Imam for Jummah: Hafiz Abdur Rahman Hardy and Muazzin: Rameez Gutta

Jummah Salaah was performed for the first time this year at Brisbane's John Paul College, an independent Christian school in Daisy Hill, south of Brisbane.

 

A spokesperson for the organizing committee told CCN: "Parents are requested to encourage their children to attend the Jummah facility at the school even if they are in the younger grades, as they will InshAllah enjoy the experience together."

Time: Start 1:30pm – Finish 1:50pm (occurs during the 2nd lunch break so they will not miss any of their important school work)
Venue: Coleman Centre – Upstairs room at rear of centre.

For further information or if you are interested in having your child lead the Jummah Salaah, please contact Sameer Gutta – 0433 128 585 or Muhsin Ally - 0400 134 786.

 

Alternatively, students of JPC can contact their fellow students - Rameez Gutta and Zain Nathie for more information.

A dinner, organised by the offices of State Minister for Southport and Councillor for Arundel and supported by the Islamic Society of Gold Coast, will be held on 15 February (Friday) at 7.00pm at Parkwood Golf Club, 76 Napper Road, Arundel.

The cost of a ticket is $100 per head inclusive of a 3 course halal dinner.

Contact ISGC Secretary Haji Hussain Baba before 12th February (Tuesday) for reservation of seat on 0416 212 541 or by email: hbaba500@gmail.com.

 

The dinner is a 5 star event with entertainment and auctions by Haji Hussin Goss.

Most of us have read about the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the close-knit community he established based on piety and benevolence.

However, few of us have experienced anything close to it in terms of mutual love and generous support in our time.

We are living at a time when information abounds and people can gain Islamic knowledge in many ways. We could say that we are the most informed of people in history but has our access to knowledge made us better Muslims?

How often does the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad these days successfully develop a united community based on piety and benevolence?

 

Bayaan Grant, a revert of twelve years living in Queensland Australia, believes that Sisters’ House has achieved just that!

About Bayaan

Bayaan was raised in a non-religious household but she admits that she has always been spiritually inclined. She searched for many years to find out how to worship the Creator.

Bayaan recalls: “I tried different religions but was not satisfied. At twenty-seven years of age and a single mum, I heard about Islam. Ironically, the one who taught me about Islam at first ended up my husband!”
 

I tried different religions but was not satisfied. At twenty-seven years of age and a single mum, I heard about Islam. Ironically, the one who taught me about Islam at first ended up my husband!

When Bayaan first met and befriended Muslims, all she knew about them was that they were fighting wars overseas. At that time she believed that as a woman she could handle anything.

 

Bayaan’s soon-to-be husband, also a revert, spoke to her humbly and respectfully about Islam. She did some research herself and learned about the rights of Muslim women and how Muslims should worship the Creator in His terms.

 

She loved it! She embraced Islam and has never looked back.

A Seed Is Sown

Another revert, who was a close friend of Bayaan, had embraced Islam years before, and she took Bayaan under her wing. This friend actually started the Muslim Women’s Convert Support Service in response to Bayaan and her conversion to Islam.

 

In the beginning, monthly social gatherings and Islamic classes were held and as time passed and Bayaan established herself in Islam she took on a more active role in trying to help and meet the needs of revert sisters.

Many reverts find that their relationship with family and friends changes and this leads them to loneliness
 

It soon became clear that revert sisters and their children had a range of needs that were not being met. There was a need for temporary housing along with resource provision and referral services. Embracing Islam and making the necessary lifestyle changes is a huge challenge and quite often the new Muslim may become confused and vulnerable.

Many reverts find that their relationship with family and friends changes and this leads them to loneliness and sometimes homelessness. Some reverts have to change their employment and they need a referral service to help them find suitable jobs. At the same time they need to learn about Islam and establish links with the Islamic community. Bayaan, and a group of like-minded Muslims, recognized the dilemma faced by reverts and decided to do something about it. Sisters’ House was beginning.

Brisbane is not so divisive and cliquey. People find it refreshing to see Muslims that just want to help. There is an easy going atmosphere here and I find the complete harmony of an Islamic community here in Brisbane.

