THE Australian Federation of Islamic Councils has paid a record price for a 2ha (five acre) property at Kuraby.
 

AFIC bought the land on behalf of the Islamic College of Brisbane, which hopes to build a student trade education centre and sporting facilities.
 

AFIC paid more than $2 million for the property in an auction on April 10, beating two other bidders in the process.

The Compton Rd property includes a small brick home and is zoned non-urban, with a third of the land subject to flooding.
 

College principal Dr Mubarak All Noor said there were plans to build a collaborative trade centre in partnership with other schools in the area.
 

"Not all students are academically orientated," Dr Ali Noor said. "And this new centre would help them in acquiring trade qualifications
after year 10."
 

"Our school is expanding and this will allow some room for growth."
 

Dr Ali Noor said the the Federation of Islamic Councils was waiting to see what level of development the council would allow before
it moved ahead with plans for the 2ha block.

Source: Southern Star - Springwood

Queensland Muslims Historical Society

On this Anzac day let us remember the sons of the first Muslim families who settled in Brisbane, for they too went to defend ralia during World War Two. Four men we will remember this Anzac Day were from the Ramah, Kaus and Howsan families. For some reason, they all chose the Air Force.

Madeen (Bobby) Howsan was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force. His squadron were instructed to bomb a munitions factory in Germany which they did successfully. However, the plane was hit in the rear and caught fire. One of the crew went to check on the damage and was catapulted out of the plane and landed in a tree, and later became a prisoner of the Japanese. He later told Madeen's mother that the plane was headed for a French village but Madeen avoided the village and headed for a park. He was incinerated in the plane with the rest of the crew when it hit the ground. The village in France has erected a memorial in honour of Madeen. Madeen sacrificed his life to save the lives of so many, representing his homeland Australia.

Colin Ivan Rahman Kaus joined the Royal Australian Air Force when he was eighteen years of age. He worked at first at Archerfield aerodrome in charge of stores before being transferred to England as pilot in bomber command. He rose to the rank of Corporal and left London in 1945. On his return he worked in his father's mattress factory which is still in the family today, trading as the Mattress Factory.

Colin's brother William Bernard Kaus was in the King's own squadron and was the navigator of the plane. The mission of this group was to transport the spies to destinations in war zones. Nancy Wake was one of the spies they transported in Hudson aircraft that went as low as 500 feet. They made in excess of fifty trips over war zones. Billy Kaus received France's highest honour, the Legion of Honour and also was awarded The Queen's medal from England and Australia awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross. He left the air force in 1945 when the war ended. Bill then entered politics and became the Liberal Party member for Mt Gravatt and held that position for twenty years
Bill passed away on the 2nd December, 2003 at the age of eighty three.

Adrian Keith Ramah was only seventeen when he signed up in the Royal Australian Air Force. His squadron was sent to New Guinea when the Japanese were actively making their way to Australia. Adrian's squadron were on the go all the time as air transport is important in such a mountainous country. Adrian was responsible for keeping the planes in good mechanical order. Most Australian planes were DC3.
In New Guinea Australians suffered from Malaria, Dengue Fever and Trench feet rot. This squadron moved through many islands around New Guinea and were in Borneo when the war ended. Adrian left the air force in 1945 and was granted the first commercial licence to build a shop on the Corner of Nursery and Logan Roads, Mt Gravatt which he worked as a grocery store.

Adrian spoke for all the above men when he stated that Australians were very patriotic at that period of time and mateship was an important part of the Australian culture. The men who joined the forces were dedicated to saving their country and were willing to lay down their lives, just as Madeen Howsan did. The Japanese were determined to take Australia. Darwin was bombed in 1942 and Australia lost more people than the Americans did when Pearl Harbour was bombed. Adrian said that Australia was saved by the Americans as they had all the up to date weapons and Australia had lost so many men early in the war. Australians were overseas fighting the war and it was the American forces that came to save Australia, Britain was too busy defending their own nation. He also said that the Australian forces proved they were as good as the others in their courage and determination, even though they had outdated weapons and were often short of food.

Abdul Kaus family, the Howsan family and the Abdul Ramah family can be proud of the sons that went to war to represent their Muslim fathers and fight for their country. Let us make dua for them, lest we forget.

With the World Cup a few weeks away and many Australians making their way to South Africa, CCN will, over the next few weeks, bring readers, heading out to the Rainbow Nation, up to speed with the local politics, idiosyncrasies, personalities and culture, starting with Trevor Noah's take on a couple of the country's leaders:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

I am writing to express my feelings after joining Australian International Islamic College as IT Manager. I feel that I possess the attributes necessary to make the role a success.

