Empowered Muslimahs of Brisbane,
Australia gathered to
participate in Muslimah Mind
Matters - Self-Care and Clarity
of Mind Program event, held at
IWAQ Hall on 25th Feb, 2017. The
Program was designed and
facilitated by Princess Lakshman
(Sister Iqra), writer, Clarity
Coach, and weekly contributor of
the CCN Newsletter in the area
of Self-Care and Mind Clarity.
For information about future
workshops, contact Princess on
0451977786.
On Tuesday, 28 February, the
St Anthon’s Church in
Toowoomba invited members of
Muslim community for a
dinner at the eve of the
start of the Lent, a 40 days
long fasting journey leading
to the Easter. The day is
known as the Shrove Tuesday
and the food is
predominantly pancake and
fruits.
"This year the event was
special because of the
support by the Church for
the Garden City Mosque,
Toowoomba, especially during
the approval process of the
rebuilding plan of the
burned Mosque by the
Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC)
last year," Prof Shahjahan
Khan of the Islamic Society
of Toowoomba, told CCN.
The main organiser of the
event was Dr Mark Copland
who is also a Member of the
Parish Committee of the
Church. The event was
blessed by the Priest of the
Church and the Catholic
Bishop Robert McGuckin.
Councillor Megan O’Hara of
the TRC also attended the
dinner.
The participants from the
Muslim community were led by
Imam Abdul Kader. He
emphasised the strong bond
between St Anthony’s Church
and Garden City Mosque
because of high level of
mutual respect and support.
Professor Shahjahan Khan
reminded those present that
the good relationship
between Christians and
Muslims in Toowoomba started
in 1994 with Fr Brain
Sparksman and it is "getting
better and better over
time".
The Islamic Society of
Toowoomba regularly invites
non-Muslims, including
members of the St Anthony’s
Church, in the Garden City
Mosque to iftar during the
fasting month of Ramadan.
St Anthony’s Church is only
600m away from the only
Mosque in Toowoomba and last
year it’s Parish Committee
decided to allow Muslims to
use over 50 car parking
spaces for Friday Jumma
prayers.
Bishop Robert McGuckin wrote
a strong letter asking the
TRC Councillors to lift the
inappropriate restrictions
of limiting the number of
users of the Garden City
Mosque. Many other
individuals, churches,
institutions, faith and
cultural groups as well as
politicians, including the
Federal and State MPs, and
local media supported the
proposed Mosque development
plan leading to the lifting
of the initial conditions
imposed by TRC on limiting
of the daily prayer time and
number of worshippers in
December 2016.
The Garden City Mosque, the
only Mosque in the Toowoomba
region for over 2000
Muslims, has received
unconditional approval for
its development plan from
the TRC to rebuild the
Mosque that was burned by an
arson attack in April 2015.
The Islamic Society of
Toowoomba is preparing to
receive the Operational Work
Permit from the TRC to start
the rebuilding work, and
"request all Muslims to make
duwa, and support the
upcoming fundraising appeal
to be launched in the near
future."
In the segment above by Today
Tonight Adelaide, two
“Imams”, are used as
representatives of the
Muslim community to make
shocking allegations against
the Muslim community.
One of the “Imam’s” used in
the segment, Mr. Mohammed
Tawhidi made the outrageous
claim that Muslims in
Australia are planning to
create an Islamic State
within Australia. Despite
providing no proof for such
a claim, his interview was
aired to audiences around
the country and went viral
over social media.
Little is known about Mr
Tawhidi, who claims to be a
“Muslim leader” in South
Australia. His centre named
the “Islamic Association of
South Australia” was only
set up last year and there
is little to no information
available about the centre
and its attendees.
When One Path Network
approached the Australian
National Imams Council, ANIC,
for comment on the above
individual, they stated that
Mr Tawhidi was “not
recognised as an Imam,
Sheikh or Muslim leader”.
ANIC is the official
representative body of all
Imams across Australia and
has over 250 members.
The Imams Council of South
Australia was also
approached for a public
comment and they too stated
that ” he was not
recognised” and “not part of
the Islamic leadership in
South Australia”.
The other “Imam” used in the
segment is known as Mustafa
Rashed, and is a known
imposter and fraud. He has
previously claimed to be the
Mufti of Australia, and was
exposed by ANIC in 2014 for
his fraudulent remarks. He
has no known credentials in
Islamic Studies and neither
does he have a centre in
Australia or a following.
We encourage all Australians
to always fact-check their
information about Islam,
especially in this crucial
time, where there are many
fraudulent actors in society
openly willing to damage the
public perception of Islam
and Muslims.
Islamic leaders kicked out
of their positions on a
powerful national body have
won back control from
opponents who seized
headquarters and bank
accounts in a "coup" last
month.
Court victory: Keysar Trad
has been reinstalled as
president of Australian
Federation of Islamic Councils
by a court ruling.
The NSW Supreme Court on
Friday reinstalled executive
members of the Australian
Federation of Islamic
Councils so long as they
call fresh elections as soon
as possible.
The interim ruling follows
weeks of turmoil in the
federation, which runs six
Islamic schools, administers
halal certification and owns
$65 million in assets.
On February 11, a group of
former members, some of whom
were banned or sacked for
maladministration, convened
a meeting and installed
themselves as the executive
committee.
The old executive, arguing
that meeting was invalid
under federation rules, took
nine members of the new
guard to court.
"This really is a circus
coming in, taking control by
force and seeking to
leverage that [to obtain] a
tactical advantage they were
never entitled to," counsel
for the plaintiffs, Mark
Ashurst, SC, said.
Hafez Kassem said he was
returning to the role of
president even though Keysar
Trad was elected unopposed to
the role last August.
The new executive changed
the locks at the
federation's Zetland
offices, resumed control of
halal certification moneys
and opened bank accounts.
Mohammed El-Mouelhy, who
pursued anti-halal activist
Kirralie Smith for
defamation until the case
was settled last week, was
installed as treasurer.
Agim Garana, previously
banned from the organisation
and sacked from an Islamic
school over financial
impropriety, became general
manager.
And Hafez Kassem said he was
returning to the role of
president after taking
leave, even though Keysar
Trad was elected unopposed
to the role last August.
The new leadership passed
motions declaring no
confidence in Mr Trad and
others.
Agim Garana, who had been
installed as the Australian
Federation of Islamic Councils'
general manager following the
"coup".
Anthony Cheshire, SC,
appearing for several
defendants, said the
plaintiffs' case was weak
and his clients should
remain in charge, either on
their own or as part of a
composite executive.
But Justice Robert McDougall
found the plaintiffs' case
strong and criticised the
other side for choosing a
"self-help" remedy by taking
over the offices and bank
accounts.
"They should have come to
court," he said.
The judge also noted that
return of control to the
plaintiffs might assist the
federation in finalising an
audit of 3˝ years of
financial reports, due this
month.
Justice McDougall
previously labelled the
parties' internal
bickering as an
"absolutely appalling"
preoccupation.
"It seems to me that
there are far more
important things that
AFIC can be focusing on,
one of which is the
rise, fuelled by
populist politics and
government policies, of
anti-Muslim sentiment in
this country," he said.
The court ruling was a
victory for Mr Trad, who was
recently criticised for
remarks in a television
interview in which he
appeared to defend domestic
violence as "a last resort".
He later apologised for the
"clumsiness" of those
remarks, saying "it is never
OK to hit a woman".
Outside court on Friday, Mr
Trad said: "His honour's
decision shows people should
respect the rule of law and
should not take matters into
their own hands."
Mr Garana and Mr El-Mouelhy,
also present in court,
declined to comment.
How to save AFIC from
self-destruction
by Professor Shahjahan Khan
The Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils (AFIC), the
peak body of all Muslims in
Australia, is in its deepest
crisis since it came into
existence as AFIS in 1963
and later restructured as
AFIC in 1976.
Actually, it is at the verge
of collapse, if not demise,
due to the total failure of
its recent leaders, to
manage AFIC as the national
umbrella organisation of
Australian Muslims and its
once glorious Islamic
schools. The ongoing
infighting among its leaders
is leading to numerous
costly legal battles.
Unprecedented lack of trust
among the members and
leaders of AFIC and
universal despair in the
Muslim community are some of
the worst makings of its
recent leaders.
Incompetency of the leaders,
irregularities in the
system, allegation of
self-interest, corruption
and nepotism, failure to
comply with government
requirements in the schools,
nonadherence to its
constitution, and rampant
removal of executive
committee members and
inappropriate appointments
and reappointments have
taken a huge toll on the
operation, management and
reputation of AFIC.
AFIC has lost all
credibility both within the
Muslim community and at all
levels of government. AFIC
cannot regain its lost glory
and reputation with the
current team of incapable
leaders with failed track
record.
They had lots of time to
reform AFIC, but they had
only caused further damage
to AFIC and its schools over
the years by deliberately
stopping the reform process.
They are the ones
responsible for the failure
of AFIC and now it is time
for them to go.
Who would have thought that
the immediate past President
of AFIC, who was forced to
resign from his position
last year, would forcefully
occupy AFIC office in the
darkness of night by
breaking the locks, only to
remove another President,
who claims to have been
appointed by his
predecessor?
I believe AFIC has not
failed as yet, but its
current leaders have totally
failed. AFIC can be reformed
and its glory could be
revived through new and
capable leaders having no
link with those who are
behind its current mess and
destruction.
There are still good
qualified people among the
grass root ranks of members
of AFIC who have been
unsuccessfully trying hard
to reform AFIC, and are
still willing to undertake
the task if given the
opportunity.
Unfortunately, the current
leaders of AFIC with vested
interest have, so far,
successfully prevented them
to take the reform agenda
any further.
Some members of AFIC
perceived its problems years
ago and alerted the leaders
repeatedly in the Annual
Congresses and attempted to
reform AFIC through
reviewing its old and out of
date Constitution.
To my knowledge three such
initiatives led to the
formation of AFIC
Constitution Review
Committee (CRC) in its
Federal Congresses during
the last 7 years. No
surprisingly, none of these
Committees were allowed to
work under different excuses
by the leaders who are
determined to keep their
control over AFIC no matter
what.
Although, I have been
involved in moving motions
to set up those Committees,
I did not want to be a part
of it except for the last
one established in the 50th
Congress of AFIC held in
Canberra to make sure that
the much needed review is
completed.
Once again, AFIC leaders
cancelled the third Review
Committee in the pretext of
‘politics’ even though the
then General Secretary of
AFIC was the head of the
committee.
During this Congress, I
moved a motion to set up
AFIC Constitution Review
Committee. There was a long
debate between the then
President of “Muslims NSW”
and me. At the end all
delegates supported the
motion, except one who voted
against the motion.
President of AFIC was not
happy, he raised the issue
cost, and asked the 9 State
Council Presidents if they
supported the motion, hoping
that they would oppose it.
Interestingly, every State
Council President supported
the motion.
The Committee started its
preliminary work and made
significant progress within
a short time, but AFIC
leaders declared the
Committee invalid as there
was an alleged
‘unauthorised’ delegate in
the Congress.
Thus, AFIC President
disbanded one of the most
important committees of AFIC
in its history having no
regards to the Congress
decision at all. If this
third CRC was allowed to
work, many believe, AFIC
would not be in this crisis
now.
No amount of changes in the
Executive Committee of AFIC
including recycling through
musical chairs of rampant
appointment, sacking and
re-appointment from the same
cohort by the same leaders
would be acceptable to the
community, government and
its members if the recent
AFIC leaders and those
associated with them are in
control of AFIC.
The whole group of old
guards must go to give AFIC
a real chance to survive and
regain its lost glory.
