Issue 117 August by AMUST

MUSLIM

AUSTRALASIAN

Multimedia News & Views

ISSN: 1039-2300

Print Post Publication No. 100021354

Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates

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AMUST Issue # 117

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August 2015; Shawwaal 1436

Support for Muslims

Afghanistan Development

Controlling House Prices

Iran Nuclear Deal

BOOMERANG PAGE 3

COMMUNITY PAGE 7

AUSTRALIA PAGE 9

UMMAH PAGE 19

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Oldest Quran manuscript discovered in Birmingham Zia Ahmad

The Quranic manuscript held at the University of Birmingham, UK is being considered as the world’s oldest Quranic manuscript with significant religious, historical and scientific implications. The two double sided pages of text written on parchment (material derived from animal skin) has recently been tested using radiocarbon dating and found to be around 1400 years old. With 95.4% accuracy the period when the manuscript was written is estimated to be between 568 and 648 CE (Christian Era), or 56 BH (Before Hijra) and 24 AH (After Hijra) pertaining to the Islamic calendar. Prophet Mohammad (s) lived from 570 to 632 CE and the period of Quranic revelation is estimated to be between the periods of 610 and 632 CE (first 12 years in Makkah and next 10 years in Madinah). In an exclusive interview with AMUST, Allama Sayyed Talha Bokhari who had the honour of being the first to recite from the manuscript, pointed out the great significance of this finding. He said that this finding was the living proof that the Quran has remained the same as it was revealed to Prophet Mohammad (s). Allama Bokhari, attached with the Birmingham Central Mosque is a Hafiz (memoriser of the whole of Quran), a law graduate with Islamic qualifications from Darululoom Deoband, India. He is an expert on ancient manuscripts being incharge for a number of years at Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna, which has the best

collection of Arabic, Persian Turkish and Urdu manuscripts in India. Allama Bokhari together with Birmingham Mosque officials were invited by the University to examine the manuscript and decipher its significance from an Islamic point of view. He said that the manuscript, written in Hi-

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jazi script that lacked dots and vowel markings (aarab) was most probably written by one of the scribes (kuttabe wahi) during the lifetime of the prophet. This concurs with the carbon dating data as well. Allama Bokhari said that the four pages of the manuscript, written in a most beautiful handwriting, contained verses from Surah

(Chapters) 18, 19 and 20. Page 1 contained Surah Maryam verses 91-98 followed by Bismillah and first 12 verses of Surah Taha; Page 2 contained verses 12 to 39 of Surah Taha; Page 3 contained verses 17 to 23 of Surah al-Kahf and page 4 continued with verses 23-31 of Surah al-Kahf. This Quran manuscript is part of the University’s Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts, held in the Cadbury Research Library at the University of Birmingham. They were gathered in the 1920s by Alphonse Mingana, a Chaldean priest who was born near Mosul, Iraq, but settled in England. According to Professor David Thomas, professor of Christianity and Islam, the text is very similar to what is found in the present day Quran. “This tends to support the view that the Quran that we now have is more or less very close indeed to the Quran as it was brought together in the early years of Islam,” he said. Nadir Dinshaw, professor of interreligious relations at the University of Birmingham, said the results of the radiocarbon analysis had been “startling” and “could well take us back to within a few years of the actual founding of Islam.” Explaining the context and significance of the discovery, the University of Birmingham in a news release stated that the radiocarbon dating of the Birmingham Quran folios has yielded a startling result and reveals one of the most surprising secrets of the University’s collections. Note: The Quran manuscript will be on display at the University of Birmingham from Friday 2 October to Sunday 25 October. Continued on Page 20

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AUSTRALIAN RELIEF ORGANISATION

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The Australian Relief Organisation has recently completed its 2015 Ramadan Iftar & Food Pack Appeal. In relation to the campaign, the CEO Cihan Tumen has made the following statement: “It gives us great pleasure to announce that we have succesfully delivered thousands of iftars and food packs in the poverty stricken regions of Vietnam and Thailand. While we thank our supporters who contributed to this campaign, below are the observations of our representatives who attended the distributions programs overseas:”

Vietnam

Ali Goru; ARO VIC State Manager “I arrived to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on July the 2nd. During my visit, I was hosted by the Horizon International Bilingual School (HIBS), ARO’s partner organisation in the country.

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After seeing how our brothers and sisters in Vietnam expressed their appreciation for this campaign, I feel blessed to go on this humatarian journey and deliver the aid personally to the needy.”

Thailand

On July the 3rd, we visited the Nourul Ehsan Mosque and provided hundreds of iftars and food packs to the needy. The following day, we travelled to Chou Cou, a town bordering Cambodia and distributed hundreds of food packs to families in need. The successive iftar program, held at the Jamiul-Ni’mah Mosque, was filled with joyous thanks and duas from the locals. Later that evening, we continued to the Jamiul-Aman Mosque where hundreds of food packs were distributed.

Ms Nur Elif Ankara; Sirius College Teacher: “Leading a group of three, I have had the privilege to travel to Thailand on July the 2nd. In this auspicious journey to Bangkok, I was accompanied by Nabila Friha and Selin Bas, who are my students at Sirius College, Melbourne. ARO’s partner organisation in Thailand; Marmara Foundation assisted us in organising the distribution programs held at 17 different sites.

Upon our arrival to the Kien Thanh Social Community Centre on the 5th of July, we were overwhelmed by the incredible numbers of the crowd. There, we distributed food packs to needy families who are struggling to live in run down houses. Later, we moved on to the Kien Thanh Social Community Centre, where the ARO was awarded with a plaquette as a token of the local community’s appreciation.

On July the 4th, we travelled to Nurul Islam Mosque at Kukuva. Containing rice, oil, noodles, soy sauce and other essential needs for a Thai household, food packs were prepared for the needy at the entrance of the mosque. After breaking our fast with the locals at the mosque, we distributed food packs. Locals expressed their gratitude by saying: “May Allah be pleased with those who support this appeal.”

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Our next distribution site was the As-Saiyidah Nafisah Orphanage, a center that accommodates over 70 orphans. After inspecting the orphanage, the center management informed us that the funding for the orphanage gradually declined over the years. So our aid came in at the most crucial time. The management and children expressed their gratitude and thanks to the ARO and its supporters for the campaign.

At our final mega iftar, over a thousand people were fed at the Bangkok Islamic Center. Overall, we feel honored and blessed by having the opportunity to represent the ARO in Thailand. I must say that this appeal is quite important, as even a single iftar meal is a true blessing for those who cannot afford to buy proper food in their daily life. On a numerous occasions, we witnessed the prayers of the needy to the Australian donors who supported this campaign.

August 2015

EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

BOOMERANG

SOCIAL 23

Towards addressing radicalisation and extremism The flexing of muscles by right wing ex- in order to gain public support. tremists and bigots by organizing rallies, These are not good signs for a secure, however small, and openly occupying peaceful and harmonious society that Auspublic space is of great concern. tralia is and should remain one. Conflict, As history has shown us, this is division and violence does not have how xenophobia starts leading to any benefits for any side. The hatred and finally violence against EDITORIAL quicker all parties understand minorities. this the better it will be for us in Assalamu The extremists seem to have order to live in harmony. Alaikum received encouragement by way The fact is that Muslims are Greetings the Australian Liberal governan increasingly significant part ment lead by Mr Abbott has creof the Western society in general of Peace ated an atmosphere of fear against and Australia in particular. They perceived threat of terrorist attacks in will remain Muslims and followers Australia. It is sad to see that the Labor of Islam and are here to stay. In spite Party has not shown any leadership on this of vilification of Islam, a large number of issue at all. indigenous people in the West are choosThe alarming language used against ing Islam as their religion. Thus number of ISIS, exaggerated threat of attacks by their Muslims in the West keeps on increasing. supporters within Australia, overemphasis Muslims should not be considered anon national security, rushing of anti-terror ti-West and should be embraced fully in legislation one after the other during the all walks of life. Politicians should not use past year has given oxygen to racists ele- them as scapegoats to divert attention from ments in our society to start an anti-Islam their failings in order to gain votes. campaign. On the other hand West is not anti-Islam. Headlines on terrorism sells newspapers Muslims need to live in the West in general and therefore the media is complicit in cre- and Australia in particular as loyal citizens ating this atmosphere of fear and insecurity. in harmony with its people. With the MusVilification of Islam and demonization of lim world in turmoil for decades, they need Muslims by tabloid media and shockjocks to realise that these lands provide the best has encouraged underground neo-nazis, means to live in freedom, peacefully with bigots and racists to come out in the open equal opportunity for them and their future

generations. It is from here that they may be able to help fellow Muslims suffering in their own countries. Since all Australians are equal before the law, Muslims need to live as full Australians, part and parcel of the greater Australian community. The negative concept of community within a community should be discouraged. Muslims in Australia have a great role to play. They are not a problem but part of the solution for global understanding and world peace. By successfully integrating with the mainstream community, they would have the opportunity to contribute towards Australia as well as to the Muslim world to export a model for living in harmony. The opportunity to use democratic institutions to address concerns and bring about change in a peaceful way should be adhered to rather than descent, protest and violence. Z I Ahmad

Sol Bellear

August 2015

AMUST Issue # 117 Friday 31 July 2015; 14 Shawwaal 1436 News .................................1 - 2 • Oldest Quran Manuscript Discovered in Birmingham Boomerang ..................... 3 - 5 • Towards Addressing Extremism • Right Wing Extremists

Aborigines support Muslims against racists and extremists For thousands of years, Muslims have been trading peacefully with Aboriginal Australians. I emphasize that point at the outset to highlight the reality that the recent Reclaim Australia rallies which have ‘swept the nation’ are not supported by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It’s important to keep the ‘Reclaim Australia phenomenon’ in perspective. Their numbers are very small. So is their thinking. What intrigues me most about them is why they think it’s their country to reclaim in the first place. I’m also wondering what parts they think they’ve lost. As an Aboriginal activist, I can identify a few parcels of land that I think should be given back to their rightful owners. One is known these days as ‘Australia’. Another we call ‘The Torres Strait Islands’. But I’m struggling to identify any land, culture and rights that non Aboriginal Australians have lost, and need to reclaim. I’m also struggling to understand the hypocrisy of Reclaim Australia. In recent days rock legend Jimmy Barnes requested that Reclaim Australia not play his songs at their rallies. He joins other great Australian singer-songwriters such as John Schumann, and now John Farnham, in making that simple request. Reclaim Australia’s response was surprising. They acknowledged that they would no longer play Barnes’ music at their rallies, although they expressed their disappointment that he had “misunderstood” the purpose of Reclaim Australia. I think Jimmy Barnes has understood it perfectly. It is an organisation led by deeply ignorant people, who are hell-bent on dividing an otherwise peaceful nation. They are determined to cast Muslims as a threat to our way of life. The real threat to

AMUST

Community ..................... 6 - 8 • ISOC Iftars • Ramadan Diary Program

Australia ......................... 9 - 10 • NAIDOC Week Lifestyle ...................... 15 - 16 • Modest Street Fashion • The Big Fat Muslim Wedding Education ..................... 17 - 18 • Book Review: Good Muslim Boy Ummah ........................ 19 - 20 • 10 Reasons to Boycott Israel • Srebrenica: Bigotry and Fear Travel .................................. 21 • Traveller’s Fiqh Part 2 Business ............................ 22 • AMUST Classifieds Social .................................. 23 • Eid ul Fitr Around the World

MULTICULTURAL EID FESTIVAL AND FAIR 2015 A celebration of the Muslim contribution to Australia. Dedicated to Dr Q Ashfaq Ahmad Founder and Patron of MEFF

our way of life, of course, are the extremists seeking to promote hatred and division. Disappointingly, however, the Reclaim rallies have, in the past, also displayed the Aboriginal flag. This is despite a request by the designer of our flag, Harold Thomas, for it not to be used. In a story published in New Matilda in April, Thomas said: “The flag is our identity and expression of who we are. It’s quite clear we use it freely and willingly and the government recognises the flag. It has its place. But to utilise it as a banner for anger or for another skewered reason is idiotic.” However, Harold Thomas has apparently been ignored. The Aboriginal flags were flying again last week. The irony of the Reclaimers bowing to a request from a white Australian, while ignoring requests from a black Australian, should be lost on no-one. It’s very much in keeping with the sense of entitlement that these people have. Regardless, I can assure the Muslim community that the use of the Aboriginal flag at Reclaim rallies in no way represents the broader views of the overwhelming majority of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The values of Reclaim Australia – or rather their lack thereof - are repugnant to our people. We understand all too well the sting of Australian racism. We’ve been fighting it, and trying to reclaim our rights – and our land – for more than 200 years.

On that front, Muslims should know that Australian racism and bigotry will move on. Our nation has a long history of cyclically hating minorities. Hatred was historically directed at the Chinese, then the Greeks and Italians, then the Vietnamese, then the Lebanese, then the Sudanese. Unfortunately, it’s the turn of Muslim Australians to be on the receiving end. It will pass. All of the people who have come to these lands have integrated well into Australian society. All of them except for one. It wasn’t these minorities who committed the massacres. It wasn’t these minorities who poisoned our waterholes. They haven’t raped our women and stolen our children. The British did that. Eventually, of course, our nation will come to understand that the minorities it persecutes pose no real threat. As I mentioned at the start, many Australians already know that Muslims have been trading peacefully with Aboriginal people in the north of Australia for thousands of years. I look forward to that mutually beneficial relationship continuing well into the future, and as always, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters in opposition to division and ignorance.. Sol Bellear is based in Sydney and is the Chairman of Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern.

