On Tuesday, October 15, Muslims in Saudi Arabia will mark the end of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, with communal prayers and celebrations.
 

The day of celebration and prayer is called Eid ul-Adha (EED-al-ODD-ha), or "festival of the sacrifice."

 

Eid ul-Adha also commemorates the Prophet Abraham's (pbuh) willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command.

 

The day is celebrated with the prayers, distribution of meat to the needy, and social gatherings.

 

During this day, Muslims exchange the greeting "Eid Mubarak" or "blessed Eid."

 

Each year, some two million Muslims, including hundreds of Australian Muslims, go on Hajj.
 

 

CCN wishes all our Muslim readers and their Families and Friends

 

Eid Mubarak

 

A sister who went from Australia for Haj sent in the following photos and brief notes from Makkah:

Medina was amazing. Arrived in Makkah late afternoon. Started Umrah (Tawaaf) at 11 p.m. Finished Umrah at 3.30 a.m. Pray Allah accepts our efforts. Big part of Haram affected by construction. Tawaaf only possible on ground floor and new bridge. Crowds are big and will keep growing now each day.

Yesterday they opened the first floor for Tawaaf. Alhumdulillah much better as no pushing and shoving. The rooftop at Maghrib is my favourite.

Settled in Aziziyah. We went on a trial walk to Mina and Jamaraats yesterday. Alhumdulillah we are so blessed to be in tents right next to the Jamaraats and about 2-3km from the hotel. Due to big crowds now all Salaah in hotel room only.

 

Workshop conducted at the Cairns Funeral Directors' premises

The Muslim Funeral Services (MFS) was invited by the Islamic Society of Cairns yesterday (Saturday) to conduct an information session and ghusl demonstration for the local Cairns community as well updating the Cairns' Funeral Directors on ways of improving their services.   There were some 80, mostly women, who took part in the programme, and the female ghusl session conducted by Ummi Yousef and her team from Kuraby was very well received.

r to l: Dr Iqbal Sultan, Mr AK Surtie, Cairns Funeral Directors and (left) Ms Alma Mohammed

 

SURFERS Paradise and Broadbeach will convert to Islam (sic) and feature more prayer rooms, halal restaurants and extended trading hours, says Mayor Tom Tate (pictured below).
 

On his return from the Middle East, Cr Tate will meet with traders, restaurant owners, hotels and marketing bodies to look at how both tourism areas can better cater for high-yield Middle Eastern tourists.
 

He also wants to extend trading hours during Ramadan to cater for the later rising and dining tourists as one of the major criticisms was the early closing hours of many Gold Coast restaurants.
 

About 20,000 Gulf tourists visit the region each year, staying on average for about a month with combined spending of between $53 million and $75 million.
 

Numbers have been down in recent years with the Islamic festival Ramadan falling in the middle of school holiday period.
 

Holidaymakers travel either side of Ramadan.
 

"I want to double the number of students and double tourism and I think in order to do that, we bring the traders and retailers together to talk about their culture and what we can be doing to grow tourism,'' Cr Tate said from Abu Dhabi.
 

"If we are going to be a truly global destination, then we need to think about these things.''
 

Surfers Paradise Alliance chairwoman Laura Younger said she would welcome discussions if it meant adding value for businesses in the precinct.
 

"If the traders see there is an opportunity, there is no doubt they would adapt to that opportunity,' she said.

"Surfers is a very diverse multicultural precinct and traders are always looking for new opportunities.''
 

Islamic Society of Gold Coast secretary Hussain Baba urged the Gold Coast to be better equipped.
 

"The Muslim tourist loves to shop and it would be great to have places to pray in the shopping areas. That way they don't have to go to the Mosque or go back to the hotel they can continue shopping.
 

"They also like to shop until late, so extended trading hours would be good.

 

This is not just for the middle eastern tourists, but the Chinese Muslim groups and the Indonesians and Malaysians,'' he said.
 

The owner of the Tandoori Place at Surfers Paradise, Surjit Singh Dhillon, said he would welcome discussions about extended trading.
 

"Already we have big groups from the Middle East which come in at 10pm and we open to 11pm,'' he said.
 

