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Unity Grammar wins big at Robotics competition Bonnie Senior
Unity Grammar’s Stem Cells Y team. From left: Muhammad Hardan, Zain Khan, Abdul Rahmad Rifai, Hassan Raja, Ayeza Siddiqui, Haneefah Lawal, Daniya Syed, Amina Al-Said, Yasmina El-Bureeny and their coach.
STEM Cells Y team from Unity Grammar, A Muslim school in South West Sydney has been awarded the Virtual Trophy for Robot Design at the 2020 Australian Virtual Robotics Tournament held in June this year. Two Unity Grammar teams; STEM Cells X and STEM Cells Y received an invitation to participate in the inaugural 2020 Australian Virtual Robotics Tournament. The top 20 performing FIRST LEGO League robotics teams in Australia participated in this unique event in June 2020. The event included an all virtual platform where teams performed live robot runs from their school robotics workshop. These robot runs were refereed by experienced FIRST LEGO League referees from FIRST Australia. In addition to the robot runs, there was a judges’ presentation which was conducted via Zoom. Judges from around the world formed the judging panel from a variety of high-level organisations such as Google, LEGO Education, Disney, John Deere Automation, Macquarie University, and many more. The entire event was live-streamed by FIRST Australia on YouTube. Continued on page 11
Australia urged to end Shaoquett Moselmane: its anti-Palestine stance “Political lynching has Voting board for the resolution on Palestinian self determination by UNHRC passed on 22 June 2020 with 43:2 votes with two abstentions.
Zia Ahmad Australia is only one of the two countries, the other being Marshall Islands opposing UN resolutions condemning Israeli annexations plans for parts of the West Bank. Australia this week voted against UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) five resolutions for Palestinian self de-
termination, against Israeli settlements and settlers violence and on Israeli human-rights abuses in the Palestinian territories. Australia’s position could not be more out of step with world opinion since Israel’s annexation move, following US President Donald Trump’s “peace” plan, that has been universally condemned. Continued on page 26
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already commenced” Mohamed Ainullah NSW Muslim MP Shaoquett Moselmane has categorically denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that he is the target of political lynching. He was speaking at his first media conference on Monday 29 June 2020 after his house was raided by Australian Federal Police on Friday 26 June as part of an investigation into foreign interference into Australian political system. “The investigation is into certain other people, allegedly advancing the goals of a foreign Government, namely the Peoples Republic of China,” he said. “I am under no illusion that this is a serious investigation,” he said, while emphasising, “Let me tell you, I have done nothing wrong.” Mr Moselmane said that he is not a suspect in the AFP espionage investigation but
Mr Shaoquett Moselmane MP speaking at NSW Parliament on Monday 29 June. is taking leave from the parliament while the investigation takes place. He had earlier stated that his views on China and its handling of coronavirus had resulted in him being forced to resign as assistant president of the upper house. (See AMUST issue #175 June 2020 Witch-hunt of Shaoquett Moselmane condemned). Continued on page 19
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Modi’s hawkish move in Kashmir destabilising the whole region Mohamed Ainullah
The current map of the Kashmir region. Source: BBC.
The unilateral declaration of Ladakh as a federal territory separating it from the state of Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019 is destabilising the region leading to bad blood between India and its neighbours, first Pakistan, then Nepal and now China. The unnecessary death of 20 Indian soldiers on Monday 15 June is being exploited by the governing Hindu nationalist party, using jingoistic rhetoric to win upcoming state elections. The BJP used, the terrorist attack in Pulwama in Kashmir in February 2019 in which 40 Indian soldiers died, by creating hysteria against Pakistan and playing Hindu/Muslim divisive politics for its electoral advantage, thus helping Modi to win a second term during federal elections mid 2019. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the confrontation with Chinese soldiers on Monday 15 June night in the disputed Galwan Valley in Ladakh. China did not disclose whether its forces suffered any casualties. There have been a number of clashes during the past month between Chinese and Indian border security forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh region where the border lines have never been physically determined and agreed upon by the two neighbours. Both countries claim vast areas of each other’s territory along the Himalayan border, with some disagreements rooted in demarcations by British colonial administrators of India. Both sides have accused each other of in-
stigating the Monday night clashes between their soldiers in the Galwan Valley, part of a disputed region in Indian-administered Ladakh territory. China on Wednesday 17 June claimed “sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region” – a claim rebutted by India as “exaggerated and untenable”. Indian security forces said neither side fired any shots, instead throwing rocks and trading blows. The Indian soldiers, including a colonel, died of severe injuries and exposure in the area’s sub-zero temperatures. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned India not to underestimate China’s
Protest in Hyderabad against the killing of Indian soldiers during confrontation with Chinese soldiers.
determination to safeguard what it considers its sovereign territory. “The Indian side would best not make an incorrect judgement of the situation, would best not underestimate China’s strong determination to safety its sovereign territory,” he said. The Indian foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has accused China of erecting a structure in the Galvan Valley, which he called a “premeditated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties.” PM Narendra Modi using hawkish rhetoric for its electoral advantage declared,
“Their sacrifices won’t go in vain. For us, the unity and sovereignty of the country is the most important thing. India wants peace, but when provoked, it is capable of giving a befitting reply if provoked.” Members of the public in both nations have since staged protests over the clashes while BJP activists have been burning posters of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese-made goods during protests against China in Delhi and other cities of India. Mohamed Ainullah is an honorary Sub-Editor responsible for mediascan section of AMUST.
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Part of the local community For further information please contact:
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Kemps Creek Cemetery on 02 9826 2273 from 8.30am-4pm 230-260 Western Rd, Kemps Creek NSW 2178 www.kempscreekcemetery.com.au
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AMUST goes global, NOW With the publication of Issue #176 July 2020, AMUST enters into the seventh year of its publication as a community multimedia news platform. During the last six years the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST has consistently delivered an alternative service when compared to the mainstream media away from largely sensational and negative news towards empowering the community by publishing positive good news and alternative views. AMUST fulfils the human right of information for all by providing facts with truthfulness and accuracy and uphold freedom of expression with responsibility. Young people in our community are provided with the opportunity to express their ideas and opinions on current affairs, share their grievances and contribute towards building a peaceful and harmonious society. AMUST has an excellent track record in its regularity and punctuality of efficient production and distribution and has been successfully received by all sections of the society, having received numerous awards of excellence from government as well as community organisations during the last few years. Australian Muslim Times originally started in January as a gual
1991 multilincommunity
newspaper and then restarted as an English media platform largely catering for Ausonly full colour print newspaper from July tralia & New Zealand region, but now 2014 renamed Australasian Muslim Times aims to broaden its horizon further to inAMUST. clude global issues and broaden its world In keeping with the advances made in wide reach. multimedia digital technology AMUST In order to do so, AMUST is launching soon expanded to become a multicultural three new products/services in addition to multimedia platform run by Seena Incor- the existing ones: porated, a not for profit volunteer based 1. AMUST International: Quarterly organisation producing a monthly newsNewsmagazine paper in print as well as digital e-Newspa- 2. AMUST TV: Online Community News per, a weekly Email Newsletter, a dynamic and Commentary frequently refreshed website and presence 3. AMUST Global : Community Newson major social media platforms in order media Network to disseminate positive community Small is Beautiful but Large is news about our Australian multiAwesome. The community levcultural community. el local efforts should learn AMUST reached out from each other, cooperate not only to Muslim but and strengthen each othall Australians as well as er’s efforts by credible globally via its website communication and sharZia Ahmad and email ing of expertise, skills networks in Assalamu and rich experience. order to In this globalised word, Alaikum promote we should indeed work Greetings multilocally but think globally culturand reach out from our own of Peace alism, limited environment to teach global and learn from others working in the outlook, same field with similar aims. concept of Sometimes we try to convert the conone Umverted so they can clap for us. Our voices mah, social must reach outside our own little ghetjustice tos, to our adversaries, to people of other and unity faiths and thinking, to people who have of mankind the power to influence on the basis of our against racial, honesty, reasoning and fairness. linguistic and AMUST wishes to reach out to similar national prejucommunity based media efforts in varidices. ous parts of the world to get to know each Although ini- other, strengthen our communication lines tially starting as a and work together from regularly with Muslim Media in- chalked our media campaigns to raise our itiative, AMUST is voices in unison against oppression and not limited to be for injustice in a coordinated way. Muslims, by Muslims I invite all our readers, well wishers, or of Muslims. Keeping writers and supporters within Australin mind that we live in a plu- ia and globally to join the AMUST Inralistic world, AMUST platform ternational Webinar on Sunday 19 July aimed to be inclusive of people of 2020, 3-4.30 pm (AEST). other faiths as well as no faith who align with us for the sake of freedom of speech, Kindly register at your earliest conjustice, equality and fair play. venience: amust.com.au/webinar Currently AMUST is a community based
EDITORIAL
Readers comments AMUST Newsletter
I just wanted to say thank you for your newsletter and how much I enjoy reading the articles when I am having a break from work. As a human rights activist I find there is lots of content that I enjoy but as a gardener, I don’t often expect to be excited with the AMUST newsletter. Today was very different and I loved the article on Native Bees. These are such tough times where there are so many people struggling with the racism and the discrimination that is rife in Australia but I know there is also much kindness and struggle for respect too. I think AMUST does a great job to support the good works and greater understanding in society. Jill Biddington
Stingless read
bees,
interesting
Assalam Alaykum, I am writing this email in regards to a very well written and engaging article ‘Domesticating Australian native stingless bees, by Eesa Bokhari. Well done Eesa! Keep up the good work, it was an interesting read, we look forward to reading more about your journey with these bees in the future. Abby A
Re: ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement must be supported by all
If there is one aspect of Islam that every Muslim should be deeply conscious of, it is the attitude to racism. From Bilal Habeshi JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
Re: Mohamed Hassan
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AMUST ISSUE # 176 FRIDAY 3 JULY 2020 11 DHUL QA’DAH 1441 News
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- Unity Grammar wins big - End anti-Palestine stance - Shaoquett Moselmane lynching?
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Boomerang
- AMUST goes global NOW - The evolution of compassion - COVID-19 and de-globalisation
Community
11 - 17
- Promoting Australian Muslim identity - Janaza for Munawar Hasan - Mohamed Hassan OAM: A pioneer
Australia
18 - 20
- Award for fighting antisemitism - Climate change MUST be real
Lifestyle
21 - 22
- Self-care after divorce - Martyrs in Christchurch
Ummah
23 - 25
- Changing Kashmir’s demography - China suppressing Uyghur population
Education
26 - 28
- What is IB? - Book preview: Justice Imprisoned
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Business - Share market $500 or $5,000? - Beating short term trading
Social
30 - 31
- Social Spotlights - Top 6 Tweets
Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in articles, and Letters to the Editor, Website Comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Australasian Muslim Times.
AMUST Team
(r) to Malcom X , to BLM today and indigenous deaths in custody, the message has been clear. What surprises me is that our scholars have not come out strongly on this issue. Islamic teaching on racism brought me to Islam and it will bring others inshallah. It is not a topic too embarrassing to embrace. I have only noticed the Islamic Council of Victoria’s stand but otherwise there seems to be silence. Why?. Bilal Cleland Assalamualaikum, kindly accept our sincere condolences and we pray Almighty Allah swt forgive his sins and grant jannat ul firdaus. Santally
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Editor-in-Chief: Zia Ahmad Graphic Designer: Rubinah Ahmad Chief Adviser: Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad OAM Multimedia Journalist: Mehar Ahmad Multimedia Journalist: Mobinah Ahmad Multimedia Journalist: Faseeha Hashmi Columnist: Dr Abul Jalaluddin (Finance) Columnist: Bilal Cleland (Victoria) Columnist: Manarul Islam (ACT) Columnist: Dr Daud Batchelor (QLD) Columnist: Zahid Jamil (NSW) Columnist: Shahjahan Khan (QLD) Columnist: Imam Malik Mujahid (USA) Promotion: Dr Wali Bokhari Web Developer: Shadow Approved Multimedia: iMoby Productions Printers: Spotpress Pty Ltd Distributers: Abul Fateh Siddiqui, Shujaat Siddiqui, Usaid Khalil, Ibrahim Khalil, Usman Siddiqui, Zahid Alam, Shahab Siddiqui, Mahmoud Jaame, Mateen Abbas, Rashid Idris, Sakinah Ahmad, Anjum Rafiqi, Hasan Fazeel, Dr Quasim, Ismail Hossain, Hanif Bismi, Luqman Landy.
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The evolution of compassion amid injustice Bilal Cleland The Age of Crises described by Ahmet Keeler in “Rethinking Islam,” has indeed become the truth which was not clearly seen until this year of succeeding horrors. Our year commenced in Australia with terrible drought, followed by ‘unprecedented’ bushfires which created our very first climate refugees. Then came the floods and we thought it could not get much worse. The virus afflicting the great industrial conglomeration of Wuhan seemed far away and of little relevance until it began to hit South Korea and Italy. As it began to spread into Australia from China and then from the USA, lockdowns and border closures commenced. Analysis of the rates of hospitalisation and deaths showed that those inadequately protected by healthcare systems and low paid frontline workers, alongside the aged, suffered most. Australian state and territory authorities worked hard to protect the indigenous communities from the virus, locking down borders and in WA, regions of the state. The world watched as the USA produced more infections and deaths than any other country. Then the murder by police of an Afro-American man in Minneapolis, arrested
over a suspected $20 counterfeit banknote, brought the simmering frustrations of the world’s superpower to the surface. All across the United States huge demonstrations went for over two weeks in every major city, demanding justice for George Floyd, a change to the culture of policing and the end to the centuries old denigration of black Americans. As these demonstrations were tailing off, another Afro-American, Rayshard Brooks, was shot in the back by police over a dispute from his falling asleep in a drive-by at a Wendy’s Restaurant. Wendy’s went up in flames within hours. This series of crises has served to expose the very fragile nature of political authority in many of the countries affected. It has exposed the fragility of Little England and its drive to Brexit, as Northern Ireland, Scotland and even Wales reject the brutality of the Tory leadership in England. In the USA it has not only exposed systemic racism in law enforcement but the tin ear of the Republican leadership, from the Whitehouse down to state level. As the infection rate and the death rate in Oklahoma zooms upwards, we have the President, “masks not obligatory” rallying thousands in the city which was devastated by white supremacist thugs, including police, in the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. The incompetence and racism of the Administration has led to a mighty reaction and the emergence of a compassionate leadership in major cities all around the country. CNN recently ran a program “Mayors Who Matter,” interviewing the four female
Afro-American mayors of San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington and Chicago. They were impressive. Such leaders represent a new rising political force in the country, taking an unequivocal stand on social justice and enjoying massive support from their communities. The Episcopal priests and the bishop who spoke out in dismay at the brutal dispersal of peaceful demonstrators so Trump could parade before St John’s with an unopened bible in his hand, had a deep impact across the world. Even Colin Kaepernick, condemned by Trump for his ‘taking the knee’ during the national anthem as an insult to the flag, has been restored to presidential favour. A new culture is beginning to emerge. Here in Australia, the deaths of indigenous
Is COVID-19 the catalyst to de-globalisation? Dr Mehmet Aslan With the COVID-19 crisis, humanity is facing one of its most serious crises and challenging times in recent history. There are ominous predictions that nothing will be the same after this pandemic, with society, the role of governments and the economy undergoing significant change. As such, globalisation looms as a lasting casualty. The virus itself can be seen as a consequence of globalisation. It has flown on its wings, sailed it seas and traversed its highways infecting over six million people in 210 countries. With almost ten million cases worldwide and almost half a million deaths so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in its aftermath, it will not only transform societies, but threatens to kill globalisation as we know it. With the possible exception of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, COVID-19 holds the potential to be the single greatest catalyst in the shift towards an era of de-globalisation. Will the pandemic crisis be the turning point in globalisation, and what would the economic, social and political consequences of its retreat look like? Globalisation, whilst it has its critics, has lifted the living standards of millions around the world. It has forged closer geo-political relationships through trade agreements, and built greater cross-cultural ties. Perhaps most importantly, globalisation stands as JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
the only realistic route out of poverty for the world’s poorest. Global solidarity and collaboration is the only way forward At the national level, the pandemic is forcing many countries to reconsider their social policies, especially social protection and healthcare. But it will also have profound and lasting social, economic, political, cultural and geo-strategic consequences. Our collective response to this crisis must be through the lens of compassion and human solidarity. Globally once the crisis recedes, there will be voices urging for a withdrawal into nationalist isolationism. Likewise, certain governments in different parts of the world may use this pandemic as a tool to tighten their grip on its citizens, further weakening democracy and liberalism. However, for many of us, COVID-19 is a stark reminder of our interconnectedness and shared humanity. This has been on display, not only through our shared suffering, but has allowed us to find mo-
ments of joy through our solidarity. There have been tenors singing from balconies in Italy, communities have clapped and cheered their health workers, the elderly have found a stranger has left a home cooked meal at their door. It is this interconnectedness that is also facilitating the worldwide collaborative research being undertaken that will find a vaccine for COVID-19. If there is a lesson to be learnt from the enormity of this tragedy, it surely must be the need for greater global solidarity and collaboration. It has been said that ‘globalisation has made the world a small village’ and I believe that this is true as it has created many positive outcomes that have impacted so many countries. We now have a responsibility to ensure globalisation is not sidelined in the chaos of the aftermath of this tenacious pandemic. Dr Mehmet Aslan is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wollongong and Community Engagement Manager at Pinnacle College, South Australia.
