Between the hours of 9 -12am on 23rd November the Queensland Multi-cultural Council (QMC) raised $23,568.80 for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.

Ms Janeth Deen, the secretary of QMC and Ms Fenti Forsyth, the Treasurer helped organize the appeal at the Inala Plaza setting up donation tins on tables.

Most of the donations and entertainment came from the local Vietnamese community and shoppers.

Amongst the speakers was a Philippine Australian, Letty Descola, who lost nine members of her family in the typhoon.

 

Ms Deen sent Islamic dress clothes to Ms Descola to help fill her containers, on behalf of those who donated to the Queensland Muslim Welfare Ass. Inc.

In two of the cities devastated by the typhoon, Mindanao and Zamboango, the Muslim population comprises over 70% of the inhabitants.

AFC Asian Cup 2015 Community Ambassadors (QLD)

 

Saudi celebration	The Arab world will be strongly represented in Australia for the 2015 Asian Cup with six countries from the region booking their place in Asia’s biggest sporting event this week. Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE have all qualified for AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015, while Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Jordan remain in competition for the final three spots. Two rounds of qualifying matches were held in the past week and one final round will be held on March 5. The top two teams from each of the five qualifying groups will quality for the Asian Cup in Australia, as will the highest ranked third team. AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Local Organising Committee CEO, Michael Brown said the 2015 Asian Cup would be the biggest football event Australia has ever hosted. “It is an opportunity for all Australians to watch world-class football in our own backyard,” Mr Brown said. “For Australians of Arab heritage it will also be once in a lifetime chance to support both the Socceroos and the country of their heritage here in Australia.” AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 will take place between 9-31 January 2015 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle. Australia, Japan, Korean Republic and DPR Korea have already qualified for Australia 2015.   View the AFC Arab nations' standings in the qualifying rounds here. For more information on AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 visit www.afcasiancup.com
Bahrain	Kuwait in action
Lebanon	Oman
Jordan vs Uzbek

Muslims and Muslim organisations across the world are faced with a dilemma when it comes to media engagement.

 

This dilemma is present even in the Western world where most of the media is “free” and there is more freedom of speech compared to most of the Muslim countries.

 

In Australia, there is a growing population of Muslims and unfortunately, we get more than our share of media attention due to the so called “War on Terror” and rising anti-Muslim sentiments, propagated by the gang of Islamophobes in the United States and Europe.

 

Most of the media attention we get here or across the world is negative and stereotypical making us fearful of journalists and media.

 

While people with an anti-Islam agenda make the full use of the 24-hour news cycle and the journalistic hunger for stories, we fail horribly even in defending ourselves.

 
A young Muslim boy from Brisbane was faced with such a dilemma a few weeks ago, when some of the videos of his humanitarian trip to Syria were posted on YouTube.

 

His video blog was used against him by a certain media outlet and he became a “terrorist” and a “threat to Australian National Security” overnight.

 

 

 

 

 

WARRAWONG, NSW: Mariam El Hassan let her boss in on a secret – she was going to start wearing a headscarf from the Muslim feast day Eid al-Adha.

But the move to don the traditional headscarf cost the Primbee woman her job at a Warrawong accountancy firm.

She told her boss at Master Tax Service and Finance in June that she wanted to start wearing the hijab to work in October.

Her repeated requests to wear the scarf were met with deferral and then refusal, with her boss saying: ‘‘I’m not going to have you wearing that out the front’’.

Life coach wears hijab for public statement

Mrs El Hassan said she was asked not to come into work the day she was going to start wearing the headscarf and was forced to resign.

However, Master Tax Service and Finance’s lawyer, Meagan Donnelly, said the company had done what it could to accommodate Mrs El Hassan.
 

I’m not going to have you wearing that out the front.   Manager

‘‘The employer is known for employing many people of various religious backgrounds, including Muslims, and has always made sure her workplace is one that practises religious tolerance, including having a prayer room in the workplace.’’

Mrs El Hassan has lodged a complaint with Fair Work Australia against her former employer for contravening the Fair Work Act.

She claimed the company discriminated against her and took adverse action, leading to her resignation.

Her boss’s reaction was ‘‘uncalled for, unexpected and harsh’’, Mrs El Hassan said.

‘‘I was very upset, very shocked and very hurt.

‘‘I just cried that whole night. I was very emotional.’’

Mrs El Hassan said when she first notified her boss in June of her intention to wear the hijab, she was told to wait until after the tax season.

In September, the junior accountant again raised the issue with her boss.

The conversation that followed was detailed in documents tendered to the commission:

Applicant: ‘‘I want to speak to you again about wearing a headscarf.’’

Manager: ‘‘I’m not going to have you wearing that out the front.’’

Applicant: ‘‘What do you mean, I can sit out the back?’’

Manager: ‘‘Why at your hens’ night were all the women non-scarved? If it’s so important why doesn’t every Muslim woman wear it?’’

Applicant: ‘‘We don’t have to wear it in front of other women.’’

Manager: ‘‘That’s pathetic.’’

The day Mrs El Hassan intended to wear her headscarf to work, she received a text message from her boss telling her not to come to work ‘‘that way’’.

Mrs El Hassan replied she was forced to resign.

‘‘She didn’t let me come into work, so I didn’t, and I haven’t been back there since,’’ Mrs El Hassan said.
 

My client’s instructions are that they were discussing [the headscarf], because it’s a corporate image and because they get 10,000 clients.   Ms Donnelly

‘‘I have been under so much stress, I can’t hold my emotions.’’