"We would be more than happy to talk about further extending these hours. People now realise the market is there and we stock halal meat to (cater for) any Muslim.''
 

Cr Tate this week visited the Director General of the Department of Tourism and Commercial Marketing, Helal Al Marri, as part of his 10-day trade mission in the UAE.
 

Cr Tate said about 500 students from the Middle East visited the Gold Coast each year.
 

He said as part of ongoing relationships with the Middle East, he would bring a delegation to include the vice-chancellors from both Bond and Griffith universities to the region next year to form "working groups'' to build on the double figure target.

Source: Goldcoast.com.au

FASTIDIOUS, meticulous, some would even go as far as stark raving mad, what makes Sonny Bill Williams the best footballer of his generation is a one word mantra used by elite athletes all over the world: sacrifice.
 

Think green tea, sashimi, brown rice, Bikram yoga, daily prayers, visualisation, a home gym and a strict no-alcohol policy - small samples of why SBW ranks alongside Brad Fittler as the Roosters most astute piece of recruitment in the club’s history.
 

Forget the rock star exterior of the flat caps and designer shades. When Williams arrived at the tri-colours' Moore Park headquarters last January armed with an A4 notebook and a pen, the entire organisation was taken aback by his level of professionalism.
 

Sacrifice can come in many forms. NRL footballers like to break it down in to what they call "one percenters", which essentially means a resolute focus on doing all the little things right, with no room for short cuts or distractions.
 

Take this example: not one member of the Sydney Roosters roster has touched a drop of alcohol for over a month. Call it a coincidence, but the Roosters are on an eight-match winning roll.
 

"We didn’t want to make a fuss of it, we actually just wanted to keep it in-house. It was something we decided on as a group about a month ago,’’ Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

 

"Alcohol has long been a part of sporting clubs and at the Roosters there’s times when it’s been good and times when it’s been not so good.
 

"It was Jared Waerea-Hargreaves who came up with the idea of everybody just making a small sacrifice in that area. It certainly wasn’t Sonny’s idea or something he was pushing but at the same time the lifestyle choices he makes are clearly having a positive effect in that regard.’’

 

 

The Daily Telegraph

Mustafa Barghouti is a Palestinian physician, activist, and politician who serves as General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative.

Barghouti is the President of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, an NGO that provides health and community services to people in the Occupied Territories.

 

He is also Director of the Health Development Information and Policy Institute, an independent Ramallah-based think-tank that engages in policy research and planning for the Palestinian health-care system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

6PM for a 6:30PM start at Level 2, Queensland Council of Unions Building, 16 Peel St,South Brisbane.

 

Entry by gold coin donation at venue.

 

Have questions about Public Forum with Dr Mustafa Barghouti? Contact Just Peace Queensland.

 

Dr Barghouti's visit to Brisbane is sponsored by: Australia Palestine Advocacy Network; Just Peace Qld, Inc; and Queensland Council of Unions.

He is the Queensland man accused of fighting alongside rebels with links to Al Qaida – he says we was there on a humanitarian mission and 4BC Radio announcer, Gary Hardgrave comes to his defence.

 

 

The finalists for the annual Australian Muslim Achievement Award (AMAA) were announced this week.

 

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 1 December at the Onyx Room, The Renaissance, 3 New Street East, Lidcombe, NSW.

 

To attend, book here.

 

 

Man of the Year Belal Taha (NSW) Nazeem Hussain (VIC) Oguz Hakan Taskun (NSW)	Professional of the Year Ali Sowaid (NSW) Ashraf Naim (VIC) Karim Ibrahim (NSW)	Best New Community Initiative of the Year Activ8 Youth Mentoring Program (NSW) Bankstown Poetry Slam (NSW) The Dury's Out (VIC)
Woman of the Year Abir Chahal (NSW) Susan Carland (VIC) Tasneem Chopra (VIC)	Creative Artist of the Year Abid (Abdel-Aziz) Abouloukme (NSW) Ahmad Al Rady (NSW) Reuben Street (VIC)	Business of the Year Flames Steakhouse (NSW) Hijab House (NSW) Ooh Aah Invitations (NSW)
Youth of the Year Ahmad Al-Rady (NSW) Akram Azimi (WA) Widyan Al-Ubudy (NSW)	Volunteer of the Year Hend Zaid (NSW) Janeth Deen (QLD)	Event of the Year IMA EId Dinner (VIC) Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair (NSW)
Sportsperson of the Year Bachar Houli (VIC) Fawad Ahmed (NSW) Sonny Bill Williams (NSW)	Media of the Year Rehana Bibi (QLD) Tahmina Ansari (NSW) The Y Factor (NSW)
Role Model of the Year Bachar Houli (VIC) Mustafa Ally (QLD) Saara Sabbagh (VIC)	Community Organisation of the Year Crescent Institute (NSW) Hills District Muslim Society (NSW) Islamic Relief Australia (NSW)

