Oh what a night! Late November
back in 2010. What a special time for us. As we
remember what a night! We felt a rush like a
rolling ball of thunder. Spinning our heads
around and taking our bodies under. Oh what a
night! And we recall, it ended much too soon. Oh
what a night!
The
Four Seasons lyrics are unashamedly adapted
to reflect, in small part, the sentiments of the
5000 men, women and children who attended
EidFest's
Dreamworld Eid-ul-Adha night out.
For four hours last Friday the
iconic Gold Coast themepark, for the very first time in
its two decade existence, became a haven for the halal
and a rare sanctuary for friends and family as
they queued patiently and good humouredly for
the Tower of Terror, the Giant Drop, the Wipeout
and the Claw whose very names offered mere
euphemisms to the clear and present "dangers"
contained therein.
The evening commenced with a mass
open air Magrib prayer inside the park
under a drizzle of rain that thankfully held off
for the rest of the night. But soon after, the
atmosphere would be punctuated with regular
shrieks of terror and delight as the more
intrepid took on the challenges of the stomach
churning, sky-high swinging and adrenalin
pumping rides.
But for the ones who could not
quiet make the height restrictions there was
always the Big Red Car and Dorothy's Rosy Tea
Cup to fall back on.
An impressive laser show brought
the evening to a dramatic close and a
realization that all good things must come to an
end as the patrons reluctantly made their way to
the exit gates.
Dr. Rubana Bhorat, one of
Eidfest's organizers, told CCN, that, at the $15
entrance price, they could well have sold the
event twice over: "But we wanted to make sure
that everyone who came got to enjoy as many of
the attractions as possible in the short time."
Yusuf Omar will be sending
in reports and photographs to CCN whenever
he is able to. This week he writes from
Maputo. Mozambique about his experiences in Manzini in Swaziland where he spent his Eid:
Mubarak from Manzini!
By Yusuf Omar
I didn't wear new clothes
this Eid. I didn't even wear clean clothes.
But determined not to spend Eid alone in
Swaziland with no animal to slaughter,
planning began on Monday for the holy day.
Appreciated receiving CCN
newsletter again this week. We enjoy reading it.
Your newsletter is interesting and informative. Very
impressed with the raising of funds for the flood
victims of Pakistan. May the Almighty reward you all
abundantly. Keep up the good work.
Moshin and Firoza
Durban, South Africa
Around
the Muslim World with CCN
Haj:
pilgrims and the pocketbook
Annual
pilgrimage is both a religious requirement
and a financial bounty for the kingdom
The
Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, seems
to have escaped the negative impact of the
international financial crisis as it
continues to contribute nearly one-tenth of
the non-oil private sector's share of Saudi
Arabia's gross domestic product.
The season, which has been linked to the
Saudi economy since the emergence of Islam
1,430 years ago, continues to defy the
effect of the three-year-old crisis, which
held back a myriad of economic plans,
created spiralling unemployment problems and
shelved infrastructure projects around the
globe.
Though the crisis has not affected the
religious season, many retailers in Saudi
Arabia, however, believe it has had an
impact on the purchasing behaviour of
Muslims who come from around the world to
perform the pilgrimage, which is a duty of
able-bodied Muslims at least once in their
lifetime.
With an estimated 40 billion Saudi riyal
income generated by Haj-related activities
alone, the Haj and Umrah, also called the
lesser Haj, continue to encourage the
spending of enormous amounts of money by the
Saudi public the private sectors and
visiting pilgrims.
Gulf News
Daily
Star Report Distorts Bullying Incident
Involving Muslim Pupils
UK:
Several newspapers, including the Daily
Express, the Daily Mail, the Daily Star, the
Metro and The Sun, reported of schoolboy
Darius Gill having been the victim of
bullying by six fellow pupils at his school
reportedly for penning an online Remembrance
Day tribute to fallen British troops.
As five of the children responsible for the
bullying were Muslim, the Daily Star used
the opportunity to spew yet more of its “us
and them” rhetoric - something plainly
obvious from the DS front page (image left).
An editorial on this story on page six of
the DS also carried the headline: "Leave our
kids alone”, as if British Muslim children
aren’t part of Britain.
It has to be pointed out to the Daily Star
(again) that “British” and “Muslim” aren’t
mutually exclusive labels. Those Muslim
schoolchildren, foolish and dangerous as
they are to make such threats, even if only
an idle one, are British too. Furthermore,
anyone reading this headline would be led to
believe that there had been an actual knife
attack on Darius. The threat of an attack is
a reprehensible act and as with all such
cases of bullying in schools deserves to be
taken very seriously but it does not,
however, excuse the Daily Star’s misleading
headline.
