The
Brisbane Crescent
Institute Board
(pictured from l to
r):
Mr
Walid Yassine
(Crescent Institute
National Marketing
Manager), Dr Mustafa
Ally OAM, Dr Nora
Amath, Ms Farzanah
Ally, Mr Fahim
Khondaker and Mr
Tala Yasine OAM
(Crescent Institute
Patron).
The launch of the
Brisbane Crescent
Institute took place
at the Deloitte's
offices on the
Brisbane CBD.
A diverse audience
of near 100 heard
keynote speaker,
Ahmed Fahour, talk
about his
involvement with the
Islamic Museum of
Australia as its
patron and founder,
as well as the
challenges his
organization,
Australia Post, has
been facing in
recent times from
the advent of
technological
innovations.
Talal
Yassine OAM, patron
of the Institute,
was impressed with
the size and calibre
of the Brisbane
turnout which he
said was as many as
attended the Sydney
and Melbourne
events. He also
welcomed onboard the
Brisbane Advisory
Board.
To
keep in touch with
the activities of
Crescents institute
you can
subscribe here.
In his address to the
Queensland parliament this
week, Mr Glen Elmes MP,
Member for Noosa and former
Minister for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander and
Multicultural Affairs told
the house:
One in five
Queenslanders is born
overseas. There are 220
different cultures
living here, 220
different languages, 100
different religions or
belief systems
represented in our
community—that is the
fact of modern
Queensland. Queensland
is rapidly changing and
both major parties need
to reflect this change
in the candidates we
select.
This is a particular
challenge for my own
party, which is failing
at embracing the newest
Queenslanders. For the
LNP to become a
long-term party of
government, we need to
be building on the
cultural coalitions and
embracing our diversity.
I remember recently
seeing a news clip
showing the UK Prime
Minister, David Cameron,
addressing the House of
Commons and two seats
down from him was a
Sheikh gentleman in his
traditional turban and
beard. If it can be done
in the UK, it can be
done here in Queensland.
I would have been
pleased to see the LNP
candidate for
Yeerongpilly, Leila
Abukar, elected as a
first step in that
direction, but it was
not to be.
Unfortunately, the
endorsement of people
from these culturally
diverse backgrounds in
my own party is pretty
rare and that needs to
change.
Not to do so will limit
the opportunities of a
party to form government
and certainly limit its
opportunities to stay in
power if it does not
understand the
constituency on whose
behalf it seeks to
govern.
Full speech
In a
personal letter to
community leaders,
Premier Annastacia
Palaszczuk, wrote:
I write to you as
the newly elected
Premier of
Queensland in
support of your
community.
Members of
Queensland's Muslim
community have made
enormous
contributions to the
economic, social and
cultural wellbeing
of our State, an
outcome that has
delivered
significant benefits
for all.
I am aware of many
of the challenges
facing community
members in the
current climate and
want to reassure you
that you have my
Government's
absolute commitment
to work together
with you, to build a
Queensland where
everyone feels they
belong as part of an
inclusive society.
As Premier, I will
lead a government
that will be
inclusive and
supportive of all
Queenslanders,
irrespective of
cultural or faith
background,
including those of
the Islamic faith.
My Government is
committed to
delivering on our
policy platform, A
Multicultural Future
for All, to
encourage the full
participation of
people from diverse
backgrounds in the
cultural, economic,
political and social
life of Queensland.
I am pleased to
have appointed the
Honourable Shannon
Fentiman MP as
Minister for
Multicultural
Affairs. I f you
require any further
information or
assistance in
relation to this
matter, please do
not hesitate to
contact Minister
Fentiman's office on
telephone (07) 3719
7500.
The Islamic Society of
Toowoomba is issuing an
appeal for donations to help
rebuild the burnt building.
The estimated cost for the
rebuilding is $600,000
including new facilities for
toilet and ablution for men
and women. Although some
money may be received from
the insurer (depending on
the assessment), the Society
believes, "it may not even
cover less than half of the
rebuilding cost."
'It's about being respectful
to my religion': Storm of
controversy over sign
banning Muslim staff from
washing their feet in city
office public toilet before
their daily prayers
Days after a
building worker
questioned Muslim
store clerk Mohammad
Faisal about washing
his feet in the
men's toilet at a
Sydney officer
building, this
cartoon was stuck on
the men's room door,
depicting a cartoon
man washing his feet
in the sink with a
'banned' slash
through the image
SYDNEY: An anonymous
building worker has sparked
outrage by placing a sign on
the men's toilet of a Sydney
city office block in an
attempt to ban Muslims from
washing their feet in the
sink before their daily
prayers.
The sign, which has a
cartoon of a man with one of
his feet in a sink and
surrounded by a circle with
a slash through it, was
placed on the door of the
men's toilet of an office
block on Pitt Street, in
Sydney's business district.
The sign is believed to have
gone up on Wednesday, just
days after a building worker
queried one of the shop
workers who use the toilet.
Mohammad Faisal, a business
student who works 20 hours a
week in the convenience
store, told Daily Mail
Australia that Dhuhr and Asr
- two of the five daily
prayers required by his
religion - fall during his
10am to 4pm shift at the
shop.
The 26-year-old Pakistan
native, who is studying in
Australia to fulfill his
late mother's dream, said
earlier this week he went as
usual to the first floor
men's room to do his
pre-prayer ablutions prior
to Dhuhr, the prayer just
before midday which
currently falls at 11.52am.
The sign is stuck to
the door of the
men's toilet in the
CBD office block
which is used my
Muslim workers to
wash their feet in
the required
ablution before
their five daily
prayers to Allah, a
practice which
apparently offended
the man who put up
the cartoon
He said that, as was the
custom, he washed his hands,
his mouth, his head and his
neck, as well as his arms,
and then placed his feet one
at a time into one of the
men's rooms' two sinks.
'I have done it when you
bring water from the sink
down to the ground to wash
your feet, but it makes too
much of a mess, it is not
clean and it makes the floor
slippery and dangerous,' he
said.
He was washing his feet when
a man he didn't know entered
the men's room and asked him
what he was doing with his
foot in the sink.
'He said "what are you
doing" and said "I just
washed my feet" and he said
"okay" and left.
'Then yesterday this sign
went up. I don't know, maybe
he put it up because he
didn't like it. I don't like
to blame anyone.
