VICTORIA: A local councillor opposed to the building of a mosque in Bendigo sent a disturbing image of babies with mutilated genitals to a woman who supported the development.
 

City of Greater Bendigo councillor Elise Chapman (pictured right) tweeted the image to a Bendigo woman on Sunday, writing "Oh we could have this here too? Would you like your fanny sliced off?".

The tweet was a photograph of five girls, who appear to be aged no older than two, crying as they lie on the floor with blood seeping from their wounds.

Fairfax Media has decided not to publish the image.

The woman had first tweeted Cr Chapman, writing "I hope the mosque gets built soon, it's great to see someone who cares about all Bendigo residents and their religions".

Cr Chapman has been an outspoken critic of the mosque, and described herself as "not a fan of Islam".

"I wouldn't want to live near a mosque. Would you?" she said after council approved the mosque last year. She said at the time that under Islam, any non-believers were not worthy and should be killed.

"Every day in the media there are cases of people being raped by Muslims ... and there is no doubt a mosque would see more Muslims move to Bendigo," she said. "Islam is not a race though and I am not racist."

She later backed her comments, saying: "The people of Bendigo have every right to object to the application for a mosque without being labelled a racist or bigot."

Cr Chapman was one of only two councillors to vote against the proposal to build a mosque in Bendigo East. The developers received a planning permit in June 2014.

A group of residents are challenging the decision to grant a permit on planning and social grounds in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

They have also raised concerns about the impact of "Sharia Law" on their community.

The VCAT hearing continued this week, with a decision not expected for months. Cr Chapman describes herself as "proudly Team Australia" on Twitter, and writes that the views she shares are hers, and not those of the council.

She has not signed the council code of conduct, saying she does not agree with its contents.

The code states that councillors will treat all people with courtesy and respect, including "treating members of the community with dignity and ensuring that neither offence nor embarrassment are caused".

Councils must implement a code of conduct under the Local Government Act, which contains general guidelines for behaviour but makes no mention of social media.

It is believed councillors are bound by the code of conduct regardless of whether or not they have signed it.

Councillors who have their conduct questioned may have to face a Municipal Association of Victoria councillor conduct panel.
 

But Cr Chapman said that because she had sent the image from a personal Twitter account, and they were her own views, she did not consider it relevant that she was a councillor.

Council had not told her whether an official complaint had been made.

She repeatedly referred to an ABC article published in 2010 that was posted to her on Twitter after she had tweeted the photo. The article stated that 600 to 700 women had reported to the Royal Melbourne hospital with some form of genital mutilation in a single year.

"I don't support many things Islam does and inequality and female genital mutilation are high on that list," she said.

"We have more than 600 women presenting to one hospital with female genital mutilation each year and not one person is getting arrested for it.

"If I came at you on the street with a pair of scissors and cut your genitals, I'd get arrested for it."

Cr Chapman said that many Muslims did not assimilate into society, and that the Koran supported dangerous ideas, but she was only opposed to building a mosque on planning grounds.

"I understand that not every Muslim is a radical or a terrorist, there are some moderate Muslims. I don't know if you've read the Koran, I have and I don't agree with it."

"What is in there is very dangerous, very dangerous indeed."

City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Peter Cox said he immediately contacted Cr Chapman to express his concern about the tweet on Wednesday afternoon and had arranged to meet with her.

"Councillor Chapman's personal views certainly do not reflect that of the City of Greater Bendigo Council," he said.

"I'm disappointed that Councillor Chapman would post something of this graphic nature… I've initiated a process so we can discuss the issue.

"While councillors are individuals and are entitled to their own opinion, when it reflects on the GBCC it concerns me."
 

The woman who tweeted Cr Chapman on Sunday did not wish to be identified. She said she had simply wanted to show support for the mosque.

"I did not put in a complaint, although everyone was pushing for it and I was beginning to consider it," she said.

"The whole thing just really upset me though.

"I felt almost threatened, the way she spoke, the photos she shared, all from showing my own, personal support for Bendigo's mosque."

The Islamic Council of Victoria have been contacted for comment.

Cr Chapman's Twitter account was suspended about 6pm. A Twitter spokesman had earlier said he could not comment on specific cases but encouraged the reporting of offensive material.

