Issue 146 January 2018

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AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

www.amust.com.au ISSUE # 146

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Multicultural News & Views

JANUARY 2018; RABI’UL AAKHIR 1439

Trumps Jerusalem move null & void

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Malaysia: Mahathir and Anwar join forces Zia Ahmad The Malaysian opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan, PH (Pact of Hope), during its annual convention held on Sunday 7 January in Kuala Lumpur has named Mahathir Mohammad, the veteran Malaysian leader, 92 as the candidate for prime minister for the next election.

The Malaysian opposition leader and President of one of the coalition partners Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) President Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anwar’s Ibrahim’s wife, was also announced as Pakatan Harapan’s choice for deputy prime minister.

It is anticipated that Mahathir would serve as interim prime minister until his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim is ready to take over upon his release from prison, where he is serving a politically motivated conviction.

Anwar will be released on 8 June 2018 and if the opposition wins, PH has agreed to immediately commence the legal processes to obtain a royal pardon for him, thereby lifting the ban for him to join politics in Malaysia.

The defacto leader of the Malaysian opposition PH is still considered to be Anwar Ibrahim, while its current Chairman is Mahathir Mohammad and its President is Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar is also an opposition MP serving her second term.

PH also announced its seat allocations for peninsula Malaysia for the coming polls, with Mahathir’s party Bersatu set to contest 52 seats, Anwar’s party PKR 51, the Democratic Action Party 35 and Parti Amanah Negara 27.

The Mahathir-Anwar coalition and their endorsement of each other is a turnaround

Nurul Izzah Anwar speaking at a rally. Inset Mahathir Mohammad (left) and Anwar Ibrahim (right). from their bitter feud that has shaped Malaysia’s political landscape for nearly two decades.

The surprise joining of forces has been planned to defeat the government of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) led

by the current Prime Minister Najib Razak who is involved in a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal. Continued on page 2.

Sami takes centre stage ISRA Arabic student wins at Achievement Awards University Medal at CSU Mobinah Ahmad Award-winning Australian actor, writer, spoken word artist, and stand up comedian Osamah Sami stole the show at the 11th Annual Australian Muslim Achievement Awards 2017 held on Sunday 3 December 2017 at Le Montage in Lilyfield, Sydney.

Winning the Creative Artist of the Year award, Sami provided the audience with some stand-up comedy and reflected on his rising success this year.

On winning his award, Sami said “About the film [Ali’s Wedding], forever in a Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd

day, we’ve been spoken about but not heard from. And finally the film gave the people an opportunity to be heard from, and whether you like the film or not…. Has anybody seen Ali’s Wedding?”

The audience cheered, representing the enormous success of the film and the strong support from the multicultural community for Ali’s Wedding.

“The best thing about this is getting the message from the Muslim community onto my twitter account, I had to shut Facebook for obvious reasons, all the, controversy. continued on pg 16.

Zia Ahmad Emna Malas, a graduating Master of Classical Arabic student at ISRA has won the University Medal at the Charles Sturt University (CSU). She is one of the eight University Medal winners for the year 2017 out of more than 40,000 students currently enrolled at CSU. The Centre for Islamic Sciences and Civilisation (CISAC) at Charles Sturt University in partnership with Islamic Science & Research Academy (ISRA) held its yearly graduation presentation on Saturday 9 December at Oatlands House, Oatlands, Sydney.

Degrees in Bachelor of Islamic Studies, Master of Islamic Studies and Master of Classical Arabic were awarded to successful candidates by Professor Toni Downs, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Vice President (Academic), CSU and Professor Lesley White, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts, CSU. continued on page 9.

Emna Malas accepting the University Medal from Professor Lesley White.

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Malaysia: Mahathir and Anwar join forces Invincible Continued from page 1 The curious position is that of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia, PAS (Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party) led by Abdul Hadi Awang which is not part of the Malaysian Opposition but has a significant following amongst Malays. It will be interesting to see if it favours UMNO or the opposition during the next election.

Mahathir said they are putting aside a bitter rivalry to focus on defeating Najib and UMNO, the Najib-led party that forms the largest constituent in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

“It is to get rid of this government. He [Anwar] wants to get rid of Najib and I want to get rid of Najib,” Mahathir told CNN during an interview. “If you want to get rid of Najib we have to work together. We have to forget the past.”

“I am 92 going on 93,” Mahathir pointed out. “I won’t last long and I am prepared for that. But for as long as I can contribute, I will continue, and I will back Anwar if that is the wish of the party.”

During the annual convention, he declared, “It wasn’t easy for him (Anwar) to accept me. Yes, we could shake hands, but to accept me as an opposition leader against UMNO wasn’t easy. That’s why we took a long time, but in the end, priority was given to the struggle against Najib.

“Anwar’s family suffered for 20 years and for them to forget this wasn’t easy. I owe them and I say thank you to Anwar and his family.”

Aussies regain the Ashes KNOCK OUT Syed Ali

Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Mahathir said that he doesn’t mind “being used by the opposition” to oust Najib, who for years has been embroiled in accusations that hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen from state investments.

The US Justice Department is proceeding to recover more than $1.7 billion that prosecutors said were laundered through a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund headed by Najib.

Several other countries are investigating

Najib Razak. state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which Najib founded and is accused of misappropriating 3.5 billion dollars.

Najib has been accused of syphoning money from the investment fund after $681 million was transferred into his accounts.

It needs to be seen if this joining of forces between Mahathir and Anwar can result in the toppling of the corrupt Najib government.

The Magellan Ashes Test series, which concluded at the historic SCG in Sydney on 8 January after Australia drubbed England by an innings and 123 runs in the fifth Test, was totally dominated throughout the series by Australia and the English team was badly battered and bruised to the delight of the Kangaroos and dismay of the Barmy Army.

The star performer in the Sydney Test was indomitable south-paw Usman Khawaja who scored a scintillating century (171), and centuries by Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, who tore the English bowling attack to shreds.

Trumps Jerusalem move considered null & void

Usman Khawaja.

Protests in Sydney over Jerusalem move.

Linda Abdelqader The international community has overwhelmingly rejected the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel and strongly condemned Trumps intention to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Arab League on Saturday 6 January called for the international recognition of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, aiming to nullify the US decision on the status of Jerusalem.

Earlier the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Thursday 21 December 2017 with an overwhelming majority rejecting President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The resolution was approved by 128 countries, with 35 countries abstaining while nine voting against the resolution including United States, Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, Marshall Islands,

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Micronesia, Narau, Palau and Togo.

The UN resolution was passed in spite of “blackmail and intimidation” by Trump and US ambassador to the UN, Nicky Haley to cut US aid to countries voting for the resolution.

Earlier on Monday 18 December the US had vetoed a similar resolution at the UN Security Council.

Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally, and all countries currently maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.

A wave of commotion has been spurred across the globe in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital earlier in December.

Thousands of people gathered around Australia for the “Hands Off Jerusalem” rally for Palestine. Hosted by the Palestine Action Group Sydney, hundreds marched to Sydney Town Hall on Sunday 17 December 2017.

Signs held saying “Israel is a Terrorist State” and “Israel Hands off Palestinian Knafe, Cuisine & Jerusalem” were held up whilst chanting “Free Free Palestine”.

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Despite global condemnation, Trump announced the fate of the long-disputed city in a short speech delivered at the White House on 6 December.

The president also announced his plans to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, fulfilling his campaign pledge to improve US relations with Israel.

“I have determined that it is time to officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.” – Donald Trump, US President.

Trump’s announcement, long sought by Israel, has broken international consensus and reversed American foreign policy in the Middle East. World leaders have advised Trump to reconsider, warning it could unsettle peace efforts and inflame tensions within the region and beyond.

“Moving the embassy at this stage will have repercussions in the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic arenas and threatens the two state solution” – King of Jordan, Abdullah.

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Continued on page 25

And the speed merchant, Pat Cummins, who was a thorn in the flesh of English batsmen, added to their woes as he scalped eight wickets, four in each of the two England innings, and rightly won Man of the Match award.

The Australian skipper, Steven Smith, who scored two centuries and a double century (239 in 399 balls at WACA in Perth), won the Man of the Series award to cement his place as world’s No.1 batsman in the ICC Ranking.

Though Dawid Malan (140 in 227 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (119 in 215 balls) scored fluent centuries at WACA, England could not save the Test, such was the dominance of the mighty Australian team.

The only consolation for England in the Series was the drawn tie in the fourth Test at MCG in Melbourne where the rain gods came to their rescue. Alastair Cook’s unbeaten double century at MCG (244 in 409 balls), which catapulted him above West Indies great Brian Lara to become the sixth highest run-getter in Test history with 11,956 runs, will be recounted for long in Ashes history.

England’s dream of retaining the Urn, which they won on home soil in 2015, disappeared like a whimper after Australia won the third Magellan Ashes Test in Perth by an inning and 41 runs.

English all-rounder Moeen Ali was totally mesmerised by Lyon during all his innings, a disappointing performance against his great reputation on home soil in the UK. Syed Ali has been writing on cricket for the last forty years. He was the feature writer for Cricketer International, London, for a decade. He played first class cricket and interacted with the world’s leading cricket and hockey players.

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Jerusalem between Zionist lobbying and Arab hypocrisy The unilateral declaration of West Jeru- established their embassy in Jerusalem tosalem by the Zionists as Israel’s capital date. in 1949 was illegal and has never been In 1995, with strenuous Zionist lobbying, recognised by the international commu- the United States Congress passed the Jerunity. salem Embassy Act, which required, subject The UN General Assembly Resolution to conditions, that its embassy be moved 194 adopted on 11 December 1948 de- from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. clared Jerusalem as an international city.

However, none of the US administrations In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank practically moved the US embassy to Jeruincluding East Jerusalem and has since salem over the years. declared the whole of Jerusalem as the The election of Donald Trump as undivided capital of the state of the President of the US has now Israel. changed the status quo.

Since then, for over half Heavily surrounded by Zia century, Israel has illeonists in his administration gally occupied Jerusawith his pro-Israel sonlem using brute force, in-law, Jared Kushner floundering all UN resinstalled as the Senior Zia Ahmad olutions and with the Adviser to the President, attitude of “couldn’t Trump on 6 December Assalamu care less” of the opin2017 officially recogion of the international nized Jerusalem as IsraAlaikum community. el’s capital and announced It maintains an aparthis intention to move the Greetings heid system of governance American embassy to Jeruof Peace in the city in particular and salem. within the Israeli state in generTrump’s move was perhaps motial and systematically and gradually vated by another factor that there will be changing the demography of the occupied no resistance from this move from the Arab territories. regimes.

The powerful Zionist lobbies active in Most of the Arab regimes have been cosyWestern countries have been working con- ing-up with the state of Israel over the past stantly to have various states recognise decade and largely occupied by inter-Arab Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and shift their bickering and sectarian conflicts in the Midembassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. dle East.

However, not a single country has as yet While, in secret pacts with Israel, reassur-

While in many of the countries I learned a A very happy new year to all great deal about the suffering of Palestinians Aussie Muslims Many Muslims have migrated to Australia during recent years and have been greatly contributing to and enriching our Country in so many ways over the last one hundred and fifty years.

Many have come from the area where civilization began; others from countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia.

There is a higher percentage of Australian Muslims with Bachelor and Post Graduate degrees here than the total Australian population.

Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair is held each year at the end of Ramadan and which I so enjoy attending since it always gives a picture of the richness of Muslim lives and culture.

This indeed is symbolised by the Multicultural Media Award presented to this wonderful Newspaper by the Premier of New South Wales.

Over the years I have been invited to many universities in Muslim countries where I spoke about Australia and our poets and artists and I learned about the wonderful poets and artists in Arab countries and in Pakistan.

This is why I decided to compose an anthology of Arabic poetry which has the title ‘Feathers And The Horizon’.

as a result of the Balfour declaration which caused much anger among Muslims and Christians in the area.

Now I feel sure there is also much anger about the President of the United States saying Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel.

Anne Fairbairn AM NSW

Chan Han Choi should be congratulated

This comment was first posted on The Conversation on 20th December 2017 in response to an article “Explainer: the charges against an Australian man accused of being an ‘economic agent’ for North Korea” by Kevin Boreham from ANU. Australia should treat North Korea like any other country when it comes to trade.

The economic sanctions against North Korea are illegitimate and aimed at preventing them from levelling the playing field regarding nuclear weapons.

All nations have the sovereign right to defend themselves and North Korea is no different.

The United States engages in trade involving nuclear weapons and the sale and purchase of parts for technology relating to

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ing the Zionists, they made a lot of overt noise against the move, passing ineffective resolutions at various forums with no practical impact.

The power regarding the status of Jerusalem remains where it counts, the occupying Middle East superpower Israel and the world superpower the United States of America.

While the Zionist lobby succeeds with its designs on Jerusalem and hypocritical Arab regimes huff and puff, the Palestinian men, women and children keep dying under the oppressive and murderous occupation of Jerusalem by Israel. the same.

Just ask Israel.

But you won’t see any US agents in Australia being prosecuted under this appallingly one-sided Weapons of Mass Destruction Act. Why. Because Australia is not just a signatory to the UN; it is a proxy for US foreign policy and that means preventing North Korea from being able to deter US aggression, like we have seen in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

Well done Sir. You can hold your head high.

Adam Bonner Brogo, NSW

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Our obsession with national security The paranoia and nuttiness of the Flinders St incident

Irfan Yusuf A young Australian man of Afghan origin gets into an SUV and drives unlicensed into the heart of Melbourne CBD. He runs over and injures a number of people. Police are interviewing the man and have indicated he is known to them. The man has a history of mental health issues, was affected by the drug Ice and told police he could hear voices and was upset about the way Muslims were being treated.

Now if you read the comments at the bottom of news articles as well as the nuttier tabloid columnists, you too could end up with mental health issues. The paranoia and nuttiness are enough to make any sensible person doubt the collective sanity of humankind. But heck, these are the times we live in.

Right now, national security is all the craze, and it’s driving us all crazy. We are all worried about keeping our nation secure.

We worry about external and internal enemies. We wish we could live in a cocoon, despite the fact that airline travel is within our reach and we can watch TV or listen to the radio or read newspapers from across the globe.

Seriously, though. Just how much is Australia threatened by anyone? It seems more people were injured by drunken backpackers at St Kilda Beach than by an unlicensed driver on Ice. And while all this was going on, I was sitting on an island where people cared more about the traffic at Shihlin Night Market than about Flinders Street.

You see, in Taiwan Islamist terror is the last thing on people’s minds. I stayed in a suburb popular with expats and upper-middle-class Taiwanese, where an Israeli takeaway was situated next door to a rug shop owned by a devout Pakistani, both down the road from the Taipei American School and the Japanese School. I met a Muslim member of the local Rotary Club who apparently spoke little Mandarin but was a full citizen of Taiwan. He shared the podium with a gentleman of Hindu heritage and a Filipino Catholic.

Taiwanese are far too pragmatic to get all uptight about tiny minorities. They face a much bigger threat from across the Strait, a threat known as the People’s Republic of China. The PRC sees Taiwan as a renegade province, an island to which Chinese Nationalists, sworn enemies of the Communists, ran and established what may be described in Trumpspeak as a fake nation.

The Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, included a number of Muslim generals such as Ma Bufang who became Taiwan’s first

Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Today’s Taiwan has largely abandoned the Nationalist vision of conquering mainland China from Communism. Instead, Taiwan is emphasising a unique and not-so-Chinese identity. Taiwan has numerous indigenous tribes, one of which is directly related to the NZ Maori. The current President is part in-

digenous.

Yes, there are places in the world where nasty Muslims aren’t seen as a threat.

Irfan Yusuf is a lawyer and an award-winning writer and reviewer. He is a PhD Candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship & Globalisation, Deakin University.

Positive lessons from the “Flinders Street Incident” Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas The first footage of the man who allegedly drove into pedestrians on Flinders street in Melbourne on December 21st really captured the true nature of this crime.

As the two officers were holding Saeed Noori on the ground, he was pretending to be unconscious or asleep only to be slapped awake by one of the officers.

In the evening of that day, Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton explained during a press conference that Saeed Noori is a person known to police and has a history of mental health problems and a history of drug abuse.

In the following days, we understand through various sources, including Noori’s mother’s explanation through broken English, that Noori suffered drug addiction over the past three years.

We also understand he was on a mental health plan and that he had an appointment that very morning, with a mental health professional, which he failed to attend.

Half of the 19 people injured were foreign nationals. May they all be returned safely to their families in the best of health.

Victoria Police don’t receive enough recognition for the good work they do not just as our front line but also for the amount of preventative work they do.

The commitment of Victoria Police towards understanding and addressing the grassroots causes of crime and building strong relationships with community leaders and community groups is truly admirable.

