Last week, As- Salaam
Institute held their
inaugural Jalsa End of Year
Celebration. The event was
held at Rochedale Mosque,
with kids activities and
jumping castles extending to
the fields behind the
mosque. The ceremony began
at 1.30pm, and featured
performances and Quran
recitations. Hosted by two
brilliant students, the
event ran smoothly with many
well- deserved trophy and
certificate achievers. The
parents in the audience were
both surprised and happy,
with their facial
expressions matching those
of the recipients’. The
teachers too felt surprised
and happy as students handed
them present bags.
The echoes of laughter
floated down the stairs as
the crowds moved toward
food. There was so much
variety to choose from, with
many stations of food-
sausages, savouries,
cupcakes, cake pops, a huge
cake, and a lolly buffet.
The grandest treat of all,
though, was the free-
flowing 7 flavoured gelato
van. While the adults were
busy snacking, the kids were
running around the field,
choosing between two jumping
castles. Other activities
included henna, colouring in
contest and face painting.
This Jalsa could not have
been possible without the
sponsorship of the
Australian Halal Food
Services and the help of our
generous volunteers. Our
selfless volunteers, from
the tireless mothers and
fathers who contributed
their time and efforts, to
the various students
involved in the planning;
ensured a fantastic
celebration. Thank you to
all involved and we look
forward to a fun-filled and
productive year, in shaa
Allah.
Leader of the Institute,
Sheikh Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh,
posted the following message
on his Facebook page:
A special thank you goes
out to the wonderful
team of volunteering
parents who worked very
hard to make the day
special; to Sister Nora
and her husband Effendi,
sister Dr. Shahana
Abed-Akbar, sister
Fatima Omar, sister
Zeenat Suleman , sister
Shehnaz Girach, sister
Fadilla Abdullah, sister
Hanan Omar, Hafiz Hamza
Girach, Brother Asif
Meman, Dr. Muhammad
Akbar, Brother Mansur
Omar and his son Aadil.
Here Come The Habibs!,
starring Sam Alhaje as Toufic
and Rob Shehadie as Jahesh,
HAVING all but abandoned the
sitcom genre some 20 years
ago, the Nine Network is
audaciously leaping back
into television comedy with
a new half-hour series which
is “bound to ruffle some
feathers.”
The comedy series entitled
Here Come The Habibs, is the
story of a Muslim family who
move into one of Sydney’s
wealthiest suburbs,
Vaucluse.
It's a second migration for
the Habib family, first it
was Lebanon to Australia,
now Lakemba to Woolwich. Not
everyone is happy to see
them and the Habibs find
themselves in conflict with
their new next door
neighbours.
The O'Neills are Woolwich
royalty - old money and
proud of it. They're
extremely uncomfortable with
goats and chickens, shisha
pipes and people of Middle
Eastern appearance, but the
Habibs can't understand what
all the fuss is about. One
family want to stay, the
other family want them gone.
The Islamic Council of
Queensland (ICQ) has
released its inaugural
community report.
In the newsletter, president
of ICQ, Mr. Ismail Cajee,
writes:
The Islamic Council
of Queensland has had a
very busy year and
adopted a collaborative
approach in establishing
itself as a value adding
peak body for the
Queensland Muslim
community. Our focus has
been on engaging and
building a stronger
relationship with all of
ICQ’s Member Societies,
other Muslim and
Non-Muslim community
based organisations,
regulatory authorities
and the various levels
of government.
We are all living at a
time which presents us
with a great opportunity
to lead the way in the
promotion of positive
messages that will,
Insha-Allah, enhance
social cohesion. ICQ's
vision is to serve the
very diverse Muslim
community in a way which
facilitates a future
that is filled with
strong bonds of
friendship, both within
our community and with
the wider Australian
community.
We are bound to have
made many mistakes along
the way, and we will
surely continue to do so
as we learn how to serve
you better every day.
Please accept our
sincerest apologies if
our actions have in any
way offended or hurt you
- for this was never our
intent. We request that
you provide us with any
constructive feedback on
how we can improve and
we are always more than
willing to receive any
help you may wish to
offer.
Eagles of Death Metal perform
on stage in Paris with U2 (Bruno
Fraioli)
U2’s Bono this week told the
crowd at their concert in
Paris: “Tonight we are all
Parisians.” Many had tears
in their eyes as he lamented
the loss of 130 lives in
coordinated attacks in Paris
on November 13 claimed by
Isil.
“We stand with the families
of the terrorists whose
lives have been torn apart
by an ideology that is a
perversion of the beautiful
religion of Islam,” Bono
said. "Islam, as I
understand it, means to
surrender - to surrender to
God."
Mike Holt's Restore Australia
is unashamedly anti-Islam.
A prospective new political
party in Australia would
make it illegal for people
to practise their Muslim
faith.
Restore Australia, headed by
one-time One Nation
candidate Mike Holt, wants
to field Senate candidates
at the federal election,
running on an anti-Islam,
protectionist platform.
It is the latest in a string
of anti-Islam micro parties
to announce its political
intentions, following the
United Patriots Front and
Kim Vuga, a one-time
participant on the SBS
program Go Back to Where You
Came From who went on to
form the political party
Love Australia or Leave.
The United Patriots Front
has more than 30,000
supporters on Facebook and
has lent its support to the
failed campaign against the
Bendigo mosque. Its leader
Blair Cottrell has
previously stated that every
school in Australia should
hang a picture of Nazi
dictator Adolf Hitler and
every student have a copy of
his manifesto Mein Kampf.
Despite their similar
preoccupations with Islam,
Mr Holt said his party bore
little similarity to the UPF:
"They're a bunch of
right-wing Nazis, to be
honest with you," he said.
Like the ultra-nationalist,
far-right Australia First
Party, Restore Australia
advocates the introduction
of "citizen-initiated
referendums", which would
allow any Australian to
submit legislation to
parliament, so long as they
had the support of at least
one per cent of the
population, or about 240,000
people.