A petition calling for the removal of City of Greater Bendigo councillor Elise Chapman from council is circulating online.
 

Source: The Age

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Queensland's lead Islamic spokesman has a message for Prime Minister Tony Abbott: "I'm an Australian Muslim. Islam is a religion of peace and I condemn extremism."

Islamic Council of Queensland spokesman Ali Kadri warns Mr Abbott's call for Muslim leaders to be more vocal in condemning terrorism will only alienate the community.

And he's hoping a new social media campaign will show the PM that Islamic leaders do mean what they say about opposing extremism.

Mr Kadri described the PM's comments as sad and said Muslim leaders were sick of being asked to condemn terrorism every time the issue was raised.

"If this would have solved the problem I would be the first one out there condemning terrorism and extremism but condemning terrorism and extremism is not going to solve the problem," he said.

"What's going to solve the problem is communities working together and unwinding this extremely complex problem and look at strategies outside the box, things outside the box.

"By working together all of us can resolve this problem, whether it's Muslim extremism or right wing extremism."

On Monday, the Prime Minister gave a national security speech where he raised the prospect of stripping terrorists of their Australian citizenship and tightening laws governing hate speech.

Mr Abbott also called on Islamic leaders to rise to the challenge of condemning terrorism more frequently and openly.

"I've often heard Western leaders describe Islam as a 'religion of peace', I wish more Muslim leaders would say that more often, and mean it," he said.

Mr Kadri said short of putting a tattoo on his forehead, he didn't know what more he could do to condemn extremism.

The head of the Lebanese Muslim association, Samier Dandan, made similar comments to Guardian Australia.

Mr Kadri took a photo on Tuesday holding a sign saying: "I'm an Australian Muslim. Islam is a religion of peace and I condemn extremism #imeanit".
 

The Holland Park Mosque president is hoping to start a social media campaign to show just how much Muslims are doing to stamp out terrorism.

Mr Kadri said he and Holland Park Imam Uzair Akbar were abused by a young Muslim man in the wake of the arrests of Omar Succarieh and Agim Kruezi in Logan on terror-related charges in September last year.

"We engaged with the guy, we spoke to him. He was angry and we counselled him and he was ok after that," he said.

"That was a risky thing to do to go and visit somebody who was angry with us, thinking we were too close to the government.
 

"And then for the Prime Minister to come out and say we don't do enough, it's just sad."

The 33-year-old said it was actions like these that would help keep alienated young Muslims away from extremism, not widespread condemnation.

Mr Kadri labelled moves to tighten racial vilification laws - a backflip on previous attempts to relax them - as hypocritical and said the Prime Minister was overplaying the terrorist threat for political gain.

He said hate preaching wasn't tolerated in Queensland mosques.

"If you come to the mosque and talk to people about ISIS, all you will hear is swear words and anger and nothing else. People are very upset with the group," he said.

"Nobody can come to any mosque in Brisbane and try to condone ISIS.

"They won't be allowed to. People will kick them out."
 

Source: Brisbane Times

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Minutes from the QPS/Muslim community meeting held on 11 Wednesday 2015 at the Islamic College of Brisbane.
 

Results of an academic research study entitled Avoiding Community Backlash in the fight against terrorism were tabled and discussed at the meeting.
 

The next QPS/ Muslim Community meeting will be on Wednesday 22 April 2015.

Time: 7.00pm sharp
Date: Wednesday 22 April 2015
Venue: Islamic College of Brisbane - 45 Acacia Road Karawatha

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Reaction to news that three teenage girls have disappeared from London and are suspected to be on their way to Syria to join IS.

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The verbal abuse of women in headscarves is on the rise in Melbourne, say Muslim women, with some being shoved and spat on while walking.

Noble Park mother Reem Hakem said her 14-year-old daughter was recently yelled at by a man while walking home from school with her younger brother.

She will be running a cross-cultural workshop in Craigieburn on Wednesday, organised by the Uniting Church, to allow Muslim women to share their concerns and offer solutions to tackle public violence with Victoria Police, lawyers and community groups.

While community leaders say religious hatred should never be tolerated, some say the abuse of those who choose to don a hijab was becoming so common the incidents were often "brushed off" by the victims.

Mrs Hakem's daughter was wearing her school uniform when an older man driving past reportedly wound down his car window, gave her the finger and told her to "f--- off".

