It was a night
that generated a rollercoaster of emotions
from bouts of comic relief to concerns over
the plight of the Palestinians, and in
amongst them were unscripted moments that
brought forth muted gasps of admiration
particularly when a young lad responded to
the MC's question for a DVD prize on what he
had learnt from Baba Ali and before that
when Sheikh Ahmad Ghazaleh recited
Sura Ibrahim.
Brisbane
resident and compere of the show, Junaid
Ally, kept the proceedings moving along
nicely through the evening threatening every
now and then to upstage the star billings.
Nazeem
Hussain of Salam Cafe fame and his trio
entertained with a couple of sketches in
between Baba Ali's appearance both on
screen and in the flesh.
A vote of
thanks from Anas Abdalla turned into
a grim reminder of the less than salubrious
lives being lived in another part of the
world.
Junaid Ally, Master of
Ceremonies, finds a whole new setting for
the Neighbours theme song
The Chandler Theatre fills
up in front
Nazeem Hussain (centre)
and his troupe sketch out a routine
Ahmad Ghazaleh with a
stirring rendition of the Quranic verses
Top billing Baba Ali
explains the difference between men and
women
Anas Abdalla reminds the
audience why the show is called "Not just
for laughs"
Muslim Aid Australia's
Riyaad Ally
Baba Ali fans: Farzana
Peer, Fasihah Peer and Naazneen Omar
(name and photo removed on request) and Hasan
Karimshah look forward to the night's
entertainment smorgasbord
Muslim
Youth to be Empowered in Facing the Trials of Youthhood
The
Muslim Youth Speak Out! on
the 24th of May will tackle
the difficult issues Muslim
youth face living in
Australia.
“Muslim youth will emerge
from this event inspired,
empowered and skilled to
successfully face their
critical challenges” said
Riyad Rahimullah, event
co-ordinator and Muslim
Youth and Community
Development Officer for
Muslim Youth Services.
“At the Muslim Youth Speak
Out! we will hear practicing
Muslims, male and female,
speak about how they have
faced their trials and come
out successful in the eyes
of Allah” said Riyad
Rahimullah.
“Among them will be
Nazeem Hussain (from
Salam Café and Fear of a
Brown Planet) who will give
comic relief and anecdotes
of how he faced some of his
challenges as a young Muslim
growing up in Australia”
“Respected figures in
Brisbane will then engage in
discussion with the youth
about the nature of specific
trials, and how to triumph
over them.”
“There will be something for
everybody. Topics that will
be covered include spiritual
challenges, adhering to the
laws of Islam, resolving
one’s identity crisis,
issues to do with confidence
and drive, how to handle
discrimination and social
outcasting whilst also
positively portraying Islam,
wearing the hijab, handling
peer pressure, and youth
activism in community
issues.”
“I think the event will be
inspiring especially having
female and male role models
speaking …Those that come
will learn a lot: how to
deal with issues they have
gone through or are going
through, and how to overcome
adversity” said Susan
Almaani, co-founder and
board member of Al-Nisa
Youth Group Inc.
When asked of his opinion
regarding the Muslim Youth
Speak Out! Imam Peer,
Chairman of the Council of
Imams Qld said “The event is
fantastic. Its vital … I
think this event is the
first of its kind.”
Dr Mohamad Abdalla,
Director of Griffith Islamic
Research Unit, observed that
“This event will be very
fruitful for the youth of
Brisbane. It is something
that has not been done
before.”
“Youthhood is a critical
time in shaping one’s life”
said Umar Batchelor,
President of FAMSY
(Federation of Australian
Muslim Students and Youth).
For this reason, Imaam Peer,
Chairman of the Council of
Imams Qld said “Allah made
the age of youth an amaanat,
a trust.”
But youth face a lot of
trials and challenges
growing up as Muslims and
growing up living in
Australia.
“Living in Australia there
are a lot of challenges of
different kinds.
Temptations, career
fulfilment, local and global
crises, and social problems”
said Imaam Peer.
“A youth may find it harder
to practice Islam. Their
peers can have a great and
negative influence on them.
It’s an impressionable age;
they are easily influenced
by ideas, Islamic and
non-Islamic. And they might
not know how to deal with
Islamic dilemmas and
challenges.” said Umar
Batchelor.
Susan Almaani said “A lot of
youth don’t have the
strength or confidence to
practice Islam fully. For
example, young muslimahs
don’t wear the hijab because
of the public or because
their family don’t want them
to.”
“Young Muslims need to be
strong, confident and have
the support behind them.
That’s what Muslim Youth
Speak Out! aims to do,” said
Susan Almaani.
The Muslim Youth Speak Out!
will take place on Sunday
the 24th of May at Griffith
University Mt Gravatt
Campus. It will begin at
9.30am in building M10 1.30
and will conclude with
prayers and a lunch
finishing at 1:30pm. All
Muslim youth, community
leaders and imams are
welcome.
