Issue 119 October

MUSLIM

AUSTRALASIAN

Multimedia News & Views

ISSN: 1039-2300

AMUST

Print Post Publication No. 100021354

Issue # 119

Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates

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October 2015; Dhul Hajj 1436

Refugees Aid & Intervention

Property Investments

Life After 30

Refugee Selection

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Eid eclipsed by deaths at Hajj Zia Ahmad

Madeeha Gresham and Mariam Moeladawilah proudly showing off their Eid henna and outfits. 1st Prize photo by Tanya Kubitza, Wollert, VIC.

S

TIME

Eid-ul-Adha, the second most important Islamic festival was celebrated throughout Australia on Thursday 24 September.

Globally the event was marked on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 September and coincided with the annual pilgrimage of Hajj in Makkah.

Eid prayers were held at Mosques as well as other large venues and parks in all cities of Australia in order to accommodate the ever increasing number of Muslims keen to offer prayers in large congregations.

Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son Ismail.

In addition to early morning prayers, visits to family and friends and feasting together marks the celebrations of Eid-ul-Adha.

However this year’s Eid celebrations were marred by the large number of casualties due to the stampede during Hajj on 24 September at Mina, Saudi Arabia where around a 1000 people died with an equal number of people injured.

Earlier on 11 September a crane collapsed, killing 111 people and injuring 394.

More than 2 million people arrived from around the world to perform this year’s Hajj.

Those who died came from a dozen countries including Iran, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia, Senegal, Turkey, Kenya and Algeria. An overwhelming numbers of the dead were from Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader has called for the Saudi Government to take responsibility and apologise to families of the dead and the Muslim Ummah.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani during

his speech at United Nations in New York demanded an investigation into the crush.

Mr Rouhani described the stampede as “heart-rending” and emphasised the need for an investigation into “the causes of this incidents and other similar incidents”.

Saudi officials have said that they are investigating the causes of the stampede and the large number of dead and injured at this peaceful mega-event.

Saudi’s foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, also in New York for the UN General Assembly, accused the Iranians of playing politics.

“We will reveal the facts when they emerge, and we will not hold anything back,” he told reporters after a meeting with US secretary of state John Kerry.

Saudi King Salman has ordered “a revision” of how the Hajj is organised, and a formal Saudi inquiry is under way into the stampede.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were converging on a five-storey structure known as Jamarat Bridge to perform the stoning ritual when the stampede happened nearby.

At a press conference, spokesman of the Saudi Ministry of Interior, Mansour Al-Turki attempted to address most issues regarding the incident.

He said that an investigation was ongoing, that the exact causes for crowding that led to the deadly stampede on Mina Street 204 are yet to be ascertained.

He explained that “Street number 204 is a road leading from the camps to the Jamarat Bridge.

What happened was that a group of pilgrims on buses were allowed to descend onto the pathways that lead to the Jamarat Bridge at a time that wasn’t allocated to them,”

It is a pleasure to “send my greetings

EID MUBARAK TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FROM THE AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd

to Australasian Muslim Times readers during this auspicious time of Eid al Adha.

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Mike Baird Premier of NSW

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Peace builder visits US Winners of AMUST

Photo competition

AMUST Media

The Delhi based Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and members of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS) visited US for two weeks from 26 August to 8 September.

The Maulana had been invited by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). In the course of this visit, CPS members participated in a number of programs in Washington DC and Wallingford, Pennsylvania before attending the ISNA convention.

On 27 August, the Maulana and CPS members visited the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington and engaged in a roundtable conversation on Islam and peace.

The program included the release of the Maulana’s most recent book “The Age of Peace”, which was introduced to the audience by Dr Sayyid Syeed, National Director for the Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances for ISNA. In his opening remarks, the Maulana explained that in The Age of Peace he has discussed the nature of the modern age and the changes brought about by it, because of which people can achieve their goals by opting for peaceful means.

During the team’s ten-day stay at Wallingford, several individuals and groups came to meet and interact with the Maulana, including Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, members of the Positive Thinkers’ Club based in New Jersey, and Anuttama Dasa, who serves as ISKCON’s International Director of Communications.

The Maulana and the team travelled to Chicago on 4 September to participate in the 52nd annual ISNA convention.

On the convention’s second day, the Maulana was presented the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the 18th Annual Interfaith Unity Banquet. The award rec-

ognized Maulana’s decades-long work in presenting Islam according to the contemporary idiom and developing an ideology of peace based on Islam.

In his acceptance speech, the Maulana said that peace could be achieved only by following the law of nature. The law of nature is based on tolerance. If you want to establish peace, you will have to tolerate other human beings.

The Maulana spoke on ‘Dealing with Extremism in the Muslim Community’ on 7 September, the third and last day of the convention.

The Maulana cited ISNA and the educational movement initiated by Fethullah Gülen as two examples of organizations that are peacefully carrying out religious work in the United States without facing any restrictions. When one can successfully achieve one’s goals peacefully, there is no need at all for violence. Thus, the Maulana stressed that those who adopt violent methods need to be made aware of the great scope opened up by the modern age to attain goals solely by peaceful means.

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Bombardment brings insecurity The ongoing aerial bombardment in imports for about 90 percent Yemen by the Arab coalition headed of its supplies. Attempts at

by Saudi Arabia since last March has UN-brokered humanitarian brought misery for the Yemenis. pauses to bring in aid have The bombing has not been limited to mil- failed. itary targets and against armed men only The latest UNICEF report but often civilian areas have come under says that about 10 million attack with the death of men, women and children, or half of the counchildren and the destruction of Yemtry’s population, need en’s infrastructure including private urgent humanitarian homes.

EDITORIAL assistance.

The United Nations says nearAerial bomAssalamu ly 5000 people, including a bardment of Alaikum vast number of civilians, have impoverished been killed in Yemen’s conflict nations who can not defend Greetings since late March. According to themselves by the technologof Peace UNICEF 400 children have been ically advance and powerful killed since March this year. countries has been carried out with An airstrike last Monday on a wedgreat impunity. ding hall killed more than 40 people inFirst it was the Americans during the first cluding women and children.

Gulf War who subdued Saddam Hussain Amnesty International, said that all sides and liberated Kuwait, but in the process defighting in Yemen have left a “trail of civil- stroyed the infrastructure of an affluent naian death and destruction” in the conflict, tion in the Middle East. killing scores of innocent people in what Again during the second Gulf War, the could amount to war crimes.

Coalition led by US completely destroyed There are up to 1.5 million internally dis- Iraq with weeks of aerial bombardment virplaced refugees in Yemen who have fled tually taking it to the stone age. their homes.

Same thing was done in Afghanistan after The UN and aid groups have called re- 9/11 where the US bombed the entire length peatedly for ways to get food, fuel, med- and breadth of the country by air, destroying icine and other supplies into Yemen, but its infrastructure as well as mountains, valtight restrictions imposed by the Saudi-led leys and caves. coalition on air and sea transport remain in Copycat action was taken by Israel in its place. war with Lebanon, where it bombed resiYemen is the poorest country in the dential areas up to Beirut and in between as Arab world, and its population relies on a collective punishment to Lebanese civil-

AMUST

AMUST Issue # 119 Friday 2 October 2015; 18 Dhul Hajj 1436 News .................................1 - 2 • Peace Builder Visits US • Eid Photo Competition Winners Boomerang ..................... 3 - 5 • Bombardment Brings Insecurity • Metamorphosis of Reclaim Aus Community ..................... 6 - 9 • Red Rooster Party in Minto • One God Symposium

ians for standing up to Israeli hegemony in South Lebanon.

Israel has bombarded Gaza strip time and again almost into a stone age and blockades it totally thereby denying any rebuilding efforts for its inhabitants.

The fear of aerial bombardment of their palaces and skyscrapers by the mighty Israeli airforce keeps the Gulf countries’ rulers completely impotent in the face of Israeli hegemony in the area where Israel can get away with anything it chooses to do against anyone.

However lessons have not been learnt.

Bombing an impoverished and defenceless enemy does not bring about peace and security but makes the world even more insecure.

The results are misery, terrorism and influx of refugees.

Z I Ahmad

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Australia ....................... 10 - 11 • Crescent Wealth Insights Lifestyle ...................... 12 - 14 • Uptown Jakarta Funk You Up • Modest Street Fashion Ummah ........................ 15 - 16 • Palestinian Invents Stethoscope • Violence Against Bedouins Education ..................... 17 - 20 • Longevity and Islam Travel .................................. 21 • Syrian Refugees Stories Business ............................ 22 • Enterprising Couple to Success Social .................................. 23 • Henna Pages to Follow

Muslim Ummah: Struggle for freedom, justice and peace Abdul Malik Mujahid If the Syrians had accepted Assad’s tyranny, there would not have been a Syrian refugee crisis.

If the Egyptians had accepted Mubarak, there would have been no need for revolution, elections, and then the dismissal of an elected government by the military.

If the Tunisians had accepted corrupt dictators, there would have been no need for an Arab Spring.

If the Afghans had accepted Russian occupation almost 40 years ago, there would not have been 7 million Afghan refugees.

If the Palestinians had just stopped struggling for freedom, Israel would have no problem with them. There would be no bombing of Gaza every two years if there was no threat of the Intifada.

If Kashmiris had accepted the Indian occupation, there would not have been any need for the Indian military to kill 100,000 people.

But Syrians wanted freedom; Egyptians wanted democracy; Tunisians wanted a corruption-free government; Palestinians and Kashmiris want rights of self-determination, and Afghans want to live the way they choose.

That causes “problems”.

That is why foreign armies, dictators, kings, etc. feel forced to fight back against the demands of freedom, liberty, peace and justice.

This is where “turmoil” begins.

They use arms and armies, tear gas, live ammunition against civilians, bombing, drones, spying equipment, indefinite detention without a trial; they arrest relatives, rape political prisoners, shoot without warning, demolish homes, kill journalists, force imams to give government-sanctioned ser-

October 2015

mons, use minorities against majorities, create torture machines, establish their little Gitmos and black sites, and deny justice and peace to their opposition.

These oppressors dress and behave like old colonial masters, and buy arms from the West. And this is why those fighting for freedom start becoming skeptical of the much-touted Western love for democracy and freedom. They start seeing their governments as a continuity of the older generation of occupying foreign colonial powers in their lands.

This is where the mostly peaceful Arab Spring started becoming violent. Responding to the oppressive state in the same coin.

This is also where a theology of anger takes birth among the terrible terrorists of Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and ISIS. They use wrongful methods to achieve peace, justice and freedom and then try to justify their wrongful methodology by distorting the Quran and abusing the Prophetic teachings.

And this is where the Western media, which claims to be unbiased, objective, and truthful, then turns around and begins name-calling and labeling those fighting for freedom: Islamists, fundamentalists, extremists, etc., who are trying to destabilize the region. This is where the “impartial” Western media began depicting the struggle as a fight between secularists and Islamists in which corrupt secularists are always the good guys upholding every thing right.

With this information in hand, Islamophobes of the world then spin and spin, weaving a web of deception to cloud the judgment of their own people and everyone else about what is going on. It is, nevertheless, possible that these journalists who have never lived under occupation or war may not understand the depth and severity of either.

This is when even Muslims start seeing these worldwide struggles for freedom, peace and justice in the Islamic world as “turmoil”.

But this is not a turmoil. It is a cry for freedom, which sometimes becomes the strug-

gle of a generation.

The right to self-determination is in the United Nations charter. Let the Palestinians, the Kashmiris, and the Afghans live the way they want to live. Once this is accepted and respected, “turmoil” in those places will eventually disappear.

Let the Syrians, Egyptians, Bahrainis, and the Yemenis choose their governments and “turmoil” will in time lead to stability and security in these countries.

The struggle for peace, justice and freedom, therefore, is an honorable struggle.

The refugee crisis is created by the governments who deny freedom to their people. In a way, it is the price of freedom being extracted by the regimes that want to squelch the cry for freedom and democracy of their own people.

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is a non-profit entrepreneur and President of Sound Vision.

He is currently Chair, Board of the Parlia-

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ment of World’s Religions and is based in Chicago USA. He also chairs Burma Task Force USA raising awareness of ongoing genocide and persecution of Muslims in Burma. http://www.soundvision.com/

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Letters to the editor Impressive newspaper

It was good to meet and obtain a copy of AMUST at the WAACI concert.

I was very impressed by the range of articles, the breadth of community news, the recognition of the First Peoples, and the overall tone of peaceful acceptance of different points of view.

Having edited a religious newspaper myself, I know how hard it is to keep a varied constituency happy. Congratulations on an impressive newspaper.

Rev Russell Davies Sydney, NSW

Happy to see Tony Abbott go, but…

Australian Prime Minister’s job has become the most unsecured one in the past

few years.

The PM can loose his/her job at a very short notice of a few hours and it would generally result in loss of political career which these leaders spent decades to build.

We had four Prime Ministers over past two and half years and five over past five years.

Why did this type of banana republic instability become the norm in Australian politics? Why are the leaders of two major parties being challenged so easily from within their close associates?

In my opinion, it happens as political leaders are forced to quit politics if they loose an election or loose a challenge from within the party. This deprives the political parties from senior and mature leadership who would earn respect from juniors in long

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term. It would be difficult for junior colleagues to challenge a very senior leader.

While I am not convinced with the frequent challenges to the leadership of the parties in the government, I am happy to see Tony Abbot being replaced by Malcolm Turnbull.

Tony Abbot had proven himself to be extreme right within the liberal party while Malcolm Turnbull tends to be softer and will shift government policies to the centre right.

Tony Abbot’s policies on refugees had made Australia counted among the least tolerant Western countries in the world.

Muslims also felt very offended repeatedly locally since Tony Abbot became the Prime Minister. Right wing media commentators such as Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt found in Tony Abbot a Prime Minister who would follow their advice in all matters.

Zahid Jamil Sydney, NSW

HAVE YOUR SAY

FlightFox: The key to multi-trip Asylum seekers on Nauru waplanning terboarded by guards Nice article! I’ve tried https://www.chimpando.com/, that’s using a similar concept.

I also got a great deal. For my next flight i definitely give Flightfox and maybe darjeelin a try. Cheers Pingueee

Greste sentenced to at least three years’ jail

America and the West can demand the release of the journalists. Countries like Egypt and most of the Middle East are their client states. Some years ago America had obtained instant release of their CIA operator from Pakistan (another client state). He had shot a couple of the Pakistani ISI men. If a local had done that he would be eliminated along with his family. So these benign journalists getting released is just a phone call from the White House.

Democracy

The helpless refugees are housed offshore in places like Nauru and Manus Island not known for law and order with one cruel purpose in mind. To eliminate or minimise transparency. We know where there is darkness vermins abound.

The stakeholders are empowered to exercise cruelty or turn a blind eye about it. The hapless refugees have no avenue of complaint.

Lets hope Mr Turnbull will make genuine effort that notwithstanding the internment of these desperate human-beings cruelty of any kind will not be tolerated.

Not wanting them into Australia should not equate with making their life Hell. There but for the Grace of God could be anyone of us.

Transparency

Send us your thoughts about news or current events to be published in the next issue of AMUST

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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, Zohair Ahmad.

Contact AMUST PO Box 111, Bonnyrigg (Sydney), NSW 2177 Australia.

Email: info@amust.com.au Ph:(02) 8006 2063; Fax: 9823 3626

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.

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Rise of a new Liberal Party?