Master Tax and Finance’s Ms Donnelly said: ‘‘It’s been a matter of a workplace-performance issue.’’

When asked about the allegations filed with the commission and the company’s workplace policies, Ms Donnelly said she could not yet respond to questions.

She said the company would respond to Fair Work Australia by November 28.
 

‘‘They did everything in their power to ensure that the applicant was at ease at the workplace,’’ Ms Donnelly said.

‘‘My client’s instructions are that they were discussing [the headscarf], because it’s a corporate image and because they get 10,000 clients.

‘‘They had done everything else, stopped [radio] music, given time off for religious observances, gave her a prayer room.

‘‘They in no way wanted to ever offend the applicant.

‘‘They held her in high esteem. However, there were workplace issues.’’

Mrs El Hassan said she was trying to keep as calm as possible because she was eight weeks’ pregnant.

Even so, the decision to wear the hijab was one she did not regret.
 

People have a misconception of scarved women. I freely put my scarf on...to me this is freedom.   Mrs El Hassan

‘‘I am extremely happy and proud – it’s a sense of piety,’’ she said.

‘‘People have a misconception of scarved women. I freely put my scarf on...to me this is freedom.

‘‘I want this to be history. I know I’m young and not the best...but there might be others like me.

‘‘Australia is all about equality.’’

Mrs El Hassan’s lawyer, Michelle Walsh, said her client was still owed wages for the last two weeks of work, her notice payment and accrued annual leave.

‘‘And we say on the basis that she was employed for more than five years, [she is entitled to] pro-rata long-service leave,’’ Ms Walsh said.
 

Source: Illawarra 

A khutbah in Masjid Al-Farooq, Kuraby, Queensland, Australia on 20 November

 

Dr. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki, Secretary General, Muslim World League (pictured left) and an accompanying delegation arrived in Sydney this week to discuss issues relating to Islam in Australia. Also attending the conference are: His Excellency Nabil Al Saleh, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Australia Sheikh Ahmad Shaibany, General Manager, Islamic Affairs, Dubai Prof Ali Al Mansouri, General Manager, Charitable Associations, Dubai Dr. Mohammad Al Qorashy, Vice President, Muslim Scholars Council, UAE Prof Amany Lubis, Professor of Islamic History, Indonesia Dr. Mohammad Amer Faydurrahman, Chairman of Majlesul Ulama of NZ The visit has received bipartisan support from the Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane MLC (Labor) and the Hon. Catherine Cusack MLC (Liberal). The first day of the conference was  held at the NSW State Parliament on Thursday 21 November and followed up with two days at the Malek Fahad Islamic School in Greenacre.   The conference dealt with issues such as Muslims in Australia, education and halal nutrition "Muslim Australians contribute significantly to every aspect of Australian life, this conference has gone a long way to enhance understanding and appreciation both locally and on an international level," said Mr Keysar Trad, executive member of Muslims Australia.

 

Dr Mustafa Ally, who is currently in Durban, discusses with Ms Chohan the long held Australian practice of appointing marriage celebrants

 

 

 

 

Long-standing South African Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in the ANC Government, Ms Fatima Chohan, held a meeting of Muslim organizations at Durban's Islamic Propagation Centre (IPCI) to discuss the civil registration of Islamic marriages and offered to train and certify local marriage officers to conduct this task.

 

Parents (some pictured above) were ordered to send their children to a workshop on Islam or have them labelled as racist for the rest of their school career.

They were sent a letter (see below) warning that the primary school pupils would have a ‘racial discrimination note’ put on their records if they did not go.

Families were told to pay £5 per child for the Explore Islam trip next Wednesday to Staffordshire University, which would involve Year 4 and Year 6 children being shown Islamic artefacts.
 

Mothers and fathers were warned: ‘Refusal to allow your child to attend will result in a Racial Discrimination note being attached to your child’s education record, which will remain on this file throughout their school career.

 

‘All absences on this day will be investigated for their credibility and will only be sanctioned with a GP sick note.’

Yesterday parents at Littleton Green Community School in Huntington, Staffordshire, said the threat to the pupils aged between eight and 11 was ‘ludicrous’. Gillian Claridge, 55, said: ‘How dare they threaten to brand the children racist at such a young age? It’s going to make them feel like little criminals.

‘The very nature of religion is all about choice. On this occasion they were not being given any choice at all. It was a draconian move and it’s left a lot of parents fuming.’

Stacy Waldron, 26, whose eight-year-old daughter is a pupil, said: ‘I feel my child will be [seen as] racist if I don’t allow her to go. This is my choice, not hers, and she shouldn’t have to pay for it.’

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson described the threat as ‘bonkers’ and ‘a very heavy-handed approach’.

He added: ‘The idea of attaching a “racial discrimination note” to children’s education records saying it will remain on their file for the duration for their school career seems unfair, particularly when it is not the child’s decision whether or not he or she attends.’

According to the letter sent last Wednesday, the visit is part of the National Curriculum for religious education and also reflects ‘the multi-cultural community in which we live’.

It went on: ‘It is a statutory requirement for primary school children to experience and learn about different cultures.

'The workshop will give your child the opportunity to explore other religions.

‘Children will be looking at religious artefacts similar to those that would be on display in a museum. They will not be partaking in any religious practices.

‘If you would like to discuss this further, please contact our RE co-ordinator, Mrs Edmonds.’

However, the school backtracked just one day later after council officers intervened.
 

 

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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
gazelle	ghazaal	gazelle