'At first when I saw the
sign I smiled, but then I
thought why did he put up
this sign, is it meant to
mean we are not to do our
ablution.
'But I must do ablution or I
cannot pray. It's about
being respectful to my
religion.'
Mohammad's boss, contacted
his boss who alerted Muslim
community advocate Zaky
Mallah, outraged at the
apparent attempt allegedly
by the one of the building's
workers
to prevent working Muslims
from using the sink for
their ablutions.
Mohammad Faisal
demonstrates how he
washes his feet in
the toilet basin
'This country has freedom of
speech but that cartoon is
racist and it is taking
freedom of expression too
far,' Mr Mallah said.
'When was it a crime to wash
up in a men's room for
Muslim prayers? It happens
everywhere around the world.
'When Muslims want to
perform their five daily
prayers they have to go and
wash up.
'And it would be happening
around Australia every day
for Muslim men, and women
too. 'Possibly this man [who
put up the cartoon] thought
he was being funny, but this
is a ridiculous joke and it
is intimidating people going
about daily business.
Mohammad Faisal, who came to
Australia for the first time
seven months ago said he
found the country 'very
friendly' and the people
'very good' and that it had
been his mother, Zohra's
dream before she died six
years ago of kidney failure
back in his home in the
Punjab state that he study
at an overseas university.
Mr Faisal said 'At
first when I saw the
sign I smiled, but
then I thought why
did he put up this
sign, is it meant to
mean we are not to
do our ablution'
'I am the only son and that
was her dream,' he said. 'I
chose Australia because my
brother-in-law was studying
here and he told me
Australia is very good and
the people are friendly.'
Mohammad moved in with his
brother-in-law, who has just
finished a university
degree, to a house at
Lidcombe in Sydney's west
and embarked on his three
year Bachelor of Business
degree at Group Colleges
Australia in inner city
Redfern.
He works three days a week
at the convenience store and
spend the rest of his week
studying, or playing the
occasional game of cricket
with friends. He plays at
provincial level back in
Pakistan, as an all rounder
and fast bowler.
Mr Faisal pointed ot
the floor, saying 'I
have done it when
you bring water from
the sink down to the
ground to wash your
feet, but it makes
too much of a mess,
it is not clean and
it makes the floor
slippery and
dangerous'
Mr Faisal plans to become an
accountant and run a poultry
export business when he
returns to Pakistan.
At the convenience store
yesterday where he works
with another Muslim man, he
politely served customers
and then - despite the sign
- spent a few minutes
washing in the men's room.
Then, as it came time for
the Asr prayer, which falls
at 2.48pm' he headed out the
back of the store to pray on
a prayer rug.
Mr Faisal said that like
most practising Muslims he
didn't feel right if he
missed out on any of his
five daily prayers and that
without ablution - called 'wudu'
- he could not present
himself before Allah to
pray.
'If you can't ablute, you
can't pray,' he said.
Paul Culbi from Jamesons,
the strata managers of the
building, said the cartoon
was 'racist, defamatory and
a breach of owner
corporation guidelines'.
'I would like to say that
this racist item is against
guidelines and I will be
making a report to the
owners,' he said.
'Apart from being a breach
of guidelines to place
anything up like that
without owners' permission,
it is racist.
'I have questioned the
caretaker who doesn't know
anything about it.'
Selfie with the Hon
Annastacia
Palaszczuk MP,
Premier of
Queensland (centre);
the Hon Shannon
Fentiman (back
left), Minister of
Multicultural
Affairs; Dame
Quentin Bryce,
former Queensland
Governor; Ms Fatima
Abdelkarim (front),
IWAQ president; and
Ms Galila Abdelsalam,
IWAQ Director -
taken at a
monitoring tea at
parliament House
where Ms Bryce
presented her
commissioned report
into domestic
violence.
Every Friday in the regional
Victorian town of Ararat, 50
members of the Islamic
Welfare Association join
each other for prayer at a
tiny brick building next to
the town's train station.
On occasion they hold
interfaith prayer sessions
with the Catholic Church,
but soon they will have a
mosque, following the
approval of the local
council, as well as other
local religious leaders.
Like most country
Victorians, for these four
families, the town's appeal
was getting out of the
hustle and bustle of city
life.
They are proud to call
Ararat, which has a
population of about 8,000
people, home, but said their
religion was often
misunderstood and they are
concerned that they are
feared by the broader
community.
Anas Ghazal,
Kimberly Amatullah
and their three
children Sarah,
Malik and Samerah
Parents Anas Ghazal
and Kimberly
Amatullah with their
children Sarah
Ghazal, Malik
Ghazal, Samerah
Ghazal.
Anas Ghazal is a
doctor at the Ararat
Hospital. Originally from
Syria, he met his
Australian-born wife
Kimberly while she was
visiting his home country to
further her studies of the
Quran.
"We liked each other, were
introduced to each other and
from there I proposed to
her, we got married and we
stayed in Syria for two
years," Anas said.
Kimberly converted to Islam
after learning about the
faith from her friend at the
age of 18, before she met
Anas.
"I suppose I was always
looking for something, I was
finishing school and looking
for a purpose," she said.
"After I converted to Islam
I had some teachers who were
from Syria, so I went to
Syria to learn from their
teachers just more about
Islam and get a feel for a
different culture."
The couple moved to Ararat
from Bendigo three months
ago with their three
children and a fourth on the
way.
Like any young family, their
day-to-day is a juggle of
work, school drop-offs and
pick-ups, shopping, cooking
and extra-curricular
activities.
"I work in the morning, come
back home and am a father at
home, getting the kids ready
for bed. I go to the gym and
play some soccer and
tennis," Anas said.
"I'm kind of like taxi mum,"
Kimberly said.
Their lives in the country
are far more relaxing than
their former city ones, and
while the couple said most
of the community had
welcomed them with open
arms, living in a regional
area did present some
challenges.
"In Melbourne everyone knows
about different religions,
different people, it's
easy," Anas said.
"But from what I hear out of
the community, they're not
as open as Melbourne, so
that's a bit of a concern to
me."
But Kimberley said she was
mostly treated with respect
by the broader community.
"Since becoming Muslim I can
say probably three times in
14 years I have had some
comment towards me in a
negative sense," she said.