But Mr Holt insisted that
unlike Australia First,
which also campaigns against
"Muslim migration", his
group was "middle of the
road" and did not identify
as left-wing or right-wing.
"We seem to be bedfellows,
but we're not. We're not
racists," he said.
Mr Holt's party will
campaign on re-introducing
tariffs on imports,
compulsory military service
for able-bodied men and
women and combating "the
threat within".
But it will be Restore
Australia's militantly
anti-Islam focus that is
expected to attract most
attention.
"We believe that Islam is
not compatible with
Australian society, and
under our Constitution it is
actually illegal for anyone
to be a supporter of Islam,"
he said.
"They have a choice. They
can either leave Islam and
become full-on Australian or
go to another country where
they can practise their
Islamic faith. [As Muslims]
they can't be loyal
Australians first. They are
always loyal to Islam
first."
Should it attract the 500
members required to register
a political party, Restore
Australia will funnel
preferences to other
"patriot" groups at the
election.
In the modern-era,
Scandinavian countries have
become known for their
sometimes awkward embrace of
migrants from the Arab and
Muslim world. But the
history behind that
relationship goes back far
further than you might
expect.
Consider the case of a ring
discovered in a Viking grave
in Birka, a historic trading
center in what is now
Sweden. The woman in the
grave died in the 9th
century and was discovered
around a thousand years
later by the famous Swedish
archaeologist Hjalmar Stolpe,
who spent years excavating
the grave sites around Birka.
The ring is unique. Made of
silver alloy, it contained a
stone with an inscription
written in the Kufic Arabic
script widely used between
the 8th and 10th centuries.
"For/to Allah," the
inscription read. It was the
only known Viking Age ring
with an Arabic inscription
to be found in the entire of
Scandinavia. Exactly how the
woman got the ring wasn't
clear – she was found
wearing typical Scandinavian
dress, so presumably the
ring arrived through trade.
Now, new research from
biophysicist Sebastian
Wärmländer of Stockholm
University and his
colleagues has confirmed
exactly how unique the ring
was. In the journal
Scanning, the researchers
recount how they used a
scanning electron microscope
to investigate the origins
of the ring. Notably, they
discovered that the stone in
the ring is actually colored
glass – at the time an
exotic material for the
Vikings, though it had been
made for thousands of years
in the Middle East and North
Africa.
Even more notably, the ring
displayed a remarkable lack
of wear, leading the authors
to speculate that it had few
– if any – owners in-between
its creator and its Viking
owner. Instead, Wärmländer
and his colleagues suggest,
it appears to show direct
contact between Viking
society and the Abbasid
Caliphate that dominated
much of the Middle East and
North Africa. The authors
write, "it is not impossible
that the woman herself, or
someone close to her, might
have visited — or even
originate from — the
Caliphate or its surrounding
regions."
While physical evidence of
it is unusual, there have
been plenty of accounts of
Scandinavians from this
period crossing paths with
the early Muslim world. By
the 11th century Vikings had
become known for their
lengthy sea voyages,
journeying as far west as
the Americas and likely
reaching Constantinople and
even Baghdad when they
traveled the other way. And
while contemporary accounts
of Vikings from Western
Europe suggests terrifying
invaders, most accounts
suggest the Vikings, likely
fearful of the more
sophisticated warriors in
the region, instead looked
for trade when they went
east.
Nouman Ali Khan, well known
Islamic scholar and teacher
was in Kuwait for the first
time to present a lecture at
the Masjid Al Kabir
organized by the Indian
Muslim Association. Ustadh
Nouman Ali Khan as he is
referred to is renowned for
his strong command of
Arabic, deep understanding
of the Holy Quran and
engaging lectures. He is
also the CEO and founder of
Bayyinah Institute in the
US.
Nita Bhatkar Chogle caught
up with Ustadh Noman during
his whirlwind visit to the
Middle East, especially for
The Times Kuwait, to find
out more about the man, his
mission and his unique
method of outreach through
modern media.
I must say I was a bit
apprehensive meeting Ustadh
Nouman Ali Khan in person.
Having watched his lectures,
read his interviews and
blogs and having felt the
general buzz about him made
him seem quite larger than
life. I was secretly
prepared to meet an
intimidating, overbearing
individual who would
probably not even be open to
answering all my questions.
However, meeting him in
person, I was pleasantly
surprised. Not only was
Ustadh Nouman extremely
warm, friendly and good
natured, he was also just as
eloquent in personal
conversation as in his
speeches and equally
humorous. It was indeed a
pleasure and an honor to
have this short and
insightful exchange with
him.
Ustadh Nouman has often been
referred to as a youth icon
so it was only natural for
our opening conversation to
be around this. How does it
make him feel to receive
such adulation? “One of the
central things I would like
to promote is how dignifying
Islam is and how you don’t
have to be famous, well
known or wealthy to be
dignified. Every human being
is dignified. I see myself
as just another Muslim among
other Muslims.”
Continuing on the topic of
widespread adulation he
says, “For someone who knows
little about me to be
impressed by me means very
little. What means a lot
more for me is that my
children are impressed; my
wife is impressed, my
parents are impressed, my
siblings and my best friends
are impressed. They are the
true mirrors of who I am.
Just as the mirror doesn’t
lie to you, the criticism
and the praise of true
friends and family is
genuine.” explains Ustadh
Nouman.
While he appreciates people
watching his YouTube videos
and loving them, that praise
doesn’t affect him. Simply
because appreciating what he
says is not the same as
appreciating him. They are
two different things.
“I am trying to do research
and present in the best way
I can the most beautiful
book in human history so if
people appreciate it that’s
not a surprise.” he explains
and goes on to summarize
“The bottom line to me is
that Allah gives certain
advantages to people not
because they are preferred
in the sight of Allah but
because rather to see how
they will use these
advantages to their full
potential to do good. Fame
is a means not an end.
Knowledge itself is a means
not an end.”
Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque,
Iran
This mosque in Isfahan, a
city said by travel writer
Robert Byron to rival Athens
and Rome, would be known
around the world were it in
most other countries.
