Issue 190 - September 2021

AMUST

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

www.amust.com.au

Multicultural News & Views

ISSUE # 190

/

/

SEPTEMBER 2021; SAFAR 1443

Hijab identifies a Muslim woman, does not define her

PH: (02) 9158 3020

AIMA recommends vaccination COMMUNITY PAGE 9

BOOMERANG PAGE 7

/

Digital Newspaper Available

EMAIL: INFO@AMUST.COM.AU

Musical on refugees: Hope behind the Wire AUSTRALIA PAGE 13

Attacks sabotaging elusive peace in Afghanistan

/

$2

/

Explainer: what is shariah law?

UMMAH PAGE 17

COVID-19 Delta strain rages in Sydney

Mohamed Ainullah

Zia Ahmad The murderous terrorists attacks followed by reckless revenge drone strikes by the United States resulting in the killing of innocent civilians is sabotaging the elusive peace in Afghanistan.

The reformed Taliban Mk 2 declared inclusive governance under the name of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan promising general amnesty for opposition upholding human rights for all, including women and minorities. continued on page 3

Afghans injured in the suicide bombings outside Kabul International Airport.

(AP: Mohammad Asif Khan)

COVID-19 Delta strain that is more dangerous and extremely transmissible with daily infection rate now reaching well over 1000 has kept Sydney under increasingly strict lockdowns for the last two months.

With advice from health authorities, the NSW government has now given up on bringing the infection rate to zero and is banking on high rates of vaccination in order to have any hope of easing the lockdown restrictions anytime soon.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says that to ensure the health system can cope with a rise in cases once restrictions ease, every state and territory must make vaccines mandatory for everyone working in the health sector.

“It is impossible to imagine safe workplaces, or even safe care for patients without everybody in healthcare settings being vaccinated,” AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said. continued on page 2

Muslims leaders front up for vaccination Mohamed Ainullah While COVID-19 infections keep increasing in NSW, children and teenagers now accounting for one third of the cases infected with the highly contagious Delta variant, Muslims leaders are showcasing their own vaccination images encouraging the community at large to protect themselves against the virus.

“I took the COVID vaccination because I believe it’s the right thing to do by my religion, by my family, by my community and by my health and safety,” says ANIC President Sheikh Shadi Alsulaiman.

Almost 15 percent of teenagers aged 16 to 19 in NSW had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine after the NSW government started a vaccine program earlier this week for thousands of HSC students from Sydney’s west and south-west.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller will tighten rules around the COVID-19 lockdown regulations in order to slow the spread of the Delta strain asking the Australian Defence Force for an extra 500 troops for Sydney’s worst-affected areas. continued on page 2

From left: Hanan Dover, clinical psychologist, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, Grand Mufti of Australia and Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman, ANIC President.

Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd

Dispose of this paper thoughtfully - PLEASE RECYCLE

AMUST

NEWS

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

COVID-19 Delta strain rages in Sydney Continued from page 1 Earlier in July when there were only 40 locally acquired cases in one day, AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid had warned, saying that NSW will face a “disaster” if lockdown ends before the state eliminates the current COVID-19 outbreak.

The unprecedented police and then military deployment in South Western Sydney has been criticised as heavy handed and discriminatory that has put strain on multicultural community’s relationship with police.

Lakemba MP Jihad Dib had commented that the situation was fragile and strong-arming was not the answer as it could lead to angst and stigmatism, saying, “while it’s important to have compliance … what we need to do is make sure we don’t create it in a way that instils panic or fear.

He said the focus should be on communication not fines as the first task at hand is to make sure everyone understands clearly what they can and can’t do while pointing out that, “people will be compliant when you give them reasons why they need to be and make it clear.

There have been narratives of two Syd- result of parties and frequent social gatherneys, the affluent North and Eastern sub- ings due to more relaxed restrictions. urbs who had relatively short lockdowns in In an interview given to daily mail, Zia comparison to Western and South Western Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief, AMUST conceded Sydney with strict lockdowns. that “It is possible that some large families, Although who are very Sydney’s Delclose and like ta outbreak to visit each began in the other often, eastern subhaven’t takurbs in June, en the Delta it quickly strain serioustook hold in ly enough.” the west and “Last year south-west they still viswhere the ited their famhigh rates of ilies and there community was no effect, infections in AMA President Dr so they are Lakemba MP were blamed Omar Khorshid. used to last Jihad Dib. on immigrants year’s habits. with large That could families frequently visiting homes to social- have contributed because the Delta strain is ise. very different,” Zia said.

However transmissions of the Delta strain He said that large extended families was a has resurged lately in Eastern suburbs as a ‘cultural and not religious issue.

Zia explained, “for a lot of immigrant families from different backgrounds it’s part of life to stay in contact with their extended family. If you look at Indian people, it wouldn’t matter if it was Christians, Muslims or Hindus.”

Talking about Muslims in Sydney coping with COVID-19 and vaccination, Zia said that Muslims complied very well with health advice and government lockdown regulations in modifying their religious and cultural practices.

Regarding vaccination, Zia said, “there was a lot of misinformation out there, people saying the vaccine was non-halal or unsafe.”

‘We got respected Muslim doctors talking about how the vaccine is permissible under Islam, that it is a life-saver and is in fact a gift from God and they should have no hesitation in having it,” he said.

Zia said that the worsening Sydney outbreak prompted him to run webinars and articles in his newspaper, AMUST encouraging people to get vaccinated and debunking myths.

Muslims leaders front up for vaccination Continued from page 1 Sharing his video getting vaccinated, Sheikh Shadi said that he believed the vaccination to be safe, it was the right thing to do while acknowledging that people were entitled to their own decision on whether or not to proceed with it.

“I based my view on the overwhelming majority of Muslim and non-Muslim doctors and health experts who advised me that it is safe, and who also underwent vaccination themselves. From an Islamic perspec-

tive, the vast majority of Imams and Muslim scholars locally and abroad have said that it is permitted to be undertaken,” Sheikh Shadi said.

The Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed speaking while getting vaccinated said that he hoped that the scientists continued their efforts towards eliminating the virus completely and that the vaccination has shown to be saving lives.

