BACK ISSUES

AN ARSON attack reduced the Garden City Mosque to rubble in April last year and the building has been derelict ever since.

But if the arsonist hoped to close the mosque they have clearly failed.

Plans for the new Garden City Mosque have been released and it will be bigger and better to meet the growing needs of worshippers.

Although not the official plans and still subject to review, they show a two-storey building with a mezzanine level at one end.

The old mosque, which had been a church, didn't have the facilities of a modern mosque but the new building will address that problem.

It will cost about $700,000 to build, with the less than half of that to come from insurance and the rest paid by fundraising.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and city leaders hope the new building will accommodate new settlers and converts to the region.
 

Previously it could house about 200 of the faithful but it is hoped the new mosque will accommodate up to 300.

Founding President of Toowoomba Islamic Society Professor Shahjahan Khan said plans had changed slightly after community feedback.

After being the victims of two arson attacks in one year, the Muslims are determined to ensure the mosque is in harmony with the overall look of the neighbourhood in Harristown.

"Since we have the land to expand and can include all essential facilities like toilets, an ablution area, and a proper space for women, the committee has decided to make provisions for those," Mr Khan said.

"This expansion will meet the need for the growing community for many years to come. This is purely based on the need."

The burned building has been cleaned and washed professionally to prepare the site for reconstruction.

Mr Khan said the mosque has acted as a central point for members of the community to enquire and learn about Islam.

Local schools and community organisations have already requested speakers from the mosque to discuss and learn about the religion.

The Toowoomba mosque has also organised an annual international food festival and mosque open days, with the third to be held on Sunday, April 10 from 11am-4pm at the Clive Berghofer Recreation Centre at the University of Southern Queensland.

There will also be a guided tour to the Garden City Mosque.

Speakers include Queensland Police Commissioner Mr Ian Stewart, Imam Akram Buksh, Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane, USQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas, and Rev Dr Jonathan Inkpin of the Goodwill Committee.

Activities will include a jumping castle for children, decoration for women, an information service, a visit to the mosque and attractive food from different parts of the world.

The arson attacks on the mosque remain unsolved despite a long investigation.
Anyone with information about the two attacks, which took place on January 23 and April 17 last year, are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A $25,000 reward is available for information.
 

Source: The Chronicle

Our Say: Toowoomba mosque plans send a message
 

EDITORIAL BY THE CHRONICLE'S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steve Etwell

It is heartening to see plans for a new mosque in the city.

If nothing else it will show that we will not let arsonists and racists affect they way people live in our city.

The resilience of the city's Muslims is to be admired.

It would have been easy to leave the burned wreck of the mosque as it was.

Instead they have put up a design and a plan for a bigger mosque. The old mosque did not have the facilities of a modern mosque. However the new building will address that problem.

The new mosque will cost about $700,000 to build, with the less than half of that to come from insurance. The rest of the finance will come from fundraising. It is hoped the new building will accommodate new settlers and converts in the region. Previously the mosque could house about 200 of the faithful but it is hoped the new mosque will house up to 300.

The Muslims are determined to keep the mosque building in harmony with the overall look of the neighbourhood.

Source: The Chronicle

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Statement from the SMH editor-in-chief: Darren Goodsir
 

I have concluded a formal review into the column "The horrifying untold story of Louise", published on Monday, February 22. The article has since been retracted and, on behalf of the Herald, I once again unreservedly apologise for the column and the hurt and distress it understandably caused.

The formal review, which included a comprehensive examination of editorial processes, found unacceptable breaches of fundamental journalistic practice. The columnist, who has also apologised for the report and admitted this serious lapse, will stand aside from his duties until further notice.

The Herald's reputation is founded on the trust our readers give us to provide fair, balanced and independent journalism, and it is critical that the editorial integrity of the Herald is maintained.
 

Source: The Australian

SIGN PETITION - COMMUNITY ADVOCATES, Sydney

"In light of Paul Sheehan's recent article in which he put forward false sexual assault allegations made by a member of an anti-Islam activist organisation ‘Reclaim Australia’, we request that Fairfax Media terminate his employment contract.

As many academics and media commentators have noted, Sheehan’s work is consistently guided by an anti-Islam and anti-Arab agenda. He has continued to display a contemptuous disregard for journalistic integrity and ethical reporting, and Fairfax Media has provided him with a platform to do so.

In this instance, a serious failure of basic editorial procedure has come at too high a cost to a widely respected organisation’s credibility and reputation. Muslim/Arab men have been collectively maligned and racially vilified, raising potential racial vilification implications and serious irreparable harm has been done to victims of sexual assault.

