By Janeth Deen

It is with great pleasure that we announce the opening date of the welfare shop established by the Queensland Muslim Welfare Association Inc to be at 10 am. on Saturday, 31 January 2009.

Members of three of the early Muslim families to settle in Queensland, represented by Hussin Goss, Osman Rane and Janeth Deen have been aware of the urgent need to be able to respond to help those people in our community who experience misfortune through no fault of their own.

We have been fortunate to be living in such a great country, and have had time to establish ourselves over the generations.

Our grandparents were migrants who had to struggle to survive during harsh times, amongst which was the great depression of the 1930s and other periods when business was at its lowest, which is part of the business cycle.

Many countries of the world are now facing recession, including ours. Some of our brothers and sisters may find themselves without jobs and this will impact on the family budget.

Our welfare shop will stock clothing and household merchandise at very low prices.

 
Most of the stock is second hand, but of good quality and will be sold to the people who visit our store in the Parkland Shopping Centre, Shop 5, 91 -101 Ewing Road, Woodridge.

The goods have been donated by Muslim brothers and sisters on the south side of Brisbane. The proceeds from the goods will help pay for the rent, electricity, insurance etc.

Any profits from the welfare shop will go into a trust fund for any emergency that may crop up for those affected by unforeseen events.

Those people referred to us by Imams or IWAQ or any other authority caring for the needy, will receive whatever we can provide to help them with, free of charge. We are a Welfare association with the prime objective being, to help the needy.

The welfare shop will stock both Muslim and western clothes, which makes it unique in itself.

It will be run on voluntary help and will be open from 8.30am to 5.00pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

On Tuesday and Thursday it will close at 12.30pm and on Fridays closed from 12.30pm to 2pm.

Imam Yusuf Peer will perform the opening dua and will assist the Mayor of Logan City, Pam Parker to officially open the shop.

Light refreshments will be provided for all those who attend the opening and everyone is invited to attend the opening ceremony.

We are delighted to have chosen the Parkland shopping centre for our shop, as it is in a very multi-cultural part of the region.

We thank you for your donations, and please say your duas that the shop serves the purpose it has been established for. Thanks also, to all our dedicated volunteers who have given their valuable time to help us set up the shop.

Hussin Goss, Osman Rane and Janeth Deen

Streaming access to 24 Islamic TV channels including Aljazeera English at:

http://muslimco.com/

An alternative to Google: http://www.muslimco.co.uk/

Good on yer, Jimmy!

The ABC Compass program on religions is producing a program on inter-faith marriage, i.e. partnership of 2 people from different faith traditions.

The researcher Kim Ackurst, would like to speak to couples who are in this type of relationship to hear of their experiences.

If you or have friends or relatives who may be interested in sharing their experiences, please contact

Kim Akhurst
Researcher
Compass
ABC TV
GPO Box 9994
Sydney NSW 2001
P: 02 8333 4050
F: 02 8333 4020
E: akhurst.kim@abc.net.au 
www.abc.net.au/compass 
 

The modern-day Haj experience writ large in IMAX film format is twinned with the ancient story of the Muslim world's best known ancient traveler in a new film that premiered this month in the Gulf.

"Journey to Mecca," made by Cosmic Picture, was shot in Saudi Arabia and Morocco and tells the tale of Ibn Battuta's adventurous 14th-century trek to Mecca from Tangier woven with IMAX coverage of millions of Muslims performing the Haj today.

"Four years ago, when we started on the film, we wanted to bring the story of one man's quest to reach Mecca to the giant canvas of IMAX -- the most spectacular cinema format on Earth with a screen some 25 meters (yards) high," said Dominic Cunningham-Reid, Producer of the film and Chairman of Cosmic Picture.

"We wanted to mix a 14th-century drama with contemporary Mecca to show the past and present."

"Journey to Mecca" marks the first and only time an IMAX camera has captured an aerial view of the Haj from a helicopter hovering 200 feet above Mecca and the first time an IMAX team has been admitted into the most sacred sanctuary of Islam -- the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

"We knew that if we could overcome the uncharted challenges of getting IMAX technology into the grand mosque of Mecca and up in the sky above it then we would make a film with the potential to promote a better fundamental understanding of Islam in the West while sharing the heart of Islamic heritage with the widest possible audience, regardless of religion," Cunningham-Reid said.

The producers maintain the film is non-political and is entertaining and enlightening to the non-Muslim world, helping them to understand Islam.

"We have looked at the Haj in a historical context by telling the story of Ibn Battuta," said Taran Davies, CEO of Cosmic Picture who describes "Journey to Mecca" as a "dramatic film with a documentary element."

"It is a celebration of culture, it is about humanity and with a powerful message. Our aim is to create awareness and understanding to the next generation and of peace and understanding especially in the non-Muslim world."

The film is scheduled to show this month in Dearborn, Michigan, and Paris and in February in Toronto. It also will be screened in Saudi Arabia, which has only one theater, and in various other countries where cinemas already have booked it without seeing the film.