Sunny Brisbane

All this was, and is, taking place in and around Brisbane. Sisters’ House is located just a few doors down from Kuraby Mosque and this area has the largest Muslim population in south-east Queensland. The famous Gold Coast is only half an hour away. People who have come to Brisbane from Sydney and Melbourne say Brisbane is more like a big country town.

Bayaan says: “Brisbane is not so divisive and cliquey. People find it refreshing to see Muslims that just want to help. There is an easy going atmosphere here and I find the complete harmony of an Islamic community here in Brisbane.” The Muslim population has grown very quickly and has a variety of ethnicities and a huge revert population.

How Sisters’ House Developed

Bayaan remembers: “In June 2010, we were officially handed the keys to a four-bedroom house in Kuraby by the Queensland Charity and Welfare Association (TAQCWA).”

TACQWA has been helping the Muslim community in Queensland in a variety of ways for some time. Bayaan recalls: “They wanted to help reverts and had heard that we were trying to do just that. So we had some meetings and they simply asked us what we needed to help revert sisters. We found that reverts needed their own place to learn about Islam in an environment that was welcoming; not intimidating. Sometimes they also needed a place to stay; short-term accommodation and help to make the transition into Islam in an Islamic environment. The brothers from TACQWA helped us get a four-bedroom house and they paid the rent until we established ourselves.”

Bayaan and other volunteers formed a committee and called in resources and networks to help set up the House, including counsellors and psychologists already working within the Muslim community. They developed policies and procedures to run the House properly from the beginning. Within six weeks, the House was fully furnished all with generous donations from the Muslim community. Bayaan notes: "People contact the House with ideas of how to help people. We work with the full support of the Imams and much of the community."

What Is Sisters’ House?

Two years since its inception, Sisters’ House is established and is managed and run by volunteers that make up the management committee – Sisters’ House Services Inc. The majority of the committee are reverts. With no government funding, the House is funded by donations from the Muslim community as well as contributions to rent from tenants of the House. Fundraising events are held throughout the year and it enjoys a close working relationship with a number of organizations throughout the region including the Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland.

Oftentimes, reverts find themselves in crisis and the House seeks to help them in a variety of ways; they can stay from a few days to a few weeks. Bayaan says: “Sisters only pay what they can afford. One elderly sister who embraced Islam came to stay at the House for a while and we paid her! We are now able to pay our own rent and costs.”

it is also a place for Muslim women and children to relax and socialize in an Islamic environment

Just two doors down from Kuraby Mosque, the House offers spiritual, social, emotional and financial support. From the Sunshine Coast, to the Gold Coast and beyond, the House now has a growing network of Islamic organizations that mutually help and support each other. Bayaan adds: “Now the Imams refer clients to us!”

A Unique Islamic Community

Although the House offers crisis care and a variety of services to Muslim women, it is also a place for Muslim women and children to relax and socialize in an Islamic environment.

 

It is a hub of activity; a lively place that runs with the intention of obeying God the Almighty and following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

 

It does not exist on its own; inspired by the sisters, the brothers began the Ummah United Centre which seeks to cater to the needs of revert men.

 

Already they have done significant work with the Indigenous Australian revert community and members of bikie gangs who are seeking the Straight Path.
 

The House embraces a key concept of Islam; which is to help each other regardless of race or economic status. It is there for everyone. For me, living in a big city where I have no family, the House has allowed me to be a step closer to my larger Muslim family and helps bring me closer to Allah. It is my home away from home.

The fact that staff and management are all volunteers lends the House an atmosphere of sisterly care that can be relied on.

 

Sisters of all backgrounds and ethnicities have the chance to participate and work on projects together and be a part of this vital hub of the Muslim community in Brisbane.

Bayaan teaches on-going classes in the Basics of Islam and there are also classes to learn Arabic and Quran. The House organizes dinners, day trips and workshops and provides lessons in arts and crafts and cooking that are enjoyed by young and old. There are also women’s and children’s health information sessions and during Ramadan there are Iftars and Tarawih prayers. All the needs of the Muslim women and children are catered by the House.