Bilal Cleland The removal of Tony Abbott, the backward looking Cold War warrior and disciple of Cardinal Pell and BA Santamaria, was met with relief across the nation.

The preparedness of the Prime Minister to endorse the ethnic cleansing of 30,000 year old First Nation settlements in Western Australia, his protracted silence on the booing of Adam Goodes and the very tepid statement he made on that issue, worried not just the Aboriginal community.

His stony silence on the reclaim Australia rallies and the emergence of neo-Nazis with their swastika tattoos on the streets, denouncing Muslims and the important halal meat trade, gave grave concern to the Muslim community and a significant section of the business community. The repeated attempts to whip up fears on national security issues when the polls got bad and his exaggerated claims about the danger of Daesh/ ISIS coming to get us, meant that his 10 flags speeches were increasingly met with derision. If there really was national security crisis, no-one would have believed him.

The Saturday Paper editorial of 19 September “Kicking the Abbott” commenced with “It is no exaggeration to say Tony Abbott is the worst prime minister Australia has had. To the extent that his brief and destructive leadership of the country is remembered, it will not be remembered well.”

It described his prime ministership as “an

experiment that failed.” “He is proof that Australia cannot be governed from the far right, just as it cannot be governed from the far left. He was the last hope and final holdout of a group of people wishing desperately against a modern Australia.”

Malcolm Turnbull is well regarded in the community and has now confronted the ALP and its unpopular leader with a real problem. The Canning byelection victory, after the defeat of Abbott, has made the ALP leader the central political issue. Muslims were impressed by Turnbull’s attitudes to Islam, as expressed on Q&A, and his apparent willingness to embrace diversity. Although the Trade Union Royal Commission is taint-

ed by the political connections of the Commissioner, Shorten’s evidence left many doubts in many minds about his suitability to lead the nation.

The new front bench is somewhat of an improvement, but is not dinosaur free. The disappearance of Joe Hockey (lifter or leaner?) and Kevin Andrews (remember Dr Haneef?) will certainly not be mourned. Eric Abetz will not be missed either. Of deep concern is the promotion of Scott Morrison to Treasurer. His past performance is still vividly remembered. In 2011 party discussions he urged the shadow cabinet to use the electorate’s growing concerns about “Muslim immigration”, “Muslims in Australia”

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and the “inability” of Muslim migrants to integrate as part of its election strategy.

“In opposition he developed the Coalition’s signature policy Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB), reviving many of the Howard-era practices to deter asylum seeker boats. Within days of winning office, OSB was launched with military precision. … He staunchly defended the tough border protection policies, most stridently through an attack on Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, whose criticism of immigration detention practices was well documented.” [Susan McDonald. ABC News 20 September] His insulting of Gillian Triggs, highly respected by the Muslim community, has not been forgiven or forgotten. The verbal assault directed at her by Brandis has not been forgotten either. That he lost his control over the Arts Portfolio is to the credit of Turnbull but the inclusion of Brandis and Morrison in this cabinet leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. So does the inclusion of Dutton.

The whole of Australia is closely watching the performance of this renovated government, as is the opposition. The direction which will be taken in tax reform, the health of the economy, changes to education, the handling of the offshore camps, the bombing of Syria, the citizenship laws, which could result in indefinite detention on Christmas Island, will determine the fate of this front bench. A new face alone will not save it.

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

Metamorphosis of Reclaim Australia Professor Shahjahan Khan The intensity and voracity of the attacks on Islam and Muslims have significantly increased in recent months.

In spite of the fact that overwhelming majority of Australians are welcoming to people of any faith, a very small group of anti-Islam and Muslim bashing people, supported by some political opportunists, are behind these attacks.

Over the years the focus of these groups has moved from anti-burqa to anti-mosque.

Regardless of their outer manifest of anti-halal or anti-shariah campaign this group is spreading blatant lies and false claims to create hate and animosity against Muslims and Islam in the community.

Apparently a newly re-vitalised group, Reclaim Australia is the face of anti-Muslim propaganda.

The original Reclaim Australia website set up in 1999 had no mention of Islam or Muslims.

Clearly the group was all about the “evil” in the western governments and big corporations. The main concern was that the governments were not following God’s law as found in the Bible.

To check the main objectives of this group anyone could visit the url at http://www.reclaimaustralia.net/ They talked about how to protect themselves from the Corporate World, how to remove the hidden contract of involuntary servitude that the Corporate Government has hung around your neck. Who are you, are you a person or a Man or Woman, as a Person is defined in the Statutes of the Corporate Government as a corporation/entity, it does not say a person is a Man or Woman.

They stated that the state churches are controlled by the Corporate government as they are registered to the state, they are not

October 2015

a true Ekklesia, which is a church of our Heavenly father.

Under the heading ‘Our Mission’ the website states, “Reclaim Australia has one main purpose, and that is to assist and educate the people of Australia as to whom they really are, to help guide them to follow the higher laws of Yhwh, our Heavenly Father, to live the way our heavenly father wanted his children to live, to reclaim their country from the parasites and predators of the Abdicated Corporate Government of Babylon and Caesar’s world of Satan.”

Is there anything about Islam? Any single word, directly or indirectly, against Muslims or Islam? No, not at all. This was the original and true Reclaim Australia.

By a stark contrast, if anyone looks at the new Reclaim Australia’s website at http:// www.reclaim-australia.com/ would find

nothing against any Corporation or Government.

These ‘enemies’ are not even mentioned at any place, rather there is wholesale false propaganda against Muslims and Islam.

So what makes this group turned their guns against new targets ignoring the original ‘enemies’? Have the Corporations and Governments have become biblical entities?

Have they converted to ‘good guys’?

In the name of freedom of speech, this group has launched relentless attack on Muslims at the expense of community peace and harmony.

Is freedom of speech absolute/unbounded? What if some on makes anti-Australian statements or engage in sedition? Would we let him/her get away with it in the name of freedom of speech? As the honourable Pope has said, there must be a limit to freedom

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of speech, and it is not a licence to attack any individual or group, especially if it is revered globally by billions.

Islam is a religion of peace and offered great service to the mankind as a universal religion for over 1430 years. The prophet of Islam, Muhammad, peace be upon him, recognised all prophets before him, and built the first multi-faith and multi-cultural society in Medina to serve the community consisting of Jews, Christians, pagans, Muslims and everyone else in the city. So there is no need to reinvent the wheels or revisit the issues that are no-existent.

Professor Shahjahan Khan, based in Toowomba is a Professor of Statistics, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba and Vice President, Islamic Council of Queensland.

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Refugees, aid and intervention AMUST

Lydia Shelly The humanitarian crisis in Syria is not a new crisis. It is now in its fifth year. Whilst I welcomed the announcements that Australia would be increasing the refugee intake to 12,000 and committing $44 million dollars in aid, the context of the refugee intake and aid should not be forgotten.

In the last federal budget there was over 1 billion dollars in aid cuts. Funding to the Middle East and North Africa, including Syria, was one of the hardest hit regions.

The amount Australia provided in humanitarian aid to Syria fell from $53.7 million to less than $8.8 million. This occurred while international aid agencies were warning that they simply did not have enough money to ensure food programs could continue.

To further put this in perspective, Australia pays Transfield Services at least $60 million per month to ensure asylum seekers are in detention centres. As regards the intake of 12,000, it is still woefully under what Australia was-and should be-accepting. At one point, it appeared that the additional intake would be based on the religious grounds of the asylum seekers.

The Australian community was quick to mobilise against this discriminatory policy and the Lebanese Muslim Association held a press conference on 10 September and the representatives included Widyan Fares from the LMA, Stephen Blanks from the New

South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, Sister Jan Barnett, Ian Rinatoul from Refugee Action Coalition Sydney, Sheikh Wesam Chekaoui and Father Rod from Anglican Church in Gosford.

Our message was simple: that the selection criteria for resettling asylum seekers from Syria in Australia should not be based of a refugee’s religion; but instead, should be made in accordance with our obligations under International Law. Being a Male, or single, or a Muslim in Syria does not disqualify you from torture, from persecution or from death. War does not discriminate on religious grounds-and neither should we.

We also saw the birth of hashtags in support of a more humane response to Syria, such as #WeCanDoBetter and #AidNotBombs to

name a few.

Our new Prime Minister, the honourable Malcolm Turnbull, remains committed to military intervention in Syria as an appropriate response to the humanitarian crisis.

This belief is false. By pursuing a military intervention, Australia will be supporting the Assad regime-a regime that is suspected of using vacuum and barrel bombs against its own people. Bombing Syria will also contribute to the growing exodus of Syrians from their homeland. Worryingly, Australia remains one of the few democratic countries that does not have a War Powers Bill, which would give the Australian people a say in if our country should engage in military interventions.

The Australian community has called

upon our new Prime Minister, the honourable Malcolm Turnbull, to resist the temptation of resorting to dog whistle politics and instead, to focus on inclusion and multiculturalism. Over 250 people attended a Communities United Rally that was held on 19 September in the Sydney CBD. Speakers included Mehreen Faruqi from the NSW Greens, Ahmad Malas from the LMA, Mark Lennon from Unions NSW, Uncle Ken Canning from the Aboriginal community and myself. The Syrian crisis, Islamophobia and racism were reoccurring issues raised by the speakers.

Finally, Mission of Hope organised a BBQ for refugees and refugee advocates on 20 September 2015. It was widely attended and provided much needed social support for refugees and their advocates.

Red Rooster party in Minto Zia Ahmad

prising efforts of the local couple and so did Mr Laurie Ferguson, Federal member for Werriwa. “It is great to see so many people have turned up to join the reopening party that is highly encouraging for Khalique and Shakeeba, said Mr Ferguson.

Mr Nathan Keik, State Manager of Red Rooster NSW, QLD and ACT expressed great confidence in Khalique and Shakeeba as the Minto franchisees for Red Rooster to run the business with high standards.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at noon before the big rush from the public to try the tasty menu items that was on offer the the restaurant.

Among the community leaders who attended the event were Dr Q Ashfaq Ahmad, Mrs Jamal Ara Ahmad, Mr Zafar Siddiqui, Mrs Mehar Ahmad, Fauzia Siddiqui, Sadia Siddiqui and businessmen Mr Shahab Siddiqui, Mr Abul Fateh Siddiqui and Mr Shujaat Siddiqui.

Professor Jamil Farooqui came all the way from Malaysia to attend the event and provide support for the enterprising couple.

A re-opening party of the Red Rooster chicken restaurant in Minto was held on Saturday 26 September attended by a large contingent of community members in support of local business.

Red Rooster Minto Franchise is owned by a couple Khalique Sajjad and Shakeeba Siddiqui who live locally in the area.

Family, friends, customers, politicians, community leaders and staff from Red Roster headquarters joined the party in support of the young couple successfully running the business now for almost a year.

Earlier in September the franchisees completed a major renovation of the restaurant inside out with a totally renovated dining area.

The party catered for kids including jumping castle, face painting, balloon sculpting, photobombs etc.

The formal re-opening ceremony was started by the MC, Ms Janette Naggy, Franchise Business Manager of Red Rooster with Welcome to Country.

Cr Paul Hawker, the newly elected Mayor of Campbelltown welcomes the guests and praised the local community for supporting

small business ventures in the area.

Mr Anoulack Chantivong, the state member for Maquariefields applauded the enter-

Shakeeba Siddiqui, Khalique Sajjad.

Red Rooster restaurant, Minto.

Front from left: Dr Ashfaq Ahmad, Prof Jamil Farooqui and Mrs Jamal Ahmad.

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From left: Shakeeba Siddiqui, Nathan Keik, Laurie Ferguson MP, Khalique Sajjad, Mayor Paul Hawker, Anoulack Chantivong, Shujaat Siddiqui.

Australasian Muslim Times

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October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

COMMUNITY

SOCIAL 23

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Legacy of Abraham shared in One God Symposium Manarul Islam The enduring legacy of Prophet Abraham (as) was analysed at an interfaith symposium held on Sunday 20 September at the University of Western Sydney, Bankstown campus.

As part of the Positive Change through Faith series of events, the symposium organised jointly by the Australian MEFF Consortium and the Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare (IFEW) brought together speakers from the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Titled One God to Bind us All, the symposium was opened by Master of Ceremony Mrs Mehar Ahmad, former President of MEFF in which she stressed the commonality of the three religions.

This was followed by Rabbi Nicole Roberts, of North Shore Temple Emanuel, who focussed on the legacy of Abraham in Judaism. She stressed that in knowing about Abraham we also learn about God particularly His mercy.

Jeremy Jones, founder and co-chair of the Australian National Dialogue of Christians,

Muslims and Jews, spoke of how Abraham was an inspirational model in how we should relate to other people: Abraham saw the angel in every person and the importance of dialogue between peoples.

The symposium also featured poetry by Nav K Samir and Stephanie Kurlow.

Sr Elizabeth Delaney, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, conveyed the Christian images of the One God which include Creator, Strength, Nourisher, Shepherd and the Truth. It was noted by the MC that Islam also has the concept of attributes of God. The Very Reverend Fr Shenouda Mansour, General Secretary of the NSW Ecumenical Council relayed God’s promise to Abraham and how to deal with one another – to celebrate diversity, live a life of legacy and live in love.

Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp, Director of CISAC at the Charles Sturt University challenged whether we believe in One God. He concluded that we do have one God but we relate to Him in different ways.

Whilst we can dwell on differences forever the reality is that there are many more similarities and that is what we need to focus on.

Dr Q Ashfaq Ahmad, author of Words that Moved the World and self professed lifelong student of the Qur’an, spoke of the difference between the faith (Deen) and the prac-

Professor Jamil Farooqui addresses the One God symposium. tice (Shariah). The faith between the three The speeches were followed by a question religions is the same but how we practice is and answer session between the audience dependent on when, where and by whom and the speakers and wrapped by a concludGod’s message was brought to Earth. ing poem by Nav K Samir.

Dr Jamil Farooqui, Professor of SociVideos of the speeches, poetry and the ology at International Islamic University, question and answer session can be seen Malaysia urged the adherents of mono- here: https://goo.gl/iS391X. theistic religions to join hands to establish righteousness, virtues, peace and tranquility Manarul Islam is an IT professional and on earth in accordance with the command- AMUST correspondent based in Canberra. ments of God.

The speakers panel at the One God Symposium. From left: Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, Prof Jamil Farooqui, Rev Fr Shenouda Mansour, Sr Elizabeth Delayney, Prof. Mehmet Ozalp, Rabbi Nicole Roberts, Mr Jeremy Jones AM.

Mrs Mehar Ahmad, MC at the MEFF/ IFEW One God Symposium.

AMUST Media

asylum seeker and refugee backgrounds.

The UNSW Islamic Society recently presented Joel with the scholarship in a ceremony at one of their special Iftaars, a communal meal celebrating the breaking of the daily fast during Ramadan.

“It was a touching experience for me and I won’t forget it,” Joel says. The society made him “feel so welcome by receiving me with such an incredibly generous and open nature”, he says.

Joel is using the scholarship money in various ways, including travelling to Palestine in August. “I’m looking at trying to gain a better understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through learning about real-life experiences. It was very eye-opening, and the deep pain and complexity of it has hit me hard,” he says.

Living in a wealthy, privileged country like Australia, Joel believes that people have a duty to fight for social justice at home and around the world. “This scholarship is important as it values and recognises this, and will continue to recognise students for their commitment to social justice and encourage more involvement in these issues,” he says.