Members of the Muslim community have, consistently and repeatedly raised Sheehan’s cumulative record of demonising minority groups, Muslims in particular, with Editor in Chief Darren Goodsir over the past few years. To date, no action has been taken commensurate with the gravity of Sheehan’s conduct.

Fairfax Media must treat this with the same gravity it has treated other instances of professional misconduct if it is to have any ounce of credibility to its readers whom it owes both transparency and accountability.

The subsequent apology issued by Fairfax Media fails dismally on so many fronts and when compared to past apologies issued in relation to the Mike Carlton saga, it speaks volumes about the double standards that continue to be applied.

The executive leadership at Fairfax Media must take immediate and appropriate action that is consistent with the standards of journalistic integrity that Fairfax seeks to uphold.

Should Paul Sheehan continued to be employed by Fairfax Media, we the undersigned will:

· commence a campaign to contact all Sydney Morning Herald advertisers raising these same concerns and urging them to direct their advertising dollars elsewhere

· withdraw all cooperation with Fairfax Media journalists across the country, including declining interview requests and ceasing to offer exclusive media stories to Fairfax Media staff.

#SackPaulSheehan
 

Source: change.org

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The Islamic School of Canberra has become the latest Muslim school to have its funding cut by the federal government and will now face closure.

Following a federal government audit into Muslim schools run by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils the Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced the Islamic School of Canberra would now have $1 million worth of tax payers funds permanently cut.

The ruling will mean the ACT school of about 230 students will now likely face closure, two weeks after the minister announced $20m worth of federal taxpayers funds would be stopped to Malek Fahd Islamic School in Sydney, Australia’s largest Muslim School.

“In May 2015 my department initiated a formal review into six school authorities affiliated with the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) following ongoing concerns about their financial management and governance arrangements.

“Today the Department notified the school authority responsible for the Islamic School of Canberra that the School’s approval for Federal Government funding has been revoked,” Mr Birmingham said today.

“I am committed to ensuring that all school authorities meet the requirements of the Education Act to ensure that our taxpayer dollars and any private investment by parents is being spent to benefit Australian students.

The Australian revealed a fortnight ago the school faced closure as a result of serious governance revealed in the Deloitte audit report, including millions missing in loans to AFIC and fears the school was insolvent.

Another four Muslim schools run by AFIC still face closure as a result of the Audit. The Islamic

College of Brisbane, the Islamic College of Melbourne, the Islamic College of South Australia and Langford Islamic College in WA were all found in breach of the Education Act and have to justify ongoing funding to the minister or will have their funding permanently cut.

“The 2014 financial report for ASAL (AFIC Schools ACT Limited) provides there is an amount owed to AFIC, however AFIC Accounts advised Deloitte there is no documented loan agreement in place, with the loan being interest-free and having no repayment requirements,” it said.

Minister Birmingham said the audit showed the school failed the “fit and proper person” test as well as concerns it was operating for profit.

“Unfortunately, the authority that operates the Islamic School of Canberra was not able to demonstrate to my department that they had addressed the significant concerns about their independence, financial management and governance arrangements raised during the formal compliance review of their operations.

The Act requires, among other obligations, that all school authorities operate not-for-profit, are financially viable, be a ‘fit and proper person’ and ensure that funding provided is used only for school education.

The minister said that the Department would work with the ACT government to minimise impact on students if they are forced to move school.

“After carefully considering their response to the issues raised in the compliance notice, my department determined that it will revoke the funding approval. This follows a decision earlier this month to revoke the approval of Malek Fahd Islamic School Limited, another school authority affiliated with AFIC.”

“The revocation of funding will take effect from 8 April 2016. My department will work with the ACT Government to help ensure students and families that are impacted by this decision receive the appropriate support.”
 

Source: The Australian

Parents of Islamic School of Canberra students back administration
 

Parents of students at the Islamic School of Canberra feel their children are being punished unfairly after it was revealed the withdrawal of federal funding could force the closure of the school.

The school will appeal the loss of $1 million in annual Commonwealth funding, and its provisional ACT registration as a result, after Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced his decision to revoke the funding on Monday.

Senator Birmingham said the school's management was not able to demonstrate they had addressed concerns about their "independence, financial management and governance arrangements", following a long-running investigation into the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC), which operates the school.

Parents, teachers and students were said to be distressed by the imminent closure of the school on Tuesday, although Islamic Council of Canberra chairman Mohammed Berjaoui still held out hope their appeal would be upheld.