Quoting from the Hadith, the Mufti said, “I wish that all our Muslim Community takes the vaccine. The vaccine is one of Al-

lah’s gifts that the human intellect – that Allah created – has found and I wish all people to take the vaccine. It was narrated that the Prophet (s) said “Allah is the one that created the disease and the cure, O’ servants of Allah, take the cure.”

A number of Muslim leaders, both males and females have declared that they have been vaccinated and the community members to do the same. These include Tasneem Chopra OAM, Mariam Veiszadeh, Hanan Dover and Zia Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief of AMUST.

Hanan Dover, a Sydney based clinical psychologist and a social media celebrity posted a picture of herself getting vaccinated on social media with a little humour showcasing a tongue-in-cheek video listing wild conspiracy theories as the ingredients of the vaccine.

A number of Muslim doctors have been disseminating correct information on COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on individuals and populations and relaying to counter anti-vaccine misinformation.

Muslim Lawn

KEMPS CREEK MEMORIAL PARK

Kemps Creek Memorial Park has a dedicated lawn for the Muslim community with peaceful rural vistas.

Located only 25 minutes’ drive from Blacktown and 35 minutes from Auburn. › Single and double burial graves available › 3 year interest free payment plans available

Part of the local community For further information please contact:

2

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Call us on 02 9826 2273 from 8.30am-4pm www.kempscreekcemetery.com.au

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

NEWS

SOCIAL 22 - 23

Afghanistan: An Australian Afghan perspective Faseeha Hashmi Almost forgotten about, 19 August 1919 marks the anniversary of Afghanistan independence from Great Britain. Now, Sunday 15 August 2021 will be remembered as the day the world has watched as the Taliban took charge of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul.

The news is particularly distressing for the Afghan community in Australia, fraught with grave uncertainty for the future of their homeland.

Nasreen Hanifi is a psychologist, community activist, director of clinical services for My Ability Care and president of Mission of Hope. She cautioned against making any snap judgements or assumptions about the current state of affairs in Afghanistan.

“The internal corruption coupled with external involvement has turned Afghanistan to what it is today…the information is not concrete, nobody knows…[the Taliban’s] agenda, [or] what’s going to happen,” said Ms Hanifi.

She stressed that it is imperative to observe the news reporting with a critical

eye; particularly when considering how the mainstream news and social media are being constructed at this harrowing time.

“It’s important to differentiate between our traditional cultural dress called Perahan o tunban of Afghan people and the Taliban, people frequently conflate the two, without truly knowing the distinction,” explained Ms Hanifi.

With emotions running high and the country’s leadership yet to be established, Nasreen having worked in the trauma space for more than 15 years acknowledged the significance of being supportive to fellow Afghans in Australia and the necessity of enhancing one’s understanding of the situation.

“It’s important to educate ourselves and that goes for me too, not just on the plight of the Afghan people but also the history of Afghanistan and why did the rise of the Taliban happen,” said Ms Hanifi.

She spoke of the necessity to provide trauma centres that currently do not exist in the country. Afghanistan has endured four decades of war mired with painful memories of great-power politics that left indelible scars on its people, diaspora and generations to come.

Indeed, the implications of their suffering tremendously impairs every aspect of a person’s life — career choices, relationships,

AMUST

Nasreen Hanifi is a psychologist and community activist whose parent’s fled as refugees. She cautioned against making any assumptions about the current state of affairs in Afghanistan. Source: Facebook. parenting, mental health, physical health and even, life expectancy.

“Trauma is very vast. Interpretations of trauma are very vast….There is a lot of intergenerational trauma and that has happened and could be the result of the Taliban taking over, the huge amounts of addiction issues which are currently present in the country,…abuse [and exploitation] of young girls and…boys,” explained Ms Hanifi.

Her advice to ordinary Australians of all backgrounds is to provide a listening ear to Afghans and reach out to those vulnerable within our society.

“Please keep an eye out for …parents who are elderly and watching the events unfold in Afghanistan [as it] may be difficult for them. Keep an eye out for moments where… emotions and… thoughts become uncontrollable and if they continue to persist for longer than two weeks then reach out

for help,” exclaimed Ms Hanifi.

Nevertheless, she reminds her community of their endurance and the necessity to support all Afghans during this disturbing time.

“Afghan people have great pride in being able to manage their emotions and this comes from a place of resilience but we need to reach out…[when] times get tough,” said Ms Hanifi.

Anyone affected by this report should call Hayat Line on 1300 993 398, a free and confidential support line for Muslims in Australia.

Faseeha Hashmi, based in Melbourne has a Bachelor of International Relations from La Trobe University and a Master of International Relations from the University of Melbourne. A prolific writer, she has an interest in politics and human security.

Attacks sabotaging elusive peace in Afghanistan Relatives and neighbors of the Ahmadi family gather around a burned-out vehicle that the family says was hit by a U.S. drone strike, killing 10 people.(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

In sight of the plight Maureen Farah Usman

Continued from page 1 However, Islamophobic propaganda to demonise the Taliban continues to derail efforts towards reconciliation amongst Afghans now that the Americans forces have finally left Afghanistan on Monday 31 August 2021.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declared that the final departure of US forces was a victory for all Afghans.

“We do not have any doubt that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a free and sovereign nation,” he said promising that Afghanistan will have “working diplomatic relations” with the West, vowing that Afghans “will protect our freedom, independence and Islamic values”.

The large number of casualties from bomb blasts on Thursday 26 August claimed by terrorists affiliated to ISIS included Afghan civilians as well as US military personnel who were facilitating the evacuation out of Afghanistan.

In an address this morning on Friday 27 August, President Biden while commenting on the bombings vowed to retaliate against those responsible.

“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

forget,” Biden said.

“We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests in our people with every measure at my command,” he further added.

This warning of revenge by Biden has been followed by swift drone attacks by the Americans military already resulting in a number of indiscriminate civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere.

One US drone strike on Sunday 29 August supposedly targeting terrorists killed a family of 10 including six children as young as 2 years old Sumaya.

While there has been evidence of cooperation and coordination between US and Taliban for evacuation of those who want to leave Afghanistan and the mutual desire to end 20-year-old war, there are terrorists on one side trying to sabotage the agreement while on the other side Islamophobes continue to demonise Taliban denying them to effectively govern Afghanistan.

