The end of the year is finally upon us and to round it off the welfare shop conducted a special one off event to celebrate the return of the pilgrims from Haj and the Eidul Adha festival.   To do this we decided to donate all the toys given to the welfare shop during the year as an act of charity to the children of Logan. It just happened that by the time we organised the event it was close to Christmas celebrations. The local newspapers namely the Reporter and the Albert and Logan news both gave us half a page coverage with bold headings such as 'Free Toys this Christmas' and 'Faith in acts of generosity'.   The Albert and Logan news commenced the first paragraph of its article by calling us 'one of Logan's leading community organisations'. This paragraph alone shows that the Queensland Muslim Welfare Association has been recognised for the work it has carried out in the eleven months of trading.

The Reporter   The Albert & Logan News

The toy give away was held last Sunday, 20th of December in the Parkland Shopping Centre.

It was a very wet day, but fortunately we took this into account in our planning and used one of the empty shops in the centre for the give away.

A concert was held with six of the Deen grandchildren performing for an audience of many ethnic groups.

Max Radvan sang the national anthem, Hannah and Jessica demonstrated some of the acts that they had prepared for the Woodford Folk Festival which they will represent for the Flip Side Circus.

The triplets Calean, Mia and Lars Forsingdal sang songs that told the audience that we are the children of humanity.

We had ample toys to go around thanks to the generosity of Iqbal and Fazila Bhamjee of Babyhood who donated a pallet of new baby toys.

Also, members of our committee spent four weeks washing, mending and packaging for toys that had been donated during the year. The people who were in the audience were impressed with the quality of the goods we distributed.

There were not only toys, but boardgames, books, backpacks, teenage clothes, rollerblades, colourful pillows and many other items. Members of the Muslim Charitable Foundation were on hand to help control the crowd as were volunteers from the Muslim community.

The children of Logan and their parents were very thankful for the acts of generosity shown by the Muslim community of Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The giveaway events help build up goodwill for the welfare shop as well as informing the public that Muslims play important roles in the Australian community, many of which go unnoticed as the media usually focuses on negative comments.

We hope everybody has a safe holiday period and we look forward to seeing you all in 2010.

Mr Patel stated:
‘Our students at all the above schools have demonstrated their hard work and dedication and their effort has been rewarded with excellent results that will lead to future opportunities. Our students’ exemplary educational performance is a result of concerted effort by AFIC with the support of Federal and State Governments, parents, teachers, the various school boards, and the many volunteers who have spent countless hours for such a noble cause. We are all elated by the achievements of our students.’ 

AFIC recently published a report on its activities of 2009. You can download the report by clicking here.

The annual Woodford Folk Festival gets underway today (Sunday) and goes on for 6 days until 1 January. The festival is held on a 500-acre environmental parkland located on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, on Jinibara Country, which is just over 1 hour north of Brisbane.

Amongst an eclectic array of performances and events there will be "concerts, dances, street theatre, writers’ panels, film festival, comedy sessions, acoustic jams, social dialogue and debate, folk medicine, an entire children’s festival, an environmental programme featuring talks, debates and films, art and craft workshops, circus performances and workshops, late night cabarets, parades and special events including a spectacular fire event."

The festival attracts a diverse audience with all ages and many nationalities attracted each year.

The Rhythm Hunters (pictured left) will provide Sufi music from Sumatra combining the power of Taiko drumming with indigenous music from the Islamic provinces of West Sumatra and Aceh, Indonesia. Devotional music is rich in Indonesia and Aceh is considered a gateway to the myriad Islamic influences throughout Indonesia.

Sufi Ghazals ("poems and songs of intoxication and yearning that express the soul's longing for union with the divine") and Nasheds ("beautiful songs of praise and love") will be performed by Asim Gorashi, Imam Muhammad Aslam and Dastan and Khalil Gudaz.

Asim Gorashi was featured in CCN in a recent edition of the newsletter..

Kim Cunio and Heather Lee, Imam Muhammad Aslam, and the Tashi Lhunpo Tibetan Monks will recite sacred texts at the festival showing how the significance and potency of sacred texts is emphasized by the choice of the recited syllables and sounds, giving weight to the message being given. The focus is on ancient Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist texts and their recitations in temples, mosques, synagogues and public places. A singer of nasheeds in Arabic and Kalame Soofi, Sufi music and poetry in Urdu, Imam Aslam is an Imam at Algester Mosque in Brisbane.

A concert featuring traditional Iraqi and Turkish music will be performed by musicians of international renown. It includes Iraqi folk and classical music and Turkish music of the Ottoman court.

You can download the full programme for the 6 days and nights from here.

The Kuraby Madrasah held its annual jalsah on 2 December at the Macgregor Primary School. It was an occasion for the school to acknowledge the hard work of its students over the course of the year.