If you’re dealing with an ongoing health condition (e.g. diabetes, high cholesterol, hay fever, ongoing back pain) or providing support (caring) for someone who does, we’d like to hear from you.
 

Dr Adem Sav and members of the Griffith Health Institute are researching the support given by local community pharmacies for people with ongoing health conditions. This is part of a nationwide project designed to assist in the planning of future pharmacy services.
 

Participants must be at least 16 years old and be:
  • Living with an ongoing health condition, or
  • Caring for a person with an ongoing health condition.
  • Living in one of the following areas
           o Mt Isa /the North West area, Queensland
           o Perth and the surrounding area, Western Australia
           o Mt Isa /the North West area, Queensland
           o Logan Beaudesert area, Queensland
 

The study involves completing a 30 minute phone survey with participants being reimbursed with a $50 supermarket voucher for their time.
 

To register visit chronicillnessproject.com.au or call 1800 600 687 (free of charge).
 

The Chronic Illness Project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Fifth Pharmacy Agreement Research and Development Program managed by The Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

GOLD Coast bikie gangs are actively targeting hot-blooded young Muslim and Eastern European men as they seek to beef up their ranks with aggressive ethnic recruits.
 

Sources say gangs such as the Bandidos are embracing multiculturalism, signing up Lebanese, Turkish and Balkan members, many from Sydney and Melbourne.
 

The trend mirrors the early stages of the rise of crime gangs in southern states who recruited from ethnic groups, sources say.
 

Pacific Islanders such as violent Bandido and Muslim convert Leonard Toalei are also being targeted.
 

Toalei - who is behind bars on remand over a wild rampage on the Gold Coast two months ago in which police claim a taxi was shot up, a milk truck hijacked and a cabbie and bus driver assaulted - has been embraced by a new Logan-based Muslim 'brotherhood' called Ummah United.
 

Ummah, whose members wear black hoodies and t-shirts with a crossed dagger logo, describes itself as a community group set up to help keep Muslim youth on the straight and narrow.
 

Ummah United logo

Toalei is pictured on the Ummah United Facebook site being welcomed back into the fold after being released from jail over a violent siege in Surfers Paradise in which he shot up a woman's unit, bashed her and bit her on the face.
 

Within weeks of being released from jail, Toalei allegedly went on another rampage through Southport.
 

Toalei was arrested during what police claim was a violent struggle in the Southport CBD in which he was bitten by a police dog and tasered. He is back behind bars awaiting his next court appearance on multiple serious charges including serious assault, robbery and weapons offences.
 

Several photos of Toalei posing with fellow Ummah United members in the group's black hoodie appear on Ummah United's Facebook page. A caption on one photo reads 'Brothers forever'.
 

The group describes itself as a non-profit organisation founded last year to 'help the Muslim youth fight against the temptations (of) harmful society'.
 

From its Mansfield base, Ummah runs activities from feeding the homeless to lessons in martial arts, and the Koran.
 

"Our intention is to help them respect the law of this land as well as the law of Islam inshallah (if Allah wills it) they will become positive members of the society and be proud to be practicing Muslims,'' the group's Facebook page says.
 

"Help Ummah United so we can help (keep) the ummah (brothers) from drugs, from jails.''
 

But a Muslim community spokesman emphatically denied any bikie associations and said Ummah encouraged youth to 'stay away from drugs and violence'.
 