Ms Hakem said it was her son who first told her about the incident. When she asked her daughter about it the teenager said she had not mentioned it straight away because she "thought it was normal" to be singled out because of her headscarf.

"That response really broke my heart," she said. "She's just walking home from school and she's a child."

The Islamophobia Register, which collects reports of violence and harassment against Australian Muslims, is aware of a number of incidents where women have been abused in front of their children.

These cases of abuse reportedly spike during and after events that reflect negatively on the Islamic community, such as the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege and recent debate about banning the burqa.

Community advocate and lawyer Lydia Shelly accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott of encouraging attacks with "inflammatory statements" made during Monday's national security statement suggesting Muslim leaders may not "mean it" when they speak out against extremism.

"If the rhetoric continues [from] the Prime Minister and people in positions of power it's going to be very difficult and perhaps unsafe for ... Muslim women to fully participate in Australian public life," she warned.

Meadow Heights kindergarten educator Rehab Ayoubi believes violence against Muslim women can only be addressed through "knowledge".

"If people really know what Islam is about then they would know there is no link between Islam and whatever is being portrayed in the media," she said.
 

Melanie Schleiger from Victoria Legal Aid said often people who had been abused in the streets did not realise that a criminal offence had been committed "and they have a right to make a complaint to the police and the right to make a civil claim if they want to".

She encouraged people to report incidents of religious and racial abuse and advised victims to make sure they took down witnesses details.
 

Source: The Age

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There are journalists who report the truth and even risk their lives in doing so. Some have been imprisoned and some have even been killed for just telling the truth. Their lives had been taken because they believed in free speech. They stood for the oppressed and stood against injuctice. To them is my utmost respect. They are amongst the heroes of the world today.

However there are also many journalists who are nothing but scaremongers, and they wouldn’t report the truth even if it hits them in the face. They don’t represent the voice of the people, they represent the voice of the government and the elites. They are nothing but puppets to those who wish to destroy the world we live in today. To them I write this open letter.

Dear Sir / Madam

For over a decade you have demonised me and my religion. You have spoken for me, and said that I am oppressed, but you never truly want to listen to what I have to say.

I don’t wear wear the niqab (face veil), and you still can’t see my face. You can’t see my body language, but I know you can understand me clearly. Let me say this clearly, what Muslim women wear, is none of your business. If it scares you or makes you feel uncomfortable then I suggest you look the other way, look down or look up, but know that we don’t dress to please you. You are insignificant to us, and we think you should keep your backwards opinions to yourself. Yes it is backwards to be intolerant of the beliefs of others. It is backwards to think that the European way of life is superior to the way of life of others.

Learn from history and know that in early Islam, women were business women, ministers, scholars and warriors who fought men on the battlefields. Learn from history that only as far back as 150 years ago in Europe, the ‘intellectual’ men amongst you were having a debate to decide whether women have souls or not, and whether a woman could even be classified as a human being. Yes you have come far, and thank God that you did. However this does not make you superior, it just makes you more clever than what you were 150 years ago.
 

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“South Africa has taken note of international security concerns regarding the activities of the Tabligh Jamaat and its possible exploitation by extremist groups…However, available information does not implicate any member of the Tabligh Jamaat in South Africa in any activity related to “radicalisation” or terrorism”.
 

This was the conclusion drawn by South Africa’s National Intelligence Agency(NIA) in 2009 on the popular global Muslim missionary movement and its activities in the country.

A secret document dealing exclusively with the ‘Origins and Activities of the Tabligh Jamaat in South Africa’ has been uncovered among the trove of intelligence papers leaked by the Al Jazeera Network known as the Spy Cables.

Information in the document seems to suggest that it was compiled by the NIA in response to “international security concerns” and previous case studies conducted into the group.

These sources, the NIA suggests, found the Tabligh Jamaat to be an “assessment tool” used by “extremist organisations” to evaluate members of the movement whose zealousness they believed would make them potential candicates for further activism beyond the group. They also suggested that groups such as Al Qaeda could make attempts to recruit Tabligh Jamaat members or even infiltrate the movement.