The society plans to expand the scholarship in 2019, when it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

ISOC awards inaugural scholarship The UNSW Islamic Society (ISOC) has awarded its inaugural scholarship to Joel Stellar, a final year Bachelor of Science student majoring in Geography for his commitment to social justice, and demonstrating academic merit and leadership.

The $5000-a-year scholarship was launched last year at ISOC’s 45th anniversary celebrations. “When I found out more about the society and how the money for the scholarship was raised from donations during Friday morning prayers, I felt incredibly honoured and touched by their generosity and their dedication to social justice,” says Joel.

Mahmoud Jaame, the UNSW Muslim students’ chaplain, explains the background of the scholarship. “We started the scholarship to thank the University for having us on campus for such a long time,” he says.

“The society has donated money to various projects, and members thought it was time to give back to the University community.”

The scholarship recipient does not have to be a Muslim – it is open to students of all religions. Jaame says that once they had a shortlist of four students, they chose the

October 2015

Mahmoud Jaame (UNSW Muslim Chaplain), Joel Stellar (Scholarship winner), Neil Morris UNSW Vice President – Campus Life and Community Engagement. candidate with the best academic record and social justice commitment.

Joel is not Muslim, but Jaame says he had the most impressive experience.

During his time at UNSW, Joel completed an internship with Amnesty International

in the Refugee Casework Team, working with refugees in detention centres. He had volunteered as a telephone crisis counsellor with Lifeline, and at Australian Refugee Volunteers, an organisation that seeks to improve the lives of children and families from

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Australasian Muslim Times

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COMMUNITY

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COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

Events Calendar MSA NSW and GoActive Sisters Unigoal 2015!!

Saturday 3 Oct, 2015 8:00AM - 9:00PM Menai Indoor Sports Centre 98 Allison Cresent, Menai, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 804736582977022

Sacred Path (Sydney and Global) - Term 1 Thursday 8 Oct, 2015 6:30PM Auburn Gallipoli Mosque 1519 Gelibolu Parade, Auburn, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 1704293069793587

Verge Festival Comedy Night ft Nazeem Hussain Thursday 8 Oct, 2015 8:00PM - 11:00PM Manning Bar Manning House, Manning Rd, University of Sydney, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 1630761293839594

From left: Australian Commissioner Peter Hewyard, Writer/TV anchor and actor Mr Mustansar Husain Tarar, Author Rehan Alavi and MC Dr Najeeba Arif at the Book launch at 3rd International Islamabad Literature festival April 2015 organized by Oxford University Press.

Rehan Alavi’s book launch

By Zia Ahmad

The Sydney launch of Rehan Alavi’s book “Beyond the Dreams” will be held on Saturday 3 October at Spice of Life Function Hall at Harris Park in the presence of politicians, media personalities and community leaders.

Rehan Alavi, an IT professional is a well known journalist/writer/poet and an executive producer at SBS Radio.

Beyond the Dreams is his latest fiction book and has already been highly acknowledged as a contribution towards harmony and moderation.

The book was earlier launched in Pakistan

by Oxford University Press during the three day International Literature Festival (ILF) 24-26 April 2015 at Islamabad.

The book was also acknowledged and launched by the Australian High Commis-

sion during Australia day in spring celebrations in April 2015 at Islamabad, Pakistan.

The book has been written both in English with the title “Beyond the dreams” as well as in Urdu with the title “Taabeer ki Talalash Mayn” and has been translated into Hindi.

Rehan Alavi has been writing fiction for more than two decades. He came across thousands of real-life stories during his career as radio journalist/executive producer at SBS Radio since he migrated to Australia sixteen years back.

Professionally, he is an IT operations analyst in an American multinational firm. Rehan graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney and loves to live behind the microphone besides writing on social and political topics.

Rehan has contributed articles and blogs to a variety of magazines and written many short stories. Several of his popular fic-

Stand up for refugees rally: Break the silence Sunday 11 Oct, 2015 2:00PM - 4:00PM Sydney Town Hall, 483 George St, Sydney, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 747142838763801

Daar Ibn Abbas Project – Condell Park Friday 16 Oct, 2015 7:00PM La Luna Lounge Reception 178 Eldrige Rd, Bankstown, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 841469939305771

Mission of Hope and NSW STARTTS 1.5 day Mental Health Conference Wednesday 21 Oct, 2015 All Day Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre, Bankstown, NSW www.fb.com/events/ 1030249590348070

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

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Australasian Muslim Times

tions are published in literary magazine.

He spends his time mixing with and writing about some of the shadiest characters of life.

He loves social drama and the artistic suspense of breaking moments that are reflected in his stories and grips the reader.

Ghamidi Australian tour AMUST Media

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, an original thinker and Quranic scholar will be visiting Australia on a lecture tour speaking at various sessions in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from Saturday 3 October to Tuesday 13 October.

Mr Ghamidi, originally from Pakistan is the founder-president of Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences (www.al-mawrid. org) and chief editor of the Urdu Monthly “Ishraq” and the English Monthly “Renaissance”.

He has widely written and lectured on Quran, Islamic law and other aspects of Islam. An original contribution of Ghamidi is his categorization of the contents of religion, which can be seen in his book Meezan which is an effort which spans almost two decades of both creative and critical thinking. The entire endeavor is a fresh interpretation of Islam from its original sources.

Mr Ghmidi has drawn heavily from the Qur’anic thought of his two illustrious predecessors, Hamid al-Din Farahi and Amin Ahsan Islahi presenting many of their views in a more precise manner. However, many of his contributions to the Islamic thought are original.

His Australian Lecture Tour will be conducted in the Urdu language has been organized by Al-Mawrid Australia, a non-profit organization. www.al-mawrid.org.au; eMail: info@al-mawrid.org.au; Facebook: tinyurl.com/almawridau.

The following is a list of books written by him: Books Authored • Al Bayan (An Exegesis of the Qur’an) • Meezan (A Comprehensive Introduction to Islam) • Burhan (An Anthology of Critical Essays on Islam) • Al-Islam (A Concise Introduction to Islam) • Maqamat ( A Collection of Essays on Islam Contemporary Issues) • Khayal o Khama (An Anthology of Poetry) Websites: www.al-mawrid.org www.javedahmadghamidi.com

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October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

COMMUNITY

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Youth celebrate religious diversity

hold good character even when we disagree with each other.”

The programme was brought alive by engaging performances from Aboriginal students at St Joseph’s Hunters Hills, Spoken Word poet Ahmad Al-Rady and a Polynesian performance group.

It is hoped that Youth PoWR will become an annual event that continues to provide an opportunity for the youth of Sydney to come together to shape our multi-religious society. Youth PoWR visionary Rev Dr Patrick McInerney believes that Youth PoWR is greatly needed in Sydney in 2015, “Ours is a multi-faith society. Harmony can only be achieved by reaching out to the “other” and getting to know them as my “sister” and my “brother.”

By Ashleigh Green Over 500 youth from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds assembled for the inaugural Youth Parliament of World Religions (Youth PoWR) forum on 17th September. Prominent representatives from the Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish and Baha’i communities addressed the gathering and the event was attended by a number of civic and religious leaders.

Youth PoWR is an initiative of the Columban Mission Institute and this year’s event was coordinated by a multi-faith team of young people who worked together throughout the past year. Team member, Mark Scotto from the Melkite Greek Catholic community found that Youth PoWR enlightened people to see God in each other, regardless of faith group. “I see this as a significant step forward, as youth came to better respect the significance around why they are all here,” he said.

Youth PoWr organising committee.

During the evening, youth formed their own commitments to interfaith dialogue in small groups. Some youth committed to visiting another’s place of worship, others expressed interest in starting a multi-faith association at their universities, while others

simply committed to embracing each other in hands of true friendship.

The civic and religious leaders present at the event also made their own commitments “to engage in interfaith dialogue with compassion, to challenge prejudices and to up-

Ashleigh Green is an executive member of Youth PoWr and has been working with the Columban Mission Institute since 2013. She currently is studying social work at the Australian Catholic University.

Sydney Sacred Music Festival: Ancient Rhythms, Future Visions Zia Ahmad A unique event combining spirituality and entertainment with the theme, “Ancient Rhythms, Future Vision”, was held on Friday 11 September at Campbelltown Art Centre attended by a multicultural and multifaith performers as well as audience from all walks of life.

This collaborative performance featured the “Godfather of Indian Electronica” DJ Coco Varma with some of Sydney’s finest South Asian performers, melding sacred dance and music with Sufi poetry and electronica.

The event was organized for paying respect to the sacred traditions of the past while creating sacred sounds for the future.

It included a number of performers from different religious and cultural background and with a great variety of skills.

The main performers were Coco Varma (Earthtribe/ SitarFunk), Australian Qawwali Party, Abbas Raza Alvi (Poet/Musician), Nirmal Jena (Odissi Dance) and Maharshi Raval (Tabla).

The event was part of the Sydney Sacred Music Festival 2015 and organized in collaboration with “We Australians Are Creative Inc” (WAACI) and Campbelltown Arts Centre.

Before the formal performances, an opportunity was provided for people of different cultural and religious background to get to know each other over offerings of Indian sweets and tea/coffee.

Mr Abbas Raza Alvi, MC started the formal proceedings after welcome to country and recitation of a Sufi poem supported by Coco.

An intensive solo performance together with commentary was given by an accomplished dancer from the Oddissi Dance Company Sydney followed by a team performance with Music.

Oddissi is one of the eight classical dance forms of India originating from the state of Orissa in Eastern India.

The highlight of the night was the performances by the Australian Qawwali Party, an energetic group of five singers and musicians who mesmerized the audience by the rhythm of their individual skills put together as a symphony.

Qawwali is a traditional classical and semi classical style in high pitch and low

Australian Qawwali group performing with traditional instruments. pitch singing of poetries as chorus and is performed all over South Asia, Iran, Turkey and Central Asia.

Percussionists performance on Tabla was given by Maharishi Rava supported by Coco and Mr Alvi recited several more Sufi

poems motivating for understanding, appreciation and peace for all Australians.

Zia Ahmad is the managing editor of the Australasian Muslim Times and is based in Sydney.

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fb.com/amust.au Performers at the Ancient Rhythms, Future Vision night with Abbas Raza Alvi, MC (right).

October 2015

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NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

The crisis of domestic violence AMUST

Mobinah Ahmad

Domestic Violence in the Muslim community is rarely addressed or talked about.

This is not to mean that it doesn’t exist, but rather, many victims suffer in silence and most are ignorant to Islam’s stance on Domestic Violence. The Lebanese Muslim Association took the initiative to host a lecture on domestic violence in the community by Sheikh Wesam Charkwai, as part of the ‘Think Again’ lecture series.

Domestic violence is a massive problem, not unique to the Muslim community, but is prevalent in the general community. Although it’s happening, domestic violence is not condoned in Islam.

People misuse the verse in the Quran where the translation of a particular word is to “Tap/Hit/Beat” them, as a means of saying that domestic abuse is propagated in Islam.

And the worst part is that this is coming from Muslims themselves, that some form of hitting is permissible.

To understand the verses in the Quran, you need to have studied with incredible depth, and understanding in the background of the verses.

This verse in its essence is designed to eliminate domestic violence. The irony of it is, that people misuse this verse to justify domestic violence.

What it means, is to show or express displeasure, to mean that the matter is serious.

Sheikh Charkawi said that “The home is where the woman should feel the most safe.”

Sheikh Wesam Charkawi used an ex-

cellent example, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who was the best example of men, never struck a woman.

It is so important to look at the understanding of what the scholars have said about this verse, and not to interpret things alone.

He went on to explain that the purpose of marriage, from an Islamic viewpoint, is to reach the full spiritual potential to get closer to God. Aside from companionship, the objective is to work together with your spouse to complete each other.

The sheikh spoke generally about his own experience with community issues of do-

mestic nature. He touched lightly that there are legal implications and ramifications for the sheikh to grant a divorce to a couple if one person refuses to divorce.

He said that women who want to divorce their husbands are left suspended, they have no avenue to go to.

Sometimes separation is the way to go, as not all people are compatible with one another. Its unlawful to oppress one another, so do not oppress.

And even during separation, either retain them or let them go in a pleasant manner, but don’t hold onto them forcibly and oppress them.

Even in the way in which a couple leave each other, it should be done in a pleasant way, not with rumours or family involvement where it gets divisive.

Many women suffer in silence, and don’t call the police. Islam says that if a woman is suffering abuse and no one can help her, it is important to just go to the authorities.

Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) last sermon, he gave the instruction to the men three times, to look after the women.

He spoke about the idea that Men are the maintainers of the women and that according to many scholars, this verse is speaking to what the main practices are.

But there are exceptions. Not all men maintain their wives, sometimes it can be the other way around.

A woman asked the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): “What do you say about a woman who supports her husband?”

The prophet (pbuh) said that she gets a double reward, reward of maintenance and the reward of charity.

Even in the times of the prophet, women did maintain and looked after their husbands.

The Quran verse talks about the usual practices, but it does not mean that women cannot be maintainers of their husband.

No human being should have to suffer the indignity or humiliation of being abused.

The Prophet Muhammad said that the strong man: the real man is not the one that can defeat others in wrestling, that’s not the real man.

The real man who can contain himself in a station where he has the capacity to do something, but he chooses not to.

Crescent Wealth investment insights Omar Khan The last few months have been difficult for investment markets in Australia and abroad. As a long term investor, we take a long-term view of the markets in Australia and globally. That said, we thought we would provide commentary on some recent events.

What’s going on at home?

First of all we are not surprised that Australian share markets are falling, in fact we have been concerned about valuations for

the last 12 months. Therefore we have been holding a reasonable level of cash as a defensive buffer (up to 20%) in the Crescent Australian Equity Fund.

Being a value based and Shariah compliant investor, means we have no exposure to banks and other financial institutions which have been hit hard in the latest sell off. We are invested mostly in small companies which have outperformed the rest of the market during the sell-off in August.

Thinking Global In August, focus turned from Greece (after securing another bailout) to China as the People’s Bank of China shocked markets on 11th August with an unexpected devaluation of the its currency, the Yuan. The move was

seen by many as an attempt by Chinese authorities to boost their exports to counteract a faltering economy. US economic data remained generally strong during the month Q2 real GDP growth was revised up to a 3.2% annualised rate.

Let’s dive into property The Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) market fell 4.1% over the August month. Over the same period, the general equity market (S&P ASX200) fell a more dramatic 7.8%. This highlights the defensive qualities of REITs as an asset class.

While no-one can accurately predict interest rate movements in the short-term, based recent Reserve Bank comments and the weak GDP (2.0% annualised), the possibility for

The building image is 10-16 Dorcas Street, South Melbourne – a commercial property recently bought by Crescent Wealth for $30.75 million. You can read more about that here: http://www.crescentwealth.com.au/crescent-wealthbuy-30-75m-commercial-property/

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Australasian Muslim Times

www.amust.com.au

further rate cuts in Australia cannot be ruled out. This is potentially a supportive environment for reasonable returns from the real estate asset class.

The Crescent Wealth Diversified Property Fund also purchased an asset in South Melbourne recently and represents about 50% of the total fund (the other half is in listed REITs and a small amount of cash). This purchase was timely and means the high performing fund will have an extra element of stability. The fund’s diversified strategy should see its future returns delivered in a fashion with lower volatility than general equities.

Want to find out more?

