Where:
Kuraby Community Hall Car Park (Svoboda Park,
Kuraby)
Why:
“Australia needs 20,000
blood donations every week to stay
self-sufficient in blood (that's over one
million donations every year). And considering
over 80% of us will need blood or blood products
in our lifetime, the life you save may be your
own” (Australian Red Cross).
Your blood could save up to three
lives.
In
Islam, donating blood is an act of charity. It
might save the life of a person who is in
desperate need of it. Referring to this, Allah,
the Almighty says: “…and if any one saved a
life, it would be as if he saved the life of all
mankind.” (Al-Ma'dah: 32).
What else:
Fabulous
random draw prizes*,
giveaways
and a
free scrumptious sausage sizzle.
* We have 5
Coles/Myers Gift cards valued at $100 each to give away to 5 lucky
blood donors. These cards can also be used at Kmart, Target and Officeworks
Quran Reading
Competition
A record number of
Islamic Schools, Societies and Madrasahs as well
as a record number of students entered the
Islamic Council of Queensland's Quran Reading
Competition this year.
14 institutions
and 77 participants turned up at the Darra
Mosque last Sunday for the annual event.
A complete list of
the winners can be downloaded
here.
Two elders of the
Muslim Community were also honoured.
Mr
Fakher Baytieh was honoured for being the
pioneer in providing basic Islamic knowledge to
adults and children under the mango tree on the
site of the present day Holland Mosque.
Mr Bashir Deen
was recognized for his contribution to the
building of the Holland Park Mosque.
Up Close and Personal
with .................
Abdullah
Ibrahim
What is your country of origin?
Egypt
What did you do prior to your current job?
I worked as a Sales Consultant and prior to that I
worked at Alpha Flight Services which is at the Brisbane
Airport as the Quality Assurance Officer for the Air
Kitchen.
Tell us about your current role/job.
My current job title is, the Muslim Employment Officer.
The focus is to assist Muslim people on an individual
basis to apply for jobs of interest. The main focus at
the moment for me is to find training opportunities for
my clients. At the moment there are so many training
opportunities people can take advantage of and what I am
working on is getting my head around what is available
and other up coming training opportunities.
What is it like working in this role/job?
When I first took on this position I was quite
astonished by the training opportunities and pathways
made available by our State Government and InshaAllah I
am determined to make the community aware of these
opportunities and help individuals access them. It is
really rewarding to sense the relief of my clients when
they realise that they have finally identified a career
path or have found suitable employment.
What is your favourite food?
My favourite food is food. I WILL eat anything! At least
once.*conditions
apply.
What is your favourite book?
My favourite book is a book that I read as a child
called “How we embraced Islam.” It is filled with
interesting stories complied by Arafat K El-Ashi, about
people from around the world and their encounters with
Muslims and what lead them to Islam.
How do you approach your work and life in general?
Life is such that it must be approached strategically
and with commonsense. God did not create it to be
difficult. So everything that one does must be looked at
holistically because every scenario needs a well
orchestrated approach. And more importantly never take
anyone or anything for granted!
What advice would you give young people of today?
I encourage young people, males and females in our
community to take a leadership role in matters that will
relate to them in the very near future and not let
people who don’t know or recognise their needs to act on
their behalf especially when their activities are not
transparent and not fed back to the community. I am
confident that there are many young people who would
like to add value and to make a difference in the
community in every level but don’t know how to go about
it. There are many things you can do on an individual
basis. The main things you have to remember is whatever
you do make sure your intention is to help the community
then consult the wise and act wise. Be patient but
persistent.
[Editor]
If you would like CCN to get Up Close and Personal
with someone in our community let us know and we'll send
out our intrepid team of investigative journalists to
get under their skin (metaphorically speaking, of
course!).
GHUSL by BMBS
Yesterday (Saturday) Imam Uzair
gave a practical demonstration at the Kuraby Mosque of
the process to be followed when preparing a deceased
male body for burial.
The Brisbane Muslim Burial Services will
be conducting a GHUSL class for Ladies at the Kuraby
Musjid on Saturday 25 August 2007 after Zuhr Salaah
(1:30pm).
The class will be a practical
demonstration on how to perform Ghusl on a female.
All ladies are invited to attend.
Muslim Community
Reference Group (MCRG): A continuing dialogue with the
State Government
CCN asked Nora Amath to explain the
composition and role of the MCRG
At the initiation of the State Government
a small number of community, academic and religious
representatives from the Muslim community were invited
to form the Muslim Community Reference Group (MCRG).
For over 1½ years now, this diverse group
has been working together with the State Government as
well as with their respective community groups to
promote better dialogue and understanding.