The NIA notes that international security agencies are also suspicious of the movement’s international networks being used as a cover for covert activities, and that these formations often suggest that individuals implicated in “terror acts” had previous contact with the Tabligh Jamaat.

Its own investigation, as chronicled through the document, sees the NIA trace the origin of the Tabligh Jamaat in South Africa to the 1950′s and 60′s, with mention of some of the movement’s pioneers such as Hafez Soofie and Goolam Mohammed(Bhai) Padia RA.
It recounts the famous ’6 points’ of the brotherhood and notes established Tablighi structure and practices through references to amirs, gash and ijtimas.

The Vereeninging Ijtima of April 2009 is also specifically mentioned along with statistics of its numbers of attendees.

The NIA claims that unemployed individuals were found to be specific targets for “recruitment” into the Tableegh Jamaat, as they were thought to be “impressionable”.

Nonetheless, the brief also adds that the Jamaat is home to many successful professionals who are at home within its ranks.

“Members are encouraged to contact and recruit influential people in the village or city,” another segment of the document claims.

A conspicuous error within the leaked cable is the claim that Tabligh groups report on a regular basis to Moulana Abbas Ali Jeenah who, it says, is the national leader of the group.
Regarding funding sources for the group, the document’s authors suggest that its investigations found that individual members largely funded their own travels, though businesses, wealthy merchant families and NGOs have also been benefactors of the group.

The NIA voiced concern that large amounts of money needed to support Tabligh activities raised “concerns that certain external benefactors connected to religious extremist could channelling money TJ in support of Jihad efforts elsewhere in the world(sic)”.

In its final prognosis , the NIA affirms the strength of the Tabligh Jamaat in South Africa and its potential credential as the fastest growing Muslim religious movement in Southern Africa.

It however concludes that there is no available information to suggest that the movement or its members in South Africa are involved in anything untoward or illegal.

“South Africa has taken note of international security concerns regarding the activities of the TJ an its exploitation by extremist groups. It has also taken note, of previous case
studies confirming links between the TJ and individuals implicated in terror acts.”

“However, and despite information confirming ongoing contact between members of the TJ in South Africa and their counterparts abroad, available information does not implicate any member of the TJ in South Africa in any activity related to “radicalisation” or terrorism,” the brief concludes.
Members of the Tableegh Jamaat contacted by Cii News say the information contained in the leaked document is largely data that is widely available in the public domain, and that the movement is peaceful and has nothing to hide.

The contents of the report are only significant, add other commentators, in their exposure of the scrutiny that certain South African Muslim entities have been receiving from intelligence agencies.

Other documents within the spy cables leaked thus far have revealed references to PAGAD, the MJC, MRN, Al Aqsa Foundation, Africa Muslims Agency, the Majlis newspaper and a Madressah in Zakariyya Park.

You can view the full NIA document HERE

 

Source: CII Broadcasting

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Bringing together a balance of spiritual, emotional, physical & mental health education. A holistic Islamic approach to health & well-being.

Date: Saturday 7th March 2015
Time: 10am - 2pm
Location: Griffith University - Nathan Campus Building N78, Room -1.23
 

Course Fee: $30

ONLY LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE : BOOK YOUR TICKETS TODAY!

Book Online or call 1800 100 786

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We’re being asked to give up long-held principles of justice, fairness and liberty, not to mention social cohesion. Is there any threat big enough to warrant that?
 

I have been criticised by several people I respect (and a few I do not respect) for a tweet last week in which I said, “Sorry to see Andrew Bolt stirring up Islamophobia today on his blog. People like Bolt and Abbott are the real threat to our way of life.”

This has been taken by some people as me expressing support for jihadists. It was not. I detest Islamic extremism. Let me make it really plain: I detest extremism of any persuasion. One reason I think we should be less hysterical about boat people is that most of them are fleeing the same extremists we dread.

Perhaps it is a limitation of Twitter as a platform for non-trivial ideas, but my point was about people who stir up Islamophobia, and the risk they present to our way of life. I would make exactly the same point about people who stir up hatred of any other group. Right now, Islamophobia is the new antisemitism, and it is dangerous.

Tony Abbott referred to Muslims a number of times in his speech on Monday, and he referred to the Lindt café siege in Sydney. It is important to bear in mind that the Lindt café siege was not a Muslim terrorist event: it was not any sort of terrorist event. It was the terrible act of a madman. The fact that he was a Muslim is utterly irrelevant. The fact that it is used, even indirectly, to stir up fear of Muslims is utterly disgraceful.