This press conference reconfirmed the gaps and opportunities we have in our national mental health services and our cities growing substance abuse problem. In 2018 these two key areas require national focus.

Melbourne’s planning and infrastructure

Saeed Noori. team also deserve recognition for the purposefully built structures in inner city Melbourne to protect the public against hostile vehicle attacks.

It appears the elevated concrete slab of the

tram-stop blocked the path of the driver causing him to crash, bringing the car to a complete stop.

Unfortunately and unsurprisingly in the days following the Flinders Street incident, despite

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the clear explanation of Victoria Police, several mainstream media sources tried very hard to twist this story into something it’s not.

Thankfully in 2018, we can anticipate that mainstream media will transform internally to remain competitive and relevant, credible and reputable.

Reading the translation of the Quran is a great way for people in mainstream media to understand Islam and Muslims in all its transparency and it’s conveniently available online through Quran.com.

We can also anticipate that Australian Muslims will be more vocal and proactive in strengthening community ties.

Shortly after the Flinders Street incident, first-class Australian Cricketer Fawad Ahmed, who himself arrived in Australia as a refugee after fleeing extremist rule, came forward saying, “There are 600,000 Muslims living here in this country, we are not terrorists you know, we don’t do bad stuff. There’s good and bad everywhere. I’m Muslim and I want to bring all of us together.”

Many Interfaith networks and groups are already establishing faith-based strategies against family violence, mental health, substance abuse, gambling addiction, elderly abuse and youth suicide to name a few.

May 2018 be a year of pioneering positive change and greater social cohesion for the betterment of our communities.

May God strengthen our communities and bless us all with resilience, peace, prosperity and good health in 2018.

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The status of Jerusalem - Then and Now Bilal Cleland

The statement over the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem puts the position of Islam clearly. “There is no god but the God, and Abraham is His friend.” For it is a city for all the children of Abraham: Jews, Christians, Muslims.

The second destruction of Jerusalem under Emperor Hadrian in 130 CE, after which Jews were expelled from the land forever, was a policy maintained by the Christian Eastern Roman Empire.

The taking of control of the city from Byzantium in 628 CE is often portrayed as just another imperial conquest. It was not.

Under the Byzantines, not only Judaism, but dissenting interpretations of Christianity were under threat. The Jews were facing the continuing ban on their living in the re-built city of Aelia Capitolina (which had replaced the destroyed Jerusalem) and they were slowly disappearing.

David J Wasserstein starts his article in the Jewish Chronicle with “Islam saved Jewry. This is an unpopular, discomforting claim in the modern world. But it is a historical truth.”

Dealing with the situation in the Roman Empire, he wrote: “Great and permanent reductions in numbers through conversion, between the fourth and the seventh centuries, brought with them a gradual but relentless whittling away of the status, rights, so-

cial and economic existence, and religious and cultural life of Jews all over the Roman empire.” [Jewish Chronicle May 24, 2012] The taking of control over the city by the second Caliph of Islam, Omar Ibn al-Khattab, was an opening up of the city to the three monotheistic faiths and not just the Christianity endorsed by Constantinople.

Much has been made of the so-called “Pact of Omar” with the Christians of the city. The text exists in several different forms.

One version, transmitted by the tenth-century Muslim historian, al-Tabari, reads, in part: “In the name of God, the Merciful Benefactor! This is the guarantee granted the inhabitants of Aelia by the servant of God Umar, Commander of the Believers. He grants them the surety of their persons, their goods, their churches, their crosses - whether these are in a good or bad condition - and the cult in general. ……… No Jew will be authorized to live in Jerusalem with them.” [al-Tabari, Annals I, 2405] The modern Iraqi historian Abdul Aziz refutes these claims about the re-imposition of the Roman ban upon Jews in the Holy City. He asserts that details pertaining to prohibiting a certain population from living in a conquered city were unusual and never appear in the texts of similar sulh (covenant) in the Syrian region.

Reference to Jews in the covenant was apparently absent from most Arab sources. It is believed today that this information first appeared in the Chronique of Michael the Syrian, Patriarch of Antioch 1126-1199. [Abdul Aziz Duri, “Jerusalem in the Early Islamic

Period, 7th-11th Centuries AD,” in Kamil J. Asali, Jerusalem in History (Brooklyn, NY: Olive Branch Press, 1990), p. 107.]

The Geniza records indicate that 70 Jewish families from Tiberias relocated to Jerusalem with Umar’s approval. It was also during this early Muslim period that Jerusalem was divided into different quarters for each religious community.” [Dan Bahat, “The Physical Infrastructure,” in Prawer and Ben-Shammai, eds., The History of Je-

Gambling industry needs major reform Dr Daud Batchelor Australians imagine themselves as larrikins who would bet money on which of two flies climbing a wall would be first?

It is unsurprising then to discover that Australians have the world’s largest gambling losses per head, far ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore.

Australians gambled away $23 billion in 2015 - three times per head more than New Zealanders, 7.5 times more than the British and 10 times more than Americans.

Gambling while expensive is poor entertainment. It is virtually a zero-odds game since a NSW or Victorian gambler will mostly not win but lose $3,500 per year over $200,000 in a lifetime!

“About one in six Australians who play regularly has a serious addiction and loses on average about $21,000 a year. ... The social cost of gambling to the community is estimated at over $4.7 million a year.”

Ambulances are common outside casinos - Star Casino in Sydney had 173 ambulance attendances yearly over a 3-year period.

Research suggests heavy gambling losses leads to the suicide of one Australian a day.

Stress-related problems include hypertension, cardiovascular disease and peptic ulcers.

With such depravations one would think governments would halter this industry. Far from it!

State and territory governments themselves are hooked and encourage it for the sizeable revenues - $5.8 billion in tax year 2015 – rolling into their coffers.

Our politicians should stop this nonsense.

A different scenario would be evident in some Islamic-minded Muslim countries where leaders are responsible for uplifting well-being, especially of weaker citizens.

One Shari’ah legal maxim states that the Amir’s performance is judged by reference to people’s welfare (maslahah). This is the most important criterion to evaluate government success or failure.

With reference to gambling, all AustralJANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

rusalem, p. 53] The Islamic control of Jerusalem guaranteed the rights of Jews and Christians to their shrines and holy sites.

The attempt of the American Administration to return Jerusalem to the total control of an intolerant occupier, echoing Byzantium, which wants to expel non-Jews from the Holy City, cannot stand.

Indeed this act of endorsing illegal occupation of Palestinian land has intensified the moral and political isolation of the USA, as well as mobilising Muslims and supporters of the rights of the Palestinian people all over the world.

What appears to be bad may, in fact, be good.

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

They look after themselves Fazlul Huq They take great care of the flower plants like the roses bush, chrysanthemum, daffodils and orchids, gardenia and the jasmine, ian states (except WA where ‘pokies’ are banned outside casinos) would be assessed to have failed their citizens.

Sports gambling is growing faster than other forms with significant impact on the youth.

Australian Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) advises that gambling operators have a ‘right’ to advertise. However, their advertisements cannot breach the Code of Ethics including section 2.6, which states Advertising and marketing communications shall not depict material contrary to prevailing community standards on health and safety.

ASB says they cannot consider the frequency of gambling advertisements only content. Frequency, however, has everything to do with creating problem gamblers, many of whom will self-harm.

Consider this blog: “My son is trying to recover from a gambling addiction. For him, watching TV with the excessive and continual gambling adverts is like sending a recovering alcoholic to the pub. It’s just too accessible, to the point of being rammed down your throat.”

Another wrote: “While families are being destroyed by gambling how can the bombardment of flashy and catchy ads promoting betting be a good thing? You can’t advertise cigarettes on TV, so why are our

children being indoctrinated that gambling is fun? We all know it can become addictive and destroy people.”

ASB has eschewed its statutory responsibility to cut TV ads promoting gambling.

Ads can take advantage of psychologically-prone people to trigger problem gambling – often ending in family breakdowns and suicides. Governments must act now.

Good on Andrew Wilke and Nick Xenophon for efforts to limit gambling adverts.

Advertising by gambling companies should be limited to informing on product availability. PROMOTING GAMBLING SHOULD BE PROHIBITED. Don’t leave our politicians to procrastinate on this steady destruction of society’s well-being. Confront them today!

Practising Muslim Australians like other sensible non-gamblers avoid this scourge and save thousands of dollars yearly while preserving their individual and family well-being.

Dr Daud Batchelor, holds an MA in Islamic and Other Civilisations and a Diploma in Islamic Studies from the International Islamic University Malaysia, PhD from University of Malaya, MSc from the University of London.

Email: daud.batchelor@gmail.com

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As they also tender herbs and spices such as the chilly and curry plants, coriander and the bay leaf, mint and the rosemary bush, And fruit trees such as the apple and the mango, lychee and the jujube, pear and the jack fruit, And vegetables such as cauliflower and the cabbage, tomatoes and the capsicum, potatoes and the carrots, lettuce and the cucumber.

But nobody looks after the weeds so they fend for themselves, More so because the humans continue to inflict injury instead!

Associate Professor Fazlul Huq is based in Sydney and leads the Biomedical Science Cancer Research Group in the School of Medical Sciences, Sydney Medical School.

He is also an accomplished poet with over 12,000 compositions in Bengali and English and has also been involved in various community projects.

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FAIR, FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE

Media Partner

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ISRA student wins University Medal at CSU

CSU staff and graduating students at ISRA graduation 2017.

Continued from page 1 The formal event was also attended by ISRA staff from Sydney as well as Melbourne and Charles Sturt University academics, community leaders and families of the graduates where, in addition to brief comments by staff, the graduates also shared their feelings from the stage in a one minute speech, many of them shedding tears of joy at the completion of their unique educational journey.

Most of the graduating students were from Sydney, but many from Melbourne and as far as Brisbane and Perth with one student flying in from Hong Kong.

Although female students outnumbered male students, they came from a diverse background, ages and professions. For many students, it was their second, third or even fourth degree.

Mir Ansari and Nasrin Ansari graduated together as a power couple together with Bachelor of Islamic Studies in the presence of their children and grandchildren, making Power couple: Mrs Nasrin Ansari and Mr Mir Ansari. them all proud of their great achievement.

ISRA graduations are a unique combination of intellectual, academic, emotional and spiritual experience held in a dignified yet family-friendly atmosphere.

Tears of joy were shed for high achievements by the graduating students, their teachers as well as family and friends. Many of them thanked their mums, dads, their spouses and other family members for encouragement and support.

There were also watery eyes for the top student Emna Malas who performed extraordinarily in spite of going through some family difficulties.

A number of graduating students in Master of Classical Arabic praised their Arabic lecturers Suhail Noor and Shah Idil Abdul Hadi, both from non-Arabic backgrounds.

Ustad Hadi was particularly singled out for his devotion, humility and most competent A/Prof Mehmet Ozalp, Director of CISAC. way of teaching classical Arabic language.

The Honorary guest and keynote speaker at this year’s graduation was Ms Silma Ihram, a former graduate of ISRA and currently Managing Director, Diversity Skills Training based at Parramatta. Ms Ihram thanked ISRA for providing a nurturing environment for their students to excel.

The Director of CISAC, A/Prof Mehmet Ozalp during his concluding address thanked the students for choosing ISRA for their studies.

“Thank you for choosing us. It is not easy for us to deliver the course to a diverse mix of students who choose us.”

A/Prof Mehmet Ozalp further added, “We are thankful to Charles Sturt university. We share the values of CSU that is with our values. That is Islamic values.”

He asked the graduates to show their appreciation to their family and staff with a round of applause.

Silma Ihram, Keynote Speaker at the event.

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Emna Malas with her family.

Alia Qureshi with her husband Zia Qureshi.

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“Islam in Practice”conference summary Dr Zachariah Matthews

Islamic law and perception

By Shaikha Basmah Abdul Qader (Sydney) • The Prophet (s) lived for 53 years in a non-Muslim environment; we should, therefore, take a lesson from this and understand the key features of this period in his mission.

• The Prophet (s) taught his followers first how to believe (to have faith in Allah and connect with Him – imaan) and then how to follow the rules of Allah’s Way (Makkah then Madinah); the two phases of this process is important for us today; focussing exclusively on the law without establishing faith is bound to end in failure.

Muslim contribution

By Dr Abdul Salam Azadi (UK) • Muslims must learn Islam to correctly assess prevailing culture, not the other way around.

And to work out which practices have been misappropriated as “Islamic”; Islam’s universal values and principles should be used to judge culture throughout time.

• Muslim’s practice of Islam has unfortunately become ritualistic, without spirit (resulting in spiritual impoverishment).

• Following the letter and spirit of the Quran will bring happiness. This is Allah’s guarantee.

• Muslims in the West must be active contributors, not just takers of safety/security and money.

Understanding Islamic Law Family leadership dynamics

By Shaikh Abdool Rahman Khan (US)

By Imam Yahya Ibrahim (Perth)

• Why is shariah (Divine Law) being demonised today? Is it perhaps that we have not clearly explained what the real purpose of sharia is?

• In the family structure first, assess yourself and your contribution (positive and negative) before pointing the finger at others and their shortcomings.

• Be present in the home (emotionally, psychologically, spiritually) – fully engaged and committed to the wellbeing of the family and its functioning. Social media is making it more difficult to remain engaged and committed.

Cryptocurrencies

By Mr Almir Colan (Melbourne) • The electricity usage with Bitcoin mining is astronomical: e.g., Visa uses only 2% of what Bitcoin consumes.

• Why has Bitcoin flourished? Mainly due to speculators; producing an unsustainable bubble.

• Bitcoin is preferred for illegal activities: Scams; 1/3 has disappeared (hacks, etc).

• Are we getting lost in the details rather than focusing on the higher objectives (maqaasid)?

• The shariah’s main purpose is to protect the human being and to enhance coexistence of different people in pluralist societies.

• The shariah is also to protect the rights of human beings (as defined by the Divine).

Political engagement

By Shaikh Shady Alsuleiman (Sydney) • The Prophet (s) was not only a spiritual and religious leader, but he was also the greatest politician and statesmen; e.g., the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiya stands out as an excellent case study in his ability to advance political ideals.

• Islam is not only in the Mosque, Muslims should and must be involved within the societies they live; on all levels based on their values and principles.

• Cryptocurrencies are unregulated at the moment: We would not accept to have healthcare, or education for example unregulated.

So why accept cryptocurrencies to be unregulated by authorities?

• Islamic principle: Money should not be under private control or regulation (must be regulated by authorities).

Fame and solo-activism

By Ms Tasnim Sammak (Melbourne) • Individuality has affected and is undermining the community structure (features of this are – isolation, liquidity, usurping power, commodification, etc).

The Prophet’s incorruptibility

By Dr Zachariah Matthews (Sydney) • Muslims should strive to be like the Prophet (s) – incorruptible. Quraish could not entice him to compromise on the fundamental principles of his cause.

• Muslims must fight corruption just like he did.

He provided clear anti-corruption standards – no bribery, no inducement gifts, honesty, accountability, etc.

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Islamic finance future

By Mr Farouk Alwyni (Indonesia) • Islamic finance needs to move beyond adaptation to the next stage of promoting ethical finance; that is also socially equitable.

• Profitability should not be the only imperative: Ethics and justice are just as important (the maqaasid of finance).

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• Solo activism: Consuming the cause for self-gratification and status enhancement (e.g., judged by the number of likes on social media). One status update or like or retweet is not what is required to advance a cause.

• Hijab is being packaged for white consumption with particular imagery that is being used (in the process, brown Muslims are still being marginalised).

• Activism which does not really challenge the status quo power is limited.

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“Islam in Practice” conference showcases unity in diversity

AMUST

Zia Ahmad

Imam Yahya Ibrahim (left) with Bashar Al-Jamal.

Shaikh Abdool Rahman Khan.

Dr Ashfaq Ahmad (centre), Sheikh Imad Hamdy (right).

The “Islam in Practice” conference held on Sunday 10 December 2017 at Club Punchbowl in Sydney was attended by almost 500 people from a diverse background listening to a variety of speakers from all over Australia as well as from overseas.

The conference focussed on contemporary issues in the areas of Law, Finance, Leadership and Activism; reviewing issues of concern to Australian Muslims and importantly, exploring strategies on how better to deal with these concerns putting Islam into practice.

The attendees included men, women and youth, mostly from Sydney but also from other states of Australia from a diverse linguistic, cultural and ethnic background engaged by speakers and performers including a couple of panel discussions from 1 pm to 8pm in a well organised program with breaks for refreshments.

This was an inaugural conference organised by CAMO, Collaboration of Australian Muslim Organizations, a platform established for cooperation and coordination of activities between four Australia-wide major Islamic organisations.