The Taliban has been facilitating for the Americans and other foreigners leave Afghanistan safely. At the same time, they wanted foreign troops out of the country as soon as possible to establish Afghan sovereignty and independence from foreign domination.

No one can possibly know what our Afghan brothers, sisters and children are going through right now (unless one has had lived experienced of such a harrowing humanitarian crisis).

The true grief, fear and horrors of what is evolving continue to cast a shadow upon our hearts.

Sitting in Australia, however hopeless it may seem from afar, one can be reminded that our empathetic thoughts, dedicated actions and earnest prayers can still bring about betterment, like a “ripple” effect.

What is also important in these tense and challenging times is to look inside yourself – to know and understand what are your own “circles of control, influence and concern”. Of course, one will be concerned about what is happening (and you should allow yourself to feel sadness and grief as a natural reaction) but consider, what can you control and what can you influence?

Here is just a small curated list: • Pray to Allah for peace and better times • Show appreciation to the Almighty for the blessings, safety and ease bestowed upon you • Research credible charitable organisations to give: o Monetary donations o Non-monetary donations (e.g. clothes etc.)

• Support local fundraising events

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

• Support organisations who support others (e.g. education, employment, community services, mental health etc).

• Keep watching for ways in which Afghan refugees will be settled in Australia and how we can help, directly in the community or indirectly • Show solidarity with the Afghan community • Attend peaceful rallies for human rights and positive change • Sign petitions for change (eg Amnesty International etc) • Keep an eye on current world events and read about what is happening - understand, be informed and be educated • Be a championing or counselling voice through art, expression and creation.

Maureen Farah Usman is a children’s & young adult’s writer and poet of general & religious poetry.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

3

AMUST

BOOMERANG

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Social Contract: Its structure - Part 3 Dr Mohammed Naushaduddin A concept that aims human progress, wishes to lessen human disease and distress, seeks harmony with nature is a noble endeavour, an exercise that bequeaths a better world to the next generation.

This concept enriches itself in effectiveness by its covenant with God, which is felt by individuals uniquely and whose bounty will be beyond our quantification or imagination.

Yet, what can be imagined and quantified, must be to make sure our interactions with our households, our workplaces, our communities, our nations are as strife-free as they can be.

It is in this spirit, a structure can be created to forge a meaningful and durable social contract. I imagine other religions will be doing something similar, or along these lines soon.

Elements of the structure Quran If the Abbasid era gave us Bayt al-Hikmah, then they also brought in al-Minhah. This introspection was inevitable given the exposure of early Muslims to vast knowledge accumulated over millennia in the East and the West. Their beliefs were called to bear on integrating with the outer and wider world.

Even as masters, they could not ignore this reality.

Eager students of knowledge dissected out the Quran and debated it in earnest. Discovery of paper-making techniques from China helped spread these discussions as they began to be widely read across the Muslim world; rejoinders and rebuttals followed; acrimony and partisanship created confusion among the academia - all part and process of understanding the truth.

What this ordeal produced was a belief and consensus that Quran indeed is the Word of God. A similar phenomenon happened in the early 19th century Europe; an honest introspection led to abandonment of the divine

from the public life.

As the dust of debates began settling down, reconciliation of seeming inconsistencies in the Quran began - with our formal understanding of abrogation of verses, use of metaphors, context in chronology and circumstances, etc.

The Fatimid Shi’a were the lone dissenters, who justified their rule by developing a cosmology that was inspired by eastern imaginations though they kept invoking select verses of the Quran. Despite the seeming setback, progress continued.

Hadith As the Mu’tazilah spent their energies on dissecting the Quran, another group of scholars began verifying the commonly held beliefs in the lands of Islam.

They knew the New Testament and the Talmud but also the Upanishads and the Dharma-shastra from the East. They understood these texts lacked the certainty of their authorship, and the confusion it created in maintaining a stable civilisation.

Another source of their inspiration was ar-Risalah, a treatise written by alShafi’ (died 820 CE) in which he emphasised hadeeth be treated on par with any ayah of the Quran. Despite its cool reception during his lifetime, Ar-Risalah will eventually catch the attention of later jurists.

It was more than 200 years since the death of the Prophet, and his words were quoted to inspire, and to settle disputes. These scholars tasked themselves with teasing out the truth from the false narrations invented by all kinds of mishaps and vested interests.

To be clear, transparent and consistent, alBukhari (died 870 CE) devised a methodology that has its relevance in modernity today: use of inclusion and exclusion criteria to verify a tradition.

The idea was his peers could verify his work, correct him if wanting in a blamefree environment, or built on from his astute work. In a few decades, we get the Sahih-Sittah (the Authentic Six).

The aim of these Muhaddithoon was to reach the truth, and they did their best to filter out sayings, traditions and attributions related to the Prophet. This process should continue today as we face new realities, by verifiable methods of seeking truth - following a long deeply-held tradition.

Science Major political disruptions of the 10th century (with power-play oozing from Andalusia, cosmic non-sense from Fatimid Egypt and an over-burdened Baghdad) had Sunni jurists looking for ways to be independent, fair and systematic in dispensing justice in the lands of their duty.

It was during these times, alAsh’ari (died 936 CE), a former Mu’tazili, penned his treatise: Ibaanah ʿan Usool ad-Diyaanah (Statement on the Principles of the Deen).

‘Ilm al-Kalaam’ formally began planting its roots into Muslim consciousness.

Disciples of Shafi’ School were its early acceptors, even champions. Of the 19 Fiqh schools, only 4 survived the rigours to uphold these requirements of clarity, fairness to others and to draw near to God. Fast forward a hundred years, al-Ghazali (died 1111 CE) proscribed the use of ‘Aql (understood as ‘logic’) from Fiqh and its studies to stem speculations in the Deen; he is famous for reconciling Sufism with Islam.

However, his emphatic prescription of Aql in secular sciences created a duality, which did not survive the Mongol invasion of 1258 CE. As the cloud of Taqleed spread across the jurist landscape, ‘Aql was banished as an arbitrator for truth in Islam. Classic ‘unintended-consequences’!

In the 19th century, Georg Hegel (died 1831 CE) sought truth via dialectics - just like al-‘Ashari, inspiring generations which ushered in today’s modern world.

Hegel demanded genuine science instead of approximate truths of material Plato or fiqhi al-Ashari. This is what progress looks like in time and space.