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Anne Fairbairn AM Here in our vast multicultural country, ‘Down Under’, we are living in harmony, With Muslims now enriching us constantly With MEFF being held in Fairfield annually, Which hundreds attend so very joyfully, Always enjoying great hospitality Symbolizing Muslim generosity. Indeed the Dharug people would have clearly ‘Welcomed to Country’ all of us happily, Since Muslims always contribute immensely To the homelands of these people quite clearly, By enriching our increasing diversity. Note: The Dharug people were the traditional indigenous owners of what is now the Fairfield area for thousands of years where they lived in constant harmony with nature.

Australasian Muslim Times

AMUST

BOOMERANG

Letters to the editor

Hysteria against Asylum Seek- nasties before us have discovered, human rights abuses have a tendency to bite one ers and Muslims must stop A great deal of hysteria is still being whipped up in this country about asylum seekers. Now we have what used to be the party which defended the rights of the oppressed becoming part of the Pauline Hanson inspired refugee policy – turn back the boats! They are only Muslims anyhow! I have read articles and comments claiming that the refugees are the result of internal problems arising from Islamic civilization. This is a bit rich. Saddam Hussein was put in by the Americans to fight the Iranian Islamic Republic. He did not obey quite fully enough, so he got the chop. The invasion of 2003 killed about a million people. Osama Bin Laden was part of the CIA-Saudi funded war in Afghanistan against the Russian invaders but he bit the hand that fed him probably. The Baathist Assads pretended to be defenders of Arab civilisation but many Arabs were kidnapped in the US rendition program and sent to Damascus for “special treatment.” Not an indication of enmity! Mubarak, hated by the Egyptians, was kept in power for decades by US dollars. Now his successor, the lover of democracy Al Sisi, is becoming the hangman of the Mediterranean. The great ally of the US and UK, the Ibn Saud family, was installed after the defeat of the Ottomans to ensure no supporters of an attempted replacement caliphate could exist, as their If the western countries and Russia could just stop trying to take over the oil resources and sea routes, installing compliant dictators in the Muslim majority countries, there might just be stability and peace. Drones over one’s village and dictators in the government do not lead to compliance and contentment. If we are still to be counted as among the civilised countries, we should be more intelligent with our asylum seeker policies. As

back.

Bilal Cleland Melbourne, VIC

Foreign Fighters: Double standards

The Government, the media, the security organisations and the experts, are all quite correctly condemning Australian Muslims joining ISIS overseas. But why have we never seen similar condemnation of the thousands of Australian Jews who for years have joined the Israeli army and spy agencies, used and counterfeited Australian passports, to kill Palestinians and Arabs including acts of assassinations and spying in countries friendly to Australia? Why is Israel always above the law and the exception? This persistent double standard creates a precedence and opens the way for others to do the same, something I have warned about for years. This is not in Australia’s national interests, and the government and security agencies have to shoulder their responsibility for the situation we are in. Ali Kazak Canberra, ACT

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Website comments

NEWS 1-2

A Q&A session with the Media

The media is only interested in selling advertising and to sell advertising you have to sell stories. Good news and positive stories about Muslims do not sell stories. Those are basically the words of an editor of the Daily Terrorgraph. Tony Abbott and his henchmen are about to run a fear and smear campaign for re-election based on further attacking and defaming Muslims. The media will do its part in spreading his dangerous divisive and damaging propaganda. Don’t expect any thoughtful analysis or criticism of the blatant lies and smear coming from his mouth and from his dog-whistling henchmen. Gazza

“Mr Ajaka said the program would aim to address the evolving threat posed by foreign fighters and lone actors and would support local communities to engage at-risk young people to divert them from violent extremism.” This comment exposes the glaring flaw in this program. It is predicated on young Muslims being the problem and not on what drives them to extreme views. Furthermore it ignores what is probably a bigger threat to security, the activities of right wing hate groups who frequently target Muslims, have made significant threats and have links with overseas groups with a reputation for fostering extreme violence. Until positive action is taken to address these issues no amount of feel good programs will succeed. Worse still one apparent aim of this is to have teachers look for signs of radicalisation among their students. All this has achieved so far is to target children simply for being Muslim. If teachers operate with the blatantly ignorant stereotypes of Muslims promoted by the media and certain self-serving politicians it will only be counter-productive. If we are going to have some sort of eduction program it should be directed at everybody and not just turn teachers into some sort of spy agency for the security services. Gazza

Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in articles, and Letters to the Editor, Website Comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Australasian Muslim Times.

Australasian Muslim Times

COMMUNITY 6-8

Support for Muslim Australians

I wish to lend my support for Muslim Australians who have been attacked during the recent rallies by a small number of extremists. The area where many Australian Muslims have come from is the Middle East, an area where civilization began many thousands of years ago. I have been a guest in a number of universities in these countries speaking about Australian poetry and art and learning about Arabic poetry, since I believe poetry is the voice of the soul, transcending racial, religious and political differences and bringing people together in harmony. Australian Muslims are contributing a lot in the field of arts,science, interfaith dialogue, multiculturalism and communal harmony. Keysar Trad, founder of the of Islamic Friendship Association of Australia has recently had a book of poetry published titled “Forays of the heart” that I in my capacity as a poet, recommend all Australians to read and appreciate The Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair, MEFF, being held for more than 30 years in Fairfield has contributed immensely by bringing people of diverse background on a grand scale in an atmosphere of peace and joy. The Australasian Muslim Times is also enriching our diverse Australian Community by presenting news and views from writers from a diverse background. I have always found Muslims to be very generous, and hospitable. There are many very creative Muslims who now call Australia home and are contributing immensely to our country in so many ways. It is clear that those who recently organized the anti-Muslim demonstrations across Australia really know nothing about Australian Muslims. So let’s all be ‘true blue’ Australians and treat everyone whatever their religious or ethnic background may be as our fellow Australians. Anne Fairbairn AM Sydney, NSW

ABC must remain an independ- Program to counter violent exent broadcaster tremism Very well written Mr Zia Ahmad, I am amazed to see the reactions in the government and media circles on the issue. ABC was not the first one to bring Zaky Mallah on live TV. He has repeatedly appeared on various media channels, though he is not a media savvy person and is often unable articulate himself in a wise manner. In this instance, it was the Minister/parliamentary secretary Steve Ciobo who incited Zaky by confronting him and saying that he would like to see him out of the country, instead of answering the question which was put to the Minister. You can expect such a reaction by the young hot headed Zaky. The questions are pre-submitted to Q&A and the panel would know about the question in advance. The question was very relevant to the topic being discussed, anyway. ABC offices had to arrange extra security the following couple of days due to threats they received. Various liberal MPs including the Prime Minister were up in arms. I find it hard to claim that we enjoy freedom of speech in this great country of ours when liberals are in government. Zahid Jamil

BOOMERANG 3-5

AUSTRALIA 9 - 10

LIFESTYLE 15 - 16

AMUST Team

Managing Editor: Zia Ahmad Graphic Designer: Rubinah Ahmad Chief Adviser: Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad Journalist: Mobinah Ahmad Columnist: Dr Abul Jalaluddin (Finance) Columnist: Bilal Cleland (Victoria) Columnist: Manarul Islam (ACT) Columnist: Lydia Shelly (Sydney) Columnist: Anne Fairbairn (Sydney) Promotion: Dr Wali Bokhari Web Developer: Shadow Approved Multimedia: iMoby Productions Printers: Spotpress Pty Ltd Distributers: Wrapaway Transport Pty Ltd Distributers: Abul Fateh Siddiqui, Shujaat Siddiqui, Usaid Khalil, Aamir Ahmad, Ibrahim Khalil, Usman Siddiqui, Zahid Alam, Shahab Siddiqui, Mahmoud Jaame, Mateen Abbas, Rashid Idris, Kamrul Zaman, Sakinah Ahmad, Anjum Rafiqi, Hasan Fazeel, Dr Quasim, Ismail Hossain, Hanif Bismi.

Contact AMUST PO Box 111, Bonnyrigg (Sydney), NSW 2177 Australia. Email: info@amust.com.au Ph:(02) 8006 2063; Fax: 9823 3626

8th of July, 2015

Statement on Nationwide Rallies (18/19th July) The Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV) has issued the following statement in light of reports that over the weekend of the 18/19th July, Reclaim Australia is planning nationwide rallies which we believe are divisive and not in the nation’s best interests. The acceptance of our multicultural and multifaith society is one of Australia's greatest achievements and assets. The celebration of this rich diversity that exists in our society ensures we remain innovative, resilient and globally competitive - all of which enhances our society and increases our standard of living. Like any asset, our multicultural and multifaith identity needs to be continuously nourished and threats to undermine it need be addressed. The current environment fueled by economic uncertainty and fear is encouraging the rise of extreme groups like Reclaim Australia and UPF (United Patriots Front), who are intent on disenfranchising minorities and disturbing the peace within our society. These groups demonstrate they possess anti-Asian, anti-Indigenous, anti-Semitic and anti-Refugee sentiments. We, the Faith Communities Council of Victoria, actively discourage any kind of involvement with these groups and see them as a threat to peace and social cohesion within our society. We believe there has to be a continuous dialogue promoting multiculturalism and multifaith. We also encourage all to discourage others from supporting these groups in any way. The harmony and diversity in our society is the basis of the beauty of Australia, and we request your support in maintaining this. Faith Communities Council of Victoria is comprised of the following peak bodies: Baha'i Community of Victoria, Brahma Kumaris Australia, Buddhist Council of Victoria, Hindu Community Council of Victoria, Islamic Council of Victoria, Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria and Victorian Council of Churches.

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August 2015

EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

BOOMERANG

SOCIAL 23

Right wing extremists are not “nationalists” Bilal Cleland

One striking fact about the anti-Muslim rallies over the weekend of 1718 July is how the ABC reported them. It is well established that the United Patriots Front is on the lunar right. It aligns itself with locals like the Australia First Party, whose chairman was jailed in the 1990s for a shotgun attack on the home of an African National Congress representative, and foreign groups like the Greek neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn. “UPF’s Neil Erikson pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in February 2014 to stalking after he abused a Melbourne rabbi in a series of anti-Semitic phone calls.” [The Age 15 July] The ABC 24 and news services are consistently describing them as “nationalists.” When it emerged that they had put up a video, advertising the rally, which appeared to support extreme violence, some Muslim leaders in Victoria warned activists to stay away from the anti-racism rally. The United Patriots Front posted a video on Facebook showing “…CCTV footage of the killing of anti-racism activist Carlos Javier Palomino, who was stabbed in the heart by a neo-nazi on a packed train in Spain in 2007…..Neil Erikson, an administrator of the United Patriots Front, promoted the video as showing “one patriot versus a thousand unwashed filth”, in which he praises the man convicted of killing the 16-yearold and stabbing another man in the chest.” [The Age 15 July] However, one of the organisers of the Melbourne counter-protest, Kieran Bennett, said the Reclaim Rallies could not be allowed to go ahead uninterrupted. “Reclaim Australia can’t be allowed to pursue a campaign of Islamophobia on the streets

of our city because if they do the result is increased racism, increased attacks on the Muslim communities in this city,” he said, [New Matilda 18 July] The rally had no surprises. The anti-Muslim rally attracted …”about 120 activists carrying Australian and Eureka flags, and banners opposing the “spread” of Islam, halal food and Asian immigration. Outside several rings of police officers, around 1400 counter-demonstrators had gathered from groups including No Room for Racism, the Socialist Party and Socialist Alternative. Blair Cottrell, from the UPF, told the crowd it needed “faith” and called for the Prime Minister to become involved. Controversial pastor Danny Nalliah from Catch The Fire Ministries also spoke at the rally.” [The Age 18 July] Around 60 supporters of right wing hardline group “United Patriots Front” also joined Saturday’s march. One noticeable development, apart from the ABC’s use of “nationalists” to describe the neo-Nazis and religious bigots, was the refusal of the Abbott government to prevent or even advise LNP Member of the House of Representatives George Christensen, not to speak at the Reclaim Australia rally in Mackay Queensland. In response to criticism from the electorate, The Nationals MP said a “Sharia-style dispensation of justice was being “quietly applied in Australian mosques”. “It’s a form of “justice” that perpetuates the oppression and abuse of women and yet we don’t dare speak of it because we will be instantly attacked as racists.” [New Matilda 18 July] This shows how in tune the MHR is with the general propaganda line of the bigots. The silence of the Federal Government is thus a cause for concern. When compared with the government response to the Q&A program which allowed Zaky Mallah to ask a question, we get an indication of what the Liberal performance over “freedom of speech” is about. Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino stated: “Our diversity is one of our state’s

AMUST

Anti-racist rally in Melbourne. greatest strengths ... it’s up to all of us to protect our diversity, celebrate it, send a message to those very small number of people that the spreading of hatred, the spreading of bigotry, is simply not tolerated,” he said. [Guardian 18 July] Such a statement from the Abbott government would be welcome. The Australian Federal Police seem to be aware of the threat presented by these bigots and neo-Nazis. At the University of Western Sydney’s Advancing Community Cohesion conference, Mr Kaldas expressed concern about upcoming rallies by Reclaim Australia but was reluctant to speak about the size of the threat because he was “loath to give them any oxygen”. “There is definitely activity on the extreme right-wing of politics and people using events around the world to [justify] events in Sydney,” he said. “We are not taking our eye off that.” [SMH 17 July] However deeply troubling, in the same article we were told: “Ms Bishop revealed that none of the 400 extremists under government surveillance are right-wing, anti-Islam campaigners. “