"But otherwise I get more
positive comments like
people go out of their way
to comment on my scarf and
say it looks nice, or be
positive to show they're
with me not against me."
As the Federal Government
considers different
strategies to combat Islamic
extremism, Mr Ghazal urged
Australians to remember that
perpetrators of terrorism
were in the minority.
NEXT WEEK CCN introduces
Ararat resident Osman
Kokcu.
Press Release: Office of Attorney
General George Brandis
Today I am announcing the
successful recipients of
over $1.6 million of funding
under the Government’s
Living Safe Together Grants
Programme.
The grants will be awarded
to 34 community-based
organisations from across
Australia to develop the
skills to work with
individuals and divert them
away from ideologies of
hatred and violence.
The grants will enable a
greater variety of
community-based
organisations to work with
people as part of their
individually tailored
programmes. The pool of
funding for the Grants
Programme has been boosted
from $1 million in response
to the large number of
high-quality project
submissions.
The kinds of programmes and
services that will be
developed as a result of
grants funding include: a
sports-based leadership
programme for vulnerable
young people; programmes to
re-establish healthy
relationships with families
and promote positive peer
networks; and a drop-in and
retreat centre for young
people to access advice and
referrals to mental health,
education and employment
specialist services.
The grants are part of the
Living Safe Together
intervention programme,
which has been established
to identify radicalised and
at-risk individuals and
provide tailored services to
address the root causes of
their radicalisation. This
capability did not
previously exist.
Individuals are
participating in diversion
programmes receiving
services such as mentoring,
counselling, education and
employment support to help
them turn away from violent
ideologies.
The Government recognises
and values the integral role
of local communities in
building resilience to
violent extremism and
creating strong community
networks, and these grants
will enable them to create
and deliver practical
solutions where it matters
most.
Extremist groups not only
threaten the peace and
cohesion of our society, but
they are actively targeting
young Australians for
recruitment.
The Government has invested
over $40 million in new
major initiatives to turn
vulnerable individuals away
from violent extremist
ideologies.
My department will work
closely with the successful
organisations to finalise
funding agreements in the
coming weeks.
The campaign is a creative
response to Islamophobia
Did you know that Muhammad
is the most common name in
the world? The chances are
you know a Muhammad or know
somebody who knows one.
Muslim American activist
Amani al-Khatahtbeh, who
runs the popular blog
MuslimGirl.net, is fighting
Islamaphobia by inviting
people to draw a picture of
their friends who are called
Muhammad.
The campaign is in response
to the inflammatory Muhammad
Art Exhibit and Contest
organized by Pamela Geller
of the American Freedom
Defense Initiative (AFDI) in
Garland, Texas, on Sunday
night. Participants there
were invited to draw images
of the Prophet Muhammad,
which Muslims consider
offensive.
The event resulted in
violence after two Islamist
gunmen, identified as Elton
Simpson and Nadir Soofi,
opened fire outside the
building, injuring a
security officer. The
suspects were both shot and
killed by police.
Geller is known for her
anti-Muslim stance and the
AFDI is considered a hate
group by the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
Al-Khatahtbeh vigorously
condemned the gunmen’s
actions as “inexcusable.”
But in response to Geller’s
event, she came up with her
own campaign, ‘Let’s help
Pam draw Muhammad.’
People are asked to draw
their friend Muhammad as a
celebration of the human
connections people have to
“Muhammad,” it being such a
common name.
“Chances are that all know a
Muhammad. So, let’s draw
Muhammad. Let’s honor his
diversity. Let’s celebrate
his many different faces.
Let’s elevate his humanity,”
she writes on MuslimGirl.net.
And using the hashtag
#DM2015, people are taking
to Twitter to draw a
Muhammad in their lives.
The Australian Defence Force
is set to get its first
Muslim Imam as part of a
push to attract more
recruits from different
cultural and language
backgrounds.
Assistant Defence Minister
Stuart Robert (pictured
above) announced on
Monday he was asking Defence
to "renew efforts" on
recruiting a more
"culturally and
linguistically diverse
workforce".
Part of this is to find an
Imam – an Islamic religious
leader – to serve on the
ADF's religious advisory
committee, which provides
advice to the force on
policies to meet its
personnel's spiritual needs.
"I have asked my department
to move as quickly as
possible to identify a
part-time Islamic Imam to
join the ADF's religious
advisory committee to ensure
those 96 ADF members of an
Islamic faith have
appropriate representation,"
Mr Robert said in a speech
to Parliament.
The part-time Imam will join
one Jewish and five
Christian religious leaders
who make up the committee.
He will serve in a policy
advisory role – a first for
the ADF – but will not
provide pastoral care as do
Christian Chaplains in the
force.
About 5.7 percent of the
ADF's 57,000-strong
permanent force identify as
coming from a non-English
speaking background. About
5.4 percent were born
overseas in countries other
than New Zealand, Britain,
Canada and the US.
Mr Robert said progress on
cultural diversity within
the ADF needed to happen
more quickly.
"It is clear the growth of a
culturally and
linguistically diverse
workforce, that represents
the changing face of modern
Australia, is moving too
slowly," Mr Robert said.
"This is going to change."
He said there would also be
a "dedicated recruitment
strategy" to target sections
of the community from which
soldiers, sailors and airmen
and women are not typically
drawn.
Mr Robert stressed this was
not about appearances or
"social engineering" but
rather was vital to making
the ADF a better fighting
force.
"This strategy … is born out
of the stark reality that
combat power will be
enhanced," he said.
It would help Defence engage
with neighbours in the
Asia-Pacific region as well
as overseas partners such as
the United Nations and NATO,
and also in operations such
as peacekeeping and disaster
relief, he said.
"As modern military
operations evolve, there
will be a growing
requirement for greater
interaction with, and
understanding of, different
cultures."
A similar previous example
was the ADF's "female
engagement teams" deployed
in Afghanistan, where its
members could talk to local
women about how to improve
their lives, which was a
critical part of that
mission, he said.
Defence had previously
successfully used personnel
who spoke Ukrainian, Chinese
and Japanese in recent
operations and exercises.
The Muslim world doesn't
have the best reputation
when it comes to female
empowerment. With a lack of
of strong, independent
female role models, young
women in the region have few
places to look in popular
culture for guidance. Until
now.