Emperor penguin:

The ideal father Sukoon Quteifan The amazing fact about the male emperor penguin starts soon after the female lays its egg in the chilly winter.

The female penguin passes the eggs to the male and goes back to the sea to hunt for food in order to feed the little ones after they hatch.

The male penguins take the mission of incubating the eggs. Thus the male penguin puts the egg carefully on its feet and covers it with its fur.

This unimaginable sacrifice is offered by the male who stands on its feet for a whole four months enduring bitter cold and darkness during winter on earth’s coldest continent, Antarctica without getting any food.

Their only mission is to protect the egg from rolling away on ice. If

4

the male needs to walk with the egg on its feet, it offers a special walk to guarantee that the egg stays on its feet and is covered with its fur.

As the temperature drops to minus 50 degrees centigrade, accompanied with snowy wind at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, the males huddle in large groups for protection against the icy winds and storms. They make a circle, and their provision through winter is only their patience.

After four tough months, the eggs

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

hatch and that pretty much marks the coming of spring in the South Pole.

The little chicks open their eyes to the new world while they are still on their father’s feet. They still need protection, because they do not develop a fat layer under their skin yet to protect them from the chilly weather.

The first meal the little chick gets is kept in its father’s crop for four months. Though the father is in dire need of this meal, it gives preference to the little chick’s need of food. This

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

Arrangement of these Elements As we sprint or stroll into the future, we have few choices: Hierarchy One way is to insist on Quran as the ultimate source of Fiqh, followed by Hadeeth; and then to use our faculties. Left to our individual choices, without an agreed method of reaching truths, human brain fails to engage due to cognitive load. It will seek its base in a sheikh, an imam or a celebrity to guide its needs, its lifestyle, its urges.

Equipoise Having three elements - Quran, Hadeeth and Science - in harmony will more likely work better because this combination and its balance has the best chance of reaching the definitive truth, or the best evidence most close to truth.

We will need a million scholars, be it with ijaza or university degrees, to arrange these elements to help rebuilt our purpose of lives - as once again, a Muslim’s beliefs are asked to bear on integrating with the wider, and a much smaller world - in fact, a village.

With this systematic approach, we can hold to account all stakeholders - be it the Taliban or the extreme nationalists of various hues.

It is with this methodology we can be part of progress, in step with all religions and humanity.

Living in Contradictions Since the day Adam’s two sons fought, human soul has been drifting in contradictions seeking solace in conciliation. Progress has been made since, by one group or the other (5:54). And this process is relentless. We can only learn, try to live well, and bequeath a better world.

Sustaining the structure It is worth repeating, lest forgotten in these many words, that the ideals which nurture and sustains any viable structure will have to be transparent, clear and lucid in explanation, consistent in application - with declared scope for peculiarity and deviance, be reasonable and appeal to reason.

Dr Mohammed Naushaduddin is a General Practitioner in SouthWest Sydney, Australia.

but gives us a lesson in raising our children.

Reflecting on Allah’s creations as well as the creation of heavens and the earth is the shortest path to know Allah and the widest gate to get to Him, simply because it puts you face to face with the Greatness of Allah. “ Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding* Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): “Our Lord!

You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire. “ [Quran 3:190-191] reference : https://nabulsi.com/ web/en/articles/12908 Sukoon Quteifan is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Sydney, Australia. She is the creator and the illustrator of “Sukoon Al Quloob - Peace of Hearts”, an Islamic Cartoons facebook page.

You can follow her on facebook @SukoonQuteifanArt.

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

BOOMERANG

SOCIAL 22 - 23

Afghans need peace after four decades of suffering The US finally ended its occupation of Afghanistan on Tuesday 31 August after 20 years of military occupation, ending its longest war where the Taliban has swiftly taken over the country in a matter of weeks relatively without much bloodshed thus uniting the country.

The Taliban have indeed surprised everyone with their resilience and resistance to American occupation over two decades and their success in taking over from a puppet Afghan regime based on a facade of Hollywood democracy that crumbled within days.

They seem to have repeated their performance when they united the country back in 1996 against the warring warlords establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan MK1 till they were forcefully removed after American invasion in 2001.

Their governing style was indeed perceived as medieval with a conservative interpretation of Islam and marred with human rights abuses against tribal, ethnic and sectarian minorities and specially their outdated views on the role of women in the society.

There is evidence that the Taliban have learnt their lessons and seem to be enlightened now as shown by their stunning victory and their successful negotiations leading to the termination of US occupation of their country.

However Taliban Mk 2 need to come out

and fulfil the promises they have made to uphold human rights for all Afghans, establish good governance and bring peace to its people who have been suffering due to conflicts for more than four decades.

Zia Ahmad Now that they have united Assalamu the country, the international Alaikum community should give them a chance to succeed and facilGreetings itate the establishment of peace, of Peace harmony and rule of law in Afghanistan.

AMUST

AMUST ISSUE # 190 FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2021 25 MUHARRAM 1443 News

1-3

- Attacks sabotaging elusive peace in Afghanistan - Muslim leaders front up for vaccine

Instead of glorifying the Taliban and talking of Afghan’s bravery, its time to take stock of the humanitarian crisis that the Afghans have gone through for almost half a century.

During this time, hundreds of thousands have been killed, millions have been living as refugees all over the world with a generation suffering from lack of education, healthcare and opportunities to live in peace.

Current estimates are that 14 million people are going hungry, that is one-third of Afghanistan’s population of 38 million is facing food insecurity, including two million children who are already malnourished, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

Most Afghans live in poverty where more than 50% of the population of the country lives below the poverty line and 90% of Afghans living on less than $2/day.

In addition to the millions of Afghan refugees outside the country more than half a million Afghans are internally displaced living as refugees within their own country.

The new Afghan government indeed has a big challenge to restore peace, dignity, security for living under rule of law, education and healthcare for all its citizens and the international community must provide all its support towards that goal.

EDITORIAL

4-7

Boomerang

- Afghans need peace after 4 decades - Vaccine denial and invented tales - Hijab identifies women, does not define

Community

8 - 11

- AIMA recommends vaccination - Fatima Killeen wins art prize - Toowoomba mosque food festival

Australia

12 - 13

- Next generation change makers - Short-film: The Ninth Tower - Musical: Hope behind the wire

Lifestyle

14 - 16

- Story to overcome covid blues - Q&A with gallery owner - Syrian children’s ‘Tent Olympics’

Ummah

17 - 20

- Explainer: What shariah law?