The representatives in MCRG are:
Islamic Council of Qeensland president:
Suliman Sabdia
Islamic Women’s Association of
Queensland, Inc. : Galila Abdelsalam
Griffith Islamic Research Unit Director:
Dr. Mohamad Abdalla
Griffith Islamic Research Unit scholar:
Halim Rane
Griffith Islamic Research Unit scholar:
Emad Soliman
AMARAH Managing Director. : Nora
Amath-Rane
Al-Nisa Youth Group, Inc. Activism chair
: Salam El-Merebi
Crescents of Brisbane Inc President:
Mustafa Ally
Muslim Business Network President Dr
Mohammad Hanief Khatree
Queensland Muslim Times: Dr Sadiq
Mustapha
Federation of Muslim Students and Youth:
Umar Batchelor
Male Youth Community Consultant Officer:
Anas Abdalla
MCRG Secretary: Shaima Khan
Community (Family and Refugees)
Consultant: Rashida Joseph
Community Consultant: Dr Daud Batchelor
This group was established following
discussions at prior meetings between representatives of
the Muslim community and the then Minister for
Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon John Cobb
MP and the then Minister for Small Business, Information
Technology Policy and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon
Chris Cummins MP. Discussions also took place between
representatives of the Muslim community and the then
State Director for Immigration and Multicultural and
Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), Ms Karen Stanley, and the
Executive Director of Multicultural Affairs Queensland,
Mr Steven Maguire.
These meetings identified the following
key, mutual areas of concern and interest:
• Initiatives focusing on improving
understanding between the Muslim community and the wider
Australian society;
• Initiatives addressing fundamental misunderstandings
and of Islam in the Australian context among both
Muslims and Muslims;
• Challenges facing Muslim youth that are likely to
impact on their integration into the wider society,
particularly those concerning identity and
self-perception; and
• Socio-economic needs of the Muslim community,
particularly with regard to employment issues and
workplace relations.
With these concerns in mind, the first
MCRG meeting, organised by Multicultural Affairs
Queensland, was held on 12 December 2005. Regular
meetings are held regularly to further continue the
dialogue.
One of MCRG’s first task was to provide
advice on the implementation of The Muslim Community
Engagement Strategy (MCES), “designed to promote
positive relations and engagement between the Muslim
Community and the wider Queensland Community”, according
to the State Government.
After months of careful deliberation, the
MCRG and the State Government agreed on certain
initiatives which will generate short, medium and
long-term benefits for relationship-building between the
Muslim community and the wider society, characterised by
mutual understanding, productivity and harmony. These
initiatives have been identified in line with key areas
of government interest and concern, as well as the needs
and aspirations of the Muslim community. Most of these
initiatives have been carried out in the past year with
a few more to be finalised late this year and early next
year.
If you have specific questions related to
the grants, please contact Multicultural Affairs
Queensland directly on 07 3224 5690 or 1800 053 739 or
email: maq@premiers.qld.gov.au.
If you have other issues of concern,
please contact Nora Amath on 0422 349 786 or any other
representatives of MCRG.
In challenging times like these, we need
to be set aside our differences, work together and build
bridges of understanding. It is in Allah’s wisdom that
He “made you into nations and tribes, so that you may
know one another” (Quran, 49:13).
Muslims and the media:
Australia Talks
ABC Radio National Tuesday 7 August
2007
"In the last quarter century, the
relationship between the Muslims and the western media
has gone from being a non-issue to an everyday event.
Tonight, on Australia Talks, we will look at the
changing relationship between Muslims and the western
Media ...are Muslims being demonised in the media? How
well does the western media understand Muslim issues and
are some media outlets in danger of lumping all Muslims
or Islamic groups with a single monolithic identity?"
The Caltex on Paradise Road, Slacks Creek
will no longer be selling Halaal Products as of the 10th
August 2007.
More migrant skills in
demand
Foreign architects, locksmiths and
aircraft engineers will find it easier to get work in
Australia under changes to the skilled migration
program.
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews and
Employment Minister Joe Hockey yesterday announced 10
additions to the list of occupations in demand.
These were: architects, avionic and
mechanical aircraft maintenance engineers, quantity
surveyors, external auditors, computing professionals,
locksmiths, painterdecorators, furniture finishers and
optical mechanics.
Mr Hockey said the inclusion of
architects and quantity surveyors on the list would be
welcomed by the resources and construction industry,
while the addition of aviation engineers would help
Australia remain competitive in aircraft maintenance.
Those who have experience in occupations
on the list get extra points when applying for skilled
migration visas, improving their chances of being
accepted into Australia.
Source: Australian
Financial Review Friday 10/8/2007
The CCN Media Monitor
Citizenship Test get the Nod
PLANS to tighten
Australia's citizenship requirements
were passed by the House of
Representatives yesterday, despite
warnings from one government MP that
the move was "overwhelmingly
regressive" and would "diminish us
as a nation".