This is like the period during the early 1970s when the Liberal government was declaring there were “no Ustasha in Australia” while there was an Ustasha bombing campaign going on. The moderate left were being investigated while military training by fascists was ignored. Justice Hope’s 1978 report on ASIO, released in 2008 under the thirty year rule is worth reading: “Hope’s inquiry was partly prompted by ASIO’s relationship with the Croatian fascist group, the Ustasha. In the late sixties and early seventies, the Ustasha conducted the most serious terrorist campaign in Australian history, with bombings in Sydney in 1967, 1969 and 1972, Canberra in 1969, Melbourne in 1970 and 1972. Ustasha activities were discussed openly in the Croatian press but ASIO, while monitoring even the most mild-mannered activists of the Left, took no action whatsoever against these fullfledged terrorists.” {Crikey May 28, 2008]

The above mentioned authors note: “By the end of 2014, 64 separate pieces of anti-terrorism legislation had become law”. These additional laws and the current raft of citizenship stripping laws would have been unlikely to stop Man Monis from murdering two innocent Australians. The growing complexity of anti-terror law is such that the average Islamic society or council or federation committee would have little hope of understanding how it all fits together. We can’t expect religious bodies to have much useful to say on terrorism law reform. At best they can (and should) defer this to experts within their communities – lawyers, public policy experts and lobbyists. And that assumes they all have the same

approach to this issue. National security is tied up with other areas of government policy, including foreign policy. It is naïve to imagine that all Muslims in Australia have the same views on, say, the Syrian or Iraqi conflict. Opinions on the Syrian government have been divided within Lebanese Muslim circles since before the Lebanese civil war started in the 1970’s. For many in downtown Punchbowl and Preston, Hezbollah is the enemy when they were once heroes. Sectarian divisions have turned political. How are these divisions to be managed? How much dialogue is there between Sunni and Shia? Has this translated into a common approach to addressing the issues raised by proposed laws? Absolute unity isn’t what’s required. We don’t stop celebrating Eid just because we cannot agree on which day to celebrate it on. We shouldn’t have a base approach to civil liberties, democracy, citizenship, national security and foreign fighters just because some of us despise Assad more than others. Even if Muslim bodies don’t feel comfortable talking to the media or the politicians about terrorism, they can still talk to each other and to their members about the issue. And if they then decide to contact their local MP or even a Minister, they can at least honestly say that they have consulted with community members.

Bilal Cleland is a keen reader, a prolific writer and a regular columnist of AMUST based in Melbourne.

Why should Muslims speak about terrorism? Irfan Yusuf It’s a common refrain. Muslims in Australia rarely have anything useful to say about terrorism. Each time the Federal Government decides it wants to add yet another layer to the already bulging layers of terrorism law, Muslims (with a few notable exceptions) seem almost disinterested or incapable of making a sensible contribution beyond boycotting meetings with the PM or complaining about racism. It’s as if they cannot address the changing law itself. Then again, few other Australians, including our political leaders, have much sensible to say. Perhaps the only sensible thing our Prime Minister has said on the subject was soon after the Martin Place Siege in which three persons (including the gunman) lost their lives. Andrew Lynch, Nicola McGarrity and George Williams, in their recently published Inside Australia’s Anti-Terrorism Laws and Trials, state that “we should be wary of letting those who wish us harm determine how we live as members of a free and democratic society. Abbott acknowledged the limits upon security in a liberal society when he said, in the aftermath of the Sydney siege, that even if Monis had been on agency watchlists and monitored 24 hours a day ‘it’s quite likely, certainly possible, that this

August 2015

incident could have taken place, because the level of control that would have been necessary to prevent people from going about their daily life, would be very, very high indeed’”. This makes far more sense than hysterical references to the “Death Cult” or insulting remarks that Muslims need to say their faith is one of peace as if they really mean it. It also underscores just how important the efforts of ordinary Muslims are when they report suspicious persons and activities to their authorities, and when their testimony is crucial to the small number of successful terrorism convictions. You can’t eliminate risk by throwing legislation at it. The law cannot solve everything.

Irfan Yusuf is a lawyer and an award-winning writer and reviewer. His first book, “Once Were Radicals: My Years As A Teenage Islamofascist”, was published in 2009.

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EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

COMMUNITY

SOCIAL 23

Lifting Afghanistan through development Mahdi Housaini

The glorious future is where our eyes are set. We see an Afghanistan needless of external help and support, we see it self-sufficient, self-sustaining and independent, able to bring prosperity and opportunity to all through its own national efforts. A lofty ideal to be sure, for a country riddled by brutal war and suffocating poverty and ceaseless disadvantage for more than 30 years, but it is an ideal that can be realized. And it all comes down to one key concept. Development. The 21st century marked a historical shift in how we come to evaluate human development, progress and prosperity. The big new idea has been the Human Development Index as used by the UN to gauge human prosperity, as opposed to other flimsy measures such as economic growth. It is defined as “the process of enlarging people’s choices”, said choices being allowing them to “lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to enjoy a decent standard of living”. Mahboba’s Promise has for a long time now made that simple aspiration a key aspect of its organisation philosophy. In addition to the its schools and educational centres, it has intensely focussed on the training of women and girls, so that they could live dignified, independent lives where they could support themselves and their families and to play an active role in society. There are tailoring classes for women, just recently 30 young girls were graduated from tailoring course held under the patronage of Mahboba’s Promise. There are permaculture and farming courses. This is a practical based training for around 30 widows that enables them to learn organic farming, how

to grow vegetables, how to irrigate and how to make best use of organic farming in their life. They also learn different methods of cultivation, harvesting fruits and vegetables are also part of this training. The implications for themselves and the community that they live in are enormous. Not only would they be able to sustain themselves, but they would also be a dependable source of food production in their own community. That really is the whole point of the concept development. To enable the locals to take care of their own communities. Afghanistan requires a steadfast commitment to meaningful development. Goals should, in one way or another, help and enable the Afghans themselves to take charge of their communities and to lift themselves out of the mire of poverty and disadvantage. Every human has enormous potential and worth, he harbours a grand ability to support and sustain himself and to really help those around him. We should want to help actualize that potential. That great era of self-sufficiency and true prosperity and opportunity in Afghanistan is beckoning at our horizon, though it’s still far away. And so with great hope and with tireless determination we will continue to work until that dawn comes.

AMUST

Handicraft training graduates receiving gifts and awards.

For more information about Mahboba’s Promise activities in Afghanistan refer to the website at www.mahbobaspromise.org or call the office at 02 9887 1665. Mahdi Housaini has been working as an intern in the Mahboba’s Promise office. He writes about how development has been and should remain a key focus objective for organisations working in Afghanistan.

Plumbing graduates in Afghanistan.

ISOC organises overseas Iftars Zia Ahmad

The Islamic Society of University of New South Wales this year organised a number of overseas Iftars during the month of Ramadan amongst diverse impoverished communities in Asia. This is one of the many innovative projects that ISOC organises for the larger community beyond the campuses of the University life. In a systematic way ISOC partners with many other organisations for the collection of aid for disasters, building of mosques, establishment of scholarship within Australia as well as overseas. The first overseas Iftar sponsored by ISOC was held on 2 July 2015 at Mahabbater Para, Bogra in Bangladesh attended by more than 300 people. People living in the area are very poor, having been displaced by natural disaster river erosion. The second Iftar was held on 5 July at Bheramara, Kushtia again in Bangladesh

August 2015

attended by almost 200 people. The third Iftar was held on 12 July at Maruthamunai, Kalmunai in Sri Lanka attended by a large number of of local people. The fourth Iftar was held on 13 July at Meukek, Soth Acheh in Indonesia attended by around 230 men women and children. The fifth iftar was on 12 July at Fasalabad, Pakistan attended by 300 people. The incredible logistics of sponsoring, funds collection and transfers and hosting in such diverse areas was all voluntarily organised by ISOC and its local partners and has been very inspiring and encouraging. This has been an innovative program in caring for the Ummah and an example of not only thinking globally but also acting locally as well as globally. In addition ISOC collected and distributed $5,500 this Ramadan Zakat-ul-Fitr in 11 countries, all with the help of local and overseas volunteers this avoiding any administration costs.

Distributing Zakat-ul-Fitr in South Aceh, Indonesia.

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COMMUNITY

Events Calendar

Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair 2015 Sunday 2 August, 2015 10:00AM - 8:00PM Fairfield Showground, 494 Smithfield Rd, Prairiewood www.meff.com.au

Islamicate: A-Z of Racism Sunday 2 August, 2015 11:45PM - 3:00PM Life Matters, 2/69 The Mall, Bankstown, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 704165963060487/

Rich & Righteous: Making Millions In This World & The Next Saturday 8 August, 2015 7:00PM Orion Function Centre 155 Beamish Street, Sydney, NSW

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

Shafqat Ali This year, Ramadan Diary was also run from Bankstown Masjid along with Campbelltown Masjid starting with “Welcome to Ramadan”. Youth were invited to perform in activities such as Quran Recitation, Nasheed, Presentations, Speeches and Adhan Competitions. They were given the Ramadan Diary in which they recorded their activities such as Fasting, Prayer, Reciting Quran, Helping their Parents etc during Ramadan. The Programme coordinator went on air with SBS radio to make community aware about the programme. More than 150 youth from both Masajid participated in the program. This year Ramadan Diary Program had more resources and freedom to expand as Campbelltown Masjid has full multimedia facilities including digital projector to engage kids. Last year for the first time, kids performed on SBS Radio and at the MEFF Festival in Fairfield Showground. Ramadan Diary facebook page and YouTube channel were

Campbelltown Masjid Ramadan Diary program participants with their awards. also setup. Youth were given the opportunity to run the programme of their own under adult supervision. Efforts to engage youth specially during the month of Ramadan started in South West of Sydney, eight years ago by a group of Muslims families from IFAM (Islamic Fo-

Arab Film Festival Opening Night

Thursday 13 August, 2015 8:00PM - 11:00PM Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, NSW https://riversideparramatta. com.au/show/ghadi/

Saturday 15 August, 2015 10:00AM Rosehill Racecourse James Ruse Drive, Rosehill, NSW Online tickets: bit.ly/ToFSydney

The Ethics of Extremism Thursday 20 August, 2015 6:00PM - 7:30PM The Ethics Centre Level 2, Legion House, 161 Castlereagh St, Sydney, NSW http://goo.gl/4oifCH

Time For Change – Brothers In Need Event Saturday 22 August, 2015 7:00PM - 10:00PM 90a Memorial Ave, Liverpool, NSW 0457 969 997

View more events online or add your own at www.amust.com.au/ calendar

LIFESTYLE 15 - 16

Ramadan Diary Program: A great success

Email: info@awqaf.org.au

Once Upon a Time in Madinah | #ToFSYD

AUSTRALIA 9 - 10

From Left (Standing) Dr Hassan Rana, Waqar Malik, Awad Gill, Usaid Khalil, Anees Qureshi, Nazir ul Hassan Thanvi, Ibrahim Khan, Dr Gulzar Khan, Hafiz Abdul Rafay Khan, (Sitting) Javed Akhtar, Zahid Alam at Campbelltown Masjid.

rum for Australian Muslims). The aim of this Program was to help kids plan their Ramadan with productive activities and to provide them a platform where they can participate in different Islamic activities of their interest. The program starts with a “Welcome to Ramadan” lecture where a Ramadan Diary was given to youth in order to record their activities like Salat, Saum, Quran recitation, homework, and other good deeds. They were asked to come on Saturday along with their filled in Ramadan Diary. Ramadan Diary programme continued for the whole month of Ramadan and at Eid youth were awarded for their participation in Diary programme and weekly performances. Campbelltown Masjid Ramadan Diary program concluded on Eid day with prize distribution followed by Eid breakfast and sweets. Bankstown Masjid Ramadan Diary prize distribution will be held later. Here are the links for people who are more interested to know about the program. email: Ramadan.Diary@gmail.com facebook: fb.com/RamadanDiary YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ RamadanDiary

AFP “cancel” Eid Dinner after Muslim community pressure AMUST Media A ‘Boycott AFP Eid Dinners’ petition has reached over 840 signatures petitioning members of the Muslim community to boycott Eid Dinners hosted by the Australian Federal Police and has led to the cancellation of the Sydney Eid Dinner. An email was circulated by the AFP Community Liaison Committee, which includes: “With regard to an AFP Eid dinner for 2015, the AFP has consulted with community representatives and as a result has made the decision not to proceed with an event in Sydney this year.” The petition committee from the Concerned Muslims Australia group have issued a press release with 6 reasons why this is a positive occurrence for the Muslim community. Press Release The AFP released a statement on the 10th July 2015 stating their decision to “not to proceed with an event in Sydney this year”. This is a positive occurrence for the Muslim community for reasons listed but not limited to the below: The Muslim community has demon-

Australasian Muslim Times

strated a raised awareness regarding the AFP’s attempts to rid themselves of their central role in the vilification of and the discrimination against the Muslim community. The community has made abundantly clear to our leaders and representatives that such engagement is not acceptable to a large portion of the community they seek and claim to represent. There is abundant strength in the unity of the Muslim community when it takes principled positions. This should be considered a demonstration of positive Muslim community intent and the potential that we have to get our concerns heard and acted upon. The cancellation of this dinner has affirmed the sagacity of the community in its condemnation and clear denunciation of thinly veiled attempts by the government to legitimise their actions through implicit rubber stamping by Muslim community leaders and representatives. We warmly thank and acknowledge those leaders and representatives who rejected the AFP’s invitation and who contributed towards the cancellation, and we sincerely hope that such stands may continue to be taken in future, with our com-

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munity’s best interest at heart. Immense gratitude must be shown to our dear Muslim community for its overwhelming support of this cause in a relatively short space of time. This spirit of solidarity and cooperation is to be celebrated and it should be a consistent feature in countering government policies that stoke fears and scapegoat Muslims, including dramatic raids, citizenship issues, anti-terror laws and more. A blessed outcome has resulted from a blessed community in a blessed month. We pray that even further goodness and confidence grows from this successful campaign. The Petition Committee.