The hosting organisations included Australian Islamic Mission (AIM), Islamic Forum for Australian Muslims (IFAM), Islamic Practice and Dawah Circle (IPDC) and IQRO Foundation. (See hosting organisations details below).

The conference was sponsored by Human Appeal Australia, Muslim Community Cooperative Australian (MCCA), Charity Australia International, Human Initiative, Monessa, Cordial Homes with the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST as the Media Partner. (See sponsors details below).

The large venue complex with plenty of parking, conference facilities, sponsors’ displays and ample space for prayers was also studded with food stalls selling multicultural foods for lunch and dinner.

A well organised child minding facility was provided as well to give parents opportunity to fully participate listen to the speakers.

The conference featured a wide range of international and local speakers and performers: • Shaikh Abdool Rahman Khan, Imam of Northern Virginia Mosque, USA • Dr Abdus Salam Azadi, Director of Swansea Islamic Academy and Mosque, United Kingdom • Mr Almir Colan, Director of Australian Centre for Islamic Finance, Melbourne • Shaikha Basmah Abdul Qader, Scholar and Counsellor, Life Matters Academy, Sydney • Mr Farouk Abdullah Alwyni, Founder & President Director of Alwyni International Capital, Indonesia • Mr Kamal Saleh, Spoken word poet, Creative production OnePath Network, Sydney • Ms Safeea Ali, Spoken word poet, Student Bachelor of Social Science Western Sydney University • Ms Tasnim Sammak, Researcher Islamophobia Media Watch, freelance writer and editor, Melbourne • Shaikh Shady Alsuleiman, President, National Imams Council, Sydney • Imam Yahya Ibrahim, A/Principal, Langford Islamic College, Perth • Dr Zachariah Matthews, Director, Deen Academy, Sydney

Kamal Saleh (left) with Rais Khan.

Firdousi Obeidullah (left) with Tasnim Sammak.

Human Appeal International - Australia sponsor’s stall.

Zia Ahmad is the Editor-in-Chief of the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST. MCCA sponsor’s stall.

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Charity Australia International sponsor’s stall.

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The Laughing Apple – Yusuf Islam exhibition at Islamic Museum of Australia Amna Iqbal

Islamic Museum of Australia’s current exhibition “The Laughing Apple” is showcasing posters of digital and handdrawn illustrations by Yusuf Islam, otherwise known as Cat Stevens.

The show serves to showcase Yusuf’s experiences writing and illustrating The Laughing Apple examining the transformative power of love and its relationship to nature.

Taking visitors on an eclectic journey that showcases colourful pop-art portraits of Yusuf, juxtaposed with illustrations from his album artwork and large cut outs that subtly reference the visual styles of Tillerman and Teaser, this exhibition hosts something to suit all Yusuf fans – young and old alike!

The Laughing Apple symbolises the creative potential contained within Yusuf’s music, where he alludes to life’s challenges in a way that can be appreciated by young children. ‘‘As you grow older, the sweetness of youth, as Wordsworth expressed in his poem Splendour in the Grass, gets stronger,” Yusuf has explained.

“Looking back and emotionally drawing on the themes of childhood possibilities and disappointments is what exemplifies this album, for me.”

The exhibition will coincide with Yusuf’s Peace Train Tour commemorating 50 years since the release of his album, Matthew & Son in 1967.

Yusuf’s new album The Laughing Apple has just been nominated for a Grammy Award under the category of ‘Best Folk Album’. Subsequently, The Laughing Apple exhibition offers Yusuf fans an immersive

visual experience, journeying from decades passed, through to the present.

The images which will be signed by Yusuf himself will be available for sale via charity sponsor Penny Appeal Australia with all profits going to their Love Thy Neighbour campaign.

IMA General Manager, Ali Fahour noted that: ‘‘The Islamic Museum is proud to house an exhibition that celebrates Yusuf’s significant contribution to the arts and music industries. He is a great ambassador for this cultural institution and it is an honour to share his illustrations with our visitors.’’

The exhibition will be housed at the Islamic Museum of Australia that affords a cultural immersion in the art, history and discovery of Islam and Muslims in Australia.

Through the five permanent galleries – Islamic Faith, Islamic Contributions to CiviliP: E: A: W:

sation, Islamic Art, Islamic Architecture and Australian Muslim History – the Museum fosters a more nuanced and realistic understanding of what it means to be an Australian Muslim.

By showcasing a wealth of contemporary

Yusuf Islam at the Islamic Museum of Australia. artistic expression and an extensive cultural heritage, IMA facilitates space for critical reflection and personal interpretation – in the act of sharing, common myths and prejudices are dispelled and mutual understanding is established.

Unity Grammar at Robotics Finals

02 8575 8100 info@rookwoodcemetery.com.au Hawthorne Ave, Rookwood NSW 2141 www.rookwoodcemetery.com.au

GRAVE DIGGER

In addition to being the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, Rookwood General Cemeteries Trust is the oldest, largest and most culturally diverse working cemetery in Australia.

An opportunity has become available at Rookwood in the Muslim section for a Grave Digger to join our team who wants to be a proactive learner to all aspects of the role.

Reporting to the Burials Manager, the role requires you to be involved with: • Assisting and liaising with Stakeholders • Operating backhoe, excavator, skid steer, front end loader or other like powered machinery • Preparing sites for upcoming burials including grave excavation.

• Backfilling of the grave and the final clean-up of the site • Maintenance of grave sites and basic routine maintenance of burial equipment • Preparing and closing crypts and vaults • Performing exhumations on a voluntary basis • Basic Grounds Maintenance • Role includes frequent heavy lifting • Must follow strict WHS procedures • Willing to be part of the weekend roster

The successful candidates will have: • A current valid Manual NSW driver’s license • The ability to work autonomously and in a team • Is reliable and punctual • Experience an advantage but not necessary • Varied machinery operating certifications (skid steer loader, excavator, backhoe ) but not necessary

Desirable requirement: • Knowledge of the religious and burial rites and requirements of the NSW Muslim Community.

Please email your resume to hr@rookwoodcemetery.com.au

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What we will offer: • Attractive hourly rate plus overtime • Roster Day off per month plus annual leave loading • Full Training provided Only successful candidates will be contacted.

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Zia Ahmad For the past three years, Unity Grammar has been providing its students with the opportunity to take part in the First Lego League (FLL), a robotics competition targeted towards students aged 9-16, with the sole goal of inspiring students to learn about science and technology.

FLL challenges students to design, build and program robots using Lego pieces to complete missions and earn the largest number of points possible within two minutes and a half.

Alongside the robotics, students are also pushed to their limits as they take on the roles of scientists and engineers, identifying existing problems and creating a valid real-life solution. In most cases the students go on to build functioning prototypes of their inventions and share the findings with the public.

Topping it off are the Core Values, a set of values central to the FLL spirit which students must demonstrate in their compe-

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titions. Amongst these are Gracious Professionalism, Inclusion and Integration.

In the Hydrodynamics (2017/2018) season, with the growing interest in robotics and the FLL competition, Unity Grammar has made the program larger, establishing a new team. An all-girls team, a push for getting the girls into a field that many consider to be a ‘male dominated.’

The Unity Grammar girls’ team STEM Cells X exceeded by winning the Austral Regional Competition, and receiving awards for Robot Performance and Championship Award.

STEM Cells Y have competed at the Sydney Regional Competition which was held at Macquarie University, bringing back a trophy for Robot Programming.

Both teams qualified to the National Competition that was held on the 2-3 December at Macquarie University.

After two years of learning, developing and growing, the Unity Grammar STEM Cells seem primed for another successful appearance at an international competition level.

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Mawlid 2017: Innovative Concert and Peace Conference Zia Ahmad An Innovative multimedia dramatic concert showcasing diverse colours, cultures and languages kept thousands mesmerised for 90 minutes at Sydney Olympic Park while celebrating Mawlid on Sunday 3 December 2017.

With the slogan, “Together in Loving Mohammad”, the 8th Multicultural Mawlid Concert drew more than 5000 People from Australia as well as overseas marking the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (s).

The event was organized by the Islamic Charity Projects Association (ICPA) and coincided with the Annual International Peace Conference held under the patronage of Darulfatwa, the Islamic High Council of Australia.

Accepting the invitation from Darulfatwa Australia and in collaboration with Majlis Ulama Indonesia, 0ver 80 academics, religious scholars, Imams and community leaders mainly from Australia and South East Asia also attended the Peace Conference held on Monday 4 December at the Garden View Hotel, Bankstown.

Darulftwa Chairman, Dr Sheikh Salim Alwan and Dean of Majlis Al-Ulama Jakarta branch, Sheikh Ahmad Sharif Ad-Din Abdul Ghani announced their pleasure in working together for the Conference titled ‘Muhammad, peace be upon him, the Prophet of

Mercy and Messenger of Peace’.

The dignitaries from across Australian states including community leaders, Sheikhs, Principals, businesspeople, media personnel, local government councillors and mayors, scouts officials, ambassadors, consulates, and Australian politicians, had among them: Darulfatwa Australia Chairman, Dr Sheikh Salim Alwan; President of the Islamic Charity Projects Association, Haj Mohammad Mehio, Governor of NSW, Hon David Hurley; Mr Phillip Ruddock; NSW Opposition Leader Mr Luke Foley; Mr Jihad Dib, MP for Lakemba; Mr Paul Lynch, MP for Liverpool, Ambassador of Palestine, Dr Ezzat Abdulhadi, Ambassador of Morocc Mr Karim Medrek, High Commissioner of Brunei Mr Zakaria Ahmad, Ambassador of Lebanon Mr Milaad Raad, Consul General of Egypt, Mr Youssef Hassan Shawki, Al-Amanah College Principle Mohammad Al-Dana and 2MFM President Haj Rafic Hussein.

ICPA President, Haj Mohammad Mehio welcomed the guests from overseas as well as VIPs from Australia who responded graciously to the invitation of Darulfatwa and the ICPA in attending the Mawlid.

Multimedia dramatic concert at the Mawlid 2017 The Governor of NSW, Hon David Hurley and the Leader of the NSW Opposition, Mr Luke Fowley in their address congratulated

The Hon David Hurley, Governor of NSW, at the Peace Conference.

Darulfatwa for its collaborative efforts in or- contribute to the success of the concert. ganizing the International Peace Conference The spokesman also thanked the dozens and expressed their support to it and to the of community groups for their active enICPA for its effortless commitment to serve gagement and cooperation with the organsocial harmony and cohesion, illustrated by izers. the upholding of such a prestigious and well The event was broadcast live and extargeted event as the Multicultural Mawlid. clusive on the Muslim Community Radio The ICPA’s organizing committee 2MFM 92.1 and was viewed live on the spokesman thanked the large team of volun- 2MFM Facebook page and on YouTube teers who dedicated much of their time dur- globally. ing and in the weeks leading to the event, to

Zakat Summit: One Community One Body Intan Endah-Bonsu The National Zakat Foundation’s Zakat Summit 2017 marked the end to yet another successful year with over 4,863 cases assisted and $3 million dollars of Zakat distributed in the last five years!

The summit was conducted over three days from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 December 2017 featuring guest speakers, talks, workshops and 2018 planning sessions at both the national & state levels.

The Summit with the theme “One Community One Body” was a public event, inviting community members to speak and share their knowledge and advice on how different organisations & individuals can work collaboratively to empower our community.

As part of the Zakat Summit, one full day was dedicated for members from the wid-

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er community to engage in topics related to Zakat.

Keynote speakers for the Zakat 2017 summit included Almir Colan, director of the Australian Centre for Islamic Finance, who delivered a talk on the role of business and Islamic finance in community development, Muhammad Sabeth Abilawa, corporate secretary of Dompet Dhuafa Indonesian, who delivered a talk on the transformative power of Zakat, and Zeynep Sertel, Principal of Ilim College Girls Campus and VP of Green Crescent Australia, who delivered a talk on community empowerment.

The Zakat Summit allows each team from across Australia to come together and work through interactive sessions with senior management to discuss the past year’s achievements, shortcomings and improvements.

Each summit is an opportunity for us to learn, ask questions and clarify any discrep-

ancies, as well as taking the time to rejuvenate and remind each and every one of us why we chose to join this particular organisation and this particular cause.

We invited the public to attend and learn what NZF is all about, what exactly we do and how we manage the community’s Zakat that we have been entrusted with. Transparency is one of our core values and the summit is a platform that allows us to showcase to the public how their contributions are mobilising the mitigation of disadvantaged communities.

Each speaker at the summit gave examples of how everyone is part of a larger community and how we can collaboratively work together to really make a positive impact in our communities.

The speakers emphasised on the impact of empowering individuals and communi-

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ties we give assistance to, because it’s more than just about distributing funds; it’s about changing lives empowering those that we help to move into a position that allows them in turn to help others in the future.

A key theme the speakers emphasised on was the power of Zakat to change an economy and society towards becoming self-sustainable and prosperous and how its only if we work collectively as a community that we will be able to effect and sustain such change.

The Annual Zakat Summit was the perfect way to end 2017 on a positive note, reflecting on how we can move forward collectively as an organisation and as one community.

Visit our website and follow us on Facebook to support what we do and find out more information www.nzf.org.au and @ NZFAus.

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War criminal portrait at Club Punchbowl Adem Kolar Club Punchbowl, a wellknown centre for Sydney’s Muslim community, commemorated a war criminal, Slobodan Praljak with a portrait in the club’s foyer, celebrating him as a war hero and a national icon for Croats everywhere.

On 29 November 2017, Slobodan Praljak, a convicted Bosnian Croat war criminal, committed suicide by poisoning himself after his sentence was upheld by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The case received widespread attention in the media and online as Praljak appeared to kill himself during a live hearing of the tribunal, in front of both lawyers and judges, by drinking potassium cyanide.

Praljak’s ingestion of the poison was to protest the court’s verdict, which upheld a 20-year prison sentence for the crimes of which he was found guilty on 26 different counts including acts such as murder, rape, a wanton destruction of cities, towns, and cultural sites such as mosques and bridges, and the persecution of civilians on political, racial, and religious grounds.

These crimes were almost exclusively committed against Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) civilians in central and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and occurred under Praljak’s supervision and direction as the Chief of Staff of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. The HVO was a military force set up to ethnically cleanse the Bosniaks out of the “Croat areas” of Bosnia and Herzegovina and carve out a state for the Bosnian Croats, under the banner of the self-styled Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia (CCHB).

The aim of CCHB’s government and military was to defeat the Bosnian government army and break away from Bosnia and Her-

zegovina to join with Croatia. This was a similar project to what the Serbs were undertaking in other areas of the country with Republika Srpska and the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). Just like the VRS, the HVO under Praljak was interested in ensuring their newly formed breakaway state was ethnically pure; removed of Bosniaks (by murder or forced deportation) and all signs of their culture, including the targeted destruction of mosques, libraries, tekkes, waqf-endowed sites, and even a famous 400 year Old Bridge of Mostar commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Praljak’s crimes hit home for Bosniaks here in Australia when his portrait was sighted at Club Punchbowl, a popular venue for Islamic functions and Muslim weddings.

For the uninitiated, Club Punchbowl is a Croatian ethnic/cultural community club set up by Croatians who immigrated to Australia. To some, it came as no surprise that the club would support convicted war criminals as national heroes, given its existing image of Ante Gotovina (an indicted war criminal whose charges were overturned in 2012) in the foyer.

However, there is no reason for the Muslim community here in Sydney to continue to support them by paying them for their space to run events.

Countless charity functions and fundraisers, community iftars, Eid events, and even weddings are hosted there every year. While this stems from Club Punchbowl’s central location for much of Slobodan Praljak the Muslim commu-

nity here in Sydney, convenience should not supersede moral outlook.

For example, if Muslim community events were regularly being held at an Israeli club, there would be a huge uproar and perhaps even an organised boycott.

So the question to be asked is why is there no formal/legal action taken

against a club which so clearly supports a convicted war criminal that systematically and methodically committed mass murder and rape against Muslim civilians, such as the Ahmići massacre, and ordered the destruction of Muslim homes, mosques, libraries, and other cultural sites?

Our sense of morality should be upright enough to suggest that pictures of “war heroes” at a Croatian ethnic club should be a cause for concern regardless of who they are, but especially if they have been convicted of war crimes against Muslims. This celebratory image of Slobodan Praljak in the foyer of Club Punchbowl should be enough to elicit community outrage.

Praljak was directly responsible for the targeted killings and wanton destruction of property of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Why do we continue to financially support an institution that supports an individual like that? This is a serious political statement made by Club Punchbowl. There are enough community halls and function centres around Sydney to host these events without needing to compromise our morals and financially support an institution that holds in high regard a convicted perpetrator of genocide against Muslims. It’s time to boycott Club Punchbowl.