Muslim Youth Speak Out! is
organised, sponsored, and/or
supported by a very large
number of Muslim
organisations, local,
national and international.
High
Tea on Brisbane's Mt Coot-tha
By Azima Omar, Al-nisa
Member
On
a perfect Sunday afternoon
the Al-nisa group held a
High tea at Mount Coot-tha's
Botanical Gardens.
It was held in The Camellia
room which is enclosed by
glass windows that allowed
everyone to overlook the
spectacular scenery of the
gardens.
Over a hundred ladies
attended the event.
The Master of Ceremonies for
the event was Aliyah Deen,
Al-nisa's president. In her
speech to the ladies present
Aliyah highlighted the aims
and objectives of the Al-nisa
group, their past
accomplishments and
introduced the current
management committee.
Aliyah also spoke of the
fact that Al-nisa was a
non-profit organisation
whose aim was to bring
together the Muslim youth.
A silent auction and sale
table helped raise funds for
the group. A variety of
items were on sale including
coin purses, an array of
Japanese inspired tea sets
and floral printed tea
canisters. All the ladies
were treated to a delectable
selection of pastries,
scones with strawberries and
cream and a variety of
scrumptious sandwiches on a
three tiered cake stand.
The Al-nisa group would like
to thank all the ladies for
their much needed support
and attendance in making the
Ladies High tea a memorable
event.
CAIR
Asks Imam to Urge Swine Flu Precautions
American Muslim advocacy
group, CAIR, called on imams
to use daily and Jummah
prayers in the nation’s
mosques as a platform for
providing information about
preventing the spread of
swine flu.
Their Action Alert states
that Imams are in a unique
position to offer public
health information to
American Muslims because
they lead congregational
prayers every day in the
more than 2,000 mosques
nationwide.
CAIR is suggesting that
imams stay up-to-date on the
spread of swine flu in their
areas and stress the
possibility of temporarily
avoiding Islamic cultural
traditions such as
handshakes or hugs of
greeting during a local
health crisis. Imams are
also being asked to be aware
of swine flu symptoms that
include fever, cough, sore
throat, body aches,
headache, chills, and
fatigue.
“In times of crisis, public
health and safety takes
precedence over normal
actions and activities that
could lead to the spread of
infection,” said CAIR
Executive Director Nihad
Awad. “Imams, because of
their access to those
attending mosques every day,
are well-placed to offer
advice to community members
based on input from public
health authorities.”
Awad added that the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him)
encouraged actions designed
to prevent the spread of
contagious diseases. The
Prophet told his community,
if disease breaks out in a
particular area, “do not
leave that place, and when
you hear of its spread in
another place, do not go
there." (Al-Tirmidhi)
Another hadith states: "A
sick person (with a
contagious disease) must not
be brought among the
healthy." (Fiqh-us-Sunnah)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS
REQUESTED:
CAIR is asking imams to
offer flu prevention tips
provided by the Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), which
include:
• Cover your nose and mouth
with a tissue when you cough
or sneeze. Throw the tissue
in the trash after you use
it.
• Wash your hands often with
soap and water, especially
after you cough or sneeze.
Alcohol-based hands cleaners
are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes,
nose or mouth. Germs spread
that way.
• Try to avoid close contact
with sick people.
• If you get sick, CDC
recommends that you stay
home from work or school and
limit contact with others to
keep from infecting them.
CAIR, in consultation with
Islamic scholars, is also
suggesting that imams and
mosque officials consider
taking other preventive
actions recommended by the
CDC when swine flu is
confirmed in a community,
including:
1. Worshipers who develop
flu-like symptoms should be
strongly encouraged to seek
medical advice by phone and
to self-isolate themselves
in their homes.
2. Cancellation of classes
in Islamic schools should be
considered if there is a
confirmed or a suspected
case of swine flu in the
school population.
3. Gatherings at mosques,
even otherwise-mandatory
Friday congregational
prayers, should be
temporarily cancelled if
there is a risk of spreading
infection.
"Hi, I'm a practicing
Muslim Sister looking for a
Single Woman to share
2-Bedroom House, Logan Area,
$125 p/w plus Bills. Please
phone 0421 752 397."
Statistics research leads to international profile for
USQ Academic
Statistics
research for most people is
not something they would
spend a moment thinking
about let alone dedicate any
of their professional
careers towards.
For USQ academic Associate
Professor Shahjahan Khan
however there are few things
that get him more excited
than explaining to people
the importance of
statistics.
Dr Khan is passionate about
the vital role that
statistics plays in
government, industry and
business and he has
dedicated much of his
academic life to this area
of research and teaching.