August 2015

AUSTRALIA Foreign Investment in Australian Real Estate Market: New framework to control housing prices EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

FINANCE Dr Abul Jalaluddin Owning a residential home is a great Australian dream which is rapidly becoming a distant memory due to drastic increase in property prices. The first home buyers have no respite either. Many are of the opinion that foreign investors who are precipitously acquiring residential properties and pricing locals out of the market. For Chinese buyers, Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne are favoured destinations. According to financial services company Credit Suisse, Chinese investors are important drivers of house prices. In 2013-14, they demanded 23% of new housing stock in Sydney and 20% in Melbourne. They will continue to spend an average of $6.3 billion per year to 2020 or 20% of the new homes, up from the current 15%. Chinese investors are attracted to Australian properties for several competitive reasons: property prices are affordable, sliding Australian dollar, low interest rates, property taxes are low, great Australian lifestyle is appealing and visa requirements are welcoming. Chinese investors are also highly visible in other prime real estate markets of the world including Auckland, Vancouver, California and San Francisco. Due to recent political noise around the high level of house prices, the Federal Government has promised to introduce legislation into Parliament in the Spring Sittings to strengthen the integrity of the foreign investment framework. The new rules will commence on 1 December 2015. To achieve a stronger enforcement, foreign investment functions in relation to residential real estate will be transferred from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) at the Federal

BUSINESS 22

SOCIAL 23

Treasury to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ATO will apply its data matching capability for a stringent compliance of these rules. The new regime is contained in the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 and the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Fees Imposition Bill 2015. In a nutshell, approval is required to purchase a new property by a foreign person or an establish property by a temporary resident such as a student. Temporary residents are not allowed to rent out establish property and required to sell it when it ceases to be their principal place of residence. There are reporting responsibilities by foreign investors, temporary residents and property developers in relation to real estate transactions. The regime includes severe civil and criminal penalties for a third party such as real estate agents for assisting foreign investors to breach foreign investment rules. Australian taxpayer will no longer pay the bill for screening foreign investment applications and a fee will be levied to foreign investors in real estate. For residential properties valued at $1 million or less, foreign purchasers will pay a fee of $5,000.00. This fee will be increased to $10,000.00 for residential properties valued at greater than $1 million. This fee will then be $10,000.00 incremental fee increase per additional $1 million in property value. There are fees payable by property developers for off the plan certificates. There are criminal and civil penalties for breaches of foreign investment rules which apply to residential real estate. Criminal penalties will be increased from $85,000.00 (500 penalty units) to $127,500.00 (750 penalty units) or 3 years imprisonment for individuals and to $637,500.00 (3,750 penalty units) for companies. The maximum civil penalties will be greater of (i) 10% of purchase price plus the relevant application

AMUST

fee or (ii) 10% of market value of the property plus the relevant application fee. Third parties such as real estate agents and property promoters who knowingly assist a foreign investor to breach the rules will now be subject to criminal and civil penalties, including penalties of $42,500.00 (250 penalty units) for individuals and $212,500.00 (1,250 penalty units) for companies. There are similar high criminal and civil penalties for renting out or sub-letting an establish property by a temporary resident, not disposing off an establish property by a temporary resident when it ceases to be the principal place of residence, acquiring an establish property by a non-resident or acquiring more than one establish property by a temporary resident, failure to commence construction within 24 months without seeking extension of time and failure of reporting responsibilities by foreign investors as well as property developers. The new legislative regime with draconi-

an penalties will definitely make Australian real estate less attractive to Chinese buyers but the potential erosion of demand and hence, the price pressures will be marginal. As the credibility of the Australian property market continues to strengthen in China and other Asian countries along with a rising level of income, the level of investment in Australia will undoubtedly enhance resulting an increase in house prices. The liberalisation of Chinese capital markets will inevitably cause huge outflows of funds which will result in a significant increase in house prices in Australia and real estate markets around the world. It would be an illusion to expect a significant fall in residential property prices due to the increased level of regulation and enforcement on Chinese or non-resident activities in the Australian property market. Dr Abul Jalaluddin is an Islamic Finance expert, Director of MCCA, taxation advisor and a regular columnist of AMUST. He is based in Sydney.

Alarm at right wing extremists out in public Zia Ahmad With the background of anti-Muslim rallies being held by extremists in many cities of Australia, a number of speakers at the recently held conference at UWS warned that right-wing extremism was emerging as an equal, if not greater, threat than Muslim radicalisation in Australia. “Advancing Community Cohesion” conference was held from Wednesday 15 to Friday 17 July at The University of Western Sydney supported by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. The conference date coincided with the last two days of Ramadan and the day of Eid-ul-Fitr festivities itself. Reportedly this resulted in a number of potential Muslim participants not to join the conference as well as a few scheduled speakers to pull out due to the ill-timing of the conference. Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane said that there had undoubtedly been a rise in far-right extremist organisations who were not confining their activities underground but were coming out in the public. Keysar Trad, founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia criticised the right-wing columnists and shock

August 2015

jocks, saying they take no responsibility for the hostile environment they have created for minorities. Commenting on radicalisation and extremism, NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas said that the police force had extensive community engagement strategies in place and praised the increasing number of bystanders responding to public incidents of racism. Dr Anne Aly, a researcher and academic from Curtin University, WA said that Violent extremism in Australia is beginning to mirror that of the US, where many more people have been killed by right wing extremists than the so called terrorists since 9/11. On a positive note, A/Prof Memet Ozalp from ISRA and Charles Sturt University, told that Muslims living in the West provide a great opportunity to develop mutual understanding by supporting dialogue initiatives that involve education and social interaction. “Dialogue gives an opportunity for Muslims (and others) to voice their concerns in a democratic way to Western public, intellectuals, religious leaders and politicians while Western religious and secular circles find out about who Muslims really are rather than via just media sources and intelligence reports”, he said. He advised that presence of Muslims in Western societies should be accepted and diversity should be genuinely embraced as

From left: Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Keysar Trad and Dr Anas Natfaji at the UWS conference on community cohesion. richness. with Muslims and start to clarify the blind“Muslim presence enables Muslims to ap- spots.” he said. preciate the positives of Western civilisation and pass this on to other Muslims around the Zia Ahmad is the managing editor of world and at the same time it enables West- AMUST and is based in Sydney. erners to engage in a first hand dialogue

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AUSTRALIA

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

AUSTRALIA 9 - 10

LIFESTYLE 15 - 16

The good dialogue: Synagogue audience listens to Palestinians AMUST

Philip Feinstein

On Sunday 14 June there was an interesting gathering of Jewish people at the Newtown Synagogue Community Hall - this open-minded group was there to hear the views of three eminent Palestinians. Although the three speakers had different backgrounds, their collective points were absorbed by a very keen audience willing to learn from their Middle Eastern neighbours. Nahed Odeh: After obtaining a law degree in Alexandria, Egypt, and gaining her Masters at AlQuds University, Nahed Odeh started her professional life as a lawyer in Jordan as well as in Palestine. She progressed through many organisations on women and children’s rights as well as many training courses in International Humanitarian Law. With the assistance of Australian AusAid, she passed the interview and IELTS exam, and is now at the end of her third year of PhD in law. Looking back at the problematic issues between Israel and Palestine, she focused very strongly on the separation wall. “In 1967, by occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israel started to treat the people of the West Bank in an extremely different way from the people of Gaza” she said. “And so over 2,000 different military orders were imposed on Palestinian citizens.” She also referred to the Oslo agreements which she said came about to separate the Palestinian areas into 3 territories. “The Palestinian Authority tried its best to unify the separated areas, legally and administratively. But in order to demolish all the Palestinians’ efforts, Israel continued their plan by building a huge wall in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, which segregated the Palestinian areas from each other.” Nahed then referred to the checkpoints, which she said became the main struggle that faces the Palestinian people and their stand against unification. In concluding she stated: “Over 400,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and the East Jerusalem are directly affected by the Wall,

From left: Na’ama Carlin, Imad Kilani, Ahmed Bishtawi, Nahed Odeh either because their communities or their land has ended up west of the Wall on the Israeli side, or because they live in communities that are surrounded completely. Also the people in Gaza are living in a very big prison with closed borders and the lack of the simple basics of human rights.” Imad Kilani: Imad Kilani was born in Yaabad, a small town in the West Bank, north of Jenin. Imad’s family has lived in this area for generations. He did his undergraduate in Palestine, majoring in management studies. In 2014 Imad left Jenin to undertake an MA in International Relations in Sydney, Australia. Imad spoke emotively about the fragile nature of identity as a Palestinian. “There’s a stigma with being a Palestinian - when travelling, people think you are a terrorist; but also that you have no country to speak of, no passport. It’s demoralising. How can a person be denied identity?” he asked. Imad elaborated by pointing out the meaning of Israeli occupation, how it is different, and why the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is different. In pointing out that Palestinians

are stateless on this planet, he said “We look like strangers to others, or ‘outsiders’ from the global society. That frame has very negative implications on everyday life.” And in referring to the Israeli occupation of the land every day, he said it is also criminalising the Palestinians by the same means. “That makes Palestinians not only live in misery, but it drives them to feel that they don’t belong on this planet” he added. Ahmed Bishtawi: Ahmed Bishtawi was born in Nablus, where his family has lived for generations. He did his undergraduate degree and an MA in Law at the university in Nablus. He worked as a legal advisor for the Palestinian Water Authority. In 2012, Ahmed came to Australia to do a PhD on the topic of the water treaties between Palestine and Israel. Ahmed spoke about two legal systems regarding Palestinians living inside Israel. “In the West Bank there are different legal systems: one applies to the Palestinians which is military law, and the other applies on the Jewish settlers which is ordinary civil Israeli law. As a result these two legal systems

lead to different treatments and different obligations and privileges” he said. “The settlers in the West Bank enjoy more privileges than the Palestinians in terms of health, education, movement and access to natural resources.” He added that whatever crimes the settlers do, they may be charged under the civil Israeli laws, but that most of times they are not. Ahmed also spoke about administrative detention and lack of freedom of movement for Palestinians. “It was in Australia where I was able to look back at the conflict” he said, adding “and to start thinking about a one state solution as a logical step.” He certainly caught most of the audience off guard when speaking of a one state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Concluding the presentations was MC Na’ama Carlin, a young Israeli PhD student who shared with everyone her experiences of growing up in Israel. “We heard very one sided stories which were critical for maintaining nationalistic sentiments” she said. “Like many other Israelis, I seldom questioned the existing narrative.” She said her turning point was coming to Australia and being able to see things from a distance. “This is where the paradigm began to shift” said Na’ama. “Here I really began to get involved and invested in politics because the ‘other’ had a face, a name and a story.” Na’ama concluded by speaking about the moral responsibility Diaspora Jews have to respond to human rights atrocities in Palestine. The evening concluded with a magnificent Middle Eastern feast of typical exotic foods. The dialogue continued well into the evening with lots of views to exchange and debate. The general consensus was that it was a very valuable evening all round. Footnote: An interesting article by Mudar Zahran, a Jordanian-Palestinian, depicts another side of the current debate. See http://goo.gl/lx5gtV Philip Feinstein is a Sydney based writer, musician and activist working for MUSIC FOR REFUGEES www.musicforrefugees.org

NAIDOC Week: Appreciating Aboriginal culture Anne Fairbairn AM NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander people. NAIDOC Week this year was again an opportunity to recognize the important contribution indigenous cultures make to our community and to build bridges between indigenous and non-indigenous communities. I have read to several groups this year my poems which I have written to celebrate NAIDOC week this July and also presented several framed drawings I have done. I have the greatest respect for our indigenous Australians who lived here in harmony with nature for over 40,000 years. I made this clear in my book ‘Shadows of our Dreaming.’ with a series of short poems, each with an Aboriginal title. I firmly believe Aborigines should certainly be recognized in the Australian Constitution. This year several speakers spoke about the history of NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Com-

mittee) that is responsible for organizing the week long event. Before the 1920s, Aboriginal rights groups boycotted Australia Day (26 January) in protest against the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians. On Australia Day, 1938, protestors marched through the streets of Sydney, followed by a congress attended by over a thousand people. One of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world, it was known as the Day of Mourning. From 1940 until 1955, the Day of Mourning was held annually on the Sunday before Australia Day and was known as Aborigines Day. In 1955 Aborigines Day was shifted to the first Sunday in July after it was decided the day should become not simply a protest day but also a celebration of Aboriginal culture. Major Aboriginal organizations, state and federal governments, and a number of church groups all supported the formation of, the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC). At the same time, the second Sunday in July became a day of remembrance for Aboriginal people and their heritage. In 1972, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs was formed, as a major outcome of the 1967 referendum. In 1974, the NADOC committee was

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composed entirely of Aboriginal members for the first time. The following year, it was decided that the event should cover a week, from the first to second Sunday in July. In 1984, NADOC asked that National Aborigines Day be made a national public holiday, to help celebrate and recognise the rich cultural history that makes Australia unique. While this has not happened, other groups have echoed the call. With a growing awareness of the distinct cultural histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NADOC was ex-

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panded to recognize Torres Strait Islander people and culture. The committee then became known as the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC). This new name has become the title for the whole week, not just the day. Each year, a theme is chosen to reflect the important issues and events for NAIDOC Week. During the mid-1990s, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) took over the management of NAIDOC until ATSIC was disbanded in 2004-05.