Adem Kolar is a history and geography teacher at a school in Western Sydney, and is passionate about genocide awareness in relation to the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. He can be contacted on Twitter via @AS_Kolar.

The forgotten Jews of Arab lands Philip Feinstein On Thursday evening 30 November 2017, around 400 people attended an event at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park, Sydney which included the screening of the short film The Forgotten Refugees and the telling of personal stories by members of the Jewish community from Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

The evening recognised the plight of the around 850,000 Jews who were expelled or had to flee from Arab lands. The events were hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, together with the Sephardi Synagogue and the Sydney Jewish Museum, to tell the forgotten story of the ethnic cleansing of Middle Eastern Jews.

The event was attended by a number of

A Jewish family in Sana’a, 1901.

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community leaders and organisations including the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW, Multicultural NSW, the Australian Egyptian Council Forum, the Assyrian Universal Alliance, the Australian Iranian Community Organisation, the United Kurdish Association of NSW, Australian Middle East Media Group, members of the Indian, Chinese, Catholic, Uniting Church and Salvation Army, educators and journalists.

The main focus of the event was on Yemen as this year is the 70th anniversary of the pogroms against the Jews of Aden that followed the announcement of the 1947 UN vote for the partition of Palestine. Eitan Madar shared the experiences of his mother, who was born in Aden in 1938 and was 10 years old in 1949 when Israel began Operation Magic Carpet in response to increased in anti-semitic violence in Yemen.

Operation Magic Carpet saw 49,000 Jews secretly airlifted out of Yemen between 1949 and 1950 on over 380 flights. There are currently less than 100 Jews living in Yemen - the current government ultimatum states that they are unable to protect Yemeni Jews if they remain in the country as Jews.

The audience was moved with presentations by Alfred Shaul Gabbay of a Hebrew scroll of Esther which belonged to his family in Baghdad; Cely Benchoam, a plate made of wood and mother of pearl typical of Egyptian art and covered with beautiful Arabic writing; Esther Hirschowitz, a silver sacred wine cup from Iran; Sylvia Hazan, a set of Berber jewellery given to her by her Berber grandparents and Ilan Ben-Menashe, a documentary film made about the extraordinary life of his Yemenite maternal grandmother.

The evening was closed by Hila Tsor and Hayley Coombes, both under 25 and with

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Organisers & guests at the Hoyts event: Ilan Ben-Menashe, Rafael BenMenashe, Nina Ben-Menashe, Talia Ben-Menashe, Lynda Ben-Menashe, David David, Hermiz Shahen. families from Iraq/Libya and Egypt, who zis and UN’s 1947 Partition Plan for Palesstressed how meaningful the event was to tine, combined as pretexts for most Muslim them personally and vowed to carry on the countries to ethnically cleanse their populaduty of remembering into their generation tions of Jews. and beyond.

From the early 1940s until the 1960s and The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, in beyond, Jewish communities in Algeria, partnership with the Sephardi Synagogue Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, and the Sydney Jewish Museum, has taken Syria, Tunisia and Yemen experienced poon the duty to acknowledge the history and groms (violent attacks on civilians including contribution of Mizrahi Jews, who make up murder), seizure of property, imprisonment over half of Israel’s population today and and public executions. While the world almost a quarter of the Sydney Jewish com- rightly remembers the plight of other 20th munity. The Museum is this year recording century Middle Eastern refugees, particupersonal testimonies and is planning an ex- larly Palestinian Arabs, plus recognising the hibition on this topic. horrors facing refugees today from Syria, Jews have lived in the Middle East for Iraq and elsewhere, it is important to also millennia, pre-dating the arrival of Islam acknowledge the Middle East’s Jewish refuin some countries by over 1000 years. By gees and hear their stories.

1948, almost one million Jews were living in Arab lands and Iran. However, the rise Philip Feinstein is a Sydney based writer, muof political Zionism, the alliance between sician and activist working for MUSIC FOR some Arab and Muslim leaders and the Na- REFUGEES www.musicforrefugees.org

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Celebrating 25 Years of protection against disability discrimination Minh Ai Nguyen On Tuesday 28 November, Affinity held its final Lunchtime Lecture of the year with Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Alastair McEwin from the Australian Human Rights Commission.

The Commissioner, who is deaf, was accompanied by two AUSLAN interpreters who provided translation assistance.

Facilitating the talk was Professor Shane Clifton, Dean of Theology from Alphacrucis College, who suffered a serious accident in 2010 that left him quadriplegic.

In a speech titled, 25 Years of Disability Discrimination Law, the Commissioner discussed the ways in which the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which commenced on March 1 1993, has effected social change and fought against discrimination for people with a disability.

“Over the past 25 years, the Act has been instrumental in social change, and has been used by individuals to fight against discriminatory practices in many fields, including education, access to transport, goods, services and facilities, and more.” said Commissioner McEwin.

The Commissioner reported that since the Disability Discrimination Act was enforced in 1993, more than 15,000 disability discrimination complaints have been lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“For the last 7 years, the Commission has received more complaints for disability discrimination than any other type of com-

plaint each year,” he said.

“Most of the disability discrimination complaints that we receive relate to employment, and the barriers that people face in accessing goods, services and facilities – these types of complaints have vied for top place among DDA complaints for the past five years.” he said.

The Commissioner remarked that the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has helped elevate the conversation around disability discrimination, resulting in the Commission receiving more complaints.

The Commissioner shared that during his time as a law student at university, he struggled when lecturers spoke too fast. He proceeded to lobby for students with disability to be provided with professional note takers to assist them with their studies.

After this, his marks went “through the roof” and the rest is history. He attributes his success to the importance of accessibility and support for those living with disability.

“It’s all about education. The more you know about disability rights, the more you can do to make a difference.” he said.

Special guests in attendance included State Member for Canterbury and Shadow Minister for Women, Ageing, Disability Services and Multiculturalism, Sophie Cotsis MP as well as local community disability activist, Quang Nguyen.

Minh Ai Nguyen has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and International Comparative Literature from the University of Sydney. She has worked in communications within the start-up sector and the education industry. She is currently an Executive Assistant at Affinity Intercultural Foundation based in Sydney.

Ahmet Polat, Serena Ovens and Professor Shane Clifton.

Professor Shane Clifton, Dean of Theology from Alphacrucis College.

Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Alastair McEwin.

Musical instruments for refugees in Nauru AMUST Media Despite the shocking situation on Manus Island, Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration and Border Control, gave clearance for the Music for Refugees organisation to send 3 cartons of music instruments to the detainees at Nauru.

“Refugees and asylum seekers have enormous stress and music is a great reliever” said Philip Feinstein, manager of the Music for Refugees organisation.

Destined for Nauru are the following instruments: One large keyboard, One large xylophone, 4 x adult guitars, 2 x child guitars, 2 x ukuleles, 2 x clarinets, 2 x violins, 2 x recorders, sheet music.

Music for Refugees has been giving musical instruments to refugees and asylum seekers throughout Australia for the past nine years - see www.musicforrefugees.org The principal of the organisation has also conducted jam sessions and music lessons for refugees incarcerated at Villawood Detention Centre and other refugee centres for many years.

Staff happily checking out the instruments.

His organisation accepts donated instru- paired when necessary. “Many of the instruments from the public and have them re- ments arrive in poor condition, so we fund the repairing of them,” said Feinstein, a musician and former refugees himself.

Although the conditions at Nauru are not nearly as bad as Manus Island, Feinstein decided to write directly to Peter Dutton with the hope of securing a positive result.

“I was pleasantly surprised at the quick response,” he said. “In my letter to him, I pointed out that music played will bring about a positive response and enormous release from the mundane and boring existence on the island.”

The majority of refugees come from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. Currently, there are approximately 540 Asylum seekers and refugees (including 70 children) in One large keyboard, One large xylophone, 4 x adult guitars, 2 x child guidetention in Nauru. tars, 2 x ukuleles, 2 x clarinets, 2 x violins, 2 x recorders, sheet music.

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Philip Feinstein standing at the front door of Music for Refugees with a package for Nauru.

The new government managing organisation Canstruct, responsible for the shipping of goods to Nauru, was given clearance by the Department of Immigration and Border Control to deliver this consignment at no cost to Music for Refugees.

The instruments were picked up 2 weeks ago from the Music for Refugees headquarters and delivered to Nauru last week.

Philip Feinstein does not get involved in the political side of the things and has stated that he prefers to concentrate on the small picture, i.e. the refugees themselves.

Minister Dutton’s office has stated that he ‘appreciated the time you have taken to bring this matter to his attention’.

Feinstein now intends to focus his attention on instruments for the detainees at Manus Island.

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Australian Muslim Ach

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Mr Jihad Dib MP presenting the Creative Artist of the Year award to Osamah Sami, comedian.

Continued from page 1 The messages that said – “Isn’t it great that we can see a girl in hijab on the big screen?” and “Isn’t it great that we see Ali, the lead character in the film – doesn’t kill anyone in the movie or doesn’t get killed off at the third act of the movie?”

The 34 year old then spoke about being nominated for an Australian Academy Award, alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

Sami then said “We do have Allah on our side!” which received cheers and applause.

A few days later, the star of Ali’s Wedding earned an Australian Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film this year.

Sami then ended his speech to speak about his parents, “My dad, rest his soul, he taught me everything and my mum reinforced everything he taught me. I salute them, and be nice to your mothers.”

Osman Karolia is Head of Senior School and has been working in schools for 23 years, with most of his work being in the Islamic school’s sector.

Osman is the co-founder and executive officer of the Islamic Schools Association of Australia. Osman in his school has achieved a strong community service and volunteer culture and is currently preparing to take his students to Cambodia on a humanitarian mission.

Osman has a long-established presence in activities ranging from coaching in sport, to mentoring troubled youth and encouraging wellbeing.

Osman has founded cycling, running and triathlon clubs that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for disadvantaged communities internationally.

Osman Karolia, People’s Choice.

Osman Karolia Wins People’s Choice Award

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah is a lawyer, sociologist and multi-award winning author of 11 novels, published in over 15 countries.

Her novels are studied in education systems globally, addressing issues of Muslim identity, human rights and political consciousness.

Her first novel, Does My Head Look Big In This? is currently in production as a major feature film.

Dr Abdel-Fattah has been conducting independent and academic research in the areas of Australian Muslims, multiculturalism, the war on terror, youth and identity and Palestine/Israel over the last 15 years.

She contributes to some of the most urgent public policy debates of our time and is regularly sought for specialist comment by Australian media, government and community organisations.

Dr Abdel-Fattah has also founded Islamophobia Media Watch to monitor and analyse media representations of Muslims in Australian media.

Woman of t Ye

(Left t Dr Randa Basha

Youth of the Year

One 4 Kids, Zaky & Friends, Business of the Year One 4 Kids animation films have reached millions of children with an estimated 1 Billion plus views of their films through DVDs, APPS, over many media platforms. A generation of children have grown up watching the films by One 4 Kids which has inspired and educated them to be better Muslims.

One 4 Kids have been producing animation films with the famous cartoon character Zaky since 2006. Zaky loves teaching children about Allah, the Prophet (SAW) and encouraging good character and manners.

One 4 Kids have introduced many new characters over the years that can be seen in the new TV show, Zaky’s Learning Club on the One 4 Kids TV channel www.one4kids. tv. One 4 Kids online TV channel was launched mid-2016.

One 4 Kids have produced over 15 Zaky animation films, 100’s of educational videos, over 20 Apps, lots of merchandise and over 25 songs.

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Oussama has contributed greatly to the Muslim and Non-Muslim communities in Australia.

In 2012 he was a participant of the Youth Parliament of Victoria leadership program where he had the opportunity to debate issues in the chambers of Parliament House.

Oussama was comprehensively elected as the Youth Premier of Victoria; the first Muslim young person to hold that office.

Oussama had been recognised by the City of Hobsons Bay as the Youth Citizen of the Year for his work in promoting cultural harmony within the community.

Oussama had organized a football match comprising of people from the Jewish and Islamic communities to abate tension and encourage tolerance and acceptance.

Since then, Oussama has volunteered with countless organizations in the name of community cohesion.

Brull wins Abyssinian of the Year

Oussama Abou-Zeid, Volunteer of the Year Award

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Michael Brull is a regular writer for New Matilda. His writing involves analysing and understanding parts of Australia (eg structures, the media, Government policies) and sometimes to express the indignation about those issues.

He has critically written about how Islamophobia is systematic and pervasive in Australia and where Islamophobia comes from.

Michael has highlighted how racism is faced by Muslims in Australia, how it’s connected to broader institutional interests, whilst trying to tie those interests in a way that will built solidarity.

The Abyssinian Award acknowledges a non-Muslim individual or organisation that has demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering mutual understanding between Muslims and the wider Australian community in a respectful and beneficial manner.

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The Islamic Women’s Association Queensla sation of the Year award. IWAQ offer a wide mainstream and culturally, linguistically & r provides aged and disability support servic tage. IWAQ are a team of strong-willed, pas their effort in reaching out to the communit

Islamophobia Report Launch, Event of the A comprehensive 100 page report on Islamopho was launched on Monday 10 July in 2017. This w search report on Islamophobia in Australia, released the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Cha Register of Australia. The launch took place in bot Islamophobia Register Australia.

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hievement Awards 2017

n & Man the ear

to Right) Abdel-Fattah ar Krayem

Bashar Krayem is a charitable businessman using his own business Rashays Punchbowl as a strong drive for change and charity.

He provides emergency food for struggling single mothers, refugees, asylum seekers and their families.

Bashar has been holding the Ramadan Iftar dinners every year whereby he feeds hundreds of these families.

This year, being the largest, he sent around 52 families to break their fast for free.

Bashar designed “The Tree of Faith” campaign where a huge blossom tree was erected inside Rashays.

Bashar sacrificed 4 of his tables to accommodate this display in which had almost 5 thousand dollars worth of food vouchers.

On the tree hundreds of letters and drawings done by these asylum seekers describing the fear they experienced were hung At the beginning of this year Bashar funded 10K worth of brand new bags, pens, uniforms, shoes and school items in the “back to school” drive he created for disadvantaged children.

AMUST

Bachar Houli wins Sportsperson of the Year as first Muslim to win an AFL Premiership.

Mission of Hope Founder Hanan Dover (left) and President Nasreen Hanifi, organisers of the Awards.

Abla Kadous, Life Time Achiever

Mo Alyatim (Keefe) wins Role Model of the Year Award.

Keefe is known for his efforts in creating safe Islamic spaces and breaking down barriers between law enforcement authorities and the streets.

Keefe volunteers his time to run the musalah attached to his Brotherhood boxing gym, which began with a few boys gathering to pray jummaa to now a large following. His gym has been used to provide support to marginalised youth, men from diverse backgrounds, as well as, mediate disputes between rival criminal figures as well as to advocate for those who are facing oppression. He has made efforts to face council head to head to maintain this safe space for those who would otherwise feel marginalised to partake in the deen. Keefe is currently involved in the case management process to help beat addiction in drug and alcohol. He has been chosen to volunteer to coach the elite boxing team with Boxing Australia being the only Muslim coach on the team.

Abla Kadous has worked for the Australian Muslim community as a volunteer for over 25 years.

She has constantly worked hard to improve the Islamic education and opportunities for all of the Muslim community, in particular, Muslim women and children. Abla is an inspirational role through her leadership and commitment to the advancement of Muslim relations within the wider Australian society.

and (IWAQ) wins the Community Organie range of services to assist people from religiously diverse backgrounds. IWAQ ces for under and over 65 year olds. Cotssionate, loving souls who have dedicated ty.

Rima Waizani, Volunteer of the Year

e Year. obia in Australia covering the period of 2014-2016 was one of the key findings in a first-of-its-kind red at NSW Parliament as a joint study conducted by arles Sturt University (CSU) and the Islamophobia th NSW and Victoria and joint hosted by ISRA and JANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

Rima Waizani has helped hundreds of families in need with food, shelter & spreading awareness via her volunteering efforts at the CC Community Kitchen Since December 2015 CC Community Kitchen assists widows, orphans, refugees, asylum-seekers, and single parents.

Rima actively goes out of her way and spends from her own finances to alleviate the burdens of the needy.

Rima is an admin on CC Community Kitchen and handles many cases. times she puts herself on the bottom of her priority list, as she refuses to sleep at night knowing one of her cases are struggling. She not only volunteers an abundance of time towards the cause of charity, but she also volunteers utmost care, love and devotion.

Ola Elhassan, Linked Up, Best New Community Project Best New Community Project, Linked Up. Ola Elhassan is a passionate community advocate who has devoted over 14 years of her professional career as a Social Worker.

Linked Up is a new and innovative health and wellbeing program for Sydney high school students.

The program works closely with young people covering an array of topics including, Healthy Relationships, identity and belonging, Mental health, and Leadership.