Although the Daily Mail article makes no
such misleading statements, it does carry
the curious headline of “Five Muslim boys
and white girl, all 12, excluded over
Facebook death threats to classmate who
supported British troops.” (Emphasis
added)
It may be helpful for the Daily Mail to know
that Islam is a religion that encompasses
all ethnicities and skin colours, including
white Brits. To make a distinction between
the two is unwarranted.
Source:
Engage - an
organization "dedicated to promoting media
awareness, political participation and civic
engagement amongst British Muslims".
Liberals
test their mettle
Parliamentary
candidates promising change toss their hats
in a conservative political ring
Opposition
candidate Muneera Fakhro greets
a supporter at her election tent
in Isa Town, south of Manama.
Bahrainis go to the polls on
Saturday.
Manama: Can liberal
candidates win in Bahrain's elections? The
answer depends on whom you ask.
For liberals, the answer is obvious. They
readily point to the numerous standoffs that
marked the religion-dominated 2006-2010
lower chamber to argue for the need to elect
candidates with fresh viewpoints.
Deeply sectarian and often divided along
sectarian lines, the outgoing lower chamber,
where 32 of the 40 members represented three
openly religious societies, is not recalled
with fondness by Bahrainis who had hoped for
greater economic and social achievements,
liberal candidates say.
"Our constituents long for a change, a real
change that will reinforce public freedom,
human rights and achievements," Hassan Al
Madan, the leader of the Democratic
Progressive Tribune, said.
"We have put out a platform that offers the
boosting of education, public services,
housing and infrastructure. That is what
people need and want."
Al Madan, a candidate in the eighth
constituency of the Northern Governorate,
said liberals deserve a chance to help do
away with the sectarianism that plagued the
outgoing lower chamber.
Gulf News.com
Arizonians
protest a Mosque that is actually a Church!
Haj
a time of wonder for young S. African
convert
Israel Ponty
Moletsane truly is on the journey of a
lifetime this year. The 29-year-old South
African radio producer converted from
Christianity to Islam last year, and now he
has traveled to the holy land to perform the
Haj.
Moletsane said he learned about his new
faith while working at the Channel Islam
International radio station in Johannesburg
over the last five years. He said many
puzzling questions he had about religion
were answered after reading the Holy Qur’an.
“I was a Catholic, but as I grew up I became
a type of born-again Christian,” Moletsane
told Arab News. “I learned everything one
step at a time. I was doing the comparison
all the time. This is when I realized the
contradictions in our holy book. That
prompted me to learn more about the Holy
Qur’an and Islam. I decided to accept Islam,
but I did not have the courage to make my
decision public.”
The change came last year when Channel Islam
International sent scholar-broadcaster
Maulana Moosa Akoodie to report from the Haj.
“My colleagues in the studios in
Johannesburg and I were putting him on air,”
Moletsane said. “When he was about to go on
air from the plains of Arafat, I asked him
to pray for me. I thought it would be a
personal thing. Maulana Akoodie, however,
mentioned my name in his prayer that was
being broadcast live. Hundreds of
English-speaking listeners were tuned in. I
was moved by the gesture, and suddenly I
found all the courage in the world to go
public with what I had already believed in
my heart. An hour or so later I recited the
'shahada' live on air.
More and more Aboriginal people are
becoming Muslim. This book asks why Indigenous
Australians are turning to Islam. Based on nearly 50
interviews and extensive historical research, Islam
Dreaming is the only national survey of this growing
phenomenon.
Peta Stephenson’s new book brings together, for the fi
rst time, past and present stories of Australia’s
Indigenous Muslims: from histories told by descendants
of Afghan cameleers and Malay pearl-divers to the deeply
refl ective accounts of contemporary Indigenous
converts.
The men and women interviewed come from many walks of
life. They describe dramatic moments of
self-empowerment, from the decision of women to adopt
the hijab as an expression of their deepening faith to
the resistance of male prisoner converts to all forms of
extremism - but overwhelmingly they narrate a pilgrimage
to renewed possibilities of community.
About the Author
Peta Stephenson specialises in the study of
cross-cultural relationships between Indigenous and
non-white immigrant communities in Australia.
She recently completed an ARC
Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Asia Institute, Faculty
of Arts, the University of Melbourne, where she is now
an honorary fellow. Her first book, The Outsiders Within
(UNSW Press, 2007), traced the hidden story of centuries
of trade and intermarriage between Indigenous and
South-East Asian communities across Australia.