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people in custody have become a major focus of demonstrations and an issue which politicians will no longer be able to ignore. The ability of the national government to adequately deal with the impending economic crisis is already being questioned by millions. As in the USA, the racial and ethnic divide is being crossed in response to injustice. The next crisis may well be the second wave of Covid-19 infections as the lockdown eases and state borders opened. It might also be the impact of an economic depression worse than the 1930s. Whatever it is, a new leadership, motivated by compassion emerging from the horrors, is one of the silver linings we can already see. Bilal Cleland is a keen reader, a prolific writer and a regular columnist of AMUST based in Melbourne.
Sunrise, Palm Island And Boat On The Move Fazlul Huq Distant island is seen to have the dress code made from the line of palm trees. As the sun climbed above the eastern horizon has hued the nearest sky and the horizon itself into shining gold. While the upper sky has more to show in patches of red. As body of water is made into red and gold while canopies of the palm trees have tint of gold in the body of green. While man on the boat is seen to row the boat towards the island.
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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Islamophobia in media must stop Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas In June, during national Refugee Week, there was a Coronavirus outbreak in Victoria which some news agencies swiftly took the opportunity to label as “caused by Muslims celebrating Eid at the end of Ramadhan.” They couldn’t just write “One family does the wrong thing.” Instead they had to throw us all under the bus. Some even went too far as to blame multiculturalism. In one particularly disturbing article they used images of a full mosque congregation alongside an image of people wearing PPE in a medical setting, presumably tireless working on COVID-19 patients or a cure. This kind of reporting is designed to ignite emotion in the reader by giving the impression that while the white Australian medical staff are looking for a cure there are masses of irresponsible brown Muslims gathering at their mosques and not even abiding by the 1.5m social distancing laws. As the entire Australian Muslim population knows, all our mosques took the preventative action to close their doors during Ramadan this year. The Board of Imams sent through several notices cautioning and reminding the Australian Muslim population. The same messages were repeated through our newsletters at schools and workplaces and through many social media platforms. The images used in their articles of a full mosque congregation are pre-COVID-19 photos, used opportunistically to paint the picture of Muslim Australians not obeying the law. These are misleading, deliberately defamatory and divisive.
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More importantly this reporting is not reflective of what Ramadan and Eid was actually like for the overwhelming majority of Australian Muslims this year. Ramadan through the pandemic of 2020 will go down as the most quiet and sombre ever, at least in Australia’s history. Within the next 24 hours after these articles were published, it was no surprise that all shades of white supremacists came out of the woodworks, putting their best demonstration of Islamophobia and even blaming multiculturalism as the root cause of COVID-19. It’s situations like these that make the role of key places like Islamic Museum of Australia all the more crucial. When dealing with experts at erasing and replacing the truth, the best and only weapon is truth itself. For their latest project, over the last month, Islamic Museum of Australia has been approaching Australian Muslim communities; collecting information regarding impact of COVID-19 through the lens of Australian Muslims. They are gathering a collection of stories and images for the Islamic Museum archives. “We’re asking Australian Muslims to tell us how you’ve coped and how you’ve thrived during this time. We want to know, collect and archive what Ramadhan and Eid looks like in 2020 through your eyes and in your words. How you’ve filled the void of not attending Jummuah in the masjid (Friday prayers at the mosque). If you were due to perform Hajj this year, tell us how you feel right now…” These projects which share our truths and our history as Australian Muslims are incredibly important resources that must be supported, funded, encouraged and shared. They are crucial in countering the often relentless islamophobic elitist sentiments
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of mainstream media and for the the prominent voices who’ve pledged allegiance to white supremacy. In the noble Quran, Our Creator tells us that He “Made you into nations and tribes so that you may better know one another. The most honourable of you is the most pious of you.” We are all brothers and sisters in humanity and we all have a role in eradicating racism and discrimination. It starts with educating ourselves, our families and our communities. Let the truth-telling begin. Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas is on the advisory board for ECCV Gambling Harm project, in the advisory group for Whittlesea Interfaith Network and currently works as the Community Engagement Facilitator for Al Siraat College. Gulhan has a robust history of advocacy for gambling industry reform and Interfaith dialogue. She is passionate about developing Muslim youth as spokespeople for their communities.
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White supremacism and elitism is destroying the US Dr Daud Batchelor The amazing global events, discussed in AMUST #171 and 174, are Signs from the Almighty for us to reflect, reform and better our societies. A new Sign is the gruesome killing of George Floyd by a white police officer – one of continuing murders of American blacks by police. It’s an iconic image – a knee on Floyd’s neck – of white supremacism that has caused the world too much pain over 400 years. White supremacism reminds of Satan’s arrogance in refusing to prostrate before Adam. The officer’s arrogance rejected Floyd’s precious humanity. One Latino explained: “With the murder of Floyd, a seething rage that lay coiled beneath the surface of the ‘American Dream’ turned nightmare, exploded across a nation … The subsequent rebellion expresses the anger of people who confront a stifling social reality that threatens their existence … decades of racial injustice.” Al-Qur’an guides: “O mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other. Surely, the most honourable of you with Allah is the most righteous of you.” (49:13) African-Americans face the brunt of crises impacting the US. Firstly, COVID-19 disproportionately kills African-Americans at twice the rate of whites due to systemic racism. Black bodies are sicker as they more often experience hazardous jobs, unemployment, lack health insurance, and unhealthy neighborhoods. Secondly, the downturn acerbates harm on blacks from the US capitalist system emphasizing high investment returns. African-Americans in 2018 earned 60% of non-Hispanic white incomes while 35% of young black men are unemployed – twice that of whites. The wealth gap between blacks and whites (unchanged since 1990) is even wider with ‘median worth’ of African-Americans onetenth of non-Hispanic whites. Thirdly, the justice system protects nonblacks while exposing blacks to harm. The 2016 incarceration rate was six times higher for blacks than whites. 87% of blacks and 61% of whites believe US criminal justice treats black people unfairly. Rather than white-collar criminals, it’s so much easier to arrest ‘little people.’ “Violence employed by police and security agencies such as the FBI which have devolved into occupying forces, to protect the exclusive interests of a tiny ruling class, exposes the fiction of the rule of law.” (Chris Hedges) Well-being of US citizens fell over the past 40 years.
The US incarcerates a greater proportion of citizens (700/100,000) than any other country. Life expectancy reflecting quality of a country’s health system, shows the US 38th and falling. The Fordham Institute Social Health index showed marked decline from the 1970s, especially increasing income inequality between rich and poor. The US has one of the highest Gini income inequality indices (47.0; Australia 30.3). Since mid-1970s, economic growth rose while social health stagnated as elite power increased. As living conditions deteriorated for disadvantaged citizens, crime rose. Islam however, teaches that part of the wealthy’s wealth is the poor’s right: “it shall be taken from the rich among them and turned over to the poor.” (Al-Bukhari). If the government fails to ensure jobs or welfare and a needy person steals to feed his family, punishment is alleviated. This richest capitalist economy is ruled by powerful elites. 1% of households own 38% of national wealth. The bottom 80% own just 17%. 10% of Americans own 84% of the stocks. The pandemic produced a massive wealth transfer to owners of financial assets, as the Federal Reserve supported large corporations.
S&P 500 Index recovered most of its value and most professionals/managers kept their jobs. Workers experienced little protection. 40 million are unemployed. Economic legacy from the pandemic could increase elite wealth concentration that will shock the nation. “Elite deviance and predatory financialization, militarization and deindustrialization of the US economy generates mass deviance because it creates the conditions of poverty and despair that breed insurrection and street criminality.” (Monaco) Jonathon Cook stresses: “State institutions captured by corporate money, are increasingly incapable of responding to demands for change. The hollowed-out state represents not its citizens … but global forces of capital that care little what occurs on Minneapolis streets.” The US political system is not truly democratic. Billionaires bend politicians and elections to their will. With its inferior treatment of African-Americans in education, employment, health, and an unjust criminal justice-policing system, the US has become an authoritarian state ruled by a corporate elite of wealthy whites and Zionists. As this elite has lost legitimacy during the pandemic, the key is whether enough white Americans assist African-Americans to gain equality. What could be gained is ultimately a peaceful and prosperous nation. Will it happen? Most commentators doubt it. Trump is one of the Elite and Biden from past actions was their agent. We ask God Almighty to rescue the weak and oppressed and raise sincere people who will help and protect them. 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.
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Unity Grammar wins big at Robotics competition Continued from page 1 The two teams were exceptional in their presentations for their Innovative Project, Robot Design, and Core Values. Their three action-packed robot rounds were very intense. Their top scores were: STEM Cells X 335 points and STEM Cells Y 295. STEM Cells Y were awarded the Virtual Trophy for Robot Design. This award recognises a team that utilises outstanding programming principles and solid engineering practices to develop a robot that is mechanically sound, durable, efficient and highly capable of performing challenge missions. The feedback from the judges was: “This team comes ready to play, their dynamic decision making helps on team day with improvement cycles they make the most of each try. Congratulations to team no. 14 STEM Cells Y” Unity Grammar robotics teams since 2016 onwards have successfully advanced
STEM CELLS Y is made up of the following students
Unity Grammar’s Stem Cell X team. From left: Zayn Maarbani, Maysa Maarbani, Maise Alqudah and Eman Hafda. • • • • • • • • • •
Y X
Abdul Rahman Rifai Amina Al-Said Ayeza Siddiqui Daniya Syed Haneefah Lawal Hassan Raja Muhammad Hardan Yasmina El-Bureeny Coach Laila Qadan Coach Zain Khan
STEM CELLS X is made up of the following students to represent Unity Grammar at Australian National Tournaments. Every year at the Australian National Tournament approximately 10 teams are selected from over 1000 teams in Australia to go onto an international event. At least one or two teams from Unity
Unity Grammar’s Stem Cell X team.
Grammar have regularly represented Australia at International tournaments since 2017. Bonnie the marketing co-ordinator for Unity Grammar College. She has been managing their marketing activities since May 2019. Unity Grammar’s Stem Cell Y team.
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Eman Hafda Maise Alqudah Maysa Maarbani Zayn Maarbani Coach Laila Qadan Coach Zain Khan
Summit focuses on promoting Australian Muslim identity AMUST Media The 3rd National Summit of the Alliance of Australian Muslims (AAM) was held online through a Zoom conference on Sunday 28 June 2020. Over one hundred community leaders representing prominent organisations from across Australia came together to discuss important issues of concern to Australian Muslims. The AAM aims to serve as a collaborative platform to coordinate and enhance efforts of common benefit for the Australian Muslim Community and its standing and contributions to the wider Australian community. The delegates at the summit focused on the key areas of promoting an Australian Muslim identity; enhancing media and political engagement; strengthening public relations; and advocating for the protection of civil rights of minority groups. In addition, the results of a survey of Australian Muslim Women was presented and discussed. Delegates were unanimous in their agreement that affirmative action needs to be taken to improve the involveJULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
ment of women more generally, including in the activities of the AAM. A proposal to establish a separate com-
mittee to collaborate on women’s affairs was referred to the next steering committee meeting for review.
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Based on a pre-summit poll of members, a name change from the “Australian Muslim Community National Summit” (AMCNS) to the “Alliance of Australian Muslims” (AAM) was endorsed by delegates. A proposed structure for a national operations committee was also approved. Despite the limitations of using an online platform for the summit, the presentations were of a high calibre, with robust engagement and discussion resulting in a successful event overall. The AAM is currently supported by over 200 mainstream Muslim organisations from all Australian States and Territories and is open to all mainstream and representative Muslim organisations and individuals who are active in the Australian Muslim community. It is hoped that, with COVID-19 restrictions easing, the next National Summit may be held in person in November 2020, Insha-Allah (God Willing). All Muslim organisations and community leaders are invited to attend and support this initiative. All nominations and expressions of interest to join AAM should be directed to info@australianmuslims.org.au.
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Sydney remembers Syed Munawar Hasan
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Syed Munawar Hasan.
Usaid Khalil Janaza prayers (Absentee funeral prayers) were held in two mosques in Sydney on Sunday 28 June for Syed Munawar Hassan, a former President of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan who passed away on Friday 26 June 2020 in Karachi. He was 78.Limited number of attendees numbering up to 50 could only be accommodated at Marsden Park Masjid and Campbelltown Masjid due to COVID-19 restrictions where Janaza prayers were held by the Islamic Forum for Australian Muslims (IFAM). The prayer leaders, Usaid Khalil and Ibrahim Khan respectively talked about the life and services rendered by Mr Hassan and made dua for the departed. Born on 5 August 1941, Syed Munawar Hasan belonged to a highly educated, dignified, and religious family in Delhi and migrated to the city of Karachi, Pakistan after the after the partition of British India. Munawar Hasan was the youngest of his siblings. He had leadership skills since childhood and participating in speech making and discussions was his hobby. At Government College Nazimabad, he joined the leftist National Student Federation (NSF) and soon became its President in 1959. At the same time, he encountered some activists of Islami Jamiat Talaba (Jamiat), an Islamic student organisation, who invited him to join the Jamiat and gave him Maulana Maududi’s literature. Munawar Hasan soon joined the Jamiat in 1960 and became the elected president (Nazim) of Jamiat unit at the University of Karachi in 1963. Under the guidance and training of Prof Khurshid Ahmed, Dr Zafar Ishaq Ansari and Khurram Murad, young Munawar Hasan flourished as a student leader able to mobilise public opinion and became national President (Nazim-e-Ala) of Islami Jamiat Talaba 1966-68. He obtained a masters degree in sociology in 1963 as well as in Islamic studies in 1966 from the University of Karachi. He also joined the Islamic Research Academy at Karachi as a research assistant in 1963 and became its secretary general in 1969. Under his supervision, the academy published 70 scholarly books. He also served as managing editor of The Criterion
and The Universal Message, Karachi. Munawar Hasan became a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan in 1967. He served the Karachi unit as Assistant Secretary, Secretary, Deputy Ameer and Ameer 89-91 of the city of Karachi. He was then elected to the Central Shura and the Executive Council of the Jamaat. He ran for the NA-191 Karachi-IX seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1977 and secured the highest vote tally in Pakistan. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan in 1992–93 and became Secretary General in 1993 till 2008. He was elected Ameer (President) of Jamaat-e-Islami in 2008 till 2013. He is survived by his widow Ayesha Munawar, former Member National Assembly and Secretary General Jamaat-e-Islami Women division, son Talha Munawar, daughter Fatima Munawar, two brothers Syed Shafiq Hasan, former General Manager Textiles and former Director General Pakistan Telecommunications Syed Irshad Hassan He was known for his simple living style and was cited as an example, “For decades he lived in a two-room portion in the house of Jamaat leader Naimatullah Khan in Karachi, content with the stipend from his party.” Syed Munawar Hasan had always been more of an ideologue rather than a pragmatic leader trying to form political alliances with other parties in Pakistan able to work with his adversaries and those in ideological opposition. The Islamic Forum for Australian Muslims, Acting President Dr Kashif Aziz, IFAM Central Shura and members express their deeply sadness by the departure of Syed Munawar Hasan from this world and pray for him. Usaid Khalil is the Secretary General Islamic Forum for Australian Muslim (IFAM) and is based in Sydney.