Should it fail, 216 students will have relocate to government schools and about 30 staff will be left unemployed as of April 8.

Mr Berjaoui, who is also the school's business manager, said parents had promised to lobby politicians and even take their fight to the ACT Legislative Assembly to ensure the school remained open.

"The parents are very supportive, it's amazing the phone calls we got last night and this morning ... they're all behind the school, they all want to the school to continue," he said.

The Islamic School of Canberra, located in Weston , was one of five under the microscope after the Federal Department of Education canned $19 million in Commonwealth funding to the Malek Fahd Islamic School in Sydney.

A nine-month investigation found the Sydney school had been operating for profit and had ongoing governance concerns, but Mr Berjaoui maintained those issues were isolated to other AFIC schools and Canberra's school was operating well.

"Us in Canberra, we've got nothing to hide. It wasn't our problem, it was a problem of AFIC and Malek Fahd. Our school is a victim here," he said.

Teacher and parent Imad Alsmadi said some students had not turned up to school on Tuesday and others were left wondering what school they would end up attending.

"It's just technical issues with the people in charge of us and they're not in Canberra. We have nothing to do with it," Mr Alsmadi said.

"There is trouble in other schools in AFIC and we are the ones who have to pay the price."

Two of Mutaz Tahir's children attend the school and he was planning on enrolling his third.

Mr Tahir said his wife was in tears following Monday's announcement and he was yet to inform his children.

"It's a shock to us. It's a discontinuation of our preferred schooling for our kids and it's punishment on us for something we haven't done, as parents, teachers and families," he said.

"I didn't want to tell them because I don't know what to tell them. How can I justify this decision, they don't know the word corruption. What do I say to them? The people who issued the decision to close the school in such record time should think about that."

The ACT Education Directorate is encouraging parents of Islamic School of Canberra students to call 1800 240 584 for more information.
 

Source: The Canberra Times

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Malaysian makeup artist Saraswati (aka @QueenOfLuna) uses her hijab and makeup to turn herself into actual Disney Princesses.
 

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Performing artists in this year's Sound of Light included the very popular Swedish singer Maher Zain, Macedonian/Turkish vocalist Mesut Kurtis, young British artist Harris J, American singer/actor/comedian Omar Regan and Kuwaiti nasheed performer Humood Alkhuder.

Sounds of Light is an annual mega event organised by Human Appeal International in Australia as well as in many countries in Europe in order to provide entertainment tailored for a Muslim audience as well as helping raise funds for the orphans around the world.

It has been held in the major cities in Australia and for the first time this year in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Nabi Baqiri is paying for a tractor part and chainsaw to use in his Shepparton orchard. The former refugee hands over a cheque and asked the sales assistant to fill in the date and transaction amount.

"I don't know how to write," he explains.

"Don't joke with me. I don't have time," the sales assistant replies, coolly.
Nabi persists: "No really, I don't know how to write."

As Australia grapples with the morality of offshore detention of asylum seekers and wrestles with fears of being overwhelmed by needy refugees, this is the story of how an illiterate Afghan boy ended up as an Australian fruit-picking millionaire.

It's the start of the harvest season and Kaarimba orchard, north of Melbourne, hums to the sound of heavy machinery.

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THE Coalition government has hired a model to research Sharia law as a policy adviser to backbencher George Christensen.

And the self-confessed champion of libertarianism believes the hardline set of Islamic customs has the potential to become part of our legal system.

Tamara Candy, 27, says she is not a feminist but an egalitarian and loves to flaunt her impressive figure in her favourite star-spangled bikini.

In a wideranging interview with The Daily Telegraph, Ms Candy says she has been disappointed with the silence she has encountered from “progressives” as she deals with trolls who criticise her for being a bimbo because of what she wears.

“It shows the utter hypocrisy of the left,” she says.

“Where are they when a conservative woman is being attacked?”

“I have been researching all facets of Sharia law and how it has the ability to function as a plural legal system to our own,” she says.

“We could see legal recognition of it in the courts one day — things like dowries and Sharia divorces. The thing that’s worrying me is the issue of genital mutilation. Eighty thousand women in Australia are survivors.”

In a landmark case in November, a Muslim mother and a retired midwife became the first people in Australia convicted of female genital mutilation by a jury.

“This is child abuse not a cultural or religious issue.”

Managing director of No FGM Australia Paula Ferrari said an estimated 83,000 women in Australia are survivors of the practice — based on prevalence data from Unicef and statistics from the ABS.