Attempts to proscription of
members who speak out
against the wrong doings,
intimidation against those
who try to reform AFIC, and
threat of expulsion of
Councils and Societies for
not supporting the failed
leaders would serve no
purpose rather than
inflicting further division
and disunity among the AFIC
members, and potentially
wasting more AFIC money in
the court proceedings.
As part of the cleaning of
AFIC there should be a
‘white paper’ containing the
true and factual state of
AFIC including its schools,
admin system, halal
operations, bank accounts,
and properties.
Then all the organs of AFIC
should be reformed to meet
the professional and Islamic
standards so that there is
no room for nepotism,
conflict of interest,
financial gain, and full
compliance of government
regulations with
transparency and
accountability.
One of the key problems with
AFIC is its election system
in which only 10 State
Council Presidents and AFIC
President vote for the
election of the AFIC
Executive Committee (EC).
This is where the numbers
game and manipulation start
to keep the control of AFIC
positions.
I have suggested time and
again to introduce voting of
nearly 90 member Societies
for the election of AFIC
leadership positions in
order to stop the
manipulation.
The provision of re-election
on the EC is another
problem. The current leaders
always try to favour the
Council Presidents that are
on their side and disfavour
or sack those who are not.
My suggestion was to abolish
re-election.
Many years ago, I suggested
to separate AFIC school
business from AFIC as a
community organisation, but
the leaders did not pay any
attention. If this was done
then most likely AFIC would
not lose its hard-built
Schools.
Another suggestion was to
run AFIC businesses
including Halal
certification with employed
specialists so that AFIC EC
could effectively engage
with the community matters
and protect the interest of
the Ummah, rather than
preoccupied with its
businesses.
Australian Muslims, like
rest of other fellow
Australians, are hardworking
and deserve respect to live
with dignity. We have no
right to put them down by
failing to stand for them,
and misrepresenting them at
this difficult time locally
and globally.
All recent leaders of AFIC
should agree to retire and
hand over AFIC to a team of
sincere members who have the
qualification, skill, track
record and community trust
and respect to create a
better inclusive and
respectful AFIC to serve the
Australian Muslim community.
It would be foolish to
believe that people who have
destroyed AFIC could fix it
regardless of the level of
renewed rhetoric and
promises.
Grass root members of the
Muslim community, especially
the younger generation need
to demand and proactively
work out a roadmap to not
only save but rebuild
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils (AFIC), the
umbrella body of Muslim
Australians.
The theme of the second part
in the series is: Women
In Islam - Is it really a
misogynistic religion?
More about the Community
Discussion Series:
The ICQ community
discussion series is an
volunteer initiative
being launched to
facilitate and promote
discussion between
Muslim and Non-Muslim
Australians on a
community level. In an
environment of fear,
hostility and
misinformation, ICQ
believes grass-root
community engagement is
vital for members of
different cultural,
faith and ethnic groups
to discuss differences
and build understanding.
Each event will focus on
an important and
controversial issue
relevant to Australian
Muslims; Our aim is to
generate discussion and
a sharing of experiences
between people of
radically different
backgrounds, faith
groups, cultures and
nationalities in a
respectful manner.
Disagreement is not only
tolerated but encouraged
as it is through diverse
perspectives that our
society can become
stronger.
Sunday, March 26 at 6:30 PM
- 8:30 PM Islamic College Of
Brisbane
Yassmin Abdel-Magied with her
book “Yassmin’s Story”
Fresh from her highly
publicised debate with
Jacqui Lambie on ABC’s Q&A,
inspirational community
activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied,
made her way south to share
her thoughts with Canberra’s
community.
Yassmin, 26 is an Australian
Muslim engineer of
Sudanese-Egyptian background
and an author, TV and radio
presenter and a community
activist on multiculturalism
promoting diversity and
inclusion in society.
As part of the YWCA She
Leads In-Conversation
series, Ms Abdel-Magied was
the focus of the
question/answer/discussion
event held at the University
of Canberra’s Ann Harding
Centre on 22 February.
Facilitated by Dr Alice
Williamson, co-host of the
ABC podcast, Dear Science,
the discussion covered a
range of subjects, which
included questions from the
audience.
Asked about her view about
how to address bias, Yassmin
drew parallels in her own
industry with how work,
health and safety has over
time been culturally
ingrained in the workforce
and the same cultural change
needs to occur from the top
down with regards to
discrimination and bias.
Yassmin also made the point
about intersectional bias,
that is when more than one
aspect of your life affected
by discrimination, for, as
an example, a black woman,
and how it isn’t enough to
address one type of bias at
a time but all bias in
parallel.
On paying respect to the
Ngunawal people, she said,
“We always pay respect to
the custodians of the land
but . . . think of every
great civilisation you have
ever heard of – the Aztecs,
the Greeks . . . the First
Nation of this land are all
older than them . . . and
that’s something we should
really be proud of and
appreciate.”
On why she chose to be an
engineer, she answered,
“Making things and designing
solutions to problems and
having a tangible thing at
the end of the day is so
satisfying.”
She constantly referred to
her own parents for
inspiring her and also
supporting her through some
of the recent tough times.
On working on an offshore
rig as a woman, she said, “I
thought it was something I
would do for just a little
while . . . initially I saw
it as an adventure . . .
different rules operate on
rig life. Half the time its
figuring it out as literally
there is no other woman
around.”
On her ability to
communicate across different
groups, she explained, “The
one things that is universal
. . . is the power of the
story. By making it
individual . . . to broaden
your ingroup is through
empathy. Empathy is through
human connections,
friendship, getting to know
each other beyond the
surface as human beings.”
During the event in Canberra
Yassmin gave away signed
copies of her book Yassmin’s
Story, Who Do You Think I
Am, her account of different
perspectives about growing
up in Australia.
QUEENSLAND
MP Bob Katter has been
shouted down in Question
Time to cries of ‘shame’
after calling on the
government to introduce a
Trump-style travel ban in
the wake of the arrest of a
NSW man on ‘terrorism
offences’ yesterday.
Mr
Katter also cited comments
from the President of the
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils condoning
domestic violence as a ‘last
resort’ while calling for a
ban.
“Will the minister listen to
his own backbench and the
United States and ban visas
from North Africa and the
countries between Greece and
India, exempting of course
persecuted minorities,
namely Sikhs, Jews and
Christians?” Mr Katter
asked.
Labor MPs shouted ‘shame’ as
he finished the question.
Immigration Minister Peter
Dutton responded he could
not comment on the Young
case but said the majority
of Australia’s Islamic
community were hard working
people ‘doing the right
thing’.
“Where the 1 per cent are
doing the wrong thing or
people who would seek to do
harm to our country, we will
come down on them hard,” Mr
Dutton said.
“We have done that in the
past and will continue to do
that into the future.
We are working with
intelligence agencies and
Governments around the world
to make sure we can identify
threats here and overseas
and we will stamp out ISIL,
we will stamp out those
people that would seek to do
us harm.
“We won’t change our
migration program because we
have one of the best border
protection systems in the
world. It has been
acknowledged by many
countries. We have dealt
with threats as they present
at our border. We have
stopped boats and we have
stopped threats at our
border. We won’t step back
from the tough decisions we
have made because they are
in our national interest.”
Kirralie Smith speaks at a Q
Society fundraiser for her legal
battle on February 9
A Supreme Court defamation
case brought by halal
certifier Mohamed El-Mouelhy
against the far-right Q
Society has been settled out
of court, with the
organisation, its board
members and politician
Kirralie Smith making an
apology.
Mr El-Mouelhy, chairman of
the Halal Certification
Authority, brought
defamation action against
the Q Society and Ms Smith
in early 2015, over two
YouTube videos she presented
on halal certification.
Ms Smith, who was a senate
candidate for the Australian
Liberty Alliance at the last
federal election, is the
face of the anti-halal
campaign "Halal Choices".
Mr El-Mouelhy alleged the
videos - both of which named
him - portrayed him as "part
of a conspiracy to destroy
Western civilisation from
within".
The matter was set to be
heard in the Supreme Court
in March.
However, the parties had a
lengthy meeting on Monday
where they decided to
settle. This was announced
to the media by the Halal
Certification Authority on
Monday night.
The settlement document was
signed by Mr El-Mouelhy, Ms
Smith, the Q Society, and
its board members Debbie
Robinson, Peter Callaghan
and Ralf Schumann.
In the settlement, the
parties say they had no
intention to defame each
other.
"Today the parties in these
proceedings have settled
their legal dispute and
intend to move forward
without engaging in further
disputation," the settlement
says.
"None of the parties, in
expressing their views, had
any intention to defame the
other and each regrets that
occurring.
"Mr El-Mouelhy has lived in
Australia since 1975 and
became an Australia citizen
in 1981. He is a frequent
and substantial contributor
to Muslim and non-Muslim
charities, including
donations to specific
projects for the protection
of the poor and
disadvantaged.
"The Q Society, its board
members and Kirralie Smith
did not intend to suggest
that the profits of Mr El-Mouelhy's
halal certification business
were in any way improperly
used. The Q Society, its
board members and Kirralie
Smith apologise to Mr El-Mouelhy
for the hurt caused to him
as a result of the
publications, the subject of
the proceedings.
"In light of the above
apology Mr El-Mouelhy
withdraws the comments he
made about the Q Society,
its board members and
Kirralie Smith in response
to their publications."
Contacted by Fairfax Media
on Monday evening, Ms Smith
confirmed the matter had
settled. She was unable to
provide further comment.
Mr El-Mouelhy said now the
legal action was over, it
was time to focus on the
heart of the matter - that
halal certification is a
reputable process which
creates jobs in Australia.
"This is the past now, I
have forgiven them, and they
will have to put that
[settlement] notice on their
websites and Facebook pages
for a whole year in a
prominent place," Mr El-Mouelhy
said.
"Let's talk about the issue,
why we're there in the first
place. Giving money to
terrorists? We've never
given money to terrorists.
We're watched like hawks by
the police, by ASIO. They
see every financial thing
that is going out of the
country.
"I personally didn't want to
settle. I wanted to go to
the nth degree. If you read
the page, they have
apologised. I didn't
apologise for anything."
The Q Society held
controversial $150-a-head
fundraisers - one in Sydney
and one in Melbourne -
earlier this month to raise
money for the legal battle.
Outgoing Australia Post
managing director Ahmed
Fahour has lashed out at One
Nation leader Pauline Hanson
for her "ill-informed" and
"hurtful" comments about his
Islamic faith at his final
appearance before Senate
estimates hearings.
Mr Fahour and Australia Post
chairman John Stanhope
fielded many questions on
Tuesday about Mr Fahour's
controversial $5.6 million
salary and why Australia
Post tried to keep it
secret.
Senator Hanson was one of
the loudest critics of Mr
Fahour's salary and reacted
gleefully to his
announcement last week that
he would resign, saying the
news was "fantastic".
"I'm still on the floor of
Parliament, you're
unemployed, let's hope
you're not going to get in
the queues for employment,"
she said in a Facebook
message.
Ms Hanson later said: "I do
have a problem with his
religion if he's actually a
fundamentalist and follows
the Koran to the letter,
which I think denigrates
women."
Under questioning from
Greens leader Richard Di
Natale, Mr Fahour said
Senator Hanson's comments
were "ill-informed" and that
his faith was a private
matter.
"I felt really sad for the
Senator that she would
descend to that level of
commentary," he said.
Mr Fahour, who was born in
Lebanon, said her comments
were "quite hurtful" to his
wife and four children.
"We came here legitimately,
we assimilated, and we love
being in this country," he
said.
"I love this country so
much.