Because it is in Iran,
however, it has been
explored (and Instagrammed)
by very few western
tourists. Built in the early
17th century under Shah
Abbas I, it does not have a
courtyard or minaret, making
it architecturally unusual.
Stories that the mosque was
built for use by members of
the Shah’s harem are not
backed up by reliable
sources.
Opinion by Haroon Moghul, Senior
Correspondent, Religion Dispatches
No turning back now
We have failed you.
While jihadist movements
continue to expand their
reach, anti-Muslim bigotry
is becoming more and more
mainstream. Both narratives
mean to deny the possibility
of meaningful coexistence.
Which is the identity and
the reality of thirty
million of us.
Thirty million Western
Muslims, spread out across
Europe (excluding Russia),
the United States, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand.
But though we had every
reason to speak out, we have
barely begun to come
together.
When we are talked about,
it’s either as a problem
(terrorism) to be solved, or
as the solution
(counter-terrorism) to the
problem we’re held
responsible for. We have
little to no relevance
outside national security.
And because we do not seem
to matter, we might begin to
feel as if we do not exist.
I will not excuse myself by
saying that we could not
have known how bad it would
have gotten, or that the
forces arrayed against our
narratives were too
entrenched. I will not
soften the blow, either, by
hoping it is always darkest
before dawn. Because it may
get darker.
God does not change the
condition of a people until
they change themselves. I
ask myself how we have
gotten to this juncture. I
reflect on what I could have
done differently. If my
life’s experiences can be of
any benefit, even as a
cautionary tale, then I
offer them.
What follows is neither
exhaustive nor conclusive,
but an outline for what you
can do, and what I think you
must do, to reverse this
state of affairs, to help
build the kinds of
communities our history and
heritage promises we can.
Part I covers our relations
to the wider world; Part II
concerns our own communities
and identities.
Part I: All allies,
foreign and domestic
1. First and foremost
People will ask you, “Are
you Muslim or are you
American?” (Or some other
such question.) You will
answer, “Yes.”
People will also ask you,
“Do you condemn terrorism?”
And you must not say “Islam
is a religion of peace.”
You will do more than
condemn, too. You will show
that you are actively
involved in building
narratives that compete with
the dangerous ones. I know
you won’t do this because
powerful people are asking
the questions, but because
you, like me, want better
for your communities. Long
before ISIL became the
watchword on everyone’s
lips, before Islamophobia
had become the platform of
too many Western political
parties, I attended a
gathering of Muslim leaders
in the Middle East. The
reason I recall this to you
is because the point of this
gathering was to bring top
minds together to discuss
our common challenges.
Very quickly, however, we
became split.
Not out of hostility or
apathy, but because our
experiences and our
priorities were so different
that our conversations
proved frustratingly
unproductive when held in
unison. Whether we were
Pakistani Britons, Crimean
Tatars or African Americans,
it was clear Western Muslims
had more in common than with
each other than Muslims from
the so-called Muslim world.
It is not just impossible,
but unreasonable to expect
so many different people to
think along the same lines,
to have the same priorities.
Unity shouldn’t mean
unanimity: Down that road
lies dictatorship and
extremism. Unity should mean
a desire for ongoing and
accelerating cooperation in
ways that are tangible,
realistic, and productive.
This is one of those songs
you listen to and realize
everything is going to be
okay.
Brother Ali is one of a
kind. He converted to Islam
when he was 15 years old
growing up in Minneapolis.
He speaks often about the
role his faith plays in his
music:
“Islam made me believe that
all human beings are created
with an intrinsic goodness
and desire to connect with
greater world," he said in a
recent interview with The
Islamic Monthly. "When you
start there, the
possibilities are endless.
If the core of who I am is
rooted in the same divine
reality as everyone else’s
basic reality, then the more
I am able to penetrate and
express my innermost
feelings, the more that I’ll
be able to connect with
everyone else.”
"Take Me Home," which came
out in 2007, is definitely
one of his older and softer
songs. Recently, he's been
much more political,
grappling with racial and
economic inequality.
Donald Trump wants Muslims
banned from entering the US –
but without them the country
would be a much poorer place
Donald Trump with legendary
boxer and Muslim, Muhammad Ali.
What have Muslims ever done
for America? If your sole
source of information were
Donald Trump, you’d think
that the answer was not much
– apart from murdering its
citizens and trying to
destroy its values. The
Republican presidential
hopeful has called for a
halt to Muslims entering the
US until American
authorities “can figure out”
Muslim attitudes to the US
in the wake of last week’s
killings in San Bernardino.
If only, you might well
think, Scotland had had the
same thought about Trump
before he was allowed in to
blight Aberdeenshire with
another of his golf resorts.
What Trump doesn’t seem to
grasp is his own country’s
history, and how many
American achievements worth
celebrating are the work of
the kind of people – Muslims
– he wants to keep out.
Here, then, is a guide to
some of the things Muslims
have done for the US. It’s
not an exhaustive list – but
it’s still more impressive
than what Trump has done for
his homeland.
Helping Hillary to the
White House
Abedin's
father, Syed Zainul Abedin, was
Indian, and her mother, Saleha
Mahmood Abedin, is Pakistani.
Huma Abedin may be America’s
most powerful Muslim woman.
The 39-year-old
Kalamazoo-born political
staffer is a long-time aide
to Hillary Clinton and was
her deputy chief of staff at
the State Department.
She currently serves as vice
chairwoman of Clinton’s 2016
campaign for president. But
can she be trusted?
In 2012 five Republican
Congress members wrote to
the State Department
inspector general and
claimed that she had
“immediate family
connections to foreign
extremist organisations”.
The claims were refuted and
the allegations dismissed by
the Washington Post as
“paranoid”, a “baseless
attack” and a “smear”.
Republicans baselessly
smearing Muslims?
At least Donald Trump is
around in 2015 to stand up
against that kind of thing.
.
Sonny Bill
Williams tweets
graphic images
of dead children
after visiting
Syrian refugee
camps
Star athlete
Sonny Bill
Williams has
caused a twitter
storm by posting
online graphic
images of dead
children
following his
visit to Syrian
refugee camps in
Lebanon.