Ms Candy, who has rubbed shoulders with prime minister Abbott and radio megastar Alan Jones, says she expects criticism over the way she presents herself but believes she shouldn’t be judged by what she wears.

“I don’t think a burqa would really be my style but I’ve got nothing against women who wear them,” she says.

“My image is probably a part of western culture and it might offend some people but in my research I’m not confronting people personally — it’s over the phone.

“I wouldn’t turn up to an interview in my American bikini.”

Ms Candy says she has always leaned to the right politically — a stance galvanised by her work on the campaigns of Ron and Rand Paul in the United States where she picked up such electioneering techniques as Tinder recruitment.

She also says her boss George Christensen has copped some friendly banter from members opposite.

“One Labor shadow minister said ‘I don’t want to do anything with George Christensen unless Tammy Candy is involved’.”

She would not name names.

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Hussain has heard “awful” comments about Aboriginal people from his community, mainly from his parent’s generation. He says some recent immigrants – even those who cop racism themselves – often buy into the country’s prevailing racist narrative.

Perhaps they are like the last person to squeeze into a train carriage, hoping the doors will quickly shut behind them.

“They’ll adopt hyper-conservative views about immigration, asylum seekers, Aboriginal people, international students – just to sort of prove to their white colleagues and neighbours that they’re as Australian, if not more Australian,” says Hussain.

In many ways this mindset is a product of the racism they have endured, a kind of Stockholm syndrome, Hussain says.

“No one always wants to assert their different identity. They just want to lose their whole Muslim identity,” he says, adding Muhammads change their names to Michael, Osamas to Sam; girls take off their hijabs and guys shave off their beards. “It’s a sad reality but that’s what people do to survive.”

He has a friend who changed his Lebanese name by deed poll to something more Anglo-Saxon. “He said, ‘I couldn’t get a job as Nabil’. So he changed his name to William Alexander.”
……….

Hussain says supporters of the UPF and radical Muslims are “two sides of the same coin”: both marginalised groups, pissed off with society, who frequently complain about not being able to get a job. “They’re not part of the public conversation.”

He regards their behaviour as misdirected rage. “We shouldn’t be angry at each other, we should be angry with people that are charged with making Australia a better, prosperous place where we don’t have to complain about shitty jobs and expensive house prices.” When told this, the man replied: “What are you trying to say? That we should take aim at politicians? What, blow up parliament house?”

Hussain gesticulates wildly. “I said, ‘see? We even think the same!’ We should have a bogan-Muslim army march over to parliament house. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Allahu Akbar [God is great]!”
………

Hussain can spear his own Muslim identity and the brutal stereotypes that form around it all in one breath. Take this bit from the 2015 Sydney Comedy festival: “Just because I’m Muslim doesn’t mean I support Isis, you idiot ... some of us like al-Qaida”.

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The phrase "Allahu Akbar" is commonly used by Muslims to remind themselves of God's vastness and power. It literally means "God is greater" or "God is the greatest." Throughout their day and in prayer especially, Muslims use this term to remind themselves that God is greater than the beauty and ugliness of this world.

Unfortunately, some Muslim extremists employ this phrase before performing acts of terror, leading many to associate "Allahu Akbar" with violence and destruction. This video poem, however, explains the phrase's true meaning for the vast majority of Islam's 1.6 billion followers, and how they use it in their daily lives.

Source: Huffington Post

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Based on case studies, the film 'Making Waves: Expressions of Gender Equality in the Sacred Texts and Islamic Tradition' explores women and men as scholars and activists promoting interpretations of the Qur'an and Hadiths that empower women and promote justice, equality and dignity.

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Due to an expanding multicultural community the Al-Mustapha Institute of Brisbane has engaged the services of an experienced and qualified Welfare Worker to join its growing team of professionals.

The Welfare Worker will provide support and counselling to individuals and families to "empower them to change their social environment and improve their quality of life."

"The Institute continues to expand services as part of its commitment to achieving positive outcomes for families to enable them to lead an inclusive life in our community," a spokesperson for the Institute told CCN.

To access this service contact:

Al-Mustapha Institute of Brisbane
39 Bushmills Court, Hillcrest
Ph: 3809 4600
Email: info@almustapha.org.au

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Births

Marriages

Condolences

If you would like to record a birth, marriage, engagement or someone's passing please email ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org with the details.