"I feel sorry for Senator
Hanson that she feels the
need to say those things
about someone whose 100 per
cent objective is to do the
right thing for the country
. . . It's with a very heavy
heart I hear those comments
and think how sad it is."
Mr Fahour contrasted Senator
Hanson with the other "honorable,
decent and caring" senators
from all parties who had
questioned him over the
years at Senate hearings.
Neither Ms Hanson nor any
other One Nation senators
have attended Tuesday's
hearings to ask questions of
Mr Fahour.
When announcing his
resignation last week, Mr
Fahour took a swipe at
Senator Hanson by saying
Australia Post was a
considerably more complex
business to run than a fish
and chip shop.
This week the Committee set
up to water down race hate
speech has found no basis to
recommend any changes to
Section 18C of the Racial
Discrimination Act.
Conservatives had hoped to
wind back the Racial
Discrimination Act.
Australia's conservative
politicians and commentators
have been obsessed with
section 18c of the Racial
Discrimination Act for
months now, which makes it
an offence to do something
which could "offend, insult,
humiliate or intimidate"
someone based on their
"race, colour or national or
ethnic origin" (for more
explanation, see this clear
and simple guide).
Criticisms of the provision
include that it could stifle
free speech.
The campaign kicked into
high gear after the case of
Queensland university
students who were accused of
discrimination by a
university staff member
after allegedly making
comments about an
indigenous-only computer
lab. That case was
eventually thrown out of
court, but other cases such
as against controversial
cartoonist Bill Leak, and a
concerted campaign by
conservative newspapers and
television programs, ensured
the 18c issue stayed in the
headlines.
Despite the enormous
campaign, it was revealed on
Tuesday that just 71
complaints under 18c were
made in the last year --
just over one per week.
A parliamentary committee of
13 MPs and senators have
been examining freedom of
speech in Australia since
late last year, including
whether the Racial
Discrimination Act " imposes
unreasonable restrictions
upon freedom of speech, and
in particular whether, and
if so how, [sections] 18C
and 18D should be reformed."
On Tuesday, the report was
released in parliament, and
to the disappointment of
conservatives, there was not
an explicit call to reform
or abolish 18c.
Instead, the committee
merely said it had "received
evidence about a number of
proposals" and listed a
"range of proposals that had
the support of at least one
member of the committee",
the first of which was "no
change" to 18c.
Is Australia Racist? Man has
outburst at women wearing a
niqab. #FU2Racism
"Where's your f---ing face?
What are you hiding from?
........
These questions were among
the abuse caught on shocking
hidden-camera footage of a
random hate-filled attack on
a young Muslim woman by
herself in a shopping
centre.
A 50-something white male is
seen launching into an angry
tirade of abuse against the
woman, in a prime example of
the extent of the bigotry
and hate endured by the
Muslim community on a daily
basis.
Research has found that a
staggering 77 per cent of
Muslim women in Australia
have experienced racism on
public transport or in the
street.
The hidden-camera footage is
one of many incidents
featured in Is Australia
Racist?, which aired Sunday
night and is an hour-long
documentary exposing the
random, everyday bigotry and
racism endured by ethnic
groups across the nation.
The documentary kicks off
SBS's Face Up To Racism
week, which features a
series of special
programming putting the
spotlight on prejudice in
Australia today.
The woman in this incident
is targeted because she's
wearing a niqab – a veil
which covers the head and
face but not the eyes – in
an attack triggered only by
the fact she had the
misfortune to happen to
cross paths with the abusive
man.
Unbeknown to her abuser,
however, she's a volunteer
for the documentary, which
follows a number of people
of different ethnicities
with hidden cameras to
reveal the ugly truth of
racism on the streets.
It's the experience of the
Muslim woman, Afghan refugee
Rahila Haidary, that is the
most shocking example in the
program and a blunt insight
into the vitriolic levels of
Islamophobia in current
society.
The man is seen approaching
Haidary, telling her,
"You're in my face like
that", before launching into
an intimidating attack.
"You're in our country
because we helped save you
from where you came from,
from where you've been
persecuted and you wear
things like that," he
shouts.
She responds by asking what
should she do, to which he
says she should dress like
other Australians and become
part of the culture.
She asks how Australians
dress, to which the man
explodes with rage at his
lone, diminutive female
target.
"They dress with a f---ing
face," he says,
gesticulating angrily.
"Where's your f---ing face?
What are you hiding from?
.......?"
It's a confronting scene as
the man, who is much taller
than Haidary, continues his
verbal abuse.
"Your f---ing ........?
You know ........," he
tells her.
It's at this point that two
women passers-by stop and
realise what's happening and
start to move in to
intervene. The man storms
off, adding "f--- off"as he
goes.
The whole incident is little
more than 40 seconds but its
impact highlights the damage
that can be done in just a
matter of moments.
Haidary, who doesn't usually
wear a niqab, is visibly
shaken by the experience.
"It's shocking to see that
sort of hate," she says. "I
can't imagine how those
women who dress up like that
would get along every day."
It is clear the man did not
know he was being filmed.
Legally, it's permitted to
film people without their
permission provided it's in
a public space where there
is no reasonable expectation
of privacy.
An SBS spokesman said: "All
filming featured in Is
Australia Racist? was
captured in public spaces
and all relevant filming
laws have been adhered to,
along with SBS's own Codes
of Practice, in the making
of the documentary.
"The program shines a light
on racism and prejudice in
Australia today through a
series of social experiments
capturing racism and the
reactions of people
witnessing it, through the
eyes of those who experience
it."
Out of all the poisonous
threads of racism featured
in the program, Islamophobia
appears to be top of the
list in current times. The
program notes that in 1998,
3 per cent of the population
had negative views towards
Muslims, now that proportion
is 32 per cent.
Worse, as seen in the
on-screen incident, the
bullying targets women, with
77 per cent of Muslim women
in Australia experiencing
bigotry in a public place.
The program, presented by
Ray Martin, is centred
around a survey on racism
and prejudice undertaken by
SBS and Western Sydney
University.
Of the 6000 people
questioned, it found that
one in five people have
experienced racism in the
past 12 months, with 35 per
cent of those surveyed
saying they had experienced
racism on public transport
or on the street.
There are glimmers of hope,
however. On many occasions,
the hidden footage shows
bystanders instinctively
intervening when volunteers
are targeted in hate
attacks.
There's also evidence that
the younger generation have
much greater support for
cultural diversity.
"There are things to be
done," says Martin at the
show's conclusion. "But it's
not all gloomy."
The Face Up To Racism Week
continues on SBS until March
5.
In a survey conducted in
late 2015 and early 2016,
Riaz Hassan, Emeritus
Professor at Flinders
University and Director for
International Centre for
Muslim and non-Muslim
Understanding, University of
South Australia, used a
battery of questions to
ascertain Australians’
attitudes towards Muslims
and Islam.
It is the first study that
explored the
multidimensionality of
Islamophobia in Australia.
The resulting nuanced and
comprehensive profile of
Islamophobia in Australia
actually showed few
Australians are truly afraid
of those of Muslim faith.
What is Islamophobia?
A 1997 report described
Islamophobia as a shorthand
way of referring to dread or
hatred of Islam and
unfounded prejudice and
hostility towards Islam and
Muslims. This included
practical consequences of
hostility such as
discrimination and exclusion
of Muslims from mainstream
political and social
affairs.
In 2011, influential
political scientist Erik
Bleich defined Islamophobia
as “indiscriminate negative
attitudes or emotions
directed at Islam or
Muslims”.
Indiscriminate and negative
attitudes and emotions
encompass a wide range. This
includes aversion, jealousy,
suspicion, disdain, anxiety,
rejection, contempt, fear,
disgust, anger and
hostility. They also cover
the “phobic” dimension,
which implies a persistent
and irrational fear of a
specific object, activity or
situation which is excessive
and unreasonable.
Multidimensionality makes
Islamophobia a graded
phenomenon with levels
ranging low to high.
Islamophobia scales have
been developed to measure
its prevalence in society.
How Islamophobic are
Australians?
The scale we used to measure
Islamophobia consisted of
seven statements. These
were:
Just to be safe it is
important to stay away
from places where
Muslims could be.
I would feel comfortable
speaking with a Muslim.
I would support any
policy that will stop
the building of a new
mosque.
If I could, I would
avoid contact with
Muslims.
I would live in a place
where there are Muslims.
Muslims should be
allowed to work in
places where many
Australians gather such
as airports.
If possible, I would
avoid going to places
where Muslims would be.
A compelling photo series
that explores the Muslim
faith in Indigenous
Australia, visually breaking
down preconceived ideas and
showing a rich and diverse
section of Australian
culture
The National Census reported
that 1,140 Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander
Australians identify as
Muslim. This figure has
grown significantly in the
last 15 years, almost
doubling that of what was
recorded in 2001. While
Muslim conversion and
identification is growing in
Indigenous communities,
there is already a long
standing history with Islam.
Dating as far back as the
early 1700s, influences came
from Asian neighbours who
worked, traded and
socialised with First
Nations’ people; Afghan and
Indian cameleers in Central
Australia, Malay pearl
divers in the Torres Strait
and Cape York Peninsula, and
Indonesian fisherman in the
Top End.
More recently, Indigenous
people have become drawn to
Islam independently,
interested in its guiding
principles, spiritual
beliefs and the cultural
parallels between the faith
and traditional Aboriginal
culture. However, each
journey is as diverse as the
people themselves.
In an 2012 interview boxing
great, Anthony Mundine was
asked about the portrayal of
him in the media, to which
he replied, “I’m three
things that you shouldn’t be
in this society, and that’s
Muslim, Aboriginal and
outspoken.”
Reflecting on Mundine’s
powerful words and the
preconceptions of minority
groups, we consider national
identity. NITV would like to
thank the participants,
those who are who are
dedicated to their faith and
simultaneously committed to
keeping culture strong, for
inviting us into their homes
and sharing their stories
with us.
Shaymaa, a
Noongar woman, is a decedent of
the camaleers, with her mother’s
family name being ‘Abdullah’.
Shaymaa began her journey with
Islam before researching her
family history, having many
close Muslim friends and being
drawn to its values and the
supportive Islamic community
around her.
With 11 February declared
the international day for
women in science, its a
chance to celebrate the
contributions of Muslim
scientists.
Prophet Muhammed (peace be
upon him) has said: “Seeking
knowledge is a mandate for
every Muslim (male and
female).”
These women have embodied
this and shown the world
what it means to be an
active achiever and mover of
the world in which we live.
CCN brings you one of these
scientists each week from
different parts of the
world.
Iran: Anousheh Ansari
Ansari immigrated to
the US as a
teenager; she
immersed herself in
education, earning a
BSc in Electronics
and Computer
Engineering from
George Mason
University, followed
by a Master’s degree
in Electrical
Engineering from
George Washington
University. She
captured headlines
on 18th September
2006 for being the
first female private
space explorer. She
also earned a place
in history as the
fourth private
explorer to visit
space and the first
astronaut of Iranian
descent.
“I hope to inspire
everyone—especially
young people, women,
and young girls all
over the world, and
in Middle Eastern
countries that do
not provide women
with the same
opportunities as
men—to not give up
their dreams and to
pursue them. It may
seem impossible to
them at times. But I
believe they can
realize their dreams
if they keep it in
their hearts,
nurture it, and look
for opportunities
and make those
opportunities
happen. Looking back
at my life, I’m
hoping that I could
give them a positive
example how that
could happen.”
We can all agree that 2016
was a tough year, but these
Muslim men made it a little
bit better. We compiled a
list of the individuals that
inspired us this year.