"There's tremendous interest in people understanding other people, and we are relying on this aspect," said Davies, dismissing any concerns about the film's legitimacy on grounds that non-Muslims produced it.

"It is actually a collaboration between people of different countries and different religions and without our co-producers from Morocco and other Muslim partners, we could not have got anywhere," explained Davies, citing how an Imam was very pleased by the project because it was conceived by the West.

"Journey to Mecca" stars newcomer Chems Eddine Zinoun, who plays Ibn Battuta, Hassam Ghancy, Nadim Swalha and Nabil Elouabhabi. Renowned actor Ben Kingsley is the film's English-language narrator.

For the producers, it was irrelevant to get major movie stars.

"The story is the important element of the film, and major stars could have been a distraction. Ibn Battuta is you and me and need not be a great movie star," Davies said.

Ironically, Zinoun, the 28-year-old hero of the film died on Nov. 12, 2008 shortly after the film was completed.

Despite the trials and tribulations of making the film, the crew of 85 from 30 countries enjoyed every bit of the work, able to maintain their creative integrity throughout to recreate the Hajj in the 14th century.

And while for some of the Muslim crew it was their first journey to Mecca, for some of the non-Muslims it was the closest they could get to a shrine that is otherwise out of bounds for them.

Source
 

A University of Queensland psychology graduate has shown media portrayals of international conflict involving Muslims may facilitate the idea that Muslim beliefs are incompatible with Australian society.

Dr Campbell White's research comes amid reports of public opposition to a proposed $19 million Muslim school in Sydney's far western suburb of Camden and controversy surrounding the Australian International Islamic College in Carrara.

"When people think about an issue like Camden, media images of Muslims involved in war and conflict can affect their judgement about the issue, even if they would normally endorse tolerance as a policy," Dr White said.

The research found media stories or images interacted with existing attitudes and influenced perceptions of threat and constructions of cultural incompatibility or "otherness".

"People who rely heavily on the media can recall images of Muslims in conflict so the idea that Muslim culture is incompatible with mainstream Australia plays a stronger role in determining whether they will tolerate Muslim practice," Dr White said.

"Those who rely less on the media as a source of information tend to base their perception of Muslims on their existing attitudes toward multiculturalism."

Dr White said host communities tend to take an all or nothing approach to what they see as "incompatible" cultures and expect immigrants from these backgrounds to adopt local cultures or stay away.

"Australian communities tend to regard any attempt by such immigrants to maintain an independent culture as wanting to set themselves apart from the community," he said.

Dr White said media coverage of government initiatives such as the "war on terror" impacted the Muslim community's sense of belonging and citizenship in countries like Australia.

"The 'war on terrorism' has been in some ways unique because the enemy is so poorly defined," Dr White said.

"This means that potentially all Muslims, regardless of ethnic background or nationality, can be considered by some as the enemy."

The research also showed respondents who relied on the media as a source of useful, accurate information were more concerned about issues such as terrorism and interethnic tension.

"It's not that the media should be blamed, or that they should not cover these important stories, but politicians and other public figures should be aware of their potential influence on community harmony," Dr White said.
 

Source

The Retailers Association executive director, Scott Driscoll, claims to have had "positive discussions" with Muslim leaders over last week's controversial hijab debate.

Brisbane 4BC radio presenter Michael Smith called for a ban on Muslim women wearing traditional hijabs or burqas in shops because they posed a security risk.

Driscoll publicly backed the call, but it was strongly rejected by National Retailers Association
executive director, Richard Evans. He said there was no evidence to suggest the dress endangered security.

In a recent press release, Driscoll said he had had a "wonderful discussion" about security issues with Suliman Sabdia (pictured), president of the Islamic Council of Queensland.

He said the two would meet again today to talk over the issues "in more depth."

Source
 

Sufi Song Khwaja Mere Khwaja by A R Rahman from the movie Jodhaa-Akbar

Ninemsn.com: An Australian Muslim cleric has come under fire for telling followers they can hit their wives and force them to have sex.

In a 2003 lecture given in either Sydney, Samir Abu Hamza speaks out against forced marriages but cites Koranic verse to justify the claim that it is "impossible" for a husband to rape his partner even if she refuses to have sex — and mocks Australian rape laws that contradict the teaching.

"If the husband was to ask her for a sexual relationship and she is preparing the bread on the stove, she must leave it and come and respond to her husband — she must respond," he says in the sermon Keys to a Successful Marriage.
 

Read the rest.....

Ninemsn.com: Australians are boozers hooked on prostitution and gambling, Melbourne Islamic cleric Abu Hamza says.

Mr Hamza made headlines on Thursday, and earned criticism from Islamic groups and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, for a 2003 speech posted on the internet last year in which he said it was OK for Muslim men to hit their wives and that it was not possible for a man to rape his wife.
 

Read the rest.....
 

Crickey: Muslim cleric the YouTube hit of ... 2003

AFIC Press Release: Misguided views on the position of women in Islam

FECCA: Violence Against Women

Herald Sun: Muslim woman Malyun Ahmed frustrated by Abu Hamza views

3AW: Muslim people 'don't have two heads'

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