A previous tenant of Sisters’ House says: “The House embraces a key concept of Islam; which is to help each other regardless of race or economic status. It is there for everyone. For me, living in a big city where I have no family, the House has allowed me to be a step closer to my larger Muslim family and helps bring me closer to Allah. It is my home away from home.”

Another former tenant says: “It was truly help from Allah. The house had a warm welcoming atmosphere, everything was provided for us - even delicious dinner on arrival. Sisters in the house supplied me with everything I would need. Staying at the Sisters’ House helped me tremendously in my recovery. It helped me logistically and financially. It helped me emotionally a lot as well. The house continually hosted various Islamic activities for the sisters and it felt so great to be around Muslim women and increase my knowledge in religion.”

The House is an investment in the community. I can’t imagine life without the Sister’s House.

Bayaan reminds the sisters as often as possible: “Think of the community as a garden – it needs to be cultivated and taken care of.”

Goals for the Future?

Bayaan hopes the House will be able to maintain their activities in time to come. She also hopes to develop stronger ties with other regional Islamic centers and help sisters and children to grow and form a strong and united community.

Bayaan notes: “The House is an investment in the community. I can’t imagine life without the Sister’s House.”
 

Source: OnIslam

Four million people have had their lives shattered by conflict in Syria. Half of them are children.

 

An afternoon tea held at the Gold Coast Mosque last week succeeded in raising over $2000 for Syrian refugees to be used for blankets, mattresses, warm clothing, gasoline, heaters, food, medication, etc.

 

Sisters Angela Hillyer, Faizah Batchelor, Amila Kujovic, Aya Gadalla, Christine Leslie, Rachel Watts and Maryam Talib are to be congratulated for this initiative.

MIDDLE EASTERN leaders are furious at a new police operation that implies members of their community are wholly responsible for the wave of gun crime sweeping Sydney.

 

Police launched the fresh operation to target gun crime on Wednesday and put the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad in charge, despite having no statistical evidence that offenders are mostly Middle Eastern.

 

The move has strained relationships with the community and angered leaders, who say unfair stereotyping has gone too far.

 

The spokesman for the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Keysar Trad (pictured above), said the move was racist and would send a message to criminals of other ethnic or cultural groups that they are off the hook.

 

Previous bouts of gun violence have been carried out by bikie gang members and criminals of all nationalities, including Australian, Serbian and Samoan.

 

''If you make it exclusive to one particular ethnic group, then you're telling the rest of society they don't have to participate in solving the social issues,'' Mr Trad said. ''I welcome the creation of the squad but I wish we could give it another name because we are constantly being blamed for all the problems in society.''

 

If you make it exclusive to one particular ethnic group, then you're telling the rest of society they don't have to participate in solving the social issues. I welcome the creation of the squad but I wish we could give it another name.   Keysar Trad

Randa Abdel-Fattah, an author and community advocate, said it was ''offensive, concerning and disturbing'' that Australians of Middle Eastern descent were still being stereotyped as criminals.

 

''It's really just disgusting that we have to deal constantly with this sort of racism,'' she said. ''People don't realise the repercussions this has for young people of Middle Eastern background who are instantly linked with crimes that they did not commit.''

 

A spokesman for the NSW police said no breakdown for the nationality of gun crime offenders was kept and therefore no one knew what proportion was committed by Middle Eastern people.

 

Foreseeing the potential furore, the force's community contact unit has been meeting with dozens of Middle Eastern community leaders to assure them Operation Apollo would target criminals of all backgrounds.

 

A spokesman for the Islamic Egyptian Council said he had requested a meeting for Friday to express concern over the focus of the new operation.

This is not about targeting a particular community group. In fact, the opposite. We cannot solve the gun crime problem alone and the relationship with all sections of our community is critical to the success of this operation.     Stepan Kerkyasharian

The Community Relations Commissioner, Stepan Kerkyasharian, said the operation was a chance to develop an ''open partnership'' with the public, yet he warned against assuming that someone's background, religion or language has an impact on their criminality.

