Over a hundred Muslims have
condemned the Australian
Federation of Islamic
Council after it met with
One Nation’s NSW leader Mark
Latham. Members of the
Muslim community have lashed
out at the AFIC, claiming it
does not represent them.
A group of Muslim
Australians have sent a
strong message to the
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils (AFIC)
after AFIC held a meeting
with One Nation on September
10 -- saying, "you don't
represent us."
AFIC, the peak Muslim
community organisation in
Australia, met with One
Nation's New South Wales
leader Mark Latham to
discuss the proposed
religious freedoms bill he
introduced in the NSW
senate.
The proposed bill seeks to
amend the
Anti-Discrimination Act, and
could provide protection for
employees on the grounds of
religious belief in
circumstances similar to
that faced by Israel Folau.
It's gained support from
groups such as the
Association of Independent
and Catholic Schools, but
has been criticised by other
church groups and the
Diversity Council Australia.
In a statement on AFIC’s
website, the organisation
said they were in support of
the bill.
“It was refreshing to
witness Mr Latham’s passion
to fight for Australian
faiths (including Islam) and
place them on a level
playing field,” AFIC’s Dawah
Support Officer Ms Mohamed
said in a public statement.
AFIC were established by a
group of Muslim leaders in
1964 to represent the “needs
and aspirations” of Muslims
in Australia.
Not everyone agrees with
AFIC’s sentiments about
their new collaboration.
Rabea Khan, a barrister in
Melbourne, along with
others, decided to put out a
public statement condemning
the meeting, detailing One
Nation and Mark Latham’s
history of antagonising the
Muslim community in
Australia.
The public statement
currently has over 100
signatures from members in
the Muslim community,
including teachers,
academics, journalists and
lawyers.
"I'm extremely embarrassed,
I think is the best way to
describe it," Khan told The
Feed.
"Not only the Muslim
community but people of
color in this country have
had to live with the
increased hostility towards
[them] for the last 23
years, as One Nation has
been around.
"They want to hold an
inquiry as to whether we are
a religion or a radical
political ideology, that's
their official policy."
One Nation’s policies on
Islam include a US-style
travel ban on arrivals from
Muslim countries that are
known sources of radicalism;
an inquiry - as Khan says -
into whether Islam is a
religion or “totalitarian
political ideology”
undermining democracy; and a
ban on the burqa.
AFIC’s president Dr Rateb
Jneid told The Feed the peak
Muslim organisiation has
concerns about One Nation’s
history of Islamophobia and
xenophobia but believes Mark
Latham is “turning One
Nation policies around”.
“One Nation is the only
political party brave enough
to take on an issue that
will bring faith communities
some protection. Nearly 50
different Muslim groups
engaged with them, not just
AFIC,” Dr Jneid told The
Feed.
“The best service that one
can give the Muslim
community is to help win
hearts and minds of both our
critics and those who are
indifferent. In this case,
AFIC’s meeting with One
Nation’s Mark Latham was a
meeting that served the
common good.”
AFIC has been accused of not
representing the breadth of
the Muslim community with an
all-male executive
committee. Khan believes it
doesn’t understand the lived
experience of Muslim women,
who are more likely to
receive Islamophobic attacks
according to an analysis of
hate crimes.
The Islamophobia Register
released a study in 2019
that found 70 per cent of
public Islamophobic attacks
happen to Muslim women and
girls.
"This really is quite a
strong example as to how
AFIC are not representative
of the community," Khan
said.
"Not only are they all male,
particularly middle aged
organisations, on top of
that, they don't consult in
any meaningful way with the
community. That includes
women that includes other
diverse communities."
Despite their current
all-male executive team, Dr
Jneid says there have been
numerous women on its board
over the years.
"There are many women's
groups amongst our
membership and we also have
a memorandum of
understanding with Muslim
Women Australia. We have
more female employees in
senior positions than
males," Dr Jneid said.
Dr Jneid said the two main
staff members who worked on
AFIC's submission on
Latham's Bill were women,
AFIC's Legal Support Officer
Ms Ali and Da'wa Support
Officer Ms Mohamed.
Although neither women were
present in AFIC's photo-op
with One Nation's Mark
Latham.
Khan believes the support of
their public statement
critical of AFIC - that at
present has 135 signatures -
shows the views of AFIC's
are not entirely
representative.
"This statement is allowing
people who don't get heard
in these organisations, or
in these processes very
often to allow them to have
a voice and be heard," she
said.
Khan feels supporting the
bill will do more harm than
good to Australia's Muslim
community.
"This bill is not going to
address issues of free
speech or any type of
vilification outside of the
employment or organizational
context, really, it's very
limited," she said.
One Nation's history with
Australian Muslims
Yusra Metwally, a solicitor
and founder of the Swim
Sisters, wanted to create an
accessible space for Muslim
women to swim in Sydney's
outer-west suburb of Auburn.