The easiest way is to speak with one our Relationship Managers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. You can call our offices between 8:30AM and 6PM Monday to Friday to make an appointment on 1300 926 626. You can also find information on our website at www.crescentwealth.com.au This article has been prepared by Crescent Funds Management (Aust) Ltd. ABN 32 144 560 172 AFSL No: 365260 based on its understanding of current regulatory requirements and laws as at 28/09/2015. It is not financial advice and provides information only. It does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. You must read the relevant Product Disclosure Statements available from www.crescentwealth.com.au and assess whether the information is suitable for you and consider talking to a financial advisor before making an investment decision. Copyright © 2015 Crescent Funds Management (Aust) Ltd. All rights reserved.

Omar Khan is the Director of Strategy & Development at Crescent Wealth. Prior to joining Crescent Wealth, Omar was an Associate Director at Lend Lease Ventures.

Omar also holds degrees in LLB and BCom and was also the 2013 winner of Sydney University and BOSS Magazine’s Top Emerging Leader in Australia Award.

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UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

AUSTRALIA

SOCIAL 23

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Property investments and taxation of rental incomes FINANCE Dr Abul Jalaluddin

Australians love to invest in properties and earn rental incomes. In the financial year ended 30 June 2012, 1.9 million Australians or 19.3% of the individual taxpayers (almost one in every five) owned investment properties.

Of these, 72.8% of investors owned one property, 18.9% owned 2 properties while around 8% owned 3 or more properties. In 1994, 12.9% Australians owned investment properties, an increase of almost 50% over the last 18 years.

Property investors would have to pay taxes on weekly rental and related rental incomes such as bond money retained, certain insurance payouts and reimbursements from tenants. Income tax is payable on rental incomes and GST is payable on considerations for taxable supplies of certain rental properties. Investors are eligible to claim deductions for various expenses incurred to earn rental incomes including management fees; maintenance costs; borrowing costs plus interest on borrowing; depreciation on assets such as carpet, furniture and appliances as well as capital works.

Income Tax Rent is an income according to ordinary

concepts and it will therefore be assessable under section 6-5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. Rental income is assessable in the year it is received and the applicable tax rate is the individual rate of the returning investor.

A residential property investor is not require to have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and rental income is added to their assessable income from other sources such as salary and wages. A payment of board by adult children in a family would be considered as a domestic arrangement, no income tax would be payable on this payment and hence, no tax deductions would be allowable unless the board is an arms’ length commercial rent payment.

GST You need to carry out an enterprise to be liable for charging and remitting GST. Under section 9-20 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, leasing a single property or multiple properties continuously to one or more tenants will be considered an enterprise. The treatment of rents or lease payments for GST purposes will depend on the type of premises being rented out and their usage.

Predominantly, property investors are involved with residential premises. The supply of residential premises to tenants is input taxed. This means that investors as suppliers of these premises do not have to charge GST on the amount of rents received and are not

eligible to claim input tax credits for the acquisitions made to make these supplies of rental properties. The overwhelming majority of mum and dad property investors have no involvements with GST. If you meet registration threshold for GST and invest to make a supply of commercial residential premises such as hotels and motels or business premises or office premises, GST will be payable on the amount of rents

received and you will be eligible to claim input tax credits on the cost of acquisitions to make these supplies. You would require an ABN to operate these types of commercial premises to earn rental incomes.

Dr Abul Jalaluddin is an Islamic Finance expert, Director of MCCA, taxation advisor and a regular columnist of AMUST. He is based in Sydney.

NSW Human Rights Award 2015 AMUST Media Minister for Multiculturalism John Ajaka has announced the Reverend Bill Crews, the Founder and Chairman of the Exodus Foundation as the recipient of the 2015 NSW Human Rights Award at a function held at the Parliament House.

The Award pays tribute to those who support the disadvantaged and marginalized and endeavour to make NSW a better community.

The NSW Human Rights Award is presented annually in memory of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman who saved thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary during the Second World War.

The 2014 award winner was Ms Maha Abdo, President of the Muslim Women’s Association Mr Ajaka said that he was delighted to announce that Revered Bill Crews received this year’s award.

“Reverend Crews has dedicated his life to helping the elderly, sick, homeless and disadvantaged. His perseverance in positively influencing the community is outstanding and fully deserves this recognition,” Mr Ajaka said.

“The judging panel found that Reverend Crews was an esteemed community figure who has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others. He is a passionate campaigner who exemplifies compassion, and will make an outstanding NSW Human Rights

The Hon John Ajaka MP, Rev Bill Crews, Mr Hakan Harman.

October 2015

Ambassador.”

Reverend Bill Crews started his career as an electrical engineer and was introduced to the Wayside Chapel in late 1969. After finding a strong connection with the congregation, he decided to quit his engineering career and work full time at the Wayside Chapel. Bill since became a Minister for the Uniting Church and for 30 years has run the Exodus Foundation. He is a Minister of the Ashfield Parish in Sydney’s Inner West.

The NSW Human Rights Award is presented annually in memory of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman who saved thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary during the Second World War. The 2014 award winner was Mrs Maha Abdo, CEO, Muslim Womens Association.

Reverend Bill Crews.

The Hon John Ajaka MP and Prof Jamil Farooqui.

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Aise and Enes wedding feature AMUST

THE MODEST BRIDE

Saltanat Bora

I love a wedding where it is clear that a lot of thought, time and effort has gone into the details, guided by a unified vision that results in a comprehensive, seamless and ultimately, beautiful, day. Aise and Enes’s day, captured by Lah’za Photography, is a perfect example. Aise’s vision of a shabby chic vintage wedding in a dusty pink and gold palette with lace and pearl details was beautifully executed, from the bride’s glamorous dress, to the cake adorned in lace, plenty of DIY elements and one of the most stunning bridal parties I’ve seen.

Although Enes had had his eye on Aise, he couldn’t muster the courage to approach her. So it seemed like a serendipitous coincidence when a mutual family friend, without knowing that he was interested, called and asked whether he’d be keen in getting to know a girl named Aise. Of course, this was the perfect opportunity and he played it cool, not giving away that he already admired her. From there they spoke a few times, and literally within a week his family came over to her house, asking for her hand! Aise noted that although there was no typical ‘dreamy proposal’ he ” fulfilled all my dreams, as I always wished that whoever I were to marry, would ask for my father’s blessings first, and that, he did!”

After a relatively short engagement, Aise started planning the wedding. Enes was happy to have Aise plan it as she wished, trusting her vision for their special day. Aise reflects that “although the planning was fairly stressful, in spite of that, my family was tremendously supportive. They aided me in every way possible, and I could never repay them. One of the highlights was when we were discussing the wedding timeta-

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ble, mum and I shared a moment where we danced to a song about a daughter leaving her mother’s home. We did plan to do it on the night, but it was far too emotional. The night before the wedding I was spray painting the LOVE sign, fumes everywhere and my mum was scared I was going to die before she got to see me get married. It was not funny at the time but I can laugh about it now.”

When it came to the wedding dress, Aise knew that she didn’t want to wear a white wedding dress. She opted for a dusty-pinkmushroom colour, instead. She first went to try on wedding gowns at various dress

stores, to see what style accommodated her taste but also to her religious values. They were all either in white, sleeveless or very fitted. Not being fond of the skivvy or bolero look, and not being able to find exactly what she envisioned, she had it made by Ezra Derya Couture. The result was a truly stunning, beaded gown in the softest, barely pink colour, with long sleeves and a perfect fit.

The day itself was wrought with emotional moments, such as when her father first saw her in her wedding dress, he could not help his tears tremble down his face. Aise kissed his hand and cried with him. Aise says “it was a very emotional and special moment. I will never forget that moment.

Then Enes came upstairs and seeing him put

Aise & Ense on their wedding day showered with confetti.

Australasian Muslim Times

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a smile on my face.” Turkish wedding traditions enriched their day, such as when the groom’s family comes to the bride’s house with pockets full of money. The bride’s door is guarded by young ones, who request money, before the door is opened for the groom to see his bride. The ceremony where the father, or the uncle, of the bride, ties a red ribbon around her waist three times, while making Dua (prayers), represented strength.

And before the bride stepped out of her parent’s house as a wife for the first time her father-in-law read a prayer for a happy, long and prosperous new beginning.

Ultimately upon reflecting on their day Aise says, “it is a day that cannot be replaced or repeated, therefore we made sure to enjoy every moment. But the most important of the day is now we have the rest of our days together” and her advice on marriage? ” One of the best advice we received was that a man desires respect and a woman desires love; when that cycle takes place by showing love and respect to each other, you truly do find happiness and everything else that marriage has to offer…”

Vendor Details Photography Lah’za Photography Bride’s Dress Ezra Derya Couture Veil Ezra Derya Couture Headscarf Styling The Haya Atelier Flower Crown Flowers bought by the bride and assembled by The Haya Atelier Clutch Alannah Hill Makeup Fulya Fikir Bridesmaids gowns Custom made Groom’s suit Peter Jackson Groom’s shoes Windsor Smith Watch Emporio Armani Barber Ozzie O’s grooming Groomsmen’s suits Bossini Florist DIY Reception/Ceremony Venue Firenze Receptions Cake/Desserts Cupcakes and Sprinkles by Aadila To find out more about The Modest Bride, subscribe to the website www.themodestbride.com.au

October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

LIFESTYLE

SOCIAL 23

Life after 30 as a single Muslim woman

Anonymous | Love Haqtually

If you’ve hit 30 and are still single, you’re probably not going to find your habibti/ beta/canim.

Well then, now that I’ve gotten you all angry at the defeatist introduction, why not stay a while and read on yaar?

I remember reading an article once about women in their 30s missing from the marketing world, like they aren’t a desirable market to sell goods to – lingerie is for toned women in their 20s, domestic stuff is for mothers in their 40s and anything ‘cool’ is for the teen market. The writer lamented about being a demographic no one wanted to appeal to, like she had no market share valuable enough to target. It got me to thinking about how in Islamic cultures women in their 30’s are seen in the same light- you’re just not a marketable product to sell for marriage. Sorry hun, you’re like an iPhone 4…

Apple don’t even want to sell you anymore.

I’ve had two friends in their early 20s actually say to my face they wanted to get married soon, as they were scared if they approach my age their prospects were next to none. As bi*chy as it sounds they honestly didn’t mean any malice by it; it was a sincere fear of theirs. This is what it’s like to be a single Muslim woman in your 30s-you’re not fabulous, you’re a warning sign that girls in their 20s will hear by their aunties not to end up like.

Single, practicing Muslim women entering their 30s are a rising demographic. I feel like my generation of friends are the first to go through this new phenomenon, the battle between feeling like a suitable and eligible candidate for prospective men vs the shelf

October 2015

AMUST

Marriage Bureau

Seeker & Sought For

An initiative by the Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare (IFEW)

Seekers

space put aside for you by everyone else. I never realised moving to the next age box in a survey would dictate my self-worth so much. I wasn’t taught this in school or at Islamic classes…

I’ve lost track of how many people have asked around about me casually and stopped as soon as they found out I was in my 30s.

This means people had a good impression of my character from hearsay or having met me, or in the males’ case they clearly were attracted to me physically to want to pursue some more background information – the only thing that deterred them was my age.

You can also forget the scenario where a brother is interested in meeting a sister for marriage and asks around – his requests always come with an age group – and you guessed it – 30 is the limit.

F159: Female, 27 medical doctor, Indian residing in Saudi Arabia.

I apply Islam in my day-to-day life. I have performed Hajj twice and Umrah numerous times. I am soft spoken, humble and well cultured. I respect elders and very adjusting by nature. I am seeking for a life partner who is an educated and practicing Muslim.

F158: Female, age 35, an Australian from Bangladesh An accountant working as a finance manager. Enjoys reading books, likes cooking and loves to travel. Seeking for an educated and practicing Muslim who comes from a good family.

F157: Female, 23, New Zealand-Indian, Engineer I enjoy reading books, learning more about Islam, exercise, cooking, watching tennis and socialising with friends.

I am a practicing Muslimah and enjoy attending community Islamic events.

I work for a multinational company. I am seeking an educated, honest, caring, loving, upright and religiously compatible life partner who is committed to grow with me to achieve our dreams of fulfilling life together.

F155: 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.

Our respective Muslim communities have failed us. Muslims living in the West are surrounded by other nationalities and religions in successful relationships with older / divorced women so it’s not a foreign concept to them. Our biggest male role model the Rasul (s.a.w) married older, divorced and single mothers – in fact the only younger wife was Aisha (ra). Men rush to lead by his example and grow a beard, use a miswak and give to charity… but when it comes to his example of marriage they simply have too much pride to consider a woman in her 30s, even then they are in the same age bracket too!

The shelf life of a woman is dictated by the elders in the community who reinforce the desirable ‘young beautiful virgin’ ideal to their sons, who are actually ‘old ugly and oversexed’ losers that frankly no self-respecting woman deserves to end up with. I’ve learnt long ago that just because community elders have lived longer doesn’t mean they know what’s best for your dunya and akhira, rather they were married off in a village at 16 and don’t really know any different to the lives they’ve led decades ago.

Can you count on your fingers how many Muslim women in their 30s have gotten married in the past year or so? Probably not even a handful, and most are to reverts who M156: Male 58 divorced Pakistani Austhey met at work/social scenes who refreshtralian. I have been in Australia for ingly don’t come with the cultural stigma 30 years and worked in IT and now attached.

I am retired. I am seeking for a SunThen you get told to have tawakkul and ni muslimah widow or divorced from faith in God’s decree. It’s all ‘naseeb’, they any culture. tell you (after making you feel like and unM154: Male, 42. Pakistani Australian, desirable loser). Yes, definitely have tawakAccountant kul ladies, we do not know what it written I come from a respectable family, I for us, but I also believe in the ‘tie your have been brought up with traditional camel’ story as a metaphor for how to then Pakistani culture. I am a Sunni Musgo about your life. I decided a few years lim. I like reading Islamic Books, atago to stop waiting for my knight in shining tending Islamic seminars and meeting jilbab. I had too many dreams, and this life friends of a similar background. I also isn’t a fairy-tale. Start a relationship with like watching movies, listening to your mind. Go back to studies if there are music and watching various sports. I any topics of interest you’ve put off. Start am looking for a Sunni Muslim Padating your passport-instead of dinners, colkistani woman who is educated and lect stamps and see the world! A honeymoon comes from a respectable family in Fiji shouldn’t be the only travel goal left background. for you. The world is too awesome to wait M153: Male, 32, Sri Lankan Australifor someone to hold your hand and explore an, Engineer. I’m an engineer and reit with you. As lovely as it may sound, the vert to Islam. I have high emaan. My longer you wait you’ll just end up renewing hobbies are fitness, reading, learning that passport with no stamps after its 10 year Arabic, engineering, modern history, validity. cafés and restaurants, innovation. I’m You are not ‘half a Muslim’ because looking for a devout practicing Musyou’re not married. The ‘half your deen’ lim (Sunni) sister from any cultural statement pertains to the fact that half the background. Ideally a sister with very problems you will face with your iman will high emaan. be marriage-related, and that is the specific test for married people. Allah created you See More at as complete in every way, and if men can’t www.amust.com.au/seekers see that, it is a product of their stupidity.