My immediate plan is to introduce new Information Communication Technology (ICT) subjects relevant to the industry today, to improve students' knowledge in the field and update ICT facilities at AIIC.

Having served in ICT field for the past 12 years with continued success in meeting teaching/operational goals, I can make a valuable contribution to AIIC’s educational projects and initiatives. I have initiative and loads of drive. My personal motto is: "Firm belief in Allah and Never give up"

What I bring to this position is a combination of team leadership, strategic ICT planning and development skills that I have leveraged to meet and exceed expectations.

I have developed and worked on a software called checkMySkill for the last 5 years which is currently being used by Malaysian Government to test the knowledge of students in various subjects in different schools. I think I can use my experience to develop similar software for AIIC.

In my previous career, I improved performance and motivation of teams to meet organization objectives.

At the end I just make dua, that Allah help me to fulfill my duties honestly, in most efficient and planned way to help whole community and students of AIIC in particular.

Tanveer Ikram
IT Manager, AIIC

Status: In Development
Category: Feature
Teaser: An Australia-set Muslim romantic comedy.
Synopsis: An Australia-set Muslim romantic comedy about a boy who agrees to an arranged marriage although he is in love with somebody else.

Credits

Director : Tony Ayres
Writer : Osamah Sami, Andrew Knight
Production Company : Matchbox Pictures, Homerun Asia
Budget : $3.5 million
Start Shoot : early 2011
 

Imam Imraan Husain 
 

REVERT CLASSES - Our classes are running every Saturday between 11 am to 12.30 pm. Please encourage reverts to join our 'Basic Course' which I am sure they will benefit tremendously from insha Allah.
 

CHAPLAINCY ACADEMY - I will be conducting a 1 hour session as part of the Multi faith course at the Academy on Tuesday morning the 11th May in the Academy’s Library at 47 Dornoch Terrace, West End.
 

NURSING STUDENTS - I will be conducting an educational session regarding Islam to the nursing students from Gold Coast TAFE on Friday the 21st May between 8.30am to 9am insha Allah.

FRIDAY NIGHT PROGRAM - Re-commences on the 23rd April after 'Isha. Please attend and bring a pot / plate of food to share with others.
 

NIKAH – I performed a marriage ceremony yesterday at the Gold Coast Regional Botanical Garden.
 

LECTURES AT KURABY – I have been invited to lecture along with other Imams at the Kuraby Mosque on Saturday 8 May after ‘Isha.
 

SCHOOL VISIT – Yr 11 students from St Hilda School will be visiting our Mosque on Wednesday 12 May. It is part of the ongoing educational program of ‘Awareness Islam” for school going students.
 

TAFSEER QUR'AN – The explanation of verses of the Holy Qur’an will be conducted by Mufti Zeeyad Ravat every Friday night after 'Isha Salat. 'Isha Salat is at 7 pm.
 

INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL - Sunday 13 June 2010 stars at 10 am until late at the Gold Coast Islamic Centre
 

Paul Malone writes in the Courier Mail

RUGBY league as a sport had an opportunity to make a stand for protecting the right of its people to have different views without being
ridiculed for them.
 

But after Canterbury's Mormon prop Ben Hannant was sledged several times in references to his Mormon faith in Friday's game, it was once again all too convenient to hide behind the shop-worn adage "what happens on the field, stays on the field".
 

No sport, no workplace in Australia, can permit so easily this sort of abuse in 2010.

...........

League provides opportunity every year to players of many ethnicities and religions to improve their lives. It also has a chequered history with how it treats race and religion and needs to do more if it is to be widely regarded as an inclusive sport.

Hazem El Masri was rightly smothered in love in his retirement year.

But when El Masri and his wife previously did a television interview, it led to the first hate mail of his career, leading him to conclude "a lot of people are hostile towards Muslim people because of their ignorance ... they don't want to learn".

Below mentioned is an amazing website for the Holy Quran.

Just put the mouse on any line and you will find the translation of that line or you can click the translation in the top of the page in the left corner for the entire Surah.

In the left side for this website you can choose Surah (from all 114 Surahs).

Moreover, you can choose any Aayah, can search by the page number and also you can select the Qari whose recitation you want to listen

Go to: http://tanzil.info/

LEGENDARY folk singer-songwriter Yusuf Islam will tour Australia for the first time in 36 years in June.

Although he will be touring under the name he adopted on converting to Islam, Yusuf, he is expected to play many of his hits, including Peace Train, Father & Son, Wild World and Moonshadow.

Born of Greek Cypriot and Swedish ancestry and raised in London, he started writing songs and broke through with his 1971 album Tea For the Tillerman.