August 2015

Message from Manar Ahmad

Message from Laurie Ferguson

Assalamu Alaikum and Eid Mubarak Distinguished guests and valued festival goers Welcome to 32nd Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair. MEFF, as it is known, has been celebrating Eid with the Muslim and wider communities since the 1980’s. It started and continues as a self-sufficient and self-reliant non-for-profit grass roots volunteer organisation. It is an open organisation and anyone in the community can be a member and contribute to its success. Visit the information stall or contact us through the MEFF website. And MEFF performs its role successfully without local, state or federal government funding or support. When MEFF was founded in 1986 most of those attending today and in fact most of the MEFF volunteers were not even alive and probably not even thought of! Lets look back and compare where we were and where we are now. Back then there were no Muslim festivals in Australia, no mobile phones, no internet, no death cult on our front door, no axis of evil, no issues with halal food, and no Reclaim Australia. Back then Jimmy Barnes was a hero. Now apparently to some he’s a disgrace for distancing himself and his songs from racism and bigotry. But in the 80’s the founders of MEFF saw a need. Firstly to bring all Muslims together to celebrate their most holy days as they were used to in the countries from which they came and give the community their identity. Secondly, and as important, to share this celebration with fellow Australian friends, neighbours and co-workers. When MEFF started, it was a first, not only for Australia but for most of the western world. We now have many, many festivals throughout Sydney and indeed throughout Australia. And we are not just happy with that, we are proud of it. In fact we gave support to some of the festivals that are now flourishing. We are happy because our objectives are being replicated and the rewards multiplied. Since then this particular festival has grown and developed. It consistently offers the best value to attendees and stall holders. It has a sustainable future with financial security, efficient event management practices and an entrenched continuous improvement ethic and process. But as MEFF has developed our two objectives have always remained and have consistently been met. And that, at its heart, is to bring all Australians together so that we better understand and appreciate each other. We all - Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, in fact those of all religious or non-religious backgrounds and beliefs, Australians from all walks of lives and values - all have a stake in a peaceful, accepting and respectful Australia. That’s what all Australians should reclaim and hold.

I have been attending Fairfield’s Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair for many, many years. This has given me an awareness of the dedication of the founders, their family and supporters. It was the pathfinder and is the pacemaker of Eid celebrations. Importantly it does not have narrowness – The displays, the performers, the food and the attendees cover the breadth of the Islamic World. I can also say from my experience that it is also increasingly successful in attracting interested non-Muslims. In an era of subjugation of religious minorities around the globe and increased ill-informed bigotry here, its message of peace, unity and harmony is crucial.

President of MEFF

August 2015

Message from Message from Michelle Rowland Dr Mehreen Faruqi Shadow Minister

Federal Member for Werriwa Greens NSW MP

Message from Julie Owens Federal Member for Parramatta

The Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair was the first festival to celebrate Eid in Australia and I am thrilled that it has again returned to Western Sydney. I want to thank MEFF for encouraging this festival as a time where Islamic and non-Islamic communities can come together, promoting harmony and friendship. Thank you for demonstrating to our wider community the beauty and strength of your faith and culture. I would also like to extend my very best wishes to you all this Eid for a life of peace, health and blessings. Eid is an auspicious occasion and I wish you all happiness and joy through this time. Eid Mubarak.

Message from Ed Husic

Federal Member for Chifley As-Salamu alaykum dear friends, Following the holy month of Ramadan, we now enter a special time of peace and unity, with family, friends and the wider community joining to support those in need and to promote goodwill and harmony across the world. The Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair (MEFF) has become a major focal point and terrific unifying occasion. I would like recognise and commend the Australian Multicultural Community on their continued success in making the MEFF such a special community event, raising awareness and building community harmony. Wishing you and your family a heartfelt Eid Mubarak.

On behalf of the Greens NSW, I wish you and your family a safe and happy Eid celebration In our multicultural society, festivals like the Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair create an opportunity for everyone to come together and build cross-cultural understandings and harmony. Eid Mubarak!

Message from Chris Hayes

Federal Member for Fowler It gives me great pleasure to join with you and provide this message for the annual Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair (MEFF) 2015. I would like to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the organising committee and volunteers, who put on this major event every year in our local community, for all of us to enjoy. MEFF continues to grow and spread the word of peace and social harmony, whilst at the same time combining fun and family entertainment. The Festival also provides an opportunity for all Australians to join with those of the Islamic faith to celebrate the diversity and vibrance of our culture and traditions; and in doing so, showcasing the benefits of our multiculturalism. The Australian MEFF Consortium is to be congratulated on its excellent community reputation, which comes from the great work of a dedicated team, who work tirelessly to encourage social inclusion throughout our local community. As the Federal Member for Fowler, I am honoured to represent such a vibrant and diverse community, and the Festival is an event that my wife, Bernadette, and I always look forward to attending. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Eid. Eid Mubarak!

Message from Matt Thistlethwaite Federal Member for Kingsford Smith

Warmest wishes for Eid, This is a time for celebration, coming together in peace, unity and harmony. Australia’s greatest assets are our diversity, multiculturalism, and our respect for each other. The Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair is a shining example of that togetherness and a reminder of what makes multicultural Australia such an amazing place. I wish you a blessed and joyous celebration. Eid Mubarak.

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for Citizenship & Multiculturalism

It gives me great pleasure to send my best wishes to everyone attending the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair. As Ramadan comes to an end, the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair brings the community together to celebrate and honour the blessings of a renewed faith through acts of charity and kindness. In celebrating this auspicious event we also acknowledge the outstanding contribution of the Australian Muslim community. As with all our national citizenry, the Australian Muslim community is one of extraordinary vitality and diversity, with ancestries that stretch back generations, with roots stemming from every country on earth; and with a history that forms an integral part of our national narrative. It is this diversity that enriches our multiculturalism and it is this diversity which we celebrate today. May the new moon usher in a spirit of harmony, respect and cooperation which serves to lift up the values we all cherish as a society. Eid Mubarak.

Message from Sharon Bird Federal Member for Cunningham

I would like to support and send my best wishes to everyone attending the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair on 2 August, 2015. I have had the pleasure of attending many IFTAR family dinners and have enjoyed the celebration of multiculturalism. In my electorate of Cunningham The Illawarra People for Peace movement recently formed to promote peace and harmony in the Illawarra. They have hosted Interfaith BBQs and events that have encouraged all people of different cultures and faiths to come together. This Fair is a significant event which provides an avenue for the Australian Multicultural Community to join together in peace, unity and harmony. This festival aims to bring people out of social isolation and teach tolerance and appreciate cultural diversity. The Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair is the first festival held to celebrate Eid in Australia and I offer my very best wishes for an enjoyable and successful event.

Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair Ph: (02) 9823 2063 Email: meff@ifew.com www.meff.com.au

Australasian Muslim Times

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Costco Wholesale Information Darul Furqan Islamic Books | Islamic Perfumes | Islamic Prayer Caps | Islamic CDs Darussalam Bookstore Books Diversity Services, NSW Dept of Justice Pamphlets & Brochures Divine Jewellery Jewellery Equitable Financial Solutions Pty Ltd (EFSOL) Islamic Finance - Business Promotion Face Painting by Z Face Painting | Balloon Twisting Faza Fashions Abayas | Kurtas & Dresses | Shalwar Kameez GemArt Home DĂŠcor | Canvas Art | Hampers | Nappy Cakes | Islamic Wall Art Hassan Sabourne Jewellery & Cloths Helium Balloon Helium Balloons Henna By Hura Henna (Mehndi Applications) Holy Teaching Books - Printed and Audio Human Appeal International Sounds of Light DVD | Flyers | Merchandise Hunter Street Community Centre Pty Ltd Collecting Donations

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Dodgem Cars Sizzler . Body Rock . Hurricane . Graviton . Large Ferris Wheel . Power Surge Freak Out . Flying Fish . Super Slide . Cup & Saucer . Ferris Wheel . Crazy Flyer Motor Bikes . Train Ride Circus Train Inflatable Happy Clown Inflatable Water Balls . Bungees & More!

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Australasian Muslim Times

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August 2015

EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

SOCIAL 23

LIFESTYLE

Australia-Indonesia Muslim Exchange Program Part 3 MOBYDAYZE Mobinah Ahmad After Istiqlal mosque, we went for lunch to a five star restaurant rated by Trip Advisor called Dapur Babah. It was a mix of traditional and modern Indonesian food as well as Dutch inspired food. It was definitely a culinary experience, I love sharing dishes. The Mahedeva mocktail was the best with strawberry, lime and lychee. Experiencing a culture on a 5 star level and on a street level can be so different. Both food tastes amazing, the only difference is AC. After Istiqlal mosque, we did some shopping at Kasablanca mall. All four of us squished in the back of a taxi. Sarah wanted to ask permission from the taxi driver if it was ok to have four people in the back, I was like just get in and wait till he says no! I went to The Coffee Bean in Kasablanka mall, I asked for a Mobollo but the barista was too worried to make something he didn’t know. As i was there, a server, Sarwo came over and told me to explain what a Mobollo is. We talked about our passion for coffee and how much we love the taste and culture of it.He told me that if I ever come again, he make one. It’s these experiences with strangers that I love the most. Had I not been alone, I’m not even sure Sarwo would of come for the chat. He added me on Facebook, and now we’re friends! The next morning we were to go off to Cirebon to sleep in a Pesantren (Muslim boarding school) and then meet the prince.

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It was very exciting. When we entered the school. we heard music, and behold - there was a whole marching band ready to greet us! The boys and girls did a number of performances, they were very talented and disciplined. Sarah said that the Cirebon local cuisine is her favourite so far as we ate the homemade food. My favourite was a deliciously simple chicken and vegetable soup (soup de proteins) with rice and potatoes balls the wonderful head mistress of the school cooked for us. We had more time to look around the Pesantren. The grave of Dr Kh Ali Fahmi Syarief (Alm) who started a Pesantren Boarding school in Cirebon was in the centre of the school. There were pictures on a banner of his family who live in the Pesantren and help run it: his wife, four sons and daughter. The next morning, we saw fresh green coconuts in the trailer of a motorcycle. Sarah recalls that “during the drive over we mentioned that we’d never had coconuts in Indonesia, an hour later were sitting on the front porch and their daily produce delivery had a truck full of them. The generosity of our hosts is overwhelming, it’s the first time the school has had overseas guests stay the night.” The Pesantren is a humble school, meet the kids was lovely; we were greeted with a percussion band. We stayed there for one night. It was pretty good conditions, but different to what we’re used to. We all had a chance to experience a bucket shower and squat toilet. It was a humbling experience. Food was yum and the spirit of Umi as the matriarch of the whole place left us with quite an expression of Indonesian women.

Modest Street Fashion Photography by Benny Baharuddin

Patrice, 21, Physiotherapy Student Jacket from hipster, scarf from urban culture and boots from payless. I go for an edgy style but it depends how I feel on the day. I can go monochrome but I mostly go for neutral colours.

August 2015

The Modest Street Fashion series will capture the diversity of expression and style. This series explores Sydney’s emerging modest fashion market.

Delina, 30, Designer/Blogger/Mother Tutu and scarf by Delina, vest from Glasson, glasses are a market find and striped long sleeve shirt from chicabootie. I describe my style as unique and fun but it depends how I feel when I wake up in the morning.

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Laylaa, 17, Student I like to wear a lot of indie clothes that are free flowing. I like it laced and I like monochrome because I feel most comfortable in it and it represents who I am, a free flowing person.

