Eid at the Mt Gravatt Showgrounds on Friday 27 November

Eid at the Islamic College of Brisbane, Karawatha on Saturday 28 November

After an incident that involved her 10-year old son, Ms. Aamena Cajee, was inspired to express her thoughts on the role of Muslims in her adopted country of Australia - in particular, those who migrated from South Africa:

Apartheid. A word which when said out loud can send people of my parents’ generation into unpleasant memories of inferiority to another race. My parents have spoken of commuting with non-whites and even shopping in non-white shopping centres. For an Australian this is difficult to imagine even though there always has been an element of racism in Australia’s past, present and probable future.

It makes me think how South African migrants have assimilated into the Australian landscape. The word assimilate has never sat comfortably with me. Through my schooling years I and many other Australian children were taught about the white Australia policy and how it impacted on peoples of other ethnicities. Assimilation was a very nasty concept back then and not something I would ever champion for this vast brown land of ours.

But, we have grown up Australian, our identity, a juxtaposed mish-mash of religion and culture which influences our every day lives in big and small ways. How do Australian Muslims feel about each other? Is there an element of “racism”. Does one nationality see another as inferior to itself?

.....then have your say on www.ccnforum.ning.com.

A BBC documentary examining the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries is being shown on SBS TV.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Commentary on the series

Mark Jones searches for the proper and true Arab world and questions whether the West has re-written its history as well as distort its image.

SBS Website

 

Minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs, Annastacia Palaszczuk, hosted community leaders at the Queensland Parliament House during the week.	(standing, left to right) Faisal Hatia, Julie Hatia, Muna Ibrahim, Sultan Deen, Sadeq Mustapha, Mustafa Ally (seated, left to right) Rehana Bibi, Fatima Abdel-karim, Nora Amath
Mr Saaid Salie (pictured standing centre) and the Tongan troupe and students from his Brisbane State High school, who performed on the Parliament grounds	Annastacia Palaszczuk (left)  with her guests

Congratulations to Nurul Bakhi who won the $50 Coles-Myer Gift card for completing FAMSY's future educational programs survey.
 

Although the competition is closed, you can still complete the survey. Your participation is valuable to FAMSY.
 

The survey will take around 5 minutes to complete.
 

Direct link: http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=1bdf7164-9df9-41c8-a9a2-b906de503325

ABC News

SHARE HOME

Single Muslima with 2 small children looking for Muslima to share house. One room available in my 3 bedroom lowset villa in Woodridge, quiet location, big backyard, privacy. Room is $125 including electricity, local phone calls, and moderate internet usage. Room is unfurnished. No bond required, just pay month in advance if possible. Open to having Single Muslima or Muslima with 1 small child if happy to share room. Please contact 3458 1677 if interested.

A reader took umbrage to an editorial in the Fassifern Guardian and wrote the following letter to the editor:

AS A committed Christian, an Australian descended from members of the Second Fleet whose family has fought for this country in two World Wars and Vietnam, I was saddened at the sentiments expressed in your November 11 editorial.

Of course there are Muslim fanatics who must be weeded out of our community, but the editorial writer seemed determined to perpetuate the `we' and `them' mentality that resulted in the Kosovo civil war, the Klu Klux Klan in America, apartheid and the propaganda against, and persecution of, the Jews in Hitler's Germany.

If the writer's aim is to foster such a divisive situation here, he or she is sadly in error of judgement.

It is easy to single out a few devastating acts to make a point, but even more salutary to consider that only a few decades ago, Catholics and Protestants were at each other's throats in the guise of each claiming the true faith.

Thankfully, those days are gone, but the memory serves to illustrate the results of ignorant prejudice.

In my capacity as a journalist I have interviewed many of the Muslim faith - all unfailingly good people - and I have seen multi-culture in action through a number of Gold Coast organisations.

I would advise the writer to read "The Quiet Revolution" by Peter Kirkwood. Following on from the ABC's Compass series, for which Peter was a producer, the book charts the progress of the World Peace Congress and the movement throughout the world to bring adherents of all major religions to understand their commonality, rather than divisions.

It is especially pertinent that one of the largest expressions of multi-cultural faith is in New York, where the horror of 9/11 made residents aware the only way forward was to reach out to try to understand each other. Major Christian, Islamic and Buddhist churches are among the many organisations which made a conscious effort to offer friendship and respect to those of other faith persuasions.

Surely this is a better way than denigrating and injecting bitterness and divisions within our society.

I wonder just how many Muslims the editorial writer has actually met? Violence of any sort is to be deplored - by drunken louts at the football or by extremists. Let us arm ourselves with knowledge and provide informed debate rather than misconceptions.