- Dynamic application of Sharia’h

21

Education - Hidden benefits of pursuing an education

Social

22 - 23

- Social Spotlight - Meals of Mercy app

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.

Readers comments AMUST Team Re: AMUST August issue

Assalam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah I am a regular recipient of AMUST and appreciate your efforts for highlighting the core issues of the Australian Muslim community, and of entire ummah as well. May Allah strengthen your resources and efforts for well beings of ummah.

M Khalid

I am always pleased to receive and read the monthly AMUST. I find this August issue particularly interesting, perhaps because I am spending more time Reading with the Covid lockdown. And I see that the Editor-In-Chief has been very busy, on pp 1, 3, 5, 13, 17 and 19.

Stewart Truswell [Emeritus prof U Sydney]

surprised that someone from a non-Christian religion would prefer to keep a Christian-only (in the vast majority of cases where a prayer is recited, it is Christian-only) prayer as part of government business rather than remove the prayer. Don’t you feel that an elected government – which is supposed to represent everyone equally – reciting Christian prayers suggests that they don’t represent Muslim people to the same degree as they represent Christian people?

Surely a non-denominational ‘moment of reflection’ allows each person to pray (or not pray) as they like.

I also think that mandating a Christian prayer whether those present are Christian or not is more of an intrusion on religious freedom than not saying a prayer at all.

Peter

The complexity of what we are Re: Taliban: The students need to learn good governance dealing with The article by the Muslim community leader (Zia Ahmad – publisher of the Australasian Muslim Times) explains so much about the complexity of what we are all dealing with. We are not “picking on the local government areas of concern”.

I am an eighty year old Australian born woman who needs constant advice in order to deal with important issues and I think that there are many people just like me.

I think Zia Ahmad would know it as “Information Overload”.

It would be good to share a cup of coffee sometime!

Janice Wisemen

Re: Parliament prayer ban not inclusive Hi, thanks for the article. I am somewhat

SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

When the Taliban first took control in Afghanistan over 20 years and news of their atrocities emerged ago a scholar I knew said that a talib is a student and they need to go back to school. We could hope that they have since got a proper Islamic education but judging by their recent attacks in the lead up to the current takeover, that is unlikely.

Gary Dargan

Re: Legal win against vilification for Muslims

All praises be to Allah – this is such a great victory. And, very courageous and brave initiative by AMAN & ICQ and who ever supported their cause.

Ahmedshinwari

Re: Terrorists sabotage elusive peace in Afghanistan

Well written, Br. Zia. Most of the world media is against Taliban, including Al Jazeera. We pray that Allah (SWT) gets rid of all the “chamchas” of the West from Afghanistan.

Subhan Ali Agree; and a timely one as well. Keep up the good work Br. Zia. Taqdees Have they ‘indeed united the country’? It doesn’t look like that from here? Why are so many Afghanis trying to leave? I hope Mk2 are true to their promises.

Khalid

HAVE YOUR SAY

Contact AMUST

Email your thoughts or comment of current events to

info@amust.com.au

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

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: rubinah.design 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.

Post: PO Box 111, Bonnyrigg (Sydney),

NSW 2190 Australia.

Email: info@amust.com.au Web: www.amust.com.au Phone: (02) 9158 3020 Facebook: @amustnews Instagram: @amustnews Twitter: @amustnews

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

5

AMUST

BOOMERANG

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Taliban: The students need to learn good governance Dr Aslam Abdullah Afghanistan is now the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan.

Forty-one years of occupation by the Russians, the Americans, the Indians, the Pakistanis, the NATO allies, and the puppets these foreign groups installed, finally crumbled to a highly organised grassroots-based force, the Taliban.

However human dignity and the rights of all citizens, including women and minorities and the preservation of their culture and faith are an inherent obligation of anyone claiming to be creating an Islamic system of good governance.

Who provided them arms and ammunition? Who gave them the vehicles and training to run them, and who provided them strategic training to fight the world’s most trained forces? The world would spend the next four decades studying the Taliban military tactics and strategy, and the military academy students worldwide would spend hours analysing them.

There are several dimensions of the Taliban’s rise to power: Religious, cultural, political, economic, and militaristic. Each of these has its complex web of scenarios.

However, what is clear is that the Taliban is a fighting force and renews and recharges its energy through aggressive advancement.

Moreover, it is a highly religiously motivated group that would not stop at the seat of government in Kabul.

It would have its impact in countries

6

where Muslims feel under siege. Kashmir and India could be the nearest locations to keep their spirit alive and gain recruits from all over the world.

Much would depend on how the Russians play their role in the region. Continuous military action not only requires well-trained soldiers but arms, ammunition, tanks, and vehicles. Such resources either come from governments or illegal secret manufacturing plants.

The Taliban would have no difficulty buying them, as their control over poppy production worth billions of dollars would motivate drug and arms dealers to work with them.

Russians succeeded in driving America out of Afghanistan and thus avenged its humiliating defeat at the hands of Afghans engineered by the CIA. But, will the Putin land be able to contain the Taliban in their future strides?

No one can predict because the dice are in the hands of the Taliban. How and when they roll would depend on their political goals. The Taliban have never cared about world opinion. They are fiercely independent and would continue to live their spirit.

However, their interpretation of Islam should concern Muslims worldwide. The images of Islam regarding women and minorities that have emerged from Afghanistan during the last 40 years are not very pleasant.

The practice of stoning to death, cutting off hands, destruction of minority places of worship, limitation of educational opportunities to women, and promotion of poppy production to build the nation’s economy are questionable because of the primary

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

The Taliban occupying the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Sunday 15 August 2021. texts of Islam, the Quran, and the Hadith.

There are authentic alternative interpretations, whose proponents must open a dialogue with the Taliban ideological council to express their opposition to Muslim practices that stand against human rights, human dignity, and freedom as defined in Islam’s basic sources.

Human dignity and Rights of all citizens, including women and minorities and the preservation of their culture and faith are an inherent obligation of anyone claiming to be creating an Islamic system of good governance.