So just politely ignore the gossipy aunties Placing/Responding a notice at the next social gathering where you are quite frankly the most fabulous woman in If you would like to place or respond to a the room regardless of how you are made notice, fill out the matrimonial form at: to feel. www.amust.com.au/marriage-bureau All information is held in strict confidence

www.amust.com.au

Australasian Muslim Times

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LIFESTYLE

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

Uptown Jakarta funk you up AMUST

MOBYDAYZE Mobinah Ahmad This is part 5 of the Australia-Indonesia Muslim Exchange Program series Read previous parts at http://goo.gl/yfYJzT And we’re back to Jakarta! That evening, we were invited by the Australian Embassy of Jakarta to meet at Lara Djonggrang restaurant for drinks and buffet dinner.

The restaurant was beautiful with a tree canopy, and inside there were ponds and bridges.

It was all so mesmerising to look at. At the restaurant, we met Tess working at the embassy. She was to show us around for the next few days.

It was nice to meet another young person and to have a chat to about the social culture of Jakarta.

Tasneem remarked about the view from her room: “The idea that over 13 million

people occupy this city during the day with 11 million remaining every night, puts into perspective the traffic woes.

And yet, despite the relentless movement, it’s an undercurrent of easiness that permeates the atmosphere.”

Sahema suggested we use the avocados we got as a gift from Cirebon to put onto our hair and face, as we were too full to eat them and they were very ripe.

It was a great bonding experience amongst the girls and it was nice to debrief together.

The next morning, we visited the Australian Embassy by walking from our hotel.

I noticed that most of Jakarta was definitely not a strolling city. With the heat and underdeveloped footpaths and roads - makes more sense to drive around.

We then visited the boutique and home of Dian Pelangi, a famous Indonesian fashion designer. Her home and private boutique was so beautiful.

We had the privilege of looking through the items of clothing with Dian (who gave us 15% discount!).

We all bought something that we absolutely love, including Yusuf who bought a beautiful shawl for his mother.

After Dian Pelangi, We went to kemang and had lunch at KOI where I got to have a steak for the first time in Indonesia!

Afterwards we checked out the Grand Indonesia Mall and visited Alum Alun, a fancy batik place in the mall.

Tess suggested we visit Skyebar as we wanted to see a high view of the city. We went to 56th floor in the grand Indonesia Mall, it was an open look out, what a view!

It was so beautiful to be so high up. We transcended the humidity and felt like we were in the clouds. Mocktails and the whole of Jakarta, so lovely!

That evening, Tess took us for a feed at a beautiful greek restaurant, El Greko in Setiabudi. I had a gyros, greek roasted chicken,

onion, fried potato and tatziki and my drink was a Lemonita, fresh isotonic hand made traditional greek drink it had spring onion in it!

It’s so interesting to try another cultures food different to the one of the country you are in. This greek place was pretty authentic, the greek owner came to our table and made recommendations on what to order.

The next day, as the others visited a school, I sought permission to visit the home of my father’s friend, Luqman Landy.

He has dedicated his life to running 150 remote area schools in Indonesia.

As I enter the village in South Jakarta I came across a ‘Freedom for Palestine” artwork painted on the entering wall.

I see this on the day of Al Nakbah. I’m told by the driver that Palestinian freedom is

Modest Street Fashion Photography by Benny Baharuddin

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

Michael, 21, intern at MJ Bale I like the sartorial and classic style. The jacket is from satori, the tie is from Henry Bucks, pocket square from Drake London, shoes are from Kazuna tailors and the pants are Brooks brothers.

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Australasian Muslim Times

very important to Indonesians.

We’re almost reaching the end of the journey!

Australian Islamic fashion designers in Indonesia AMUST Media Four of Australia’s most talented Islamic fashion designers brought their latest collections to Jakarta to launch their labels at the Indonesia International Islamic Fashion and Products exhibition held from 9 -13 September at the Jakarta Convention Centre.

Amalina Ama, and Eisha Saleh (Baraka), and Howayda Moussa and Hanadi Chehab (Integrity Boutique) are Australian designers whose beautiful ‘Ready-to-wear’ collections combine simple cuts and comfortable styles for day into evening occasions.

Their styles vary from the classy and feminine, to the dramatic and mesh perfectly with this year’s theme Ethnic Urbanovative.

See www.classictouch.bigcartel.com www.barakawomen.com.

“Australia is very proud of its Muslim community who come from a wide variety of backgrounds including the Middle East, South Asia, Eastern Europe and South East Asia”, said Alison Purnell, Counsellor, Advocacy and Outreach.

“These Muslim communities have brought with them a wealth of different ideas, skills and talents. Our four designers are an example of this,” Ms Purnell said.

This event will allow the designers to explore their creativity further with their Indonesian counterparts.

In conjunction with the Indonesia International Islamic Fashion and Products 2015, Women-In-Global-Business Indonesia (WIGBI) held a workshop on Friday 11 September, providing technical assistance to established female business owners or female directors in the fashion industry who are working towards being export-ready.

Kevin, 41, work in the city I like a simple style, nothing too flashy but with little details. Jacket is from Seoul, jeans are from 501, shoes are from my girlfriend, the bag was from Hong Kong and the glasses are from Moscot.

www.amust.com.au

October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

UMMAH

SOCIAL 23

Controversy surrounding selective refugee intake policy Rabbi Zalman Kastel At a time when terrible suffering afflicts millions in the Middle East and continues to traumatize those who have escaped, Jews prepare for our New Year and day of judgement: Rosh Hashanah.

In the synagogue the solemn words will ring out: “Who will live and who will die? Who will die in their time and who before their time? Who by fire? Who by the sword? Who by hunger? Who by thirst?

Who will find rest and who shall wander?

Who shall be at peace and who shall be pursued? …who shall be tormented?” This prayer talks about these decisions as being made by God alone. Yet, you and I are also making choices as citizens that might have some influence on these terrible questions.

This week’s decision by the Australian Government to resettle 12,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria and Iraq in Australia, with a focus “on those most in need – the women, children and families of persecuted minorities”, followed pleas by citizens as well as politicians. Last year I heard a representative of the Assyrian community describe the killing and devastation inflicted on his community by Daesh/ISIS. I connected with their pain and deeply wished this evil would stop! Now, thankfully, at least Assyrians will likely get some relief and be shown some compassion.

On the other hand, an Australian Muslim whom I respect and trust had a different perspective on the Government’s announcement: “Muslims will forever remember a time when Australia turned its back on

them, or planned to, when they were at their most vulnerable. This is what radicalises people. Do you see why I say that this government doesn’t really care about true de-radicalisation? This is the beginning of the end. Remember this moment! It’s when we sacrificed our security, humanity and self-worth for political manoeuvring”. This is a concerning perspective that we need to hear and heed.

The decisions about who will be resettled, and who will continue to suffer and “find nowhere to rest their feet”, should be, and should be seen to be, based on need alone, rather than ethnicity or religion. The right to save this one and leave another to suffer could only be claimed by God. Human justice must be procedural and impartial. The declared Refugee Policy of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies includes that government should “not adopt any policy that arbitrarily limits or excludes from refugee protection any category of people with a genuine and well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland”. The policy of the federal representative body of the Australian Jewish community contains a similar provision.

The argument that a non-sectarian policy is essential for social cohesion is consistent with an important call by former UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in response to the European refugee crisis, published last week in The Guardian.

He wrote that it “is hard is to love the stranger, one whose colour, culture or creed is different from yours. That is why the command, ‘Love the stranger because you were once strangers”, resonates so often throughout the Bible. It is summoning us now. A bold act of collective generosity will show that the world, particularly Europe, [or

the West] has learned the lesson of its own dark past and is willing to take a global lead in building a more hopeful future. Wars that cannot be won by weapons can sometimes be won by the sheer power of acts of humanitarian generosity to inspire the young to choose the way of peace instead of holy war”. As my above-quoted Muslim correspondent, observed, failure to uphold our principles carries the risk of undermining the moral standing of “the west”.

We must be hard on the problems and refuse to accept the avoidable suffering of our fellow humans, regardless of ethnicity or religion. On Rosh Hashanah, I will pray that ‘God reign over the world in a way that will be known to all’. To me, this means that principles of justice and mercy should pre-

“We took an industry-standard setup and compared the standard stethoscope to various stethoscopes of our own, finally settling on a design that beat the gold standard Littmann Cardiology III by 3M,” he told Wired.

“We are in the process of getting our Medical Device Establishment License (MDEL) from Health Canada,” he added.

Loubani said a printer doesn’t cost that much more than a new Littmann stethoscope, and that 3-D printers are already used in Gaza to build medical devices and prosthetics.

Glia, Loubani’s project, aims at design-

ing more complicated plans for 3-D printed medical devices, including a pulse oximeter and an electrocardiogram. Their assembly, Loubani told Wired, shouldn’t be beyond the ability of anybody with a high school-level of electronics.

Loubani’s path to the Gaza Strip wasn’t easy. In 2013 he was detained in Egypt with a fellow Canadian en route to the Strip when they got caught up in the unrest surrounding the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The two were held in an Egyptian prison for several months, until international pressure brought about their release.

AMUST

vail rather than the interests of the rich and powerful or the short term political interests of politicians. At the same time, let us treat each other with understanding and grace. A beautiful Rosh Hashanah prayer asserts that humans are “like a fading flower, like a broken shard of earthenware, and a dream that flies away”.

This is a challenging time for those who are suffering and for the preservation of the fragile fabric of our still largely cohesive society. I pray for wise, responsible and compassionate choices by all concerned.

Rabbi Zalman Kastel is the National Director of Together for Humanity Foundation, blogs at www.torahforsociallyawarehasid. blogspot.com.au/. He is based in Sydney.

Palestinian doctor invents simple stethoscope

AMUST Media

A Palestinian Doctor has invented a stethoscope which is ‘better than world’s best but costs only 30 cents Design for 3-D printed stethoscope is available for free online; Tarek Loubani, a Canadian doctor of Palestinian descent, says came up with idea during 2012 conflict between Israel and Gaza.

A physician working in the Gaza Strip has invented a 3-D printed stethoscope which he claims is better than the top stethoscope top on the market while costing only 30 cents to make.

The stethoscope’s design was published on Friday and is available for free. It can be used to print the device by anyone with a 3-D printer, Tarek Loubani, a Canadian of Palestinian descent, said.

Loubani, who has been working in Gaza’s Shifa hospital for several years, heads the Glia Project which aims to supply the blockaded Strip with low-cost medical devices.

According to Loubani, Glia was founded when the meager supply of medical tools during the 2012 conflict between Israel and Gaza forced him and his fellow doctors to press their ears against patients’ chests to listen to their heartbeat.

Loubani funded the project himself with the $11,000 necessary for the research, coming up with the design which he said was “as good as any stethoscope out there in the world.”

October 2015

Media Scan Ainullah

According to the Canadian Press, in a previous visit in the Strip in 2003, he was arrested by Israeli authorities while working there as a human rights observer with International Solidarity Movement. Loubani said he was beaten and tortured by Israeli authorities while he was detained, along with other observers.

Israel considers the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to be a hostile entity, and it has maintained a blockade over the seaside territory and fought three wars since the Islamic group seized power in 2007.

Visit our website www.amust.com.au for the latest news and views www.amust.com.au

Australasian Muslim Times

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UMMAH

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

Will violence against Bedouins shift world opinion on Israel?

AMUST

Stuart Rees On a recent trip to Gaza and the West Bank Stuart Rees observed the impact of Israel’s policies first hand.

Politicians from any parliament or government which supports or chooses to ignore the cruelties dished out by the government of Israel should be held accountable.

In their defence, such politicians might say they did not know about the extent of the slaughter and destruction in Gaza, the continued stealing of Palestinian homes by settlers in East Jerusalem, more demolitions of houses throughout the West Bank or the destruction of Bedouin camps.

The most recent violence towards Bedouins might influence at least some politicians’ attitudes towards a government they had previously supported.

A week ago, Abdul Khanaven squatted on the earth floor of a tarpaulin covered, corrugated tin shack in the Jahalin Bedouin community located one hundred meters off the main Jerusalem to Jericho highway. This is his home. He is this community’s leader and as a gesture to visitors he serves hot sweet tea. Under a cloudless sky, the sun beats down, the temperature hovers in the high thirties and a few scraggy sheep and a skinny donkey graze outside.

‘Armed Robbery’ Abdul is dignified. On the sparse, rocky hills his people have herded their sheep and goats for centuries.

Now they are in the way of Israel’s policies to clear the land and people from their homes so that well-resourced Israeli settlements can be expanded and vital spring waters acquired.

In recent articles in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, journalist Amira Hass called the Israeli army’s policy of destruction and evictions on the West Bank, ‘armed robbery.’

Two other Haaretz journalists, Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, say that the Israeli Civil Administration that governs the West Bank has ‘an appetite for destruction.’

Abdul knows about such policies but is at a loss to know why governments which protest that they are committed to uphold human rights don’t have the courage to insist on holding accountable governments which

abuse human rights. He says, “Our lives are hard enough. We don’t interfere with how other people live, so why are we treated this way?”

Towards the Bedouins, the Netanyahu government, aided by the army and by settlers, have formed a coalition of cruelty. In the Jahalin community, home to over 100 people, Abdul and his friends have built a three-room school which provides education for 170 children aged between six and 14. The children come from five other Bedouin communities and each walks on average about three kilometres to reach the school.

In their construction of classroom walls from rubber tyres and mud-based cement, the Bedouins were influence by the experiences of Indigenous peoples from South America. In their neat blue and white check uniforms the Bedouin children appear happy and enthusiastic about being in these classrooms, yet the school and the children’s prospects of continuing their education look bleak. The school is to be demolished.

A year ago, after the completion of the classrooms, representatives of the Italian consul in Israel arrived with playground equipment for the children. Abdul recalls,

“We were so grateful for this gift and the children were excited.”

Abdul says that during the ceremony to handover the playground equipment, an Israeli drone circled overhead and soon after the Italians left the camp, squads of police arrived, apparently alerted by the drone.

They climbed the roadside barrier and made their way up the rocky slope to the camp.

They explained that they had come to confiscate the playground materials because cement would be needed to fix the equipment to the ground.

Cement was forbidden because it could be used to make the playground firm and appear permanent. Bedouins were to be moved, nothing could be permanent. In common with Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Bedouins should live in a state of permanent uncertainty.

Subsequent attacks on the school came when settlers invaded the camp and smashed classroom windows. Instead of seeking revenge, Abdul and his community colleagues invited settler leaders, mostly mothers with children of the same age as the Bedouin children, to come to the camp to consider a joint education project and so achieve reconciliation.

The proposed reconciliation meeting took place. Abdul explained what happened next.

“Instead of helping us, the settler people reported that our land is now classified as Area C, under full Israeli control. Soon after the meeting with the settlers, we received an order saying that our school will be demolished.” I sipped more tea. Abdul continued, “The settlers reported us. Why do they treat us like this? We hurt no-one.”

Impunity: No-One Accountable His fear that his precious school will be demolished is well grounded. A week ago a neighbouring Bedouin camp, located next to the large settlement Ma’aleh Adumim, but on land which Israel wants in order to prevent the movement of Palestinians, was destroyed. In the early hours of one morning, troops arrived with civilian bureaucrats whom Levy and Levac describe as part of a brutal and vicious mechanism to enforce the eviction of people from their homes.

This forced removal took place in 42 degrees Celsius heat. One hundred and twenty seven men, women and children became homeless. The journalists observed that “Nothing was left, no tent, no roofing material, not even a water container.”

The people were abandoned to their fate.

The troops treated this exercise as a job well done.