It's one of the most diverse
areas in Sydney with 84.6
per cent of residents having
both parents born overseas.
In 2017, Metwally was
offered a two-hour women's
only section, to meet
community needs, for her
Swim Sisters collective,
which would be open to all
women. The Auburn public
pool was reopening after
renovations, and Metwally
was contacted by a reporter
at the Parramatta Advertiser
to share her thoughts about
the two-hour slot for women
each week.
"I said that it would be
great to make the pool more
accessible for the
community, after all, Auburn
is one of the most
multicultural areas of
Sydney," Metwally told The
Feed.
A few weeks later, the story
was covered in the Daily
Telegraph with what, she
says, a completely different
angle. After the coverage in
the Sydney paper, Metwally
says there was a ‘big
furore’ with the Swim
Sisters being featured in A
Current Affair, and later
Mark Latham starting a
petition to stop Auburn pool
from proceeding with the
arrangement.
“It misrepresented the facts
and presented the pool was
exclusively for Muslim
women, when, in fact, it was
open to all women. So once
that sort of media story
took a life of its own, it
then invited people and
voices like Mark Latham,”
she said of the coverage in
A Current Affair.
“There was an A Current
Affair story where they
actually called it
apartheid.”
Metwally was taken aback by
the coverage because women's
only gyms, swimming nights
and spaces aren't a new
phenomenon in Australia.
The impact of the coverage
meant whenever there's a
request for women's only
swimming time, she says,
there's a lot of hesitation
to take it up because of the
unnecessary controversy it
invites.
"We were sort of in the
crossfire," she said, "we
just agreed to do an article
for the local paper." She
said she had no idea that it
would turn into a debate.
Given the episode, Metwally
is deeply troubled with
AFIC's meeting with Latham.
She says she feels it's an
organisation that's shown
little interest in engaging
with the concerns of Muslim
women.
"We just feel like, [AFIC]
don't they represent us,"
she said.
Metwally believes the
composition of AFIC's
leadership team means they
can't relate to the
challenges faced by Muslim
women.
"Muslim women leaders are
the ones who can actually
connect to the challenges we
face," she said.
The president of the
Australian Muslim Women's
Assoication Silma Ihram, she
says, was instrumental in
helping to keep Swim Sisters
going with assisting in
grant applications and
support.
"That's what leadership is,"
she said.
Swim Sister's aren't the
only Muslim run-group that
have recieved backlash from
Latham. In 2018, after a
campaign by the NSW One
Nation leader, the Western
Sydney Bankstown Poetry Slam
decided to hire security.
Latham tweeted that the
Bankstown Poetry Slam was a
“radical Islamic political
ranting, promoting hate
speech towards Australia,”
amongst a series of public
comments on the event.
In the following weeks, a
number of members of the
poetry slam received abuse
online.
“He portrayed all of these
young people turning up –
having the balls and the
skills to speak their mind
in a really interesting
manner – as Islamist hate
speech,” The Bankstown youth
development service
director, Tim Carroll told
The Guardian in 2018.
“That kind of stuff is
really, really scary. We had
to pull all the videos down.
[We had people saying] ‘you
deserve to die’.”
What does this group of
Australian Muslims want from
AFIC?
The public statement
includes demands to AFIC:
asking for them to withdraw
the press release and social
posts, and to not claim they
represent the Muslim
community.
“These demands are
ridiculous projections from
a handful of individuals who
neither have representative
capacity nor an
understanding of Islamic
tradition. Our actions in
openly meeting with One
Nation is clearly and
directly supported by the
Holy Qur’an and the Sunna,”
Dr Jneid said.
“AFIC has the collective
skills and wisdom to be in
an excellent position to
represent the community and
has been doing so for 56
years.”
Khan disagrees, she wants
more from AFIC.
“I would like those who want
to engage at this level in
our community, to first be
qualified to do so to have
the appropriate experts
before they engage in that
consultation, and I want to
see diversity in these
organisations, in terms of
women, in terms of different
ethnicities,” Khan said.
“And I don't want this to be
used by any political party,
or in any process to be seen
as representative,
ultimately, of our
community.”
Last weekend, the Muslim
Crescent Scout group
celebrated one year since
the establishment of their
group. The Muslim Crescent
Scout group is the fastest
growing scout group in the
Brisbane region and we now
have 45 members. To
celebrate they took the
entire group on an overnight
camp to Brownsea scout camp
in Shorncliffe. Members of
all ages had fun sailing,
building a raft and canoeing
both in the daytime and by
night. The older scouts
strengthened their canoeing
skills during the night
canoeing, while enjoying
finding sunken ships, hunted
houses and seeing the
amazing phosphorescence in
the water at night. For
dinner, all members had fun
making their own pizza from
scratch, including rolling
out the dough and then
cooking it in the camp’s
wood fire oven. The older
scouts learnt the skills of
how to build a fire in the
oven to make it heat
successfully to make a
delicious pizza.