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Ahmed Fahour wins Professional of the Year and is one of Australia’s most successful and high-profiled businessmen. Award accepted by his brother, Ali Fahour.

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Best Energy Project win for Ali AMUST

Aisha Mohsin Ali Asghar Ali, a medical science student at Macquarie University while embarking on his research career has already received recognition within Australia as well as overseas.

This has been made possible by Ali securing a six month long Macquarie Undergraduate Research Internship (MURI) which provided students with the chance to try their hand in research.

It was through this MURI program that he was invited to present his team’s research work at the Australasian Conference of Undergraduate Research (ACUR) held 27-28 September 2017 at the University of Adelaide.

Prior to this, his team was given the opportunity to showcase their project on renewable energy from synthetic biology at the Synthetic Biology Australasia Conference (SBA2017) held 21-22 September in Sydney.

His team Macquarie Australia IGEM project submission at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition held from 8-13 November 2017 in Boston, USA was judged the Best Energy Project 2017.

Ali Asghar Ali is the son of Mr Aale Ali, the past President of Aligarh Muslim University Alumni of Australia.

The multiple research opportunities has sparked inspiration in Ali to be further engaged in the mentoring side of research where he started up a YouTube channel.

Ali believes that participation at the ACUR 2017 has been instrumental in establishing mutual collaboration and fostering teamwork with his peers and professors alike. He intends to use this knowledge as a tool to address any educational disparities there maybe.

“There needs to be more advertisements regarding available opportunities so that both the institution and the student can benefit,” said Ali. Ali’s early interest in research motivated him to seek out ways to be involved in the

Ali (right) with his research team won Best Energy Project at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition held from 8-13 November 2017 in Boston, USA. empirical investigation from the onset of his advancement as well as professional develcollege career. opment by providing me with the resources While reflecting on his research career, and support I needed in order to flourish in Ali said, “Multiple research experiences academia,” he further added. have shaped my understanding that learnTalking about his iGEM project, he said, ing from the cognitive approach brings in- “I say this with great pride that my team persight into one area of learning alone, how- formed very well in the iGEM Competition, ever, when complemented with empirically winning the prize for the Best Energy Prodrawn knowledge, it allows one to take on ject and a nomination for the Entrepreneura more comprehensive understanding. Fur- ship Prize as well.” thermore, these experiences have granted a A research-oriented degree along with holistic understanding of the entire process well-utilitiesd research opportunities have including planning, organising, scheduling equipped Ali with both general and specialand presenting with an eye for critical think- ised skills, preparing him for academic caing.” reer future.

“The practical nature of research has Emphasising his Muslim Australian idenproven to be invaluable to my academic tity, Ali concluded, “We all have talents and

Ali Asghar Ali with his iGEM trophy. strengths that are needed by the community.

Living in a religiously diverse culture can be challenging owing to the fact that at times the identity of a Muslim can be under scrutiny. In the wake of this realisation, we must lead by example by living up to the highest standards set forth by our religion.”

In the end, Ali wished all students the best of luck in their endeavours. You can subscribe to his channel at youtube.com/user/ bestmunindia or catch up with what he’s been saying on Twitter @ali_asgher_ali.

Aisha Mohsin is a Melbourne-based academic editor and blogger. She has a knack for writing. You can find her at www.aishamohsinblog.wordpress.com

Ahmed wins Wintec Teaching and Learning award Dr Anisur Rahman Ahmed Saadeh, a Senior Academic Staff member at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), New Zealand, has been acknowledged by his peers by winning the Wintec Teaching and Learning Award in Wintec’s 2017 Annual Staff Awards conferred on 8 September 2017.

Ahmed has embraced the new Wintec Teaching & Learning Directions and applied many of the principles in his modules over the past two semesters.

Student SetMaps indicate students can clearly see his passion and enthusiasm for the subjects he teaches and they clearly value his expertise.

The students have also specifically talked about his ability to engage with all cultures and encourage participation which is a wonderful piece of feedback.

In his SetMap for his accounting module, 12 out of 17 responses highlighted his teaching style and techniques as being especially strong.

Peer observations from colleagues within Centre for Business and Information Technology (CBITE) and those from the Teaching & Learning team highlight Ahmed’s ability to be very inclusive in his classes, engage with all students from all cultures

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and provide a strong learning platform for students to build their knowledge and skills.

He challenges his own practice as well as providing opportunities in class for students to challenge themselves.

Ahmed has introduced technology into the accounting classes, using ‘YouTube’ videos to encourage discussions and debate and creating a campus challenges to show how students can apply their learning in accounting to everyday life situations. He has brought the outside world inside for students and made accounting (and particularly auditing) fun and interactive.

Ahmed’s PhD research paper was awarded the ‘Best Paper Award’ at the 4th Forensic Accounting Conference and he has presented this paper over in Australia.

He has also been invited by Waikato University to be a guest speaker on auditing.

Ahmed has embraced the new way of Teaching & Learning – he has grown through the experience and so have all his students.

Ahmed, who is himself finalising a PhD in Forensics Accounting and has worked as an auditor, teaches the Auditing and Assurance paper at Wintec, a paper he says is known for being ‘hard’.

He believes that auditing, a subject that’s not all fun, can become interesting, by incorporating technology in the classroom and allowing students to explore how what they have learned applies to the real world can serve as a great reflective tool.

“People can have high expectations that

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Ahmed Saadeh with his colleague. an auditor’s duty is to prevent or detect fraud”, says Ahmed. “And auditors believe they are not expected to, and cannot, reduce fraud risk to zero and therefore cannot obtain absolute assurance that financial statements are free from fraud or error”.

“There is a gap between society’s expectations of auditors and auditors’ performance.

Identifying and understanding the auditing gaps and the nuances of this evolving role

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are critical for our students to go out into a world where they will expect the unexpected and develop solutions.”

Dr Anisur Rahman has been working as a research scientist at AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand since 1972 and has pioneered the establishment of Islamic institutions and organisations in NZ since then.

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ARYA Awards for Afghan refugee youth

Excellence in Business Enterprise winner: Murtaza Ahmadi (right).

Sayed Rahmatullah Hussainizada Afghan Refugees Youth Achievement Awards known as ‘ARYA Awards’ were presented on Friday 8 December 2017 at Campbelltown Civic Centre hosted by Afghan Fajar Association, ‘AFAIC’.

With over 200 guests from a multicultural background, the ARYA Awards showcased a cultural night, celebrating the success and achievements of many young Afghan refugees who are contributing positively to their communities.

There were six main awards categories with three finalists in each category, being recognised as High Achievement Award, Outstanding Achievement Award and Excellent Achievement Award.

AFAIC had established a judging panel from major Afghan organisations in NSW including, the Afghan Community Support Association in Blacktown, the Nabi Akram

Excellence in Citizenship winner: Maryam Latifi (right).

Islamic Centre – Noor Association in Granville, The Australian Afghan Hasanian Youth Association Incorporated in Regent Park, Australian Ofoq Afghan Weekly in Merrylands and the Almahdi Youth Association in Campbelltown.

In a unified approach, AFAIC managed to bring many of the Afghan organisations to participate in the judging of the three finalists for each category of Awards.

The event started with the recitation of the holy Quran, followed by acknowledgement of the country and Australian and Afghan national anthems.

The Mayor of Campbelltown City Council, Councillor George Brticevic welcomed the guests to Campbelltown. The Mayor congratulated AFAIC on yet another successful event and emphasised on the need for support from the local community.

“We are witnessing a great organisation doing amazing projects in the Campbelltown LGA and we announce our support in whatever they need to make this community better,” said the Campbelltown Mayor.

The Afghan Ambassador to Australia, Mr Wahidullah Waissi, joined the guests over

Excellence in Community Service - Volunteering winner: Bilal Tawakkul (centre).

a telephone conference and congratulated AFAIC on being a bridge between Afghan communities and the mainstream Australian society.

“I congratulate the organisation and most importantly the youth, for their hard work, persistence and success. You’re the pride of Afghanistan and Australia,” said the Ambassador.

Some of the other dignitaries in attendance included members of the NSW police force, NSW Member of Parliament for Macquarie Fields, Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong, Campbelltown City Councillors, CEO of Macarthur Workplace and Learning Program, STARTTS, representatives from Telstra, Wests Tigers and the acting crew of the refugee short film, ‘Sheltered’. They were accompanied by over 140 other Afghan community youth, elders.

At ARYA Awards, AFAIC launched the premiere of the refugee short film titled Sheltered, which AFAIC is the executive producer for. This engaging artistic expression of a story of refugee youth being bullied at high school, resonated with many Afghan youth present at ARYA Awards.

“It is a tale of every migrant and refugee and it was so well portrayed by Barkat Hussainizada. It brought tears to my eyes’. said one of the Mr Haidary who was an attendee at the ARYA Awards.

The recognition of talented young people was immensely welcomed by elders in the community and they announced their support for ARYA Awards. “We are pleased to see such a display of talent and we want to know how we can assist in making it better next year,” said Mr Karimi, whose son, Sajjad Karimi, won the Appreciation Award for Sports.

Sajjad was described by David Blom – Macquarie Field’s Police Liaison Officer ‘as potentially the future Prime Minister of Australia.’

ARYA Awards was a fusion of multicultural representation – from the traditional start to program to the Afghan-style dinner, it certainly was a night to remember!

Sayed Rahmatullah Hussainizada is a solicitor, journalist and an entrepreneur based in Sydney. Sayed is the public and policy officer for Afghan Fajar Association Incorporated and the Founder of CultureShare.

Mobinah appointed Ambassador for Peace AMUST Media Mobinah Ahmad was appointed as an Ambassador for Peace by the Universal Peace Foundation on Monday 4 December at the Living for Others Awards night at Oceania Peace Embassy in Sydney.

“The Universal Peace Foundation is very grateful for the outstanding work you do in your community and beyond. Becoming an Ambassador for Peace is being part of a world wide network of individuals from all walks of life who work for the cause of peace. You are actually already doing that,” said Mrs Catrine Van Dinklage, UPF Events Coordinator.

The event was attended by more than 80 people who enjoyed the pleasant evening where the theme was “Living for Others” with four speakers who after receiving their award, spoke on the reasons why they live for others.

• Sharon Minniecon (distinguished Aboriginal community worker) • Hassan Moussa (employment mentor and charity worker) • Sameer Qasim (engaged in humanitarian activity as the producer of National Iraqi TV based in Sydney) • Suzanne Spence (advocate and activist against human trafficking, modern day slavery and sexploitation of young women and children).

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Mobinah Ahmad with Greg Stone, Chairman, UPF. Jynene Helland, the program included an ation Australia.

Acknowledgement to People and Country About Mobinah Ahmad and Prayer by Pearl Wymarra, impressive Mobinah is currently working as the NSW entertainment from the Australian Violin Executive Officer for the Australia Arab Academy Ensemble, a UPF introducto- Chamber of Commerce & Industry. ry video, welcome and message by Greg She is a young community leader within Stone, Chairman of UPF Oceania followed the Australian Muslim community and is by the awards presentation. actively involved in multicultural and inter“Living for Others Awards” continues as faith communities across Australia. a hallmark event of Universal Peace FederShe is well known in the Australian comWWW.AMUST.COM.AU

munity, amongst politicians, media outlets and interfaith groups while working through the mega-event MEFF ‘The Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair’, MEFF and as the Managing Editor in a popular community newspaper AMUST, The Australasian Muslim Times.

Mobinah has a well-rounded education having completed International Baccalaureate from Methodist Ladies College, BA majoring in French, BSc majoring in psychology, MA (Digital Communication & culture) with her thesis on Facebook privacy, degrees awarded from the University of Sydney.

She is currently completing her Masters in Islamic Studies from Charles Sturt University at ISRA. Mobinah has extensive experience in being a social media analyst and consultant, a professional photographer and filmmaker, multimedia journalist, and event manager.

Mobinah has developed her very own socio-cultural friendship theory which went viral through a US podcast and also was featured on a number of programs on Australian Television on ABC and Channel 10.

She has also participated in being the focus of two television documentaries showcasing her Australian Muslim identity, her extended family and her work for the community.

Mobinah has travelled extensively with her family, friends as well as on exchange programs between Australia and other countries.

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Arshad Saeed captures images on water Book Review: Behte Pani Pe Tasveer (Image on Waterfall), Arshad Saeed’s second book of poems Zeeshan Haider Inherently all human beings are curious and prone to explore in pursuance of knowing the unknown. This infinite chase in the finite ecology, evidently, inspired various mediums of expressions in order to portray the intricacies of, collective and/or individual, spiritual-intellectual journey of humankind.

As we are aware that the level of cognitive intelligence varies from person to person, simultaneously the capabilities of creation, innovation, thinking, analysing and transmutation the data into knowledge differ.

A collage of above-mentioned characteristics along with sociocultural environment sets the extent of curiosity in oneself, consequentially the ones with disruptive level of curiosity often use art as a medium of expression.

Language artists build on their sub-consciousness to understand and recognize their divinity by words that have both obvious and implied meaning. Arshad Saeed is one of those extra-ordinary human beings whose inquisitive minds made him a distinguished Urdu language artist, a poet.

He writes poems (Nazms), Ghazals, Stanzas and Essays.

Arshad Saeed belongs to a noble and literary family. He is a grandson of a prominent poet and litterateur of Urdu language, Arman Shahjahan Puri. Moreover, during schooling he was fortunate to have teachers like Hafiz Muhammad Zahoor Ul Haq Zahoor, a scholar of high repute, who authored numerous books in Persian and Urdu

language.

In a nutshell, literature is in Arshad’s blood. His first book ‘Hadood-e-Shaam Se Agey’ was well-received and appreciated by both readers and litterateurs. His second book ‘Behte Pani Pe Tasveer’ is in front of me and it is truly a Gleaming Flare in Hazy Skies of contemporary Urdu literature.

Arshad Saeed is people’s poet. He feels and experiences the life with a greater detail. This is why his poetic inspirations come from his major life events, nature, social cosmology, romanticism, patriotism and the ache of saudade while living away from motherland. Arshad says: Khamosh Falak Ab To Dikha Mujh Ko Sitara Is Shehr Mein Phirta He Koi Hijr Ka Mara Ta’Alluk ToR Dena To Bahot Aasaan Hota Hai Mein Aasaan kaam Ko Aksar Bahot Dushwar karta Hun Ab Koi Khauf Nahi he Mujhe Shetano Se Aye Khuda Tu Hi Bacha Le Mujhe Insanon Se Arshad’s major literary contribution is in the form of Ghazal and Nazm, however, his trial of genius in other forms is also noticeable. Other forms include but not limited to Blank Verse (Azad Nazm), Canzone (Musaddas) and Quatrain (Qata). Also his Elegies on the death of his mother, brother and other people, who were close to him, leave deep lasting impressions on readers’ heart.

Apne Ashkon Mein Tri Yaad Saja Kar Dekhun Behte Pani Pe Mein Tasveer Bana Kar Dekhun Arshad’s deliberative reflexive sophistry in Ghazals is a pure reflection on his inno-

Arshad Saeed. cent emotions. This behaviour or mood attracts the readers towards him. In real life this sincere straightforward demeanour has brought about a wealth of friendships for him. See some of his couplets below: Mein Tishna Lub Tha Magar Aik Ghoont Pee Na Saka Ajab Tarah Ki Koi Pyaas Os Glaas Mein Thi Kitab-E-Zehn Mein Tehreer Ik Purani Thi Waraq Ulat Ke Jo Dekha To Nau Jawani Thi Mein Garche Sukhan Gooi Mein Sultan Nahi Hun Per Ye Bhi Haqeeqat He Keh Darban Nahi Hun Ye Jo Hum Apne Liaya Shehr e Khutan Mangte Hein Dasht Se Tang Huay Hein to Chaman Mangte Hein Oska Milna Jo Dhiaan mein rakha Phool Ik Phooldaan Mein Rakha

Zindon Pe Bhi Saya He Na Lashon Pe Kafan He Aye Ahl-E-Khirad Dekh Lo Ye Kesa Watan I conclude by congratulating Arshad Saeed for his valuable contribution to Urdu literature and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Zeeshan Haider is an award winning prominent young poet of Urdu/Hindi language based in Canberra. He is the Director in one of the leading Aged Care Organisations.

Zeeshan Haider’s first book of poetry named Khumaar-E-Khayal was published in 2004.

In conversation with visiting poet, Sohail Shah Hanif Bismi Mr Sohail Shah, poet and reciter of poems from Pakistan visited Australia and gave an exclusive interview to AMUST on Monday 4 December 2017 in Sydney.

Mr Shah started writing from an early age and owes his literally success to his father and grandfather who were writers as well.

He exclusively writes Hamd (poetry in praise to Allah) and Naat (poetry/lyrics in praise to Prophet Muhammad (s).