After taking a break from music, special causes dragged him out of retirement. In 1997 he performed at a benefit concert in Sarajevo; in 2001 he sang a capella during a live telecast for the victims of the September 11 attacks.

When Cat Stevens last toured Australia, he was the voice of a generation. His return as Yusuf Islam 36 years on should put him before the children of those on the Peace Train.
 

Promoter Paul Dainty, who brought Cat Stevens here in 1974, has been courting the folk icon since he returned to music several years ago.

Yusuf will perform at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on June 16 and 18 and in mainland capital cities.

Dainty is confident Yusuf will draw a multi-generational audience keen to hear folk classics including Father And Son, Wild World, Moonshadow and Morning Has Broken.

"No one thought he would ever tour again but after playing at the Royal Albert Hall in December, he got the taste for it," Dainty said.

The promoter was confident of the demand because of the huge amount of local online fan chatter about the possibility of Yusuf touring here.
 

"About 70 to 80 per cent of tickets sold here now are sold via the internet. I'm putting two shows on in Sydney and Melbourne from the get-go because we know from fans and their feedback and waitlists for tickets there is strong demand," Dainty said.

On his return to pop four years ago, Yusuf said it was his dream to tour again.

Tickets for Yusuf Islam concerts go on sale on May 6.
 

Fashion store, Siitra, held the grand opening of its new store at 1/116 Compton Road, Woodridge during the week.

CCN spoke with entrepreneur, businesswoman and mother of five, Ms Nicky Allouche, to find out how she does it all.

	[CCN] How did the business start?   [NICKY] Siitra first opened in Brisbane 3 years ago. In this time, we have opened our Sydney store in Punchbowl in late 2008 and our Gold Coast in October 2009.   As a revert, I do not have family overseas who can send me modest clothing or hijabs.   I was getting tired of having to shop only in Winter time when clothing were long and covering but of course the fabrics are totally unsuitable for Queensland summers.   I starting to explore options of getting items from overseas, but the only way to get good prices was to purchase in bulk.... from there Siitra was born.
[CCN]  What types of goods does Siitra specialize in?   [NICKY]  We sell modern modest fashions. Huge range of hijabs styles and designs. Traditional clothing for the whole family. We are the only retail stockist of the Ahiida Burqini Swimsuit in Queensland. We also stock a range of clothing from popular Australian designer Blossom InStyle. We sell Islamic DVD's and CD's. Just arrived - New range of bukhoor burners and fragrances.     [CCN]  Is it true that you are planning to have as many stores as you have had babies?   [NICKY] I have 5 children who were all born within five and half years, so it became the running joke to ask if I was having another baby each year.   It was after my fifth child had been born, that I started to seriously consider the idea of opening my own business, so I would tell people that I was not having another baby, that I was having a shop instead.   The first store had a lot of teething problems to get up and running and when I said I was having a shop instead of another baby, I didn't mean for it to also take 9 months to eventuate.....   Funnily enough I have grown my business and each year I have opened a new store, although luckily enough the "gestation period" is getting shorter.
	[CCN] How did the Opening Day at the new Siitra Boutique go?   [NICKY] We had a lucky customer each hour who received their purchase for free. We had many very happy customers with one customers who was heard from the carpark by another customer joyously shouting. Congratulations to these customers and thank you for your continued support!   [CCN] What doe the future hold for Siitra?   [NICKY] I want to continue to grow the Siitra brand and develop our own range of clothing under the "Siitra" label.   [CCN] Who holds the fort when you have to tend to family?   [NICKY]  Mrs Jathun Rahim is our senior staff member and Miss Fatima Ismail is our casual staff member.   [CCN] Good luck, Nicky. We look forward to seeing what the stork has in 'store' for you in the years to come.

 

Mention CCN and get a further 10% discount off your next Siitra purchase.

Valid for 2 weeks from date of print.

Excludes further discount off already reduced items.

 

The new Underwood-based Flight Star is a fully licensed and accredited travel agency specialising in all forms of travel and tours world wide (flights, accommodation, cruises, tours and car hire, etc).

Fozia Ahmad has 12 years of travel agency experience and the South African company that they are associated with in their Hajj and Umrah sector has 25-30 years experience.

Visit their new offices or call them for any bookings or inquiries.

"We have great rates for all travel and tours anywhere in the world and our prices are competitive with all the major travel agencies, and our customer care surpasses them all," a spokesperson for Flight Star told CCN.

The very British Tim Mackintosh-Smith, an Oxford University classicist who has called the Middle East his home for 25 years, takes us on a unique 75,000 mile journey, through 40 countries, in the 700-year-old footsteps of medieval explorer Ibn Battutah.