Our older members attended a
camp earlier in the school
holidays to learn how to
sail, so that they could
support the younger members
of the group during the
camp. This greatly assisted
all of our members from the
oldest to the youngest, who
just turned five, to be
actively involved in all
activities and learn many
beneficial new skills as
well as becoming closer
friends with the other group
members. The camp
successfully created
stronger ties and
understanding between the
members of the scout group,
which will help to
strengthen the group. On our
canoeing trip, on the second
day up Cabbage Tree Creek,
the younger and older scouts
work together to paddle the
canoes. The youngest scouts
made the experience extra
cute by singing together as
they paddled. The camp
finished with the youngest
scouts being invited to go
on the Marine Rescue boats
and hear about the work the
volunteers do.
Over the past year the
Muslim Crescent Scout group
has gone from nothing to 45
members. The members and
leaders have enjoyed an
amazing experience through
which they have all grown in
both character and skills.
They have learned bushcraft
skills, cycling skills,
canoeing skills, sailing
skills and knotting skills.
Our members have met and
enjoyed working together
with a variety of scouts
from other groups across
Brisbane, as we participated
in activities such as
sailing in Moreton Bay,
scouts in action: rocket
day, the urban challenge
treasure hunt for teenagers
in Brisbane City and Clean
Up Australia Day. It has not
only been the Scouts who
have had so much fun
participating and learning
from these activities but
the leaders themselves have
enjoyed and learnt so much
from their experience over
the past year. The leaders
not only did the compulsory
training required to be a
leader, but they have also
done additional training for
adventurous activities to
allow them to do a wider
variety of activities for
the scouts. Our leaders have
trained to be instructors in
canoeing, kayaking,
bushwalking and archery and
they are looking forward to
many more opportunities to
do a wide range of other
training and activities
through scouts, that will
continue to benefit them for
the rest of their lives.
We are looking forward to
more exciting upcoming
activities like the Jamboree
of the air next weekend and
the cub’s district fun day
the following weekend. New
members are welcome to join
anytime throughout the year.
We are looking for more
leaders as our group is
growing and more leaders are
needed to support the
scouts. Please see the flyer
below for the amazing
opportunities and benefit
from being a scout leader.
For more information please
contact 0432026375.
Inspiring women
It's a similar story for
Sana Sayed from Dundas in
Sydney's north-west.
The 20-year-old says she
initially signed up to
Instagram in 2017 to share
pictures with family and
friends.
But she quickly began
attracting the attention of
local modest fashion brands,
helping her garner a
following of more than
130,000 people.
"I post fashion advice and I
show different ways of how I
style outfits and my Hijab,
which I think inspires
women," Sana says.
The full-time university
student says she has worked
with global brands including
singer Rihanna's cosmetics
company Fenty Beauty and
retailer JD Sports.
She says payment can vary
depending on the brand she
is promoting.
"You can start off from $400
to $500, up to $3,000 to
$4,000 for one post," she
says.
'Following a friend'
Natalie Giddings from Sydney
marketing company the
Remarkables Group says
brands are increasingly
turning to influencers to
advertise their products
because they have
significant reach.
"Influencers in this day and
age are outshining a large
number of traditional
publications that marketers
like myself would have
previously gone to," Ms
Giddings says.
"A magazine like Vogue for
instance has about 55,000
people that buy the magazine
each month … but some of the
people that we work with are
well into the hundreds of
thousands in audience
alone."
Ms Giddings says audiences
feel like they have a
personal connection with
influencers and are in turn
more likely to trust their
product recommendations.
"The number one reason why
people tune into and follow
influencers is because it
feels like they're following
a friend."
UK's
Muslim News readers
nominated
illustrious men,
women, children and
initiatives deemed
worthy of
short-listing for a
Muslim News Award
for Excellence. The
nominees were
short-listed by an
independent panel of
judges who reviewed,
deliberated and
mused over the list.
Over
the next weeks, CCN
presents a
shortlisted
candidate who will
be treated to a gala
evening in the
presence of their
peers and other
renowned guests,
when the finalists
are announced for
the [15] coveted
Awards for
Excellence.
PLEASE
NOTE:
Due
to the
unprecedented
uncertainty
regarding
the
coronavirus
pandemic,
The
Muslim
News has
postponed
its
prestigious
annual
awards
ceremony
until
late UK
summer.
Shabnam Mahmood
is a London-based
journalist who
specializes in
covering topics
relating to the
British Asian
diaspora for a
national and
international
audience.
She has sensitively
tackled taboo
subjects within the
Asian community such
as the rise of HIV
in South Asian
communities,
radicalization,
LGBTQ, and grooming.
She was one of the
few reporters
permitted to enter a
mosque to cover the
funeral of one of
the Grenfell Tower
fire victims.
Shabnam also covers
entertainment
matters,
interviewing
Bollywood figures
such as Asha Bhosle
and Shah Rukh Khan.