Liberal backbencher Petro
Georgiou, who has previously spoken
out against the citizenship
proposal, said the test would
prevent many "meritorious aspiring
citizens" from gaining "full
membership of the Australian
community".
"I do not support it because
there has been an utter failure to
show that a new citizenship test is
needed or that it will operate
fairly," he said.
"And I do not support it because
it sends a corrosive message to many
people who have become citizens that
they are undeserving of that
status."
The bill will introduce measures
that will see prospective citizens
undergo an oral assessment before
taking a computer-based test of 30
questions drawn randomly from a pool
of 200...............read
the rest
Jihadists owe Kirby a thank you
SINGLE-HANDEDLY,
Justice Michael Kirby disproves
Alexander Hamilton's aphorism that
the judiciary is the "least
dangerous" branch of government.
Fortunately, there is only one Kirby
on the High Court.
Accordingly, his
refusal last week to uphold the
Howard Government's control orders
is just another meaningless whistle
in the wind from our most senior
court's great dissenter.
But Kirby's 94-page
judicial yawn at the need for
anti-terrorism laws provides a
timely lesson on why filling the
next High Court vacancy with a
sensible judge is such a critical
issue. As with most things, it's all
a question of numbers.
A few more
Kirby-style judges on the High Court
and we risk turning our Constitution
into what US justice Robert Jackson
once described as a suicide pact...............read
the rest
Dutch MP calls for ban on Quran
A Dutch member of parliament has called
for the Quran to be banned in the Netherlands,
describing it as a "fascist book" which calls on people
to kill non-believers and rape women.
Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right
Freedom Party, called for the ban in a letter published
in De Volkskrant newspaper.
In his letter, Wilders compares the
Muslim holy book to Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler's
autobiography, and said the Quran has "no place in our
constitutional state".
"I have been saying this for years: there is no such
thing as a moderate Islam," Wilders wrote.
Wilders' Freedom Party holds nine seats
in the Netherlands' 150 seat parliament.
Wilders also said several chapters in the
Quran "call on Muslims to oppress, persecute or kill
Christians, Jews, dissidents and non-believers, to beat
and rape women and to establish an Islamic state by
force".
The publication of the letter comes after
a weekend attack on Eshan Jami, a young Dutch
politician, who established a group to support people
who have renounced Islam.
Jami, who was not visibly injured in the
attack, is now under police protection as is Wilders.
"Ban this wretched book like Mein Kampf
is banned! Send a signal to Jami's attackers and other
Islamic radicals that the Quran cannot be used in the
Netherlands as an inspiration or an excuse for
violence," Wilders said.
Wilders acknowledged that his plan would
not receive majority support in the Dutch parliament.
"I am fed up with Islam in the
Netherlands: no more Muslim immigrants allowed. I am fed
up with the worship of Allah and Muhammad in the
Netherlands: no more mosques," his letter concluded.
Muslim refugee home rental probe
A MUSLIM leader who runs state-owned
emergency housing for his community will be investigated
for allegedly using the apartments intended for refugees
and the underprivileged to accommodate friends.
Islamic Council of NSW vice-president Ali Roude has
admitted renting out one of the 10 NSW government-owned
units in Sydney's southwest to his confidant, Muslim
community radio station broadcaster Abrahim Zoabi.
Mr Zoabi, who does not qualify for public housing,
admitted living at the two-bedroom flat at Belmore and
paying $110 a week rent, despite owning a double-storey
house in Prestons, in Sydney's outer southwest.
Applicants for public and community housing cannot "own,
or part-own, residential property in Australia",
according to the NSW Housing Department's webpage.
After The Australian discovered the arrangement, which
both men insisted was temporary, the department launched
an inquiry into the Islamic council's administration of
the four units in Belmore and six in Bankstown...............read
the rest
Cairns Mosque opponents lodge
last-ditch appeal
OPPONENTS
of a Parramatta Park mosque in Cairns have lodged an
appeal with the Planning and Environment Court to
stop the development among a row of Queenslander houses.
Parramatta Park resident Peter Romer said
a group of about 10 residents lodged the appeal
last week against Cairns City Council for the
approval granted in May.
"We want some common sense to
prevail," Mr Romer said.
"We want this approval to be
reconsidered."
Mr Romer said the group had met
councillors, Mayor Kevin Byrne and solicitors to
try to stop the mosque, with a dome height of 8.5m,
being built at 31 Dunn St.
The appeal was a last-ditch effort to
"save" the street.
Far Northern Imam Abdul Aziz said the
appeal was not a surprise.
"In their petition it said if the mosque
was approved, they would take legal action and that was
back in about March," Mr Aziz said.