Meet Burka Avenger, the
game-changing Pakistani
cartoon that, for the first
time, has flipped the status
quo on its head with its
female superhero
protagonist, who fights
crime in her magical burka.
The Burka Avenger is a
teacher, Jiya, who in her
spare time dons a burqa
while fighting gender-based
crimes and other evils, and
she is the symbol of
empowerment for girls across
the Muslim world that many
hoped would arrive. The
Pakistani cartoon has been
around since August 2013 and
syndicated in Afghanistan,
but Jiya is about to get a
much larger audience in
April, when the show
launches in India on
"edutainment" channel ZeeQ.
Originally broadcast in
Urdu, the Indian version
will be dubbed in English,
Hindi, Telugu and Tamil, in
order to maximize its reach.
The woman in black: Burka
Avenger has received
worldwide acclaim for its
success in reimagining and
challenging what it means to
be a Muslim woman or girl,
from winning a Peabody Award
to being nominated for an
Emmy.
The show uses irony to
captivate its audiences and
convey larger themes. The
subjugating burqa, which
Jiya only wears at night to
fight crime, is transformed
into a symbol of empowerment
as she fights villains with
her own special martial
arts, using books and pens,
not guns or swords, as her
weapons, and all with a
silly twist — it is, after
all, a kids' show.
Burka Avenger also takes on
critical social issues of
the developing world, such
as the battle against polio.
In Pakistan, militants have
repeatedly murdered polio
vaccinators, like Salma
Farooqi, a mother of five,
who was dragged from her
home, tortured and shot in
Mach 2014 for trying to
vaccinate children against
the virus.
Saving the day: Burka
Avenger could not be more
important for countries like
Pakistan, Afghanistan and
India, where gender bias is
rife and girls are raised
with few role models.
A recent Council on Foreign
Relations report discovered
that major indicators of
gender equality, such as
workforce participation,
literacy levels and infant
mortality for girls, paint a
bleak picture.
"[Pakistan's] skewed sex
ratio of 108 men to 100
women is a reflection, in
part, of higher female
infant mortality and the
overall more privileged
treatment of boys," the
report's authors write.
"Given female biological
advantage at birth, male
mortality rates are expected
to be higher than female
rates."
Furthermore, Pakistan came
second to last out of more
than 140 countries in the
World Economic Forum's 2014
Global Gender Gap Report.
Cartoon characters like Jiya,
who reflect real-life
symbols such as Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Malala
Yousafzai, the young girl
who was shot by the Taliban
for promoting girls'
education, are a necessity
in subverting repressive
social systems, which
disempower women. We can
only hope this is a sign of
things to come and more
Jiyas and Malalas are on the
way.
This Mosque
looks like it’s
from another
planet but in
fact, it’s
located in
Qatar’s
Education City.
From outside it
looks like as if
it’s a space
ship which has
just landed.
And its minarets
rise high into
the air slanted
towards Makkah –
the direction of
prayer for
Muslims
worldwide
The courtyard in
the centre of
the Masjid is
decorated with
calligraphy and
geometric
patterns.
The mosque has
five pillars
which represent
the five pillars
of Islam around
which four
streams flow.
The four streams
represent the
four rivers in
heaven –
of wine, milk,
honey and water.
Inside, there
are prayer
facilities for
men below and
spaces for women
in the gallery
above – the
Mosque has a
capacity of
1,800 people.
Qur’anic verses
line the centre
of the ceiling
which lead to
the Mihrab – a
feature that is
found in
traditional
Mosque designs.
Inside, there
are prayer
facilities for
men below and
spaces for women
in the gallery
above – the
Mosque has a
capacity of
1,800 people.
Qur’anic verses
line the centre
of the ceiling
which lead to
the Mihrab – a
feature that is
found in
traditional
Mosque designs.
A unique feature
is the lighting
which are
emitted from
triangular
openings of
different sizes.
For worshipers,
it is as though
they are praying
under the stars!
The Mihrab
features a
golden texture
and a Qur’anic
ayah which
translates as:
“So turn your
face toward al-Masjid
al-Haram. And
wherever you
[believers] are,
turn your faces
toward it [in
prayer].”
2:144
MAKKAH — The Ottoman-era
domes, which were removed
two years ago to expand the
mataf (circumambulation
area), are being restored,
according to director of the
projects administration in
the General Presidency for
the Affairs of the Two Holy
Mosques Sultan Al-Quraishi.
The domes are being restored
as per new arrangements that
will restrict them to three
sites. Work is underway to
restore the domes in the
northern part, including the
mukabiriya (the chamber for
the call for prayer).
The technical committee for
the expansion projects
decided not to reinstall the
domes on the masaa side (the
area in the Grand Mosque
where pilgrims run between
the holy areas of Safaa and
Marwa as part of the Sa’i
ritual.)
GERMANY- Only few months
ago, nobody would have
imagined that one of the
most emotional pro-tolerance
speeches would one day come
from one of Germany's
fiercest critics of Islam
and immigrants.
Yet it was Kathrin Oertel –
once the leader of Germany's
anti-immigrant Pegida
movement, which drew tens of
thousands of supporters at
its peak – who apologized to
Muslims in a video message
published Thursday on
Facebook.
"Those still belonging to
the Pegida movement need to
understand that they are
advocating for the wrong
cause," she said. "Asylum
seekers are blamed for our
problems in Europe and
Germany. However, they're
not the root cause of our
struggle," she continued
before directing her words
to the immigrants she had
previously condemned.
"I want to apologize to all
migrants and to all Muslims
among them who live
peacefully and are
assimilated with German
society, who respect our
culture and laws. They are
in the vast majority and
most Germans overlook this
fact," Oertel said.
Oertel had first been the
spokeswoman and later the
head of the popular movement
which shocked the world.
Since last November,
right-wing extremists and
ordinary citizens had
marched in joint weekly
rallies in opposition to
Muslim immigration to
Germany. The weekly protests
continue, though the number
of supporters has dwindled.
"I feel partially
responsible for a campaign
of hatred we caused. I want
to apologize and the only
thing I can do is to help
resolve those tensions,"
Oertel said in the statement
which appeared to have been
spontaneously recorded in a
car.