She regularly
reports for BBC News
as well as the News
Channel and World
TV.
Her reports have
been aired on Radio
4’s Today and
Women’s Hour and her
digital videos are
viewed by thousands.
The inside
story to the
Asda takeover –
How Muslims
Should Respond
Rags to
Riches,
Conventional
Debt and Private
Equity – The
Inside Story To
The Issa
brothers’ Asda
Takeover
What happened?
Two Muslim
brothers hailing
from Blackburn
have agreed, as
part of a
consortium, to
buy a majority
stake in Asda.
They partnered
up with TDR
Capital – a
private equity
firm – to make
the successful
bid of £6.8bn.
The deal is
being financed
through lending
provided by a
syndicate of
banks including
Barclays, ING,
Lloyds Banking
Group and Morgan
Stanley.
The Issa
brothers are
a genuine rags
to riches story
– starting from
humble
beginnings with
just one petrol
station to
building an
empire that
today generates
revenues of over
$25bn.
The Asda deal is
a classic
example of a
leveraged buyout
(“LBO”) – a
private equity
strategy that
has been used by
private equity
firms to make
significant
returns over the
last few
decades. The EG
Group (the Issa
brothes’
company) itself
has made over 10
such takeovers
or mergers over
the last few
decades.
We have no
reason to
believe that EG
Group and TDR
used sharia-compliant
finance to fund
the acquisition
of Asda. The FT
reported that
the deal was
funded by a
mixture of
high-yield bonds
and leveraged
loans.
In this article
we will explore:
How private
equity and LBOs
work
What role debt
has had to play
in the EG
Group’s success
Whether there
were sharia-compliant
alternatives
open to EG
Group; and
How we as a
community should
approach and
understand the
complex issues
around
conventional
financing in
Muslim
businesses.
How does private
equity and LBOs
work?
Private equity
relies on debt
financing to
magnify its
returns.
Let’s run an
example to bring
this to light.
If a company is
making £10
profit and you
buy it for £100,
then the next
year you make
£10 and make a
10% return
annually.
But now let’s
use a LBO
strategy. If you
borrow £80 and
just put down
£20 of your own
money, then you
will have to pay
an annual
interest payment
to the lender.
Let’s say you
pay 5% to the
lender on their
£80. You would
have to pay £4
of the £10
profit you make.
You would then
be able to keep
the remaining £6
as your own
profit.
So now, having
put down just
£20, you get
access to a
return of £6,
which is a 30%
return. That is
3x more than you
would have made.
So your money
does more for
you and you
could buy 5
different
businesses worth
£100 now,
putting down
just £20 in each
business.
You could end up
making £30
profit from £100
investment
instead of just
£10. You could
then use that
£30 to finance
further LBO
deals to acquire
more assets.
If things go
well you could
amass a huge
empire very
quickly with
relatively
little money.
But there is a
big risk to this
too.
If one year you
do not make £10
profit – perhaps
you make a £2
loss – you still
have to pay £4
to the banks.
That means you
have to conjure
up money from
outside of the
business. And if
you are heavily
leveraged up
already with all
your cash tied
up – that can be
a very
precarious
position to be
in.
LBO and
debt-financing
are a key part
to the EG Group
strategy
As this
following
excerpt from a
BBC article
explains, the EG
Group has a
significant
amount of debt –
£9 for every £1
of cash earnings
in fact – and
uses this debt
to continue an
aggressive
growth strategy:
In 2019, EG
Group reported
sales of €20bn
(£18bn), up from
€12bn a year
before. While
fuel accounted
for €16bn of
sales, the
business is
geared towards
adding on other
sales, from
brands including
including
Subway, Burger
King and French
supermarket
Carrefour.
Borrowing costs
on €8bn of debt
pushed the firm
into a fiscal
loss for the
year, of €496m.
The firm has
about £9 of debt
for every £1 of
cash earnings,
says Azhar
Hussain, head of
global credit at
Royal London
Asset
Management. Most
companies would
have £3-6 of
debt for each
pound earned
before eyebrows
are raised and
questions are
asked about
repayment, he
said.
This is a risky
and bold
business
strategy. The
idea is that EG
Group uses debt
to continue to
acquire solid,
cash-generative
businesses. They
can then use
that cash to
service their
debt and
continue
acquiring.
This leads to
(a) increasing
economies of
scale; (b)
stronger
negotiation
power with
producers of the
products they
stock; and (c)
greater brand
power.
Ultimately they
can stop
acquiring and
actually reap in
the profits –
this then turns
EG Group into a
cash cow and
over the course
of a decade or
so of reducing
their debt
mountain, EG
Group becomes a
much more stable
and profitable
business
(they’re
currently making
a lot of
revenues but
posting a loss
due to the debt
payments).
The alternative
move for the
Issa brothers is
to list the EG
Group and cash
in that way.