Funeral Prayer for Syed Munawar Hasan at Campbelltown Masjid.
Rohingya Eyes Sukoon Quteifan One of the many heartbreaking plights of our days, that the world decides to turn its back on, is the Rohingya refugee crisis, who have been forced out from their homeland in Myanmar because of violence that the UN investigators have described as “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. My painting called: “Rohingya Eyes” was influenced by the pitiful news I read last month. According to BBC in late May this year around 396 Rohingya Muslims were sailing to reach Malaysia from Bangladesh and were stranded at sea for two months when the whole world was relaxed at home in quarantine! More than 50 refugees died onboard and their bodies were thrown out of the boat at night. One of the surviving refugee Khadiza narrates the horrific death of a woman, due to severe dehydration, who was sitting next to her, leaving her four kids behind. She says: “I am still haunted by her death. She died in front of our eyes.” for more detailed news: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52832841 Sukoon Quteifan is a graphic designer and illustrator. She is the creator and the illustrator of “Sukoon Al Quloob - Peace of Hearts”, an Islamic Cartoons facebook page. Sukoon is based in Sydney, Australia. You can follow her on facebook @SukoonQuteifanArt.
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Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM
A lifelong pioneer of Islamic Education Dr Ahmed Hassan Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM, the Founding Director of Minaret College in Melbourne, community visionary and pioneer of Islamic education in Australia passed away on Sunday 7 June 2020, may Allah bless his soul with mercy. Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1931 and after having studied in Egypt and UK, he arrived in Australia in 1967 for higher education and then settled finally in Melbourne. He is survived by his wife Soad (Susie), daughter Inas, son Dr Ahmed Hassan and many loving grandchildren. After studying electrical engineering at Alexandria University, he left Egypt in 1964 to undertake a Masters of textiles engineering in England. Mohamed joined the Muslim Students Association at Leeds University, organising various events, including dialogue with members of Christian student bodies. A Professor from the University of NSW visiting Leeds invited Mohamed to study in Australia. In 1967, Mohamed and his young family arrived in Australia to begin PhD research at UNSW on an electronic counter for wool processing. He quickly became involved in community life. He joined the Islamic student society at UNSW and then became second ever President of the Islamic Society of NSW based at Surry Hills. He helped organise Sunday school and Ramadan dinners for Sydney’s early Muslim community. A job offer arose as an engineering lecturer in Bendigo, Victoria, and Mohamed cut short his PhD to move there. He ran the Electronic Engineering course and continued developing his electronic nep counter invention, patenting it in 1975. Living in a remote country town did not prevent Mohamed from community engagement. In 1976 he hosted the first Christian-Muslim Interfaith Conference in Bendigo with international speakers. He became an active member of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) and was AFIC Vice-president from 1978-1979. During this time he helped organise the annual AFIC Muslim youth camps which began in Sydney in 1976. Importantly, he also had the foresight in his Portfolio of Youth & Education to foresee the need and sow the seeds for Islamic Education in Australia. He presented a paper at an educational conference at Goulburn Institute of Education in 1978, based on an article he had
written entitled ‘Unmet needs of Muslim migrants’ which was published in Australian Minaret magazine, October 1978. In it he stated, “ … Due to the importance of child rearing on the overall development of the individual personality, Islamic pre-schools, primary and secondary schools are needed.” Little did he know that this passion for the education and service of his community would come to fruition in a very practical way 14 years later. During 1980-81 he served as President of the Islamic Council of Victoria, shifting with his family to Melbourne in 1982 . At
the same time, he completed a post-graduate Diploma of Education, becoming a member of the Victorian Institute of Teaching and President of the Muslim Teachers Association. Characteristically, he wasted no time in contributing to community work. He was a key founder of Melbourne’s Elsedeaq Egyptian Islamic Society, finding the site for their masjid in Heidelberg, and was a founding member of ISOMER mosque in Lysterfield. The first Islamic School in Victoria, King Khaled Islamic College, was established in Coburg in 1983. Mohamed Hassan was invited to serve on its board and remained an
active and committed member, later becoming Chairman of the Board for a number of years up to 1991. He became aware of the growing Muslim community in Mebourne’s South East and the need for an Islamic School in that area. Mr Mohamed Hassan’s crowning achievement was as Founding Director of Minaret College. In 1992 he took the brave step of retiring from his lecturing job and volunteer full time to establish the Islamic College of Noble Park, which would later become Minaret College. He served as administrator with no salary for over a year till the college stood on its feet. Starting with only 20 students and one class teacher in 1992, Minaret has now grown to cater for more than 2000 students over two large K-12 campuses in Springvale and Officer. The third campus will open in Doveton next year inshallah, leading into Minaret College’s 30th anniversary. Along with other Islamic School Principals from Sydney, Perth and Melbourne, Mr Hassan was a founder of the Australian Council for Islamic Education in Schools, an umbrella body for Australian Islamic schools now known as ISAA (Islamic Schools Association of Australia). Mr Hassan’s community service was recognised when he was awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) at the 2007 Queens Birthday awards at Government House in Melbourne. He was more recently awarded lifetime achievement awards by Mission of Hope and the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) Mr Hassan retired from Minaret College at the end of 2016, but still participated in College life. In late 2017, he opened the Minaret College masjid, a long-held dream come true, exactly 50 years after arriving in Australia in 1967. He passed away peacefully during his sleep on Sunday 7 June 2020 and Janaza prayers were held in the masjid of his beloved Minaret College, may he be blessed with Allah’s mercy. He is survived by his wife Soad (Susie), daughter Inas, son Dr Ahmed Hassan and many loving grandchildren. His personal attributes of patience, gentle manners, polite collaboration and deep faith endeared him to all who knew him. Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM’s constant community service throughout his adult life makes him a true pioneer of Australia’s Muslim community, which he has served sincerely for 50 years in the fields of youth development, interfaith dialogue and Islamic Education. Dr Ahmed Hassan serves on the board of Minaret College and is an Ophthalmologist at Dandenong Eye Surgery in Melbourne’s South East.
Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM (seated) with (from left) Zia Ahmad, Editor-in Chief, AMUST; son, Dr Ahmed Hassan and wife Susie Hassan, August 2019 at Minaret College Masjid in Melbourne.
Mr Mohamed Hassan (centre) at Sydney Eid gathering, Surry Hills, March 1968. JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
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Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM, Founding Director, Minaret College with Mr Mohammed Taksim, Executive Principal of Minaret College. AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
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As we get out there again, it’s up to all of us to
And if you’re experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms, stay home and speak to your doctor about getting tested.
For more information about Coronavirus (COVID-19), please visit health.gov.au Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra
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SAMAA engages seniors during virus lockdown Dr Sofia Khan.
Zahid Jamil
Dr Geoff Lee MP.
Julia Finn MP.
Priya Das.
Hon Richard Colbeck.
The South Asian Muslim Association of Australia (SAMAA) engaged actively with the community seniors during COVID-19 lockdown. A weekly virtual Zoom session during Ramadan proved very popular where many seniors joined the sessions live video sessions while many more watched the recordings at a later stage. Due to the corona pandemic, SAMAA had to postpone its annual event of Jashne Buzurg (Seniors Festival) scheduled for 22 March 2020 in order to avoid health risk to seniors. The fasting month of Ramadan during the pandemic exaggerated the feeling of isolation as families were unable to meet for traditional Iftars and prayers. Thus SAMAA decided to hold weekly sessions of virtual get together using online Zoom facility. The community doctors and health professionals volunteered to give very useful talks. They spoke about COVID-19 disease, the ways to stay fit to minimise the risks and important health guidelines for seniors in order to cope with the pandemic. They also spoke about anxiety and ways to stay relaxed during the lockdown. Fasting by seniors during the holy month is a challenge and therefore related medical aspects were addressed by various speakers. Other ageing issues such as chronic pain caused by osteoarthritis and osteoporosis during old age were also covered during these sessions. The speakers included Dr Faizia Ahmad, Dr Soofia Khan, Dr Aejaz Sheriff of Melbourne, Mr Hassan Qureshi, an exercise physiologist supported by the technical team of Syed Afzal Hussain and Hassan Qureshi managing Zoom. SAMAA senior Dr Noorjahan, a retired Psychiatrist spoke at length to uplift the spirit of attending SAMAA elders who actively participated during Q&A session, seeking clarifications on many health issues. Managing Director of Gallipoli Home, Dr Abdur Rahman Asarogulu introduced to the audience the new Home Care service which they are beginning soon, in addition to their residential 102 bed nursing home facility. They are approved Home Care Package (HCP) provider established to cater for Muslim cultural sensitivities and have muti-lingual staff including Urdu, Bangla and Hindi speaking staff. It was also the time of spiritual reflection and heightened devotion during Ramadan. The program started with the recitation of Quran, Hamd or Naat by volunteers including Srs Kashifa Khan, Faiza Khan, Razia Sultan and Hafiz Abdur Rahman. Maulana Nazeerul Hassan Thanvi answered questions from the audience on important fiqh matters specially related to fastMaulana Nazeerul Hassan Thanvi.
ing and made dua to conclude the programs. These recorded talks can be watched on SAMAA Facebook. As annual Eid get together event was not possible due to COVID-19 restrictions, a special Eid webcast was held on Sunday 31 May 2020. The program began with a Naat recitation by popular Sydney singer Shagufta Zia. Federal Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians Hon Richard Colbeck, during his video message congratulated SAMAA for holding the event. He said more than one third of senior Australians were born overseas and specially thanked Muslim seniors for their contribution to the nation. NSW Acting Minister for Multiculturalism, Seniors & Veterans, Dr Geoff Lee, during his video message, appreciated SAMAA’s effort in embracing technology to alleviate social isolation of the elders and providing them useful information through health professionals during COVID crisis. He congratulated Muslim seniors for rising magnificently during the challenging times of pandemic while observing prayers and fasting during the fasting month. Dr Lee conveyed a hearty Eid Mubarak to SAMAA members and seniors. NSW MP Hon Julia Finn joined live to applaud SAMAA for the great initiative in bringing together community seniors during this difficult time and congratulated the members and the seniors for Eid-ul-Fitr. An informative session by ageing and dementia specialist Anju Mathur was the key feature of the day. She explained the procedures for accessing various aged care services. Sydney singer Priya Das thrilled the viewers with popular Bollywood songs of 1970s. SAMAA seniors Mrs Kaneez Fatima Ali recited an emotional Urdu poem on Mother’s Day while Mr Iqbal Ghaznavi told about Eid celebrations in Sydney during initial years after arriving in Sydney in1968. Another interesting story related to the father of Dr Aejaz Sheriff. Late Dr Azizuddin Sheriff was one of the first few Indian doctors to arrive in Australia in 1968 which was covered by the TV news and the newspapers of the time. The news clip of The Age dated 30 December 1968 was shared with the audience to their delight. Mr Zahid Jamil, on behalf of SAMAA, welcomed the seniors and other attendees during the sessions. He spoke about various SAMAA services and initiatives and urged the community seniors and their families to contact SAMAA coordinator Mrs Kaukab Saulat for all their needs. For more details, please visit SAMAA website www.samaa.org.au
Hassan Qureshi.
Iqbal Ghaznavi.
Fasih Khan.
Zahid Jamil is an engineering post graduate from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and runs a financial planning practice based in Sydney. He heads South Asian Muslim Association of Australia, SAMAA: samaa.org.au)
Dr Noor Jahan
Zahid Jamil.
Zia Ahmad. JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
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Knowing Yourself A reflection at the beginning of the journey Mobinah Ahmad
“You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself” said Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, and brilliant mathematician from the seventeenth century. Another mathematician recently said tinuously working hard on understanding something similar that reminded me of myself and developing my character to live this profound quote, “A teacher offers in an exceptionally actively conscious state, you truths within yourself”.His name I was intrigued as to what this workshop is Mohammed Isaaq, and he has de- would offer me. veloped a methodology taught through It essentially gave me the courage to face workshops titled my ego and feel a “Knowing Yourlevel of disThe workshop essentially mild self” through the comfort in underscience of the four gave me the courage to face standing my contemperaments. truths. my ego and feel a mild level fronting Originating from It felt good, much the UK, the debut of discomfort in understand- like the relief you of the Knowing ing my confronting truths. feel when you’ve Yourself workunder-water It felt good, much like the been shops hit Sydney, for some time, and Australia in 2019 relief you feel when you’ve you take that first and became popu- been underwater for some deep inhale of air as lar worldwide. an instinctive act of I observed the time, and you take that first survival. way people spoke deep inhale of air as an inIsaaq relayed the about the course idea that with a lack of stinctive act of survival. “We inherit the depth, and I was worldview of the turned off from the language we learn.” idea as it seemed like a horiscop-esque fad. I I appreciated that I was given permission also didn’t know anything about the temper- to understand myself from altering worldaments or the guy delivering the workshop. views and languages, which was a limitSome Brit. ing deficiency on my part before doing the If I was to do a deep dive into learning course. more about this, I needed to come to it with This idea is not just applicable to languaga sincere, open mind and respect, which I es and words in English, Urdu and Arabic, did not have at the time. etc, but also with the lenses of particular After about a year’s reflection and medi- sciences such as psychology or philosophy tation on this, I was divinely guided to give from Eastern and Western thought. it a go. Like with all divine guidance, it The necessity to learn different worldreached me in a time when I needed it the views, industries, sciences, arts and lanmost. Praise God. guages is primary, as many concepts and As a woman who has worked and is con- words cannot be translated easily, and the
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level of depth is profound. Although I was aware of differing worldviews, this workshop gave me the tools to be more conscious of it in my learning and the courage to be able to jump between them rather than inheriting one and neglecting the other. It also helped me to draw connections and parallels where relevant, and there was such a beautiful interconnectedness I discovered where the world just makes so much sense. I was able to use this methodology to harness my character, behaviour, learning style and strategically relate to people, on a level of consciousness I didn’t know even existed. My journey with the four temperaments has just begun. Bismillah. If you’d like to know more about the Knowing Yourself workshop, please visit https://www.mohammedisaaq.com/kyo.