Our intention is to help them respect the law of this land as well as the law of Islam inshallah (if Allah wills it) they will become positive members of the society and be proud to be practicing Muslims    UU Facebook

He said Toalei had joined Ummah United because he 'wanted to change his life around'.
 

"We try to help all our Muslim brothers but you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped,'' the spokesman said of Toalei's latest run-in with the law.
 

He said some Ummah members had been in strife 'but the majority of youth have changed a lot and aren't who they used to be'.
 

The number of Middle Eastern bikies in Queensland 'you can count on one hand', the spokesman added.
 

The president of the Brisbane Centro chapter of the Bandidos - the gang police claim was responsible for last weekend's bikie rampage on the Gold Coast - is George Bejat.
 

Bejat, who was jailed for trafficking cocaine as a teenager, is said to be the son of a psychiatrist from Sarajevo who later lived in public housing at Morningside after moving to Australia.
 

Bejat fills his Facebook site with posts about holidays in Spain and Thailand.
Bejat and clubmate Zivko Stojakovic, another ex-Yugoslavian migrant, have already set up two tattoo parlours in Milton.

Source: Courier Mail

 

 

He shot to prominence defending controversial former mufti Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali, took on broadcast giant Alan Jones and penned spirited newspaper op-eds in defence of polygamy.

Now Keysar Trad is trying out a new gig as an agony uncle.

The outspoken Islamic Friendship Association founder launched his first book of love poetry on Sunday, with the help of chief government whip Philip Ruddock.

Publisher John Stapleton described Mr Trad's Forays of the Heart as 'paeans of unrequited love directed at women other than his wife'.

He told the launch event in inner Sydney that Mr Trad's wife was 'bemused' - and his nine children were a bit embarrassed.

Mr Trad said he saw the kids' point, but he hoped his writing would offer some comfort to lovelorn readers.

'When I wrote these poems I felt, yes, they are embarrassing,' he said.

'But I wrote them and I felt that this was something that would help other people if I shared them ... I felt this was something I could offer to people who might have a heartache.'

Mr Ruddock said he'd had a good read through the book before agreeing to launch it, after media reports described it as an endorsement of polygamy.

But he'd come to a different conclusion.

'People have lots of loves in their life,' he said.

'I love all my constituents, it may surprise you - even those who don't vote for me.'

It could be just the sort of unrequited love Mr Trad is hoping his poems will help soothe.
 

Source: Sky News

For centuries, the Ottoman Empire peaceably ruled much of the civilised world. Now, its former lands are up in flames. As the BBC launches a major new documentary series, Peter Popham asks: where did it all go wrong?

There are few things more profoundly dead than an ex-empire, but around the time that the Soviet empire came apart at the seams, I became aware that the ghosts of a much older one – that of the Turkish Ottomans – were still haunting its former domains.

It was in the spring of 1990. All Europe's communist dominoes had already fallen over, the most recent being Romania, whose dictator Ceausescu had just been executed. The only one left standing was tiny, reclusive Albania. Every half-serious newspaper in Fleet Street wanted a bite of it, but foreigners were barred from entering – not only journalists, but even ordinary tourists. The only outsiders admitted were archaeology enthusiasts who were occasionally permitted to undertake study tours.
 

Suleiman the Magnificent was a warrior, artist and a poet (Alamy)

And so it came to pass that the next scheduled archaeological study tour was strangely over-subscribed. Of the 20 or so who signed up for it – claiming a range of occupations from farmer to advertising copywriter to ballet dancer – almost all were journalists, as our unlucky tour guide soon discovered. The exceptions were a clean-cut couple who turned out to be professional Christians, and four Pakistanis from Dewsbury. All six shared a common mission: to restore the faith – variously Christian and Muslim – to atheist Albania.

I had no idea that Islam had got as far into Europe as Tirana, let alone that its embers had survived being stamped on for many years by Enver Hoxha, Albania's communist dictator. But it was in Albania's grim and impoverished streets that I got my first whiff of the Ottomans: the beguiling reek of Turkish tobacco and coffee, the pungent kick of slivovitz. What we wrote about were the country's modern hallmarks, the horrible housing estates and ubiquitous concrete bunkers. But what took one by surprise and lingered in the memory were the intricate old lanes of a town such as Gjirokaster, the compact but handsome old stone mosques built, one learnt, by colonisers from Istanbul for whom Albania was just as dismal a backwater as it was for us.