Mr Shah has also contributed another poetic literature known as Manqabat (Sufi devotional poems) Salaams and Nohas (mourning or expressing sorrows and tragedy).

Mr Shah arrived in Australia on the 28 November 2017 to participate in the Milad programs performing at various Islamic centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.

“My motive of coming to Australia is mainly to follow the footsteps of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (s) by spreading the divine message of mercy during the auspicious month of Rabi-ul Awwal,” said Mr Shah.

Mr Shah’s first poem was an inspirational poem, prayer to Allah that was published in 1990 in a literary magazine named Islah.

Since then he has published four books of collections of his poetry, first one called Safin-e-Fagar was published in 2003. The collection called Assas was published in 2005 followed by Suraj chawda Kiranon Ka in 2008. The latest collection called Misbahul Zikr published in 2015.

Mr Shah has performed at various events in the US, different countries in Africa and Middle East including Iran, Iraq and India.

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Sohail Shah with Hanif Bismi.

His untitled work is still in progress and hopefully will be published in 2018.

Mr Shah’s work is firmly rooted in the tradition of Islam. It’s through his work that he intends to promote peace and brotherhood which is the real essence of Islam.

He also emphasised that poetry takes on exaggerated importance as a medium that invites its readers to explore the depth of words. Mr Shah’s words are capable of encapsulating the essence of historical events in just few lines.

He takes his writing skill as an opportunity to promote peace and harmony among inter-community and aims to foster inclusion and mutual respect in religious and cultural diversity through his words.

His recitations are available on YouTube and on CDS. Mr Shah enthusiastically informed Aus-

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tralasian Muslim Times that Australia enjoys a reputation for being a peaceful country and that he would love to visit again in future.

He thanked Australasian Muslim Times for their courtesy and by using this platform he urged the community to enhance the literary environment in order to produce Australian-born writers and poets so that the humanity can be served by spreading the message of Islam.

Australian Muslim Times extended gratitude to Mr Intizar Jaffery for facilitating the interview at his residence and thanked Mr Sohail Shah for his valuable time by giving him a copy of AMUST latest issue.

National Seniors’ Australia Sydney Greater West Branch meets on the third Thursday of every month at Blacktown RSL at 10am.

Hanif Bismi is a Sydney based historian, political analyst, community activist and an Advisor to ARO.

To learn more, call: (02) 8678 2245

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Triathlon Pink at Sydney Olympic Park Sakinah Bokhari On Saturday 2 December, hundreds of women and kids competed in Triathlon Pink held at Sydney Olympic Park.

Triathlon has become a popular sport. A triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines, swimming, cycling and running.

Triathlon Pink holds events in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast and they are a national series which aims to raise funds and awareness for their charity partner the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

In 2017/2018, they hope to take their fundraising past $2 million. The next event in Sydney will be on Sunday 22 April 2018 at Maroubra.

There were different categories with different distances to suit each athlete during the Triathlon Pink in Sydney.

A strong contingent of 5 athletes from the Activate Multisport team completed the triathlon with good pace and strong performance.

They competed in the Long (300m swim, 9km cycle, 3km run) or Ultra course (600m swim, 18km cycle, 6km run).

The event was well organised and en-

joyed by all participants and many families that came out to show their support for their mums, spouses, sisters, daughters and brothers.

Each athlete received a medal at the finish line.

It was wonderful to be part of such a fun event to help raise funds for charity and also enjoy the challenge with so many other Aussies.

The Activate Multisport group has been training for a number of months under Coach Ryno Louw. For many, it was their first triathlon.

Many women encouraged me along the run to keep going and told me to run with them. It was my first triathlon, the only Muslim hijabi competing like mother like son together under training with Activate Multisport group.

I felt so comfortable amongst all the other women and it made me feel so blessed and proud to be in a country that supports such events. I hope to participate in many more triathlons in 2018.

My son, Eesa Bokhari, age 8, completed the triathlon under the 7-9-year-old category (50m swim, 2km cycle, 500m run) with a strong finish.

You can find out more about Triathlon Pink at www.triathlonpink.com.au and training with Activate Multisport at www. activatemultisport.com.

Sakinah Bokhari is a teacher based in Sydney.

Teammates: Eleanor Louw with Sakinah.

Like mother like son. Sakinah with Eesa Bokhari.

Eesa Bokhari in action at Triathlon Pink, Sydney Olympic Park.

MEP delegation meets AMUST team

Mehar Ahmad A group of young Indonesian Muslim leaders paid a visit to AMUST offices at Dar-ul-Islam in Bonnyrigg, Sydney meeting AMUST team members on Saturday 16 December.

This is the first group of Indonesian delegates visiting Australia under the Australia-Indonesia Muslim Leaders Exchange 2017–18 (MEP) program that has been successfully operating since 2002 involving visits to Australia by groups of young Indonesian Muslim community leaders to have a greater awareness of Australia’s multicultural society.

The Indonesian delegates went to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney within a period of two weeks during mid-December 2017 and visited prominent universities, mosques, interfaith organisations and businesses and AMUST offices availing the opportunity to have discussions with a variety of community leaders.

The delegation included Dr Ahmad Handayani, a Medical Doctor from North Sumatra involved in disaster relief work as well as working with Rohingya refugees; Dr Abdurrohim, the Head of an Islamic College in Kalimantan; Ms Jayanti, an educational consultant who delivers school-based community development programs in remote communities; Mr Muhammad Mu’tasimbilJANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

lah, a young imam from West Java working on issues of hate speech and interfaith; and Ms Nati Sajidah, a teacher trainer and corporate consultant who has founded a Qur’an Lovers Community.

At AMUST offices they met Mr Zia Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief of AMUST as well as Mrs Mehar Ahmad, President, Seena Incorporated, Publishers of AMUST. Some delegates later reflected on their visit.

Dr Abdurrohim’s reflections: “While visiting al-Siraat College in Epping, Melbourne, I found the Australasian Muslim Times newspaper and asked the school if I could take it home. One of the places that gave me the best impression as a participant of the Muslim Exchange Program was visiting the Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST) offices in Sydney.

It cannot be denied that we have met some incredible people over the course of our meetings in the 2017-18 MEP program. The program ended with our meeting with Mr Zia Ahmad and Mrs Mehar Ahmad, a perfect couple of Indian-Pakistani origin, the team behind the Australasian Muslim Times. This impressive couple are prominent representatives of the Muslim community, with a host of awards and incredible passion for sharing positive news stories about Islam and the Australian Muslim community. Mr Ahmad explained that half of the publication’s subscribers are in fact non-Muslims.

This movement for positive media is a

MEP Delegation at AMUST offices in Bonnyrigg. golden bridge to creating authentic under- an muslim life very rich. Here you have a standing about Islam and Muslim communi- different type of mosques which I find very ties in Australia. The Muslim Times is also interesting, this reality was contrary to my an effective medium for disseminating ideas prior assumption that Australian Muslim of interfaith dialogue and breaking down the Community consists of only anglo-Australbarriers between people of faith in Australia. ian Muslims.

You could say that our meeting with Mr By conducting various meetings with Ahmad and his wife was a beautiful way to different groups of Muslims and interfaith end our journey on MEP for 2017...” groups, this program gave me a chance to Mr Muhammad Mu’tasimbillah’s reflec- stand in someone’s shoes and broaden my tions: horizon, to see everything in a just and bal“Through this program, I am able to ac- anced way. I am very thankful and grateful knowledge and understand the reality of to have this experience and witnessed the Muslims life in Australia, which is very friendliness and generosity of my Australian diverse, they come from different coun- brothers and sisters.” tries and cultures, so this makes Australi-

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Rohingyas: The Tula Toli Massacre in Burma Abdul Malik Mujahid On the morning of 30 August 2017, Shahidul Amin was already in the forest cutting wood when, around 8 am, his wife Hasina Begum saw Burmese military helicopters landing. This was the beginning of the massacre of Tula Toli, a peaceful village set in a beautiful lush green hilly area and surrounded on three sides by a rapidly flowing mountain river.

Badiur Rahman, former chair of the village council, told me that until that fateful day the village had been home to more than 3,000 Rohingya Muslims, primarily subsistence rice and chili pepper farmers. The village also housed about 300 Buddhist Rakhin.

Today only the Buddhists remain, for about 1,700 of their fellow Muslim villagers were slaughtered and those who survived spent the next four to five days making their way to Bangladesh. All that remains of their homes, shops and mosque are ashes, the signs of which can be seen in satellite images.

Along with most of her fellow villagers, Hasina Begum, the 20-year-old wife of Shahidul Amin, a 25-year-old agricultural worker, fled south toward the river to escape the Burmese soldiers, who were attacking from the north. This was their only escape route.

Unfortunately, the rapidly flowing river is not easy to cross and many of those who jumped in drowned. Some of the soldiers, who separated the captured men and women, began killing the men while others told the women to stand in a stream with only their heads showing. I asked one survivor, Mohammad Suleiman, why he did not try to defend himself. He responded that “they had guns and we had nothing.”

Hasina was one of the women standing in the river. Around 3 or 4 pm, the soldiers were through burning everything in the village that belonged to the Muslims. After killing most of the men and throwing their corpses into a fire pit — even those who were still alive — the soldiers came for the women.

Five soldiers at a time dragged five of them, including Hasina, to a hut. One snatched away her 16-month-old child and threw it into the fire. As they began ripping her clothes off to rape her, she resisted them and was hit and thrown into a hut, which was then set ablaze.

As related by its survivors in Bangladesh

Hasina with her husband, Shahidul Amin. Photo by Shafiur Rahman © Justice For All. But she remembers only one blow, saying that she did not feel the ones that damaged her jaw. Finding a small opening in the burning hut, she managed to escape and hide in a vegetable patch for the rest of the evening.

Late at night and without any clothing, she made her way to a nearby forest where other survivors gave her some clothes.

Hasina’s mother-in-law, father-in-law and one sister-in-law were killed. At that time, she did not know that her husband Shahid had survived, for he had not been in the village with the soldiers had attacked. He came to know about the loss of his child, parents and sister only after he managed to find Hasina via the Internet.

The Rohingya are familiar with technology. Many have cell phones, and some carry two SIM cards: one to talk with relatives in Burma and another one to communicate with those in the Bangladeshi camp. As a

Bodiur Rahman, a 91-year-old, was the chairman of the Tula Toli village council, which suffered one of the worst massacres in the area. Zaman says his grandson was brutally killed. He says that it is all fiction that there was any terrorist in our village. He told me there were about 4,000 Rohingyas in his village but the current chairman is a Buddhist whereas there are only 300 Buddhists. Since Rohingyas were no longer citizens they lost political power.

Photo by Abdul Malik Mujahid © Sound Vision

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matter of fact, I saw more solar panels in the refugee camps than in my Chicago neighborhood. A small solar panel serves almost every 200 huts, allowing refugees to charge their cell phones.

Someone uploaded a video of Hasina’s tragedy to an Internet group. Her husband, at that time still in Burma, saw it and began looking for her in various clusters of people traveling through Burma’s jungles and mountains. After finding her, a generous Rohingya lent him enough money to reach Bangladesh and seek treatment for his wife.

Based on the 30 testimonies that our team received and that I recorded from Tula Toli survivors, the timeline of events suggests a planned military operation. The military had been attacking people weeks before the alleged 25 August attacks.

Ten days before the 30 August massacre, the soldiers had searched the villagers’

homes and confiscated their valuables. The village council had held meetings beforehand to ensure the presence of the households’ male members, purportedly for national verification card registration purposes. But no such registration took place.

The current village chair had actually assured the villagers that although the soldiers might burn their houses, they would not kill anyone. The villagers, however, believed that they had been marked for extermination.

As I went up and down the hills where these latest refugees now live in plastic and bamboo huts, I kept meeting survivors of one massacre or another. Whenever I started talking to a person, others would gather and eventually turn a one-on-one conversation into a meeting. And so I started asking one standard question: How many of them had seen someone being killed? Almost always,

A 13-year-old victim of rape, Anwara. She cannot read and write since Rohingyas are not allowed in the school. I did not talk to her about her ordeal.

But I asked her about other things. Her favorite color is sky blue and favorite flower is rose. She responded to my question about what she misses the most by saying her mother and brother who were killed.

She has learned from another Rohingya who was born in this camp how to sew on a machine donated to her by a Burma Task Force staff. The United Nations survey says 52% of all women they interviewed were raped.

Photo by Abdul Malik Mujahid © Sound Vision

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40 percent of the crowd raised their hands.

No one knows the actual number of people killed so far in this genocide. The Burmese government, not known for its truthfulness, maintains that only 400 Rohingya have been killed. The people of Tula Toli, however, insist that at least 1,700 — more than half — of their fellow villagers have died.

An approximate estimate could be based on a recent UN survey, which states that 14 percent of the refugees are single mothers who are holding their families together with little support. That would put single mothers among the recent arrivals to 84,000.

One cannot say with certainty that at least 84,000 men have been murdered, since some of them may have been detained by the military or be either alive (in hiding) or lost, as was Hasina’s husband.

Only a thorough survey of the population

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casualties can determine the actual number of casualties. The Burma Task Force (https://www.burmamuslims.org), which will have three teams documenting personal and property losses through the survivors’ recorded testimonies, has asked the Bangladesh Human Right Commission to take up this project.

This documentation project will be guided by legal scholars of genocide and will be helpful when the lawsuits and claims are filed.

I saw w o m e n everywhere.

Almost all were hijabis dressed in Burmese-style clothing as opposed to Bangladeshi-style clothing. Many were niqabis. As I neared the area where the Rohingya camps are, I began noticing cluster of families, mostly women and children, standing silently on each side of the road; some were literally sitting in mud.

As I moved nearer, I saw crowds of people

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Some of the soldiers, who “separated the captured men and

women, began killing the men while others told the women to stand in a stream with only their heads showing. Then 5 each of them were picked up by 5 Burmese military soldiers who raped them before killing or took them with them.

”

Zahir Ahmed. on both sides of the road. I asked one family why they were standing there. They told me that they had just arrived and didn’t know where to go.

I developed a very high degree of respect for both the Rohingya and the Bangladeshis.

The former seem to be the embodiment of patience and endurance, for despite being subject to genocide they almost never raise their voices or fight among themselves in the crowded camps. They are gentle souls.

There are Buddhist temples all around their camps. Some of these areas actually have a Buddhist majority, and yet there is not one single case of the Rohingya ever attacking even one of them.

I saw Bangladeshis driving vehicles of all sizes, shapes and ages — all full of aid for the refugees. And yet many times the traffic came to a standstill, because only a single, narrow one-lane road serves this area of Cox’s Bazar, a tiny strip of land in the remotest part of Bangladesh that ends in the Bay of Bengal.

Well-meaning Bangladeshi Muslims are bringing supplies from all corners of the country. The government, the army, various UN agencies, and all legal and not-so-legal foreigners trying to help must use this sole road. Logistics, not the absence of love, care

and resources, is causing hunger and malnutrition in the camps.

Just as helicopters became lifesavers in the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake, Bangladesh needs helicopters to speed up the distribution of supplies. One million poor but nevertheless self-reliant people have now been forced to depend upon others.

Forbidden to work or leave the camp, all they can do is wait for someone to give them food, medicine and shelter. This is where Washington can help, as it has done in so many disaster zones around the world.

One of the Burma Task Force’s major requests is that Washington send helicopters to Bangladesh. That is coming, but it might be too late if the helicopters cannot improve distribution quickly enough to save lives, including those of 85,000 pregnant women who do not have enough to eat.

Abdul Malik Mujahid, president of Sound Vision and chair of Burma Task Force, visited Bangladesh in September and late November 2017.

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid is president of Sound Vision and chair of Burma Task Force USA. Tweet @MalikMujahid.

Muhammad Sulaiman saw from the hillside where he was hiding that about 150 Burmese soldiers lined up the dead bodies on the river bank. Some seemed still alive so they started hitting on their head to kill them. Three of his daughters and wife were killed. He survived with one of his daughters.

Photo by Abdul Malik Mujahid © Sound Vision

Rashida Begum is just released from MSF clinic. She was one of those made to stand in water after surviving the “kill run”. She was then selected and taken with others to a hut where she was raped. As she tried to run away with her baby, a soldier yanked at her 28 day old baby. As she resisted the soldier stabbed her in the throat, behind her ear, near one armpit and slashed her stomach. They took the baby and smashed the baby’s head on the ground.