Australian politicians who unreservedly support Israel’s policies to use any means to acquire the land of Palestinians and the Indigenous Bedouins, should know that in effect they support the uniformed thugs who arrive to destroy the homes of dignified but wretchedly poor communities. These politicians may froth at the mouth at such a suggestion and may even make the usual charge that someone who writes in this vein must be anti-Semitic.

Instead it looks as though those who support ethnic cleansing are partners in crime, willing to perceive cruelty as of little consequence if the victims are far away or can be stereotyped as not really worthy of attention.

Cruelty as a policy priority persists because the so-called international community has chosen never to hold Israel accountable, always to turn a blind eye to enable successive Israeli governments to behave as though they are above the law.

(Courtesy New Matilda) - See more at: https://goo.gl/5XDefu

Refugee crisis: Man made disaster Zahid Jamil It is important to remember Russia’s role in the Syrian conflict.

Without Russian support, the brutal regime of Bashar Al Assad would not have lasted for long after the beginning of the uprising in Syria. He would have met similar fate as Muammar Gaddafi, where Russians failed to rescue another leftist ruler in the Middle East.

Iranian backing of Basher Al Assad has been instrumental in seeking Russian support for a baathist regime in the region.

While I am happy to see Russian president Vladimir Putin showing courage in standing up to US in several international conflicts and political matters, it cannot be condoned if it results in large scale human suffering.

Without oil, Syria is not a great cause for Americans to utilize its military resources beyond certain limits. Without decisive action by US, the country continued to be in stalemate resulting in emergence of several warring factions and extreme loss of civilian life.

Iranian support for Assad is highly deplorable. They preferred to support a non-religious Baathist regime over Islamic opposi-

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tion groups who were moderate and would have offered stability. This paved way to several extremist and terrorist groups gaining strength and plunging the country into total chaos.

On the other hand US and European powers are primarily responsible for the terrible mess in the Middle East. They not only destroyed some of these countries through

Australasian Muslim Times

senseless bombardment over past few decades, but also played dirty political games to ensure that only their puppet regimes stayed in power. It ensured that oil wealth stays firmly under their control and Israeli interests are not compromised.

Large scale suffering of innocent children, women and men at the hands of various criminal political groups who show no

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hesitation in going to any extreme in their attempts of achieving political upper hand is very sad.

There should be strict international rules to punish political groups who engage in killing of civilians and abuse of human rights.

No government should be allowed to use its military arsenal against its own people.

Military arsenal can only be used against armies of enemy nations. Syrian regime has killed its own civilians in far bigger number than any other warring faction in the current strife.

Western countries, in general, set a relatively fine example of offering human dignity to all. It is for this reason that many refugees make desperate attempts to reach these countries.

Gulf countries are no short of money to offer these refugees appropriate living standard including schooling for their children, if they claim to be offering help to their Muslim brethren.

The senseless brutality of all warring factions in Syria has created one of the worst refugee crisis of recent times. It is heartbreaking to see desperate attempts by thousands of Muslim refugees to reach shores of Western nations.

October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

EDUCATION

SOCIAL 23

AMUST

The 99 Divine attributes of Allah Part 14 - Attributes 59, 60, 62 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

59. Al-Mu’īd - The Reviver of the Dead Indeed, (O Muhammad!), the Punishment of your Rabb (Lord) is severe and painful.

Verily, He it is Who begins (punishment) and repeats (punishment) in the Hereafter) or originates the creation of everything, and then repeats it on the Day of Resurrection).

And He is Oft-Forgiving1, Full of love2 (towards the pious who are real true believer of Islamic Montheism). Owner of the Throne the Glorious3, (He is the doer of whatsoever He intends (or wills)4. Has the story reached you of the hosts, of Fir’aun (Pharaoh) and Thamūd? Nay! The disbelievers (persisted) in denying (Prophet Muhammad his Messages of Islamic Montheism). And Allah encompasses them from behind!5 (i.e. all their deeds are within His knowledge, and He will require them for their deeds).

Nay! This is a glorious Qur’ân, (inscribed) in Al-Lauh, Al-Mahfuz”6 (Al-Burūj, 85:12-22)

lah as (disbelievers)3 So verily you (O Muhammad) cannot make the dead to hear (i.e. the disbelievers), nor can you make the deaf to hear the call when they show their backs and turn away. 4 Had you (O Muhammad), guide the blind from the straying; you can make to hear only those who believe in our ayat (proofs, evidences) and have submitted to Allah in Islam (as Muslims)5.

(Ar- Rûm, 30:48-53) 1. Hear the style, in which the Prophethood and Rain have been mentioned simultaneously indicates the reality that the deputations of the Prophets is charmingly the same kind of benevolence as that of the arrival of the rain, in the material life of human beings.

2. Similar to the sudden sojourn of the heavenly rain, the dead-laying land gets enlivened in a sudden moment and the greeneries blessed in it, the descent of the moral spirituality derived would get flourished and the greatest of laudable performance become flourished.

3. It is one’s own foolishness of the unbelievers who nullify. In case when the greeneries have taken substances, if they observe any yellow type of greenery at this moment either too hard or too soft to make the suspicion of its deteriorate by rain. They do not grasp the problem rather they should start having patience and full belief in Allah by asking help from Him. 4. Prophet should not be considered responsible of the occurrence of evils in this world. He was ordered by Allah to convey his message in exact words and best possible manner in practice. The objections by Arabs in Makkah was not justified by the Arab Quraish.

1. “ Oft. Forgiving”: By using this attribute, Allah has inculcated that if one repents from his/her sins and begs Allah devoted and true forgiveness, he/she can occupy the abode of mercy and enlightenment under the shades of Allah swt.

2. “Full of love and tranquility”: It declares very distinctly that Allah has no enmity towards any of His creation that creates distress and torture for no reason. Rather the humans enjoy such love and extreme appreciation under His care that He goes on avoiding and delaying punishment till he or she starts repenting for forgiveness.

3. “Owner of the Throne, the Glorious”: the intense feeling that Allah Himself is the Sovereign that no one can get away from Him. 4. “Comparison of Himself with the humans as the Doer of whatsoever He intends (or wills)” means that they don’t dare show insolence to the Al-mighty Allah.

5. “And Allah encompasses them from behind” means that all the working and information about humans is within the knowledge of Allah swt, and he will recruit them.

6. These points are not the last of what Allah has declared in the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an is then the official information and it has been revealed and recorded in the preserved Tablet of Almighty Allah.

63. Al-Qayyūm – The Sustainer of All Existence Allah, there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of (all) Existence1. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep2. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth3.

Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission4? He knows what is (presently) before them and what will be after them5, and they encompass not a thing of His Knowledge except for what He wills.

His Kursī6 extends over the heavens and the earth and their preservation tires Him not.

And He is the Most-High,the Most-Great.”

(Al-Baqarah, 2:255)

60. Al-Mūhy – The Bestower of Life Allah is He who sends the winds, so that they raise clouds and spread them along the sky as He wills, and then break them into fragments, until you see rain drops come forth from their mist: then when He has made them fall on whom of His slaves as He wills, lo, they rejoice. 1 And verily before that (rain) – just before it was sent down upon them – they were in despair; Look then at the effects of (results) Allah’s mercy; how he revives the earth after it’s death. Verily, (Allah) who revived the earth after its death) shall indeed raise the dead on the day of Resurrection) and He is able to do all things.2 And if we sent a wind (which would spoil the green growth (tilth) brought up by the previous rain and they see turn yellow – behold, they then (after there being grant), would become unthankful to their Rabb Al-

Note: The verse (2:255) is known as Ayatul-Kursi which deals with the attributes of Allah in a comprehensive manner. The Prophet declared it as the loftiest verse of the Qur’an (Ibne Kaseer with deference to Muslim and Ahmad). This verse, also known as the Throne Verse, has won the admiration of non-Muslims.

According to the well-known commentator of Quran Kareem, George Sale, “it is a magnificent description of the Divine Majesty and Providence.” According to the Arabic English Lexicon, it is “one of the most admired passage in the Quran.” This verse consists of ten short sentences. In the first verse the word Allah is the Ism-e-Zat (personal name of the One Supreme Being) Who is the Creator, and Controller and Who is free from all defects.

The two attribute numbers 33 and 36, Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyūm in the last ten sentences encompass all the other nine at-

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Ayat- ul- Kūrsi (Al Quran, Chapter 2 Al-Baqarah, Verse 255) 62. Al- Hayy – The Ever-Lasting

tributes mentioned in this long verse. Hence it has been selected as the best reflection of these two important attributes of Allah 1. The ignorant persons have coined many gods and deities but the actual matter of fact is that over-all Sovereignty (godliness) belongs to the permanent One Being without any interference to Him, rather He is alone by virtue of His own existence. The whole system of all this cosmos is established only because of Him. He Himself is the Controller and Executor of all the affairs of the Sovereignty. Hence whenever any other deity is established as His equivalent, this commences conflict in the absolute Truth.

2. This two-sentence statement nullifies the opinions of the persons who give the Supreme Being Allah (God) the same position and then assign to Him the nearness that are the indications of imperfection.

Bible declares that God created heavens and the earth in six days and took rest on the Sabbath (seventh day). Thus it has been interpreted in two types of testaments by the followers of the Bible 3. No one is having any share in the partnership with Allah. His planning and His control over the universe is permanent.

Anyone else whom human being assigns his Partnership shall be questioned on the day of Resurrection 4. Here is the total denial of the interpretation of the polytheists who use to consider that there are some humans, angels, or other unseen objects who have great in-

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fluence over Allah. They are admonished here that rather having influence over Allah none can dare upon his/her transgression over Allah.

5. This statement of the Qur’an is a tremendous blow over the foundation of polytheism. In this another verdict has been disclosed that in His Sovereignty there is no legislative directive as well as it is also indicated that no one has the knowledge to grasp the wisdom and strategies for the control and management of the whole cosmos.

6. Humans, Jinns or the Angels have limited and imperfect knowledge of the secrets of the cosmos. Thus if any individual becomes so much mistaken that his/her influence or intervention is operated in the functioning of the cosmos, the whole cosmos will be totally disturbed. Hence, eventually any living being is totally dependent on the guidance and directives of the Supreme Power who is the real Source of all knowledge.

7. The word Kursī is used in Arabic which means plinth of a building that holds it. It is generally used for the word supervision which stops becoming exhausted and tired. This long verse number 255 reflects the cognition of Allah to the greatest extent. Hence the verse is considered as the most respectful verse of the Qur’an.

Continued in AMUST issue #120 November

Australasian Muslim Times

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EDUCATION

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

The life of Malcolm Turnbull AMUST

Dr Anne Fairbairn AM

My forebear Sir George Houstoun Reid, GCB, GCMG, KC 1845-1918), was an Australian politician. He was Premier of New South Wales from 1894 to 1899 and Australia’s forth Prime Minister.

I feel sure he would have welcomed Malcolm as the twenty-ninth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the Member for East Sydney for a number of years, an area which included the area now known as Wentworth for which Malcolm is now the Member.

Malcolm Turnbull was born in Sydney on 24 October 1954 to Bruce Bligh Turnbull and Coral Magnolia Lansbury. His maternal grandmother, May Lansbury (née Morle), was born in England.His father was a hotel broker; his mother was a radio actor, writer and academic and a distant cousin to the British film and television actor Angela Lansbury.

They separated when Turnbull was nine, with Turnbull’s mother leaving first for New Zealand and then the United States. Turnbull was then raised by his father. Turnbull spent his first three years of school at Vaucluse Public School. He then attended the St. Ives preparatory school of Sydney Grammar School as a boarder.

In senior school he was a boarder at the former Randwick Grammar while attending classes at the main College Street campus on a partial scholarship.

He was senior school co-captain in 1972, as well as winning the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition, and excelled particularly in the literary subjects such as English and history.

However, contrary to certain sources, Turnbull was not the dux of his graduating year at Sydney GrammarIn 1987, in memory of his late father, he set up the Bruce Turnbull means-tested scholarship at Sydney Grammar, which offers full remission of fees to a student unable to afford them.

In 1973 Turnbull attended the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in political science) in 1977 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1978. During his studies, he worked as a political journalist for Nation Review, Radio 2SM and Channel 9 covering state politics.[ In 1978, Turnbull won a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Brasenose College,

Oxford, where he studied for a Bachelor of Civil Law between 1978 and 1980, graduating with honors. While at Oxford, he worked for The Sunday Times and contributed to newspapers and magazines in the US and Australia.

After graduating with honours from Oxford, Turnbull returned to Australia and began working as a barrister. He left the bar in 1983 to become general counsel and secretary for Australian Consolidated Press Holdings Group, from 1983 to 1985. During this time he defended Kerry Packer against the “Goanna” allegations made by the Costigan Commission.

In partnership with Bruce McWilliam

he established his own law firm, Turnbull McWilliam, in 1986. In that year Turnbull defended Peter Wright, a former MI5 agent, who authored the book Spycatcher, and successfully blocked the British government’s attempts to suppress the book’s publication.

Turnbull later wrote a book on the trial.

In 1987, he established an investment banking firm, Whitlam Turnbull & Co Ltd, in partnership with Neville Wran (a former Labor Premier of New South Wales) and the former State Bank of New South Wales chief executive, Nicholas Whitlam (son of Gough Whitlam, a former Labor prime minister).

Whitlam parted company with the others in 1990 and the firm operated as Turnbull

& Partners Ltd from then until 1997, when Turnbull moved to become a managing director and later a partner of Goldman Sachs Turnbull in 2005 and the Australian Republican Movement.

From 1993 to 2000, Turnbull was the chairman of the Australian Republican Movement. He was an elected delegate at the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 in Canberra in February. At the Convention, Turnbull cautioned against mixing the roles of president and prime minister, advocating a parliamentary republic, and supported the bi-partisan appointment republican model adopted by the convention.

Turnbull was active in the unsuccessful 1999 referendum campaign to establish an Australian republic as chairman of the Yes Committee.

He published a book on the campaign, called Fighting for the Republic. In 2000 Turnbull retired as chairman of the Australian Republican Movement. Turnbull left the board of Ausflag in 1994 after being asked for his resignation and in 2004 joined the Australian National Flag Association Turnbull retained his seat at the 2007 election gaining a two-party 1.3-point swing in Wentworth, despite a 5.6-point swing away from the coalition in the state, and a 5.4-point swing nationwide. Prime Minister Howard had lost his own seat of Bennelong, and on 25 November 2007, Liberal deputy leader Peter Costello announced he would not seek the party leadership. Turnbull declared his candidacy later the same day, and was considered a favourite by many. He lost to Brendan Nelson, in a 45 to 42 vote. Nelson in turn appointed him Shadow Treasurer.

On 16 September 2008, Turnbull was elected party leader by 45 votes to 41. However on 1 December 2009, a spill motion was carried. Turnbull lost the subsequent leadership ballot to Abbott by 42 votes to 41 on the second ballot.

At the 2010 federal election, Turnbull was re-elected with a swing of over 11% and was subsequently brought back to the front bench as shadow communications minister.

He subsequently became Communication Minister in the Liberal government of Tony Abbott whom he replaced as Prime Minister in September 2015.

Read full article on AMUST website.

Dr Anne Fairbairn AM is an accomplished poet and writer. She is passionate about First Nation peoples, Muslims and Arabic literature and culture. She is based in Sydney.