 

''We should be very careful not to see this as an anti-migrant grouping, I would never accept that,'' he said. ''I see this is as an initiative by the police to very publicly state that we're open to a partnership.''

 

The commander of Operation Apollo, Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis, stressed that MEOCS will work with local and metropolitan police and was appointed to lead the three-tiered operation only because it has the existing structure to investigate gun crime.

 

''This is not about targeting a particular community group,'' he said. ''In fact, the opposite. We cannot solve the gun crime problem alone and the relationship with all sections of our community is critical to the success of this operation.''

 

Operation Apollo has already seized 35 weapons, including 24 handguns.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Sisters' House is holding a Saturday morning Boot Camp at 8am at Svoboda Park, cnr Beenleigh Rd & Stiller Dve, Kuraby. Starts 2nd March for 6 weeks and costs $75.

Thursday morning group PT 9:30am at United Ummah Centre, 3 Harris Rd, Underwood. Starts 7th March and costs $40 per month.

For bookings and information call Layla on 0451 515 506.

 

 

New York University chaplain, Imam Khalid Latif, talks about his up and coming movie, Unmosqued:

Many memories of my childhood are of me on the green, soft, carpeted floor of the local mosque. I remember receiving awards for memorizing Qur’an, and also being hit with a belt or stick by my sheikh when I had failed to memorize. The mosque (masjid) has shaped my values, decided who my friends were, and ultimately, gave me a sense of community…until I grew up, that is.

As the years have passed and the hairs on my head have dropped, I’ve wondered and questioned the role of the mosque. More specifically, I wanted an answer to the core question: What is the ideal role of the mosque in the American context?

In order to answer this layered question, so many other topics surrounding “mosque-culture” had to be addressed. Should the Friday sermon be delivered in English or Arabic or Urdu? What should the women’s area look like? Should the youth share the mosque space with the adults, or should they create their own, third space, to hang out in? Is the mosque a place for prayer and spiritual growth, or is it required to be something more?

So many mosques in America have the same problems: youth not showing up, lack of funds, ethnocentrism, irrelevant topics not addressing current social problems, inequality in regards to women’s rights, etc. Imagine if we saw positive change in the American society influenced and galvanized by communities associated with their local mosques! How vastly different this would be than Islamophobes flooding the media asking, ”Where are all the “moderate” Muslims?”

This film will explore the various functions of the mosque in the American context, who is leading them, where they are going, why the youth are not attending, and most importantly: What is the purpose of the mosque in America- and is it fulfilling it?

 

 

Source

In the UK every year, more than 5,000 Brits convert to Islam.
 

More than half of those who make the switch are white – and 75 per cent are women.
 

But what would make someone want to change their lifestyle so dramatically?

 

Over the next four weeks CCN will profile four British women who decided to become Muslim.

 

Student Alana, 21

 

ALANA BLOCKLEY, a media student who lives in Glasgow, converted to Islam after meeting her husband Abdul on holiday in June 2010. She says:
 

My family are all travellers and we live on a caravan site. I was baptised as a Christian but church and religion were never a big part of my life.
 

I was 18 when I decided I wanted to go out to the Canaries. I wanted to work as a club rep and have the experiences people say you should when you’re young.
 

I arrived in Fuerteventura and after a couple of days, a hotel maintenance man offered to take me out for a coffee. He was Abdul, a Muslim from Morocco.

 

When I got home he asked me to come back and visit him – and after three visits we knew we wanted to be together.

 

I started to research Islam because I wanted to know more about his life.

 
I decided I wanted to convert. I was worried about telling my parents and burst into tears. Mum thought I was pregnant and my dad thought I’d crashed my car.
 

I started to wear the hijab last summer. We got married in a Muslim ceremony earlier this month in Fuerteventura.
 

I miss eating Parma ham but I don’t miss alcohol.
 

I celebrate Eid now, but I compromised with my parents and we all had a halal Christmas dinner.
 

I hope I’m going to heaven now and I like the rules of Islam.
 

Next week CCN profiles Jobseeker Claire

Source: The Sun