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In 2007, Proton proposed a halal car. The idea came to them when Malaysian delegates were on a trip to the Middle East, so the plan was to team up with manufacturers in Iran and Turkey. What makes the car ‘Islamic’ are its features, namely a compartment to store a headscarf and al-Quran, compass, and kiblat reading. Like the KTM, had Proton really manufactured it, it would have been the world’s first Islamic car.

In the end there was no news of the car, so we’re left to assume it never materialised, but hey, it’s the thought that counts, so it’s here on the list.

Source: Cilisos

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Abdul Aziz is the president of the Northern Rivers Muslim Association.

He moved to Dubbo, in central western New South Wales, from Dubai in 2005.

Mr Aziz left the UAE after being offered a 457 visa and employment in Australia as an electronics engineer.

He now owns a business in Lismore.

"I love Lismore the best because of the diversity, the colours, and it's got a lot more acceptance than a lot of other communities," he said.

"Discrimination is going to be wherever you go. There was discrimination where I was born in Pakistan, in Dubai when I moved there, it's everywhere."

Mr Aziz said he hoped to educate the broader community about true Islam, which did not condone terrorism or murder.

"There are always black sheep in a community," he said.

"I want the media to tell the good side of the Muslim community.

"I am completely against what is happening in the Middle East, innocent people are being killed every day, but that is not Islam."
 

Source: ABC

NEXT WEEK IN CCN: Abbey Hodson

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Official Trailer

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9. Ahmed Shihab-Eldin

In his own words, he is “Palestinian by blood, American by birth, Egyptian by upbringing, Kuwaiti by family refuge, Austrian by adolescence, curious by nature, lover by design.” Ahmed is an Emmy-nominated journalist and a correspondent/producer for VICE on HBO. He featured on Arabian Business’ power list of the planet’s 100 most influential young Arabs.

He was already mentioned before, in 2012, on Forbes’ 30 list of ‘young disruptors, innovators and media entrepreneurs impatient to change the world’.
 

NEXT WEEK: 10. Tariq Al-Olaimy

Source: MVSLI

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Al-Masjid an-Nabawi - Medina
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi - Medina, Saudi Arabia Built by the Prophet Muhammad circa 622, this is the second holiest site in Islam after the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca. It now houses the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad, inside the Green Dome. It has 10 minarets - the tallest of which is 105 metres tall - and a capacity of 600,000, increasing to one million during the annual Hajj period. Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter some parts of the Medina   
 

Source: Telegraph UK

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The CCN BOOK-OF-THE-WEEK

‘The Brothers’ and the Boston Marathon Bombing

by

Masha Gessen

Review

The lead attorney for the accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev began his defense this month with a blunt and dramatic statement: “It was him.”

The lawyer, Judy Clarke, conceded her client’s role in setting off the blasts that killed three people and wounded more than 260. But she argued that he had been led on the path to violence by his older, “self-radicalized” brother, Tamerlan, who she said planned the attacks and bought the pressure cookers and explosives used to make the bombs. While prosecutors asserted that the younger Mr. Tsarnaev was a committed terrorist intent on avenging American military campaigns in the Muslim world, Ms. Clarke depicted him as a loyal younger brother and fairly typical teenager, interested in girls and cars, who fell under the sway of his domineering sibling.

Just which portrait of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev the jury buys will help determine whether he gets life — or death.

Since the bombings on April 15, 2013, law enforcement officials, journalists and the Tsarnaevs’ neighbors and friends have been engaged in a similar effort to construct a narrative that might explain the calamitous trajectory of the brothers’ lives. How do the dots connect in the lives of Tamerlan, the big kid his mother compared to Hercules, who once dreamed of representing the United States on the Olympics boxing team, and Dzhokhar, the star high school student, described by many friends as a sweet, “superchill” pothead who had seemingly adapted to American life with fluency and ease.

The latest attempt to explain how the American dream went so wrong for the Tsarnaevs is “The Brothers,” by the Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen (pictured below), the author of an astute 2012 study of Vladimir V. Putin and his rise to power (“The Man Without a Face”), and a critically acclaimed book about Pussy Riot (“Words Will Break Cement”). Her own background would seem to make her an ideal author for this story: an immigrant, she was a Russian-speaking teenager when she moved with her parents to the Boston area, and she later returned to Russia to report on the transformative changes rocking the former Soviet Union and on the wars in Chechnya in the 1990s.