The photos
depict two
children lying
dead with
horrific
injuries.
“What did these
children do to
deserve this?”
the caption
reads. “This
summer share a
thought for the
innocent lives
lost everyday in
war.”
The high-profile
All Black
travelled to
camps in the
Bekaa Valley
earlier this
month as a
Unicef
ambassador.
Williams has
also spoken
about his visit
to the camps on
YouTube. “It
hurts my heart,”
he says in a
UNICEF NZ video.
“Especially
being Muslim.”
Sydney Morning
Herald
'There's nothing
Islamic about a
state' :
Mehdi Hasan
explains why
there could
never be a true
Islamic state
Like my fellow
Muslims, I
strenuously
object to the
lazy conjugation
of the words
Islamic and
terrorism, for
the rather
obvious reason
that there is
nothing Islamic
about the murder
of innocent
civilians.
Unlike so many
of them,
however, I also
take issue with
the term
“Islamic state”,
and for the very
same reason:
there is nothing
Islamic about a
state. The two
concepts have
nothing in
common.
Let’s take the
word Islamic.
The casual and
careless
application of
this adjective
to religious and
cultural
phenomena alike
has blurred the
all-important
distinction
between Islam,
the divinely
revealed,
perfect and
infallible
faith, and
Muslims, the
rather flawed,
imperfect and
very human
practitioners of
that faith.
As the historian
Marshall Hodgson
pointed out:
“One can speak
of ‘Islamic
literature’, of
‘Islamic
architecture’,
of ‘Islamic
philosophy’,
even of ‘Islamic
despotism’, but
in such a
sequence one is
speaking less
and less of
something that
expresses Islam
as a faith.”
To his list, I
would add
“Islamic state”,
because,
contrary to
popular Muslim
opinion, there
is not a shred
of theological,
historical or
empirical
evidence to
support the
The NewStateman
Muslim prayer
hall damaged,
copies of Koran
burnt in
overnight
rampage in
Corsica
CORSICA: An
angry mob
retaliating over
attacks on
firefighters and
police has
ransacked a
Muslim prayer
house in the
French island of
Corsica. The
crowd set books,
including
several copies
of the Koran on
fire.
Tensions mounted
in Ajaccio,
Corsica's
largest city of
some 65,000
residents, after
a night of
violence in
Jardins de
L'Empereur. Two
firefighters and
a police
officers were
injured in what
the authorities
described as
ambushes by
“several hooded
youths” in the
low-income
neighbourhood.
On Friday
afternoon, some
150
demonstrators
gathered in
front of the
police HQ in a
show of support,
AFP reported
citing
officials. But
part of that
crowd broke off
and joined an
estimated 600
people, who
marched towards
the housing
estate where
violence had
occurred the
night before.
The crowd was
shouting slogans
in Corsican,
such as: "Arabs
get out!" and
"This is our
home!"
The angry
demonstrators
ransacked a
nearby Muslim
prayer house,
smashing glass
and partially
burning some 50
books, including
copies of the
Koran.
RT
William
Dalrymple:
Christianity and
Islam are not as
far apart as Bin
Laden and the
neocons would
like us to
believe
In the
year that
Islamist
terrorism
finally reached
London, when the
Christian west
and Islamic east
are engaged in
another major
confrontation,
there has never
been a greater
need for both
sides to realise
what they have
in common.
There is a
16th-century
manuscript in
the British
Museum which
contains a
painting of what
- at first -
looks like a
traditional
Nativity scene.
In the middle is
Mary holding the
Christ child,
whose arms are
wrapped lovingly
around his
mother's neck.
In the
foreground,
hovering
nervously, are
the Three Wise
Men, ready to
offer their
gifts. So far,
so conventional.
But look a
little closer
and you begin to
notice just how
strange the
picture is. For
the wise men are
dressed as
Jesuits, Mary is
leaning back
against the
bolster of a
musnud, a low
Indian throne,
and she is
attended by
Mughal serving
girls wearing
saris and
dupattas.
Moreover, the
Christ child and
his mother are
sitting under a
tree outside a
wooden garden
pavilion - all
strictly in
keeping with the
convention of
Islamic lore,
which maintains
that Jesus was
born not in a
stable, but in
an oasis beneath
a palm tree,
whose branches
bent down so
that the Virgin
could pluck
fruit during her
labour.
In this Koranic
version of the
Nativity, the
Christ child,
still in his
swaddling
clothes, sits up
and addresses
Mary's family
with the words:
"I am the
servant of God.
He has given me
the Gospel and
ordained me a
prophet. His
blessing is upon
me
The NewStatesman
This Muslim
Woman Asks You
Not to Undermine
Hijab
Last week, the
Washington Post
published an
article by Asra
Nomani and Hala
Arafa (see
CCN581), in
which they asked
women not to
wear headscarves
in the name of
interfaith
solidarity.
Their reason
being that
because the term
hijab, commonly
used to refer to
the headscarf,
does not appear
in the Qur'an.
Therefore, the
argument goes,
wearing of
headscarves by
Muslim women is
in fact not part
of Islam, but
rather a
cultural
accretion and
byproduct of
ultra
conservative
innovation
pioneered by the
likes of the
Saudi government
and the Islamic
State.
Before
highlighting the
major academic
flaws in the
article, I must
express my
disappointment
that such a
piece was
published by two
women who claim
to champion
women's choice.
The majority of
Muslim women
choose to wear a
head-covering as
a spiritual act,
and it is high
time that they
receive the
support to
freely wear what
they want
without judgment
or reprisal.
The
Linguistic Red
Herring
Muslim women who
wear hijab out
of devotion to
God do so based
on the following
sources in the
Qur'an:
Screaming in agony, a young woman
caned in front of a cheering crowd
ӿ Young woman
accused of getting too close to
a fellow university student
ӿ
As the pair are unmarried, she
had committed an offence under
Sharia law
ӿ
She was caned in front of a crowd
in the Indonesian province of
Aceh
ACEH, INDONESIA: Amid
the pitiless heat and humidity of
the afternoon, a slight young woman
screams in agony as she is thrashed
repeatedly with a cane.