She was left for dead. But some villagers found her alive and brought here walking four days to Bangladesh. She still unable to speak properly but in whispers. Photo by Shafiur Rahman © Justice For All JANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

One survivor of Tula Toli massacre is Noor Muhammad with the author. The whole family of the 15-year-old Noor Muhammad was killed. He lost his parents, all siblings (4 sisters, and 3 brothers). I did not know what to say, so I hugged him. That is the only time I saw him sobbing. His heart beat with my heart. I asked him if he has any memory of his family left. He showed me an image on his cell phone. It was a photo of three children. I asked him where they are. He told me that they were killed as well along with their mother who was married to his brother. Noor is illiterate since he was never allowed to attend a school. Rohingyas used to be educated people. But since their citizenship was taken away in 1982 they are not allowed to enter school. Whereas there is 80% literacy in that area, Rohingyas are almost all illiterate unless they went to a Madrasah. In Madrasah they learn Islam through Arabic and Urdu. Photo by Shafiur Rahman © Justice For All.

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The suffering of Rohingya refugees

Hasina (20) a genocide survivor. Her 4-month baby was thrown into a fire, she witnessed more than 100 deaths including family members and victims of rape.

Salahuddin Ahmad

Hundreds of thousands of those kids need basic education other than free Quran lessons, Balukhalui refugee camp, Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 2017.

I had no answers when orphan siblings who A Rohingyan woman is telling the photographer her lost their parents in Maungdaw in the Myanmar survival stories. Kutupalong refugee camp, Ukhia, Genocide asked for justice. Kutupalong refugee Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November 2017. camp, Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Ban

A Rohingyan refugee boy is waiting in a queue and getting squeezed for about 5 hours to get relief at Kutupalong refugee camp, Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November 2017.

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A Rohingyan mother showing a photograph of her family. One of her sons died in this genocide.

Kutupalong refugee camp, Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November 20.

Hundreds waiting for hours to see a camp doctor at Balukhalui refugee camp, Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 2017.

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Trumps Jerusalem move considered null & void Continued from page 2 “President trump made the biggest mistake of his life because instead of encouraging the parties to sit together, the parties to put all core issues including Jerusalem on the table and negotiating in good faith, he dictates” – Saeb Erekat, Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary-general.

“Jerusalem is a final status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between two parties on the basis of the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, taking into account the legitimate concerns of both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides” – Antonio Guterres, United Nations secretary-general Meanwhile, protests opposing Trump and his decision erupted in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Palestinian leaders are furious by the changes, calling for three “days of rage” across Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank where angry demonstrations took over.

Being home to the third most holy site in Islam and the most sacred site for Jews, the status of Jerusalem is a focal issue in the Is-

raeli-Palestinian peace process. Since occupying West Jerusalem in 1948 and the Eastern half of the city in 1967, Israel proclaims all of Jerusalem as their “eternal, undivided capital”. Although Israel controls the city, Palestinians demand the city’s eastern sector as the capital of a future independent state.

The change in US policy not only endorses Israel’s de-facto annexation of East Jerusalem, which has not yet been internationally recognised, but also authorises Israeli sovereignty over the city. Once again, there has been an international failure to address Israeli human rights violations and a lack of recognition and acknowledgement towards the Palestinians.

For years, the United States has positioned itself as the primary mediator between Israelis and Palestinians; nevertheless, Trump’s announcement reinforces its perpetual alliance with the Jewish State.

Linda Abdelqader is a Sydney-based journalist studying a media degree at Western Sydney University.

Kashmir: Social media gag on Civilians killed by Syrian government workers slammed regime with Russian backing Government workers in Kashmir have decried a government ban prohibiting them and their families from expressing political opinions on social networking sites.

Under a new order issued on Tuesday 26 December, Jammu and Kashmir government employees were barred from engaging in “criminal, dishonest, immoral or disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to government”.

The region’s half a million staff were also warned against taking part in political discussions or criticising the government’s policies.

“Employees should be aware that the law enforcement agencies will observe content and information made available by them on the social media,” the government order

reads.

“They should use their best judgment in posting material that is neither inappropriate nor harmful to the state.”

Violators risk being hit by a number of legal punishments, including disciplinary action, early retirement, demotion and even termination of service.

Abdul Qayoom Wani, head of the Employees Joint Action Committee, the largest association of government employees in the region, called the order an “attack on freedom of expression” and demanded its “immediate removal”.

Media Scan Ainullah

Egyptian hypocrisy over Jerusalem A Turkey-based TV station has released audio recordings it said were of an Egyptian intelligence officer asking influential hosts in Egypt to persuade their viewers to accept a US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The recordings in Arabic, aired by Mekameleen TV late on Sunday, were first reported on by the New York Times and appeared to contradict Egypt’s public condemnation

A large number of civilians in the Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta were killed and dozens more injured last weekend of airstrikes by the Baathist regime in Syria backed by Russians.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the conflict, also reported the death toll of 17 on Saturday, adding that Syrian and Russian aircraft had targeted several residential areas.

At least 10 medical facilities, including a crucial women and children’s hospital, have also been hit by airstrikes and artillery shelling over a nine-day period in Eastern Ghouta, and the provinces of Idlib and Hama, the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations said, calling the attacks “sickening and unacceptable.”

The UN said that the women and children’s hospital in Idlib, the largest-remaining rebel-held area, had been repeatedly taken out of service.

“For the third time in less than a week, the Maternity and Pediatric Hospital in Ma’arrat An Nu’man... (Idlib) had been damaged and taken out-of-service. Such actions are utterly unacceptable and must stop,” wrote UNOCHA, which coordinates the humanitarian response in Syria, on Twitter Saturday.

Eastern Ghouta, Idlib and Hama have all been designated “de-escalation zones” as part of an agreement brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran aimed to reduce violence in remaining rebel-held territory for at least six months.

Fighting and airstrikes in those areas violate a truce proposed by Russia, which was accepted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in November.

of the US move.

In the audio recordings, a man the Times identified as Captain Ashraf el-Kholi, tells the hosts that war with Israel was not in Egypt’s national interest, and asked them to play down opposition to US President Donald Trump’s move.

The recordings released by Mekameleen, however, has cast doubt over Egypt’s position.

Cleric Salman al-Awda ‘held over Qatar tweet’ A prominent Muslim scholar has been detained by Saudi Arabia for the past four months without charge, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

Saudi authorities detained Salman al-Awda on 7 September and later imposed travel bans on members of Awda’s family, the USbased rights group said on Sunday.

A family member told HRW that Awda was being held over his refusal to comply with an order by Saudi authorities to tweet a specific text to support the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar.

Instead, Awda posted a tweet on September 9, saying: “May God harmonize between their hearts for the good of their people” - an apparent call for reconciliation between the Gulf countries, HRW said in a statement.

“Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s efforts to reform the Saudi economy and society are bound to fail if his justice system scorns the rule of law by ordering arbitrary arrests and punishments,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. JANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

More arrests in Saudi Arabia

“There’s no justification for punishing family members of a detainee without showing even the slightest evidence or accusation of wrongdoing on their part.”

Saudi authorities imposed travel bans on 17 members of Awda’s family, according to HRW.

On Saturday 6 January 11 princes were detained after gathering at al-Hakem palace in Riyadh to demonstrate against a government decision to make the country’s royalty pay their utility bills.

Upon arrest, they were sent to a notorious maximum-security facility south of Riyadh in contrast to dozens of other high-profile figures who were detained in a luxury hotel last year during an anti-corruption drive.

The princes are expected to go on trial.

“The 11 individuals officially were arrested because they were complaining about the fact that they had asked for subsidies for

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water and electricity, and for some reason they were denied,” said analyst Joseph Kechichian.

“Other reports say that in fact they were cousins of a prince who was executed in October 2016 and that they had come to ask for retribution,” he added. “It’s very conflicting at this point, we don’t know exactly what is going on.”

The status quo in Jerusalem continues to be abrogated and any prospect of peace between Israelis and Palestinians seems more likely to be jeopardised for the near and far future.

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A climate of inaction; what are Muslims doing?

Illustrated by Faseeha Hashmi. temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius over the course of this century.

Crucial to its success, was the need for cooperation by major greenhouse gas emitters (the USA, China and India). However, President Donald Trump’s administration announced a repeal to the previous administration’s environmental policies, claiming that he is safeguarding the interests of the forgotten industrial towns of “Pittsburgh, (and) not Paris”.

Despite this, the Paris Climate Change Accord will still stand, however not entirely without the American people. Across the USA, governors, mayors, and corporations are stepping up to fill a leadership void left

by President Trump.

The most proactive amongst the 50 or so states within the Americas, is the island coast of Hawaii concerned by rising sea levels.

The world at large: As Muslims, we are told to lead by example, and that like all people, we are vicege-

rents of the earth.

Quranic verses and hadith endorse the practice for believers to protect trees and water sources, even in wartimes and to be sensitive enough not to harm the tiniest of ants.

So why are Muslims not leading the struggle in environmental conservation?

According to CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide Naser Haghamed, the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims should recognise that we have plenty to contribute. He says that a “strange paradox exists within the Muslim world” which represents more than a fifth of the world’s population but also inhabits regions most affected by a changing climate.

Therefore, if we do not act, Muslims around the world will be amongst the most severely affected by global warming.

Whilst in Australia, the debate looms over how we will contribute towards a cleaner energy future. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that Australia will still maintain our commitment to the Paris Accord.

Hotly debated under the Finkel report is whether coal should be the sole base energy source or used in conjunction with various energy sources such as wind, solar and gas.

These are important questions because Australia too has a major role to play. According to a report commissioned by Green Innovation Index and Next 10, Australia was ranked 45th out of 50 for per capita emissions.

This was only marginally better compared to various Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Therefore, Australia and numerous Muslim majority nations alike, lag behind when it comes to environmentalism.

Transformation: This is not to say that all Muslim nations remain backwards, some countries such as Jordan and Morocco are leading the way with mosques being powered with solar energy. Nevertheless, environmentalism truly needs to be made a priority.

Albert Einstein famously remarked that “significant problems we face today cannot

After the completion of his studies, he joined the great Scientific Academy Bait Al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad when he was twenty years old.

He spent all his life in Baghdad, working for the science a c a d e m y, studying mathematics and other subjects, and writing books.

A s tronomer alZawhari, mathematician, Habash al-Hsib and philosopher Scientist al-Kindi were his contemporaries. He died in 232 AH/847 AD in Baghdad Al-Khwarizmi wrote on all branches of mathematics: arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry. He also wrote on astronomy, geography, history, music, and astronomical instruments.

His book Surat-al-Ardh is devoted to geography, Kitab al-Zij to astronomy, and Kitab al-Tarikh to history.

His most important book Kitab al Mukhtasar fil hisab al-jabr Wal-Muqabla (Book of calculation by restoration and

balancing) dealing with algebra is divided into three parts.

The first part deals with algebra, the second with measurements and the third with problems of distribution of properties under Islamic law.

To p i c s discussed in the book include the basics of algebra; six standa r d s forms of algebraic problems, formulae for their solutions; the four arithmetical operations; addition, subtraction, multiplication, division; areas of a triangle, circle, square; the volume of cones, pyramids and cubes.

Al-Khwarizimi said that algebra is based on the two processes of aljabr and that all algebraic equation contains three factors: 1) unknown quantity, 2) the square of the unknown quantity and 3) a number.

Aljabr (restoration) is the process of transferring the negative quantity to the other side of the equation and eliminating it while Al Muqabala (balancing) is uniting

Faseeha Hashmi The Quran frequently encourages us to reflect on the natural world around us while describing the partition of the two major oceans and the peg-like mountain tops as an example.

But how often do we Muslims pause to think about the impact we have on our environment? It’s an important question, that begs our attention now more than ever.

For people whose faith emphasises the need to prepare ourselves for the hereafter, it really makes you wonder how much preparation have we done with polluted waterways and plastic-filled lands.

What kind of world will our children come to inherit?

While the many marched on with the Paris Climate Change Accord, the rest of the world certainly can not afford to be left behind looking hopelessly to President Donald Trump for solutions.

Realisation: In 1979, the First World Climate Conference began the greatest quest for the scientific community to prove the existence of climate change. For the next 38 years, the world’s scientific community grappled with convincing our global leadership to come to terms with the need to transform our economies and our untenable ways of life.

It did not take long though, for these scientific predictions to be realised. Within decades, we witnessed Beijing choked by industrial pollution, droughts in California, and the disappearance of glaciers in Greenland and Arctic.

Former Vice President Al Gore, Catholic leader Pope Francis, and the likes of celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio dubbed climate change to be the ‘defining crisis of our time’ enlightening our understanding of the validity of these disturbing scientific trends.

From Paris to Pittsburgh: The 2015 Paris Climate Change Accord was the most triumphant agreement to date.

From the original 195 signatory states, the accord ambitiously aimed to keep global

be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

President Trump might be living in a bygone era with the forgotten coal miners of the industrial rust belt of America. But his neglect will certainly not be doing his countrymen any favours.

It takes one person: There are several things which the everyone can do to offset our global footprint.

The Global Muslim Climate Network, a coalition of Muslim groups have called for the Muslim community to take clean energy measures within our homes, centres, schools and mosques, by encouraging: • utilising LED lighting • reducing wastage and overconsumption • improving insulation • utilising solar energy • conserving water and redistributing resources • practicing conscientious consumption • planting trees and creating more greener islamic community spaces In the case of President Trump, it only takes one person to immobilise a nation. But it also takes one to do the reverse.

Our religion was passed through the message of one person. We should not underestimate the impact we can make.

All Individual and all communities have an important role to play in combating global warming. As responsible human beings, we need to consider how we will reduce our carbon footprint to protect our planet for future generations to come.

So what will you do?

Join our fight: ‘Famsy Environmental Project’ is a new initiative seeking grass-roots change in our community on conservation and sustainability. Join the team and help us create a brighter future! Contact Famsy Environmental Project on Facebook for details.

Faseeha Hashmi holds a Master of International Relations from the University of Melbourne, with an interest in politics and human security.

Al-Khwarizmi: From Algebra to computing Professor Irfan Shahid The name of Al-Khwarismi has become immortal in the history of algebra and algorithm. He was a great Muslim Mathematician of the 8th century who transformed the mathematics from digit to letter and gave a pragmatic dimension to the science of mathematics.

Word Algebra is derived from the Arabic word aljabr found in the title of his great book on mathematics “Aljabar wal Muqabla”, while the word algorithm originates from his name Al-Khwarizmi.

Binary Mathematics used in computer programming is based on the algorithmic modules developed by Al-Khwarizmi.

He introduced into the Islamic world, and into Europe, the scientific numerals called the ‘Arabic Numerals’ with ten symbols (1, 2, 3….0) and their place value.

Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi was born in 180 AH/795 AD in Khwarizm, which is now known as Khiva in Uzbekistan in Central Asia. He was known As Al-Khwarizmi as he was born in the town of Khwarizm.

His ancestors were of Iranian origin who had settled in Khwarizmi long before his birth.

He lived during the reign of Abbasid caliphs al-Mamun, al-Mustasim and alWathiq. He studied Indian, Greek and Islamic resources on mathematics and astronomy available during his time. He was also well versed in history and geography.

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the similar quantities from other sides of the equation.

He reduces all problems to six standard forms: 1) squares equal to roots: ax3 = bx; 2) squares equal to number: ax2 = c; 3) roots equal to number : ax = c; 4) squares and roots equal to number : ax3 + bx = c; 5) squares and numbers equal to roots : ax2 + c= bx; and 6) squares equal to roots and numbers : ax2 = bx + c .

He framed rules to reduce any problem to one of the six standard forms. For example, x2 = 40x – 4x2 is reduced to standard form 1 as 5x3 = 40x. He gave the equation x2 + 10x = 39 which dominated algebra for several centuries.

Al-Khwarizmi influenced the development of mathematics more than any other mathematician in history. The West learned the modern numerals and algebra from his books. Kitab al-mukhtasar and other books were translated into Latin during the first half of the twelfth century.

One of the CEOs of HP company praised the mooris (Muslim) due to their contribution in the field of mathematics. She believed that if Khwarizmi was not born then the science of computer would not have developed as we see in our life. She told that Programming language is based on trigonometry and derivative which was developed by Al-Khwarizmi.

Professor Irfan Shahid, based in India is a prolific writer on Islam and Muslims. He is an Islamic Economist and a Sharia Scholar and can be contacted via shahid_irfan2002@yahoo.com. For more detail please visit his personal website www.irfanshahid.net ISSUE 146 / JANUARY 2018

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The need to rise for Al-Aqsa: View from Bahrain Shagufta Ahmad As we celebrate the National day of Bahrain on 16 December 2017, we cannot but feel the pain of those around the world who struggle to be free.

The right to freely move about in and return to one’s homeland, to feel secure in the boundaries of one’s own home, to plan one’s future and that of our children – these are basic birthrights that all Bahrainis take for granted. However, to some, freedom is not so easy.