Hamdi
Ulukaya
Hamdi Ulukaya is a
businessman who founded
Chobani, the number one
selling strained Greek-style
yoghurt in the United
States. He took a risk in
purchasing an outdated
yoghurt factory in upstate
New York in 2005, a region
that was renowned for its
dairy industry. With no
prior experience in the
business, he has created a
yoghurt empire, with
factories in several states.
It was valued at $1 billion
in annual sales in less than
five years after its launch.
In 2016, Ulukaya announced
that he would be giving 10%
shares of the company to his
employees.
Tariq Ramadan:
‘I really think
that as a
Muslim, when I
see things that
are done in my
name, as in
Saudi Arabia, I
have to speak
out.’
Tariq
Ramadan:
‘Muslims need to
reform their
minds’
The academic
believes Islam
and the west
shouldn’t be at
odds, but was
banned from the
US and slated in
the Sun. Isis
hates him, too –
so why is he
still dogged by
controversy?
Tariq Ramadan
knows all about
travel bans.
After all, he
was never meant
to end up here,
in a pebbledash
semi in
north-west
London. In 2004,
he was on his
way to the US,
having been
offered the role
of professor of
Islamic studies
at the
University of
Notre Dame, in
Indiana.
Suddenly, nine
days before his
flight, a house
already rented,
kids enrolled in
school, his visa
was revoked.
The reasons
given were vague
at first, but
eventually came
down to the fact
he supported a
charity the Bush
administration
labelled a
fundraiser for
Hamas. They
argued Ramadan
should have
known about the
links. How could
he, he said,
when the
donations were
made before the
blacklisting –
in other words,
before the US
government
itself knew? He
believes,
instead, that he
was singled out
for his
opposition to
the war in Iraq.
In 2010, Hillary
Clinton, as
secretary of
state, revoked
the revocation,
but by that
time, Ramadan
had been
embraced by St
Antony’s
College, Oxford.
Ramadan has no
regrets. “I’m
very happy that
they prevented
me from going.
I’m much better
off here,” he
says, in gently
accented English
(he grew up in
Geneva, speaking
French and
Arabic).
Commuting to
Oxford, he has
made Metroland
his home. In the
States, he says,
“I don’t think
it’s a political
atmosphere where
you are free to
speak. People
are scared.”
It’s probably
just as well he
feels that way:
the Trump
administration
won’t be rolling
out the welcome
mat. As well as
its plans for a
new executive
order designed
to prevent
millions of
Muslims from
entering the
country, it’s
considering
designating the
Muslim
Brotherhood a
terrorist
organisation.
That poses a
problem for
Ramadan, as it
was his
grandfather,
Hassan al-Banna,
who founded the
movement.
This family
connection has
given rise to a
lot of innuendo
over the years.
Some of his
detractors
believe that
Ramadan himself
is a walking
Brotherhood
front:
smooth-talking,
but with a
forked tongue.
His calls for
peace and
dialogue
apparently mask
a secret agenda
to Islamise
Europe. I can’t
find any reason
to disbelieve
Ramadan when he
says he’s not a
member of the
organisation. He
has been open in
books and talks
about his
approach – to
remain faithful
to the tenets of
Islam, but
resolutely to
participate in
western society
– and it seems
unnecessary to
invoke a shadowy
puppet-master.
The Giardian
The Five Ways
Donald Trump Is
Wrong About
Islam The White
House’s approach
to the world’s
second largest
religion isn’t
just bigoted –
it’s a strategic
disaster. BY
STEPHEN M. WALT
As a public
service,
therefore, I
offer the Top
Five Reasons
Steve Bannon is
Dead Wrong About
the “Islamic
Threat.”
2. Islam Is,
in Fact, Deeply
Divided.
From time
immemorial,
threat inflators
like Bannon &
Co. have
portrayed
adversaries as
part of some
grand unified
coalition.
Remember the
“communist
monolith” or the
“axis of evil?”
Today,
fearmongers use
phrases like
“Islamofascism”
or “radical
Islam” to imply
that our enemies
form a tightly
integrated and
centrally
directed
movement working
tirelessly to
bring us to our
knees.
But in reality,
the Islamic
world is more
disunited today
than at any time
in recent
memory. It is
divided among
many different
states, of
course, and many
of those states
(e.g., Iran and
Saudi Arabia, or
Turkey and
Syria) don’t get
along. There are
vast geographic
and cultural
differences
between
Indonesia and
countries like
Yemen or Morocco
or Saudi Arabia.
There’s also the
core division
between the
Sunnis and the
Shiites, not to
mention a number
of other minor
schisms between
various Islamic
offshoots. And
let’s not forget
the
sometimes-bitter
rivalries within
the jihadi
movement itself,
both across the
globe and within
particular
countries. Just
look at all the
radical groups
who hate the
Islamic State,
and all the
jihadis whom the
Islamic State
regards as
heretics because
they don’t
embrace its full
ideology.
These divisions
do not mean
extremists pose
no danger at
all, of course,
but Bannon’s
specter of a
rising Islamic
tide that
threatens to
overwhelm us is
pure fantasy.
Instead of
treating all of
Islam as a
threat — which
might eventually
unite more of
them against us
— the smart move
is to play
“divide-and-conquer.”
But that means
recognizing that
the danger we
face is not a
hostile
“civilization”
or an entire
religion, but
rather just a
small number of
extremists who
are
unrepresentative
of the larger
cultural
category (and
opposed by most
of it). To beat
them, we want
the rest of the
Muslim world on
our side.
NEXT WEEK IN
CCN: 3:
Terrorism Is
Just Not That
Big a Threat.
Really.
Susan Carland is
a lecturer and
deputy director
of the National
Centre for
Australian
Studies, Monash
University. Her
book Fighting
Hislam will be
published in
May.
Julie
Zemiro's Home
Delivery
ABC,
Wednesday 8 Mar
2017, 8:01pm
Julia Zemiro
travels around
Australia to
take some of her
favourite people
down memory
lane. Julia is
joined on the
road this week
by academic and
media
commentator
Susan Carland to
coincide with
International
Women's Day.
Yassmin
Abdel-Magied and
the Australian
crucible
By Susan Carland
The most
horrifying test
for witches
during the
Middle Ages was
the swimming
trials. Women
were tied up and
thrown into
lakes or rivers
by people
believing that
the “sacred
water of
Baptisme”, as
James I of
England wrote in
1597, would
reject them if
they were
practitioners of
the dark arts.
If they floated,
they were found
to be witches
and were
executed. If
they sank, their
innocence was
proved – but
they also
generally
drowned.
While it was
probably
unpopular with
the victims, the
societies
enforcing it
could feel
satisfied that,
no matter the
outcome, their
test rid them of
any individuals
they did not
like or trust,
and did a
brilliant job of
keeping people
in line.
And so it was in
the past two
weeks that a
Salem-esque
furore descended
upon Australia
and surrounded
Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
In The
Australian
alone, there
have been 26
editorials and
opinion pieces,
and four front
pages and
exclusives. As I
write, the
choleric
exchange on
ABC-TV’s Q&A
with Senator
Jacqui Lambie
has led to 10
consecutive days
of coverage.
Every major news
site in the
country, and
some
internationally,
has run at least
one piece on the
unfolding drama
– 184 at last
count.
Yassmin has had
screenshots
taken of her
Facebook
exchanges and
stories written
about them. The
Department of
Foreign Affairs
and Trade (DFAT)
has been forced
to weigh in. A
former prime
minister has
shared his views
and
parliamentary
question time
has debated what
happened.
Petitions with
thousands of
signatures have
circulated in
both support and
condemnation. On
Twitter, the
usual
bottom-dwellers
have fed on the
sludge and
regurgitated
worse of their
own. Even
Solange Knowles,
the American pop
star, has chimed
in.
And to what do
we owe this
reaction? The
scale would
suggest Yassmin
outed herself on
the program as a
paedophile or a
North Korean
spy.
It was nothing
even close to
that.
Yassmin’s crime
was to say that
she found Islam
feminist. She
also said she
believed sharia
taught adherence
to the laws of
the land, that
culture and
faith were often
conflated, that
killing gay
people was
against her
religion, and
that she’d
travelled the
world telling
people how much
she loved
Australia.
The response in
certain parts of
the press was a
frenzied,
paranoid
witch-hunt that
saw culpability
everywhere. When
no evidence of
guilt was
present, it was
created. This
was beyond mere
reporting or
disagreement
with her
opinions. The
Murdoch media in
particular was
out to
annihilate
Yassmin – a
trial by ordeal,
a water test.
During a time of
wars, famines,
terror attacks
and the most
controversial
United States
president in
history, Yassmin
is being treated
by the media
here as Public
Enemy No. 1.
One article on
the front page
of The
Australian was
entirely about a
Facebook
exchange with a
member of Hizb
ut-Tahrir. The
exchange
contained little
more than a
member of Hizb
ut-Tahrir
criticising her
performance on
Q&A, and Yassmin
asking him what
he thought she
could have done
better. This was
published in a
scurrilous
attempt to try
to conflate
Yassmin’s
opinions with
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s,
or present her
as somehow
aligned with
them. Her DFAT
trip around the
Middle East to
promote
Australia’s
culture, and no
doubt present a
modern, feminist
image of a
Muslim woman to
locals in the
region, was
condemned as a
waste of
taxpayers’
money, and
worse.
Such attacks are
initially
confusing –
isn’t this
progressive,
feminist form of
Islam what we
want Muslims in
repressive
countries to be
exposed to? By
any measure,
Yassmin is the
kind of Muslim
that people from
across the
political
spectrum claim
to want in
Australia:
“modern”,
“moderate”,
‘feminist”,
“patriotic”,
“tolerant”,
“liberal”. She’s
a mechanical
engineer and won
Queensland Young
Australian of
the Year. She
sits on the
board of an
anti-family
violence
organisation and
is the gender
ambassador for a
bank, for
goodness sake.
She fits so well
the description
of the kind of
Muslim
Australian
politicians and
the media have
been demanding
for so long it
would be
laughable if she
weren’t so
authentic.
So why the
vicious,
excessive
response?
That she dared
to claim a
personal
coherence
between Islam
and feminism was
the tipping
point. By doing
so, Yassmin
strayed into a
territory
outlets such as
the News Corp
papers would not
concede. Women’s
rights are
theirs, and the
subject has no
place being
bandied about by
uppity Muslim
women. Feminism
is something the
West
beneficently
imposes on
Muslims, never
something that
can be
indigenously
theirs, and
certainly never
in a form that
isn’t Western,
liberal and
secular. To
them, the only
way a Muslim can
be a feminist is
to view Islam
with the same
unwavering
misogyny-goggles
they do.
That many other
male and female
Muslims around
the globe have
made a similar
claim – that
Islam is a
feminist
religion to them
– is either
irrelevant or
unknown to
Yassmin’s
detractors. And
it is convenient
to dismiss all
those Muslims as
confused or
deluded with
references to
the unarguably
appalling
treatment of
Muslim women in
certain
Muslim-majority
countries.
An opportune
argument,
however, is not
always accurate.
The different
treatment of
women in Morocco
or Indonesia –
the latter the
world’s most
populous Muslim
nation –
compared with
that in Saudi
Arabia and Iran,
despite all
these nations
claiming some
degree of
inspiration from
Islamic law,
demonstrates
that the way
sharia is
interpreted and
implemented is
by no means
uniform.
The simplistic
arguments
arrayed against
Yassmin
dangerously
erase all other
political,
cultural and
historical
factors in the
way a country
defines and
applies its laws
to women. Muslim
women around the
world use Islam
to fight the
sexism they
experience, and
have done so
since the
earliest days of
Islam. Records
from more than a
thousand years
ago show Muslim
women
challenging with
men their sexist
treatment, and
using Koranic
verses and
prophetic
statements for
their argument.
