstanding rules
requiring probable cause
before arresting someone.
Being of Middle Eastern
descent, praying aloud
before their flight and
asking for seat belt
extenders did not constitute
reasonable suspicion to
arrest the Muslim spiritual
leaders, Montgomery ruled.
The officers are not immune
to being held accountable
for their actions, she said.
She did dismiss a false
arrest claim against
Cannizzaro.
The judge's ruling also
dismissed some of the claims
against US Airways, saying
it did not act in concert
with law enforcement in
deplaning or detaining the
men.
Frederick Goetz, an attorney
representing the imams, said
Montgomery's ruling is
significant -- especially on
the question of law
enforcement officers'
ability to arrest people in
the post-9/11 world.
A baby is
being hailed a "sign of God"
in Russia after passages
from the Koran allegedly
began appearing on his skin,
reports claim.
The parents of
nine-month-old Ali Yakubov
claim the phenomenon began
when the word Allah showed
up on their son's chin when
he was a few weeks old,
British newspapers report.
Other words then started
appearing on other parts of
his body, including his
arms, legs and back, before
mysteriously fading away,
the parents claim.
"Ali always feels bad when
it is happening — he cries
and his temperature goes
up," his mother was quoted
as saying.
"It's impossible to hold him
when it's happening, his
body is actively moving, so
we put him into his cradle …
it's so hard to watch him
suffering."
The marks usually appear
each
week
on a Monday and then again
sometime between Thursday
and Friday, she claims.
One of the markings on
his skin
Medics at the family's town
in Dagestan province, near
Chechnya, are said to be
baffled by Ali’s condition.
They have reportedly
dismissed speculation
someone the words are caused
by someone writing on his
skin.
The
phenomenon has reportedly
made Ali the subject of
religious homage by many
locals in the troubled
region.
One local MP even hailed Ali
as "a pure sign of God".
"Allah sent him to Dagestan
in order to stop revolts and
tension in our republic,"
Akhmedpasha Amiralaev was
quoted as saying.
Gunmen whip women for
wearing 'un-Islamic bras' in Somalia
HARDLINE
Muslim extremists in Somalia
have been ordering women to
shake their breasts at
gunpoint to see if they are
wearing un-Islamic bras.
Victims have been publicly
whipped for wearing the
undergarments because the
gunmen say they violate
Islam as they are
'deceptive', The Daily Mail
reports
Insurgent group Al Shabaab
has sent gunmen into the
streets of Mogadishu to
round up any women who
appear to have a firm bust,
residents claimed yesterday.
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.
(If you haven't made a
batch yet for the CresCafe Coffee 'n
Cupcake
stall at today's (Sunday) fund raiser for the Tsunami
and Earthquake Appeals then this recipe should remove
all excuses)
Ingredients
125g butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp Peppermint essence
½ tsp green food colouring
2 ½ cups cake flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 cup milk
1 cup desiccated coconut
Chocolate spread (Nutella to fill and
decorate)
Grated peppermint crisp chocolate to
decorate
Method:
Line 24 muffin tins with paper cases.
Cream butter and sugar until light and
fluffy, add essence and colouring.
Add eggs gradually, beating well after each
addition.
Fold in sifted flour, baking powder, salt
and coconut.
Spoon half the batter evenly into 24 paper
cases.
Top centre of each muffin with half a
teaspoon chocolate spread.
Spoon remaining batter evenly over the
chocolate spread.
Bake at 180 for approx 15 minutes until
done.
When cool spread with green frosting of your
choice or nutella and sprinkle grated
peppermint crisp over it.
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.
Kareema's Keep Fit Column
Dear Kareema, with school holidays just over, I'm
struggling to get back into my fitness routine. What's
the best way to start again?
A:
Start with a 30 min walk daily after dropping off
the kids.
You can increase both your time and distance every week
and start introducing weights when you're ready (the
sooner the better).
Try not to go more than two days without training as
consistency is key to getting and staying fit!
All questions sent in are published here anonymously
and without any references to the author of the
question.
The CCN Chuckle
After retiring
from his camel herding, Mula Nasruddin decided to return
to the Darul Uloom and do the Alim course he had started
but never finished.
And so, on his
first day at the Islamic College, eager with
anticipation, and more than a little nervous, he took a
front row seat in his first class in over 40 years - an
Islamic literature course.
The ustad (teacher) told them that they would be
responsible for reading five books over the course of
the semester, and that he would provide them with a list
of authors from which they could choose.
He ambled over
to the lectern, took out his class book, and began: "Abd
al-Aziz ibn Abd Abbas ibn Baaz, Muhammad ibn al
Uthaymeen, Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo, Syed Abul Hasan
Ali Hasani Nadwi, Yusuf al-Qaradawi..."
Mula Nasruddin was working feverishly to get down all
the names, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
The student
behind him whispered, "Relax! He's just taking
attendance!"
University of Queensland, 323 Hawken Drive, St. Lucia
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.
Thank you so much for inviting me to today's
celebration of womanhood. I really enjoyed it and I met so many wonderful woman.
CCN
congratulates the Queensland Muslim Times on turning 5 recently. 
Teachers for Madrasah 
C