On 15 December 2017 Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, 29 year old wheelchair bound Palestinian from Gaza, who had lost his legs in an Israeli missile strike in 2008, was killed by an Israeli sniper while he was peacefully protesting against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of undivided Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

As a US citizen living in an Arab country, I am appalled at the recent statement

by President Trump on 6 December 2017 where he has called to “officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

Previous US presidents have made similar campaign promises but were wise enough to not see such a radical move through. President Trump judges this course of action to be in the “best interest of the United States of America.” However, not only is this action against international law, it will only harm America’s interests worldwide.

Jerusalem is not just a geographic city contested between Israel and Palestine. Given the presence of the holy sites precious to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, this city touches the nerves of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic people across the globe who make up more than half of the world’s population. It is therefore imperative that any decision regarding this historic city be made under the auspices of a multi-lateral body such as the United Nations.

United Nations resolutions, particularly the following seven: No. 242 (1967); 252 (1968); 338 (1973); 465, 476, 478 (1980); and 1073 (1996) call for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the occupied territories (including occupied East Jerusalem which was forcefully annexed by Israel in 1967); state that acquisition of territory by military conquest is inadmissible; that expropriation of land and properties thereon, which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid and cannot change that status; call for in particular, the need for protection and preservation of the unique spiritual and religious dimension of the Holy Places in the city. [source: UNISPAL

website].

However Israel, instead of abiding by such UN resolutions, has continuously taken measures and actions in their contravention as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention which calls for the protection of civilians during times of war. Such flagrant violations have inevitably prevented a just and durable peace in the Middle East.

The recent Trump statements have added fuel to the fire and exposed the US role as an ally of Israel rather than a neutral peace broker between Israel and Palestine. US military and financial aid to Israel and its vetoes in the Security Council for any motions in favor of Palestine are all cases in point to the biased role the US has played in this process.

The Zionists lobbies have proven extremely powerful in swaying the just role the US should have played in achieving peace in the Palestine-Israel issue. Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid (almost all in military form) since World War II. As of 2016, the US has provided Israel $127.4 billion in aid. [source: US Congressional Research Service].

The veto power of the United States as a permanent member of the Security Council is essentially undemocratic and akin to dictatorship and the root cause of the non-resolution of the Palestine-Israel crisis. The US has used it again for the 43rd time to shoot down the Palestinian cause in the UN vis-avis Jerusalem.

However the question remains – how has the Arab / Muslim world responded to such brutal injustice? It was disappointing to see that only 22 out of 57 Muslim countries thought the Jerusalem issue was important

enough to send their heads of state to the OIC Summit in Istanbul on December 13, 2017. That is barely 40%.

Nevertheless it was heartening to see them declare occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine at the OIC Summit. It was also heartening to see the 128 countries stand with our Palestinian brothers and sisters at the UN General Assembly vote on Dec 21,2017, which included all Muslim majority countries.

But does the Muslim voice hold any clout?

One may ask the question though – why is it the responsibility of the Arab world to intervene when it has its own issues that it grapples with? The answer is simple: Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

This Mosque was the first Qibla for the Muslims. It is the place from where our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s) led all the other Prophets (a) in prayer and arose to the heavens in the famous Miraj journey.

Prophet Muhammad (s) said: “The prayer prayed in the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) is akin to one hundred thousand prayers, and the prayer in my mosque is akin to one thousand prayers and the prayer in Jerusalem is akin to five hundred prayers.”

[Imam Tabarani RA in his Mu`jam al-Kabir].

This singular reason should bring Muslims from around the world to unite around the protection of Al-Aqsa complex. In my recent visit to the Al-Aqsa I learnt that Palestinians living in Ramalla (West Bank) were not allowed to enter Jerusalem.

Hence Palestinian Muslims living 15 minutes away from Al-Aqsa Mosque were not allowed by the Israeli government to perform their Friday prayers there. This breach

of freedom of religion must not be ignored.

There were other Palestinians living in Jordan who were born in Palestine but were not even allowed to visit their country of birth! How would you feel if you were forbidden from visiting your family? But these are the daily realities for the Palestinians.

So what can we do as everyday Muslims to help change this seemingly intractable situation? Here are a few suggestions: 1 Learn the history. Nothing feeds into a just future than an accurate account of history. Absence of a unified Muslim narrative on the Palestine issue has allowed propaganda to rise and thrive to the point that people don’t even refer to Palestine as a country.

2 Feel connected to the Ummah. We are first and foremost Muslim and we must feel the pain of our brothers and sisters no matter which country they live in. This is what Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught us that the Ummah is one body – when one part hurts, the other must feel it. In the case of Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, this is the third holiest site for the Ummah. We must rise to defend it. We cannot rest until this holy land is forever secured for the Muslims.

3 Connect with your local politician.

If you live in a free country, you must have a political representative. Discuss with him or her what you can do at the local and national level to help the cause of peace.

4 Create awareness. No matter where you are, whether in a private conversation with your friends or in a family / friends / community gathering, raise the awareness on the issue. Tell the personal stories. Use social media to its fullest. It is the power in your hands. Also use official outlets such as newspapers, magazines, journals, research articles, and the Jumuah Khutbah.

5 Pray. This is being written last but it is definitely not the least. It is actually the greatest defense of a Muslim. Allah Almighty changes the condition of a people when we are ready to change ourselves.

As we celebrate our freedom in the Kingdom of Bahrain on its 46th National Day, let us pray for the freedom of the State of Palestine and the liberation of its people and secure the call for Prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for eternity.

Ms Shagufta Ahmad directs the services of the Islamic Educational and Cultural Research Center (IECRC) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University, California and an MBA in Islamic Finance from Open University Malaysia. Her professional career is engaged in building research capacity for the MENA region.

How do Muslims view Jesus Christ?

Mohammad Hassan Bakhtiari

There are many verses in the Holy Quran that venerate both Jesus, Eesa (a) and maiden Mary, Mariam (a) by sharing their story. Jesus has been mentioned 25 times in the Quran.

Following are some views that Muslims have about Jesus Christ (a), the noble Messenger of Allah.

Jesus Christ (a) is human Jesus Christ (a) was a human born of a virgin mother. As the last in the line of Jewish prophets, he was sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture. According to the Holy Quran, Jesus was no more than a messenger just like the previous messengers of God who had a worldly life like all the other creatures: “Truly, the likeness of (Prophet) Jesus with God, is as the likeness of Adam, He created him from dust then He said to him JANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

“Be” and he was” (Quran 3:59).

Jesus Christ (a) was neither killed nor was he crucified In accordance with understanding from the Holy Quran, the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus (a) is not believed to have occurred, and that he was rather saved, all of these being the substantial beliefs of Christianity.

“And for their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger (and Prophet) of Allah. ‘ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but to them, he (the crucified) had been given the look (of Prophet Jesus). Those who differ concerning him (Prophet Jesus) are surely in doubt regarding him, they have no knowledge of him, except the following of supposition, and (it is) a certainty they did not kill him. Rather, Allah raised him up to Him. Allah is Almighty, the Wise. …” (Quran 4: 157, 158) Jesus Christ prophesied the coming of Prophet Muhammad (s); Not only did Jesus affirm the scriptures revealed before him, but he also foretold the

arrival of the ultimate messenger of God after him, i.e., Prophet Muhammad (s): “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come” (John, 16:13) This is also mentioned in the Quran: “And when (Prophet) Jesus, the son of Mary said: ‘Children of Israel, I am sent to you by Allah to confirm the Torah that was before me, and to give news of a Messenger (Prophet Muhammad) who will come after me whose name shall be Ahmad.” (Quran 61:6) On the other hand, neither Jesus Christ (a) nor Prophet Muhammad (s) came to change the basic tenet of the belief in humanity, dignity, basic morality, brought by earlier prophets, but rather to confirm and reintegrate it.

Moreover, Prophet Muhammad (s) asserted: “The prophets are brothers from one father with different mothers. Also they have one religion.”(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2365) The international community needs unity

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and solidarity between the Abrahamic faith to create mutual respect, common beliefs, peace, and freedom of thought all around the world.

Mohammad Hassan Bakhtiari, based in Tehran has a Masters degree in international relations and is an expert in International Relations and Knowledge Management.

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Froggy leaps into quality tuition service AMUST Media Froggy Tuition Centre covers a significant need in the Muslim community for a quality tuition service.

The business is a family owned and operated education centre specialising in English and Maths Tuition for Pre Kindy to Year 10 students.

Froggy prides itself in applying Islamic principles which is exemplified by their caring nature and character towards parent and students alike.

Froggy delivers exceptional education programs developed with a student-centred approach.

They teach Islamic tenets and beliefs to their students to ensure the Five Pillars of Islam program, a Hajj awareness program, a Ramadan Awareness and Islamic studies Froggy has helped numerous students hoping to enter private schools by setting them up for pre-entry exams. This centre actively donates to good causes as well.

Rashays Punchbowl offers more than just food AMUST Media Rashays Punchbowl NSW not only serves great halal food but regularly contributes to the Muslim community. The level of

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generosity and involvement this business has portrays the wonderful and beautiful nature of how Muslim-owned businesses should operate.

In the Ramadan of last year Rashays Punchbowl co-ordinated with the CC Community Kitchen to open their doors to 250 struggling asylum seekers and single parent families so they could break their fast for free.

During nights that the asylum seeker families dined, owner of the restaurant, Bashar Krayem stood outside welcoming them with warm smiles as if he were welcoming long lost family, while he gave the children as many sweets as they asked for. No family left empty handed, further take-away food was provided.

During a successful Ramadan Eid Toy Drive 2016, Mr Krayem erected a large crescent moon outside of Rashays Punchbowl and invited the public to place presents underneath, for every present placed there Rashays promised to match it with two more gifts each. By the end of the last day of Eid thousands of presents were accumulated and given out to the asylum seeker children in our care with the By the end of the last day of Eid thousands of presents were accumulated and given out to the asylum seeker children in our care with the organisation Life Without Barriers.

Bashar uses his own business Rashays Punchbowl as a strong drive for change and charity. The examples he sets as a business owner sends ripples throughout the community as he inspires hundreds daily to make a change, no matter how small.

Natalie Taha from Life Without Borders, and Rashays owner, Bashar Krayam with the “back to school” items donated to the Back to School Drive appeal in January 2017.

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Jamila Rizvi on the Project Rima Waizani on ABC Online

Jamila Rizvi speaks on the project about her experiences after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.”If there’s anything I’ve learned these last few weeks, it’s that our

healthcare system, where they have asked for my Medicare card not my credit card every time I’ve shown up, is the best in the world.”

Rima Waizani was featured on ABC Online as a Muslim celebrated for outstanding achievements in the community. “I love doing what I do. I feel I’ve been put on this

Ahmad Zraika on ABC

The Muslim congregation at a suburban Adelaide mosque where a worshipper was attacked last week has been overwhelmed by a show of public support in the wake of the incident. Mr Zreika said while the JANUARY 2018 / ISSUE 146

Muslim community has often grappled with racism, particularly over the last few years, such an outpouring was reassuring to the community’s members.

Earth for a purpose. I feel like it’s a duty, like I have to help,” she says. Rima won Volunteer of the Year at the Australian Muslim Achievement Awards 2017.

Soofi Aziz on SBS

A Muslim youth group gathered on Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station in show of support for the victims that were injured in an attack. “So we decided to just form a

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group and go out to the city, and our message is clear, as you see on the banner ‘Love for all, hatred for none’, he said.

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Islamic crossword Across

4. Country the large fire at the end of time will come from.

5. Essential meaning of the name jinn.

7. First blow of the trumpet will cause mass ______ 8. Second blow of the trumpet will cause ________ 9. Anglicized meaning of Shahadah.

11. Determiner of sins when the sun is close on Last Day. 13. Anglicized meaning of Wudu.

Down

1. The last moment of possible belief on Earth (2 words).

2. The last righteous Caliph.

3. Something it is possible for jinns to do.

6. How close the sun will be on the Last Day. 9. Azrael is the angel of this.

10. How many sheep are slaughtered if you have a baby boy.

12. Number of books of Allah recognized

by Muslims.

Answers on page 31 1 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10 11

12 13

Courtesy of Kids of the Ummah by Peter Gould.

Download the Kids of the Ummah Fun Pack from kidsoftheummah.com Filled with fun colouring pages, wall hangers and cut-outs activities!

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TOP 6 Muslim Memes

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TOP 7 Tweets

Is Minder the Halal Tinder?

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App Review: Minder

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h something really hard. It showed mYassmin sat down with comedian Tom Gleeson who hosts the Hard Chat segment for Charlie Pickering’s show The Weekly, hit her with plenty of offensive taunts.

Gleeson didn’t pull any punches, starting with her decision to post almost exactly the same tweet that started at the ruckus, on Remembrance Day. “Now, you got in trouble for your Lest We Forget post on Anzac Day, but then you had another crack on Remembrance Day. Is that just attention-seeking?”

“I missed all the death threats — it gives you a sense of importance,” she replied.

Gleeson then asked Ms Abdel-Magied if on every Anzac Day, Australia should “have a minute’s silence for your career?”

“Do you think that maybe on Anzac Day you should start a #LestWeForgetToWriteStupidShitOnFacebook,” he asked her.

“Do you ever feel bad about wearing a hat indoors?”

“Look, you don’t know that the UV rays aren’t coming in,” she clapped back.

It was when Gleeson asked the former ABC presenter what she was doing here, referring to her comment that “Australia is like dating an abusive guy”, that she finally made the comedian crack.

The comedian decided to end his chat by offering Ms Abdel-Magied an Anzac biscuit, joking he’d made them Halal.

“Are they really though?” she asked.

“I don’t know but I pointed them towards Mecca before I killed them so they’re probably all right,” he replied.

Down 1 The last moment of possible belief on earth (2words) 2 The last righteous Caliph 3 Something it is possible for Jinns to do 6 How close the sun will be on the Last Day 9 Azrael is the angel of this 10 How many sheep are slaughtered if you have a baby boy 12 Number of books of Allah recoginized by Muslims

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D E C L A R A T 10 T E 11 S WE A T 13 O T A B L U T I H

us us on on

Crossword Answers W 3 2 4 A C Y E M E N L O S 5 7 6 H I D D E N M D E A T H V I E E L R 8 R E S U R R E C T I O N T S U 9 I O N R 12 F I O N S U E R

Video: youtu.be/3vktO93R5Lw

The app is described as dedicated to helping connect progressive, smart, fun, and interesting Muslims with each other, saying its efficient, safe and fun.

Their tag line is “The place for awesome Muslims to meet. Swipe. Match. Marry.”

With over 250 000 users world wide, and over 100 000 matches made (according to their website), its no secret that Muslims are looking online phone apps to look for their partner.

The app is designed similar to tinder where people can anonymously swipe profiles and are only matched when both people show interest.

Whilst the app has received many positive reviews, on Google Play it has a rating of 2.8/5 stars. To be fair, most of the negative ratings seem to be from technical issues, however some users have complained of the tinder-like way the app can be used, for inappropriate and un-Islamic actions.

“The purpose of Minder is for Muslims to find a Muslim spouse. We have strict policies against inappropriate behavior and allow users to report any bad actors. Lots of people mashallah have found their spouses on Minder and this is considered a very positive deed in Islam” says a representative of Minder.

oss ntry the large fire he end of time come from ential meaning of name Jinn t blow of the pet will cause ss ____ ond blow of the pet will cause ____ licized meaning hahadah erminer of sins n the sun is close Last Day licized meaning udu

Yassmin Abdel-Magied Hard Chats with Tom Gleeson

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

31

PRICE FROM

$161,000

+ DEVELOPMENT COST

48 Months

Payment plan

INTEREST FREE LAND FOR SALE Project 3 released

AUSTRAL & LEPPINGTON NORTH

Sydney South Growth Centre

Book your interest now

Land size 308 - 711sqm

CLOSE TO NEW BADGERYS CREEK AIRPORT

Project 1 sold | Project 2 sold

4 Minutes to new Leppington Train Station now open with services running 45 Minutes to Sydney CBD Easy Access to M5, M7 2 High Schools, 5 primary schools 4 Muslim Schools and colleges

12 km to Liverpool City Close to Austral Public School 3 Minutes drive to Unity Grammar College 9 Minutes drive to Malek Fahd Islamic School

Expected Delivery 2021 - 2022

Interest Free Installments & Flexible Payment Plan FOR MORE INFORMATION

1300642300 | 02 8021 6099 0450 899 349 | 0470 336 246 0410 988 858 | 0423 085 500 Site Office: 404 Fourth Ave, Austral 2179 Head office: Suite 6 Level 13, 329 Pitt St, Sydney NSW info@mhahomes.com.au www.mhahomes.com.au 32

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

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ISSUE 146 / JANUARY 2018