The students also put together performances including plays, songs and Qur'an recitations for their appreciative parents and invited guests.
 

It is with sadness that we announce the passing in South Africa of Dr Shaheen Khotu, a dedicated servant to the cause of rebuilding a new South Africa. Shaheen was Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Department of National Health (South Africa).

Shaheen had suffered worsening medical complications as a result of an indeterminate illness.

Unfortunately he did not recover despite the best efforts of the medical services.

Dr Khotu, a medical doctor by qualification, was an energetic, passionate stalwart of rebuilding a new South Africa.

His contribution and dream was to create a single health patient record that was accessible all over South Africa.

His vision was to improve the information and communication technologies (ICT) within the public health sector in order to enhance service delivery through the adoption of 21st century technology.

Elusive as it has been until his untimely death, Shaheen pursued his dream and relinquished the personal gain that could be had from practicing as a private medical practitioner in South Africa.

Remaining dedicated to the cause of a better health system for one and all, Dr Khotu persisted with this vision to improve the South African Health system.

 
Shaheen studied medicine in Egypt and later practiced in the public sector in South Africa.

He practiced privately for a brief period, but jumped at the opportunity to improve service delivery within the Department of Health. He is survived by his wife and 3 daughters.
 

The thoughts and prayers of those in Brisbane who knew him well go out to him and the family he leaves behind.

 A Jew, Rabbi Raymond Apple, and a Muslim, Sheik Hersi Hilole, gave their views on a creator to the Daily Telegraph.

Rabbi Raymond Apple is emeritus rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney. He is now based in Israel.

Sheik Hersi Hilole is an Islamic scholar who came to Sydney as a refugee and became a spiritual leader of Australian Somali Muslims.

You can read their discourses here.

Broadcaster Alan Jones and his Sydney radio station employer 2GB have been ordered to pay $10,000 in damages after a court ruled he vilified Lebanese Muslims.

Upholding a complaint of "racial vilification" against Mr Jones and 2GB, the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal on Tuesday said a number of Mr Jones' comments were neither reasonable nor made in good faith.

The tribunal had heard that, presenting his regular talk-back slot over the course of a number of days in April 2005, Mr Jones said Lebanese youths hated Australia and raped, pillaged and plundered the country, undermining its culture.

Mr Jones also identified "car hoons" as Lebanese youths and said they disrespected the police.

He also expressed the view that Australia was not a multi-racial but a mono-cultural society and that this monoculture was now under threat from "enemies within".

The tribunal's ruling said: "... Mr Jones' comments about `Lebanese males in their vast numbers' hating Australia and raping, pillaging, and plundering the country, about `a national security' crisis and about the undermining of Australian culture by `vermin' were reckless hyperbole calculated to agitate and excite his audience ..."

The tribunal also ruled that Mr Jones interpreted a speech made by Lebanese-Australian cleric Sheik Faiz Mohammed in Bankstown as an excuse for sexual assaults by Muslim men on non-Muslim women.

Sydney-based Lebanese-born Muslim figure Keysar Trad, complained to the tribunal.

He was later invited onto Mr Jones' program for an exchange during which the presenter accused Mr Trad, as a Muslim leader, of doing nothing to stop car hoons or speeches such as the one said to have been made by Sheik Faiz Mohammed.

The tribunal awarded the damages and ordered the presenter make a public apology, although its exact nature was not determined.

"We find that the complaint of racial vilification as against both respondents are substantiated," the ruling said.

Source: Yahoo! 7 News

  Imam Imraan Husain has returned safely back from Hajj. Writing about his trip he said:

Alhamdu lillah, we were invited to Hajj by the Saudi Embassy on behalf of the King Abdulla bin Abdulaziz Al Saud the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. As I had anticipated it was a short but not easy trip.
 

We entered the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia three days before the Days of Hajj and basically we were the last few to enter. The Haram was already packed to capacity. We had to complete our Umrah among multitudes of people which was a significant challenge.
 

We had the advantage that on arrival we were treated extremely well and there were no problems in terms of transfers, transport, quality of accommodation and food. Our accommodation was located in Aziziyya which is far from the Haram Sharif and the traffic with all the hustle and bustle makes a ten minute journey into an hour journey.

We (Hussin Goss and myself) made sure that we drank a large amount of Zam Zam water during our stay. Large quantities of Zam Zam waters were made available for all pilgrims in the Harams of Makkah and Madina.
 

The five days of Hajj were fantastic. One cannot express the true feeling you get when you are in Arafat, Mina and Muzdalifah. There was a strong feeling of love, respect and hope for the Muslim Ummah.

 

The hospitality and respect given to all Hujjaj (pilgrims) was outstanding. We had the best of everything Masha Allah. May Almighty Allah give prosperity and success to all those who facilitated in making Hajj easy for the Pilgrims.
 