Are there
alternative ways
of structuring
these deals that
could make it
sharia-compliant?
Okay, so it
sounds like the
EG Group has a
bold (if risky)
business
strategy that is
working. But
what about the
sharia
compliance
issues?
Firstly, to
reiterate – we
do not know for
sure that this
deal definitely
involved haram
financing – but
we have every
reason to
believe that is
the case.
EG Group is one
of the biggest
borrowers in the
Euopean
corporate
leveraged loan
and junk debt
markets and has
used LBO and
conventional
debt to buyout
at least 10
previous
companies.
Could they have
structured this
deal in a halal
way?
This Sheikh Uzair Weekly Tafseer Lessons.
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“Mashallah/nice lesson and good platform to convey Islamic knowledge /
JazaakAllah / God bless you dear imam.”
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Do your part and contribute to and help others gain beneficial knowledge from
our local Scholars In Sha Allah and share with your communities.
Be part of these Weekly Tafseer lessons with Sheikh Uzair every Wednesday night
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Only on Academy Alive YouTube.
PLEASE
NOTE
It is the usual policy of CCN to
include notices of events, video links and articles that
some readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices
are often posted as received. Including such messages/links
or providing the details of such events does not necessarily
imply endorsement or agreement by CCN of the contents
therein.
Labor distances itself from 'Islamophobic'
Darebin council candidate
Victorian Labor is trying
to distance itself from a Darebin
Council candidate accused of
Islamophobia who has been using the
party's logo.
Sofia Kotanidis, who has corflutes and
other campaign material bearing Labor's
logo, shared dozens of anti-Islamic news
articles, petitions and blog posts,
including one that said Muslims should
"get the f--- out of our countries and
go back to the monstrous shitholes you
came from".
Ms Kotanidis, who is also the deputy
chair of the Darebin Ethnic Communities
Council, is one of 10 candidates for the
inner-north council in a group called
Labor Members for Darebin.
Federal Labor MP Ged Kearney spoke at a
campaign launch for three of the group's
other members.
The group's Facebook page had a photo of
Ms Kotanidis alongside its other
members, including current Labor
councillors Tim Laurence and Julie
Williams, and listed her name and a link
to her Facebook page.
On Wednesday evening, the group shared a
statement saying it was pleased that Ms
Kotanidis had deleted her anti-Islamic
posts, along with her words: "We all
make mistakes; I regret my actions over
2½ years ago and I apologise profusely."
That statement and all references to Ms
Kotanidis were later deleted from the
page.
Labor's state secretary, Chris Ford,
said the party had not endorsed Ms
Kotanidis as a candidate and she had
been asked to remove its logo from her
campaign material.
"Sofia’s views do not reflect those of
Victorian Labor or our members," he
said.
"The logo Sofia has used was not
provided by Victorian Labor and it is
not an official Labor logo."
Mr Ford confirmed that no candidates had
been endorsed by Labor in Darebin.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Cr
Laurence said Ms Kotanidis had been
removed from Labor Members for Darebin
to "preserve our values as a group
committed to multiculturalism".
"While Sofia is no longer part of our
group she remains a member of the
Victorian Labor Party," he said.
"That is out of our jurisdiction and
remains a matter for the Victorian
Branch."
A spokeswoman for Ms Kearney said she
had "absolutely nothing" to do with Ms
Kotanidis' candidacy.
"Ged finds the views expressed by Sofia
abhorrent and incompatible with public
office," she said.
Ms Kotanidis describes herself as being
a "Supported ALP candidate for the North
West Ward, Darebin City Council".
Ms Kotanidis' Facebook posts, dated from
2016 to 2018, included complaints that
butchers in Darebin sold halal meat, a
petition to ban burqas, and inflammatory
material from Pauline Hanson.
Darebin Council alerted the area's
ethnic council about the posts in 2018
and she was asked to remove the posts.
She stood down from her position, but
was re-elected at the end of that year.
Some, if not all, of the posts were only
recently deleted.
Darebin deputy mayor Susanne Newton
recounted two ethnic committee meetings
she attended in 2018 where Ms Kotanidis
made derogatory comments about new
refugees, including that they have it
easier compared to previous generations
and that they exaggerated racism.
“She’s saying she wants to represent a
progressive community, but what I saw in
those meetings is not the values that, I
think, the community holds, ” the Greens
councillor said.
Islamic Council of Victoria
vice-president Adel Salman condemned Ms
Kotanidis' posts.
"We view her as an Islamophobe," he
said.
"What she does is she re-posts stuff
that is anti-Islam or anti-Muslim,
typically from the far-right groups who
have a very clear racist anti-Muslim
agenda.
"The Labor Party should very clearly
disassociate and condemn [her actions]."
Mr Salman said Ms Kotanidis' position on
the Ethnic Communities' Council of
Victoria, as the deputy chair of its
Darebin branch, was untenable.