Australasian Muslim Times

AMUST

LIFESTYLE

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

AUSTRALIA 9 - 10

LIFESTYLE 15 - 16

The big fat Muslim wedding Marriage Bureau

Saltanat Bora

A custom made wedding dress that costs over $5000. A variety of cars ranging from vintage, sports, luxury, a Hummer, oh and throw in a motorcycle or two. Flowers covering the reception hall. A candy buffet groaning under the weight of cupcakes, strawberry towers, cakes and custom monogrammed biscuits. Wedding reception entertainment including, but not limited to: a magician, whirling dervishes, a cultural dance group, elaborate meal presentations. As well as same day edits played on large screens in the reception hall showing the bride and groom in various loving embraces. No, I’m not describing an extravagant celebrity wedding. I’m talking about the Big Fat Muslim Wedding that is currently trending. Being a blogger in the seemingly frivolous wedding industry, I make it my job to keep up-to-date with current trends in bridal fashion, hipster weddings in museums and of course, Muslim weddings. Most of them don’t feel like a genuine celebration of two people committing their love and friendship to one another. They generally feel disorganized, chaotic, and to be honest, awkward. Awkward because they usually show a compromise in values- such as the extravagance in dress, décor and the presence of mixed dancing, music and so on. I think the problem lies in intentions. The majority of the time the intention is blatantly to “impress the community” or to pull off a better wedding than a relative or family friend. Getting caught up in the planning of a wedding can result in tears and disagreements, to the extent where many an engage-

Seeker & Sought For An initiative by the Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare (IFEW)

Seekers

F20155: Female, 29. Sri Lankan Indian (Bahrain), Pharmacist I enjoy spending time with family, reading books, cooking Arab dishes. I read the Quran and pray 5 times a day. I’m looking for a Muslim man, aged between 30-35 yeas old, who is cultured, open-minded and who has high respect in family values. M20156: Male 58 divorced Pakistani Australian. I have been in Australia for 30 years and worked in IT and now I am retired. I am seeking for a Sunni muslimah widow or divorced from any culture.

ment has been broken off due to irreconcilable differences between the two families. And in an environment where it is getting harder and harder for young people to get married due to the rising costs of living, or the high amount of the mahr demanded by families of the bride (or the bride herself),

pushing to have an extravagant wedding is just (forgive me for the pun) the icing on the cake. Most importantly we come from a religion that espouses moderation in all things. The lessons from our Prophet (pbuh) often center on humility. How is it then that when it comes to the (apparently) Most Important Day of Our Lives, all such considerations are thrown out the window and exchanged for the entire pomp and exhibitionism? The most beautiful walima I’ve been to was an intimate affair, with couple’s nearest and dearest, in a space that was important to them. The evening was spent in valued company, where guests could speak to the person next to them without shouting, the food made you come back for seconds, speeches heartfelt and most importantly, the bride and groom’s sheer joy palpable from their faces, reminding everyone that when Allah swt places love in the hearts of two people, it truly is a cause for (modest) celebration. Saltanat Bora is the Editor of The Modest Bride.

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M20154: Male, 42. Pakistani Australian, Accountant I come from a respectable family, I have been brought up with traditional Pakistani culture. I am a Sunni Muslim. I like reading Islamic Books, attending Islamic seminars and meeting friends of a similar background. I also like watching movies, listening to music and watching various sports. I am looking for a Sunni Muslim Pakistani woman who is educated and comes from a respectable family background. M20153: Male, 32, Sri Lankan Australian, Engineer. I’m an engineer and revert to Islam (I’ve done a lot of research to come to this point). This is my second year as a practicing Muslim. I have high emaan. My hobbies are fitness, reading, learning Arabic, engineering, modern history, cafés and restaurants, innovation. I’m looking for a devout practicing Muslim (Sunni) sister from any cultural background. Ideally a sister with very high emaan. M20152: Male, 33, Indian Australian, Financial Analyst. I’m a revert to Islam, and I work as a financial analyst in a multi-national IT company seeking an educated Muslim woman from a cultured family. M20151: Male, 34, Sri Lankan, Self-Employed. I have been living in Sydney for the past three years. I’ve been brought with traditional Islamic culture and am seeking to find a life partner in a halal way. I pray five times a day and read Quran every day. I am a very religious person, and I am looking to marry a religious Muslim woman.

Placing a notice If you would like to place a notice, fill out the matrimonial form at: www.amust.com.au/marriage-bureau

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If you would like to respond to a notice, the matrimonial form at: www.amust.com.au/marriage-bureau and it will be emailed to them along with your email address. All information is held in strict confidence

August 2015

EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

EDUCATION

SOCIAL 23

AMUST

The 99 Divine attributes of Allah Part 12 - Attributes 53-55 of Allah BEYOND THE BOX Dr Q Ashfaq Ahmad This issue continues the series exclusive to AMUST on the 99 divine attributes of Allah. Read previous parts at www.goo.gl/L1wvP2

53. Al- Qawī - The All- Strong “Truly Allah defends1 those who believe2. Indeed Allah does likes not any treacherous ingrate to Allah (those who disobey Allah but obey Shatain) Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to these (the prophet’s companions) who are being fought because they were wronged4 and surely, Allah is Able to give them victory5 . (They are) those who have been evicted from their homes unjustly6 only because They said: “Our Rabb is Allah”7 And were it not that Allah checks one set of people by means of another, monasteries, church, synagogues8 and mosques, wherein the Name of Allah is mentioned much9 . And Allah will surely support those who help Him (His cause). Truly, Allah is All-Strong (53), AllMighty. 9 (Al-Hajj, 22:38- 40) 1. This whole chapter 22 Al-Hajj deals with the great service carried by the Arch- Prophet Abraham (a.s.) by erecting a great place of worship in the place where he left his son Ishmael (a.s.) and his wife Hagar (a.s.) in Makka, Arabia to make it as their residing place while he is going away to different corner of the world for preaching the Oneness of God. He named this worship as The Hajj (Pilgrimage) for praising and prostrating for the Unseen Allah (God) to be visualized through His marvelous manifestation, bounties and blessings. Describing the introduction and the details of the religious rituals, Allah explains the main proceedings and purpose of this worship which has been badly changed by the pagans of Arabia. This passage starts with the support of Allah to the believers. 2. During the struggle and conflict between the divine truth and the denials of disbelieving humans, Allah supports the believers and promises them that if they sincerely, without personal interest, wish to propagate the truth Allah defends the believers. This defence of Allah is one-sided the material and the spiritual support to the believers to demolish the mysterious people. 3. Hence Allah is for the party of the believers. The reason is that the believers are on the right path in propagating the truth which is a noble work while the other party, disbelievers, they are treacherous people revolting against their Creator as well as they are the deniers of the bounties of Allah. They are dishonest and committing treachery against Allah. They are even thankless for the blessings given to them by Allah. 4. This is the first permission given to believers for fighting in the battle for the path of Allah against those who have wronged them. In this verse only permission has been given now in the month Zul-Hajj, 1H while the permission for the participation in the first battle Badr is given just few days before the occurrence in Rajab/ Shabaan, 2H. 5. It seems strange that the small number of believers residing in Madinah were given permission to take part in battle with limited armaments - swords and spears. Even the total number of believers throughout Arabia were less than 8000.

August 2015

In spite of such a delicate situation Allah reveals, “Allah is able to give them victory”. This, on one hand gave a lot of consideration to the believers for having the support of Allah in clear terms and on the other hand it was a warning to the disbelievers that your contest is not with a handful number of believers but it is with Allah who is the Creator, Controller and Master of the whole word and universe. This verse shows that the chapter Al-Hajj was revealed after the Hijra. 6. The believers were evicted from Makkah very cruelly as demonstrated by the incidents of Suhaib Rumee, Lady Umm Salmah, Abul Salmah and Ayash Bin Rabinash (raa) 7. The words Sawamah, Biyai and Salawat are used in Arabic. Sawamah is termed for the place where monks and reclusive religious people lived. Biyai is used for the religious places of Christians and Salawat is the place for the prayer offering of the Jews. The Aramaic word for the Jews was slowta. 8. It is a great benevolence of Allah that He removes one set of people through another set of people. Otherwise if one particular group would have occupied the power and control of any territory, the parliament houses, industrial and trade centers all would have been demolished. Rather, even the places of worship would not have been left secure from the clutches of mindless persons. But, Allah is the Great, Benefactor for the mankind in that He crushes and demolishes the wrong-doers when they cross the limit. Please, refer Al-Quran (Al-Baqarah, 2:251). 9. This idea has been mentioned in quite a number of places in Al-Quran: that the people who call the public towards the Creator and the Controller of the whole world for worship of the One Universal God (Allah) and make their utmost efforts to establish the true religions and replace the evils by the goodness are the helpers of Allah. Actually this is the Will of Allah for which they accompany Allah. Please refer to Al-e-Imran, (3:4953).

So not to fulfill this duty is nothing else but to disobey their conscience.” In verse number 57, there is a delicate pun. All the ones who are serving others but not God because of being rebelled against Him, are actually themselves indigent of the worshipped ones. Contrary to this the worshipped ones are not the providers to the worshippers rather they are in need of provision and sustenance by the worshippers as being the agents of Allah (the One God). 3. These three attributes of Allah – Al Razzaq (The Provider), Zul-quwah (The Owner of Power) and Matin (The Most Firm) established the reality that Allah was, is and shall definitely exist, run and control the whole management of the Cosmos and the Creatures up till eternity. 55. Al-Walīy – The Protector “Thus we revealed to you O Muhammad) a Quran in Arabic that you may warn the mother of cities (Makkah) and those around it and warn of the Day of Gathering about which there is no doubt. A party will be in Paradise and another party in the Blaze.” “And if Allah willed, He could have made them of one religions, but He admits whom He wills (those who desire His guidance and the acceptance of them) in to his mercy.1And the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers) have neither a waliy (Protector) nor a helper. “Or have they taken (for worship) awliya (guardians, supporters, helpers, protectors, providers, gods) besides Him? But Allah – He alone is the Wali (Allah, Provider, Protector). And it is He who gives life to the dead, and He is able to do all things.” (Ash-Shurara, 42:7, 8, 9)

54. Al Matin - Owner of Power, The Most Firm “And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).1 I seek not any provision from them (i.e provision for themselves or for My creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me (i.e feed themselves or My creatures). 2 Verily, Allah is the All-Provider Owner of Power, the Most Firm.” 3 1. The passage (42:7-12) of the Quran is re(Adh – Dhariyat, 51: 56 58) vealed by Allah for three objectives: a – The first objective is to educate and 1. It means that Allah says, “I have created console the Prophet to not be upset and the Jinn and the human kind only for serfrustrated because of the ego and igvitude to Myself, never for anyone else. norance of the Makkan unbelievers as This servitude is to be performed bewell as their arrogance and insistence. cause of the reality that I am the Creator. It is the Will of Allah to bestow upon Therefore, what privilege does anyone the humans the discretion and selecelse have to be served? Moreover, it is tion of their way of living in this world. definitely unjust and mean for anyone to Then whosoever desires divine guidserve other than Me while I exist control ance, shall get it and the one who likes and continue creation.” to go astray is left engaged as he likes. Ibadah (servitude) does not include If Allah would not have this expeonly worships of prayer, fasting or other diency there was no need for providspiritual directives - rather it is comprised ing the Prophets and Scriptures. For of submission, obedience to Allah (the this just a simple internal instinct was One God) and human actions and dealenough to instill in human nature all ings in this world according to the will the humans would have surrendered of Allah. just like the trees, soils and animals and 2. Allah also makes it very clear, “I am not the universe that perform total obediin need of their servitude in the form of ence to Allah. any sustenance for myself nor I require b – The second objective is to criticise the anyone to feed me. Actually to serve Me humans in general who were confused is ingrained in human nature and the oneand even now have the dilemma. If self’s desires to worship and serve Me. God in reality would have desired all

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the humans to follow the same kinds of faith and practices without having differences in their likings and disliking’s, then there was no need of revelations, Prophets and scriptures. Allah would have created everyone with single pinpointed thinking and actions to have no difference among the human beings. This is the wrong impression among persons to have total unity among all humans. This would make the whole wise plan and life system of Allah as such a monotonous world and life would become meaningless. c – As the third objective Allah explains to mankind, through the Prophet, the intricacy of the hurdles and confusion that the believers come across while making efforts for the propagation of divine directives for ethical reformation. The ones who do not comprehend the freedom of Allah – bestowed, determination and selection do not realise the reality of the differences in different ways and dealings of the people, become frustrated by the very slow progress in the efforts for character improvement in the public. Some are those who expect the miracles and images of Allah to be shown to the unbelievers for change of their hearts and there are others also who expect to change by the extra ordinary reformers and leaders. 2. The verse (42:7) is the clarification of the confusion and dilemma among the people by Allah. The real vicegerency of Allah in this world and His Paradise in the Hereafter are not ordinary bounties that should have been bestowed upon each human beings as a free gift. These two are the treasures that were not considered to be offered even to the angels. Hence Allah creating mankind as the free entity for self-free selection to enable himself or herself for high attainment. Allah has put the condition that the one who offers himself/herself with determination is taking the right direction. Such person has to pledge Allah as his/her Wali and fully surrender to Him with sincere service and full devotion. Then Allah comes to help him/her and provides the grace to pass through the test required to undergo this servitude and obedience. But then for those who turn themselves away from Allah and makes others as their wali, Allah does not come to help rather ignores him/her to get indulged in the wrong paths. The others that have been selected as wali’s are only the ones who depend upon the one and only one God and consider themselves hopeless without God. Continued in AMUST issue #118 September

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EDUCATION

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COMMUNITY 6-8

AUSTRALIA 9 - 10

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Book Review: Hilarious book by an Iraqi-Iranian-Australian artist AMUST

Irfan Yusuf What’s it like to live on the fringes of society, to be an outsider. First, second and third generation Muslim of migrant heritage often complain of being marginalised. But what would it be like to be a marginal person in more than one home country? Osamah Sami’s family knows exactly what this is like. His late father, a religious scholar and leader to a Shia congregation in northern Melbourne, grew up in Iraq as a young man keen on reading foreign newspapers. Tortured by the regime of Saddam Hussein, he fled to Iran. Osamah was born a foreigner. Despite belonging to the same religious denomination as the Iranians around him, Osamah was an Arab, not a Persian. His mother made him wear a long robe, not jeans like his Iranian friends. But worse still, Osamah’s family were Iraqis living in Abadan, a border town. He and his neighbours lived under the shadow of Iraqi bombs, mortars, missiles and gas raining down on the city during the 1980’s war between Iran and Iraq. They also suffered from the constant suspicion and prejudice from those deemed more Iranian, more Shia and more Muslim than those who spoke Arabic. The language of the Prophet and the language of the enemy were one and the same. Things weren’t made easier by the fact that Osamah’s father and uncles were fighting in the Iranian army, possibly against their former Iraqi relatives and neighbours. Amongst the drama and tragedy, the author

