"You know an event is popular if parking is hard to find but people don’t mind walking a bit to get in anyway - such is the annual International Food Festival organised by Islamic Society Gold Coast," Mr Hussain Baba, secretary of the Islamic Society of Gold Coast, told CCN.

"It was appropriate the event fell on Australia Day because it attracted people from across the spectrum of the community, keen to find out about different cultures and eat their way around the world, with top tucker from the Middle East, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Bosnian and a host of other Muslim Countries…yummy!"

 

"What better way to unite communities than through tasting different types of foods."

"There was entertainment galore for the whole family plus information and retail booths."

The event was also attended by dignitaries including Hon. Rob Molhoek (Southport MP), Mayor Tom Tate, Councillor Grummitt, Acting Asst Police Commissioner Stephen Hollands and others.

 

 

 

WHD ambassador, Rebcca Kay, in red

Women around the world, Muslim and non-Muslims, donned the Hijab to create awareness and help foster religious tolerance and understanding.

Saturday February 1 marked the second year that World Hijab Day (WHD) was held around the globe. The initiative was started by American, Nazma Khan, to help dispel the myths of Hijab being a symbol of oppression and segregation and to break misconceptions behind the importance of modesty for Muslim women.

Khan moved from Bangladesh to the US at the age of 11. She experienced discrimination being the only girl wearing a Hijab and felt the only way to end this intolerance was by asking fellow women to experience the Hijab themselves.

The movement was organized solely through social networking sites. It has attracted interest from Muslims and non-Muslims in more than 67 countries worldwide. Their literature has been translated in 23 languages.

Khan’s goal this year is to have 1 million participants worldwide. Global ambassadors of the initiative are asking women to embrace their motto, “Better Awareness. Greater Understanding. Peaceful World”.
 

 

The story of World Hijab Day by Nazma Khan

 

 

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A lecture calling for the support of World Hijab Day was delivered by Mufti Menk at Mubeena Ebrahim Primary School in Harare Zimbabwe and can be heard here.

Media ''sensationalism'' is unfairly linking Islam to terrorism and inflaming tensions between Muslims and other Australians, a detailed study has found.

The first comprehensive study of community attitudes in Australia into radicalisation, written by Victoria Police and Victoria University, found most of more than 500 community leaders, government stakeholders and everyday Australians surveyed regarded the risk of terrorism as fairly low.

They were deeply critical of media sensationalism when covering the risk of terrorism, which an ''overwhelming majority'' said was unfairly linking it to Islam. Some respondents felt the reporting was so far slanted that they wanted greater regulation or monitoring of media organisations.

Victoria Police's Dr Hussein Tahiri and Victoria University's Professor Michele Grossman were the research authors.

The year-long study was based on 47 focus groups.

Professor Grossman said the responses indicated Australians were ''less susceptible to media sensationalising'' about the risks of violent extremism ''than you otherwise might think''.

Dr Tahiri said the research showed there was a ''perception we are not at risk or under threat as other countries''.

''I suppose there is a kind of truism,'' he said. ''You don't need a lot of people to become radicalised and adopt violent extremism as a platform to do an enormous amount of damage.''

One notable finding was divergent attitudes among respondents to major anti-terror operations Pendennis and Neath in 2006 and 2009, which resulted in 21 convictions.

The operations centred on plans to attack an army base in Sydney in 2009, and a case related to a conspiracy involving radical preacher Abdul Nacer Benbrika.

While government respondents almost unanimously felt the operations showed the integrity of Australia's democratic and justice systems, responses from the public were very different.

That reflects largely the response of Muslim respondents who said they felt the police operations were more about harassment than detecting crime. Many expressed unease about conspiracy charges that were based on what people thought rather than what they did.

Professor Grossman said this had led to Muslim concerns the raids were ''used to damage the entire community''. Some respondents pointed out it was Muslims themselves who had told authorities about some of the people later targeted by Operation Neath.

Professor Grossman said respondents cited a range of factors contributed to violence, including racism and marginalisation, which could ''erode social cohesion'' and lead to people ''feeling they don't belong and they don't have power in a social or political system''.

The research, funded through a subcommittee of the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee, would be used to understand better how to ''mitigate violent extremism'', she said.

Respondents said there needed to be a greater focus on education in reducing the appeal of violent extremism.

 

Source: The Age

 

Joy, excitement, accomplishment and hope imbued the beautiful marquee and gardens at the Old Government House in Parramatta on 14 December 2013 – being the momentous occasion of the first historic graduation of ISRA Australia and Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation of Charles Sturt University.

The first graduates completed a Master of Islamic Studies course and were diverse not only in age ranging from 25 to 83 years but also representative of different cultural backgrounds including Lebanese, Pakistani, Turkish, Afghani, Anglo-Celtic and Egyptian; as well as professional backgrounds including finance, law, education, business, language and academics.

 

The class’s most senior and well-respected graduate Sheikh Sayed Kandil (aka ‘Sheikh’) expressed his gratitude and thanks, “By God throughout this course, which has been organised by the ISRA brothers and sisters, I feel that God has preferred me for that kind of study. I have been hailed throughout this study for being the youngest student at 83 years old, may God reward you all”.