Thus, Afghanistan’s Sikhs and Hindus must not feel alienated under the Taliban, regardless of their numbers.

The name Taliban means seekers of knowledge. They must always be ready to

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

change their perspectives on Islam. The faith allows them to preserve their cultural and tribal practices, but not at the cost of human dignity and rights.

The words of the Quran would always remain supreme for a Muslim. The Islamic text says: “And we bestowed dignity to the children of Adam.” The children of Adam include women, minorities, and non-Muslims.

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.

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

BOOMERANG

SOCIAL 22 - 23

Epidemics: Vaccine denial and invented tales Bilal Cleland

It is hard to over-state the medical horror my generation of the 1940s and 1950s faced. The nightmare was the threat of polio.

In Australia the number of deaths peaked in 1951, with 357 deaths mainly of children and it was most dangerous as a disease for the under 5 year olds.

It was international in scope.

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1950 and 1953 there were approximately 119,000 cases of paralytic polio in the United States and 6,600 deaths.

In 1952 it peaked at 57,879 cases, resulting in 3,145 deaths.

Carl Kurlander Senior Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh relates the horror. “Sidney Busis, a young physician at the time, performed tracheotomies on two-year-old children, making an incision in their necks and enclosing them in iron lung to artificially sustain their breathing. His wife Sylvia was terrified that he would transmit polio to their two young sons when he came home at night.” [The Conversation, 25 March 2020 ] An effective vaccine became available in Australia in 1956, developed by American virologist Jonas Salk and his team in 1954.

Australia was declared polio-free in 2000.

On 24 October 2019, World Polio Day, WHO announced there were only 94 cases of wild polio in the world.

The defeat of this disease was made possible through scientific effort, particularly the work of Dr Salk, yet it has been subjected to decades of opposition.

Despite its success in preventing life in an iron-lung, there was a major propaganda campaign against it, just as there had been against the smallpox vaccine developed by Dr Jenner in the 1700s.

The smallpox vaccine was denounced as unchristian and as a denial of choice..

Leicester was a particular hotbed of opposition to the Vaccination Act of 1867 and the local paper described a rally at which: “An escort was formed, preceded by a banner, to escort a young mother and two men, all of whom had resolved to give themselves up to the police and undergo imprisonment in preference to having their children vaccinated…”

Smallpox killed between 50 and 70 per cent of the Aboriginal population in the Sydney area within two years of the arrival of the First Fleet.

Its last appearance in Australia was in 1938.

Vaccine Denial All vaccines have sparked opposition from those who saw scientific medicine as heretical, as a denial of God’s mercy and, as a denial of the right to control one’s own body and that of one’s children.

There is an excellent article in Scientific American “The Denialist Playbook: On vaccines, evolution, and more, rejection of science has followed a familiar pattern.”

This began as a study of the attitude of chiropractors towards the Salk vaccine, despite its obvious success.

AMUST

Children placed in an “iron lung” tank respirator to help them breathe when the polio virus paralyzed muscle groups in the chest.

Then the author “… began to recognize the chiropractors’ pattern of arguments was uncannily similar to those I was familiar with from creationists who deny evolutionary science.”

“And once I perceived those parallels, my excitement became an epiphany when I realized that the same general pattern of arguments—a denialist playbook—has been deployed to reject other scientific consensuses from the health effects of tobacco to the existence and causes of climate change. The same playbook is now being used to deny facts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Sean Carroll’s discussion of this pattern of denial of the obvious is most enlightening.

“In brief, the six principal plays in the denialist playbook are: • Doubt the Science • Question Scientists’ Motives and Integrity • Magnify Disagreements among Scientists

and Cite Gadflies as Authorities • Exaggerate Potential Harm • Appeal to Personal Freedom • Reject Whatever Would Repudiate A Key Philosophy.” [Sean Carroll, Scientific American, 8 November 2020] This type of denial of reality is becoming fashionable amongst the adherents of “Q Anon” and various extremist anti-scientific and anti-progressive schools of thought, many of which come from the USA. Denial of reality leads to aberrations in thinking and is a growing threat to the development and acceptance of scientifically based medical knowledge, which has been responsible for a great reduction in death rates in the past two hundred years.

tion, so be it! Just for an argument, a practising Muslim woman may still score 98% of points, missing only 2% for not wearing hijab! Let’s be realistic and not emotional about it.

In the same way it regulates the public life of Muslim women, the Qur’an (24:30), also regulates the public life of Muslim men. It orders them to “lower their gaze and preserve their modesty (the physical lusts and desires)….”.

Looked critically, the operation of the verses 24:30-31, makes it outstandingly clear that the order of ‘lowering the gaze’ for both male and female, means that in a moving lifestyle situation, they both will be mixing and interacting with each other at their work place, the public streets and market places! Otherwise, lowering the gaze, for both the genders, will have no meaning.

The Qur’an was revealed to reform a lifestyle. It is therefore common agreement among the Islamic legal scholars that all the rulings relating to the issues of life and liv-

ing has an underlying objective.

Within the constraints of life, living and the evidentiary strength of their arguments, the legal scholars at different time and place, would come up with the relevant objectives behind each and every ruling, including how to secure relevant public interests.

Before anything else, the revealed directive of the Qur’an 24:30-31, needs to be both understood and considered in the applied context of a human life and living.

More importantly, its application must also be seen from the view point of the Shari’ah’s objective behind the ruling. Upon this, it would be found that a Muslim woman’s hands, face and feet are exempt from this ruling.

For evidence for the exemption of covering face, hands and feet, please read the online article at https://tinyurl.com/57wpkcpc

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

Hijab identifies a Muslim woman, but does not define her Dr Rashid Raashed

In its applied and conventional sense, Hijab means the headscarf by which a Muslim woman covers her head, hair and the neck area. The examples of hijab in this sense, is what we regularly see, worn by Muslim women, in the streets and the super markets around Australia.

The parallel to this is what is known in public as Niqab and Burqa where a Muslim woman would, out of her free will, covers her face and the entire body. The Burqa and Niqab are the conservative traditional practices in some Muslim societies.

Legally, the Niqab and Burqa cannot be proven as the Sharia’h requirements.

The Hijab on the other hand, is the Islamic requirement of an adolescent Muslim woman’s public dress code. Many compelling legal proofs do exist in the Qur’an and Hadith, making the Hijab obligatory.