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.
KB SAYS:This recipe can be
doubled and is perfect for a Sunday snack when you can
pull it out of the freezer in the morning and place in
the oven to bake later in the afternoon or when the
family is ready for a light meal. Besides being tasty,
it is extremely adaptable and nutritious making it a
great serving item.
Ingredients
8 Tortillas
2 cups chicken fillet – cut into small cubes
1 tsp salt
1tsp garlic
1 tsp green chillies
1 tsp crushed dry red chillies
2 Tab Olive oil
2 Tab lemon juice
2 grated tomatoes
Taco Sauce
1 egg
125 ml fresh cream
2 cups tomato chutney (see
CCN No
269)
1 cup grated cheese
Method to
cook chicken
Heat olive oil, sauté garlic, add chicken
and the rest of the spices and lemon juice,
cook the chicken until tender and then add
the tomatoes and cook until mixture is
slightly dry.
Method to Make Taco Sauce
Beat egg and add to fresh cream. Heat the
chutney, and gradually egg and cream
mixture. Simmer for 5mins.
To Assemble
1. Spread a little Taco Sauce over the base
of the baking dish.
2. Spread a Tortilla with the sauce.
3. Place the chicken mixture on the tortilla
and fold over.
4. Place in the baking dish, seam side down.
5. Place enough tortillas to fill the dish.
6. Pour the remaining sauce and then cover
the enchiladas with grated cheese. (Suitable
to freeze now)
7. Bake at 180degrees for 15mins.
Calendar your way to a better fitness workout program
Using a calendar system in your fitness program will not
only help you stay focused and motivated, but it is also
a valuable evaluation tool.
A calendar system can be very helpful if you find
yourself struggling with your fitness program or you
want to start a program but do not know where to begin.
It only takes a few minutes a day, and the benefits are
immense.
The first step is to establish what your goals are and
the timeframe in which you want to achieve them.
Remember to set realistic goals and reward yourself
every time you achieve one.
Further, nothing is etched in stone. You should feel
motivated by your calendar, not pressured.
You may find that a goal you have set for yourself is
unreasonable or outside circumstances make it
unattainable.
Simply change it and move on.
Take note of your diet as well and be sure to make
healthier choices whenever possible.
Make sure you schedule enough time to exercise and don't
forget your water. N-JOY!
All questions sent in are published here anonymously
and without any references to the author of the
question.
The CCN Chuckle
Mula
Nasruddin and his friend, Jallauddin, go on
a fishing trip.
They rent
all the equipment: the reels, the rods, the
wading suits, the rowboat, the car, and even a
cabin in the woods. They spend a fortune.
The first day they go fishing, but they don't
catch anything.
The same
thing happens on the second day, and on the
third day.
It goes on
like this until finally, on the last day of
their vacation, Mula
Nasruddin catches a fish.
As they're
driving home they're really depressed. Mula
Nasruddin turns to Jallauddin and says, "Do you
realize that this one lousy fish we caught cost
us fifteen hundred dollars?"
Jallauddin says, "Wow! It's a good thing we
didn't catch any more!"
Taleem
this week will be held on Thursday 25
October
from 11am-12pm at the
residence of:
NazimaHansa
11 Bauhinia
Close
Eight Mile
Plains
Tel: 0407 037
928
All ladies
welcome
Girls Game
Night
Sitting at
home on a Saturday Night?
Want to do
something constructive, but FUN?
Inspiration
talk, pizza, BBQ, fun and games
Topics that
are relevant, Iman-boosting and
mind-capturing. Where: AMYN Islamic Youth Centre,
16/157 North Road, Woodridge When: Every Saturday,after Maghrib
Info:
www.AMYNweb.com Everyone is invited
Australian Muslim Youth
Network (AMYN)
Find out about the latest
events, outings, fun-days,
soccer tournaments, BBQs
organised by AMYN. Network
with other young Muslims on
the
AMYN Forum
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
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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 libellous,
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.
The
Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, seems
to have escaped the negative impact of the
international financial crisis as it
continues to contribute nearly one-tenth of
the non-oil private sector's share of Saudi
Arabia's gross domestic product.
UK:
Several newspapers, including the Daily
Express, the Daily Mail, the Daily Star, the
Metro and The Sun, reported of schoolboy
Darius Gill having been the victim of
bullying by six fellow pupils at his school
reportedly for penning an online Remembrance
Day tribute to fallen British troops. 