Knowing Yourself course brochure
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The Science of the Four Temperaments states that there exists within us four different types of inherent qualities that need to be balanced. The temperaments are: Sanguine Phlegmatic Melancholic Choleric The knowing yourself workshop explores the temperaments in self development through an ethics based approach. This workshop explores aspects of understanding one’s self as well as provides tools to know how best to behave in different situations and in harmony with the behaviour of others. ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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The temperaments teaching style A look into how the teaching style reflects the workshop content of balanced temperaments situation in order to develop a certain relationship or yield a particular outcome. I believe due diligence is required All thoughts and ideas stem from our before I undertake any type of learnpersonal experiences as a means of making ing: academic, relational and especially sense of the world and identifying how we spiritual. Imam Muslim said “This great can live in it without re-occurring mistakes. knowledge (the knowledge of the self) is I find it fascinating that there wasn’t an by itself the religion. So you have to know introductory story of why he started develfrom whom you take your religion.” oping this methodology, through his own and The great Taabi’ee Muhammad ibn personal journey. He doesn’t display many Sireen said: “Indeed this knowledge is personal anecdotes of his attitudes and your religion, so look to whom you take feelings (beyond the interactions with his your religion from.” teachers). Something is being held back and To understand the learning source; I ask, suggests a reflective approach to a vulnerawho is the teacher? And why am I learning bility where there are principled boundaries from this person in particular as opposed to in place. anyone or anywhere else? It must be the meHis style is very different to those who ticulous and principled energy in my learnteach personal development through very ing style perhaps that causes me to require personal origin stories to connect and resothese answers. nate with an audience. Therefore, I would like to share my expeI have been developing my theories from rience with the teaching style of Mohammed my personal story makes it less of a univerMohammed Isaaq delivering an online workshop series titled: Balancing sal concept and more of a particular idea to Isaaq, the facilitator of the Knowing Yourself workshop, which made a significant im- the Ties, discussing the temperaments in relationships on 28 June 2020. me - which is incredibly limiting in how it pression on me. It helped me to realise my Having said that, Isaaq’s presence still This balance is perhaps what draws young resonates with others and has left me open deficiencies as well as providing encourag- makes the most ego-driven listeners remain students to him because on the one hand, to misunderstanding. ing direction and inspiration in my current quiet as if there is an inherent understand- there is respect for his masculine energy, Isaaq seems to prefer to introduce the conconnection, teaching and mentoring style. ing that there is an imbalance of the depth of and on the other hand, there is a resounding cept with universals, which is probably why Disclaimer: The following is based on knowledge one has compared to him. How connection to his feminine energy. his methodology resonates with so many minimal observation and not an accurate does he do that? The entire program is based off a highly and has become so popular worldwide. reference; rather just an impression formed This observation was probably the most His character is not just about flexing interactive nature. It challenges the teachtoday that may change tomorrow. If I’ve facts, he captivates and humbles his listener er-student relationship from a western per- profound and confronting learning, as it unintentionally made an inaccurate assess- through speaking in a beautiful manner of spective, yet truly embodies the wisdom of challenged the way I developed my methment or revealed anything I am not sup- sound and word choice, which is most likely that relationship from an eastern perspec- odologies and has made me consider my posed to, then please excuse me. approach. learned through his teachers. tive. The way Isaaq teaches is a way of humilLike with anything in life, a balance is A lot of his teachHe learns from his students, though a ity and gentility: required. The balance is predicated upon ing style is a testa- feedback loop - perhaps identifying everygentle and pasWith his authenticity and ment to the teach- day life experiences and patterns of behav- calculated vulnerability and what we feel sive in the way ers he has studied iour to understand people at a faster and comfortable sharing. he challenges sincerity, it is difficult not to under, May God consistent rate to ultimately and essentially From the first class, it is evident that there thought or cor- feel moved when he speaks. reward them im- become a better teacher. is a lifetime of knowledge to learn within rects inaccuramensely. Isaaq demonstrates an understanding in this science. The students are learning the A, cies of the sci- He has a knack for being Despite having a concepts relating to philosophy, psycholo- B, Cs or the Alif, Baa, Taas of the temperaence. Although able to appeal to a person’s minimal ego, there gy, physiology, neuroscience, mathematics, ments at this point without any pre-requisite juxtaposed, to sensitivities, particularly at is still a healthy art, etymology, language and theology. knowledge required. challenge pasIsaaq has a lot of work cut out for him, and ego, nonetheless, I found it interesting that he doesn’t articsively is a high- stirring emotions within his which is essential, ulate psychology, sociology or even science he knows it. Not just in trying to educate an ly tricky skill to student’s psyche. especially from a from a Western lens despite growing up in audience by first tapping into basic concepts embody, and yet reasonably young the UK. It demonstrates he has learnt and such as intention and their purpose, but also he does it effortmale teacher. It demonstrates quite a prin- has a comfortable understanding of Eastern to provide principles in place to ensure the lessly and intuitively. cipled way to deal with injustice, threat or methodologies and having learnt multiple science is not misused and abused to impose There is a beauty in how emotional and disrespect. worldviews; he can choose rather than in- absolute labels or descriptors on the self and deep he can often be referencing poetry, Isaaq uses a technique of establishing herit his language style. It may be related to others. music and metaphors to illustrate his points. definitions of concepts that are embedded his eastern worldview and how he decides With any science, it is the principles that He uses metaphysical concepts in a way to in external use or misunderstood contexts to speak to a young, culturally diverse audi- formulate the boundaries in which to learn jump-start consciousness within people who when speaking. This technique is so desper- ence effectively. and practice within. His workshop provides were being driven by their subconscious for ately missing in discussion amongst people I get a sense that there has been a deep a sufficient explanation of the necessary so long. and teaching. struggle, and he has undergone some major principles, and yet it is only in the control of With his authenticity and sincerity, it is God to decide how conIt is a significant way to clarify the con- internal transdifficult not to feel moved when he speaks. versation to ensure the terms used are done formation of sciously students use this There is immense potenHe has a knack for being able to appeal to a so with an understanding of universals and figuring out knowledge after having tial for educating people in learnt it. person’s sensitivities, particularly at stirring particulars. himself and emotions within his student’s psyche. The weight of responThis understanding will help stop two his bounda- understanding themselves He encourages vulnerability and demon- conversations taking place during one dis- ries. sibility for teaching this and others around them science is not an easy one strates an emotionally intelligent method of cussion between two people. It’s clear making others who don’t have the same levto bear. There is confidence balanced with vul- that in his through several different el of knowledge he has to feel comfortable nerability, and he manages to balance those teaching style, avenues, by the temperaWith an understanding to speak openly. I’d even go further to say qualities quite well within his teaching style, he has a lot of that he is currently develments, that would alleviate oping his base content of he inspires knowledge to be revealed from it’s a pleasure to observe. experience in others in ways that would not be ordinary. establishing and defining dealing with a lot of the current issues concepts, I am excited to children and our community is facing. see what’s next. I hope young people in the next five years he and it would make sense that he has identified a need not can translate and project these four temperonly for himself but also for his community. aments through lived experiences of mental What is particularly significant is that he health, trauma, abuse, addiction, parenting, can funnel the in-depth advanced knowledge seeking knowledge, relationship with nature of the classical texts and reflect it through a and animals, friendship, sexuality, relationprism of contemporary contextual issues in ships, emotion and physical intimacy. There is immense potential for educating a simple way utilising his developed teachpeople in understanding themselves and ing style without watering it down or being others around them through several diftoo simplistic. ferent avenues, by the temperaments, that The West needs more scholars like this. You can see glimpses of his playful ener- would alleviate a lot of the current issues gy when he laughs authentically or makes our community is facing. I wish him all the best, and he has my full certain references, although it seems to be support. more downplayed and is perhaps more proIf you’d like to know more about the nounced in a context of being amongst his Knowing Yourself workshop, head over to friends and family, rather than within his https://www.mohammedisaaq.com/kyo. teaching style. This portrays the use of the wisdom of the Mohammed Isaaq uses a lyrical reference from 90s hip-hop rapper Tupac Mobinah Ahmad is the Managing Editor temperaments to know when to emphasise Shakur when explaining the temperaments during a Knowing Yourself online of AMUST. and when to be subtle or tactful to a specific workshop on 27 June 2020. JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176 WWW.AMUST.COM.AU AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES 17 Mobinah Ahmad
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A Mile in My Shoes AMUST
A focus on our common humanity and what connects us
Steve Riethoff The Australian National Maritime Museum is the national leader in collecting, researching and exhibiting stories about migration to Australia. They have a permanent gallery dedicated to immigration called Passengers, 15,000 objects relating to immigration in the collection, and a Welcome Wall engraved with the names of 30,000 migrants. The museum is partnering with the Empathy Museum (UK) to bring the award-winning exhibition A Mile in My Shoes to Sydney in January 2021 as part of the Sydney Festival. A Mile in My Shoes is an immersive art experience inviting visitors to walk in someone else’s shoes – literally. Housed in a giant shoebox, the exhibit holds a diverse collection of shoes and shares audio stories that explore a theme. Visitors are provided with a pair of shoes and an audio recording and encouraged to walk a mile listening to someone’s personal story. The Maritime Museum will explore Australia’s diverse multicultural society and aims to strengthen social cohesion. “Australia has long been recognised as one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world. Australia is unique, being home to the world’s oldest continuous culture, as well as Australians who identify with more than 300 ancestries. As Australians, we can focus on what connects us rather than divides us – our common humanity,“
says Kevin Sumption, Director and CEO of the Australian National Maritime Museum. COVID-19 has seen Australians adapt and come together in unprecedented ways but sadly there has also been a rise in acts of racism and scapegoating against people from some ethnic backgrounds. The museum wants to shine the light on the experiences of a wide range of Australians from diverse backgrounds, to build understanding and contribute to an inclusive and harmonious society. “By listening to their stories, we can all
better understand where they have come from and what has shaped them,” said Sumption. Crowd funding Last year the museum earned 45% of its revenue from ticket sales and other commercial activities. This year they were forced to close due to COVID-19 and this has lead them to look for alternate ways to finance some initiatives. A crowd funding campaign through the Migration Heritage Fund has been launched to help bring A Mile in My Shoes to Sydney.
We would love individuals and organisations who are passionate about social harmony to join us and bring this wonderful installation to Sydney,” said Sumption. For more information visit the museum’s website www.sea.museum or to donate to the crowd funding campaign go to www. charidy.com/amileinmyshoes. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. Steve Riethoff is the Head of Communication at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
International award for fighting antisemitism Philip Feinstein
Top: Award given to Sheikh Dr Mohammed Al-Issaby by CAM Director Sacha Roytman-Dratwa. Photo: Combat Anti-Semitism Movement. Right: Secretary General of the Muslim World League Mohammad Abdulkarim al-Issa gives a speech during a visit to the Nozyk Synagogue on January 24, 2020 in Warsaw.
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The General Secretary of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Dr Mohammed Al-Issa was the recipient of an inaugural award given by the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement and American Sephardi Federation for his efforts and contribution towards fighting antisemitism. He is the first person to receive this prestigious annual award recognising him as a leading promoter of peace, and for uniting people of all faiths and publicly condemning Holocaust denials. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff commended Sheikh Dr Mohammed Al-Issa “for his courageous and inspirational work and for extending the hand of friendship to the Jewish people. The most effective response to all forms of bigotry, from Islamophobia to antisemitism, is for faiths and communities to stand together side by side and work towards shared objectives.” As a tribute of recognition, Alhadeff added,“Dr Al-Issa’s initiative in visiting the Auschwitz extermination camp stands as a powerful statement of the importance of dialogue and constructive co-operation between Muslim, Jewish and Christian people. We applaud him for his principled leadership.” WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
Looking at history and how Jews and Muslims had grown apart over the years, the Sheikh said: “We must rebuild the bridges of dialogue and the bonds of partnership between our communities”. Being a man of principle and conviction, he is well known for his willingness to confront controversies directly. Sheikh Dr Al-Issa has consistently provided a powerful voice against extremism across the world. In January, he led the Muslim World League on a historic visit of senior Muslim leaders to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. “Having been involved in high-level Jewish-Muslim engagement for the past two decades, I have no hesitation in saying that the significance of Sheikh Dr Mohammed Al-Issa’s stance against antisemitism must not be underestimated”, said Jeremy Jones, Director of International and Community Affairs for the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. In an article in the Australian J-Wire media outlet, Sheikh Dr Al-Issa is quoted as saying “Whereas Jews and Muslims lived for centuries together, in these last decades we have sadly grown apart. Now we must rebuild the bridges of dialogue and the bonds of partnership between our communities . . . Since taking over the Muslim World League, it has been my mission to fight the forces of hatred and violence.” Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y9njd37m Philip Feinstein is a Sydney based writer, musician and activist working for MUSIC FOR REFUGEES www.musicforrefugees.org ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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Livestock abuse must end Burundi
A plea for voiceless animals in turmoil Senior Burundi refugee supporter Philip Feinstein with the Burundian flag.
Christine Osbourne One of the major scourge of modern civilisation is live animal trafficking that occurs worldwide, within the EU, from Canada and South America, but emphatically from Australia where the extreme distance to Middle Eastern markets should make it untenable. Following disturbing images of sheep fatalities —550,000 are estimated to have perished at sea 2000-2012—a new federal law designed to prevent suffering was enacted in 2018: no animals could be exported between I June-October, the Middle Eastern summer. This year, unbelievably and tragically, the industry regulator granted an exemption for the livestock carrier al-Kuwait, delayed by corona virus cases among some crew members, to slip out of Fremantle on 19 June. Nor the RSPCA, nor the thousands of people opposed to the live animal trade could prevent this contempt. Even an urgent appeal to the Federal Court on 15 June by Animals Australia failed to change the decision. After a month of being stuck in feed-lots, 35,000 sheep were loaded for the voyage to endure 24/7 fluorescent lighting, constant engine noise and slippery metal floors with the pitching and rolling of the vessel causing added misery. The sheep are scheduled to reach Kuwait on 1st July when the temperature could be 46.7C (mean average for this month) in time for slaughter on Eid-ul-adha. With chilled meat exports now able to reach Arab dinner plates within 48 hours, on-shore kill must replace this cruelty. Air-freighted lamb exported to Gulf airports in 2018 was worth $476 million — more than sea and live shipments combined, a clear indication that animal trafficking is uneconomical as well as immoral. Ideally the export of livestock — the main markets being Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE —should cease altogether.
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The Prophet’s own emphasis on kindness, mercy, and compassion for animals is referenced multiple times in the Hadiths. Qurbani is not an edict in the Qur’an, but in acknowledging the biblical story of the Prophet Abraham, it has entered Islamic culture to demonstrate one’s loyalty and submission to Allah. What many people, including Muslims themselves, find especially distressing is the mistreatment of animals prior to their slaughter: the graphic qurbani videos seen on You Tube stress this point. Some might opine it is even unconscionable to venerate a god whose favour is bought with the blood of an innocent creature. While the distribution of a third of the meat to the less well-off is a charitable gesture, how much more compassionate to give the animal to a poor rural family for milk. Or to build up a small herd.
It is also economically more sensible. The 10 million animals killed on eid ul-adha in Pakistan, as an example, is calculated to cost the country US$3 billion in one fell swoop. If Muslim academics and moderate imams could reach agreement on the desire for some revision of the custom, it would be a positive step towards easing tensions in predominantly Christian countries hosting thousands of Muslim refugees. “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day: give him a fishing rod and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Christine Osborne is the author of many books on Islamic countries including The Gulf States and Oman. She is also the CEO of www.worldreligions.co.uk a multi faith library specialising in the mainstream faiths. She has visited more than 30 Muslim majority countries.
Shaoquett Moselmane: “Political lynching has already commenced” Continued from page 1 Mr Moselmane said his views on China were the views that any Australian was entitled to have. “As you are aware, the Australian Chinese community has been under sustained political, racial and physical abuse. They do not deserve the slander that they have received and they certainly did not deserve the abuse and violent physical attacks they have so far sustained. “Chinese-Australians are a humble law-abiding group of citizens who go about their lives in peace, looking after their families and minding their own business.” “I am proud of them, I am also proud of my association with them and proud to stand up for them in these tough and unjust times.” In March 2020 an extraordinary, slanderous campaign was launched against Mr Moselmane that he claimed came from the Far Right of Australian politics.
Thereafter he rebutted the statements from right wing shockjocks and newspaper columnists. Talking about his loyalty to Australia, he said, “I may have been born in Lebanon, but my loyalties are to Australia and I am proud that I have been a citizen for over 40 years. I have served on my local council for 15 years and in the NSW parliament for the past decade. My allegiance is first and foremost to Australia.” On being accused of making a statement, “Today, the obsolete scum of ‘white Australia’ is once again flooding, and the theory of yellow fever has once again surfaced,” he said that it was a deliberate, mischievous mistranslation. He clarified that, ”In my statement to the Chinese media, I used no such inflammatory language, “What I said was simple: ‘It’s the old white Australia fear of the ‘yellow peril’ resurfacing.’” “I went to Professor Jing Han, Profes-
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been born in Lebanon, but my loyalties are to Australia
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The country of Burundi is currently in turmoil as the genocide there, gets worse. On top of this, the President, Pierre Nkurunziza, has died. Although it was reported that he died of a heart attack, opposition forces believe it was Covid-19 that killed him. Currently there are over 500,000 refugees who have fled to neighbouring Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and even Australia. In a telecast to an international audience senior Burundi refugee supporter Philip Feinstein explained how UNHCR and other human rights organisations are turning a blind eye to the situation. “To make matters worse, Australia has allowed Burundi to open a consulate in the WA Church of Margaret Court, our former tennis hero” Feinstein said. “Despite DFAT warning Australians not to visit Burundi, Barry Court , Consul General and husband of Margaret, has categorically stated it is perfectly safe to visit.” It seems like Australia has a long way to go when learning what’s right and what’s wrong.
sor of Translation and Interpreting Studies, Western Sydney University. Prof Han confirmed that the McKenzie translation is ‘taken directly from Google translation of the Chinese text…..For professional standards, Google translations cannot be used as accurate translation without being post-edited by qualified translators.’” He has denied that his trips to China and accommodation were paid for by the Chinese government, saying, “Since 2012 I have been raising funds from multicultural communities to help the Australia-based charity, Wheelchairs For Kids Inc. A project of the Rotary Club of Scarborough West Australia supported by the Christian Brothers. “I have delivered over 4000 wheelchairs to disabled children including Palestinian children with one container, one to Iraq, one to Libya, two containers to Syria, three containers to Lebanon, four containers to Pakistan and three containers to China.” “After organising my own Kids-OnWheels Alliance Inc, a registered charity, I have visited wheelchairs factories in China, and I am now negotiating with Chinese manufactures to produce more wheelchairs for distribution to needy children in China and around the world.”