Osamah Sami is an Australian actor, author and screenwriter of Iraqi and Iranian origin. He is the creator of ‘’Halal Aussie Daily’’: socio-political commentary, through satire, story and poetry. His debut book Good Muslim Boy was out in May 2015. He was a regular in the Australian TV series Kick and appeared as the lead in Tony Ayres’ award winning film Saved opposite Claudia Karvan.

manages to insert much laugh-out-loud humour. Indeed, tragicomedy is an appropriate description of the book. Osamah’s childhood reflections of the hypocrisies of Iranian theocracy make an excellent antidote to those who would make us believe that the solution to our woes necessarily lay in the Islamic state. All the religious police in the world could not stop Muslims from identifying more by their tribe or sect. Kurds did not cease being Kurds. Iraqi Shia Muslims were

still deemed Iraqis and potential enemies of the state. All this during the age of jihad against thee Great Satan and its cronies. There were no long term prospects for Osamah’s family. The family moved from Abadan to the university city of Qom, where his father pursued studies to become a religious scholar. Later he was invited to Melbourne to officiate for religious ceremonies. Eventually, the family applied to migrate as refugees. Much of the book is structured around a visit the adult Osamah made to Iran with his father. They arrived at the city of Mashhad in 2013, enjoyed a traditional falafel roll

together and returned to their hotel. Osamah went for a walk while his father quietly moved onto the afterlife. Whilst dealing with his own grief, Osamah also had to deal with Iranian bureaucracy. “Policy is policy,” he would be told whilst forced to leave his Australian passport in the hands of anonymous officials in Mashhad before travelling some 900 km across a huge desert to Tehran. Good Muslim Boy is a superbly hilarious read that will make you realise that even the most religious place can be filled with testosterone and even an imam’s son can get upto no good while maintaining his father’s affections. Terrific.

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Over 15,000 More Than Students 1,000 Teachers

In Java, Lombok and Sumatera, Indonesia

Luqman Hakim Landy, an Australian Muslim revert has been serving the people of Indonesia through his JIMS Foundation in the ﬁeld of daawah and education for more than 15 years. His educational and daawah projects are heavily dependent on the generosity of members of the Australian Muslim community. A number of community leaders including the previous two muftis of Australia, Shekh Tajuddin Al-Hilaly from Sydney and Sheikh Fahmi Imam from Melbourne as well as Mr Keysar Trad have toured the schools and rendered their support. These schools catering for Indonesia’s poor are eligible for your zakaat, sadaqa, ﬁdya and bank interest. We welcome your visit.

Website: www.yjims.org or www.y-jims.com | Mobile: 0413 662 880 (Australia) Email: yjimslhl@yahoo.com or jimsfoundation@yahoo.com

Details: Name: Luqman Hakim Landy PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY Donation Account ANZ BSB: 012 341, A/C: 540 136 101

Australasian Muslim Times

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August 2015

EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

UMMAH

SOCIAL 23

With Iran deal, finally, Obama has proved himself

Javed Jamil

He may very well be accused of being the man behind the failure of Arab Spring, behind the Syrian and Libyan Civil wars, behind the Egypt’s failed revolution and behind the rise of ISIS. In recent years, he has been avoiding wars but has been promoting civil wars in the region. … But with Iran Deal, he can now rest assured that he will be remembered more as a President of Peace than as a President of War. This is indeed a historical movement not only for the world as a whole but also for Obama as individual. Finally, he has proved that he worked for global peace, and has succeeded in making a big contribution to it. The world powers and Iran have finally sealed the Nuclear Deal after nearly two decades of negotiations. Israel has reasons to fear. So have the Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia. They can think that if even without Deal, Iran has been able to considerably increase its influence in the region, after the Deal, not only will it have more economic power but also a greater political power and will to further enhance its influence. While Israel’s declaration of the Deal being a “Big Mistake” may be more for the domestic audience, the fears of Arab leaders would be real. They have shown in recent years that they are ready to come close to Israel but cannot tolerate Iran. Their long standing confidence in their Western allies lies shattered. They may feel that America can no more be trusted as a partner. While Obama was truly serious from the word go in reaching the deal, the fact that it has become a reality now would give him reasons to retire with peace. He has done many things over the years, which made him look a much a better American President in terms of global peace than his predecessors. But still, his role in the Middle East was not convincing. He may very well be accused of being the man behind the failure of Arab Spring, behind the Syrian and Libyan Civil wars,

behind the Egypt’s failed revolution and behind the rise of ISIS. In recent years, he has been avoiding wars but has been promoting civil wars in the region. By doing this, he might have been shielding his own people including army and saving his own dollars but he has been bringing chaos to one Muslim country after the other. The way events have turned out in Iraq after America’s withdrawal of the forces, might have been a big blow to America’s strategy in the Muslim World. But with Iran Deal, he can now rest assured that he will be remembered more as a President of Peace than as a President of War. It may look surprising, and may be a food for conspiracy theorists, that after the IranIraq war that ended more than 25 years ago, the conflict between Iran and the Western world has mainly been limited to sanctions and war of words. In contrast, West is pounding one Arab country after the other either through direct or indirect wars. And yet, Arab countries have not realised that they have got virtually nothing out of their unadulterated faith in Western powers. Will they wake up to the new realities

now? The time has come when instead of trying to earn America’s support through readiness to help their global designs even more; they should sit down and try to build good relations with Iran and other world powers like Russia and China. Iran and Saudi Arabia both need to understand that they cannot rule the Muslim world by defeating each other. Instead, they can jointly become the leaders of the Muslim world, and can show to the world that sectarian differences cannot be allowed to become an obstacle in the unity of the Muslim Ummah. With their enormous resources, they can revive the fortunes of the Muslim world, and can resuscitate their glorious past. Iran will be happy because it can become a bigger power in practical terms with the Deal than it could be without Deal. Its right to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes has been recognised. It can argue that if it has given up a right, the right to “build nuclear bomb”, which it never claimed, at least publicly. It can now have a rejuvenated economy, which can also increase its military power in terms of conventional weapons. Iranian people will have a more com-

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fortable life. The Iranian resolve since Islamic revolution has been extraordinary. It survived crippling sanctions. It played its game smartly confronting West more on ideological front than militarily. It ultimately entered into the deal at a time when even West had started realising the ever rising importance of Iran. The rise of ISIS has made it easier for West to revise its strategy towards Iran. Obama seems to be convinced that ISIS cannot be defeated without the support of Iran. The challenge for Iran will however be to remain steadfast on its moral principles and not to be swayed by the Western charm. It should maintain its neutrality towards major world powers and should try to build relationship with its neighbouring countries. Hopefully, Iran will not fall in the Western trap and instead of supporting West in its wars, it chooses to build peace through peaceful ways. The West also needs to realise that they cannot continue with their policies of monopolising the world, and they cannot earn peace by imposing wars or exporting civil wars in the Muslim world. They need to understand that the wars might have destroyed some Muslim countries, but they too have not remained unaffected. If Muslim World is in turmoil, they are not in good shape either. Europe is facing the worst economic crisis of its history. Wars may sometimes be necessary to bring peace, but only if wars are fought for the sake of peace and not for the sake of hegemony. The West can shout that they engage in wars for peace, but the shouting cannot bury the truth. And the truth is that the last century has only seen the West fighting all over the earth for establishing and sustaining their political and economic monopoly. With the Iran Deal, they should now give up the policy of confrontation altogether. If they earn the love of Muslims instead of hatred, it will harm none, and it will benefit them no less than the others. Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books. Read more about him at http://www.worldmuslimpedia. com/dr-javed-jamil. Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/javedjamil2015. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo. com or +91-8130340339.

10 Reasons why we should Boycott Israel War on Want, UK Ten years ago this week, over 170 Palestinian civil society organisations called upon people of conscience to build a movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it ends its Apartheid policies. 1. Palestinians have called for BDS. The call for BDS in 2005 was put out by Palestinian groups representing all the three major components of the Palestinian people: the refugees in exile, Palestinians under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the discriminated Palestinian citizens of the Israeli state. 2. The BDS demands are simple, comprehensive and crystal clear. They are: Ending the Occupation and dismantling the Wall, Full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, Right of return for Palestinian refugees 3. BDS is solidarity, not charity. Palestinians don’t need our pity, they need our active solidarity! 4. BDS works. Check out some of what the BDS move-

August 2015

ment has achieved in the last decade with this brand new interactive tool. 5. It’s proactive, not reactive. BDS puts us on the offensive, targeting complicit corporations and governments. Now we frame the debate, refocusing attention on Palestinian rights and the Palestinian social movements struggling for them. 6. BDS brings together diverse groups of people. The BDS movement has been built by people from almost every continent, from diverse religions, races, nationalities, ages, gender and sexual identities. This is a movement specifically rooted in and committed to equality and justice… values that extend to everyone, no matter who you are. 7. There is a role for everyone. BDS campaigns have been initiated (and won!) by student groups, trade unions, faithbased groups, pensioners, educators, artists, shop owners and on and on. There is a role for everyone in this movement. 8. Because the UK is deeply complicit. Our latest report demonstrates the extent of UK complicity in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. The UK government regularly approves weapons exports to Isra-

729 = Made in Israel el, despite the full knowledge that they are used for brutal attacks on Palestinians and to maintain the illegal Occupation. 9. Standing by makes us complicit too. UK government complicity is possible because decision makers have known they can get away with it. The only times they have been forced to question this complicity is when enough people get together and take action. 10. You can act today! Last week, over 100 people in the UK got together to block and shut down three factories in the UK making weapons components shipped to Israel. It was such an inspiring

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day, and we left resolute that this is just the beginning of building a massive campaign to #StopArmingIsrael! We need as much support and participation in this as possible to really make it count. Please visit our Stop Arming Israel page to read our new report, email your MP and join our newest campaign. - War on Want has been a leading voice in building the BDS movement and opposing UK complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. Visit: War on Want. http://www.palestinechronicle. com/10-reasons-why-we-all-should-boycott-israel-in-solidarity-with-palestinians/

Australasian Muslim Times

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Oldest Quran manuscript discovered in Birmingham Continued from Page 1 According to Muslim tradition, Prophet Muhammad (s) received the revelations that form the Quran, the scripture of Islam, between the years 610 and 632 CE, the year of his death. At this time, the divine message was not compiled into the book form in which it appears today. Instead, the revelations were preserved in “the memories of men”. Parts of it had also been written down on parchment, stone, palm leaves and the shoulder blades of camels. Caliph Abu Bakr, the first leader of the Muslim community after Muhammad (s), ordered the collection of all Quranic material in the form of a book. The final, authoritative written form was completed and fixed under the direction of the third leader, Caliph Uthman, in about 650 CE. Muslims believe that the Quran they read

today is the same text that was standardised under Uthman and regard it as the exact record of the revelations that were delivered to Prophet Muhammad (s) Susan Worrall, Director of Special Collections (Cadbury Research Library), at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘The radiocarbon dating has delivered an exciting result, which contributes significantly to our understanding of the earliest written copies of the Qur’an. We are thrilled that such an important historical document is here in Birmingham, the most culturally diverse city in the UK.’ Dr Muhammad Isa Waley, Lead Curator for Persian and Turkish Manuscripts at the British Library, said: ‘This is indeed an exciting discovery. We know now that these two folios, in a beautiful and surprisingly legible Hijazi hand, almost certainly date from the time of the first three Caliphs.

Allama Sayed Muhammad Talha Bokhari reciting from the oldest Quranic manuscript at the University of Birmingham, UK.