Her face becomes a mask of pain and
humiliation until she collapses
forward on to the ground, clutching
pitiably at her shoulder.
Her ‘crime’ was to have been found
in the company of a fellow
undergraduate who was a man but was
not a relation.
This barbaric scene, which took
place on Monday, is the latest
example of Sharia law as enforced in
the Indonesian province of Aceh; a
remote jurisdiction where this
year’s Christmas and New Year
celebrations have also been banned
by the strict Muslim authorities.
The woman’s name is Nur Elita and
she is 20 years old. It was alleged
that she had committed khalwat
(affectionate contact by an
unmarried couple) with another
university student.
Dressed in modest Muslim costume,
she was escorted by members of
Aceh’s Sharia police into the front
yard of the Baiturrahim Mosque in
the provincial capital of Banda Aceh
- the area famously devastated by
the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Muslims Helping With UK
Flood Response But Britain First And EDL
Nowhere To Be Seen
President
Uhuru Kenyatta
UK: Groups
such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Youth Association (AMYA)
have been active in areas
affected by the flooding in
Lancashire, Yorkshire and
Cumbria.
The AMYA's
Farooq Aftab said: "The
youth have emphasised the
importance of unity within
communities in testing times
such as these. Moreover they
have felt that the
importance of such works is
promoted in Islamic
teachings such as 'Charity
is a part of one's faith'
and by the fact that the
Holy Prophet of Islam,
Muhammad (pubs) was referred
to as 'Mercy for Mankind'.
"As Muslims Islam teaches us
to serve humanity
irrespective of faith,
colour, race or no faith.
Serving our own local
community is at the
forefront of our minds. This
is what true Islam is
about."
Halal burger chain Meat
and Shake finds recipe for niche success in
UK
One of the
Meat and Shake restaurants in
suburban London. The executive
chef, Christian Stoner, left,
with the co-owner of the chain,
Faraz Ahmad.
UK: With
Lafayette wings and spicy
sausages among the starters,
and burgers and steaks to
follow, Meat and Shake
restaurants offer classic
smokehouse menus promising
the flavours of the American
south in suburban London.
But there is a striking
difference that sets the
growing chain apart in
western catering.
All food and drink is served
according to halal
principles, so there is no
wine list and the only beer
on sale is non-alcoholic.
And the “hot link” sausages
are of beef and lamb, not
pork.
It hardly seems surprising
that the chain’s two
founders, entrepreneurs of
Pakistani origin, should now
be seriously considering
expansion into the UAE and
other Muslim countries where
such an approach would be
entirely natural.
Yet there are already strong
signs that Meat and Shake
has also found a recipe for
niche success in a British
market dominated by
restaurants with liquor
licences. “We do have some
walkouts from people who
realise only after entering
that we do not serve
alcoholic drinks,” says
Faraz Ahmad, who launched
the business with a friend,
Osman Ahmed, in 2010.
“A few react quite angrily,
saying we have no right to
operate the policy or that
they won’t return because of
it. There were even a tiny
number of emails from people
who somehow equated halal
with terrorism.
“But we calculate the
customer ratio at the
restaurants at about 70 per
cent non-Muslim so, for a
lot of people, it is
obviously not a problem.
Families, in particular,
seem quite comfortable
knowing their enjoyment is
not going to be spoiled by
groups of loud, maybe
drunken lads.”
Sudan's midwives take on
Female Genital Mutilation
How a school
for midwives in eastern Sudan is
empowering and educating women
and girls about FGM
SUDAN: In
eastern Sudan's Gaderif city
there is a school with a
special mission. It is
educating the country's
future midwives to play a
role in eradicating Female
Genital Mutilation or FGM.
These midwives are known as
'Qabilat', which means
receivers, in
acknowledgement of the fact
that it is they who will
receive newborns as they
enter the world
But their roles are much
bigger than that even,
explains Ekhlass Hassan Ali
Khaleel, the director of the
Gadaref School of Midwives.
They are, she says,
community leaders.
At the gated entrance to the
school's premises, women in
flowing white cotton gowns
come and go, their outfits a
striking contrast to the
turquoise blue walls of the
school. They smile as they
pass by. Most are aged
between 19 and 40.
‘Our midwives are our
ambassadors’
"We are not just educating 'Qabelat'
midwives," she says. "We are
creating society's role
models, [those who] will
educate society and diminish
the cultural myth of FGM."
"Our midwives are our
ambassadors," she explains,
before adding: "The midwives
who graduate from this
school never practice FGM;
they took the Midwives Oath
that prohibits them from
doing so."
‘We are not just educating 'Qabelat'
midwives, we are creating
society's role models,
[those who] will educate
society and diminish the
cultural myth of FGM’
Educate
In fact, if the school finds
out that one of their
midwives have performed FGM,
they will have their license
revoked. They will then have
to return to the school and
go through a period of
retraining until the
school's authorities are
convinced that they will
never again practice FGM.
The school has an agreement
with local schools and the
police where they report
anyone that performs FGM.
"If one of our midwives
performs FGM they will be
punished and shamed," says
Zakaria. "They will have to
come back to school where
they will need to go through
their education again."
In a community where people
work are encouraged to work
together to end the
practice, children are also
taught to inform their
teachers if their families
intend to perform FGM on
them or anyone else or have
if they have already had it
done to them.
‘If one of our midwives
performs FGM they will be
punished and shamed’
Empower
Since the
school was opened in 1973,
the number of incidents of
FGM have dropped. Out of the
12 counties in Gadaref
state, only one now
officially allows FGM.
Khaleel believes that FGM
has now almost been
abolished in the area, and
that the school she directs
has played a large role in
this.
‘Zenab for
Women in Development [ZWD]
can come in. The women's
rights organisation is named
after Zenab Mohamad Nour,
the first woman to be
educated in Gadaref state
back in the 1930s.’
US:
17-year-old Waleed Khan who managed a
perfect score on his Scholastic Aptitude
Test (SAT).