Of course, Muslims are an easy target: Islamic State (Isis) is doing a pretty bad PR job for Islam. But most Muslims do not support terrorism, either here or overseas. A small group of zealots support Isis and want to join its fight. If there are 50 jihadists in Australia who would fight with Isis (unlikely), that represents about two Australians in a million who are sharply at odds with us. Is two in a million really a big enough threat to encourage us to abandon long-held principles of justice, fairness and liberty?
 

Abbott has suggested that we should not give the benefit of the doubt when making decisions about bail. It is an interesting point. Bail exists to give effect to the idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty. A person charged with any offence (other than the most serious) is presumed to be entitled to bail, so they do not have to stay in jail until their trial. Those charged with, for example, murder, are presumed not entitled to bail. The presumption for or against bail can be displaced by evidence.

The possibility of bail is important, especially when the trial may be six or 12 months away. I wonder how many Australians would approve the idea of jailing a person pending trial “just in case” they might commit an offence. Especially as a person charged is presumed innocent, and may be found not guilty.

It is an essential principle of our system that a person should not be punished unless they have been convicted of an offence. The legal system has plenty of examples of people who are charged and then acquitted at trial. Bail is available so that a person who might ultimately be acquitted is not punished in the meantime. Equally, there are examples of people who are charged, acquitted and then go and commit an offence. It would contradict centuries of legal thinking and social attitudes to say that the person should have been held in jail “just in case”. Punishment in advance of an offence, or in anticipation of the possibility of an offence, is utterly inconsistent with long-accepted social norms.

Similarly, privacy is a widely accepted principle. The possibility that the movements and conversations of all citizens could be tracked by government agencies cannot be reconciled with accepted social values.

Abbott’s recent comments about the threat of terrorism were plainly directed at the risk of Muslim terrorism. Andrew Bolt’s writing frequently plays up the risk of Muslim terrorism. Both Abbott and Bolt have voices which are widely heard and uncritically accepted. They are both significant elements of an increasing anti-Muslim sentiment in the community. If Abbott has his way, that sentiment is going to be harnessed by the government to introduce laws which will cut down basic civil liberties, in particular by restricting bail and enlarging Asio’s powers to spy on the public at large by use of electronic data.

Before we are frightened into accepting the sort of legislation Abbott foreshadowed, it is worth recalling the sober warning of Benjamin Franklin, who said:

In December 2004, the House of Lords decided a case about English legislation which provided for detention of people thought to present a terrorist risk if they could not be deported. In an 8:1 decision, the House of Lords determined that the laws did not comply with the UK Human Rights Act. Lord Hoffmann said:

Source: The Guardian

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  Stop lecturing us Prime Minister Tony Abbott - Islamic Council of Victoria

  Alarm over Abbott's view on Islam: Many Australians feel the prime minister is putting down a "with us or against us" line.

  Muslim leaders outraged by Tony Abbott's chiding over extremism: Islamic leaders are furious at the prime minister’s suggestion that the community does not do enough to stamp out extremism

  Tony Abbott's speech may increase Muslim feelings of alienation

  Don't tell us how to do our job: Islamic community leader responds to PM's comments
 

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I hate the union flag and I would scrap the royal family. But no one asks me to prove my Britishness
 

How loyal are you to this country? How proud are you of it? Answer exactly. Explain yourself to me. Tell me how safe you feel. Tell me what you think other people think of you.

Let me then declare the truth about you, your family, your faith. You are a Muslim and I am British, you see, so I can ask these things. My loyalty is taken for granted, though it shouldn’t be. Yours is always suspect. Though it shouldn’t be. Thus I can read that a BBC survey this morning found that “95% of Muslims feel a loyalty to Britain”, but that there are “no similar measurements for the general public.” Making it meaningless. And 95% does not count for much when run alongside other aspects of the survey, which showed: “One in four (27%) said that they had some sympathy for the motives behind the attacks in Paris on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.”