This dedication has seen the
USQ academic become one of
the world’s foremost leaders
in statistics, with Dr Khan
now having published papers
in statistics publications
across the globe. He is also
serving as the Founding
Chief Editor of the
prestigious Journal of
Applied Probability and
Statistics (JAPS) based in
the USA.
'Statistics is a
mathematical science
involving the collection,
representation,
interpretation, and analysis
of data, and is used to make
predictions and inferences
in decision making based on
the results from realised
data,' A/Professor Khan
said.
'They play a very important
role in many different areas
from the environment under
the sea to that above the
sky, and everything in
between, including decisions
on business and medical
science etc, as such,
statistical methods and
research are being used more
and more in real life.
'Research in this area has
really grown in the last few
decades and there are now
many people globally, who
are working with statistics.
It is truly viewed as the
grammar of science and art
of decision making in the
face of uncertainty.
'In the past few years I
have been lucky enough to
have some of my
international professional
activities published in
leading statistics
publications from Australia,
UK, USA and Netherlands.'
As well as much of his work
being published around the
world, A/Professor Khan has
also been responsible for
the organisation of a number
of international statistics
conferences, which brought
together some of the finest
number crunches from across
the world.
'In 2007 I organised the
Ninth Islamic Countries
Society of Statistical
Sciences (ISOSS) conference
in Malaysia, which brought
together statistics
researchers and
practitioners from around
the world to discuss
advancements in statistics.
'I also chaired the
international scientific
committee of an
international conference on
the recent development of
statistics in December 2008,
and have once again been
working as the main
organiser of this year’s
ISOSS conference to be held
in Cairo, Egypt, 20-23
December 2009.'
Dr Khan, who was also the
first Australian to receive
the prestigious ISOSS Gold
Medal for outstanding
research and contribution to
ISOSS in 2007 has presented
many keynote addresses and
shared stages with leading
statistics researchers as an
invited speaker. He was
awarded Queensland
Multicultural Service Award
in 2002 by Premier Peter
Beattie.
With his heavy involvement
in statistics research set
to continue in 2009,
A/Professor Khan is
continuing to strengthen his
international research
profile, and promote USQ at
an international level
through his on going
professional leadership and
achievements.
MBN
Survey
The Muslim Business Network
is soliciting comments,
views and suggestions from
members and non-members
alike so that they can
better serve the community.
The Annual
Fete at the Islamic College of Brisbane
yesterday (Saturday) proved to be another
exciting and eventful day for the hundreds
of men, women and children who attended.
There was
something for everyone from rides for the
young at heart, food to suit every taste and
palate and opportunities aplenty to offload
some of Rudd's stimulus bonus for a worthy
cause.
A particular
hit on the day was the (soon to be formally
established) Pizza Lane stall where long
queues of patient customers waited, some for
over an hour, for a foretaste of the Elias
and Latif pizza offering. By all accounts it
was worth the wait!
Also popular
with the patrons were Somalian Samosas,
Lebanese Kebabs, Malaysian dishes, and
Goss pies with stallholders putting up the
SOLD OUT signs long before MC and compere,
Zaffar Iqubal, threatened to turn out
the lights on the lingering at 7.30pm.
Crescents of
Brisbane's CresCafe was once again
the place to hang out at for a cuppa and
a cupcake or two. Through the generosity of
the many ladies of the community (and
apparently one man) who baked those
delectable cakes CresCafe raised over
$900 for the School's funds.
The School's
CPAC must be commended for the effort they
put in this year to make the event the
resounding success it turned out to be.
MC Zaffar Iqubal and CPAC
member Osman Rane
QMWA opshop bargains from
Jenny and Wilma
Part of the Crescents of
Brisbane's CresCafe Team and
Furquaan the Frog
Yahya and Farouk keep the
Algester Mosque BBQ fires burning
Time to catch one's breath
under the canopy
And the Pizza Lane pizza
doesn't look half bad either!
Saphena Aku obviously cool
and calm under pressure
Turkish Islam and
the Secular State: The Gulen Movement by
M. Hakan Yavuz (Editor),
John L. Esposito (Editor)
Turkey is known with its peaceful Islamic
movements and among them is the Nurcu movement to which
Gulen belongs. Although the Turkish political
establishment views Fethullah Gulen's educational
activities with suspicion, he preaches tolerance and
co-existence in a pluralistic cultural environment. The
book appears to be the first study, a compilation of
good articles on the movement he leads. Some of the
articles concentrate more on his ideas and views than
analyzing the movement itself. Particularly noteworthy
are pieces by Hakan Yavuz, Yasin Aktay, Elisabeth
Ozdalga, Ahmet Kuru, John Voll and Hasan Kosebalaban.