Religious pluralism A Morisco appeal to the Ottoman Sultan in Muslim Spain Firas Alkhateeb The Middle Ages are commonly associated with ideas such as religious intolerance and intellectual backwardness. Images are conjured up of despotic kings using religion as a pretext for destructive wars that prevented Europe from achieving the prosperity and intellectualism it had during the Roman Empire.

But that image does not necessarily reflect reality. The long history of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula (711-1492) was characterized much more by religious tolerance and intellectual pursuits of both religious and scientific knowledge.

A prime example of this Muslim society that prized religious pluralism is seen in the mid-tenth century, during the reign of the Umayyad caliph ‘Abd al-Rahman III (r.912961) when an ancient Greek medical text was sent in the year 948 by the Byzantine co-emperors Constantine VII and Romans to the Umayyad caliph. The team that translated the text into Arabic consisted of Mus-

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lims and Christians, and was sponsored by a Jewish advisor to the caliph.

The story behind it is relayed by the contemporary Andalusian historian of medicine, Ibn Juljul (c.944-994). His account of the translation effort is available at: http://lostislamichistory.com/religiouspluralism-in-al-andalus-translating-an-oldgreek-text/

Australasian Muslim Times

Firas Alkhateeb

Islamic political history can been seen a cycle that oscillates between power and weakness. The Abbasid caliphate that contributed much to math and science in from the 8th to 11th centuries eventually came to violent end with the Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258.

The Ottomans, who rose out of the ashes of that destruction at one point became the most powerful European empire, but eventually ended with a whimper in the aftermath of the First World War. Numerous examples illustrate the rise and fall of Muslim societies.

In this rise and fall cycle, there have been times when one society’s decline coincided with the rise of another, leading to interesting interactions between the two. One such case happened in the late 15th/early 16th century, when al-Andalus lost its independence in the western Mediterranean while the Ottoman Empire was becoming a major power in the East.

In 1492, the last Muslim polity in Ibe-

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ria, the Emirate of Granada, fell to the Union of Castile and Aragón that would later form Spain. The remaining Muslim inhabitants, known as Moriscos, were originally promised religious freedom by the Catholic Monarchs, but by 1502, a royal decree imposed Catholicism on the entire population and Muslims had to publicly profess to have converted or face severe punishments.

In this atmosphere of religious oppression, in 1502 an anonymous Andalusian poet wrote an appeal for aid to the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512). A portion of this appeal is available at: http://lostislamichistory.com/a-moriscoappeal-to-the-ottoman-sultan/

October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

EDUCATION

SOCIAL 23

From a Bihar orphanage to the Canberra press gallery Irfan Yusuf When you grow up as a brown-skinned kid of brown-skinned migrants in a majority whiteskinned country, you can’t help but wonder what all the fuss is about.

After all, you speak with a broad Strayn accent.

You wear the same clothes and barrack for the same football teams and follow the same road rules. You are as white as they are even if they don’t think so. And even if sometimes you don’t think so.

But at least when you come home, you don’t stand out. Your parents pronounce your name correctly, and it’s quite cool to speak in a language other than English.

I hate to imagine what it must have been like for Latika Bourke growing up in Bathurst the brown-skinned Bihari child to white-skinned Catholic Aussie parents.

But my imagination in Latika’s case turned out to be completely off mark. For starters, the idea that parents who adopt from another culture cannot nurture and love their “foreign” child as well is complete hogwash.

Latika has nothing but praise for her parents, and has had an amazing upbringing and sufficient opportunities for her to fulfil her career aspirations.

Born in 1984, by the time she arrived in Australia at 8 months old Latika had already been cared for by a bunch of very kind-hearted Indian nuns.

Bihar is perhaps India’s poorest state. It is a multi-religious state with a large Muslim and Christian minority. India is a common location for Australian parents seeking to adopt.

Latika’s parents decided to adopt after their second (biological) daughter had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Latika’s book outlines in great detail the emotional roller coaster ride her parents went through when her adoption was being processed.

After one possible adoptee was placed with another family and with numerous obstacles from Indian authorities for Latika’s adoption, it seemed almost a miracle for this young baby for Bihar to land in Bathurst.

Latika lived in a large eclectic family (7 siblings!) filled with plenty of laughter and even more love. Despite her mother’s best

efforts, Latika showed no interest in finding out about her mother’s homeland. Bathurst, not Bihar, was home.

Today Latika is one of the most prominent political journalists in Australia, pioneering the use of twitter to break big stories.

Her journalistic career was rising and she had won a Walkley Award, a friend decided to show her the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

For some reason, watching that film made Latika wonder what her life could have been like had she not been adopted.

Her first visit to India as an adult challenged Latika to the core.

“In Australia, religion can be sterile,

AMUST

compartmentalised, dull and devoid of relevance, but in India religion is everywhere, and I mean everywhere”.

And her biological mother? “I still suspect that some sort of sexual assault lay behind her decision to give me up”.

This is a really special book written in accessible language. She tackles identity without identity politics and racism without obtuse critical race theory.

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.

Latika Bourke, Author of From India With Love.

Monotheistic tradition and harmonization of Social Life

Professor Jamil Farooqui

Monotheistic religions communicate among others, two important principles beneficial to humanity so that humans can live in peace and harmony in the world.

First is the greatness of God, the Absolute Reality, the Creator, the Sustainer and the Protector of the world. Second is the harmonization and universalization of social life.

Monotheistic tradition is based on the supremacy, sovereignty and suzerainty of Allah (God), their manifestations in human life and His operation in this world.

The crux and the fundamental basis of the message and guidance of the Lord of the universe are the complete obedience and submission to His will, following His commandments in every sphere of life, living in peace and harmony with other fellow human beings, sharing what is righteous and virtuous and thus, making this earth worth living.

The same message has been revealed in all Divine books and conveyed to humanity through all the messengers of the Lord from Adam, the first messenger to Muhammad, the last as well as others, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus (peace be upon them all). All of them were

October 2015

men of high abilities and virtues and dedicated to the mission that the Lord assigned to them and conveyed truth to mankind.

These are, in fact, the Prophetic mission and tradition which they conveyed to humanity at different span of time and different periods of history. The Qur’an exhorts: We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the messengers after him: We sent inspiration to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Aaron, and Solomon and to David We gave the Psalms (Qur’an, 4:163).

It is further said that the message brought by the messengers of the Lord is righteous and lead to the path of truth and piety. Those who follow and hold fast the rope of the Lord get the utmost benefit.

The Lord addresses: “O mankind! Verily there hath come to you a convincing proof from your Lord: for We have sent unto you a light (that is) manifest. Then those who believe in Allah, and hold fast to Him... soon will He admit them to Mercy and guide them to Himself by a straight Way (Qur’an, 4: 174-175).

The Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) strengthened the monotheistic tradition by his utmost commitment and dedication to the will of the Lord as well as by the manifestation and establishment of His superiority through his struggle and sacrifice in the world. This is the reason that his acts and his entire life are considered as an excellent example for those whose hope is in God and

in the Last Day

(Qur’an, 60: 4 and 6).

Monotheistic tradition teaches us that all men are the progeny of the same father and mother. They are created by the Lord from the same material and for the same purpose.

Their nature and mission are the same. The difference of colour and some physiological traits are due to the environment and physical surrounding.

Their birth in different groups and clan is only for identification. They are not the matters of any superiority of one over the other.

The superiority lies in righteousness, piety and dedication to the divine system of life (Qur’an, 49:13).

The identification of the Absolute Reality that is none other than God acquaints us with a comprehensive system of norms to follow in living with others and in interaction with animate and inanimate objects.

The characteristic of the norms is that they are not generated by individuals and groups but revealed by the Lord of the universe and in the best interest of humanity. Revealed norms always establish a close link between truth and goodness.

They are not what the majority of people practice but what is desirable for human being to lead a moral and virtuous life. It, further establishes a balance between human aspiration and societal needs. It checks human aspiration in case it destroys the very fabric of society.

All these show that men are equal, their

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footing and foundation are the same; they share close common bonds of physiological, spiritual, ideological and social nature with their fellow beings.

Similarly, the monotheistic religions based on Abrahamic tradition also share the common ideology and cardinal principles that govern the world and human life as well. The principle is the manifestation and inception of the sovereignty of the Absolute Reality on earth and in human life.

The adherents of these religions have the foremost duty to join hands of each other and establish the sovereignty of God. They should develop righteousness and piety, avoid vice and evil and live in peace, tranquillity and harmony with fellow human beings.

They should resolve differences, conflict and confrontation if any. Instead, they should help each other to promote goodness and virtues and to create an altruistic society where people can live in peace and harmony with honour and dignity.

This will be a great contribution to humanity, and it will also give a message to the world that peace on the earth can only be established when we establish Divine system and follow the norms revealed by the Lord of the universe.

Professor Jamil Farooqui is Head of the Department of Sociology at the International Islamic University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Australasian Muslim Times

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EDUCATION

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

Longevity and the Golden Age of Islamic Civilisation AMUST

Daud Abdul-Fattah Batchelor People in Muslim countries in 2013 had an average life expectancy at birth of 67 years – four years below the global average. In 1900 average life expectancy worldwide was only 31 years. Under the medieval Islamic Caliphate, however, general life expectancy was relatively high, above 35 years. This is greater than longevity estimated for medieval English aristocracy (30 years). The figure above indicates a relatively high level of Muslims’ well-being under the golden age of the Caliphate (750-1258 CE). Many citizens then lived into their 50s and 60s after surviving infancy. What reduced these historical figures were the high infant mortalities.

The longevity seen for the Islamic civilisation was a consequence of Islamic teachings emphasising good health. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said in a hadith that “Cleanliness is half of the faith (Iman)”. He instructed the faithful to regularly clean their teeth, bathe, and wear clean clothes. Further, for Muslims, saving lives is one of the higher objectives (maqasid) of the Shari‘ah as is emphasised in the Qur’an (5:32): “anyone who slew a person – unless for murder or spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people”. Further encouragement towards good health is provided by the hadith: “Every illness has a cure, and when the proper cure is applied to the disease, it heals by Allah’s Will”. Medical knowledge grew rapidly as illustrated by the extensive tomes written by such illuminaries as ar-Razi, and Ibn Sina.

Other Islamic values conducive towards longevity include seeking moderation (wasatiyyah), caring for aged parents, and avoiding excessive consumption. The relatively high longevity of the early Caliphate period is unsurprising when considering attributes of Islamic governance: Rule of law providing for security; and emphasis on provision of education, clean water and sanitation, and caring for the ill and aged.

Medieval Muslim cities greatly outstripped European counterparts with their public facilities.

Water is critical for Muslims from the necessity for clean drinking water and ablutions. Surface water was transported to cities via aqueducts and canals, while underground water was tapped using wells and qanats (underground canals). Large mosques had ablution areas and lavatories.

In cities water was carried to public fountains, and urban quarters had bathhouses.

Advanced sanitation systems were widespread. At Fustat, Egypt, even simple 2-3 room houses had latrines. In many high-rise multi-storey buildings latrines were placed on each floor with flues constructed within the walls and connected with underground canals to communal cesspits.

Hospitals appeared in 9th century Baghdad and spread quickly. The Nuri hospital in 12th century Damascus, had druggists, orthopedists, and oculists. Ibn Jubayr, a 12th century traveler, observed them in most cities and declared that hospitals were one of “the finest proofs of the glory of Islam”.

The 9th century Ahmad ibn Tufal Hospital in Cairo contained a bathhouse each for men and women, a library, and psychiatric wing. The founding constitution of the 13th century Al-Mansuri hospital, Cairo, read, “[The hospital’s] duty is to give care to the ill, poor, men and women, until they recover. It is at the service of the powerful and the weak, the poor and the rich … without demand for any form of payment, but only for the sake of God.” The magnificent hospitals of Damascus and Cairo inspired the crusaders. The first European hospital was established by Louis IX in Paris after his return from the Crusades.

Surprisingly, many countries today that have the lowest life expectancies are Muslim countries, despite showing high Islamicity levels such as praying five-times daily.

However, the inculcation of Islamic civilisation values related to achieving longevity has been neglected. Muslims should revive Islamic values so as to change the mindsets of individuals, as well as to establish facilities that engender good health and well-being for all.

The eye according to Hunain ibn Ishaq From a manuscript dated circa 1200.

Faisal Mosque

Mosques from around the world

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Completed in 1986, the Faisal Mosque (also known as Shah Faisal Masjid) is an exceptionally large and unique Mosque in Islamabad. Designed by a Turkish architect who won an international competition for the honor, Faisal Mosque is shaped like a desert Bedouin’s tent.

King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia both suggested (in 1966) and largely funded the Faisal Mosque, which is named in his honor.

Ever since its conception, the Mosque has been regarded as the national Mosque of Pakistan, and as such it symbolizes the hopes and aspirations of the new nation.

The architect was Vedat Dalokay of Turkey, whose design was chosen in 1969 after an international competition. Constructed was completed in 1986.

The Faisal Mosque is located on an elevated area of land against a picturesque backdrop of the Margalla Hills. This enviable location represents the Mosque’s great importance and allows it to be seen from miles around day and night.

The Mosque’s architecture is strikingly modern and unique, lacking both the traditional domes and arches of most other mosques around the world.

Australasian Muslim Times

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The shape of the Faisal Mosque is an eight-sided concrete shell inspired by a desert Beduoin’s tent and the cubic Ka’ba in Mecca, flanked by four unusual minarets inspired by Turkish architecture.

Entrance is from the east, where the prayer hall is fronted by a courtyard with porticoes. The International Islamic University was housed under the main courtyard, but recently relocated to a new campus. The Mosque still houses a library, lecture hall, museum and cafe.

The interior of the main tent-shaped hall is covered in white marble and decorated with mosaics, calligraphy by the Pakistani artist Sadeqain, and a spectacular Turkish-style chandelier.

The prayer hall can accommodate 10,000 worshippers. (There is room for an additional 24,000 in the porticoes and 40,000 in the courtyard.)

The mausoleum of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, whose 1988 funeral at the site was the largest in the history of Pakistan, is located adjacent to the Mosque.

Mosques from around the world is a facebook page that shares information, pictures, and experiences of mosques from around the world. www.fb.com/mosquesfromaroundtheworld

October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

TRAVEL

SOCIAL 23

Syrian refugees stories - 1

“Together, these migrants are part of one of the largest population movements in modern history. But their stories are composed of unique and singular tragedies. In the midst of the current ‘migrant crisis,’ there are millions of different reasons for leaving home. And there are millions of different hardships that refugees face as they search for a new home.” - Brandon, owner of HONY. This is Muhammad, He’d been studying English Literature at the University of Damascus, so his English was nearly perfect.

Fleeing the Syrian War, he went to Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Before leaving for Europe, I went back to Syria to see my family once more. I slept in my uncle’s barn the entire time I was there, because every day the police were knocking on my father’s door. Eventually my father told me: ‘If you stay any longer, they will find you and they will kill you.’ So I contacted a smuggler and made my way to Istanbul. I was just about to leave for Europe when I received a call from my sister. She told me that my father had been very badly beaten by police, and unless I sent 5,000 Euro for an operation, he would die. That was my money to get to Europe. But what could I do? I had no choice. Then two weeks later she called with even worse news. My brother had been killed by ISIS while he was working in an oil field. They found our address on his ID card, and they sent his head to our house, with a message: ‘Kurdish people aren’t Muslims.’ My youngest sister found my brother’s head. This was one year ago. She has not spoken a single word since.” (Kos, Greece) “For two weeks my tears didn’t stop.