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Reality check: Climate change MUST be real Eesa Bokhari I must believe that climate change must be true because there is so much evidence and proof around us. Climate change must be real since there are glaciers melting in Antarctica and the Arctic, bushfires/wildfires happening across California and Australia, Pacific islands sinking and flooding across the globe. This article will surely convince you that CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL!!! Climate change must be real because ice is melting in Antarctica & the Arctic I strongly believe that CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL because glaciers are melting and this is extremely true evidence. There have been many glaciers melting because of climate change. National Geographic states “When President William Howard Taft of the United States, created Glacier National Park in 1910, it was home to an estimated, 150 glaciers. Since then the number has decreased to fewer than 30”. This evidence that glaciers are melting because of climate change, can be seen when comparing photos of glaciers from 1900’s from photos taken today. These melting glaciers will create more drastic and destroying events to affect human life and all life on earth. Disastrous weather events are becoming more common in Australia due to climate change Australia is experiencing more droughts, flooding, extreme heat, major bushfires and these mighty events may seem already extreme but will be more intense as we leave our beautiful environment slip through our hands. The bushfires in Australia started in late 2019 and ended in early 2020. This was very unusual, and I think that global warming must have contributed to these bushfires. The flooding in Australia has been very intense and has destroyed areas of Sydney in many disastrous ways. The flooding has destroyed many structures and global warming must have also helped it to become stronger. Drought in Australia is becoming very common and is going to be the new normal if climate change is still thriving. Many unusual events are happening around the country and are becoming the new normal. So you must agree with me that climate
change is real because of all this overwhelming evidence. The age of the 6th global mass extinction has arrived This is the 6th major mass extinction across the globe. This is the global mass extinction because humans are cutting down trees, using fossil fuels, eating too much meat, using lots of fuel, hurting and killing animals, having wet markets, and many, many more problems that humans are making. Global warming is killing and destroying precious life on earth. An example of this huge decline in wildlife is the great barrier reef bleaching off the coast of eastern Australia. “We were really shocked. No scientist expected to see three severe bleaching events in just five years.” Professor Hughes spent nine days in an aeroplane surveying the damage to the reef. (Sourced from ABC News). Bleaching is obviously happening because sea temperatures are rising at a fast pace and therefore corals cannot live since they are not used to this abnormal environment. Once this bleaching effect happens increases, it will cause a huge domino effect to all other species of marine life that rely on this coral. Marine life will die and the rare life that humans have not discovered will be destroyed forever. Lots of marine life will die out and this will just become the destructive start of all marine life on earth! Also many wildlife are also disappearing all across the earth on land as well. The Australian 2019-2020 bushfires affected lots of native wildlife across the country. More than 1 billion animals were killed in the bushfires. Moreover this number will be increasing even more after the bushfires because of continuing deforestation, future bushfires, animals being run over by vehicles on the road and more common droughts. As a result of this, all animals in Australia shall die and go extinct. Most species go extinct because of deforestation and habitat loss. When trees are cut down carbon dioxide level increases and oxygen level decreases. The carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming at a quite a high rate. Humans are cutting too many trees down, and are not cutting the trees down at a sustainable rate and this will increase greenhouse gas emissions. Unless we stop releasing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, this will be the harsh reality that will warm the earth too quickly
Devastating Australian bushfires in 2019.
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Flooding in New South Wales. and wildlife wont have enough time to adapt to warmer temperatures so they will perish. We must take action to STOP this harsh reality and this chaotic world from happening NOW!!! You surely will believe with me that climate change is real because of glaciers melting, disastrous weather events happening all across Australia and this mass extinction on earth. Climate change MUST be real because of
all the evidence that is provided in this article. We must act together NOW if we want our future generations to live in harmony with nature for the years to come! Reality check: Climate change is REAL!!! Eesa Bokhari is 11 years old and goes to Trinity Grammar Prep School. He is passionate about conserving Australian Native Stingless Bees.
Sharing the stories of Australian Muslims
AMUST Media Between July and November 2019, 7 open consultation sessions, 5 women’s consultation sessions, 3 student consultations sessions and over a dozen targeted consultation sessions were held in Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Townsville. In February 2020, the Race Discrimination Team held 6 consultations in Perth and Darwin. Wordclouds from each city are now available on the project webpage. The project’s online survey was extended for an additional month due to stakeholder interest and closed on 30 September 2019. 1,017 Australian Muslims were surveyed about their experiences in Australia. Participation in the online survey was voluntary and responses were received from every state and territory. In addition to quantitative items, respondents were asked to share their personal experiences through free text answers. What’s next? During this period the Race Discrimination Team has completed collation of consultation notes including the creation of consultation word clouds, settled the structure of the findings collation, and completed research. The Race Discrimination Team will con-
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tinue writing the project findings, develop a release plan including developing a communications plan, and design and develop resources to support the release of the findings. Key Themes • Media and political narrative: Community members spoke about the correlation between negative media and political narrative and an increase in aggression and violence towards Australian Muslim community members. • Racism: Australian Muslim community members continue to experience racism on a personal level across Australia. Incidents are occurring in public spaces like shopping centres, schools, public transport and prayer spaces. • Systemic and institutionalised discrimination: Australian Muslim community members referred to economic, social and political institutions and processes that reinforce discrimination, and see acknowledgement and inclusion of their unique cultural identity and history as critical to inclusion. • The need for broader community allies: Australian Muslim leaders advised the Commission that the support of leaders from non-Muslim community organisations would have an important role in engaging and improving cross-cultural relations. • Policing and countering violent extremism: ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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Navigating self-care after a divorce Hanan Dover When we get married, we naturally expect it to be forever so we personally invest and attach ourselves to relationships (physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc). Because of this, it’s not easy to leave despite abuse or not being in-love. You may still be uncertain about leaving because you share children, enjoyed lifestyle benefits and are financially dependent. And when you do finally leave knowing it’s the right decision it’s normal and natural to feel low. You are still grieving and that’s ok too! Don’t expect to come out of relationships without having to feel pain, hurt, questioning yourself is you made the right choice. All these are fine and it will pass. Be mindful of the thoughts but don’t absorb the emotional elements that then cloud your reality in the now and present. In the now and present you are safe from the pain that was forced upon you externally. You are safe. Resist the negatively bias that your mind will want to you spiral under and know that you have removed yourself form harm and that you are strong and responsible for that. Do not worry about community or family gossip that can also follow as a consequence of leaving the relationship, those people do not matter at all. Stuff them, truly. Do not feel guilty for your choices, nor allow
other make your feel guilty for responsible decisions made. Don’t let your estranged husband or other people exert power of you after you developed the strength to leave and action your safety and sanity (and that of your children if you have them). Allow yourself to build resilience from the separation, recover and set-boundaries from the relationship. Otherwise if you cannot fill in your time you may find yourself missing the toxic relationship that you left because that’s the only thing you knew for many years and your mind prefer what is familiar over being stagnant and not actively engaged in recovery. It’s time to also become more autonomous. Try and create a life now that includes activities that you could not have during your relation-
ship, eg more family time, friends, hobbies, work, and other activities and interests. You will benefit from a fulfilling life to supplement or replace your relationship. That’s the key. After investing so many years in the relationship to make up for the gaping hole created from separation, fill it in with good things, activities, volunteering, family and friends, salat, duas, etc Practice rigorous exercise or yoga if your body feels stuck. By exercising you can help your mental processing also become unstuck where you will be feeling more confident and thinking clearer. Take lessons from your previous marriages and move forward with assurance s that your choices are for the sake of Allah, and knowing
that All a h loves His
creation and those that love Him alhamdullilah. Human love can be blind but loving Allah with conviction is the Highest of any love and is the safest attachment and the best relationship we can have. If you have children from the marriage, your children can reflect the mood that you show them and become confused. Your child will respond to your positive or negative vibes so you are better off responding in a helpful and beneficial manner. Share age-appropriate communication about the divorce with your children. It’s important that you child feels loved, safe, and heard so it’s important to encourage them to share their concerns with you. We all know that expressing your feelings and being able to convey them is beneficial. So, encouraging your child to expression their feelings is health and helps with their emotional development so be a good role model where emotions are explored and discussed openly with your children by normalising them. If the grief, hurt, trauma, or depression becomes very difficult to deal with where it starts to interrupt the things you previously enjoyed, studied, worked or worshipped then find a good therapist for yourself. Engaging with a therapist will help you cope as you struggle with feelings of sadness, guilt, fear, anger, anxiety, and frustration. Taking affirmative action to be in therapy is a strength, and not a weakness. Hanan Dover is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist at www.psychcentral.com.au and the Founder of www.missionofhope.org.au . She is a lover of coffee, proud mother of three young adult daughters and twice divorced.
UPF: Black lives and values matter
Dr John Bellavance
The content of this article expresses the views of Australian Ambassadors for Peace with the Universal Peace Federation, a global network of peace builders. We support the voicing of human frustration with respect to the lack of justice and concern for black lives. We uphold that all people should be treated with dignity, human rights and respect. Freedom and human rights cannot coexist with discrimination. We also recognise that this senseless loss of life is a symbol of something even more fractious that still affects too many Americans and people around the world today. It may be hard to relate to such evil because we do not hold such thoughts within our own hearts, but we may find ourselves guilty of not recognising that discrimination is still afflicting many people. We also note that this killing comes at a time when there is untold suffering of African Americans disproportionately affected by the corona virus pandemic. This crisis demonstrates that leadership is needed in four areas and requires all of us to address these. First, governmental institutions and civil society organisations need to listen to the frustration of people about injustices and racial or other forms of discrimination. The painful images of the peoples of the USA expressing their frustration and outpouring of anguish needs to be voiced and listened to. Leadership is immediately needed to assure the frustrated and concerned, that reason will prevail and proactive measures will be taken to JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
Yemen Dr Reginald Naulty
restore peace, equality, and love. Second, after listening, leaders of all communities need to address the issues. To do this they must lead with spiritual and moral values. Values drive culture and values drive good leadership and solutions. Leadership is about fostering values and unity, not division. Third, there is a need for leaders to devise solutions from a local community level, building outwards. Greater diplomacy, dialogue and emotional intelligence needs to be deployed at every level in order to address the frustration and anger that is an outcome of injustice. Fourth, there is a need for a clear values perspective. A lack of values perspective causes conflict. The current tensions as a result of the wrong values in the US demonstrate this. What killed George Floyd are the wrong values. Democracy serves as a political system, but it does not provide a clear and comprehen-
sive worldview. We need a new vision based on shared universal values. Additionally, values education and social and emotional skills need to be better incorporated into law enforcement and all aspects of society. Clearly, as a society, we need the resources that a values perspective can provide. We can’t just react to issues when they come up. Values education needs to be part of a proactive approach. Nelson Mandela argued that people can learn to hate, but they can also learn to love. We all need to forgive, love and unite. Our voice does matter and our actions are needed. Dr John Bellavance has worked in the non-profit sector for 40 years. In Australia he is the national Vice-President of the Universal Peace Federation.
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The walking skeletons of Yemen are small change in a war led by comfortable men in traditional dress reading maps, and discussing strategies in distant cities. They don`t pause to wonder what God thinks, whether He is pleased, or takes no notice, or if He holds grieving mothers against them. No war lasts forever. Why don`t they negotiate a truce to-day and refer the dispute away to impartial arbiters in another country, and to their decision, agree? Then, also, God will agree, and give the earth to the meek. Dr Reginald Naulty, originally from Adelaide, has taught at Charles Sturt University and has been a prolific writer since 1972.
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Our Martyrs in Christchurch Graveyard Farid Ahmed The date 15 March 2019 feels as if it was yesterday. That day through someone’s cruelty, Allah accepted 51 martyrs from two mosques in Christchurch. The holy mosques floors were coloured with pure and holy blood from peaceful Muslim worshippers. The entire world was shocked to see what hate could do. On the other hand, the whole world witnessed how peaceful Muslims were. With terrible pain, victim families and other Muslims faced the violence with patience and in peace. Most of our martyrs are buried in Christchurch Memorial Park Cemetery. It is a graveyard with exceptions. A graveyard in which a mass burial took place while the whole world watched. A burial that brought out tears from people all around the globe. A burial that attracted prayers from Muslims all around the world. It is a graveyard which will carry the story of massacre throughout the future until the doomsday. It is a graveyard with an extra-ordinary environment that chills the visitors when they notice lines of graves with names written on the headstones of the martyrs. These are people, according to our faith, were most oppressed unfairly yet they achieved the highest status in the Paradise. I love to visit this graveyard of martyrs where my beloved wife is one of them. Her grave as well as others pull me to go there, and to pray for all the souls from my heart and soul. My visiting allows me to cry to the Merci-
ful Allah for His Mercy. I find, it is not only me who loves to visit that graveyard, but so many others love to visit as well. On Sunday 14 June, a group of Muslims decided to visit, to pay their respect, and to pray for the martyred and the rest of them buried in there. Fortunately, I was one of them. Our visit also benefitted us because it reminded us about our own death. We were inspired by the teaching of Prophet Mohammad (s) to visit the grave for our benefit. In a Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira (a), Prophet Mohammad (s) advised, “Visit the graves for it reminds about the death.”
[Muslim] That reminder helps me to focus on my mission in life, which is to work hard righteously in this world to enter paradise in the hereafter. During our visit, we took the opportunity to greet the those in the graves with the Islamic greeting of peace, Salam as again, taught by Prohet Mohammad (s). Buraida (r) narrated that Prophet Mohammad used to teach his companions during visit to the graveyard to say, “Peace (Salam) be upon you, O’ believers and Muslims! Insha Allah (Allah willing) surely, we are going to join you. We ask Allah to grant peace
for us and for you.” [Muslim] That word Salam is the message of Islam all the way through in this life and in next life. Even, in the paradise, the greeting will be Salam (peace). Despite the shedding tears of love for those departed, we came back from the graveyard with peace in our hearts. It indeed was wonderful? Farid Ahmed is a survivor of Christchurch attack on 15 March 2019, a peace advocate, author of HUSNA’S Story and Quran teacher in Christchurch.
The tooth and the sun ANIC: Islamic position on the Hijab Coping with stress AMUST Media The Australian national Imams Council (ANIC) has released a public statement dated 26 June 2020 clarifying the Islamic position on the Hijab. In Islam, lowering of one’s gaze is a command given by Allah the Almighty to both males and females alike in order to promote a modest and dignified societal code of conduct. Males and females must exemplify noble speech, righteous manners and dress with modest clothing. The modest female clothing has become known as Hijab. Allah the Almighty says in the Holy Quran: “And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their chest.” (Quran 24:31) Hijab has become characterised by the iconic female head scarf and is often translated to a ‘veil’ when spoken of in an English context. Thus, enabling the preservation of comfort and modesty, whilst seeking to minimise immorality within social settings. The Hijab worn by Muslim women enables the preservation of modesty in a public forum. Hijab is a divine command given by Allah the Almighty to be practiced and observed by believing Muslim women. Moreover, it is a Fard (obligatory) ritual upon all female Muslims who have reached the age of puberty. This means that a believer is considered to have fallen into sin if they choose not to observe its practice. In much the same way that leaving your prayers, or not fasting the month of Ramadan results in sin, denying its obligation can lead to one falling out of the fold of Islam.
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Accordingly, the Hijab is a concept rooted in seeking the pleasure of your Maker, Allah the Almighty, by following His divine command. Not of patriarchal repression or of a man-made societal construct. Hijab is a core principle and concept of Islamic belief system and is observed as a mainstream Muslim practice globally. Islam’s societal construct is built on a foundation of faith in Allah the Almighty and seeking to please Him by observing modesty at all public levels. Islam does not deny the instinctive desire to enjoy such beauty. Instead, offers men and women a dignified framework to do so. Living one’s life in accordance with divine instruction is a great example of personal empowerment and liberation. When observing Hijab, like all other forms of ritual worship, you will unavoidably encounter hardships and challenges, in particular during this modern age. Just as one may find completing a month of fasting challenging and a struggle, perseverance through the hardship is possible if you hold a firm and unwavering hope in Allah’s ultimate mercy and reward. Allah Almighty is the Most-Just, and He alone will compensate and reward us for enduring the hardship for His sake. The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) in accordance with the traditional Quranic and Sunnah teachings of mainstream Islam, encourages Australian Muslim women to preserve their observance of Hijab and encourages any women who are experiencing hardship or harassment due to the Hijab to reach out to their local Islamic centres for support and advice. In addition to this, ANIC encourages all to be respectful, welcoming and supportive to those who are struggling with wearing the Hijab.