"To achieve peace, one needs
to be ready for dialogue,"
Oertel said. "That's the
only way to get rid of
prejudices." The ex-Pegida
leader made clear that she
was no longer fighting
against Islam, but instead
for "world peace," according
to her own words. "Someone
needs to start to connect
people," she said — implying
that she was ready to be
that person. She also
acknowledged that she had
failed to draw huge support
for the goal of world peace,
so far. "We were even
verbally attacked by
opponents," Oertel said,
sounding honestly outraged.
Who knows that captain Jack
Sparrow in the the popular
film series “Pirates of the
Caribbean” was based on a
real Muslim pirate! Here are
some details about the real
captain’s life.
His real name was Jack Ward
and he was also known as
Jack Birdy. He was born in
the United Kingdom. He was
on a run after he and his
crew converted to Islam in
the late 16th century. He
fled to Tunisia where he
obsessed with little birds
during his time there and
the locals would call him
Jack Asfour, asfour is the
opposite of sparrow in
Arabic, and that’s the
reason why he was called
Jack Sparrow.
After he had converted to
Islam, his name became Yusuf
Reis. He was married to
another renegade from
Christendom who converted to
Islam as well. She was
called Jessimina the
Sicilian.
Captain Jack Birdy was known
as a great drunkard, but he
stopped drinking alcohol
when he converted to Islam.
He played a vital role in
rescuing thousands of
Spanish Jews and Muslims
fleeing their expulsion from
their lands in the 16th and
17th centuries.
The real life of Captain
Birdy or Yusuf Reis had
several Hollywood movies’
worth of adventure. It would
be amazing if someone were
to bring his real,
non-fiction story to the big
screen.
In this episode of Halal in
the Family, Aasif (Aasif
Mandvi) gets scary trying to
win the neighborhood
Halloween competition by
playing up Muslim
stereotypes like a ghost in
a burka. Also starring
Sakina Jaffrey as Fatima
Qu’osby, Shoba Narayanan as
Whitney Qu’osby and Nicky
Maindiratta as Bobby Qu’osby.
Swedish right-wingers plan
to establish pig farm to push away Muslim
immigrants
SWEDEN: Anti-immigration
campaigners in Gullberg in southern
Sweden are plotting to build a pig farm
next to an asylum centre in a last-ditch
effort to deter would-be Muslim
immigrants, who might find the animals
offensive.
Plans for a new immigration centre in
Gullberg have already been strongly
opposed by local residents and on
Wednesday it was reported that a group
of campaigners had sent a letter to the
Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket)
pledging to breed pigs nearby in order
to deter Muslims from seeking asylum in
the town.
The note, signed by what described
itself as the “interest group for
Gullberg’s survival” said that it was
trying to create a “probably impossible
situation for some religious people,
especially Muslims”, according to
Sveriges Radio.
Local politician Henry Sandahl from
Sweden’s Countryside Party (Markbygdspartiet)
told the broadcaster that he agreed with
the sentiment of the letter.
“You know that Muslims
are not friends with pigs,” he said.
But Swedish religious experts have been
quick to criticize the campaigners.
“This is nonsense and shows just how
very little they know about Islam,” said
Ĺke Sander, Professor of Psychology at
the University of Gothenburg.
“It is one thing when Muslims try to
stay away from pork, alcohol or gambling
but there is nothing [in the Koran] that
says you cannot be near pigs. This is a
last-ditch effort when they [the
campaigners] have no arguments left,” he
told the TT news agency.
Others turned to social media to voice
their disgust at the campaign.
Carl Göransson, a lawyer and former
Moderate party politician suggested on
Twitter that building “a gigantic
rubbish dump” next to the asylum centre
instead, designed to blow smelly winds
in the direction of the angry residents.
“Monstrous” and a “total fail”, wrote
Johan Arenius, a political press
secretary for the Christian Democrat
party based in Örebro in central Sweden.
Sweden became the first European country
in 2013 to grant automatic residency to
Syrian refugees and has since seen
asylum requests rise to record levels,
which are still expected to reach about
90,000 in 2015.
To cope with an increasing flow of
refugees, the Swedish Migration Board
announced in March that it was more than
tripling the maximum number of residents
allowed at asylum centres from 200 to
650.
Mosque Installed at
Venice Biennale Tests City’s Tolerance
A gathering at Santa Maria
della Misericordia, a
Catholic church that has
been transformed into a
mosque for the Venice
Biennale.
VENICE — The 18th-century
novelist William Beckford wrote that he
couldn’t help thinking of this city’s most
beloved sight, St. Mark’s Basilica, as a
mosque, with its “pinnacles and semicircular
arches” all “so oriental in appearance.” But
despite the profound stamp that Islamic
culture has left on Venice’s art and
architecture over centuries, it remains one
of the few prominent European cities without
a mosque near its historic centre, leaving
Islamic residents who work there to pray in
storerooms and shops amid the tourist crush.
For the next seven months, however, Venice
will find itself in the middle of the
roiling debate about Islam’s place in
Europe. On Friday, as part of the Venice
Biennale, a former Catholic church in the
Cannaregio neighbourhood will open its doors
as a functioning mosque, its Baroque walls
adorned with Arabic script, its floor
covered with a prayer rug angled toward
Mecca and its crucifix mosaics hidden behind
a towering mihrab, or prayer niche.
Outside the converted
building, centre.
The transformation is the
work of a Swiss-Icelandic artist, Christoph
Büchel, who has become known for politically
barbed provocations. But the mosque, which
will serve as Iceland’s national pavilion
during the Biennale, is a cultural symbol
and a kind of ready-made sculpture conceived
with the active involvement of leaders of
the area’s Islamic population, which has
been growing for many years.
Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia in
Italy and fears, like those at full throttle
in France, of terrorism committed in the
name of Islam, Muslim leaders in Venice said
they saw the proposal to create a temporary
mosque in the international spotlight of the
Biennale as a perfect way to communicate
their desire to more fully participate in
the life of their city.
“Sometimes you need to show yourself, to
show that you are peaceful and that you want
people to see your culture,” said Mohamed
Amin Al Ahdab, president of the Islamic
Community of Venice, which represents
Muslims of about 30 nationalities living in
greater Venice.
87% of males blame
women for sexual assault – Survey
Saudi survey shows men blame
women for rising cases of molestation
Survey conducted by Riyadh-based King Abdul
Aziz Centre for National Dialogue
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi men
believe women are to blame for the rising
cases involving molestation of females on
the grounds they are seduced by women’s
excessive make up.