He said many voters would have no idea
about her history.
"Even a lot of Muslims would be
completely unaware of her actual views
and they might accidentally vote for her
... that's a very, very poor situation,"
he said.
Darebin Ethnic Communities' Council
chairman Nalliah Suriyakumaran denounced
the posts, but defended his colleague,
pointing to her record of working with
refugees.
"Sofia, who is one person,
singlehandedly helped a lot of refugees
from Islamic backgrounds, the Rohingyas,
to get jobs," he said.
Mr Suriyakumaran said Ms Kontanidis'
family were victims of the Pontian
genocide against indigenous Greeks in
the Ottoman Empire during and after the
First World World.
"A lot of the migrants, who come from
overseas, especially if they're
minorities in their old countries, their
experience of discrimination, that
baggage they carry, they bring it to
Australia," he said.
"I'm not in any way defending her," he
added.
An Ethnic Communities' Council of
Victoria spokesman called Ms Kotanidis'
posts abhorrent and completely at odds
with its mission.
"ECCV recognises that intercultural
racism within migrant and refugee
communities is an issue that we need to
continue to work on, as we do across
broader society," he said.
Ms Kotanidis' statement said the posts
did not reflect her views or actions in
support of multicultural communities.
"I have advocated for Darebin’s
culturally and linguistically diverse
communities and I have earned their
trust and respect," she wrote.
"I am happy to be judged on my actions
rather than something I posted more than
2½ years ago which I deleted."
Darebin’s Umar bin Al-Khattab Mosque
opened in Preston in 1976 and the
council signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with its owners, the
Islamic Society of Victoria, in 2009.
The City of Darebin website says the
municipality is home to people from over
153 countries who speak 148 different
languages.
Julie Williams did not respond to a
request for comment.
I would also like to request
your help to volunteer for
the GREENS party by standing
at booths, handing out
flyers and some other tasks
as required on the following
dates please:
Ages 16yrs +
7th October to 31 October
every Saturday and Sunday
from 9am -10:30am (carrying
road signs along Beaudesert
Rd and Algester Rd) ALGESTER
19th October each day until
31 October 2020. (as many
volunteers as possible to
work for a couple of hours
each) BRISBANE WIDE
Election Day 31st October
(as many volunteers as
possible for longer shifts
to cover the full day -
probably 4hr shifts)
BRISBANE WIDE
ALL VOLUNTEERS PLEASE
CONTACT #MEL DIRECTLY
0400 932 901
Roster, Tasks and Locations
will be provided by Mel.
Thank you for your help and
support. This is a great
organization and you'll find
the learning curve a huge
advantage to your personal
and professional
development.
LONGLISTED FOR THE
WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF
THE YEAR PRIZE 2020
Ruqsana Begum's account
of how she rose to become a
Muay Thai world champion is
only a small part of why her
story is such an
inspirational one for anyone
who has ever followed their
dream.
Ever since she went to
school in Bethnal Green,
part of a large local
Bangladeshi community,
Ruqsana Begum stood apart
from her friends because she
was so keen on sport. At
home, she wore the clothes
her mother wanted her to
wear and behaved like a
dutiful Muslim daughter, but
at heart she wanted
something different. And
when she went to college and
saw an advert for a Muay
Thai club, she knew what
that would be. But she also
knew that her parents would
never allow her to fight -
even if they could have
afforded the costs. So she
fought in secret, and soon
discovered that she was a
natural. But when her
parents arranged her
marriage, her new world
collapsed and she found
herself unable to cope,
until she broke free again,
and worked her way to the
top.
Ruqsana's story is a tale of
empowerment that will
inspire anyone who has ever
had to battle against the
odds and against all the
opposition to achieve their
goal.
REVIEW
Representation matters.
It matters in all our walks of life. It
allows the diversity of the talent in
our communities to shine. Ruqsana
Begum’s — a Muay Thai World Champion —
story is a testament to that. Begum,
like so many Muslim women, has to
grapple with the expectations of an
immigrant community who want nothing
more than economic and social stability.
However, growing up in
East London, Begum chances upon a boxing
gym and begins a life- long love affair
with combative sport — not quite your
typical Muslim girl love story. She
shows us that Muslim women can achieve
and improve the crafts we specialise in,
adding a layer and richness of culture
to our stories.
Begum is a Bangladeshi
woman raised in a practising Muslim home
and her personal journey sounds very
familiar to many of us — if not all. She
grew up in Bethnal Green in a small flat
with her siblings, her grandparent and
parents. She was expected to go to
mosque, to finish her chores and get
married one day.
Winning a trophy in a
combative sport does not fit into that
narrative. Begum, for the sheer love of
the sport, doggedly keeps training, in
secret at first, and fighting
irrespective of — what could be
debilitating — conditions including a
messy divorce and a chronic fatigue
disease.