Albania was on the frontier, as much for the Ottomans as for the Russians and later for the EU. And as Eastern Europe slowly emerged during the 1990s from its communist purdah, one discovered that the unique fragrance of Ottoman civilisation lingered much closer to home. Greece, every corner of disintegrating Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, even Ukraine – all had been under Turkish control for centuries. They had been conquered and colonised by the Ottomans – by Suleiman the Magnificent (born, 1492; died, 1566) to be precise – before the English had gone anywhere.
 

The final days of the Ottoman Empire

And what makes us scratch our heads in puzzlement about that vanished empire is that, although the Ottomans were Muslims, and the figure we think of as the Muslim pope, the caliph, was identified with Istanbul, large populations of Christians and Jews continued to live and prosper right across the Ottoman Empire.

After 150,000 Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, they were formally invited to make new homes inside the Ottoman Empire. True, the infidels faced higher taxation than the faithful, but for centuries, the Ottoman version of Islamic rule was distinguished by pluralism and peaceful coexistence. The now sadly beleaguered and diminished Christian communities of Syria and Egypt and Iraq bear witness to that.
 

 

The Independent

 

Muslim Aid Australia along with partners, Muslim Charitable Foundation, World Orphan Fund and the Al-Imdaad Foundation are working together to ensure your Qurban reaches the most needy this Eid.

Due to the increase in global food prices, families cannot afford to purchase nutritional meat, making your Qurban share possibly the only meat they’ll eat this year.

We urge you to please share the happiness this Eid al-Adha and donate your Local (fresh meat delivered in 18 countries) and Canned Qurban (sacrificed in Australia, then canned and shipped to Syria) with Muslim Aid Australia.

Why choose Muslim Aid Australia as your essential partner to deliver your Qurban? Because of our:

• strict Halal process
• strict selection process of healthy and quality animals
• commitment to monitor the delivery by our staff and/or representatives
• commitment to the welfare of animals
• cost and operational effectiveness in delivery
• unique Tax Deductibility - please never think it diminishes your rewards from ALLAH (swt), in fact it is the opposite. It can increase your rewards by having the right intention to claim these donations from your Tax to donate more in the future, or even to re-donate the claimed amount, hence more and more hasanat and thawab from ALLAH (swt).

Please visit http://9nl.me/LocalQurban to donate your Local Qurban ($95) to Bangladesh, Nigeria, Cambodia, Pakistan, Ghana, Palestine, India, Somalia, South Africa, Indonesia, Uganda, Kenya, Vietnam, Liberia, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Myanmar Refugees, or visit http://9nl.me/CannedQurban to donate your Canned Qurban ($135) to Syria.

or to donate directly into our account:

Muslim Aid Australia
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
BSB: 062-191
Account no: 10 448 216

Please email: mail@muslimaid.org.au with your details and where you would like the funds to go, so a receipt can be provided to you accordingly. 'All donations are tax deductible.'

TUTORING

Tutor in maths and science for primary and high school students available in Kuraby/Eight Mile Plains area. Contact Raihaan 0405174430

The Islamic Medical Association of Queensland (IMAQ) is  once again this year co-ordinating Qurbani in Cambodia, in association with the Islamic Medical Association of Cambodia (IMAC).
 

Feedback from last year's initiative was that the meat distributed to the Muslim community in the remote villages in Cambodia was very much appreciated.

"Unlike countries with large expatriate communities, poor Muslims from Cambodia are often forgotten at times of qurbani," Dr Iqbal Sultan, president of IMAQ, told CCN..

Cows will be slaughtered and a share is $85 per person, or $595 dollars for a whole cow (7 shares).

 

Click here for more information.

During the Middle Ages, when Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages, Arab scholars and historians translated most of the works of the Greek scholars, thereby preserving some of the greatest intellectual achievements that are the cornerstone of Western civilization.

 

For the next few weeks CCN will offer an English word that has, as its origin, the Arabic language:

 

English	Arabic Origin	Arabic Meaning
arsenal	daar As-Sinnah	house of manufacture