We spent two days at the Prophet’s Masjid in Madinatul Munawwarah. It is the most tranquil and peaceful place in the world. Fortunate are those who live there.
 

Alhamdulillah, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry has mobilized all human and material services and facilities to ensure the good health and safety of the Pilgrims to enable them to perform Hajj rituals easily and comfortably.
 

The improvement in terms of the great architectural achievements, the expansion of the two Masjids, the Jamarat Bridge Project, had a significant impact in facilitating the smooth performance of hajj rituals.

 

The Saudi health minister said the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage ended without the major flu outbreak feared by some experts; and there were only five deaths from the H1N1 flu virus out of seventy-three recorded cases.
 

This year’s Hajj gave me the overwhelming feeling of the spiritual experience, closeness to Allah, the cleansing of sins, the sense of unity and equality among Muslims.
 

Hajj is a manifestation of mutual love and respect for all human beings irrespective of nationality, language or colour. We are all treated equally.

 

We thank Almighty Allah for giving me the opportunity to fulfil this important pillar of Islam once again. We hope that Hajj becomes affordable for everyone who desires to perform it.
 

We also would like to express our gratitude to the officials at Canberra Saudi Embassy, Ustadh Abdul Kareem and brother Sulaiman for making this trip possible for us visiting the Baitullahil Haram.

During the absence of the Imam, Mr. Athar Shah took care of the visit of St Kevin's, Benowa Primary school. A group of 65 students including 5 teachers visited the Mosque and very positive feedback was received from the school.

A Gold Coast Mosque Jamaat of 15 brothers went for the weekend in Khurooj to Holland Park Mosque and the Ameer was Hj. Shibl Sarhan. The Jamaat plans to Lismore in the south sometime towards the end of January.

 
Hifz classes are being during the holidays on an ad hoc basis ddepending on the Imam's availability.

The Arabic classes for adults continue to run twice a week.

A few reverts are learning the basics of Islam at the Mosque and plans are afoot to start a special class for them in early 2010.

 
Three Islamic marriages were performed in the past 3 weeks by Imam Husain since his return from Hajj. Marrying couples will receive a booklet compiled by the Jami’atul Ulama of South Africa TVL. The booklet contains important guidelines on marriage.

The Imam and two staff members of the Madrasah attended a workshop program at Kuraby Madrasah with Imam Akram with a view to improving and consolidating their Madrasah activities.
 

The Australian Muslim Youth Network, AMYN, is organising an exciting Weekend-Out for boys and adolescents aged 13 and over.

It will be a fun-packed weekend with bush-walking, beach sports, BBQ, sleepover and much more!

Date: 16-17 January 2010. Contact AMYN for more details: www.AMYNweb.com.

AFTER Ruddbank, could we be getting the People's Bank?

The appointment of Ahmed Fahour (see profile below), the former head of NAB's domestic business, as chief executive of Australia Post will intrigue many people, not least those prominent economists who this year called for a new competitor to challenge the dominance of the big four banks.

While Fahour is playing down the prospect, there is no reason that Australia Post - with its 4433 outlets the biggest such retail operation in the country - could not be transformed into a mini-bank offering the day-to-day services that people need.

The obvious model is KiwiBank, which was set up in 2002 as a division of New Zealand Post to take on the dominance of the country's leading banks - which all are owned by the big Australian banks.

Kiwibank has played the ''David and Goliath'' card in equal measure to grab 600,000 customers by offering home loans, credit cards, insurance and business banking.There are obvious financial challenges facing Australia Post if it were to do the same thing.

But there's little doubt that Fahour, the interim boss of the Federal Government's ill-fated scheme to help the crisis-hit commercial property sector, is the man who could make it happen.

However, he would require the Government's full and unfailing support to do so.

The people (bank customers) would like it but is Kevin Rudd up for it?

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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.

 

Ahmed Fahour Business

Lebanon-born and Melbourne-raised Ahmed Fahour has risen to the heights of international finance and banking both in Australia and overseas.   He joined the National Australia Bank in September 2004 as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Australia.   In 2009 Mr Fahour took up the role as Interim Chief Executive Officer of The Australian Business Investment Partnership (ABIP), a joint venture between the Australian Government and the four largest Australian banks.   Mr Fahour moved to the Middle East to head the Islamic investment bank, Gulf Finance House and is now CEO of Australia Post (see story in this issue of CCN) For over 200 years Muslims have made a vibrant contribution to the multicultural fabric of Australian life, bringing with them great diversity and remarkable energy. They have become doctors, artists, journalists and lawyers; they have built new businesses and played sport at the highest level. In all, good Muslims and great Australians. Ahmed Fahour