The findings were included in a survey
conducted by the Riyadh-based King Abdul
Aziz Centre for National Dialogue and
involved 992 males and females.
The survey, carried by Saudi newspapers,
found that 86.5 per cent of the men polled
believe that women’s exaggeration in wearing
make-up is the main cause of the rise in
molestation cases in public places in the
conservative Gulf Kingdom.
About 80 per cent of the total persons
polled believe lack of deterrent penalties
and the absence of specific anti-molestation
laws are also to blame for the phenomenon.
The report said 91 per cent of the
respondents, all aged above 19, believe
another key factor is the “poor religious
sentiment” while nearly 75 per cent said the
problem is caused by lack of awareness
campaigns and warning notices at most public
places.
Four arrested in
Germany over 'plot against Muslims'
GERMANY: Three men and a
woman held for possession of explosives and
for planning attacks on mosques and leading
Muslim figures.
German authorities have conducted raids
across the country, seizing explosives and
arresting four people accused of founding a
right-wing group to attack mosques and
housing for asylum seekers.
Police arrested three men and a woman
accused of leading the group during raids by
some 250 investigators on homes in Saxony
and four other states, the federal
prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Prosecutors allege the four helped found the
"Oldschool Society" (OSS) group and were
planning to attack asylum-seeker housing,
mosques and well-known members of the
Islamic community in Germany.
The four arrested, identified only as
Andreas H, 56, Markus W, 39, Denise Vanessa
G, 22, and Olaf O, 47, in line with German
privacy laws, are being held on terrorism
charges and are also accused of having
procured explosives.
The statement identified Andreas H and
Markus W as the group's president and vice
president.
The North Rhine-Westphalia state interior
ministry said Olaf O was from the western
city of Bochum and had been under
observation since November as "a leading
member of the OSS".
"According to current investigations, it was
the group's goal to conduct attacks in
smaller groups inside Germany on well-known
Salafists, mosques and asylum-seeker
centres," the statement said.
"For this purpose the four arrested procured
explosives for possible terror attacks by
the group."
Inquiries made by the Associated Press news
agency to an apparent cell phone number and
email address for the group were not
immediately returned.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere
said the Oldschool Society appeared to be a
newly formed group.
Rhineland-Palatinate interior minister Roger
Lewentz, at the same news conference, held
up what appeared to be the group's logo - a
white skull.
Cover
Story: An insight into the glamorous world
of hijabi fashion and how it reflects social
change in Turkey.
TURKEY: Class dynamics are
changing in Turkey.
When Turkey was founded in 1923 it was on
firm secular principles. Turkish women were
restricted in wearing the headscarf - known
as the hijab outside Turkey - in all public
sector jobs and universities for most of the
20th century.
During the current AKP party government, a
young, confident, female, Muslim middle
class has emerged, that is less worried
about being socially accepted and more
comfortable sharing public spaces with
secularists.
Hulya Aslan is the editor of Ala, a monthly
fashion magazine in Istanbul that serves a
growing Turkish market of Muslim women who
think that fashion and Islam are compatible
- "conservative" women who want to wear the
hijab but also want to dress fashionably,
with colour and style.
"Covering" in Turkey once meant long,
cover-all tunics called "pardessus". But now
that clothes designers have started to cater
much more to Muslim women who want to dress
modestly, it can mean colours, glossy
fashion magazines and high street hijabi
fashion stores.
"In the 90's, covering meant pardessus and a
black burqa. Those pardessus were very ugly.
They were seen as similar to wearing a black
burqa. Most women didn't want to cover
because they wanted to be fashionable," says
Taha Yasin Toraman, the co-founder of online
hijabi fashion outlet E-Tesettur.
But not all agree with the new, arguably
commercial look. Busra Bulut, a student and
journalist who writes for the conservative
Turkish news magazine Haksoz strongly
opposes it. She feels there is a tension
between her faith and the consumerism
represented by Ala and the fashion industry.
"They claim to create alternatives for
covered women, whether it's a magazine or
other platforms. But the fact that there are
hundreds of brands doesn't mean I can wear
them or that they're Islamic.... Why should
a woman need to use dress to show herself
off? Or to exist? It's a key question. Why
does she need to create her identity through
dressing up? Why is this a priority?" says
Bulut.
This film follows Hulya Aslan at Ala and
looks at hijabi fashion, social change in
Turkey and the ongoing debate about a Muslim
woman's right to choose how she dresses.
French
mayor in hot water over ‘counting’ Muslim
kids in schools
FRANCE: Robert Menard
(pictured above), the
mayor of Beziers, has caused
an uproar revealing his
administration had compiled
a list of school pupils’
names to see how many were
Muslim. France’s laws
prohibit authorities from
keeping statistics on
people’s religion or
ethnicity.
Appearing on TV show Mots
Croisés on Monday night,
Menard claimed that Muslim
school children amounted to
64.6 percent of the total,
and that the administration
had arrived at that figure
by counting the names of the
children class by class.
"Sorry to say this, but
the town hall has, class by
class, the names of the
children. I know I don't
have the right to do it.
Sorry to say it, but the
first names tell us their
religion. To say otherwise
is to deny the evidence,"
he said on France 2
television.
But the town hall of Beziers
denied Tuesday that there
were any lists of children’s
names or that anyone had
tried to identify which ones
were Muslim.
Menard’s comments drew
fierce criticism from across
French society. Prime
Minister Manuel Valls
tweeted: “shame on the
mayor.”
“The republic does not
make any distinction between
its children,” he added.
Education Minister Najat
Vallaud-Belkacem has called
for a judicial investigation
into Menard’s comments.
Abdallah Zekri, the head of
the National Observatory
Against Islamophobia, said
he was “scandalized,
sickened by these comments.”
“Moreover, you can be
called Mohammed without
being a practicing Muslim,”
he said.
A comment piece in the
French daily Le Monde noted
that what the mayor did is
prohibited under French law
under article 226-19 of the
Penal Code and is punishable
by up to five years in
prison or a 300,000 euro
fine.
.