SATs are a source of nightmares for
students who apply for universities in
Pakistan and the US. There are some who
only wish to pass the test and then
there are those who pass the test with
flying colors. Then there is that
less-than-one percent quota of students
from around 1.6 million SAT aspirants
each year who ace the exam with a
perfect 2,400 score. Waleed is one such
student.
Waleed is a student at California
Modesto High School. He hails from Aboha,
Swat. His family shifted to California
in 1996 after his father Dr Gohar Raza
graduated from the Aga Khan University
in Karachi. His father is a renowned
cardiologist in California now. His
mother practises internal medicine. He
has four brothers and a sister.
Datuk Noor
Farida Ariffin speaks to Malay
Mail Online in an interview at
Kuala Lumpur on December 23,
2015
KUALA LUMPUR,
Dec 26 — G25, which has been
accused of being deviant
over its criticism of
khalwat laws, says it is not
aiming to “reform Islam”,
but only to review Shariah
legislation that is
unconstitutional and which
violate Islamic legal
principles.
Datuk Noor
Farida Ariffin, a former
Sessions Court judge who
represents the group of
Malay retired senior civil
servants, points out that
fatwa (religious edicts),
for example, are gazetted
into binding rules in
Malaysia, even though they
are merely a voluntary and
optional concept in Islam.
In an
exclusive interview with
Malay Mail Online here, Noor
Farida talks about the
support of the royalty for
G25’s work, her fears for
Malaysia amid extremism, and
how she is weathering the
storm of attacks.
1. What do
people say to you in their
attacks?
“Mampus lah;
murtad; you’re almost six
feet underground, should not
be making noise; repent” — I
would advise them the same.
In Islam, although they want
to call us ‘murtad’, only
God, that is ‘urusan Allah’;
only God can do that. Unless
a person himself renounces
Islam, nobody else can call
you an apostate.
It’s really
shown me the ugly face of
Muslims in the country. I am
just shocked.
In my naivete,
I never thought a simple
call for reform of a law,
which is a man-made law,
which exists in no other
Muslim country because they
respect the Quranic
injunction to respect
people’s privacy and not to
expose concealed
wrongdoing...We’re the only
country.
And my God,
the storm it’s created, the
abuses we’ve been subjected
to, the filthy language
used, the false allegations,
it’s just — my God —
mind-boggling.
If I’m not a
strong woman, I would have
collapsed under all this
weight. But as I said, God
is my protector because we
believe in what we’re doing.
We’re trying
to create a better Malaysia.
We’re trying to salvage the
image of our religion as
good Muslims, which is being
hijacked, tarnished by all
these people claiming to be
the champions of Islam.
The St Andrews
Church in the heart of Bandar
Seri Begawan, Brunei. Christians
in the oil-rich state celebrated
Christmas today amid
restrictions on Muslims from
celebrating it.
BRUNEI: It was reported
that Christmas celebrations were banned
in Brunei (see
CCN581).
So I went to the biggest
church in Brunei, about 15 minutes from
my place, to see how the ban affected
the minority Christians in this tiny
oil-rich country. For the record,
Muslims form 67% of the population, 13%
are Buddhist, and another 10% Christian.
The remaining 10% subscribe to various
religions, including indigenous
religions. I began my journey to the
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption at
the heart of Bandar Seri Begawan, the
capital city of Brunei. It is the
biggest church in Brunei, in front of
which there is another church painted in
blue, St Andrews Church. When I reached
there about 8.30am, the place was
packed. Cars were parked at both sides
of the road.
There were a few stalls
along the road near the entrance of the
church selling clothes, drinks and
foods.
Outside the church, I
asked a woman if Christmas celebrations
in Brunei were banned. She told me the
ban was only for Muslims and in public
spaces, but in churches and in private
properties, they could celebrate as
usual. Well, that explains a lot why I
did not see Christmas trees in shopping
complexes.
I walked curiously to the
church compound. It was the first time I
got inside a church. Before the entrance
to the hall, there were rows of seats
for people who could not manage to enter
the main hall. On the right, there was a
giant Christmas tree decoration,
although it did not look like a tree.
Muslims In America: More
Latinos Converting To Islam As US Population
Grows, Report Claims
Members of the
Palestinian community pray
during a demonstration in front
of the Puerto Rican capitol
building in San Juan, in April
2002.
US: By most
official measures, Latinos
in the U.S. are considered
to be the fastest-growing
demographic. They are also
the fastest-growing group of
Muslims in America,
according to organizations
that cater to Hispanics
converting to Islam.
Although the statistics
haven’t been widely tracked,
there are an estimated
150,000 Islam converts among
the Latino community in the
U.S., reported the
Press-Enterprise, a
California newspaper.
The trend of Hispanic
converts to Islam has been
tracked by the Islamic
Society of North America,
which in 2006 estimated
there were roughly 40,000
Latino Muslims in the U.S.,
according to a report by
National Public Radio. Some
community leaders said the
recent growth of the
demographic has its roots in
a shared experience of
immigration and the negative
political rhetoric that
advocates have deemed as
anti-Muslim.
Mark Gonzales, a Muslim poet
and artist in California,
told the Orange County
Register that immigration
officials' targeting of
Mexicans and Muslims after
the Sept. 11, 2001, terror
attacks helped the two
demographics find common
ground. “Islam is the
fastest-growing religion in
the world, and Latinos are
converting to Islam at a
rate higher than any other
[ethnicity],” said Gonzalez,
who is of Mexican-American
and French-American heritage
and converted to Islam 12
years ago.
Most Latino Americans belong
to the Roman Catholic
Church, according to
religion data tracked by the
Pew Research Centre. But the
Catholic share of the Latino
population has declined,
while the number of Latinos
who are Protestant or report
no religious affiliation has
risen.
Jihad Turk, president of
Bayan Claremont, an Islamic
graduate school in
California, told the
Press-Enterprise that Islam
is most similar to Catholic
beliefs. Muslims believe in
many stories contained in
the Christian Bible,
including the prophets, he
said.