What does any of this mean? Are a quarter of our Muslim population going to behead us in our beds? Is the man in the Turkish shop who gives my children sweets secretly cheering on the death cult? This poll just drives the us-and-them mentality. There is a “them”, of course. But “they” are killing out in Syria and Iraq and they are killing mostly other Muslims. There is a “them” in Saudi Arabia, whom we are asked to think of as an “us”, where Prince Charles gets his sword dance on with the right kind of beheaders.
 

The Guardian

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AS RECENT EVENTS in Australia and overseas attest, violent extremist acts persist as a chosen tool for radical groups to terrorise populations and recruit more adherents. This is despite a wide array of prevention, containment and rehabilitation strategies in place around the world.

These strategies range from the intrusions of the Chinese surveillance system and the Egyptian police, to the relationship building of community liaison officers in the Australian Federal Police; from Singaporean public-private partnerships to rehabilitate prison detainees, to the checklists all USA citizens can use to rate the risk of individuals, families and communities turning to violent extremism.


Yet more can be done, in fact, one might say that more needs to be done.

One approach to countering violent extremism that governments are beginning to add to their toolbox is the use of interfaith and intercultural dialogue (IID).

INTERFAITH AND INTERCULTURAL dialogue (IID) occurs when members or representatives of different faith and/or cultural communities come together with the goal, at least in part, to develop or strengthen understanding of each other. Coming together can be in the form of official or ad hoc discussions and exchanges, collaborative projects or coordinated activism. As such, IID “fosters the (re)building of trust relations and enhances social cohesion…both locally and globally, by recognizing the importance of integrating religious identities into inter-group dialogue”. Such dialogues can help “to overcome philosophical and religious extremism, stereotypes and prejudices, ignorance and indifference, intolerance and hostility”.
 

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Tiba Abid

 

Source: Muslim News

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MASJID AL FAROOQ/KURABY MOSQUE

DATE: 27 February 2015

TOPIC: “Purposive thinking”

IMAM: Dr Mohammed Abdalla

MASJID TAQWA/BALD HILLS MOSQUE

DATE: 27 February 2015

TOPIC: “The forbearance of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)”

IMAM: Mufti Junaid Akbar

AUDIO (MP3) LINK: http://www.masjidtaqwa.org.au/index.php/downloads/kuthba

GOLD COAST MOSQUE

DATE: 27 February 2015

TOPIC: “The Disease of communal/tribal/ethnic pride”

IMAM: Imam Imraan Husain

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Asalaamu Alaikum

I have got 6 Category A tickets for the Cricket World Cup semi-final to be played in Sydney on 26 Mar 2015.
 

I am based in South Africa and was planning to come for the semi-final and final but I cannot make it now. I have the tickets on hand.

I am looking to sell the tickets and willing to take less than face value for them.

Face value is around AUS$275 per ticket. (See link to confirm prices)

Regards

Mohammed

Email molor001@gmail.com.

Salaam CCN,

I am writing this email to thank CCN for kindly advertising my invitation for Muslims in Brisbane to participate in my research (CCN0429 and CCN0498).

My PhD research is called "Privacy, modesty, hospitality and the design of Muslim homes in Australia" (subject to change towards my thesis submission).

I am currently writing up my final thesis and insyaallah my final seminar will be due on 17 April 2015 (tentative).

Alhamdulillah, all my 4 papers are now published and I was the main author for all the papers. All papers are through open access journals. I welcome all Muslims to download the PDFs and read the them at:

1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263514000740
2. http://www.archnet-ijar.net/index.php/IJAR/article/view/374
3. http://ejournal.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/JIA/article/view/2527
4. http://www.ijtra.com/special-issue-view.php?paper=are-australian-homes-liveable-and-adaptable-for-muslim-families-six-case-studies-in-brisbane.pdf

Overall, the research only managed to recruit 6 participants. However it is well understood that a Muslim home is predominantly a private and female domain.
With the current situation and perceptions about Islam in Australia, it was more difficult to find more participants willing to allow myself (a male researcher) to
enter into their private and safe sanctuaries.

As an architectural and social science researcher, I am very delighted and satisfied with the outcome and looking forward to pursue with more future research
in understanding how Islamic culture and teachings influence the design and utilization of interior spaces of Muslim homes in Australia, quantitatively and nationally.
 

This research will hopefully fill in some gaps in learning Muslims' familial structure in Australia and how the home acts as an important medium for the balance of private lives and social integration with the wider Australian society.