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Rania Ahmed Losing teeth is a special part of childhood, but for me it was magical. We never had a tooth fairy back home, instead, we had the sun. Children would wait for the sun to rise while holding on to their fallen tooth in the balcony. The tooth is supposedly sent to the sun and the sun is asked to take the old tooth and bring a beautiful tooth. It was magical knowing that something that is not suitable can be replaced just by talking to the sun. Being a child was beautiful until you grow up and realize life is not as easy as replacing the old with the new. Stress and worry cannot just disappear like my old tooth. As life progressed, so did problems. I worried about my family in the first few years of migration, but they were not the only thing I worried about. I worried about the future, my studies, friends, my career and pretty much everything. It was a coping mechanism, to stress. It helped to get things done, until it became a barrier in my life. It’s important that children develop life skills to help them cope with stress and the everyday pressures of life, skills to mature their resilience. In a migrant home, this is hard because you are busy doing so many things like putting food on the table, trying to translate a letter written by the teacher as to why your daughter does not want to hold hands with
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a boy in dance class, a phone call from the principle asking why your kid in grade one needs to starve at school?. All this needs to be explained in a foreign language and in a way which does not sound barbaric. Then there is diplomacy, something migrant parents have probably never heard of especially when it comes to raising children in Australia. It was hard for my poor parents to unlearn everything they grew up with and relearn new ways of communicating with their children in a society where children had a voice and were encouraged to have one. Therefore, it was obvious why stress relief strategies may have been missed along with other things. The truth is, teeth don’t always fall out, some are pulled out with pain and blood. A lot of good can come out of this as well. Pain is part of life and that is healthy especially if you know how to handle it. You are allowed to be sad, scream, be angry, but you also need to learn. For me I learnt the hard way. Life teaches you eventually, but it’s harsh, a little like a soccer coach. You fall and you have to get up quickly so you can fall again. And yes, sometimes, when I reach a dead end, I do feel like putting life in my hand and throwing it at the sun, but I soon realise, I can no longer ignore the laws of gravity. Rania Ahmed is a Melbourne based writer and poet. Her aim is to change perspective via her and therefore inspire the change from within. ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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Australia urged to end its anti-Palestine stance Continued from page 1 Israel is planning to forcibly annex up to a third of the Palestinian West Bank including the strategic Jordan Valley any time soon. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr Michelle Bachelet warned on Monday 29 June the move to be illegal saying, “Annexation is illegal. Period. Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank, or 5 percent,” urging Israel to “listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path.” This move been deplored globally as a grave violation of international law including over 250 leading international lawyers, and an unprecedented 50 independent UN
experts, and by 1000 European parliamentarians. “We have to stand firm and say ‘no’ to what Israel and America are doing in this area,” PLO Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi told the Council. “It is flagrantly denying rights and flying in the face of international law.” In an opinion piece written by Ben Saul, Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday 25 June 2020, Australia has been urged to move away from this extreme anti-Palestine stance. “The Morrison government must now unequivocally condemn annexation as an illegal threat to international security
Palestinian citizens of Israel protest to save Al-Isaaf cemetery in Jaffa built almost 200 years ago that holds the tombs of hundreds of Palestinians, but is now under threat of demolition by Israeli authorities.
China forcing birth control to suppress Uyghur population China is imposing coercive measures to slash birth rates among ethnic Uyghurs as part of a campaign to curb its Muslim population. A report by Chinese scholar Adrian Zens claims that Uyghur women are forcibly being sterilised or fitted with contraceptive devices in Xinjiang. China is already facing widespread criticism for holding Uyghur in detention camps. It is believed there are about one million Uighur people and other mostly Muslim minorities detained in China, in what the state defines as “re-education” camps. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of “demographic genocide”. China regularly subjects minority women to pregnancy checks and forces intrauterine devices, sterilisation, even abortion on hundreds of thousands, the interviews and data show. The population-control measures are backed by mass detention both as a threat and as punishment for failure to comply. Having too many children is a major reason people are sent to detention camps with parents of three or more children ripped away from their families unless they can pay huge fines. Police raid homes, terrifying parents as they search for hidden children. The hundreds of millions of dollars the government pours into birth control has transformed Xinjiang from one of China’s fastest-growing regions to among its slowest in just a few years, according to new research by China scholar Adrian Zenz. “This kind of drop is unprecedented ... there’s a ruthlessness to it,” said Zenz, a leading expert in the policing of China’s minority regions. “This is part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uyghurs.” Some analysts say the birth control campaign is part of a state-orchestrated assault on the Uyghurs to purge them of their faith and identity and forcibly assimilate them into the dominant Han Chinese culture. They are subjected to political and religious re-education in camps and forced labour in factories, while their children are JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
UNHRC approves the settlements resolution with a 36-2 vote and nine abstentions on 22 June 2020.
and human rights and prepare to impose hard-hitting sanctions. Annexation is indisputably contrary to international law,” Ben Saul writes. He further adds, “Australia should warn Israel that it will impose sanctions if annexation proceeds. Sanctions targeted at the Israeli government and its leaders are appropriate.” “Australia needs to stand up for the rules it says it believes in – not only against China or Russia, but also against “friends” such as Israel and the US,” he concludes. Professor Emeritus, Stuart Rees OAM has called the annexation move as deceit passed off as politics and diplomacy. “In response to Israel’s intention to an-
nex up to 30% of the West Bank, respect for truth by all the parties involved, Israeli, Palestinian, US, European and Australian, has been replaced by calculations about the benefits of deceit.” “Allowing Israeli impunity but denying this was happening has enabled any version of reality to be peddled. An international community has mouthed respect for human rights but ignored abuses, hence an amoral politics which teaches ‘do what you can get away with.” ABC News reported on Thursday 24 June that New Israel Fund (NIFAustralia) tweeted regarding annexation plans, “This has been a dream of Israel’s far-right wing of the settler movement.”
BJP government Media Scan changing Kashmir’s demography Ainullah
An Uyghur woman with children in China’s northwest Xinjiang region. indoctrinated in orphanages. “The intention may not be to fully eliminate the Uyghur population, but it will sharply diminish their vitality, making them easier to assimilate,” said Darren Byler, an expert on Uyghurs at the University of Colorado. “It’s genocide, full stop. It’s not immediate, shocking, mass-killing on the spot type genocide, but it’s slow, painful, creeping genocide,” said Joanne Smith Finley, who works at Newcastle University in the UK “These are direct means of genetically reducing the Uighur population.” “Since a sweeping crackdown starting in late 2016 transformed Xinjiang into a draconian police state, witness accounts of intrusive state interference into reproductive autonomy have become ubiquitous,” the report says. In a statement on Monday 29 June, the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international cross-party group of politicians including Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and US senator Marco Rubio, called on the UN to “establish an international, impartial, independent investigation into the situation in the Xinjiang region”.
Indian authorities is granting domicile certificates in Kashmir to thousands of Indian nationals in order to to change the demographic structure of the disputed region. As many as 25,000 non-locals have been granted domicile certificates in Muslim-majority Jammu & Kashmir since 18 May 2020 under a New law being pushed through stealthily by the Modi government amid COVID-19 lockdown. The certificate, a sort of citizenship right, entitles a person to residency and government jobs in the region, which until last year were reserved only for the local population. The documents are being issued to non-Kashmiris, including Indian government officials, under the Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) When India revoked the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir last year, it also scrapped the local special citizenship law, guaranteed under Article 35-A of the Indian constitution. The law barred outsiders from settling and claiming government jobs, to maintain the demographic balance of the region. On Friday 26 June, a picture of the domicile certificate issued to Navin Kumar
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Choudhary, a bureaucrat originally from the Indian state of Bihar, went viral on social media. In April, amid the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, the Indian government notified domicile laws for occupied Kashmir, making an unspecified number of outsiders eligible for residency and jobs. According to the new law, any person who has lived in the region for 15 years, or has studied there for seven years and passed their class 10 or class 12 examination is eligible for the domicile. Also eligible to settle and claim local citizenship rights are the children of Indian government employees who have served in the region for 10 years or more. Kashmiri politicians across the divide have said the revocation of special citizenship rights was aimed at reversing the Muslim-majority character of the region. A government official said as many as 33,000 people had applied for the domicile certificates since 18 May, when the rules were notified. Of them, 25,000 have been granted citizenship rights, he added. Some 32,000 applications were filed in the 10 districts of Hindu-majority Jammu.
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Impact of COVID-19 in Afghanistan Emily Mays
Affected by four decades of war, Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world for a child. Before the COVID-19 crisis, it was estimated that there were over 5 million children in need of humanitarian support. The impact of a global pandemic has seen this increase to more than 7 million children at risk of starvation. With only 0.3 doctors per 1000 people, Afghanistan’s fragile health system cannot fight the virus alone. Preventative measures and restrictions, including the closure of markets and nation-wide lockdown, have rendered life in Afghanistan harder than ever. Whilst prices for food and hygiene products have surged, at the same time, the ability to work and earn an income has decreased. Along with a breakdown in supply lines into the country, access to food and supplies within Afghanistan is incredibly difficult, and increasingly limited for the millions of children in need, placing orphans at a high risk of malnourishment. These children have already suffered enough, growing up amongst war, conflict, and poverty. With Mahboba’s Promise, you can help give a future to orphans desperately in need. Now, more than ever, your generous support is needed. Here are children that need your help now. Sponsor a child today at mahbobaspromise.org/donate/sponsorship/
A Politics of Deceit: Israel/US Annexation of Palestinian Lands Professor Stuart Rees In response to Israel’s intention to annex up to 30% of the West Bank, respect for truth by all the parties involved, Israeli, Palestinian, US, European and Australian, has been replaced by calculations about the benefits of deceit. Passed off as politics and diplomacy, manipulative game playing is not new. In 1808, Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott warned of toxic consequences if lying and deceit became central to the conduct of relationships. ‘Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.’ Scott’s prophecy is still apt. The connotation ‘annexation’ might sound relatively harmless but disguises criminal intent. A forthright interpretation would insist that annexation means stealing or daylight robbery. It is difficult to imagine how 700,000 people can settle Palestinians’ lands without knowing that their robbery was illegal. Consequences of Impunity Allowing Israeli impunity but denying this was happening has enabled any version of reality to be peddled. An international community has mouthed respect for human rights but ignored abuses, hence an amoral politics which teaches ‘do what you can get away with.’ Endless negotiations, allegedly to achieve peace, have camouflaged Israel’s impunity. WikiLeaks cables revealed that the peace process was a sham. Palestinians were badly represented. The Israelis did not take it seriously. US intermediaries pretended to be honest brokers but were partisan. Israeli governments’ claim they had no-one with whom to make peace enabled them to behave as though they owned the moral high ground, a stance supported by a US/Israeli narrative which said that Palestinians had rejected generous offers of land.
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Even as thousands of non-combatants, women and children were slaughtered in Gaza, or hundreds of protesters were killed by Israeli snipers during the 2018/19 Gaza demonstrations to mark the March of Return, claims persisted that Israel’s army was the most humane in the world. A Netanyahu wonderland story about the identity of Jews and Palestinians has also been concocted. A warm up introduction to that story says that West Bank land is disputed not occupied. President Trump’s son-inlaw, the real estate agent dressed as a peace negotiator, assumed an as-you-like-it role to contend that Palestinians were incapable of governing themselves. Hypocrisy and the Two State Illusion Then comes the lame opposition to Annexation, in particular by the EU. That potentially influential organisation opposes Annexation, warns of the consequences, but simultaneously remains Israel’s largest trading partner, facilitates arms sales and welcomes Israeli services and products. In the illusion business, the Palestinian Authority has also been active. Its operatives might regard themselves as instruments of their own government, but they exist to carry out Israeli orders. Refugee camps are maintained, hundreds of checkpoints occupied, Palestinian children are imprisoned by military courts, the siege of Gaza is into a fourteenth year but the PA conjures the self-image that it is independent, and a sovereign Palestine is just around the corner. Another annexation con trick is that if Netanyahu’s proposals are stopped, a more just outcome could be achieved. The West Bank land has been stolen. The horse has bolted but nations supportive of Palestinians are mustering courage to demand that the stable door be closed. In Europe, the US and in Australia, it’s convenient to pretend that Israel is in control. US Secretary of State Pompeo says that what
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Israel decides will be honoured, yet he needs the wealthy and powerful in Washington. The outcome of the Annexation controversy appears to depend on what casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson wants. The objectives of this largest donor to the US Republican Party are aided by the settler loving US Ambassador David Friedman who links annexation to the Trump ‘Vision for Peace’ which is about Israel’s occupation becoming permanent, about one state two systems, a fully-fledged apartheid regime, most citizens with full rights, the remainder with none. Touches of Truth and Reality In June, in response to deceit and illusion, a bold touch of reality came from six thousand Israeli protesters in a Tel Aviv square who insisted that years of occupation had been a serious crime and should not be replaced with an apartheid that would last forever. A different perspective, but also grounded in an attempt to be frank and realistic, is offered by Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy who suggests, with characteristic hope, that annexation might be more reversible than settlements, that annexation could eventually be changed into democracy. To say that discussion of Netanyahu’s proposal to annex the West Bank is characterised
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by deceit, illusion and indifference to human rights may provoke the demand, ‘stop picking on Israel, how about all the other human rights abusers?’ To anticipate that demand, I concede that in politics and the media, where human rights have been concerned, deceit has been widespread. In his Memoir, veteran US journalist Seymour Hersh concluded that the powerful prey mercilessly on the powerless, they lie constantly about their intentions and the media let the powerful get away with it, not least in fear to be honest about the colonisation of Palestine. It should not take too much courage to say that constant deceit produces a schizophrenic version of reality, results in cruelty to the vulnerable, indifference to international law and other ill effects. ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.’ Courtesy: John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations Stuart Rees OAM, human rights activist, poet, novelist, author of books on social justice. Recipient of the Jerusalem Peace Prize, Founder Director of the Sydney Peace Foundation. ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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Views of bigoted doctor alarms Muslim patients Dr Aslam Abdullah Dr Lalchandani’s views reflecting the anti-Muslim stand taken by Hindu supremacists have sent shock waves to non-Hindu patients, not only in India, but globally who may now be concerned regarding their treatment by such medical doctors flouting their Hippocratic Oath. The five minute video recorded on Monday 1 June 2020 that went viral, of Dr Aarti Lalchandani, the principal and dean of GVSM Medical College, in the city of Kanpur where she called the Muslim patients infected with COVID-19, as terrorists who should not be treated and sent to dungeons. The original Hippocratic Oath, taken by graduating medical doctors for their duty of care for their patients, went through a revision in 1964, but the essence remained the same that includes in part, “I will apply dietetic measures for the sick’s benefit according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.” However some Hindu doctors, owing to their allegiance to the Hindu fascist organization, the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), think and act differently, especially when their patients happen to be from the Muslim community. Dr Lalchandani expressed a line of thinking promoted by the Hindu fascist organizations, including the ruling BJP Hindu nationalist government and its ideological source, the RSS. What was said by the top UP doctor on camera shows the real intent of the RSS-influenced medical staff in India spitting hatred against Muslims while reacting to COVID-19 patients in the publicly funded hospital. Dr Lalchandani described Muslim pa-
tients as terrorists and held them responsible for spreading the virus among Hindus while referring to Muslim patients who had attended the Tableeghi Jamaat gatherings in Delhi in March. She said, “we are giving VIP treatment to terrorists, so many doctors are in quarantine, because of them. The Chief Minister (if UP state, Yogi Adityanath) is following a policy of appeasement by admitting these people to the hospital. They deserve jail.” Dr Lalchandani is not alone in her hatred of Islam and Muslims; thousands of doctors influenced by RSS think and probably act like her in India and possibly around the world. Adding fuel to the fire was the statement of Dr Sunil Choudhary, the in charge of the Srichand Baradiya Rog Nidan Kendra in Sardarshahar in Churu district of Rajasthan, a north Indian state who wrote in a WhatsApp message to his acquaintance. “Kal se me muslim ptnt ka x-ray ni krunga. Yah meri sapat hai (from tomorrow onwards, I won’t do the X-rays of Muslim patients. This is my promise),” The name of the WhatsApp group where he sent the message is called ‘BARDIA RISE’. In a separate message he wrote “Muslim ptnt ko dekhna hi band krwa do (Stop attending to Muslim patients).” Another message reads that only Muslims have been found positive in Sardarshahar so it will be best not to attend to Muslim patients and send them to another doctor who is a Muslim. There are reports from Indian states such as Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh, where Muslim patients complained of mistreatment by Hindu physicians. In one such instance in Rajasthan, a gynaecologist refused to admit an expecting mother in the hospital because she was a Muslim. In Gujarat, the family of a deceased patient complained that doctors refused to
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Dr Aarti Lalchandani called Muslim patients with COVID-19 infections, terrorists who should not be treated but instead sent to dungeons.
treat him and left him to die on the floor. In Delhi, doctors left a Muslim diabetic patient to die without food and medicine for days. Even during the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Zionist and Muslim doctors remained loyal to the Hippocratic oath when they treated patients from their enemy camps. Dr Hassan Hathout, a Muslim physician, was one such hero who, in 1948, treated an Israeli military official who was commanding troops to uproot and annihilate Palestinians. In 2018, the UN honoured Israeli Drs Sion Houri, Lior Sasson, and Akiva Tamir, with the UN Population Award for saving young Palestinian lives – especially in war-torn and developing lands. Article 13 of the third Geneva Convention states that Prisoners Of Wars (POWs) must receive humane treatment. Any act or omission by the country, under whose captivity, the POW is in, which leads to death or seriously endangers the health of a prisoner is prohibited. The convention requires the medical staff to treat prisoners properly, ensuring their safety.