This happens to
this day. It is
not new, and it
is not a Western
import. To say
so is not in any
way a denial of
the grim reality
many Muslim
women face –
indeed, it’s an
affirmation. But
that affirmation
includes Muslim
women choosing
different ways
to fight their
oppression. And
some choose
religion as
their tool. This
may be
unpalatable to
some in the
West, but
shockingly
enough for them,
Westerners do
not have the
monopoly on
fighting sexism.
If a Saudi
cleric defines
sharia rulings
relating to
women in one
way, and a
Muslim feminist
theologian with
decades of
scholarship
defines them in
another,
completely
opposite way,
why is the
former given
more authority
in the Western
estimation than
the latter? As
Yassmin tried to
articulate in
the choppy Q&A
bunfight, there
is a woeful lack
of knowledge
about what
sharia actually
is, how it
manifests in a
Muslim’s life,
and how it was
formed and
reformed. And
for all the
non-Muslims
merrily weighing
in about sharia
being imposed in
Australia, there
isn’t much
evidence for
their expertise
or even
rudimentary
knowledge. If
someone cannot
name the five
pillars of Islam
without Googling
it, how much
insight can they
really offer on
what sharia is
and isn’t?
For all the
cries of wanting
“moderate”, as
opposed to
“fundamentalist”
or “radical”,
Muslims to speak
up and dominate
the presentation
and definition
of Islam in
Australia, the
situation of
Yassmin has
shown there are
those in
Australia who
don’t actually
want either type
of Muslim, and
never did. Their
response to
Yassmin – which
isn’t just a
rejection of her
opinions, but a
full-scale
assault on her
existence – is
indicative of
far more than
just their
feelings towards
her. It finally
puts into full
technicolour
display the
truth of their
feelings towards
Muslims: that
the only
acceptable
Muslim is a
non-Muslim.
This is why so
many across the
political
spectrum fall
over themselves
to embrace Ayaan
Hirsi Ali, a
woman who has
called Islam “a
destructive,
nihilistic cult
of death” and
“the new
fascism”, and
has said the
West is “at war
with Islam”. Not
terrorism or
radical Islam –
Islam, period.
Ayaan is an
avowed apostate.
By her own
declaration, she
is not a Muslim.
And yet she is
probably the
most popular
“Muslim” to many
in Australia.
That an
ex-Muslim who
travels the
world telling
people how
dreadful Islam
is can be the
only acceptable
kind of Muslim
reveals exactly
why Yassmin
received the
response she
did.
It doesn’t
matter how
moderate or
modern or
feminist or
liberal or
patriotic one is
– if they are
also proudly
Muslim, they are
a problem. Their
opinions will be
lacerated with
the attention
normally
reserved for
society’s worst.
Their Muslim-ness
is the
insurmountable
problem, so when
they remind us
they genuinely
have an
adherence to
their faith,
especially in
relation to an
area as socially
flammable as
feminism, they
will be turned
on with the
force of a
thousand suns.
The outrageously
disproportionate
treatment of
Yassmin is a
warning to such
people: keep
your head down,
or we will
destroy you.
This is beyond
merely staying
in line. As this
saga has shown
us, the lines
will always be
shifted. The
politics of this
are brutal, the
media’s campaign
unrelenting. A
person’s life is
bludgeoned to
make a point and
the point is
this: you can
speak, but we
will make the
consequences so
pernicious you
will wish you
hadn’t. And we
will make any
who come after
you reconsider
even opening
their mouths.
So often we hear
the same
bleating
refrain, “Where
are the moderate
Muslims?” After
the past
fortnight, the
answer is
apparent.
You just threw
her, and every
other Australian
Muslim, in the
water. Moderate
or
fundamentalist,
sink or float,
the outcome is
the same. And
that was always
the plan.
Beaconsfield
Anglican church welcomes Muslim
community, offers land for
mosque
ABC News
When Imam Faizel Chothia was
looking for a place where local
Muslims could hold a prayer
meeting, St Paul's Anglican
Church in Perth's south, opened
its doors.
Now, the Reverend Humphries has
offered the land next door to
build a mosque.
With his win for
portraying a drug dealer with a
father's heart in "Moonlight,"
Mahershala Ali became the first
Muslim to take home an acting
Oscar. Ali, 43, won in the best
supporting actor category.
He discussed his 1999 conversion
to Islam earlier this year on
the radio show "Fresh Air,"
describing to host Terry Gross
his visit to a Philadelphia
mosque with his future wife.
"And I just had such a strong
reaction to the prayer," he
said. "I felt really grounded at
that time, and so to be in this
prayer and the imam is doing the
prayer in Arabic, and I don't
understand a word of Arabic, but
I just remember these tears just
coming down my face, and it just
really connecting to my spirit."
Ali has roots in multiple
faiths. His mother was a
Pentecostal Christian who gave
him a biblical Hebrew birth
name, Mahershalalhashbaz. He
attended a Catholic college
before converting to Islam.
Tae-Kwon-do Queen
Game On
Fake Trump
video on Kaaba goes viral Arab News
Trump points
out at the 'huge' crowed
that attended his inaugural
ceremony captured in a photo
A fake video of Donald Trump
has gone viral on social
media. The clip shows Trump
admiring a massive
congregation gathered around
Kaaba in Makkah - which has
actually been doctored.
According to the Arab News,
the original picture of the
crowd at Trump's
inauguration has been
doctored in the video -
showing him opining on the
January 20 event. Trump
points out at the 'huge'
crowed that attended his
inaugural ceremony captured
in a photo.
"One thing this shows is how
far over they go here, look
how far this is, it goes all
the way down, all the way
down. Nobody sees that, you
don't see that. but when you
look at this tremendous sea
of life - I call it sea of
love - it's really something
special, that all these
people traveled from all
parts of the country, maybe
the world." Trump can be seen
saying while pointing at the
picture in the video.
Nazeem
Hussain in the Jungle
Should
Lindsay Lohan Be Allowed To
Be Muslim? Russell Brand The
Trews (E408) Russell Brand
In today's Trews
Brand looks at Lindsay Lohan's
recent appearance on Good
Morning Britain and how she was
quizzed about her faith.
PLEASE
NOTE
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include notices of events, video links and articles that
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are often posted as received.
Including such messages/links or
providing the details of such
events does not necessarily
imply endorsement
by CCN of the contents therein.
The
Islamic world did liberalise
– but then came the first
world war
It seems vital to recall
that hopeful century when
the lands of Islam engaged
lustily with modernity
In fact, rarely has there
been a better time to test
the belief — widespread in
the Trump White House, among
Europe’s rising populists,
and the Kremlin — that
Islamic society is incapable
of reforming because it
hates progress. Wouldn’t it
be awkward if proof were
adduced to show that, on the
contrary, for long periods
in their recent history the
central and most influential
lands of Islam, having been
confronted by dynamic
western modernity, embraced
that modernity in spades and
only lapsed into Islamist
recalcitrance after the
first world war obliterated
them physically and the
victorious allies tried to
subjugate them politically?
But this is what happened in
Turkey, Egypt and Iran
during the ‘long’ 19th
century until 1914.
......
Now, amid the beastliness of
Isis and its fellow
travellers, and the tendency
of a growing number of
westerners to demonise not
Islamism or the terrorists
but Islam tout court, it
seems vital to recall that
hopeful century when the
lands of Islam engaged
lustily with modernity in
the hope that something of
it can be recaptured — as,
indeed, it briefly looked as
though it might during the
Arab Spring. The alternative
is to perpetuate the
self-fulfilling consensus
around which the Isis
ideologues and our own
populists unite: a story of
inevitable conflict and
alienation based on a
historical fallacy.
The Spectator
More Indigenous
Australians are
converting to
Islam. But it is
more than a
political
gesture. Unknown
to many is the
long history
between
Aboriginal
people and
Islamic culture
and religion.
Comment:
Indigenous Australia's long
history with Islam
Peta
Stephenson is the author of
Islam Dreaming. This article
was originally published on
14 December 2011, by The
Conversation.
Muslim conversion is growing
in Indigenous communities.
In the 2001 national census,
641 Indigenous people
identified as Muslim. By the
2006 census the number had
climbed by more than 60% to
1014 people.
This rise in conversions
among Indigenous Australians
may seem to be a political
gesture. But unknown to many
is the long history between
Aboriginal people and
Islamic culture and
religion.
Three centuries of
history
Indigenous
and Muslim communities have
traded, socialised and
intermarried in Australia
for three centuries.
From the early 1700s, Muslim
fishermen from Indonesia
made annual voyages to the
north and northwestern
Australian coast in search
of sea slugs (trepang). The
trade that developed
included material goods, but
the visitors also left a
lasting religious legacy.
Recent research confirms the
existence of Islamic motifs
in some north Australian
Aboriginal mythology and
ritual.
In mortuary ceremonies
conducted by communities in
Galiwinku on Elcho Island
today, there is reference to
Dreaming figure
Walitha'walitha, an
adaptation of the Arabic
phrase Allah ta’ala (God,
the exalted).
New
baggage rules at Dubai airport from March 8,
2017
DUBAI: Passengers who
show up at the airport with
non-compliant baggage will have to
repack in boxes for a fee
The new rules will come into effect on
March 8, 2017.
What are they?
No irregular shaped
bags
No oversized bags
No round bags
All bags should have a flat surface
"Dubai International
provides some of the most sophisticated
baggage systems in the world," said Ali Angizeh, Vice President of Terminal
Operations at Dubai International.
"However, even the most technologically
advanced systems can be disrupted by
irregular shaped or oversized bags. Bags
that are round or do not have a flat
surface of any kind are by far the
largest source of baggage jams.
"These jams can shut down sections of
our system, delay baggage delivery to
the aircraft and inconvenience our
customers," he said.
According to the rules, round bags that
do not have a flat surface will not be
checked-in.
Dubai Airports has also advised all
airlines operating into the airport of
the new regulations that will take place
next month.
"Passengers, who show up at the airport
with non-compliant baggage, will also be
given the option to have it repacked in
boxes for a fee."
Muslim internment camp
flyers found all over University of
California San Diego campus
"INSTRUCTIONS
TO ALL PERSONS OF ISLAMIC
BELIEF" flyers were posted
throughout UCSD's campus
US: Flyers about
Muslim internment camps were posted
throughout campus at the University
of California-San Diego on
Wednesday, NBC San Diego reported.
Titled "INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL PERSONS
OF ISLAMIC BELIEF," the flyer read
ordered the evacuation of Muslims
from the San Diego County area.
The flyers are a near-replica of
posters that appeared after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor when
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
signed an executive order to round
up Japanese-Americans and force them
into internment camps.
"All Muslim persons, both alien and
non-alien, will be evacuated from
the above designated area by 12:00
o'clock noon Wednesday, April 8,
2017," the flyer, which includes
multiple misspellings and
grammatical errors, reads. "No
Muslim person will be permitted to
enter or leave the above described
area after 8:00 a.m., Thursday,
April 2, 2017, without obtaining
special permission from the Provost
Marshal at the Civil Control
Station."
Muslims and Islam: Key findings in the U.S.
and around the world
US: The Pew Research Centre,
based in Washington DC, this
week released research
forecasting Islam's share of
the the world's population
will equal the Christian
share - at roughly 32 per
cent in 53 years' time.
Muslims are the
fastest-growing religious group in the
world. The growth and regional migration
of Muslims, combined with the ongoing
impact of the Islamic State (also known
as ISIS or ISIL) and other extremist
groups that commit acts of violence in
the name of Islam, have brought Muslims
and the Islamic faith to the forefront
of the political debate in many
countries. Yet many facts about Muslims
are not well known in some of these
places, and most Americans – who live in
a country with a relatively small Muslim
population – say they know little or
nothing about Islam.