Bigot is captured on
camera wrapping bacon over door handles of
Masjid in Las Vegas
US:
Surveillance video shows a
man meticulously putting raw
bacon over the door handles
of a mosque in Las Vegas,
and now a Muslim civil
rights group is demanding
the incident be investigated
as a hate crime by federal
authorities.
In the video, the man is
seen carefully wrapping the
raw bacon over the door
handles of Masjid-e-Tawheed
in the 6100 block of W.
Viking Road. At one point,
he puts a strip of bacon in
his mouth as he opens the
package.
A Muslim worshipper
discovered the bacon on
Sunday morning and removed
it with a napkin. All pork
products are considered
unclean in the Islamic
tradition, and Muslims are
forbidden from eating or
touching it.
Las Vegas police are
searching for the man and
are calling the incident a
possible hate crime. The
Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) called for
“a state and federal hate
crime investigation of the
desecration” of the Nevada
mosque.
“This type of attempted
desecration must be
investigated as an act of
intimidation and hate, and
the perpetrators must be
brought to justice,” said
CAIR National Communications
Director Ibrahim Hooper.
Make sure to keep
track of your health and wellbeing.
We all get caught up
in our busy lifestyles and tend to forget the
most important person we need to take care of –
YOU!
o Install some
apps or set alarms to alert you when you
have not worked out
o Set an activity planner
o Plan your meals
o Whatever your health focus – stick to your
plan
o Stress less
o Sleep well
o Set small achievable goals
o Get active and get moving
o Shake up your workout routine every so
often
o Don’t quit – keep challenging yourself
To book appointments -
Ph: 3341 2333 (Underwood)
Ph: 3299 5596 (Springwood)
M: 0406 279 591
Website:
www.diversenutrition.com.au
Fad Diet Trends to Avoid in 2016
As we begin a new year, most of us set a
resolution to lose weight, be more fit or
achieve a better body. However, there are bucket
loads of marketing out there for new diets,
products, cleanses, detoxes and all sorts of
things aimed to "help" us reach our goal. But,
how do you tell what diets or products are
actually good for you and which ones are just
marketing gimmicks to cash in on your money?
Here are 6 tell-tale signs of a fad diet:
1. Promises quick weight loss with very minimal
efforts. If it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is.
2. Requires you to be dependent on a product.
E.g. you need to have shakes/bars/powders every
single day or regularly for it to "work".
3. Substitutes intake of real food e.g. meal
replacements or juices.
4. Completely cuts out a food group. E.g. no
bread, no gluten, no meats or dairy (not
recommended unless you have allergies or health
reasons).
5. Requires you to fast/not eat for more than 1
day at a time. E.g. juice cleanses or detoxes
where you don't eat food for a few days or up to
a week, and only rely on drinks/juices. This is
very unhealthy as it messes with your nutrient
intake, metabolism, and it can be very dangerous
for your body.
6. Contains laxatives to help flush out
"toxins". It basically works to make your bowels
move food down a lot faster and you're going to
be running to the toilet, a lot. e.g. Teatoxes,
slimming teas, etc.
This list is not exhaustive, so if you have any
specific questions, feel free to shoot me an
email.
Remember, there is no short cut to being
healthy. If being healthy and losing weight was
easy, everyone would have lost weight, kept it
off and that would be the end of the story.
However, being healthy requires consistency and
effort. Start by setting small goals and then
build from there! Your dedication is the key to
achieving good health.
Knowledge of One Another, Not
Ignorance, Is the Best Way to Heal Our Fractured World
Religion in recent times is
being seen as almost irrelevant in many European countries,
but the religion of Islam has become a hot topic for various
reasons. Religious literacy, particularly of Islam, even in
our highly educated country is indeed poor. Lazy journalism,
or in some cases cheap populism, may be partially
responsible for this.
Knowledge about one’s own background is essential, but
knowing others is no less important in our modern globalised
world. The truth is the more our children know traditions
other than their own, the more they become confident and
mature; they grow up with tolerance and respect for others
which is vital in a pluralist society.
With the so-called Trojan Horse ‘Islamist takeover’ issue
creating a huge misunderstanding in our education sector,
the debate on teaching GCSE Religious Studies in our schools
keeps on going. The Department for Education proposed that,
from September 2016, pupils who take a religious studies
GCSE will have to study at least two different faiths (from
Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and
Sikhism) for the first time “to better prepare them for life
in modern Britain”.
This was agreed by all major faith groups. But the Roman
Catholic Church surprisingly ordered their schools to teach
only Christianity and Judaism, ruling out teaching Islam and
other faiths in GCSE religious studies. This obviously drew
criticism from Muslims. However, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
proved to be different; he recommended that Jewish school
should teach Islam as a second faith, saying that “teaching
Islam will give children the opportunity to learn about a
poorly understood religion”. This is a bold decision in the
current political climate.
In spite of common perception about the hostility between
Muslims and the Jews, mainly due to the Palestine-Israel
conflict in our time, the two religious communities have
been together in their good times and difficult periods in
history. It was in Muslim Spain where Jewish culture
flourished along with the Muslim one during the age of
religious pluralism. Maimonides, a preeminent Sephardic
Jewish philosopher, physician and astronomer from Cordoba
was an intellectual giant in the 12th century. When both
Muslims and Jews were subjected to unparalleled persecution
by an intolerant Church, many of them left Spain and were
warmly welcomed in Muslim countries, some in the Ottoman
Empire.
History must repeat itself if we want to overcome the depth
of ignorance and fear from our midst. When people are
equipped with the power of knowledge about themselves as
well as others the fear factor plummets; their collective
humanity outshines their weaknesses. When ignorance about
one another is allowed to prevail the outcome is the
ugliness of intolerance and often outright hatred amongst
people.
Not all powerful nations on earth were able to produce
civilisations in the past. The Mongols created the largest
contiguous land empire, stretching from Eastern Europe to
the Sea of Japan in the 13th and 14th centuries; but they
left a legacy of butchering scholars and burning books that
created havoc in the land of Islam. On the contrary, when
their descendants accepted Islam they created art,
architecture and a rich culture in India during the Mughal
Empire.