Thousands of medical staff working in the US, Europe, and the Middle East who have attended RSS training camps and are aligned with the fascist organisation provide financial support in its promotion of hatred against Muslims. One cannot rule out the possibility of their misdiagnosis or mistreatment of Muslims or Christian Patients. Only a thorough investigation of the medical practice of such physicians and other medical staff can reveal the truth. They pose a threat to civil society not only in India but wherever they are practicing as doctors. The medical community must investigate these hidden agents of fascism working in public and private hospitals. They are a danger to Muslim and Christian societies all over the world. Dr Aslam Abdullah is a resident scholar at Islamicity.org. He is also the editor of the Muslim Observer published from Detroit, MI, USA. He is based in the USA and is a trustee of the American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin. He has taught at several colleges and universities in India, England, and the USA.
Bangladesh government fights against information, not COVID-19 Dr Faroque Amin During this first half of 2020, the world has come to a standstill. All countries in the world have isolated themselves in desperate attempts to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, a novel coronavirus disease for which humanity is yet to find any vaccine or cure. The battle against this disease has simultaneously brought along another adversary; its economic consequences. The anticipation of a great financial recession in the near future is looming. People have been losing their jobs and governments have been trying to support their citizens. Almost all countries are currently fighting with these two challenges; health and economy. However, the government of Bangladesh has concentrated its effort on fighting a different enemy; information, in other words, truth and reality. It all started with something completely different. Bangladeshi government had previously announced the year 2020 as the ‘Mujib Year’, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sheikh Mujib, the JULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
founder of the ruling party Awami League. This was a year-long mega project with a budget of more than 1 billion Bangladeshi takas, equivalent to about US$12 million. On 10 January 2020, the government organised a national event in a Dhaka stadium to inaugurate this celebration. When several countries had already started the isolation process and a scary death toll was emerging from the Wuhan city of China as well as various other places, the government in Bangladesh ignored all those warnings. Fast forward to 21 April, the Secretary-General of the Awami League and the
Minister of Bridges said, “We are more powerful than coronavirus, so no need to get panicked by this rumour.” For more than a decade, this party has occupied the state power by all possible means, claiming that the economy has been transforming into a developed country from a poor one. Anything that might be deemed as a failure or crisis is not allowed in Bangladesh in order to keep this development narrative intact. Therefore, like all other challenges, the ruling classes of Bangladesh face, they have decided to encounter the challenge of coroAbdur Rajjak died on a Dhaka street while waiting to be tested for coronavirus.
navirus with the same strategy; accusing the opposition of sabotage and using the judiciary to suppress them. At the same time, the government has been actively minimizing the number of COVID-19 tests and hiding the death toll from the pandemic. BBC Bengali service has already published a report that mentioned more than 50 people were arrested country-wide due to their alleged ‘crime’ of spreading the ‘rumour’ about coronavirus. The state machinery has been targeting social media, primarily Facebook due to its popularity among Bangladeshis, and has been arresting users if they write about coronavirus death. A number of ministers and MPs have already died from COIVD-19, as a result of mistreatment or lack of medical treatment in the hospitals, something the government would not get publicised. Unfortunately, this natural disaster cannot be suppressed by that conventional fascist method, rather the people have become the ultimate victims of this strategy, who are now suffering and dying in Bangladesh without minimum medical care, or even any recognition of their suffering. Dr Faroque Amin works with Suprovat Sydney, a Bengali community newspaper published from Sydney, Australia.
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Study Tip 3: Using your time at school efficiently Umar Khan Most students around the world are realising the value of time at school or uni. But how can we make the most of the time that we do have at school? Your time at school is perhaps the most important part of your learning journey. Many students make the mistake of tuning out in class, not appreciate that the time lost in the classroom are much harder to replicate in their own time. You spend a vast amount of time at school, so it is essential to use that time efficiently, and maximise that time so that you can cut down on the work you do after school. The better you use time at school, the less you’ll have to do in your own time! Sit at the front of the class If you find it difficult to concentrate in class, the best thing to do is remove all distractions. Sitting at the front the class improves your concentration, allowing you to absorb the content delivered in class, saving huge amounts of study time. You’ll be able to concentrate better, hear the teacher clearly and see the board distinctly. Don’t take notes in class when the teacher is explaining a concept Taking notes when your teacher is ex-
The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) offers an educational framework, the International Baccalaureate (IB), which can be adapted as a whole or partially or simultaneously into the local educational systems. The IBO offers four programmes for students aged 3 to 19. The IB is non-profit foundation registered in Switzerland. As at 2 April 2020, there were 6,995 programmes offered around the world in 5,278 schools in 158 countries. There has been a 37.9% growth in the number of IB programmes offered worldwide between 2015 and 2019. The four programmes offered by the IBO are: 1. Primary Years Programme (PYP): For ages 3 – 12 2. Middle Years Programme (MYP): For ages 11 – 16 3. Diploma Programme (DP): For ages 16 -19 4. Career-Related Programme (CP) For ages 16 -19 The IB aims to develop students critical thinking skills, research skills, communication skills, time management skills and sense of international mindedness, as it puts students though a rigorous and challenging education programme that forces students to think outside the box. The IB also has an emphasis on independent learning and balanced lifestyle, encouraging community service, creativity, research and physical activity. The PYP is a primary school aged IB programme designed to develop young students that are active learners as they explore local and global issues. It challenges students to think independently and critically at a young age, whilst developing crucial research and communication skills. The MYP is a junior high school aged IB
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plaining a concept can be counteractive. By taking notes as the teacher is teaching, you divide your attention span between the content being delivered and your writing. It is better if you spend the time in class to listen and actively absorb the information being presented in the classroom. It is best if you write notes the same day after the lesson, or only write notes when your teacher is not speaking or explaining a concept. Try to stay ahead of school Find out what topics you are going to cover in your next class or the following week, and read through the relevant chapters in the textbook. You can even try some questions. By working ahead, you will be • Able to cover topics before you encounter them in class. That when you study it in class, it will be your second time and therefore will make more sense. • You will find it easier to complete classwork and homework – cutting down on study time. • You will perform better in exams and assessments as you’ve done the content twice! • Staying ahead, means that you can concentrate in class more, and take less notes because you’ve already covered the content and skills in your own time. You can instead focus on the teacher’s explanation to shore up your knowledge and under-
What is IB? Umar Khan
BOOMERANG 5-9
programme designed to provide a broad and balanced education for students as they continue to develop their critical thinking and independent learning skills. After finishing the MYP, students are well placed to undertake the IB Diploma Programme or Career-related Programme. The IB Diploma Programme or IBDP is a programme for students aged 16 – 19 and offers students a pathway to university and employment in the future. It is a balanced programme that continues to nurture student’s independent learning and critical thinking skills. The CP Programme is a relatively new programme aimed at pro- viding students with career-related education. This programme opens the pathway of apprenticeships or employment as well as further higher education for students. It provides practical, real-world learning for students to help them excel in their future careers. Overall, the IB is an educational framework that aims to create independent, confident, critical thinkers that are well-balanced,
with an emphasis on all-roundedness in students. All facts and figures used in the blog post have been sourced from: ibo.org/ about-the-ib/ facts-and-figures/
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
stand those really hard topics you hadn’t fully grasped yet. However, the key thing to remember is that even though you’ve already covered the topics you are doing in class – don’t tune out! Complete work as it’s given If you get homework, complete it on the same day. Homework is given to students to reinforce the topics, content and skills they have learnt at school. It helps them revise and hone their skills. So, whilst the topic is still fresh in your mind, do your homework. You’ll get through it faster, as it’s fresh and you will find that you remember the content. It will help you excel in class, and
eventual in exams and assessments. If you are short on time, then make sure to complete homework that is due the next day – as a bare minimum. With assessments, make sure to start early – they are obviously worth a lot more, and need more attention than homework. Try to start early so that you can avoid that last-minute all-nighters! It’s important to make the best use of our time at all times, but it’s especially important to get the best out of school, as it is where you spend most of your time. It’s also where you have direct contact with teachers and are able to fully absorb knowledge. Happy Studying!
Online job opportunities: Workshop for international students Shafqat Ali The COVID-19 lockdown has reduced the on-ground jobs for international students in Australia. During this Quarantine period, international students were given an opportunity to learn how to work online from home. This workshop was offered by Young Innovators Australia and PakOZ team. The main objectives of this free online workshop were: • What are online jobs? • How much do we get paid? • Where to find them? • How to get trained free? • Who will help to get the job? • How to become a Micro Entrepreneur? Young Innovators Australia chief mentor Shafqat Ali linked all participants through Zoom platform and the meeting started at 3 pm PST on 20 May 2020. All participants were from different localities of Pakistan and Australia aiming to learn something from this workshop. After the introductions, the meeting was started. We were given a general idea about the importance of online work by putting some quotations like the story of a beggar who became a woodcutter and a Chinese saying that “Instead of giving some hungry person a fish, you should teach him how to catch one so that he can eat all his life.” Some participants like Mr Wajahat shared his ideas and past experiences about online jobs and their importance in this pandemic period and future aspects. Some participants shared their past failures in this field and determination about the future.
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The main agenda of this workshop was to make youngsters understand the importance of online work and how to begin this work. The slides were well designed and everything was understandable. Our mentor taught us the basics of entrepreneurship with general life examples by taking a step by step approach. He showed us a video of a YouTuber who taught people about earning online using a YouTube setting. He taught us the importance of using different google tools like Google 3C. He gave us a basic idea of micro-entrepreneurship in which 9 or fewer people work on the same job. Entrepreneurship is just like learning how to drive a motorbike in which a step by step approach is taken and you evolve and get better by practising more and more. Many healthy discussions were held on this topic and we got to learn a lot by the experiences of those who are already in this business. Our mentor told us about many online jobs we did not know before. So, as a whole, this workshop was worth attending and I hope that next will be even more informative than this and we will be able to establish our own business in no time. He shared different links of Google docs to know if anyone had questions. Some participants asked questions which were immediately answered. At the end of the session, Shafqat Ali sent us forms asking about our field of choice so that he could give us proper instructions about those certain fields and we may earn from that profession. Considering our choices, he also gave us some sample works so that we could gain some experience. Since the workshop, 12+ students are offering jobs in different areas. Students can apply for the available jobs at http://yia.org.au/jobs. To learn more about the PakOZ project, visit their webpage HTTP://pakoz.com.au. ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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Book Preview: Justice Imprisoned Syed Mashaal Hussain
Dr Javed Jamil.
“The current international system of justice may be extremely advanced in methods but is a colossal failure in results”, so says Dr Javed Jamil, the Indian thinker, medical doctor, academic, researcher, writer, speaker and the ruthless crusader against the philosophies of the modern world order. Dr Javed Jamil, currently Chair in Yenepoya (Deemed to be) University, Mangalore, India can very well be regarded as a ruthless crusader against the philosophies of the modern world order. For more than two decades, he has been tirelessly busy unveiling the designs of the forces of economics and their devastating effects on health, peace and social order. His previous book, “Economics First or Health First?” was centred on the health system prevalent in the world highlighting how “Economic Fundamentalism” was dictating the international system of health. His latest book, “Justice Imprisoned” is centred on the international system of law and justice. It is an undeniable fact that we are living in a time when crime has become the order of the day, and as Dr Jamil puts it, “justice, rather than being chosen to lord over the human society, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the so-called Civilised World”. He has reproduced credible statistics to show how big a failure the current legal system has been. Dr Jamil is already well-known for his all-enveloping theory of “Economic Fundamentalism”. His argument that the world is dominated by the forces of economics, which in league with the political powers, are busy using all the strengths, needs and susceptibilities of human beings, cannot be faulted even by the very same forces. In his latest work, Dr Jamil has argued that both problems and solutions are sought to be “commercialised” to the hilt with the result that weapons, law machinery, litigation and even the prisoners have all become the money-machines. The interests of the forces is not in minimising the crimes but in using the crimes, the weapons of crimes and the criminals for their economic rise. Even the title of the book is suggestive in that even the prisons have become a huge industry and to sustain its growth, the legal machinery is busy in sending and keeping as many people as possible and for as long as possible in the prisons. Their campaign against capital punishment in the last two centuries was meant not for the stated objectives of not letting any innocent killed by law but for increasing the population of prisons. Prisons, not death sentences or quick punishments help the industry. He says: “Despite trillions of dollars involved in the system of law and order, despite tens of millions performing the law enforcing duties, despite the tens of millions of counsellors that vouch to defend justice, despite millions of judges that preside over tens of thousands of courts, despite tens of thousands of prisons that are housing tens of millions of the alleged and
convicted criminals, lawlessness and crimes are zooming horrendously with every passing day with billions of men and women being subjected to numerous kinds of serious crimes including murderous and sexual assaults every year. How can then we call it even a satisfactory, what to speak of an excellent system of law and justice?.” Dr Jamil has rightly argued that when there is neither fear of God, nor fear of law, nor fear of society, how can society hope to be free of crimes? Dr Jamil has been extremely severe on the system of litigation, which has become hugely long, expensive and painful for the people. He has narrated a few stories where even the cases of divorce took several decades in deciding. In one case, the husband died after more than 30 years of separation from wife with the case still pending in the court. He argues that judges are expected to pronounce judgments on the basis of the arguments of the two contending parties of lawyers none of whom is stating the whole truth. The foreword of the book has been written by eminent expert of law, Vice Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Professor Faizan Mustafa who, while showing his appreciation for the work, has also not expressed some academic disagreements with the author on several points. The author has
“If a system fails
to achieve the results for which it was created and instead it increases the problem with numerous adverse effects on the people, it needs to be dismantled without delay.