"This will hold up the whole project" He
expected the appeal to be before the courts in about
four to six months.
Mr Aziz said the 30 Muslim families who
worship at the current site needed a bigger, better
facility as numbers increase, with the mosque to cater
for up to 120 followers.
The Muslim leader last month lodged a
complaint with the Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner over "extremist and offensive"
comments made by Cairns businessman Werner Reimann
on an anti-Islamic web site.
Mr Aziz said nothing had been done with
the complaint because Mr Reimann had been out of the
country.
Source: Cairns Post 8/8/07
Out of diversity,
harmony
Social inclusion can
serve as a powerful inoculating
agent against religious and racial
conflict, but it needs to be built
up and nurtured, writes Ahmed Fahour
| August 08,
2007
Ahmed Fahour is chief executive
of the National Australia Bank. This
is an edited version of his
Fulbright Symposium address last
Friday to the Centre for Muslim
States and Societies, University of
Western Australia.
THE symposium
topic Muslim Citizens in the West:
Promoting Social Inclusion is a
subject never more critically
important than today. The divide
between the Muslim world, or at
least substantial parts of it, and
the West is an affront to good
order. It is an affront to our
shared humanity.
I would like to share some
reflections on being an Australian
and a Muslim. I also want to offer a
perspective on social inclusion, to
say something on what underpins it
and how we may support it.
Although I have never found it
difficult to be Australian and a
Muslim, I am profoundly conscious
that this is not the case for a
significant number of Muslims in
Australia today.
I have never experienced a
fundamental tension between what may
be described as Australian values in
the positive sense and the dictates
of the Koran.
Clearly the events of September 11,
Bali and, more recently, the London
Underground bombings have changed
the dynamic for Muslims in the West,
and I do not underestimate the
consequential challenges these
incidents present.
For my part, growing up in the
northern suburbs of Melbourne, I
never found it necessary to
compartmentalise my Lebanese
origins, my Muslim faith or the
experience of my newly adopted land...............read
the rest
All questions sent in are published here
anonymously and without any references to the author of
the question.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PECAN PIE
Ingredients
1 ½ cups Flour - 2 tblsp Brown sugar - 125gr Butter
Method Cream butter and sugar and add flour to form dough.
Bale at 18oc for 15 mins in a round 28cm pie pan.
Ingredients 2 tblsp Butter - 1/3 Cup Golden Syrup - ½ Cup brown
Sugar - 1 tsp Vanilla essence - 1 Cup Pecan nuts chopped
- 2 eggs slightly beaten.
Method Mix all ingredients except eggs and melt on stove.
When cool add eggs. Pour the mixture over the baked base
and bake for another 20 mins. Cut into squares and serve
with fresh cream.
COOKING TIP
To keep a cake from sticking to the pan, grease the pan
with one part shortening and two parts flour mixed until
it has a sandy consistency.
Source: Radio Islam Newsletter - Tuesday,
01 August 2007
Do you have a recipe to share with
CCN readers?
Send in your favourite recipe to
theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org and who
knows, you could be our "guest chef" for a future
edition of CCN.
The CCN Chuckle
One day Mula
Nasruddin and Abdul Jallaludeen were racing to get to
the Gabba to watch a cricket game between South Africa
and Australia.
As they were late
Mula Nasruddin was doing 120kph in a 100kph zone.
Lo and behold the
ever alert Brisbane Police saw this and apprehended Mula
Nasruddin for speeding.
Officer - Sorry
mate, you are doing 120kph in a 100kph zone.
Mula Nasruddin -
Sorry officer we are late for the cricket match at the
Gabba.
Officer - Well
mate, unfortunately I have to give you a ticket for
that.
Mula Nasruddin -
Thanks officer and can I get one for my friend, Abdul
Jallaludeen, too.
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
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 send an e-mail to
theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org with the words
“Subscribe Me” in the subject line.
Disclaimer
Articles and opinions appearing in this newsletter do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Crescents of
Brisbane team, CCN, its Editor or its Sponsors,
particularly if they eventually turn out to be libelous,
unfounded, objectionable, obnoxious, offensive,
slanderous and/or downright distasteful.
It is the usual policy of CCN to include
from time to time, notices of events that some readers
may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are often
posted as received. Including such messages or providing
the details of such events does not necessarily imply
endorsement of the contents of these events by either
CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.
What is your country of origin?
1
x PS2 black console with 1 control, memory card 8mb
and DVD remote control. Very good condition.
The Caltex on Paradise Road, Slacks Creek
will no longer be selling Halaal Products as of the 10th
August 2007.
OPPONENTS
of a Parramatta Park mosque in Cairns have lodged an
appeal with the Planning and Environment Court to
stop the development among a row of Queenslander houses. 