China
orders Muslim shopkeepers to sell alcohol,
cigarettes, to ‘weaken’ Islam
Chinese authorities have
ordered Muslim shopkeepers
and restaurant owners in a
village in its troubled
Xinjiang region to sell
alcohol and cigarettes, and
promote them in
“eye-catching displays,” in
an attempt to undermine
Islam’s hold on local
residents, Radio Free Asia (RFA)
reported. Establishments
that failed to comply were
threatened with closure and
their owners with
prosecution.
Facing widespread discontent
over its repressive rule in
the mainly Muslim province
of Xinjiang, and mounting
violence in the past two
years, China has launched a
series of “strike hard”
campaigns to weaken the hold
of Islam in the western
region. Government employees
and children have been
barred from attending
mosques or observing the
Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan. In many places,
women have been barred from
wearing face-covering veils,
and men discouraged from
growing long beards.
In the village of Aktash in
southern Xinjiang, Communist
Party official Adil Sulayman,
told RFA that many local
shopkeepers had stopped
selling alcohol and
cigarettes from 2012
“because they fear public
scorn,” while many locals
had decided to abstain from
drinking and smoking.
The Koran calls the use of
“intoxicants” sinful, while
some Muslim religious
leaders have also forbidden
smoking.
Sulayman said authorities in
Xinjiang viewed ethnic
Uighurs who did not smoke as
adhering to “a form of
religious extremism.” They
issued the order to counter
growing religious sentiment
that was “affecting
stability,” he said.
Congo-Brazzaville becomes
first African country to ban the Niqab
CONGO:
Congo-Brazzaville has banned Muslim women
from wearing the full face-veil in public,
citing security reasons, an Islamic
association told news agency AFP on
Saturday.
“The Interior Minister (Raymond Zephirin
Mboulou) notified us of the decision to
prohibit Muslim women from wearing the full
veil. The decision was taken in order to
prevent any act of terrorism and
insecurity,” said El Hadj Abdoulaye Djibril
Bopaka, who heads the Islamic Supreme
Council of Congo-Brazzaville.
“Muslim women can now only wear the full
veil at home and in places of worship, but
not in public places,” he said, adding that
only a tiny minority of women in
Congo-Brazzaville actually cover their faces
and entire bodies.
The ban does not affect any other kind of
veil, leaving exempt other variants of Hijab
such as headscarves, khimar, shayla, al
amira and chador.
Bopaka said the authorities had made a
“good” move, citing reports that “some
non-Muslims have been using the full veil to
hide and to carry out uncivic acts”.
Congo-Brazzaville is home to some 800,000
Muslims in a population of nearly six
million. Only 10% are local with the rest
coming from Arab or neighbouring west
African nations.
Abida Parveen: 'I'm not a
man or a woman, I'm a vehicle for passion'
PAKISTAN: A meeting with
Abida Parveen, the warning comes, should be
treated like a visit from the pope: as a
rare, celestial experience in which you
shouldn't ask too many questions or expect
much in the way of answers.
Parveen doesn't like to talk
much. She might not do the interview at all.
And yet, 19 minutes of conversation later,
it's obvious that the greatest female Sufi
singer in history is almost disappointingly
blissed out.
"My culture – our culture –
is rich in spirituality and love," she says,
in a densely poetic Urdu. "Sufism is not a
switch, the music isn't a show – it's all of
life, it is religion. If I want to be
recognised for anything, if we should be
recognised for anything, it's the journey of
the voice. And that voice is God's."
Smoothing herself elegantly on to the sofa
of a hotel suite in Manchester, Parveen
gives a beatific smile. It would be eerie if
it wasn't so soothing; anyone who has
watched her on stage knows that this
magnificent projection of calm often ends up
a wild, sweaty, ecstatic mess.
She has admitted to
hallucinating while deep in performance and
she regularly sends her audiences in
Pakistan and India into swaying raptures,
swooning and fainting being quite standard
reactions. Her first US tour was in 1993 and
she has since travelled across the world to
perform at sold-out venues.
The Muslim News Awards for
Excellence 2015 shortlist
UK: The readership of The
Muslim News selected and nominated them, and
a distinguished independent panel of Judges
reviewed, deliberated and mused over the
list.
Over the next few weeks
CCN will profile one of the illustrious men,
women, children and projects deemed to be
worthy of short-listing for a Muslim News
Award for Excellence.
These exemplars of good practice, excellence
– our future role models – will be treated
to a Gala Evening in the presence of their
peers and other renowned guests in March,
when the finalists are announced for the
[16] coveted Awards for Excellence
Allama Iqbal Award for
Creativity in Islamic Thought
Professor Mashood Adebayo
Baderin is a Nigerian/British citizen
who has made significant academic and
religious contributions towards better
understanding of the role of Islamic law in
modern international relations.
He is currently a Professor
of Law at SOAS, University of London, where
he was Head of the School of Law from 2009
to 2012.
He is the first Nigerian to
be appointed as full professor at SOAS and
also the first African as Head of the SOAS
School of Law since the establishment of the
university.
Through his impressive list
of publications, he has managed to offer an
Islamic perspective on discussions
surrounding human rights policy in the UK
and internationally, raising awareness of
possible positive interaction between
Islamic law and international human rights
law, which is very much needed in today’s
world.
His work has led him to be an
expert advisor to the Foreign Office,
Department for International Development and
the UN Human Tights Council which appointed
Mashood in March 2012 as the UN Independent
Expert for Sudan.
Q: Dear Kareema, my focus
over the next few weeks is to strengthen and
tone my core. Which are some exercises that will
help me achieve my goals?
A: Try including some of the following
exercises into your workout routine:
PLANK – It works the entire core including the
upper and lower body muscles at once
ABDOMINAL CRUNCH – Targets upper abs
TWISTING CRUNCH – Works all stomach muscles
through the one movement. Lift and twist torso
from side to side
KNEE LIFTS – Squeezing the abs in every time you
lift your knee will definitely work the abs
GYM BALL ROLLS – Hands on floor with your feet
on the ball, lift your hips and roll the ball
towards your chest
PULSING CRUNCHES – Explosive movements, reaching
fingers to your ankles while lying on your back
with knees bent
Always ensure that you abdominal muscles are
locked on to protect your back and get the most
out of every move.
Fatima
Bhutto's stunning debut novel The Shadow of the Crescent
Moon begins and ends one rain swept. Friday morning in Mir
Ali, a small town in Pakistan's Tribal Areas close to the
Afghan border.