Knowledge was synonymous with Muslims in their better days.
Within one hundred years of Islam’s arrival, a sophisticated
and highly integrated book industry emerged in the Muslim
world. Knowledge gradually became the mass property of all.
Cities like Baghdad, Cordoba, Damascus, Ghazni and Delhi
used to have libraries in most of their streets. Muslims
became the ardent lovers of books.
A strong
reading
habit is one
indicator of
success for
any nation
and a
hallmark of
civilisation.
Reading
empowers an
ordinary
person,
enriches a
scholar and
gives
confidence
to all.
Reading
stimulates
our brain by
giving it
food for
thought. It
empowers us
internally
to take on
the
challenges
of life and
take us to a
higher
level.
Reading
gives us
humility,
inner
strength,
the pride
and
confidence
to move
ahead. It
enhances
critical
thinking and
bestows us
with the
gift of
understanding
and wisdom.
A balanced
diet keeps
us
physically
active, so
good reading
keeps us
mentally
agile.
British Muslims would be far
better off if only they invest in knowledge and turn much of
their energy into reading, learning, thinking, reflecting
and reasoning. Revisiting the history of a pluralist Spain
would be useful, as that would help them in comparing their
better past with the thorny present.
Britain’s education system is one of the best in the world
and its universities are globally acclaimed in terms of
preparing young adults with life skills. It is promising
that the educational achievements of Muslim children have
significantly improved over the past few decades from a
lower position but it is more vital than ever that this is
reflected in their higher aspiration and ambition in all
areas of public life.
Let us all fall in love with books and heal our fractured
world.
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 the season for mangoes which are
plentiful here in Brisbane, so I am sharing my
favourite mango ice cream recipe which has
always been very popular.
Mango Ice Cream
Ingredients
2 cups long life
milk
4 eggs
250 ml Cream
1 can condense milk (395g)
Flesh of 2 ripe mangoes
Method
Beat milk and
eggs.
Heat the mixture
but do not allow mixture to reach boiling
point.
Add fresh cream.
Add liquidised
mangoes leaving some for the topping.
Add enough
condense milk to sweeten.
Place in an ice
cream machine or alternatively pour mixture
into a mould and freeze.
Before serving,
drizzle with the mango puree and top with
chopped macadamia nuts
Journalist: Mula Nasruddin, Sir, as a very successful
entrepreneur, what advice would you give to our young men
and women who want to succeed in business?"
Mula
Nasruddin: "Two words."
Journalist: "And, what are they?"
Mula
Nasruddin: "Right decisions."
Journalist: "But how do you make right decisions?"
Say: "If the whole of
mankind and Jinns were to
gather together to produce
the like of this Qur'an,
they could not produce the
like thereof, even if they
backed each other with help
and support."
Laylat al-Qadr
- Night of Power 1436 (27th Ramadan 1437)
6
July
Wednesday
Eid al-Fitr
1437 (1st Shawwal 1437)
20
& 21 August
Sat & Sun
The Divine Light
Sh Wasim Kempson
Al Kauthar
Brisbane
Griffith
University NATHAN
0438 698 328
All day
12
September
Monday
Eid al-Adha
1437 (10th Zilhijja 1437)
3 October
Monday
Muharram 1438
– Islamic New Year 1438
(1st Muharram
1438)
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.
Zikr
- every Thursday 7pm, families welcome Hifz& Quran Reading Classes (for brothers and sisters) -
Tuesday 5:00 - 7:00pm & Thursday 5:30 - 7:00pm Madressa
(for children) - Wednesday & Friday 4:30 - 6:30pm Salawat
Majlis - first Saturday of every month. Starting
at Mughrib, families welcome Islamic
Studies (for sisters) - one year course. Saturday
10:30 - 2:30pm. Enrolments for 2016 now available Ilm-e-Deen
Degree Courses (for brothers) - Three full-time and
part-time nationally accredited courses. Enrolments
now available for 2016.
Quran Reading Class For Ladies (Beginners
or Advanced)
Every Saturday 2 - 4pm
Lady Teacher
Algester Mosque
Zikrullah program every Thursday night after
Esha
For more details, contact: Maulana Nawaaz:
0401576084
On Going Activities
1. Daily Hadeeth reading From Riyadusaliheen,
After Fajar and after esha .
2. After school Madrassah for children Mon-Thu 5pm to 7pm
3. Adult Quran classes (Males) Monday and
Tuesday after esha for an hour.
4. Community engagement program every second Saturday of the
Month, interstate and overseas speakers, starts after
margib, Dinner served after esha, First program begins on
the 15 August.
5. Monthly Qiyamulail program every 1st
Friday of the month starts after esha.
6. Fortnight Sunday Breakfast program. After Fajar, short
Tafseer followed by breakfast.
7. Weekly Tafseer by Imam Uzair after esha followed by
dinner. Starts from 26 August.
For all activities, besides Adult Quran,
classes sisters and children are welcome.
For further info call the Secretary on
0413669987
IPDC
Lutwyche Mosque
Weekly classes with Imam Yahya
Monday: Junior Class
Tuesday: Junior Arabic
Friday: Adult Quran Class
For more information call 0470 671 109
Holland Park Mosque
All programs are conducted by Imam
Uzair Akbar
DAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
PROGRAM
Tafseer Program
Basics of Islam
Tafseer Program
AUDIENCE
Men
Ladies
TIME
after Maghrib Salat
Queensland Police Service/Muslim
Community Consultative Group
Meeting Dates & Times
Time: 7.00pm sharp
Date: TBA
Venue: Islamic College of Brisbane -
45 Acacia Road Karawatha
Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily
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(1).jpg)
Screaming in agony, a young woman
caned in front of a cheering crowd
US:
17-year-old Waleed Khan who managed a
perfect score on his Scholastic Aptitude
Test (SAT).
Zikr
- every Thursday 7pm, families welcome
post comments on
our Wall
7
August 2011