There were 1.6 billion
Muslims in the world as of 2010 –
roughly 23% of the global population –
according to a Pew Research Center
estimate. But while Islam is currently
the world’s second-largest religion
(after Christianity), it is the
fastest-growing major religion. Indeed,
if current demographic trends continue,
the number of Muslims is expected to
exceed the number of Christians by the
end of this century.
Pew Reserach
Related
to this survey, Sydney
Muslim psychologist and ABC
religion contributor writer,
Hanan Dover, became the
subject of a Daily Mail
report over her
tongue-in-cheek Facebook
posting calling Muslims to
'Exercise our Weapons of
Mass Reproduction'.
German Army makes history
by putting Muslim in charge of 14,000 US
soldiers’ spiritual needs
After a ceremony this
summer, Lt. Col. Khallid
Shabazz will become the
first Muslim division-level
chaplain in the history of
the U.S. military – a Muslim
spiritual leader for more
than 14,000 mostly Christian
soldiers.
.
US: In January, Lt.
Col. Khallid Shabazz received the call
every Army chaplain dreams of, the call
that validates years of intense study
and hard work toward keeping the U.S.
military in good spiritual health.
He was offered the job of chaplain for
an entire division, an honor for anyone
in his field but a milestone in his
case. After a ceremony this summer,
Shabazz will become the first Muslim
division-level chaplain in the history
of the U.S. military – a Muslim
spiritual leader for more than 14,000
mostly Christian soldiers.
Shabazz, who’s dedicated his life to
working across religious lines, found it
hard to keep calm as he received the
news at his desk on Joint Base Lewis-McChord
near Tacoma, Washington.
“I’m on the phone saying, ‘Thank you, I
appreciate it. I’ll serve honorably,’
and then I hang up the phone and I’m
jumping all around like a little kid,”
Shabazz, 48, recalled in interviews in
February. “I was running around the
office saying, al hamdulillah, al
hamdulillah, praise be to God!”
To get a sense of what a long shot this
might’ve seemed like to Shabazz,
consider the numbers: He’s one of only
10 Muslim chaplains in the entire U.S.
military; of the Army’s 1,400 or so
chaplains, just five are Muslim.
“When you get the call saying you have
been bestowed a division, the news is
kind of like, unearthly,” Shabazz said.
“The list is so small and it’s such a
tough cut.”
With four months until the ceremony that
will make him chaplain of the Army’s 7th
Infantry Division at Lewis-McChord,
Shabazz has plenty of time to think
about taking on such a visible role in
an age of open anti-Muslim hostility.
He’d like to think his transition will
be as smooth as those of his Christian
peers, but he knows that not everyone
will welcome him as warmly as the senior
officers who gave him a standing ovation
when the news was announced at a meeting
on base.
“For me, a regular old guy from
Louisiana, I look to the heavens and
say, ‘Why me?’ ” Shabazz said. “As the
day gets closer, I’m sure I’ll have more
anxiety and think about it more. I’m
extremely proud to have been on this
journey for 20 years and never would’ve
imagined that I’d be chosen to be the
first.”
“Islamic guy in a leadership position?”
he said. “If I think about it too much,
it’ll get overwhelming.”
Religious roots
Shabazz came into the world as Michael
Barnes, born into a large Lutheran
family in Alexandria, Louisiana, about
three hours from New Orleans.
Faith was at the center of the
household. His mother took the family to
church three times a week and recited
prayers with her children each night.
Shabazz, a lifelong athlete with a
6-foot-5-inch, 255-pound frame, had to
study catechism before he could play
football and basketball on Saturdays.
Other kids might’ve grumbled about such
a rigorous worship schedule, but Shabazz
said he didn’t mind – from an early age,
he was taken with the spirit of
friendship and service.
“I like people who have a commonality of
purpose,” Shabazz said. “We loved each
other. If people had rent problems or
other problems, the church pulled us
together to take care of those
problems.”
I DON’T WANT
TO HELP JUST MUSLIMS. I DON’T WANT
TO HELP JUST CHRISTIANS. I WANT TO
HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE IN DISTRESS.
Army Lt. Col. Khallid
Shabazz, chaplain
After high school,
Shabazz headed to Jarvis Christian
College, a historically black college in
the small town of Hawkins in eastern
Texas. Upon graduation, he returned to
Louisiana and began teaching biology to
fifth-graders at an elementary school in
his hometown. He said he wasn’t prepared
for how despondent he became at seeing
so many children whose growth was
stymied by poverty or poor parenting; he
struggled to accept that he couldn’t
help them all.
After just six months, he quit. At age
23, he decided to join the Army,
thinking that it would help him mature
and make him a better, stronger teacher
afterward.
“I thought, ‘I’ll do 20 years in the
military and then I’ll teach and coach,’
” Shabazz said. “But I fell in love with
the idea and the paradigm of the
military.”
While stationed in Baumholder, Germany,
Shabazz worked the motor pool with a
Muslim soldier who annoyed other troops
with his boasts about the virtues of
Islam. Shabazz, who back then was still
Christian, grew fed up and decided “to
cut him down to size.” He challenged the
Muslim to a public debate on the merits
of their respective religions.
On the afternoon of the showdown,
Shabazz recalled, about 30 soldiers
filled a meeting room on base. Shabazz
was ready to pounce, but the Muslim
opponent “kind of blindsided me with
some facts,” launching into a powerful,
persuasive defense of his faith that put
Islam in a whole new light.
Shabazz, stunned, was down for the
count.
“It was all-out cognitive dissonance,
depression and shame, honestly,” Shabazz
said, recalling his feelings at that
moment. “I thought I had a stronghold on
the truth. And, for the first time, my
confidence was shaken in who I was as a
human being and what I believed.”
Becoming Muslim
Shabazz began studying Islam on his own,
determined to correct the lack of
knowledge revealed in his debate with
the Muslim soldier. He’d work all day
and then stay up well past midnight
paging through the Bible and the Quran.
He described it as going into a
“cubbyhole.”
After two years, Michael Barnes, the
devout Christian reared in a Louisiana
church, decided to convert to Islam,
taking the name Khallid Shabazz to
complete his transformation. He said
that there had been no single tipping
point in his thinking, just a deep
identification with Islamic tenets, such
as the lack of a clerical hierarchy and
the emphasis on charity.
“One of my favorite passages in the
Quran asks if the man who thinks and the
man who does are the same,” Shabazz
said. “It’s the thinking component in
Islam that really intrigued me. I am in
control of my grace, and I don’t have to
answer to the imam. I tell my
congregation, ‘Listen, you have to do
your own research.’ ”
Unsurprisingly, Shabazz’s conversion did
not play well with his family in
Louisiana, where he’s still known as
“Michael.” He said it took years for
them to accept the change, but now they
tease him about praying on time and make
him a special gumbo minus the pork
sausage. Such conciliatory gestures,
Shabazz said, must go both ways.
“I do still go to church with my family
– that’s an important part of reaching
across the aisle,” he said. “It would be
improper for me to disrespect something
that instilled in me so much of who I
am.”
Shabazz’s switch in faiths didn’t
exactly go smoothly with the military,
either. He had to write memos for even
the smallest religious accommodation,
such as time to perform the traditional
Friday prayers. He’d fast during the
holy month of Ramadan, though his
schedule called for grueling work in the
field. Ravenous by the end of the day,
he’d come to the mess hall only to find
pork chops. He’d raise concerns with his
superiors from time to time, but made
little ground.
“When you have an unknown there,
sometimes the leadership kind of treats
you unfairly because they’re not
educated into what you’re doing,”
Shabazz said. “In defense of them, I
didn’t explain it very well, either. I
was growing. There were some tough
days.”
On one of the toughest days, Shabazz was
exhausted from a series of 12-hour
shifts and hungry because of the lack of
pork-free meals. Sitting outside on an
M109 howitzer, he felt his frustration
spill out in tears. Nobody’s here for
me, he thought. Maybe this organization
is not for me.
A passing chaplain noticed Shabazz’s
distress and stopped. In an hourlong
impromptu ministry session, the chaplain
let Shabazz pour his heart out about his
struggle to carve a space for himself in
the military. After listening, Shabazz
said, the chaplain mentioned that the
Army had recently received its first
active-duty Muslim chaplain: Would that
kind of path interest Shabazz?
MY JOB IS NOT
TO CONVERT ANYBODY TO ISLAM. GOD
GUIDES PEOPLE. MY ONLY GOAL IS TO
HAVE PEOPLE LEAVE MY OFFICE STRONGER
THAN WHEN THEY CAME IN.
Army Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz,
chaplain
“I’m telling you, it was
like a revelation from God,” Shabazz
recalled. “Once it came out of his
mouth, I said, ‘That is my calling. That
is what I want to do for the rest of my
life.’ ”
New challenges
The chaplain Shabazz encountered that
day wrote him a letter of recommendation
for the Chaplain Corps. When he was
commissioned, Shabazz said, his mentor
pulled him aside for a talk.
“He said, ‘Promise me you will be an
advocate for our corps no matter what
the faith or the background of the
person is,’ ” Shabazz recalled. “It
moved me to the very essence of my core.
Here you have a devout Christian who’s
taken the time to care for a young
Muslim soldier and make sure I got to be
a chaplain. I don’t want to help just
Muslims. I don’t want to help just
Christians. I want to help people who
are in distress.”
Shabazz has now been in the Army for 26
years, 18 years as a chaplain. He’s been
deployed seven times – including Iraq,
Kosovo and a stint at the U.S. prison
camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he
was sent to advise commanders on
religious issues after a string of
scandals.
He’s also dispatched to far-flung U.S.
installations to minister to Muslim
soldiers who are wrestling with some of
the same issues he faced as a young
Muslim in the service.
The Department of Defense counts more
than 6,000 self-identified Muslims
currently serving, from a total of 1.3
million active-duty and more than
800,000 guard and reserve members. The
real number of Muslims is thought to be
higher because many troops choose not to
list a religion, especially if they’re
worried about backlash.
Iraq, where U.S. troops fought
insurgents near some of Islam’s most
sacred sites, was a particularly hard
deployment for Muslim soldiers. Shabazz
said he counseled anguished soldiers to
remember the centrality of intention in
Islam – what were their intentions for
serving? He’d remind them that they were
there because they’d enlisted and that
the Quran honors contracts. He offered
reassuring passages, words to lift the
heavy weight of the war from their
shoulders.
“In combat, it was tough. You’re trying
to establish Muslim service and you’re
in a Muslim country fighting against
Muslims,” Shabazz said. “The young
Muslim soldiers could come in and do
jumaa (prayers) and be assured that
somebody is listening to them. You hold
guys in your arms and they’re crying and
saying, ‘Thank you.’ ”
The concerns Shabazz hears these days
are much different, but just as fraught.
I DO STILL GO
TO CHURCH WITH MY FAMILY – THAT’S AN
IMPORTANT PART OF REACHING ACROSS
THE AISLE.
Army Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz,
chaplain
The bulk of his work at
Joint Base Lewis-McChord isn’t even
religious counseling, he said, but
hearing out soldiers suffering from
alcoholism or troubled relationships.
More than sermons, Shabazz said, they
want to know the secret to his 27 years
of marriage to his college sweetheart,
Rhonda, with whom he has three adult
children and four grandchildren.
Others turn to Shabazz for advice on
personal and career growth; among his
most cherished achievements is helping
61 young soldiers find the confidence to
apply for officer school.