It is a story of how her
fitness and training journey fired her
personal growth. ‘That was my mentality:
even if I have to die, even if I have to
lose an arm, I am going to give it my
all because I don’t want any regrets.’
(p171).
Her determination and
grit, which she seemed to have in
abundance, was developed in the boxing
ring and it helped time and time again
overcome obstacles. At each point, it is
her love of the sport and the fight that
brought her back.
In addition to her battle
with ME (a chronic fatigue syndrome),
Begum also had to experience — according
to her — severe bullying from her fellow
gym partners who resented her success.
She went to compete at home and abroad,
before winning the Muay Thai world
championship in 2010.
Begum was signed on by
David Hayes and stepped into the
professional boxing arena which was a
whole different world to Muay Thay. When
questioning whether she should step into
boxing her brother pointed out that no
one looked like her in the realm of
sports. She writes, ‘I felt a
responsibility to try to make a
difference.
Because I believed I
could do so much more for my community
by challenging myself — by coming out of
my fear and all those emotions, I was
feeling and trying to suppress. Whether
I became a world champion or not, it
doesn’t matter. Just stepping into that
boxing arena is going to have a huge
impact.’(p255).
What started as a hobby
for Begum has become a quest for
representation paving the way for others
in our communities a viable choice to
pursue the sport.
his book is well written,
very easy to read — thanks to Sarah
Shephard the ghostwriter. However, I am
uncomfortable with the repeated mention
of individuals (and their actions) that
Begum has had personal disagreements
with.
I understand that the
actions of others have had an adverse
effect on her life, but to mention their
actions when they are not given an equal
platform to present their views seems
highly unfair.
But the treaty provided a
welcomed respite from
conflict that gave Muhammad
the ability to expand Islam
far beyond Medina.
Now without the threat of
internal dissent and
external invasion, he had
the freedom to send
missionaries throughout the
Arabian Peninsula, and even
beyond, into the Byzantine
and Persian Empires in the
north.
Bedouin tribes converted en
masse, allying themselves
with the Prophet.
Even Meccans began to
convert.
Khalid ibn al-Walid and ‘Amr
ibn al-‘As, two of Quraysh’s
greatest military
commanders, left Mecca and
joined Muhammad in Medina in
the years after Hudaybiyyah.
The treaty had failed to
give the Muslims immediate
control of their holiest
site, but it allowed Islam
to grow exponentially
throughout Arabia, much to
the dismay of the hardliners
in Mecca, who just a few
years earlier hoped to end
Islam.
Furthermore, the sanctity of
the truce was not completely
fulfilled.
Just two years after its
signing, a tribe allied with
Quraysh launched a surprise
attack against a tribe
allied with Muhammad just
outside the borders of
Mecca.
This constituted a breach of
the treaty, which had
promised a total peace for
ten years.
With the treaty now voided,
Muhammad could call upon his
newfound allies throughout
the peninsula in a new
expedition aimed for Mecca.
This time, however, they
would not be travelling as
peaceful pilgrims.
Muhammad was finally in a
position of power.
Thousands of Muslims from
all over the peninsula were
now at his command, bound by
alliances and conversions to
join his army whenever
called upon.
At this point, the people of
Mecca knew there was no way
they could militarily defeat
the Prophet.
It was Mecca versus dozens
of tribes, all united
together for the first time
in the history of the Arabs.
Attempted negotiations
between Muhammad and the
Quraysh ended in failure,
and in early 630, his army
of over 10,000
Muslims—brought together
from all corners of
Arabia—marched on the holy
city.
Ahmad Totonji’s 35
Principles for Success in
Life and Work
continued from last week's CCN.....
3 Agreement
and Disagreement
The first principle in group
work is to focus on
collaboration.
Look for ways
of cooperation and
reconciliation rather than
getting involved in side
arguments and allowing
trivialities to sidetrack
work.
Cooperation
supersedes conflict.
Do not put
pressure on others,
embarrass them, or look for
areas of disagreement;
rather, overcome past
differences and look for
areas of agreement and for
opportunities to foster love
and closeness.
Islam is a
religion of unity.
We must focus
on what brings people
together in creed and
thought and on what
reconciles people’s hearts.
The means may
differ but the goal is the
same; what we seek is that
all believers become
brothers joined by bonds
stronger than blood – this
is the true brotherhood of
faith.
Overcoming
discord and revealing its
pitfalls and rejecting the
incitement of hatred and
ill-will leads to the
strengthening of faith-based
relations.
Life is full
of things that are positive,
good, and constructive, so
let us focus on having a
sunny outlook for
brotherhood based on faith
keeps us away from what is
hurtful, and helps us
overcome discord.
Authentic
faith is characterized by a
global embrace, which is one
of its major qualities.
There are
many secondary issues that
arise in the arena of social
action, some of which are
controversial.
Given that
our religion is wide in
scope, compatible with a
global world view, and
relevant to all people and
all places, controversy is
natural and acceptable.