This is the story of one of the greatest journeys of all time. In 1325, shortly after the end of the Crusades, a young Moroccan Muslim called Ibn Battutah set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was to become an odyssey from one end of the known world to the other. In all, he travelled 75,000 miles - more than three times the distance Marco Polo covered.

In part two, Tim travels through Turkey, the Crimea and India. On his way, he uncovers all that is weird, wonderful and mystical in the Islamic world. In Konya, Tim watches an illegal whirling dervish ceremony; in the Taurus Mountains, he meets the last of the Turkoman nomads. He chats to Tatars in Crimea, and the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Istanbul.

In Delhi, he searches for insights into the pathologically generous but psychotic Sultan Mohammed Shah. He watches a Muslim magician performing the Indian Rope Trick, and goes to a ‘sacred jam session’ of Sufi music, reliving Ibn Battutah’s ‘hippy phase’.

Leaving Delhi, Tim meets a hundred-year-old yogi who does nothing but smoke marijuana, shout expletives and beat his devotees with a brush. Will Tim receive one of his unique ‘blessings’?
 

PART 2

Next Week in CCN: PART 3

In episode three, Tim explores the place of Islam today in Hindu-dominated India and Communist China, and tells the story of the glittering Islamic trade empire of the 14th century. Ibn Battutah was accompanied on this leg of his journey by African bodyguards, whose descendants still live in Gujarat. Tim witnesses their extraordinary ritual, which culminates in a fire-walking frenzy. He travels down the coast to Calicut, once the hub of worldwide trade linking Arabia to China.

After a brief diversion to Dubai to visit the ‘Ibn Battutah Shopping Mall’, Tim makes for the Maldives, where he explores IB’s claim that he had discovered the secret of formidable sexual prowess.

Taking to the Maritime Silk Route, Tim heads to the southern coast of China. He meets the members of a clan who trace their ancestry back to Arab traders, and sits in on an illegal Arabic lesson (the Chinese authorities are quick to equate learning Arabic with Islamic fundamentalism). In Guangzhou, Tim enjoys a Cantonese feast of snakes, frogs, beetles and eels.

Ibn Battutah’s journey from one end of the world to the other ended with an extraordinary meeting with a hermit mystic in a cave in the mountains outside Guangzhou. Will Tim find the cave, hidden in the forests of White Cloud Mountain?

By Hamzah Moin

As Muslims, we enjoy boasting that we invented all sorts of stuff. Like chemistry. And sociology. And algebra. And Nintendo. And Filet-O-Fish.

Some might be true… others are a bit of a stretch.

But one thing I’m confident that Muslims invented is the word ‘head-butt’.
 

Where does the origin of this word come from?

Why, in prayer of course.

When the lines are too close together and you have people out of sync it can cause a potentially fatal hit when the ‘butt’ hits the ‘head’.

They banned this move in the UFC and other mixed martial arts organizations because the fighters complained that the move was too lethal.
 

What could possibly make this even more fatal is if the person in front loses his wudu at the precise moment of the head-butt. That’s probably where the word knockout comes from (which I guess we invented as well).

 

Next week: Obnoxious Ring-Tones

Source

AN EXCURSION INTO THE HEART OF PALESTINE - BY MUFTI ZEEYAD - FILMED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LAST UMMAH - IMAM UZAIR AKBAR - HOLLAND PARK MASJID
MARRIAGE & THE ISLAMIC FAMILY - SHEIKH ALAA ELSAYED - FROM CANADA
FILMED LAST WEEK AT THE UMA CENTRE - (LAKEMBA SYDNEY)
AL QURAN AL KAREEM TAFSEER - LESSON 4 - MUFTI ZEEYAD - GOLD COAST MASJI

 

To access programs on demand:

(1) start the TV

(2) click on the On Demand button above

(3) click on Islam TV

(4) click on the program you wish to watch

 

For FULL SCREEN access to ISLAM TV go to www.islamtv.com.au

A word from the producers of Islam TV..........

"INVITATION TO BUSINESS OWNERS - REACH THE MANY THOUSANDS OF SALAM CARDS HOLDERS"

Reach The Many Thousands of Salam Card holders.

Call Salam Card today to find out how to become a Salam Card Business Member ( 07) 384 14085 / 0405 07 6886 / email: info@salamcard.com.au

Salam Card entitles you to countless discounts and special offers ranging from shopping for gifts, dining in restaurants, beauty salons, car repairs and many more products and services.

GET YOUR FREE SALAM CARD NOW

www.salamcard.com.au