Over the years, a handful of people have
refused to work with Shabazz because
he’s Muslim. That doesn’t bother him –
he lives by the chaplain’s motto of
“perform or provide,” so if he can’t
minister himself, he’ll recommend a
chaplain of a different faith. But
Christians who do agree to be seen by
Shabazz are often surprised by his
fluency in the Bible’s teachings, a
vestige of his many years in the church.
“Because I have the language from my
days as a Christian, I can give them
Scriptures from the Bible, and that
doesn’t violate my religion,” Shabazz
said. “My job is not to convert anybody
to Islam. God guides people. My only
goal is to have people leave my office
stronger than when they came in.”
Sometimes, though, soldiers do convert
and turn to Shabazz for guidance as they
enter Islam. One of the most unusual
conversions came just three months ago,
Shabazz said. A master sergeant in the
Special Forces – a man who’d come to no
Friday prayers or study groups – showed
up, crying, to meet with Shabazz. He
told the imam he was ready to take
shahada, the modest ritual to officially
accept Islam.
“He said, ‘I heard you’re a good
chaplain. I’ve been thinking about Islam
for about three years,’ ” Shabazz
recalled. “I took him down to the
mosque, he took shahada and I’ve never
seen him again.”
Much of Shabazz’s workload involves the
rejection of Islam rather than the
embrace of it. He writes a newsletter
that goes to all the commanders on base
and he offers cultural awareness classes
in hopes of “getting out ahead,” staving
off the anti-Muslim incidents that have
made headlines at other bases. He writes
memos in support of soldiers seeking
halal meals or prayer breaks, hoping to
bridge the communication gap with
officers that existed when he was a
young enlisted Muslim.
Shabazz and Command Sgt. Maj. Diamond
Hough, another Muslim officer at Fort
Lewis, have known each other since 2009
and have become close friends in the
past couple of years. That coincided
with a period of rising hostility toward
Islam in America. Hough said his
friend’s teachings had offered solace to
him and to others hurting from the deep
divisions in the country.
“I think what he does is extremely tough
because of the times we live in, and the
fact that he still can reach everyone
and be able to articulate a message of
unity, inclusion and love is
exceptional,” Hough said.
Shabazz acknowledges the current period
of anti-Muslim hostility but declines to
discuss whether it’s worsened because of
President Donald Trump. Even in his
private sessions with soldiers, he said,
criticism of the White House is taboo.
“Regardless of what they might think,
he’s our commander in chief,” Shabazz
said.
The timing of Shabazz’s milestone might
seem like another one of those
serendipitous moments in his life – the
debate that led him to Islam, the
tearful conversation that led him to the
Chaplain Corps – that put him at the
right place at the right time.
Shabazz appreciates the historic aspect
of his rise but views it all
pragmatically: He immersed himself in
studies, devoted himself to interfaith
work and completed four master’s degrees
and two doctorates. In other words, he
earned it, his ascent proof of the old
line that the military is a meritocracy
– after all, where else could a Muslim
get a high-profile job in a U.S.
government institution these days?
But Shabazz knows, too, that there are
sure to be bumps ahead, tests of how
well the military can insulate itself
from the cultural battles that have
cleaved the nation in two. Two verses
are at the forefront of his mind these
days – one from the Quran, one from the
Bible, both about how hatred of a people
has no place among the faithful.
“Some of the challenges will be really
changing perceptions, changing mindsets,
showing that I am something other than
what they see – the guy on TV, the
boogeyman,” Shabazz said. “I have a real
opportunity to be an ambassador for the
Army and for my religion.”
Saudi king takes 506 TONS of luggage for
nine-day trip to Indonesia
SAUDI
ARABIA: The Saudi king is taking 506
tons of luggage with him for a nine-day
trip to Indonesia.
Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud's huge haul
includes two Mercedes-Benz s600
limousines and a pair of elevators.
He is set to visit Indonesia tomorrow to
join an enormous entourage of 620 people
as well as 800 delegates, including
ministers and 25 princes.
Jasa Angkasa Semesta (JAS) has been
tasked with the huge operation of
lugging the cargo from Saudi Arabia, and
has dedicated 572 members of staff to
handle it.
The airfreight company's president
director Adji Gunawan told Antara news
agency that 63 tons would be unloaded at
the Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East
Jakarta and the rest would be sent to
Ngurah Rai International Airport in
Denpasar, Bali, according to The Jakarta
Post.
'We have been officially appointed to
handle all cargo belonging to the king’s
entourage aircraft,' he said.
t will be the first time in 46 years a
Saudi king has visited Indonesia - the
world's largest Muslim population.
King Salman is used to traveling in
luxury.
Back in September 2015, he booked the
entire Four Seasons in Georgetown for
his three-night stay in the US, forcing
guests who had booked to stay in the
222-room hotel during his visit to be
moved to nearby luxury hotels.
Amazon TV ad star Zubeir to have lunch with
the Queen on city visit
UK: The principal of a
Muslim school who starred in an Amazon
TV advert has been invited to lunch with
the Queen on her forthcoming visit to
the city.
Zubeir Hassam, 55, of the Muslim School,
in Oadby, starred alongside London
clergyman the Rev Gary Bradley in the
Christmas advert, which was shown around
the world.
The ad was released in the UK in
November to promote the Amazon Prime
delivery service
In the advert, Zubeir - who played the
part of an Imam - and Gary are friends
who both suffer aches and pains from
kneeling down during worship.
The
advert was filmed at a parish church and
a mosque in east London. It shows Zubeir
and Gary meeting in a vicarage, joking
about the long-term affects of kneeling
down a lot and they go on to surprise
each other by picking identical
knee-pads.
Zubeir was put forward for the advert by
his son, Bilal, who is a director for
British Muslim TV.
The former postman who worked for Royal
Mail for 25 years until retirement,
said: "I was pleased with the advert's
positive message which promotes
friendship between Muslims and
Christians.
"The message that went to the world and
the community at large was of peace."
Zubeir, who is a director of the Muslim
Burial Council and a trustee at Oadby
Central Mosque, said the advert had
turned him into a celebrity, with people
stopping him in the street for selfies.
On one occasion he was stopped at an
airport in Turkey where he was
recognised by a family travelling to
Mecca.
Zubeir, who has been involved in working
with inter faith groups for 20 years, is
looking forward to meeting the Queen for
a second time when she visits Leicester
on Maundy Thursday when he has been
invited to have lunch with her.
He first met the Queen in 2013 on behalf
of the Muslim Burial Council and in 2015
was invited with his wife Yasmin to a
garden party given by the Queen for his
community work where he met the Princess
Royal.
He added: "I am looking forward very
much to meeting her again. When all the
students at my school found out they
were all very excited for me."
Abdul Sattar Edhi: Why Google honoured him
this week
Edhi was known
as the 'Angel of Mercy' in
Pakistan
PAKISTAN: Edhi, who founded the world's
largest volunteer ambulance network,
would have been 89 on Tuesday.
Abdul Sattar Edhi founded the world's
largest volunteer ambulance network in
Pakistan, the Edhi Foundation.
Unlike wealthy individuals that fund
charities in their names, Edhi dedicated
his life to the poor from the age of 20,
when he himself was penniless in
Karachi.
The reach of Edhi's foundation grew
internationally, and in 2005 the
organisation raised $100,000 in aid
relief for the victims of Hurricane
Katrina.
Edhi was born before partition in Bantva,
Gujarat, India on February 28, 1928.
He died last year in Karachi of renal
failure. He was offered treatment
abroad, but insisted on being treated in
a government hospital at home.
The Edhi Foundation's slogan is: "Live
and help live".
Today would have been his 89th birthday.
In his honour, Google changed its logo
in the United States; Iceland; Portugal;
Australia; New Zealand; Japan; Estonia;
the UK; Denmark; Ireland and Pakistan to
a doodle, or illustration, of Edhi.
Google
hailed Edhi's "super-efficient"
ambulance service.
"In celebration of Abdul Sattar Edhi,
let's all lend a hand to someone in need
today," it said.
The technology giant's team has created
more than 2,000 doodles for homepages
around the world. Among those recently
celebrated are Pramoedya Ananta Toer,
Fred Korematsu and Edmonia Lewis.
"The doodle selection process aims to
celebrate interesting events and
anniversaries that reflect Google's
personality and love for innovation,"
the company says.
'No religion higher than humanity'
With more than 1,800 ambulances
stationed across Pakistan, the Edhi
Foundation is Pakistan's largest welfare
organisation. In 1997, the foundation
entered the Guinness World Records as
the "largest volunteer ambulance
organisation".
If you call 115 in the South Asian
nation, the Edhi Foundation will answer.
U.S. Muslim Vets Vow To Defend Jewish
Centers Under Siege
Surge of hate crimes is also
bringing Americans together.
US:
The frightening increase
in bomb threats against U.S. Jewish
centers and schools and the desecration
of Jewish cemeteries has triggered an
outpouring of support on Twitter from
Muslim veterans offering to protect the
sites any time, anywhere.
One vet wrote: “If your synagogue or
Jewish cemetery needs someone to stand
guard, count me in.”
Another tweeted: “I’m a Muslim Veteran
in Arizona & will readily stand guard at
any Jewish Synagogue or Cemetery at ANY
hour. #WeAreOne.”
The response follows yet another surge
of bomb threats Monday against Jewish
centers and school across America, the
fifth major wave of such intimidation
this year. There was a second flurry of
threats called in Monday evening against
Jewish centers — and at least one school
— in California, Washington, Nevada and
Arizona.
The hate crimes, which exploded
following the divisive rhetoric of the
presidential campaign, have had the
unexpected outcome of uniting American
Jews and Muslims. A Muslim activist
helped raise over $135,000 to repair
gravestones vandalized in a Jewish
cemetery in a St. Louis suburb over a
week ago. Tarek El-Messidi said extra
funds will now be used to also help
restore Philadelphia’s Mount Carmel
Cemetery, which was vandalized over the
weekend.
“We must stand together against these
acts of racism, anti-Semitism, and
Islamophobia,” El-Messidi wrote on
Facebook.
Muhammad Ali Jr. On Being Detained: 'Why
Would You Even Ask Me What My Religion Is?'
Muhammad Ali Jr.
US:
He was detained for nearly two hours, he
said, while agents were "checking
something."
Muhammad Ali’s namesake son and the
boxing legend’s former wife went on
MSNBC Monday to discuss what it was like
to be stopped at an airport in their own
country for no reason they could
determine except their religious faith.
Customs officers detained Muhammad Ali
Jr. at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International Airport on Feb. 7 as he
and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali,
returned to the U.S. from Jamaica.
They were heading to the baggage claim,
Ali said, when “the guy from immigration
pulled me aside and asked me my name.”
Ali recalled, “I was like, “OK, my name
is Muhammad Ali,’ and he asked me, ‘What
is your religion?’”
“I was like, ‘Why would you even ask me
what my religion is?’” Ali continued:
I said, ‘I’m Muslim,’ and it was like he
didn’t believe me because he took me in
a backroom and asked me the same
questions again. So I answered them and
I was like, ‘What is this all about?’
Ali said officers would only tell him,
“We’re checking something.”
“I was like, ‘OK, but I was waiting an
hour and 45 minutes for you to check
something,’” he said, adding that the
officers split him and his mother up and
he was worried about her.
Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, was carrying a
U.S. passport at the time of his
detention. He has no criminal record.
He and his mother said they travel
extensively and have never been profiled
like this before.
While officers had also stopped his
mother, they released her shortly after
she produced a photo of herself with her
famous former husband, reports the
Courier-Journal.
Other individuals have faced similar
questioning by Customs and Border
Protection agents since President Donald
Trump signed an executive order banning
refugees and people from seven
predominantly Muslim countries from
traveling to the United States. A
federal judge halted the order prior to
the Alis’ detention.