Wassalam.

Zulkeplee Othman
PhD Candidate
School of Design
Faculty of Creative Industries
Queensland University of Technology

This week's book review is

The Enlightenment Qur’an:

The Politics of Translation and the Construction of Islam

by

Ziad Elmarsafy

Review

The author of this book is an academic and writer specialising in English and related literature. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of York and author of several books on Western, Middle Eastern and North African religious, philosophical and literary topics. In addition to the book under review, he is author of Freedom, Slavery and Absolutism (Bucknell University Press, 2003) and Sufism in Contemporary Arabic Novel (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Fluent in Arabic, French and English, the author combines his extensive knowledge of both European and Islamic literary history to explore relations between the West and the Muslim world highlighting how one has invariably influenced the other intellectually as well as culturally.

At a time when the champions of so-called ‘clash of civilisations’ and supposed ‘incompatibility between Western and Islamic values’ are working overtime to divide humanity into two diametrically opposing blocs, it is refreshing to learn that the leading figures of European Enlightenment (during eighteenth and early nineteenth century), the founders of modern European thought and culture, were profoundly influenced by Islam’s sacred book.

European Enlightenment was the ‘Age of Reason’ when religion in general and Christianity in particular was subjected to critical analysis and scrutiny as rationality became the final arbiter of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, and reality and illusion. During such a fiercely iconoclastic and rationalistic period in modern European history and thought, prominent Enlightenment figures like Voltaire, Rousseau, Goethe and Napoleon were profoundly influenced – not by Christianity or the Bible – but by their encounter with the translated Qur’an.
This came about “…at times and places that look, in retrospect, like turning points: Rousseau’s construction of the legislator and the social contract, Voltaire’s denunciations of fanaticism and nascent anti-clericalism, young Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt, the young Goethe’s oscillation between poetry and prophecy as literary paradigms, and the older Goethe’s theorization of world literature.

In all of these cases, the engagement with Islam enables a radical break with past traditions and the conception of something entirely new: a legislator who owes nothing to traditional contract theory (Rousseau), a view of universal history that goes well beyond the received idea of God’s plan unfolding in human affairs, and in so doing inaugurates a new vision of modernity (Voltaire), a vision of a secular republic expanding outside Europe and into the Middle East and North Africa (Napoleon), a model of global literary production based on translation rather than creation (Goethe). Of the developments that brought about these shifts of perspective, the new translations of the Qur’an that were being produced in Europe after the mid-seventeenth century must take pride of place.” (pp.x-xi)

Consisting of seven enlightening chapters covering ‘Translators and translations of the Qur’an’ (pp1-36) to ‘Goethe: Poetry and Prophecy, from Mahomet to World Literature’ (pp158-179), a short Preface and an Afterword, in this book the author shows that modern Western thought, culture and values have more in common with the Islamic worldview than the contemporary peddlers of ‘clash of civilisations’ thesis would have us believe.

In the author’s own words, “Then as now, the Western world seems extremely reluctant to let go of the intellectual hooks by which its view of Islam is suspended. It is to be hoped that, by studying the period during which some of those cherished misconceptions were released, we can bring about a better understanding of the Muslim-Western dynamic today…” (p.xii)

This is a timely, refreshing and persuasive book, covering an important period in Western intellectual history by throwing new light on the complex background to the formation of our intellectual, cultural and political worldview and reality. Highly recommended reading.

Muhammad Khan, author and researcher – This is dedicated to Mohammad Ali Qayyum, in appreciation.
 

Source: Muslim News

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Pumpkin and Corn Pap

Mula Nasruddin is conducting a Year 12 class and poses the following question to his students: "If you give $500 to your friend, but he needs only $250, how much will he return?"

Young Jallaludin: $0

Mula Nasruddin: You don't know your maths!

Young Jallaludin: You don't know my friend.
 

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DIRECTORY

PLEASE NOTE

1. All Islamic Event dates given above are tentative and subject to the sighting of the moon.

2. The Islamic date changes to the next day starting in the evenings after maghrib. Therefore, except for Lailatul Mehraj, Lailatul Bhahraat and Lailatul Qadr – these dates refer to the commencement of the event starting in the evening of the corresponding day.

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