We must seek
to reach an understanding
between all of us as
believers and we must go
beyond anything that causes
disagreement and discord.
The umbrella
of faith is wide enough for
all of its adherents;
everyone must join together
and unite in creed and
action.
There is
enough diversity to offer a
variety of interpretations
in secondary matters,
providing enrichment and
progress.
In this way,
we can achieve
complementarity rather than
infighting, for what is more
beautiful than hearts
unified around a sublime
goal coupled with
intellectual connections and
working arm-in-arm?.
We are about
to hit summer. And we are
keeping some big secrets
about all of our customers.
All these secrets have been
made for you!
Over the next month we will
be dropping some secrets so
you can be rewarded like you
deserve to be!
Join in on our latest social
media competition! With a
chance to win $100 –
Voucher.
All you got to do to join is
let us know which of these
hunger crushing burgers is
your favourite for your
chance to win!
To join all you got to do is
1. Vote for your favourite
burger
2. Tag or share with your
friends
3. Like and share our
Facebook page!
We must
spread the word that we are
100% Halal, food made with
love and made with a
passion. Serving you our
community delicious quality
food every time.
Remember
multiple entries are
allowed. For your chance to
win
Are you
yearning
to
understand
the
words of
Allah
and
experience
the
Quran on
a whole
new
level?
Have you
been
wanting
to
understand
how to
unlock
your
potential
and
realign
your
values
to start
living
the life
you
deserve,
finding
the
balance
in your
work and
personal
life?
Achieve
your
ultimate
vision
of your
life,
career,
finances,
health,
and
relationships.
Then the
Quran
Alive
Course
is for
you, a
mentorship
program
coaching
through
the
Quran.
The
Quran
Alive
Open Day
will
give you
a
glimpse
of how
you can
master
every
aspect
of your
life.
You can
interact
with
teachers
and
students
and
participate
in our
interactive
workshop
showing
you just
how easy
it is
for
every
single
person
to
understand
the
Quran
and
implement
the
Quran in
your
life.
Our goal
is to
help you
see how
transformative
it is to
experience
Allah
speaking
directly
to you,
and the
amazing
changes
you will
see
through
applying
the
valuable
lessons
of the
Quran in
every
aspect
of your
life.
The
Global Muslim Women’s
Conference
is a series of virtual
events focused on showcasing
and celebrating Muslim women
from all walks of life. It
provides an opportunity to
listen and speak to one
another on a local, national
and international level.
The virtual conference
provides a space to connect
and focus on significant
topics affecting the Muslim
woman. Its aim is to create
meaningful dialogue by
sharing unique skills,
knowledge, by unlocking
strengths and talents to
create collective progress.
Alhamdulillah, over many years
I have worked with many non-Muslims who have
always asked me about Muslims & Islam, and I
have shared as much and as best as I could
within my understanding and knowledge.
Alhamdulillah I have watch them develop a
beautiful understanding of our practices, to the
extent I have seen them explain and clarify
misconceptions to others.
Once again during this past Ramadan, much was
discussed over our staff iftar dinner meeting.
So I decided to document some of this basic
Islamic information in a simple to read and
understand website and share with my staff and
colleagues.
It’s intended to be as simple as can be, whilst
still providing a good overview, including some
multi-faith interviews which I found very
valuable even to me as a Muslim.
Feel free to use and share if you feel
appropriate.
I have also shared some of the beautiful Quran
recitations and supplications with English
translation.
DR MOHAMMED IQBAL SULTAN
MFS JANAZA
Muslim Funeral Services guidelines adopted on
dealing with Janazas during this pandemic.
This includes the Covid and non-Covid Janazas, for
burials in South East Queensland.
This is the Southport
Masjid in the heart of
the Gold Coast Australia
where Muslims make up
less than 5%.
Southport
Masjid is the second
masjid on the Gold
Coast. It was
established to
accommodate the growing
Muslim community. It is
situated less than 10
minutes from Cavill
Avenue, Surfers
Paradise, making it a
prime location to also
serve the needs of
Muslim tourists. There
is ample parking and
easy access.
Because of COVID we
cannot fundraise
traditionally putting
the masjid in grave risk
of immediate
foreclosure.
Help us pay for the
masjid before it is
forced to close.
We are in desperate and
urgent need of the
masjid to save our
community.
From protest to piety,
from hate to love, from
loneliness to community,
from ignorance to
guidance, from church to
masjid, from dunya to
akhira.
With your help, our
desperation will turn to
hope. Fight alongside us
to save the masjid!
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.
HikmahWay Institute
HikmahWay offers online and
in-person Islamic courses to
equip Muslims of today with
the knowledge, understanding
and wisdom to lead balanced,
wholesome and beneficial
lives.
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.
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someone you know who would like to subscribe to CCN please
encourage them to enter their details
here.
Labor distances itself from 'Islamophobic'
Darebin council candidate
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