Camacho-Ali suggested Monday that if
officers are hassling her and her son,
they’re undoubtedly hassling other
Muslims, and she’s happy to fight back
on their behalf.
“Muhammad Ali, everybody knows him as a
person who stands up for what you
believe in,” Camacho-Ali said. “We must
carry on that legend, because if we let
people get away with it now, then there
will be no end to the trauma. These
people are going through a lot, not just
us,” she said.
If she were given the opportunity to
speak with President Trump, Camacho-Ali
said she’d ask him to read the Qur’an
and to recognize that Muslims “are
people of peace.”
In a statement to The Washington Post,
Customs and Border Protection denied
that the Ali family had been detained
because they’re Muslim.
H.R. McMaster Breaks With Administration on
Views of Islam
President Trump appointed Lt.
Gen. H.R. McMaster, left, as
national security adviser on
Monday
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s newly
appointed national security adviser has
told his staff that Muslims who commit
terrorist acts are perverting their
religion, rejecting a key ideological
view of other senior Trump advisers and
signaling a potentially more moderate
approach to the Islamic world.
The adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster,
told the staff of the National Security
Council on Thursday, in his first “all
hands” staff meeting, that the label
“radical Islamic terrorism” was not
helpful because terrorists are
“un-Islamic,” according to people who
were in the meeting.
That is a repudiation of the language
regularly used by both the president and
General McMaster’s predecessor, Michael
T. Flynn, who resigned last week after
admitting that he had misled Vice
President Mike Pence and other officials
about a phone call with a Russian
diplomat.
It is also a sign that General McMaster,
a veteran of the Iraq war known for his
sense of history and independent streak,
might move the council away from the
ideologically charged views of Mr.
Flynn, who was also a three-star Army
general before retiring.
Wearing his Army uniform, General
McMaster spoke to a group that has been
rattled and deeply demoralized after
weeks of upheaval, following a haphazard
transition from the Obama administration
and amid the questions about links to
Russia, which swiftly engulfed Mr.
Flynn.
From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Legacy
by
Kenan Malik
Description
Twenty
years ago, the image of burning copies of Salman Rushdie's
"The Satanic Verses" held aloft by thousand-strong mobs of
protestors became an internationally familiar symbol of
anger and offence.
Kenan Malik examines how the
Rushdie affair transformed the debate worldwide on
multiculturalism, tolerance and free speech, helped fuel the
rise of radical Islam and pointed the way to the horrors of
9/11 and 7/7.
KB says:This week's recipe has
been kindly shared by Farzana Hatia. She says
that this recipe is based on the cuisine of the
Mediterranean and one of her family favourites.
Roasted Zaatar Chicken
Step 1
Marinate 1 full chicken (skin on) cut into 4
with:
2 red onions sliced finely
1 lemon sliced thin
1 cup chicken stock,
4 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tab. sumac
2 tab. zaatar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. wet red chili
Ľ cup olive oil
Step 2
Place chicken with marinade in oven tray.
Cover with foil and cook for about 45 mins on
fan heat at 200 degrees.
Step 3
Remove foil and cook a bit longer around 20 min,
till sauce has thickened. If chicken does not
look roasted, then put under oven grill - just
for a few minutes till grilled.
To serve
Place chicken over flat bread, pouring the
remaining marinade onion/ lemon sauce over.
Garnish with toasted slivered almonds and serve
with tahini sauce.
Tahini Sauce
Blend 2 cloves garlic with half a cup flat leaf
parsley, juice of 1 lemon, ˝ cup tahini, 2 tbsp.
yogurt, salt, pepper, Ľ cup water. If too thick
add more water for thin consistency
Welcome
to my weekly column
on Self-Care and
Clarity of Mind.
If you’re taking
time out to read
this, pat yourself
on the back because
you have shown
commitment to taking
care of your mind
and body.
I hope you spent
time last week
practising
Thought Switch.
For more on Thought
Switch technique
refer to last week’s
column.
Today, we will
explore strategies
to develop and
maintain positive
relationships with
people in our lives.
From the moment we
wake up in the
morning to the time
we retire to bed,
our lives revolve
around other human
beings. They all
impact our lives in
ways that propel us
to respond or react.
These responses and
reactions shape the
life we lead. How we
choose to respond to
people is completely
up to us.
When someone says,
“I didn’t have a
choice”, it simply
means they chose
to remain in the
situation
instead of
choosing an
alternative. The
truth is, there are
always alternatives.
Our daily relations
and dealings with
family members,
friends, colleagues,
strangers and
virtual entities
(those who are
communicating with
us online) form a
vital part of our
existence. These
dealings and
relations give rise
to experiences.
Experiences become
memories and
memories
subsequently become
a significant
component of
reasoning. Most of
these memories are
as a result of
inherited memories.
For example, how we
respond to an angry
outburst of another
person is often the
same way our parents
and guardians
respond to such
outbursts. We grew
up watching their
reactions and
responses and
adopted them
accordingly.
Relationships are
formed and
maintained with some
basic ingredients in
life, such as, love,
trust, respect,
compassion and duty.
The following
communication
exercise will help
you nourish your
relationships to be
more meaningful,
joyful and engaging.
The vital thing to
remember for this
exercise is one has
to be able to hear
the tone of the
voice of the other
person. Text
messaging will not
work as you are
unable to hear the
actual tone of the
voice. Telephone or
face to face is
always the best way
to have an engaging,
effective
communication.
Married couples
Spend a few minutes
daily with
each other alone
in conversation
regarding the
following specific
topics and ensure
that when one person
is talking, the
other is listening
with full attention
without any
interruption
whatsoever. When you
engage in a
meaningful
conversation such as
the one below, your
mind opens up to
embrace the joys of
life.
“What
was most
joyful
about
your day
today
and
why?”
“What
are you
most
grateful
for
today
and
why?”
“What
did you
do today
that has
made you
a better
person
than
yesterday?”
“How can
I be of
help to
you to
realise
your
purpose
in life
Children
Spend
time daily with your
child and have the
following
conversation. If you
have more than one
child, spend time
individually to have
this conversation.
Remember, every
child is different
and experiences the
world differently.
Ask your child the
following questions
and give full
attention to her/his
responses.
“What
was most
joyful
about
your day
today
and
why?”
“What do
you feel
most
thankful
to ALLAH
for
today?”
“What
was
uncomfortable
for you
today
and
why?”
“What
would
you
really
like to
tell me
but feel
scared
to
share?
You can
tell me
anything.
You can
trust
me.”
“What
would
you like
to do to
improve
yourself?”
“How can
I help
you to
be
better?”
Siblings and Friends
Often
the people who
manage to irritate
us most are our
siblings and close
friends. The
following exercise
may help open the
mind to enjoy a
meaningful, loving
relationship among
siblings and
friends. Again, the
tone of the voice is
a vital part of this
exercise.
Spend a few minutes
at least once a week
to touch base with
your sibling(s)/
friends. Ask them
the following
questions and pay
attention to the
answers without
interrupting or
formulating a
counter-argument.
“What
was the
most
joyful
part of
your
week so
far?”
“What
challenges
did you
face
last
week?”
“What
can I do
to be of
help to
overcome
those
challenges?”
Next
week, In Shaa Allah,
we will explore
strategies to manage
Anger. If you wish
to know about a
specific topic with
regards to this
subject, please
email me on info@healingwordstherapy.com
If you wish to have
a FREE one hour
telephone session of
Healing Words
Therapy, contact me
on 0451977786
Q:Dear
Kareema, I’ve been travelling a lot with work
and was wondering if you have any suggestions on
keeping fit as there seems to be no end to my
work schedule for now?
A: Always travel with your skipping rope as
it’s light and compact.
Try to stay at
venues with gyms and be sure to check if they
offer fitness classes. This will be great to
keep active and try new workout styles.
Also try to hire a bike where possible and check
out what the city has to offer.
Another fave of mine
is booking a walking tour, or even try a hike.
Some of the best views and experiences are those
done while walking and staying fit. This is a
great way to meet locals and explore even more.
“Give full measure when you
measure, and weigh with a
balance that is straight:
that is the most fitting and
the most advantageous in the
final determination. ”
1. All Islamic Event dates given above are supplied by
the Council of Imams QLD (CIQ) and are provided as a guide and 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.
Nuria Khataam
Date: Every last Wednesday of the month
Time: After Esha Salaat
Venue: Algester Mosque
Contact: Yahya
Ph: 0403338040
Sisters Support Services - On going Activities
Tafsir Class – Mondays at 10am Woodridge area (by Umm
Bilal) Halaqah – Saturdays at 10.30am Woodridge area (by Umm
Bilal) Arabicclasses – Wednesdays 1 – 2pm Kuraby
Masjid (by Umm Bilal) QuranClasses - Tuesdays 11am Runcorn area (by
Umm Bilal) SistersSupportSocialGroup -
1st Wednesday of every Month - varies Locations YoungMuslimsClub- - Regular organised
activities for school aged boys and girls
Contact : Farah 0432 026 375
Muslimah Girls Youth Group for 10+ Girls (school
holiday activities)
Contact : Aliyah 0438840467
Muslima learn to Swim lessons - taught by
professional female instructor in a enclosed pool in
Underwood area Contact : Farah 0432026375 for more details
We also run a volunteers group to assist Muslim women with
food rosters and home visits for sisters who need support or
are isolated. We refer Sisters in need for counselling,
accommodation, financial assistance and other relevant
services. We also have a variety of whatsapp groups for new
Muslim support and for community & class updates please let
us know if you would like to be added.
To join our volunteer group or for any other
details for activities please call the numbers below…
Aliyah : 0438840467
Khadijah: 0449268375
Farah: 0432026375
Iman: 0449610386
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
MONTHLY COMMUNITY PROGRAMME
FIRST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH
Click on images to enlarge
IPDC
HOLLAND PARK MOSQUE
Queensland Police Service/Muslim
Community Consultative Group
Minutes from the QPS/Muslim Community
Reference Group meeting held on
Monday 24 October 2016 at the Islamic College of Brisbane [ICB]
are available
here.
Next Meeting
Time: 7pm Date: TBA Venue: Islamic College of Brisbane - 45 Acacia Road
Karawatha
Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the CCN Team, 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 CCN
The best ideas
and the best feedback come from our community of readers. If you
have a topic or opinion that you want to write about or want
seen covered or any news item that you think might be of benefit
to the Crescents Community please
e-mail us..
Share your
thoughts, feelings and ambitions for our community through CCN.
If there is
someone you know who would like to subscribe to CCN please
encourage them to enter their details
here.
Births, Marriages,
New Migrants and
Condolences
QUEENSLAND
MP Bob Katter has been
shouted down in Question
Time to cries of ‘shame’
after calling on the
government to introduce a
Trump-style travel ban in
the wake of the arrest of a
NSW man on ‘terrorism
offences’ yesterday.
New
baggage rules at Dubai airport from March 8,
2017
Related
to this survey, Sydney
Muslim psychologist and ABC
religion contributor writer,
Hanan Dover, became the
subject of a Daily Mail
report over her
tongue-in-cheek Facebook
posting calling Muslims to
'Exercise our Weapons of
Mass Reproduction'.
SAUDI
ARABIA: The Saudi king is taking 506
tons of luggage with him for a nine-day
trip to Indonesia. 
Welcome
to my weekly column
on Self-Care and
Clarity of Mind.
If you’re taking
time out to read
this, pat yourself
on the back because
you have shown
commitment to taking
care of your mind
and body. 
Grab
our essential pack and start your fitness journey today
post comments on
our Wall
7
August 2011