On her free will, a lady may decide to cover her full body, head to toe. This is her personal choice and must never be confused with the Sharia’h requirement of hijab.

As we all know, after 21 years of American and NATO occupation of their country, millions of Afghan woman following their cultural practices, are still wearing the Burqa!

There are many verses in the Qur’an along with many Hadith of Prophet Mohammad (s) that deal with the requirement of Hijab in Islam. Collectively, these verses SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

of the Qur’an and Hadith are categorised as the relevant Islamic legal text on this issue.

But then, behind all these legal texts, there are overarching legal objectives of the Shari’ah (Maqasid Shari’yyah. In the in the light of these objectives, the relevant legal texts must be analysed and applied.

The legal objective behind the Hijab has been clearly set out in the Qur’an.

“Advise O’ Prophet, all the believing women that they must lower their gaze, preserve their modesty, (guarding their desires/ lusts), and that they don’t expose their beauty in public, except what is to become apparent of it….”. (Qur’an 24:31) The Qur’an 24:31, also orders “the believing women to wear their covering garments on their chest areas…” and that they must only expose their beauties to their husbands, fathers, father in-laws, their sons…”.

From the context of these verses however, it is clear that the orders of hijab are relevant only when Muslim women go to public places.

Clearly thus, Islam does not bound Muslim women to the corners of their houses only. Instead, as humans, they would socialise with others in the society, including working, studying, making a living and procuring the means of life.

But in doing so, Islam regulates the lifestyle of Muslim women, a part of which is not to expose their beauties to others in public.

Some countries in the West, have made the law prohibiting Hijab when they work for their governments. But if a Muslim country makes it obligatory, why should it be a big issue?

Should it be a dress code for another na-

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

Dr Rashid Raashed based in Sydney is currently the Director of Islamic Financial Services Australia (IFSA).

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

7

AMUST

COMMUNITY

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

COVID-19 community concerns addressed at ICSOA panel discussion Dr Habib Bhurawala Indian crescent society of Australia (ICSOA) organised an online panel discussion and question-answer (Q&A) session between doctors and the community on COVID-19 disease and vaccines on Saturday 14 August 2021 in Sydney.

The online event was attended by many Australians from diverse backgrounds, including representatives and office bearers of various community organisations.

Mr Fasihuddin Khan, secretary of ICSOA, welcomed everyone and provided a brief update on the event’s purpose, especially the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Sydney.

Mr Abbas Raza Alvi, President of ICSOA, explained that the objective and purpose of ICSOA is to integrate and have a collective voice for Indian Muslims in Australia, representing them on Indian platforms in Australia and contributing towards the welfare of Muslims in India. He further explained the need to organise such interactive sessions with health experts to help community members with any questions about COVID-19 and vaccines.

Dr Soliman Qurashi, Sydney based orthopaedic surgeon and member of the ICSOA health committee, welcomed and introduced ICSOA Health Committee members who participated in panel discussions such as Dr Abdul Ahad Khan (GP), Dr Zakir Akhunji (Cardiothoracic surgeon), Dr Shakeel Abbas (Pathologist and haematologist) and Dr Ha-

bib Bhurawala (Paediatrician).

He also introduced health experts such as Dr Mohamed Assoum (Infectious disease epidemiologist and public health researcher), Dr Ali Parappil (Respiratory and sleep physician), Dr Asif Raza (Intensive care and anaesthesia specialist), Dr Ahmed Al-Omary (General Medicine and infectious disease advanced trainee) and Dr Fariha Dib (General practitioner).

The question-answer session was moderated by Dr Habib Bhurawala, Paediatrician and Health co-ordinator of ICSOA. This session generated much interest from the

audience.

The health experts answered a wide range of questions covering topics ranging from signs and symptoms of COVID-19, an overview of various treatments are available for COVID-19, treatment for COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU), including ventilators.

They also explained the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing hospital admission, ICU admission and death.

They have strongly urged community members to follow current recommendations about vaccination and avoid delays

in getting vaccinated to reduce their risk of hospitalisation and ICU admission due to COVID-19.

They have clarified various myths and misconceptions regarding vaccines and COVID-19, especially questions about the safety and efficacy of both Astra Zeneca and Pfizer vaccines. Experts clearly explained and reassured the audience that the huge benefits provided by both currently available vaccines in Australia (Astra Zeneca and Pfizer) far outweigh the small risk of complications or adverse effects of vaccinations.

Community members were also urged not to delay treatment for other chronic medical conditions due to COVID-19. The experts highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on mental health.

There are various options to seek help from resources such as mental health helplines and contacting GP if anyone is concerned about mental health.

Community members were urged to keep regular contact with friends and families who may be experiencing stress and difficulties by reaching out and supporting each other during this difficult time.

The seminar program concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr Abbas Chelat, treasurer of ICSOA. Dr Habib Bhurawala (MBBS MD FRACP DCH), based in Sydney is a consultant general paediatrician currently working at Nepean & Blue Mountains hospitals in Sydney.

Originally from Gujarat state in India he moved to Australia to gain further training in Paediatrics in 2002. He has strong interest in community work especially health education/promotion.

He is the Health Co-ordinator of the Indian Crescent Society of Australia (ICSOA).

Healthbridge Investments

Investing in the Healthcare Sector

• Net Rate of return for year ended 31st May 2021 of 10.05% * • Assets Under Management $30.1m as at the end of May 2021 • Self-managed Super fund compliant • Income paid monthly • Online User Access to monitor your investments • Professionally managed • For retail and wholesale investors Ask for a Product Disclosure Statement today at 1300 933 034 healthbridgeinvest.com.au linkedin.com/company/healthbridgeinvest

info@healthbridgeinvest.com.au fb.com/healthbridgeinvest

*Disclaimer: This information is issued by Healthbridge Investment Management Pty Ltd (ABN 89 631 971 081) (Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR 001277945) of Quay Fund Services Limited AFSL 494886) as investment manager for Healthbridge Capital (the ‘Fund’). It contains summary information only to provide an insight into the operation and performance of the Fund. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Any information or advice is general in nature. This information does not constitute advice or recommendations, and is subject to change without notice. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any investor which should be considered before investing. Investors should obtain a copy of the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) which is available from us, and seek their own financial advice prior to investing. The disclosure document explains how the Fund’s Net Asset Value is calculated.