Three brothers meet for breakfast. Soon
after, the eldest, recently returned from America, hails a
taxi to the local mosque. The second, a doctor, goes to
check in at his hospital. His troubled wife does not join
the family that morning. No one knows where Mina goes these
days. And the youngest, the idealist, leaves for town on a
motorbike. Seated behind him is a beautiful, fragile girl
whose life and thoughts are overwhelmed by the war that has
enveloped the place of her birth. Three hours later their
day will end in devastating circumstances.
The Shadow of the Crescent Moon chronicles
the lives of five young people trying to live and love in a
world on fire. Individuals are pushed to make terrible
choices. And, as the events of this single morning unfold,
one woman is at the centre of it all.
"A first novel of uncommon poise and acuity,
The Shadow of the Crescent Moon is set in an old and
protracted war for land and dignity. But its swift and
suspenseful narrative describes a fiercely contemporary
battle in the human heart: between the seductive fantasy of
personal freedom and the tenacious claims of family,
community and history". (Pankaj Mishra).
Synopsis
So
much can happen in the span of one family’s lifetime:
tragedy, union, reunion, birth, anger, death, resentment,
and the cementing of unbreakable bonds. The family at the
center of Fatima Bhutto’s debut novel, The Shadow of the
Crescent Moon, is no different. Their own collective and
complicated lifetime is about to culminate in a mere three
hours’ time on one morning in Pakistan.
Three brothers, raised together but now down
different paths, set out for their days at nine o’clock. The
middle child, Sikandar, is a married doctor, whose wife
continues to grieve the sudden and grisly death of their
young son in an odd and embarrassing fashion. The eldest,
Aman Erum, is a student recently returned from his studies
in America, planning to get back to the States as soon as he
can, as he has found a community of interesting and
interested friends there who aim to grow and to learn, same
as him. And we have Hayat, the youngest of the three, who
has taken his father’s cross to bear – the salvaging of
their home of Mir Ali – as his own.
As the three men step out to the day ahead, the reader is
taken along for a tour of their war-afflicted village of Mir
Ali and the lives this family lives in and around it. The
glimpses Bhutto affords us at the Internet cafes, mosques,
hospital, and homes are subtle in their nuance and rich in
their tangibility, much like Bhutto’s writing. Bhutto is a
poet as well and the rhythm and beauty of the art form is
evident here as she tells of terrorism and resentment and
heartbreak. Though what you read may pain you and leave you
cringing in dread of what might come, you’ll likely feel
compelled to continue on, soaking in a world you may have
tried to imagine – but with little success, until now.
There is a powerful story to be told in The Shadow of the
Crescent Moon, one of this family with whom we spend time,
but also the story of Pakistan: its youth, its staunch
defenders and its doubters. And those who wish simply to
exist, to survive. It’s a story so relevant to the times in
which we live, one that is vital to understanding views
within the context of now. Bhutto proves herself, beyond a
shadow of a doubt, the perfect writer to make such a story
known.
Using the book club you
can see what books fellow CCN readers have on their
shelves, what they are reading and even what they,
and others, think of them.
KB says: This is a
very refreshing salad and the fennel has the
added advantage as an aid to digestion.
In India, dried fennel seeds are incredibly
popular as an aid to digestion and have been
used for this purpose for thousands of years. A
small amount of the seeds are routinely chewed
after a meal, both to freshen the breath and to
stimulate digestion.
Combine the following for the dressing and
refrigerate
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tab. Salad Cream
• 1 tab. mayonnaise
• Juice of ˝ a lemon
• 1 finely sliced green chilli (remove seeds if
you don’t want the heat)
Method
Combine all the above ingredients for the salad
and refrigerate.
It is prescribed, when death
approaches any of you, if he
leave any goods, that he
make a bequest to parents
and next of kin, according
to reasonable usage; this is
due from those who fear
Allah.
A Brisbane-developed app called SmartTradie™ enables
any Trades person the ability to effectively create,
manage and keep track of their customer
documentation.
With an exciting easy-to-use User Interface,
SmartTradie™ makes interacting with your data simple
and intuitive.
Colour coded and a simple to use logical layout, it
makes Quote, Job and Invoice Management a breeze.
Apps Design Lab is an Australian based independent
app developer who is committed to developing
innovative cutting-edge solutions.
For information on
advertising in the CCN Business
section and be included in our Directory Listing
with a web link and a brochure, email
ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org.
Muharram 1437 – Islamic New Year 1437 (1st Muharram
1437)
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, exceptfor Lailatul
Mehraj,
Lailatul Bhahraat
and
Lailatul Qadr – these dates refer to the commencement of the event
starting in the evening of the corresponding day.
The Tafseer gets recorded and uploaded on to our website end
of each week, please visit our website to download these
recordings at
www.masjidtaqwa.org.au.
The Tuesday and Thursdays Dars Nizame program is in Urdu,
these sessions too are recorded as well as webcasted live.
For webcast details please contact us via our website
“contact us” page. The recordings are sent via a download
link, if you are interested please again contact us via our
website “contact us” page.
Queensland Police Service/Muslim
Community Consultative Group
Meeting Dates & Times
Time: 7.00pm sharp
Date: Wednesday 11 February 2014
Venue: Islamic College of Brisbane - 45 Acacia Road
Karawatha
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The
CCN Inbox: Letters
to the Editor
CONGO:
Congo-Brazzaville has banned Muslim women
from wearing the full face-veil in public,
citing security reasons, an Islamic
association told news agency AFP on
Saturday.
Fatima
Bhutto's stunning debut novel The Shadow of the Crescent
Moon begins and ends one rain swept. Friday morning in Mir
Ali, a small town in Pakistan's Tribal Areas close to the
Afghan border. 
So
much can happen in the span of one family’s lifetime:
tragedy, union, reunion, birth, anger, death, resentment,
and the cementing of unbreakable bonds. The family at the
center of Fatima Bhutto’s debut novel, The Shadow of the
Crescent Moon, is no different. Their own collective and
complicated lifetime is about to culminate in a mere three
hours’ time on one morning in Pakistan.
Fatima
Bhutto was born in Kabul, grew up in Damascus, and lives in
Karachi. 
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7
August 2011