As it turns out, her knowledge of Soviet and Russian history, and her reporting on the ground in Dagestan, Kyrgyzstan and Chechnya, lend a resonance and weight to the sections of this book devoted to the Tsarnaev family’s peregrinations in that region before deciding to immigrate to the United States. (Dzhokhar arrived in Cambridge, Mass., with his parents in 2002, when he was 8; his brother the next year.) Ms. Gessen explains how the history of Chechnya — and the radicalism that took root there — might have affected family members, and she also brings an understanding of the dislocations often faced by immigrants to her account of the family’s struggles to make new lives for themselves in Cambridge.

But the book went to press before the trial started, and it spends a lot of time describing conspiracy theories that hovered around the case (including the possibility that Tamerlan might have been an F.B.I. recruit “gone rogue”) without providing persuasive evidence to support them. At the same time, there are few new details about the brothers’ lives in America that haven’t already appeared in newspapers, magazines or on the web, and the book sheds little fresh light on Dzhokhar’s relationship with his brother, which is so central to his trial.

Though Ms. Gessen takes issue with some of the assumptions and conclusions reached by other journalists, “The Brothers” remains highly indebted to earlier reports, most notably two long articles — “The Fall of the House of Tsarnaev,” in The Boston Globe in December 2013 (based on months of reporting by that paper’s staff), and “Jahar’s World,” a July 2013 article in Rolling Stone (which came under fire for its cover, featuring a photo of the younger Tsarnaev, which critics contended glamorized him as a celebrity).

The portrait of the Tsarnaevs that emerges from this book, like many accounts, is that of a restless, fractious family that would find its immigrant dreams dissolving, after a decade, into disappointment and dysfunction; a family whose personal woes and confusions seem to have played as large a role, or even a larger one, in paving the brothers’ road to violence than any sort of coherent, informed ideology or religious commitment.
 

As Ms. Gessen tells it, Anzor, the family patriarch, “was fixing clunkers in the street”; his wife, Zubeidat, was getting less and less work as a beautician; and by the second half of 2009 or so, their small apartment (which some nine people called home) “resembled a refugee camp.” Tamerlan, Ms. Gessen says, was dealing drugs; his sisters, Bella and Ailina, “had neither graduated from high school nor succeeded in their marriages.” Only Dzhokhar, she adds, “was still in his cloud of sweetness and light,” continuing in high school to “make good grades and good friends and make everyone happy.”

That would change as the younger Tsarnaev brother increasingly struggled with his grades in college, where he’d become a campus pot dealer. His social circle had become more insular (it included two students from Kazakhstan, who would be prosecuted for their roles in removing a backpack and a laptop from Mr. Tsarnaev’s room after they realized he was a suspect in the bombings), and Ms. Gessen writes that he had begun a process of “re-Russifying himself.” But, while she notes that he was spending “an increasing amount of time on Russian-language social networks,” she provides little useful new analysis of his online life and sheds equally little light on his evolving relationship with his brother, Tamerlan, who seems to have been radicalized (or at least found a new sense of identity) after spending six months in Dagestan in 2012.

Regarding the brothers’ carrying out of the bombings, she concludes that “no extraordinary event is necessary to explain what happened.”

“One had only to be born in the wrong place at the wrong time, as many people are,” she writes, “to never feel that one belongs, to see every opportunity, even those within reach, pass one by — until the opportunity to be someone finally, almost accidentally, presents itself. This is where the small story of the Tsarnaevs joins the large story of the War on Terror.”
 

Source: The New York Times

"One who does not read is no better than one who cannot read."

Would you like to see the cover of your favourite book on our book shelves below?

Then simply email the title and author to thebookclub@crescentsofbrisbane.org

Double click a book cover to find out what others think of the book

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Tiramisu Cupcakes

The phone bill was exceptionally high.

Mula Nasruddin called a family meeting to discuss.

Mula Nasruddin: This is unacceptable. I don't use the home phone, I use my work phone.

Mrs Nasruddin: Me too. I hardly use home phone. I use my companies phone

Master Nasruddin: I use my office mobile, I never use the home phone.

All of them turned to the maid who's patiently listening to them.

Maid: "What? So we all use our work phones. What's the big deal?

South African Riaad Moosa on Muslim Game Reserve

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Events and Functions

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PLEASE NOTE

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

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

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Articles and opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Crescents of Brisbane Team, CCN, its Editor or its Sponsors, particularly if they eventually turn out to be libellous, unfounded, objectionable, obnoxious, offensive, slanderous and/or downright distasteful.

It is the usual policy of CCN to include from time to time, notices of events that some readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are often posted as received. Including such messages or providing the details of such events does not necessarily imply endorsement of the contents of these events by either CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.

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