Nothing made sense. Why did these things happen to my family? We did everything right. Everything. We were very honest with everyone. We treated our neighbors well. We made no big mistakes. I was under so much pressure at this time. My father was in intensive care, and every day my sisters called and told me that ISIS was getting closer to our village. I went completely crazy. I fainted in the street one day and woke up in the hospital. I gave the rest of my money to a smuggler to help my sisters escape to Iraq.

Now I only had 1000 Euro left and I was stranded in Turkey. My father recovered from his operation at this time. He called me and asked how I’d paid for his surgery. I told him that the money came from a friend.

He asked if I had made it to Europe. For the first time ever, I lied to my father. I didn’t want him to feel guilty about his surgery.

Muhammad, a Syrian Refugee receives his Austrian Passport.

I told him that I was in Europe, and I was safe, and there was nothing to worry about.”

(Kos, Greece) “After I told my father that I’d made it to Europe, I wanted nothing more than to turn that lie into the truth. I found a smuggler and told him my story. He acted like he cared very much and wanted to help me. He told me that for 1000 Euros, he could get me to a Greek Island. He said: ‘I’m not like the other smugglers. I fear God. I have children of my own. Nothing bad will happen to you.’

I trusted this man. One night he called me and told me to meet him at a garage. He put me in the back of a van with twenty other people. There were tanks of gasoline back there, and we couldn’t breath. People started to scream and vomit. The smuggler pulled out a gun, pointed it at us, and said: ‘If you don’t shut up, I will kill you.’ He took us to a beach, and while he prepared the boat, his partner kept the gun pointed at us. The boat was made of plastic and was only three meters long. When we got on it, everyone panicked and the boat started to sink. Thirteen of the people were too scared to go. But the smuggler said that if we changed our minds, he would keep the money, so seven of us decided to go ahead. The smuggler told us that he would guide us to the island, but after a few hundred meters, he jumped off the boat and swam to shore. He told us to keep going straight. The waves got higher and higher and water began to come in the boat. It was completely black. We could see no land, no lights, only ocean. Then after thirty minutes the motor stopped. I knew we all would die.

I was so scared that my thoughts completely

stopped. The women started crying because none of them could swim. I lied and told them that I could swim with three people on my back. It started to rain. The boat began to turn in circles. Everyone was so frightened that nobody could speak. But one man kept trying to work on the motor, and after a few minutes it started again. I don’t remember how we reached shore. But I remember I kissed all the earth I could find. I hate the sea now. I hate it so much. I don’t like to swim it. I don’t like to look at it. I hate everything about it.” (Kos, Greece) “The island we landed on was called Samothrace. We were so thankful to be there. We thought we’d reached safety. We began to walk toward the police station to register as refugees. We even asked a man on the side of the road to call the police for us. I told the other refugees to let me speak for them, since I spoke English. Suddenly two police jeeps came speeding toward us and slammed on the brakes. They acted like we were murderers and they’d been searching for us. They pointed guns at us and screamed: ‘Hands up!’ I told them: ‘Please, we just escaped the war, we are not criminals!’ They said: ‘Shut up, Malaka!’ I will never forget this word: ‘Malaka, Malaka, Malaka.’ It was all they called us.

They threw us into prison. Our clothes were wet and we could not stop shivering. We could not sleep. I can still feel this cold in my bones. For three days we had no food or water. I told the police: ‘We don’t need food, but please give us water.’ I begged the commander to let us drink. Again, he said: ‘Shut up, Malaka!’ I will remember

AMUST

this man’s face for the rest of my life. He had a gap in his teeth so he spit on us when he spoke. He chose to watch seven people suffer from thirst for three days while they begged him for water. We were saved when they finally they put us on a boat and sent us to a camp on the mainland. For twelve days we stayed there before walking north.

We walked for three weeks. I ate nothing but leaves. Like an animal. We drank from dirty rivers. My legs grew so swollen that I had to take off my shoes. When we reached the border, an Albanian policeman found us and asked if we were refugees. When we told him ‘yes,’ he said that he would help us. He told us to hide in the woods until nightfall. I did not trust this man, but I was too tired to run. When night came, he loaded us all into his car. Then he drove us to his house and let us stay there for one week. He bought us new clothes. He fed us every night. He told me: ‘Do not be ashamed. I have also lived through a war. You are now my family and this is your house too.’” (Kos, Greece) “After one month, I arrived in Austria. The first day I was there, I walked into a bakery and met a man named Fritz Hummel. He told me that forty years ago he had visited Syria and he’d been treated well. So he gave me clothes, food, everything. He became like a father to me. He took me to the Rotary Club and introduced me to the entire group.

He told them my story and asked: ‘How can we help him?’ I found a church, and they gave me a place to live. Right away I committed myself to learning the language. I practiced German for 17 hours a day. I read children’s stories all day long. I watched television. I tried to meet as many Austrians as possible. After seven months, it was time to meet with a judge to determine my status. I could speak so well at this point, that I asked the judge if we could conduct the interview in German. He couldn’t believe it. He was so impressed that I’d already learned German, that he interviewed me for only ten minutes. Then he pointed at my Syrian ID card and said: ‘Muhammad, you will never need this again. You are now an Austrian!’”

(Kos, Greece) Humans of New York (HONY) involve interviewing people. Along with their portraits, it shares quotes and short stories from their lives. Taken together, these portraits and captions became the subject of a vibrant blog. HONY provides a worldwide audience with daily glimpses into the lives of strangers. Check it out on: www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork

The baby who didn’t smile Fatima Al-Sibai Challenging days, and hot and stuffy nights at the border of Turkey and Syria contributed to my disturbed and nightmare filled sleep.

Just over one month, here, in this city, with its deep and complex culture, destitute but strong people; witnesses to horrors but holding onto ideals with their confronting war injuries serving as constant reminders of where they came from, an arduous time and an ongoing struggle.

Living here on this dry and strangely flat land, with a lack of nutritional food (or food in general) meant that I was ill every day.

Every day. I was lucky though because I could flush out my system with the 8 gallon water bottles I could purchase from the supermarkets. Money… Everyone knew about the tap water and warned you against it. It was only used to wash things that were dirty.

October 2015

Money… Here, the disparity between rich and poor was painstakingly obvious and accepted with an unshakeable belief in fate.

Having just woken up from a nightmare, memories of the day pushed themselves into the forefront of my mind and I was quickly very conscious at 2am though my tired eyes, drained body and exhausted mind begged to sleep.. Today I visited another orphanage, this one had an inbuilt trauma and rehabilitation centre with 30 kids, all whose father’s had been killed and whose mother’s unable to care for their children or having unknown whereabouts. Unknown whereabouts usually meant that they were dead. But people here had unfathomable hope.

I held, in my arms for nearly two hours, this 7 month old boy. The boy did not smile or make a sound, except to cry, the entire time. Psychological research shows that new born babies barely 6 days old can smile; this baby didn’t smile. I’ve never seen a baby not smile for 2 hours. He had on his face this look of wide-eyed shock that refused to be replaced with a softer face, a smile, gentler eyes. I’ve never seen this look on a baby

before. Any sound would startle him and he would quickly turn towards it, fists clenched, eyes wide. I’ve never seen such a hyperactive startle response in a child before. I put my finger to his hand. It doesn’t take a genius to know what securely attached babies do when you do this. Babies have an innate reflex to latch on, but this baby did not grasp my finger, he pushed my finger away with an open palm. This boy didn’t once touch me or hold onto me. No matter how tightly I wrapped his little body in the cosiest hug I could, no matter how large my smile, no matter how warm and playful I was, no matter how much love I felt towards him and showered him with, I received no reaction.

Suddenly, my fierce protective nature that refused to accept this little boy’s behaviour, kicked into action in the hope of instigating change. So I held him for two hours, speaking and singing to him in a sweet, strange language he didn’t understand....

This is Part 1 of a series. Fatima Al-Sibai travelled to Turkey for one month to be a Syrian refugee aid volunteer living on the border of Turkey and Syria.

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Fatima Al-Sabai embraced the little Syrian boy.

Australasian Muslim Times

21

BUSINESS

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-9

AUSTRALIA 10 - 11

LIFESTYLE 12 - 14

Enterprising couple on road to business success AMUST

Zia Ahmad

Khalique Sajjad is the store manager at Red Rooster Restaurant at Minto, an outer suburb towards South West of Sydney.

Supported by his wife Shakeeba Siddiqui, the couple bought the Red Rooster franchise towards the end of last year.

They then heavily invested in the major renovation of the restaurant specially its dining area and held a re-opening party on Saturday 26 September that was attended by a large contingent of family, friends, customers, politicians, community leaders and staff from Red Roster headquarters.

Khalique has long experience in the of fast food restaurant business and is highly skilled in all aspects of its management from customer service to staff management as well as franchise business development.

Originally from Pakistan, Khalique obtained Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Punjab and then came to Australia in 2009 in order to pursue further education. He completed a Diploma in Business and a Diploma in Accounting from Canberra Institute of Technology.

In addition to obtaining his education he started working at Kingsley’s chicken in Canberra and eventually became its manager. In 2012 he joined the Red Rooster, Minto as store manager and learned all the skills needed to run a Red Rooster franchise.

After getting married to Shakeeba in December 2012, the couple moved to the Minto area and finally decided to purchase the Red Rooster Franchise in Minto. The couple

Shakeeba Siddiqui and Khalique Sajjad at the front counter, Red Rooster. have combined their education in business is currently pursuing Master of Professionand accounting and with Khalique’s experi- al Accounting at University of Technology, ence in restaurant business Sydney. She has long experience in adminShakeeba Siddiqui, Australian by birth is istration and accounting having worked with the daughter of Mr Shujaat Ali Siddiqui, a Economy Distributers, Australian MEFF highly successful self made businessman Consortium in various capacities. She is of Pakistani origin who runs hardware currently working with Commonwealth wholesale business, Economy Distributers Bank as a Collections Officer. in partnership with his brother Abul Fateh The enterprising couple hope to further Siddiqui. expand their fast food chicken restaurant Shakeeba obtained Bachelor of Business business counting on each other’s strength. degree majoring in E-Business and account- They have lovely son Aariz who just turned ing from University of Western Sydney and one last month.

Aariz Khalique Khalique’s father has been in the hotel business having worked at Avari Hotel since 1978. He has been involved in Pakistani politics since 1989 and finally became Councillor in April and then Mayor in July 2015 of the Lahore Cantonment Walton in Pakistan.

On enquiring, Khalique told AMUST that he has political ambitions and using his skills in customer service, public relations and business management he wishes to serve the community in all possible ways.

AMUST Classifieds Charity Organisations

Services

Buy/Sell/Trade

Halal Food

National 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

Hygienic Spray (for toilet) Shattaf Tahara Spray. Stainless steel hose.

Including free installation with diverter/ connector. Long distance charges apply Phone: 0418 204 251 Email: sasdqi@gmail.com

Fujiyama Japanese cuisine 100% Halal Japanese made by chefs with 12 years experience in Japan. Contact our team today for catering enquiries big or small.

Phone: 0490 402 164 Website: www.facebook.com/ FujiyamaJapaneseCuisine

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

UAK Design Design and construction. Architectural & structural plans, Renovation & Extensions, Project Management, Duplex, Granny Flat.

Phone: 0411 081 624 Email: info@uakdesign.com.au

ADVERTISE WITH AMUST

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Great Wall Kitchen Great Wall Kitchen makes great Indian style Halal Chinese food. We are located at 154 Haldon Street, NSW. Phone: (02) 9759 9531 Website: www.facebook.com/gwkhalal

Halal Square Australia’s favourite online guide to restaurants and eateries offering halal food, halal groceries and restaurant reviews.

Covering all major capital cities in Australia Website: www.halalsquare.com.au

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

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING

ONLINE ADVERTISING

AMUST is circulated among all Australians but specifically targets the Muslim population of Australia. It is distributed to a variety of communities, different faith groups and government bodies within Australia.

AMUST lets you reach thousands of people all over the world with its website and email newsletter advertising. AMUST also has a strong online presence that includes social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+

Australasian Muslim Times

Find out more at www.amust.com.au/advertising or call (02) 8003 2063

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Homebush Halal Meats A halal butcher in Ashfield, provides you with the best and freshest halal meats in the area. We stock lamb, beef, goat, poultry and game meat.

Phone: (02) 9799 7049 Website: www.homebushhalalmeats.com.au

October 2015

UMMAH 15 - 16

EDUCATION 17 - 20

TOP 5 Muslim Memes

TRAVEL 21

BUSINESS 22

#SOCIAL TOP 4

SOCIAL 23

TOP 5

VIDEO

Instagram Accounts

AMUST

Facebook Pages to Like

To Watch

@NooraMkn_PhotographyHenna

Hajj Stampede In Saudi Arabia – At Least 700 People Killed @HennabyNusayba

@Henna.By.K

At least 717 people have died and another 836 were injured in a stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Reports suggest that two large groups of pilgrims converged on a small street leading to the deadly crush.

The stampeded happened in Mina.

Groups merged as one was heading to the pillars while the other was leaving. This is the worst disaster to hit the pilgrimage since 1990.

Around 2 million Muslims are currently in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Overcrowding is an issue during Hajj and stampedes have happened before.

The heat is also an issue, temperatures have topped to 100 Fahrenheit each day.

“It got really crowded, and the people started to fall over each other. There were dead people under me and dead people above me” - Sayed Ammar, Stampede Survivor.

“It was possibly mismanagement. Because many pilgrims were converging on one street.” Muhammad Saqr, Stampede Survivor.

“If you fell, you’d never get up again.

You had no chance. Many [died]! From old men to children to women.” - Hassan Mahmoud, Stampede Survivor.

Active Ummah Australia We seek to provide the freedom and choice to pursue and healthy lifestyle. Our interests does not have to take a backseat just because we made the decision to wear a hijab. We should be empowered by it.

Muslim Legal Network

The Muslim Legal Network is a gateway for all Australian Muslim law students to engage with a wider community of lawyers and fellow Muslim students.

[Warning: Graphic Content] https://youtu.be/r5OrbvTDgw4

@Henna.pics In Stampede’s Aftermath, Blame Game Begins

@Nawar_Designs

Saudi King Salman has pledged to investigate a stampede that killed more than 700 people during the Hajj pilgrimage, but the blame game has already begun.

Saudi officials have pointed the finger at the pilgrims: “[If pilgrims[ had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided.” - Khaled Al Falih, Saudi Health Minister.

While their regional rivals Iran are blaming the Hajj organisers. Iran lost 131 nationals in the stampede, Ayatollah Emami Kashani, Friday Speaker, “To say that the pilgrims were disorderly, it was hot or this and that. The world will not accept this. It is a lie”.

Thousands took to the streets to protest in Tehran to echo those sentiments. While others are playing the blame game, thousands are still trying to track down the missing.

Muslim Matters

A collaboration between various Bloggers and Shuyukh in order to bring attention to issues faced by Muslims, especially in the West.

https://youtu.be/uo0eS-XT9e4

Productive Muslim

We look in the Quran, the Seerah, and the history of the Islamic civilization for snippets and lifehacks that would make our life productive!

October 2015

www.amust.com.au

Australasian Muslim Times

23

As one community, there’s nothing we can’t do.

Sana is one of thousands of Australians who have chosen to join Crescent Wealth’s Islamic Super.

Together we are building a stronger community and a better world through ethical investing.

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Australasian Muslim Times

www.amust.com.au

October 2015