Srebrenica: The result of religious bigotry and fear Bilal Cleland The most dangerous type of human being is an ambitious but intellectually challenged political leader who needs a populist cause to maintain his power. In July 2015 we commemorated one of the fruits of the exploitation of ethnic and religious division to create Serbian political unity – the Srebrenica genocide. The ambitious leader whose ideological base was failing and who helped bring Srebrenica about, was Slobodan Milosevic. An excellent analysis of the operations of the Serbian nationalists and Mr Milosevic is given in Norman Cigar’s “Genocide in Bosnia” in which the path towards ethnic cleansing and mass murder is traced in some detail. The third chapter of his book, “The Preparatory Phase: Paving the Road to Genocide,” shows how the situation which brought about the genocide, was developed over a couple of decades. Paving the Road Nationalist writers and Serbian Orientalist scholars helped form the poisonous atmosphere of nationalist pride and religious bigotry which facilitated this lethal outcome. Writers who later became prominent in ethnic cleansing circles helped create negative stereotypes. “Vuk Draskovic, author of several controversial best-sellers, such as the evocatively titled novel, Noz (Knife), which was first published in 1982 and reprinted several times, was perhaps the most popular and influential individual in developing such stereotypes early. Set largely against the background of World War II, the Muslim characters in Noz appear mostly as treacherous cold-blooded murderers. What is more, Noz contains an explicit denial of the Muslims’ existence as a legitimate community.” Draskovic also wrote and gave speeches on the Muslim menace. “He lashed out vehemently at the “fury of offensive and intolerant Islam in Bosnia, Kosovo, the Sandzak, and Herzegovina….[at] the vampire-like resurgence of the tradition of the Shariah [religious law], and...the strategy of jihad [holy war] with the goal of creating an Islamic state in the Balkans.” [25] There was also scholarly reassurance for this stereotypical view from Serbia’s Orientalists who provided “…an academic armature to the campaign against Islam since the 1980s.” Their blending of scholarship and political rhetoric “…contributed significantly to making hostility towards the Mus-

lims intellectually respectable among broad strata of the Serbian population, particularly because of these scholars frequent presence in the mass media.” [27] Nationalism was rising in Serbia in the 1980s as the influence of Tito and the communist vision waned. According to Cigar: “Initially, Serbian intellectuals, outside the official government circles, with the backing of the Serbian Orthodox Church, took the lead in developing the nationalist agenda in the early 1980s, following Tito’s death. Central to this was the Serbian Memorandum of 1986, drafted by the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences. It was basically endorsement of the pre-war idea of Greater Serbia, thwarted by the Communist victory. It called for “the territorial unity of the Serbian people,” to be achieved by uniting all the Serbs in a single Serbian national state. It claimed “the establishment of the full national integrity of the Serbian people, regardless of which republic or province it inhabits, is its historic, democratic right.” (23) Milosevic rides the bigoted nationalist wave: “It was only with the rise of Milosevic’s own power within Serbia’s League of Communists – as the ruling Serbian Communist Party was called – and his adoption of the nationalist program, that the full weight of the government also became engaged in this effort.” (23) Serbian nationalism replaced socialism as the uniting factor in this period, with rallies organized by Milosevic and attended by radical nationalists in 1988-89, focusing on Muslims as the central threat to Serbian religion and culture. He ruthlessly exploited the “us” versus “them” rhetoric as a political tool. Huge public rallies, well publicized in the compliant media, were used to incite hatred and fear of the Muslim population. “These rallies included slogans such as “Oh Muslims, you black crows, Tito is no longer around to protect you!” “We love you Slobodan because you hate the Muslims!” and “I’ll be first, who’ll be second, to drink some Turkish [Muslim] blood?” Perhaps most unsettling were the demands that “we want arms,” voiced at such staged rallies.” (34) as this was occurring, Milosevic promoted the re-emergence of the previously banned fascist Chetnik political organisations, which quickly set up militias armed and financed by Belgrade. The state controlled media also mounted a fear campaign, insisting that the Serbs of Bosnia-Herzegovina were threatened by Islam. Milosevic did not have to rely upon

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friendly media corporations, as he could direct broadcasts. Serbian nationalist rallies were organized in Bosnia-Herzegovina with the support of the Serbian government. Mirko Jovic, leader of the Serbian Popular Renewal, one of the most extreme nationalist groups, and of the White Eagles Militia emphasized that “we are not only interested in Serbia, but in a Christian, Orthodox Serbia, with no mosques or unbelievers.” The manifesto of this group, prepared by Draskovic, called for a Greater Serbia which would include Bosnia-Herzegovina. Militias such as the White Eagles carried out atrocious crimes against humanity, but the Serbian government, including Milosevic, minimized these, tried to trivialize the term “genocide” and even denied the existence of concentration camps. Such denial was backed up by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which “convened an extraordinary session of its governing Holy Episcopal Synod specifically to refute such accusations. The resulting communique stated unequivocally that reports of the camps had been based on false information and concocted with the intention of ‘blackening’ the Serbs.” It went on; “we declare, taking full moral responsibility, that such camps neither have existed nor exist in the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, nor in the Serbian Krajina.” (89) Of course they did exist. “Redzep Tahirovic, 52, said he was brought to Omarska with hundreds of others on May 26 after Serbs destroyed and ‘cleansed’ the nearby Muslim town of Kazarac. In a sworn statement given to the Bosnian State Commission on War Crimes, he said guards called out a dozen people a day for five days and decapitated them with chain saws near one of the main pits. He said Omarska prisoners were forced to witness the massacre as well

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as the subsequent execution of 20 non-Serb policeman from Prijedor. “ [ 95. Roy Gutman “A Witness to Genocide.” The 1993 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Dispatches on the ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Bosnia. Macmillan Publishing. NY. 1993] The recent Russian veto in the Security Council against declaring the massacre at Srebrenica, genocide, in collusion with the Serbian government, shows that this conflict has not been completely settled. However mass killers like Karadzic, Mladic and Milosevic, the floundering politician, have been brought before the International Criminal Court. The state control of the Serbian media has been eradicated and electronic media has undermined the ability of the perpetrators of genocide to hide their crimes from the population. However the effects of many years of victimhood propaganda directed at Serbs has taken a heavy toll and as comments to articles in The Guardian about Srebrenica illustrated, genocide denial is still rife amongst the nationalists. It is relatively easy to incite hatred and fear of “the other,” be it immigrants who look different, those who worship differently or who come seeking asylum from persecution. Amoral politicians can use a fear campaign, telling people that “the other” is a threat to their culture, their freedom, their food supply. It is easy to make people feel afraid. This appeals to our lowest characteristics and it has been found effective by many generations of opportunistic political leaders. Those of us who value religious freedom and democracy should not be intimidated when these perverted mutations arise, for they tend to have limited political lives. We must oppose them with the truth. We are told in hadith: “The best Jihad is the word of Justice in front of the oppressive ruler.” (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, ibn Maja)

August 2015

EDUCATION 17 - 18

UMMAH 19 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

TRAVEL

SOCIAL 23

People of Indonesia

AMUST

Mobinah Ahmad

A teacher teaches his students how to do a traditional Balinese dance “After a fashion show, a friend asked Dian if she was single and wants to meet a guy. Dian said she was interested, but only meeting at a social event in a friendly way. One week later, I decided I wanted to marry her. We’ve been married for four years. She was 19 when I was 30. Before we got married, we broke up for two weeks because our parents didnt like the idea of us being together. It was the hardest two weeks of my life”. (Jakarta)

Natino (Blue) and Sudami (Pink) taught me how they punch holes in dried cow’s hide to design the Indonesian puppets. Such a sweet pair, they sang a song when we entered and were so warm.

One of the little girls who was learning to memorise the Quran. She must be around 6 or 7 mashallah and was reciting the Quran beautifully by heart, Hello Kitty bag and all

This is Tess, she’s 20 and works for the Australian Embassy as a graduate. She took us to the highest view of the Jakarta, at Skyebar.

Cika (chee-ka), she’s a second year Arts student. She designed this earring piece herself. It was the first thing that struck me when I met her, the way her ears bent along to the rigidness of the metal. I wondered what it felt like to wear such a thing on my ear. She’s got a sweet, bubbly personality - always with a smile. She would nervously laugh every time she spoke, embarrassed about her English. (Jakarta)

We found Angala playing in this warehouse by himself as we followed the sound of music. He was practicing his Led Zepplin. (Jakarta)

Traveller’s Fiqh Part 2: Fasting while travelling WAYFERER’S COMPASS Abdul Hadi Shah Idil Most of you probably already know that travellers have a dispensation not to fast during Ramadan, and to make up these fasts later in the year. What follows inshaAllah will be a clarification of some important details that you’ll probably want to keep in mind before taking this dispensation. I want you to recall a very important point that was made in the first instalment of the series. Remember that it’s very important that we don’t get mixed up between the conventional usage of the word “travelling” and the specific legal “fiqh” usage of the word. By travelling we mean exiting your city’s limits while intending a journey of 77 kilometres (48 miles) or more. A traveller is someone who has done the above, and hasn’t yet intended to settle for 15 days or more in another location. So, you’re going to board your flight today noontime outbound towards Marrakech. You’re going to be a traveller today, so the first thing you tell yourself is that you don’t have to fast right? Hold that thought! The day of fasting begins at Fajr, so if you’re not a traveller yet (i.e. by exiting the city limits) then it’s still a must that you fast. And if we take a moment to reflect on this, it really makes sense. What if you had plans to travel, but it didn’t work out? Or

August 2015

you missed your plane? You would have missed an important day of fasting for travel that didn’t even eventuate. Now what if you’ve done this before? The first thing to do is to repent. It’s a grave sin to miss a day of fasting without a valid reason! The second step is that you make up for that day by fasting another day outside of Ramadan. In this scenario, there is no need to perform a 60 day expiation fast. If you’ve started fasting because you weren’t a traveller yet at Fajr time, but now you’ve just become a traveller. The plane’s taken off, and you’re airborne, dhikr beads in hand, praying for a safe flight, and the thought comes to mind – can I now break my fast? The answer is still a no. You’ve already started fasting so it’s obligatory that you complete it. Yes, there are examples of excuses that allow you to break your fast midway, such as illness, but travelling isn’t one of them. We’ve come to an important principle: The dispensation of not fasting is only available to you if you begin travelling before Fajr. If you start travelling after Fajr, you must fast, and you don’t have the option to break your fast.

Generally speaking, to leave the dispensation and fast is more praiseworthy. However, if your travel will be a cause of hardship or difficulty, or if you are travelling in a group and most of your fellow travellers are not fasting, then it would be better not to fast. If you do end up fasting, then remember to break your fast according to Maghreb wherever you are at that point in time. The bottom line – just look out for the sunset and you’ll be fine.

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The article has been edited. To see the full article, please visit www.amust.com.au Abdul Hadi Shah Idil is the founder and Principal Instructor at SanadArabic.com. He is a continuing student of the Hanafi School of Islamic Law and has permission to teach it at an Introductory level. Traveller’s Fiqh was initially published on Wayfarer’sCompass.com, a website dedicated to Muslim travellers.

Australasian Muslim Times

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Natonal Zakat Foundation (NZF) Are you a Muslim here in Australia • struggling to make ends meet or know someone who is • need help to calculate your Zakat • pay your Zakat or Sadaqah?

SAMAA South Asian Muslim Association of Australia (SAMAA) aims to provide care to the elderly of South Asian Muslim Community. Phone: (02) 9543 9769 Website: www.samaa.org.au

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Contact NZF on 1300 663 729 or info@nzf.org.au today! NZF is the premier Zakat institution for the Australian Muslim community, serving Zakat payers and receivers locally since 2013. Australian Relief Organisation (ARO) Our mission is to help people from all races, ages, religions, and social statuses in order to spread kindness around the world and to create and follow social support models. Phone: (02) 8065 8469 Website: www.aro.org.au

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Human Appeal International Human Appeal International (HAI) works on a number of charitable causes, specialising in areas from Social and Educational Development to Health Care and Emergency Relief. Phone: 1300 760 155 Website: www.humanappeal.org.au Islamic Relief Australia Islamic Relief Australia promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disease. Phone: 1300 308 554 Website: www.islamic-relief.com.au

Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair MEFF provides stallholders the opportunity to sell or promote to the Muslim community. Stall bookings open on Monday 20 May 2015 Phone: (02) 9823 2063 Website: www.meff.com.au

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Eid Ul Fitr Around the World on Snapchat

Asking me when I’m getting married is like asking me when Qiyaamah is: I don’t know. Perhaps the time is near.

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@MuslimTravelers

Snapchat has featured Eid Ul Fitr mini videos by the social network’s users from all around the world! The video starts with Muslims preparing for Eid, heading to early morning prayers and covering the entire celebration. Snapchat has proven to become one of the most culturally diverse social-networking platforms with the introduction of Snapchat Live. People from all over the world get to show what their lives and culture truly is. Snapchat added a Ramadan filter at the beginning of the holy month. The social network, then, decided to show Mecca in the Snapchat Live tab, with a number of Muslims at the venue. And now, there is a beautiful and cheerful Eid-Al-Fitr filter, just like the day itself, the company has added to celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Scan the QR Code or visit youtu.be/ inZ6KARu31c to see the video.

Australian Muslim Faces

www.fb.com/AustralianMuslimFaces Australian Muslims speaking for themselves, instead of being spoken about.

Islamic Museum of Australia www.fb.com/ISLAMICMUSEUM

The Islamic Museum of Australia is a not-for-profit foundation founded in May 2010 with the purpose of establishing the first Islamic Museum in Australia.

Muslim Man’s Epic Rant Against the Islamic State Goes Viral

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Haseeb Ahmed, a Muslim who is publicly urging people to unite against terrorism. He published a short video condemning the Islamic State which has now gone viral. Ahmed, 26, who described himself as a “proud British Muslim,” uploaded two-minute clip that was uploaded to YouTube and Facebook. He implored extremists who are sympathetic to the Islamic State and who reside in the U.K. to leave the country. “For those people who do support these attacks and do support these terrorists who are killing innocent people — you guys should all go pack your bags, go to Syria, and never be allowed to set foot in this country again,” he said. “This is a good country it gives a lot of people opportunity. If you’re not here to benefit the country, then pack your bags and get out.” Ahmed — cousin of famed British boxer Amir Khan — also said that he believes that the Islamic faith is a religion of peace and that Islamic State members are not truly Muslims. Scan the QR Code or visit youtu.be/ EmgGG8CbsLI to see the video.

The Australian Muslim

www.fb.com/theaustralianmuslim A look inside an Australian practicing Muslims lifestyle day by day & night by night.

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www.fb.com/pages/ Australian-Muslim-Voice AMV runs cultural & artistic projects including radio broadcasts, art shows, cultural events & book exhibitions.

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