Overall the book is a timely study particularly in the
context of strong anti-islamic movements around the
world, with the rhetoric that Islam breeds violence. The
book shows that this accusation is largely false using
the empirical case of Gulen movement. It reminds the
readers that Islam like any other religion is
interpreted in a particular context shaped by political,
social and economic conditions.
(Anonymous review)
Would you like to see the cover of
your favourite book on our book shelves below?
Using the book
club you can see what books fellow CCN
readers have on their shelves, what they are
reading and even what they, and others,
think of them.
IN PREPARATION FOR THE UPCOMING CRESWALK, FOLLOW THIS 4
WEEK TRAINING PROGRAM:
REMEMBER TEAM: TRAIN SMART, NOT
HARD!!
WEEK 3 of our
4 week training program:
Please note that the following program is
suitable for beginners. For the more
competitive or serious athlete,
intensity, duration and frequency of
exercises need to be increased!
REMEMBER: NUTRITION IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS
YOUR TRAINING REGIME. ENJOY A HEALTHY DIET
AND DON'T FORGET TO DRINK YOUR WATER!
DAY 1:
Walk for a minimum of 50 mins. (10 mins. at a
moderate pace, 35
mins. at a more brisk pace and 5 mins. cool
down / slow pace).
PLEASE REMEMBER TO STRETCH AFTER EVERY
WORKOUT!
IF YOU'RE FEELING GOOD AND NEED MORE OF A
CHALLENGE, TAKE ON THE ABOVE OPTION (soft
sand running).
Healthy Tip: Always keep your body hydrated
- carry a bottle of water with you daily!
DAY 2:
Instead of walking, try jogging. Don't
reduce the distance - keep up the effort and
further challenge your muscles.
Wear some ankle weights for extra
resistance.
DAY 3:
Back to strength training team! Lift
weights, including your own body weight (tricep
dips, push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, etc).
If you're a gym-junkie, a pump class will be
great!
DAY 4:
A spin (cycle) class will be great for
strengthening the legs so be sure to give it
a go. Alternatively, a ride in the park
could be just as challenging if you’re new
to cycling. Ensure good posture and
technique. Again, add more time / distance
to last weeks program.
DAY 5:
Active recovery - Head for the pool and do
a few laps (walk in the pool if you're not
comfortable swimming) Include your
stretching routine.
DAY 6:
Interval Training. Include some 30 sec.
sprints into your walking/jogging routine,
walk for a minute (recovery), then sprint
again..
DAY 7:
Family time: An 'active' day out on a picnic will be great to
get the kids involved. (Active recovery)..
PLEASE NOTE: The above training program
assumes a healthy participant. Those
with medical conditions or who are not
already physically active, need to seek
clearance from their GP before starting any
form of exercise.
All questions sent in are published here anonymously
and without any references to the author of the
question.
KB's
Culinary Corner
Crème
Brulee
Ingredients
4 eggs
1200 ml cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
half cup caster sugar
Plus extra icing sugar to caramalise the
brulées
Method
1. Whisk gently eggs, cream, vanilla and
half cup of castor sugar together.
2. Strain the mixture into a jug.
3. Pour into the small ramekins and bake in
bain marie* at 120C for 60 to 90 minutes.
4. Leave to cool. Sprinkle the brulées with
icing sugar.
5. Using a gas blowtorch, carefully melt the
sugar on top, which will caramelise the
sugar to a golden colour. (Be careful not to
burn the tops.)
6. Serve together with mixed berry compote,
berry sorbet & vanilla ice cream
Do you have a recipe to
share with CCN readers? Send in your favourite recipe
to
ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org
and be our "guest chef" for the week.
The CCN Chuckle
Jallauddin goes to Mula Nasruddin
and complains:
Brother Mula, I keep
seeing frogs in this week's CCN newsletter!
Mula Nasruddin:
Don't worry friend, it's only a hoptical illusion.
University of Queensland,
323 Hawken Drive, St. Lucia
Every Monday
Event: Weekly Learning Circle: Sharh
Riyad-us-Saliheen (An Explanation of
'Gardens of the Righteous'
Venue: Prayer Room, University of Queensland
Time: 6.45pm to 7.30pm
Every Friday
Subject:
Fiqh Made Easy
Venue: Room E215 Building 1 (Forgan Smith),
University of Queensland
Time: 7pm to 7.50pm
Every Friday
Subject:
Tafseer al Qur'an (Explanation of the
Qur'an)
Venue: Room E215 Building 1 (Forgan Smith),
University of Queensland
Time: 8pm to 9pm
Sunnah Inspirations is a
non-profit organisation to cater for Muslim
social support and supplying information to
Muslims and non-Muslims. They have
been doing various activities around
Australia, and have organised Da'wah
information stalls at various universities
in Brisbane. More info can be found on
their website above.
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
ccn@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.