 

(left to right) Zuleiga Goder, Salam El-Merbi, Emane Adel, Suzanna Palmer, Shabnaaz Ahmed, Alia Rane, Fathima Khatree, Azima Omar and Mariam Issadeen

President: Salam El-Merebi
Treasurer: Shabnaaz Ahmed
Secretary: Alia Rane (with assistance from Zuleiga Goder)
 

The Group will operate through four subcommittees:

• Activism and Advocacy: Salam El-Merebi and Emane Adel

• Events: Suzanna Palmer and Maryam Issadeen
 

• Media: (Promotion and Marketing): Azima Omar and Shabnaaz Ahmed
 

• Sponsorship and Fundraising: Emane Adel
 

The recovery appears to be gaining momentum despite rising interest rates and warnings that the Australian currency could reach parity with the US dollar early next year. Treasury and the Reserve Bank are predicting that GDP will grow by 2.7% next year and that unemployment will peak at 6.5%. Private economists are predicting that GDP will grow by at least 3.4% next year and by 2.4% this year (compared to official predictions of 1.5% for this year). Westpac are predicting a 4% growth in the economy next year. And despite a surprise decrease in investments, the future investment outlook is very positive.
 

Underpinning the brighter outlook is strong Asian demand for commodities. The Reserve Bank is also sending positive signals into the market by predicting that the economy has entered a “new upswing”, driven by commodities, which would underpin growth for years to come.
 

These positive recovery signposts have encouraged market speculation that the Reserve Bank will tighten monetary policy by increasing interest rates for an unprecedented third time by 0.25% on December 1. Businessmen are encouraging the RBA to exercise caution and defer any increase to January to avoid tanking Christmas sales.
 

Interest rate hikes are expected to accelerate next year and settle at 4.25 – 4.5% by mid 2010. These are fairly high increases within a short period of time and could have a major impact on affordability of mortgages by those who have bought homes in the last 5 years.
 

The RBA is actually in a quandary – if it does not increase interest rates, the low rates will fuel a property bubble and create major housing affordability issues. Mortgage lending continues to grow and improving house prices are creating wealth for many. First-home owner activity is expected to decline significantly when the grant is withdrawn in December.
 

Premium retailers are predicting a bumper Christmas, although it is worth observing that a number have commenced discounting significantly and it’s not yet December.
 

One major dark cloud that has emerged is the Dubai debt crisis. This has impacted equity markets across the globe and seriously impacted on global confidence. It has also significantly dented confidence in Islamic finance and specifically the sukuk instrument which certain Muslim economists have previously questioned its validity in Islamic law (as reported by MBN Business News earlier this year).

The latest Muslim Business Network (MBN) Business News

Janeth Deen (Queensland Muslim Welfare Association)

We have taken delivery of the station wagon donated to us by the YMCA Logan Youth Centre. It took time to have it approved for concessional registration for use as a charity. It will help us in our work in collecting goods.

We are still urgently needing storage facilities. We do not mind paying a reasonable rental, especially if it can be used as a warehouse.

We are in urgent need of toys to enable us to have a free toy give-a-way for children in the Logan area. We hope to hold the give-a-way in the car park at the back of our shop in the Parkland Shopping Centre, 91 - 101 Ewing Road Woodridge on Sunday 19th December from 1 - 4 pm, InshaAllah. There are many single mothers struggling with large families and it will be a great help to them at this time of year.

Please contact Janeth Deen on 0435 086 796 if you cannot drop the toys off at the shop.

Eid Mubarak to everyone!

Adapted from Australian Journey - Muslim communities

The Australian Journey – Muslim communities, a new DIAC publication, is characterised by contributions of Muslims from all over the world who have made Australia home.

In this and following issues of CCN we highlight one of the successful Muslims in Australia from the report and their thoughts about what it means to be both a Muslim and an Australian.

 

Dr Jamal Rifi Medicine

Doctors by nature are dedicated, caring professionals.   Muslim doctors are helping to keep our country healthy and happy.   NSW’s Local Hero for 2009, Lakemba GP Dr Jamal Rifi is an active community volunteer.   As president of the Lakemba Sports and Recreation Club he brought cricket back to Lakemba and recruited the first group of Muslim surf life savers. He recently led a group of young Australians from his local community together with youth from Cronulla on a Kokoda Trail Expedition and sponsored the first Aboriginal dance group to perform in Lebanon. "Look within this nation’s institutions. Look within government, the public service, our schools, corporations, sport, hospitals and any profession or trade. In all these places you will find Australia’s Muslims playing a role". Dr Jamal Rifi on the Kokoda Trail