“
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also briefly replied to his arguments in his “Preface”. There is no doubt that the book is an eye opener and perhaps one of the most fascinating critiques of the modern system of law in recent times. It is “Must Read” for everyone who wants to understand the functioning of the modern world order, especially it system of law. As a writer, Dr Jamil excels in combining his investigative and creative skills. On one hand, he has produced credible facts and figures in support of his arguments; on the other, he has used his poetic talents to make the work a perfect reading. It will be worthwhile to end this preview with a few quotes from the book, “A just, swift and effective legal system is a must to ensure social order. A good legal system must be able to drastically lower the crime rate…. If a system fails to achieve the results for which it was created and instead it increases the problem with numerous adverse effects on the people, it needs to be dismantled without delay.” “What a travesty of justice! Injustices perpetrated on the system of justice! The system has been made defunct, its morality has been raped, its riches have been plundered and its sanctity has been ravished. The system has helped every other cause but justice. It has made the officers of the court and the law implementing agencies greatly richer; it has saved the criminals from the punishments proportionate to their crimes; it has opened the floodgates for the corporate for accumulating the wealth; and it has helped the people becoming addicts of various substances and practices. The institution of justice is not any more the system that delivers justice and ensures social order; it is now the industry that generates wealth.” “It is pretty certain that incarceration too has become a part of the global business. Obviously, factors related to problems, problems themselves and their solutions – all feed one another. There is therefore hardly any need to try to build a system free of
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crimes. This is what the international system of justice is all about.” “The fact that the US has one of the highest murder rates and the highest incarceration rate can be regarded as ample proof of the rising criminal tendencies of the American people. But more than that, it is the proof of the total failure of American judicial system, and still more the proof of the negative impact of social, political and economic policies, which ultimately branch out from the root of economic fundamentalism.” “The statistics again point out to the fact that being big powers having nukes and highly advanced technology accompanied with advanced infrastructure does not mean civilization, the level of which is dependent instead on the socioeconomic policies and the legal and justice system of the country. The tables related to crimes, incarceration rates and total number of prisoners are bigger indications of the level of civilization. But in a world dominated by the economic fundamentalists and hegemonies, who will accept this argument?” In a nutshell, Dr Jamil believes that the current international system of law is highly advanced in method but a colossal failure in the result. Instead of trying to hide the facts stated in the book, let the world debate them and overhaul the system of law in a way, which looks advanced not just in method but also in result. The book has been published by Yenepoya Printers and Publishers. Price: Rs 480/- in India and $21 in other countries. Dr Javed Jamil can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com Syed Mashaal Hussain is a postgraduate in Mass Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication and is currently pursuing a PhD. He has also been a sales executive for two years in Muscat.
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A Book that mentions you Prof Dr Muhammad Mumtaz Ali We may read many books, magazines, articles, newspapers and tons of other things. Have you ever realised if those books or articles speak about you? Is it not curiously pleasant to know that there is a Book in which you are mentioned? When I read that Book which claims that it talks about me, I realised that it is true. My experience made me to feel gratitude towards the Author Who not only remembered me but also mentioned me in this very special Book. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of this fact that they have been mentioned in this Book; this is the Quran in for this claim is made. People in general think it is either a religious book or the book of some particular people who follow a specific religion. Hence, they do not feel any attachment to that Book. The Author of the Quran introduces Himself in the Book and makes some unusual claims. He says He possesses unlimited knowledge of each and everything of not only this world but rather the entire universe. He enjoys unlimited wisdom, unlimited power. He reads what is there in the hearts
of people. When I read this kind of statements I realised and felt that no other author of any other book dares to make this kind of claims about him or herself. Readers find in this Book other claims which are equally interesting and unique. It is said in this Book that it expounds truth related to life and death. Several methods are used to explain the truth connected to many things of the observable and the unseen world. But many people generally do not comprehend the things that have been made understandable. This Book is available all over the world. Originally, it was composed and revealed in Arabic language, but its translations are available in most languages of the world. It has been memorised and read by millions of people every day. Children as
young as seven years old memorise it wholly which contains a total of 114 chapters. It also makes claims for its authenticity and truthfulness. Although, it is the Book for all people of all generations, yet it seems to be geared towards people of understanding. It says: “... Surely there are many things in this for people of understanding” [20: 54]. It is a reminder, an admonition from the Creator of the earth and the high heavens to the
ple
of
peothe
world. The beauty of it is that even though it was revealed during a long period of 23 years, yet no one finds in it any contradiction [4: 82]. It is said in the Book: it is a light, a clear
book which shows to all the paths leading to safety. It brings people out from darkness to light and directs people on to the straight path of development and civilisation [5: 15-16]. So, O people: “We have bestowed upon you a Book that mentions you. Do you not understand?” [21: 10]. It is your right to accept the word of the Quran. However, if you intend to reject it, what is wrong in reading it at least once? After all you are mentioned in it. Notice when you read the Quran, how the Author mentions and describes you. Then ask yourself if the claim is true or false. If you can’t find a copy of the Quran, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will arrange a copy of the Quran for you. Dr Mumtaz Ali is currently working in International Islamic University Malaysia as Professor in the Department of Usul al-Din and Comparative religion. His area of specialization is modern and contemporary Islamic thought along with the comparative study of the modern Western philosophical thought and ideologies.
Fasting, COVID-19 and obesity Rabbi Allen Maller Fasting in Ramadan and Yom Kippur have never been more important than in our COVID-19 pandemic anxiety filled and ‘steadily getting fatter’ world. We all know the dangers of COVID-19, but few people appreciate the dangers of everyday indulgence in overeating. In 2015, more than 645 million men and women were obese (a body mass index of 30 or higher). That is up 700% from 105 million in 1975. Researchers who analysed four decades of height and weight data for more than 19 million adults, and then calculated global rates based on population data found that on average, people worldwide are gaining about 1.5 kilograms or almost 3.5 pounds per decade. “Over the past 40 years, we have changed from a world in which underweight prevalence was more than double that of obesity, to one in which more people are obese than underweight,” said Majid Ezzati, a professor of public health at Imperial College London. Americans spend billions of dollars on pills, diet books, and gym memberships, but lack the self -discipline to restrain themselves from overeating. Young people are leading the way in increasing self-indulgence. In majority of states (30 of 50) the percentage of overweight or obese children is now at or above 30%. In our consumer driven cultural, we have largely lost the spiritual value of self-restraint that is so important in the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim tradition. Self-restraint will be the single biggest factor influencing life expectancy in the 21st century. With self-restraint, most people will have a good chance to live into their
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80’s or 90’s. However, indulgent pleasure seeking and lack of self-restraint will increasingly cut short the lives of tens of millions of people. The idea that people, even thin people, should restrict their culinary pleasures sounds outrageous to our 21st century ears. Dieting is hard enough. Why should we torture and afflict ourselves by fasting? Don’t most people think that being happy is the most important thing? Isn’t eating one of the most accessible pleasures we have? Why should religions restrict our pleasures? For example, every year for the entire the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, abstaining from food and drink. The Qur’an says, “O’ you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint.” Qur’an (2:183). And the Torah decree a day of total denial of food and drink for every Jewish adult (Leviticus 16:29, 23:27). For twenty-four hours Jews (over age 12 and in good health) are supposed to afflict their souls by abstaining from eating or drinking anything at all. What is the Torah and the Qur’an trying to teach us by decreeing the importance of fasting? What spiritual benefits occur when we fast? The Qur’an states the lesson of Yom Kippur and Ramadan very clearly; “that you may (learn) self-restraint.” What we do not eat may be even more important than what we do eat. All animals eat, but only humans choose to not eat some foods that are both nutritious and tasty. Many people do not eat meat for religious/ethical reasons. Fasting as a religious discipline is good for both our bodies and our souls. In addition to fasting, joining together to praise God is healthy for today’s frequently distraught and anxious minds. Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychiatric illness, yet researchers know very little about factors associated with recovery. A University of Toronto study last year investigated three levels of
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
recovery in a large, representative sample of more than 2,000 Canadians with a history of generalised anxiety disorder. The study reports that 72% of Canadians with a history of generalised anxiety disorder have been free of the mental health condition for at least one year. Overall, 40% were in a state of excellent mental health, and almost 60% had no other mental illness or addiction issues, such as suicidal thoughts, substance dependence, a major depressive disorder, or a bipolar disorder, in the past year, said Esme Fuller-Thomson, lead author of the study. “This research provides a very hopeful message for individuals struggling with anxiety, their families, and health professionals. Our findings suggest that full recovery is possible, even among those who have suffered for many years with the disorder,” she says.
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Individuals who turned to their religious beliefs to cope with everyday difficulties had 36% higher odds of excellent mental health than those who did not have spiritual coping. Other researchers have also found a strong link between recovery from mental illness and belief in a higher power [a non-sectarian academic term for God]”. Allen S Maller is an ordained Reform Rabbi who retired in 2006 after 39 years as the Rabbi of Temple Akiba in Culver City, California. His web site is: www.rabbimaller. com. Rabbi Maller blogs in the Times of Israel. His book ‘Judaism and Islam as Synergistic Monotheisms: A Reform Rabbi’s Reflections on the Profound Connectedness of Islam and Judaism’ (31 articles previously published by Islamic web sites) is for sale ($15) on Amazon. ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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Is starting with $500 on the share market different to $5,000? Moin Zaman The approach to investing with a small sum of money and a large sum of money is always the same. In the long run, you are looking to buy good businesses at a discount, with a promising outlook for the future. The problem is that too many people chase quick, easy money. They want someone else to do all the work, which absolves them of all responsibility if they make a loss. And it’s easy to take all the credit when they make a profit. The unique opportunity we have today When working with a smaller amount of money, especially today, the universe of opportunity for a diligent investor has never been larger. The reason is, we have access to expert
research and analysis on companies, at our fingertips. This arms us with the knowledge to make the best, educated guesses on which company we should invest money into. Whether you are investing $500, $1000 or even $100,000, you should treat that decision-making process the same way you if you were purchasing a house. To experience significant returns on your investment, you need to look no further than the success of Tabarruk’s subscribers, where our goal is to ensure we educate members about the exciting companies out there that we in-
vest in and share as our investment diary, transparently. With knowledge and education, we equip ourselves to make informed decisions. By knowing exactly why we are investing in a company, we take the uncertainty out of the equation. This helps regulate our fear and anxiety better when the market, at times, goes up and down like a roller coaster. How do you end up with a $100,000 portfolio? Simple. You take the first step. You arm yourself with knowledge. You choose companies from a list of ones that have been carefully researched and analysed. You learn from the success of others when they share it openly. In Australia, we maintain that the min-
imum amount of money needed to start is $500. There you have it, to end up with a six-figure investment profile, you need to start with a three-figure investment. At Tabarruk, we’ve been successful over a long periods of time because we know every company we own shares in, like the backs of our hands. Because we know that opportunities are important and the more crowded a cafe, the harder it is to find a seat at a table. We don’t try to overthink and take it upon ourselves to conduct in-depth research. If we don’t have the time to research we find multiple reliable sources of research, analyse the work already done to form insights and so on. This is not financial advice. Please view our disclaimer at https://tabarr.uk/disclaimer/
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Moin Zaman is the co-founder along with Fahd Dameer, of Tabarruk, a website that teaches halal investing on the ASX share market in Australia.
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3 reasons why we beat short term trading Email info@amust.com.au and index funds on the share market amust.c AMUST Fahd Dameer
For the last 15 years, we have taken a long term approach to invest money in all facets of our lives including the stock market. We grew up watching our fathers do this and learnt by osmosis. This strategy is also called ‘Buy and hold’. Here are the reasons why long term investing approach is always the safest and best way to invest in the market. Reason 1: Compounding This is where you can see the 8th wonder of the world take effect. E = mc2 pales in comparison to compounding. “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” - Albert Einstein Interest to us isn’t the modern concept of interest. Rather it’s the ‘interest’ in the company in the form of our capital invested in it. Long term investing allows your capital to accumulate and gain profits over time. Reason 2: What history tells us As a rule of thumb if you hold your money over ten years in an index fund or bluechip stock, historically there is almost ZERO chance of you losing money. Despite share market crashes, financial crises and world events. Crashes and corrections are healthy in our view and offer discounted buying opportunities. Let us take for example a popular Vanguard ETF (ASX: VAS). Note: VAS does not pass our halal and ethical screening framework. ETFs are defined as exchange-traded funds, they are traded on major stock exchanges. An ETF is a collection of tens, hunJULY 2020 / ISSUE 176
dreds, or sometimes thousands of stocks and bonds in a single fund. It’s targeted for people who want less risk and don’t want to spend time researching stocks to select. USTRALASIAN Let us also take a company we Ahave researched, Medical Developments International Limited (MVP). Story time. It’s 2010. We have two investors, Amina and Zara. Amina is fresh out of high school and chose to put the $1000 in the ETF, after learning that an index is less risk and she doesn’t need to do any further research. Zara is a single Mom and did her research through various sources and put her $1000 in ASX: MVP (Medical Developments International). Fast forward. Current day 2020. Actual prices for ASX:VAS and ASX:MVP used in the table below. Zara made a profit of 3,200 %. That’s 33 times her initial investment! Reason 3: Fees and taxes If you’re a long term trader you will only ever pay one fee (brokerage or transaction cost) for the life of your purchase. You also pay fewer taxes in Australia as a long term investor when you hold shares over a year. However, if you’re a trader, you have to pay your broker fees every time you buy and sell shares. Fees can be over $10,000 over a year! These fees and charges that you pay is money that could otherwise have been accumulating a return of 5-12% every year. For a full example of trader fees view our complete article on the tabarruk website.
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This is not financial advice. Please view our disclaimer at https://tabarr.uk/disclaimer/ Fahd Dameer is the co-founder along with Moin Zaman, of Tabarruk, a website that teaches halal investing on the ASX share market in Australia. WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
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Social Spotlights USA Muslims @Muslimsorganization
Ibtihaj Muhammad @ibtihajmuhammadusa I’ll never forget the time I was followed home in grade school by two bullies. They called me names as they repeatedly shoved me into the snow. I remember being small and having a hard time pulling my self up from the snow because it was so deep. They held me by bookbag, so I couldn’t get away. This went on for miles and as the tears fell from my cheeks, I remember praying I would see a passerby who would save me. As horrific that moment and as vidid the memory, I never imagined I would lose my life. This is Shukri Abdi, a 12 year-old Somali refugee who was left to drown in a river by her bullies in the UK. She didn’t know how to swim. The police have ruled her death a “tragic accident” despite having found bite marks on her body and witness accounts of seeing Shukri being dragged by her neck and hijab by students from her school. The same group tried to push Shukri into traffic the week before. Why do we continue to turn a blind eye to bullying when there are very real consequences, especially for POC? Why are Black women and girls still an afterthought in our outrage? Say her name. Shukri Abdi #JusticeforShukriAbdi SIGN THE PETITION for the Manchester Police to reopen Shukri’s case: https://tinyurl.com/y5xz42cg
Muslim Professionals Association @Muslimsorganization
Congratulations to Saara Sabbagh and Amara Hamid on being awarded their respective Order of Australia Medals (OAM) for this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Two very worthy recipients!
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US America- Muslims who fulfill prayer in the protests against police killed a black people in America... A photo that teaches the world a lesson that Islam is the noble religion that destroys diversity and develop unity... There is no greatness and speciality in Islam... All are equal before Allah ... “ humans! We created you from a male-female “
My Home Disability Services Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the quiet weeks that followed allowed us to embark on a special project. We are so excited to finally reveal this completed project! Thank you to Brothers In Need for inviting Western Grammar School in February to our centre. During their visit Western Grammar generously donated $2000 which helped initiate the purchase and installation of our inground trampoline. This has been such a wise investment because the participants have been having the best time on it. For once we don’t need to encourage them to exercise because they ask to use it every day. The laughter and joy on their faces is priceless. We would also like to thank an anonymous sister & her family and Brothers-in-need for contributing to courtyard transformation around the trampoline. Jazakoum Allahu Khairan to everyone involved and a special thanks to Ziad Masri for donating his time, skills and expertise to complete this project. WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
Zuleyha Keskin @drzuleyhakeskin I saw this post and it is so true. It reminded me of a seminar I attended about Indigenous Studies Education a few months ago; the objective of the presentation was to better educate students about Aboriginal people by educating the educators. The presenter was an Indigenous woman and when she finished her presentation she concluded by saying “all we want is for our students to not hate Aboriginal people by the time they graduate.” It broke my heart when she said that. The bar was set so low. But that wasn’t her fault, she knew the level of the society and she also knew what a realistic objective it was; they are baby steps in world which we claim to be “civilised” and “modern”. Sadly, the bar is set very low with the bare minimum of “Black Lives Matter” but we still can’t get to that bar. Inshallah soon...
MWA @MuslimWomenAustralia MWA is proud to work with Bankstown Public School to provide support to students and families with some much needed winter packs that will be warming hearts and homes as the weather gets cooler. Thank you to Dom’s Strawberries Delights for supporting this much needed campaign. ISSUE 176 / JULY 2020
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