Chancellor of Charles Sturt University Mr Lawrence Willet AO congratulated the graduates; “You are now better placed with your higher education to contribute to making Australia a better place.”

 

 

Muslim Village

I don’t know if you can help me; I don’t even know where to start. My life is a mess. I’ve been a Muslim for 5 years and each Ramadan instead of increasing in my emaan, I question whether I can continue living as a Muslim. The loneliness I have felt over the last 5 years is one I never felt before I became Muslim. I feel it even more in Ramadan. I receive so many emails about how to complete the Qu’ran in 30 days, how to attain taqwa but I just struggle trying to get through the days. When I took my shahadah, so many sisters hugged me and gave me their phone numbers but after a few weeks, they didn’t respond to my calls or my messages. I’m so alone, it really hurts. They told me they would help me learn how to pray. I still don’t know how to pray. I’ve tried youtube and books but they don’t work. I’m really struggling. I phoned my local masjid and they laughed at me after I told them how long I was Muslim and couldn’t pray. I’m so down and alone. I wish I could be like most and look forward to Ramadan. I wish I could read the Koran. I wish I could pray taraweeh. I wish I didn’t feel so alone. I have tried; I went to the masjid to break my fast. But nobody spoke to me. They offered me food and drink but then after praying they just ate in their little circles smiling and laughing. You’re my last attempt – can you help me? I’m desperate.”   Mandy

Sadly, the SOLACE team receive many emails like that of Mandy’s. There’s a sound proportion of revert sisters who receive support and they really work diligently with their SOLACE support workers to make positive change in their lives. In contrast however, there are sisters like Mandy who disappear despite our willingness to support them. It is as though they are scared to receive support only to be let down for the umpteenth time. As a team, we can only pray and make du’aa that they will meet beautiful sincere Muslims who will help them as they should have been helped during those first few fragile weeks of being a very new Muslim.

The picture for most new reverts is indeed a very positive one. One needs only to attend a shahaadah ceremony and observe the mixture of excitement and nervousness sprawled across the face of the one taking that amazing step; crossing from the fields of kufr into the vastness of tawheed. It is such a joyous moment – both for the new Muslim and for those who are present, witnessing the guidance of Allah unfold in an individual’s life. Most faces are streaming with tears as their hearts increase in faith in the One and Only Creator, Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala).

It is equally overwhelming for the new believer as she is swamped with hugs, kisses, books, hijabs and telephone numbers. There is a sense of a new immediate family, and the fear of what their own non-Muslim family will say and do is subdued by the hope that their new Muslim family will be there no matter what.
 

Quite tragically, the situation can at times be very different just as Mandy described in her email. More than likely, brothers and sisters that attend a shahaadah ceremony really do have a good intention to keep in touch. Certainly excuses must be made; perhaps they imagined that the new believer has a solid support network, after all, there were so many telephone numbers handed over that day. Others may be busy in their own lives and feel pressurised with the responsibility of helping a new Muslim. Passing on a few books and CDs is sufficient but what if they needed somewhere to stay?

The sad reality is that too many brothers and sisters leave the responsibility to others assuming that there is enough support when in fact, the new Muslim has absolutely no one to support her. It is at this delicate time that she definitely needs support as the onset of tests pervade her life.

 

 

Islam21c

 

 

 

The Islamic Shia Council of Queensland (ISCQ) newsletter can be subscribed to by sending an email to  lakhani@iscq.org.

Myth No. 3: Muslims will become a majority in European countries

In fact, we now have several large-scale projections based on population-growth trends and immigration rates which show that the Muslim populations of Europe are growing increasingly slowly and that by the middle of this century - - even if immigration rates are not reduced - - the proportion of Muslims in Europe will probably peak somewhere short of 10% (it is currently around 7%). By that point, Muslims will have family sizes and age profiles not that different from Europe in general. 
 

Next week: Myth No. 4

 

(Sourced from Doug Saunders' The Myth of the Muslim Tide)

 

 

4. Mohammed Al Amoudi $12bn ($11.5bn) Saudi Arabia   

One of Arab world’s most successful businessmen, Al Amoudi’s father is Hadhrami Yemeni and his mother is Ethiopian. He immigrated to Saudi Arabia in 1965 and became a Saudi citizen, and is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia. Al Amoudi made his first fortune in construction and real estate before branching out into buying oil refineries in Morocco and Sweden and his native Ethiopia. His holding and operating companies, Corral Group and the Midroc Group, employ more than 40,000 people. Corral Group has an investment portfolio in Europe and the Middle East that includes Preem Petroleum, the largest integrated petroleum firm in Sweden, Svenska Petroleum & Exploration, SAMIR, Naft Services Company (Saudi Arabia) and Fortuna Holdings (Lebanon). 

 

 

NEXT WEEK: The Number 5 richest Arab in the world.
 

Source: ArabianBusiness

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
zero	Sifr	zero