Returns are calculated from exit price to exit price including the payment of any distributions for the period as stated and represents the combined income and capital return.

All financial products involve risks. You should seek independent financial advice prior to acquiring a financial product. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance and the capital and income of any investment may go down as well as up due to various market forces. All performance figures are confirmed by the Fund's administrator.

Healthbridge Capital was established on 3rd October 2019.

8

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

COMMUNITY

SOCIAL 22 - 23

AMUST

Australian Islamic Medical Association recommends vaccination against COVID-19 Introduction to Vaccines Over the last 200 years, vaccines have eliminated smallpox, almost eradicated measles and polio, and prevented 25 other illnesses, including infections and cancers that have killed millions worldwide.

By Using a dead, weakened or part of the germ, our body’s immune system is trained to recognise the germs to prevent disease effectively, save lives and reduce the social and economic impact of these illnesses on communities.

What Do I Need to Know About the New COVID-19 Vaccines?

Over 100 research teams across the world had been simultaneously developing vaccines for COVID-19 using different technologies. Each candidate vaccine had undergone rigorous trials to determine if it is safe and how well it protects from disease or infection.

There will be expected differences in effectiveness, safety, how they are manufactured, transported and given to patients. The results of vaccines so far have reassuringly shown very high effectiveness in people of different ages from many countries.

The first COVID-19 vaccine (Astra Zene-

Ever In Readiness To Ride And Climb Fazlul Huq This morning she went down the staircase beyond the child lock gate held in body of the creamy white fence. As she went down the steps, she paused for a second or two at the platform before she came down onto body of the ground held on low.

Then she walked across the lawn to arrive at the wall made by sandstone rocks.

She then stepped over the wall to arrive on body of the fire trail.

After a short stroll along the fire trail, the woman came to the point where secondary fire trail on way to the deep down came out of the main.

As she walked down the secondary fire trail towards the left, she had to navigate through the bush made by lantana and native plants, grass and weeds, and many from known and unknown heritage.

When she came back up the staircase onto highland, her upper and lower garments were covered with seeds that were ever in readiness to have the ride.

Dr Fazlul Huq is a retired academic and Editor-in-Chief Emanreserch Journal Of Angiotherapy. He is also the poet “Jujube” at Allpoetry.com with over 35,000 compositions.

SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

ca) was authorised on October 9, Pfizer BioNTech on October 14. The COVID-19 vaccines are free for all Australians, and proof of immunisation is being issued for interstate travels and international travels.

Although timelines may change, 80% of Australians are expected to be vaccinated by the end of 2021. There are already established safety net government programs that continuously monitor for short and long-term effects of all vaccines, and additional patient support programs have been announced.

Why is it Critical for as Many Australian Muslims to get the COVID-19 Vaccine as Possible?

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forever disrupted our lives. Many Australian Muslims identify as South Asian, middle eastern or African, and such racialised community members are at higher risk of being exposed or getting sicker from COVID-19 as they are essential workers, have high-risk medical conditions, live in multi-generational homes, or may live in dense and lower socioeconomic settings.

Vaccines are most effective at removing disease from communities when we vaccinate as many people as possible to allow us to keep the most vulnerable members of our society safe.

What Does Islam Teach Us About Health, Seeking Treatment, and How Does it Relate to COVID-19 Vaccines?

Narrated Abu Huraira (r): The Prophet (s) said, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.” (Sahih al-Bukhari: Vol. 7, Book 71, Hadith 582).

Amr bin Shu’ayb reports…….the Prophet (s) said: “Whoever practices medicine (by giving out medical advice) yet medicine is not known from him, then he is a guarantor.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood and An- Nasaa’i).

“With the

How Were the COVID-19 Vaccines Made So Quickly?

Through an unprecedented collaborative effort between scientists, pharmaceutical companies and governments, the development of these COVID-19 vaccines were given top priority since March 2020 with heavy funding to build on decades of previous foundational coronavirus research, removal of administrative barriers and running parts of clinical trials in parallel.

All approved vaccines went through the rigorous process of ensuring all steps were executed and effective, safe and of high quality.

oNTech and Moderna) do not enter the central part of your cells where your DNA is stored. As a result, there is no perceived risk of these vaccines causing changes to your DNA or genetic mutations. Although a newer technology, mRNA vaccines have been used effectively and safely over the past several years to treat cancer.

What Are the Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines?

Based on clinical trials where each vaccine has already been tested in thousands of patients, we can get a good sense of what side effects or responses can be expected.

However, when any treatment is rolled out on such a large scale across populations, there are expected to be a small number of rare side effects which may only become apparent later.

Based on the trial data available for the Pfizer-BioNTech, Astra Zeneca Oxford and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, side effects that may be experienced are expected to be mild or moderate in severity, at most for a few days, and may include pain at the injection site, redness, swelling, fatigue, headache, joint pain or chills.

These are expected responses as your immune system develops antibodies to help protect you.

Astra Zeneca vaccine can lead to Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which is a rare event, roughly one case per one million shots, involving serious blood clots with a low blood platelet count. It is triggered by the immune system’s response to the AstraZeneca vaccine and is different from other clotting conditions.

emergence of the delta variant, COVID-19 is not any more old age disease.

What Are the Different COVID-19 Vaccines Under Consideration and Are They Halal or Permissible?

As of now, 3 COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer BioNTech, Astra Zeneca and Moderna) have been approved by the regulatory body, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was proudly co-developed by Turkish origin Muslim scientists.

After evaluating the benefits, risks and various considerations related to the different technologies used to develop these vaccines, they have been deemed permissible or recommended to be taken by various Ulema bodies in Australia and other parts of the world.

Do the mRNA Vaccines Change Your DNA or Cause Genetic Mutations?

The mRNA-based vaccines (Pfizer-Bi-

“

Dr Mohammad Afzal Kahloon

What Happens After I Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Even if you receive the vaccine, you need to continue keeping up with all the safety measures of distancing, wearing a mask, washing hands, getting tested and isolating if you have symptoms. It will take time for all Australasians to be vaccinated.

The situation will not change overnight.

The sooner as many people as possible in the community are vaccinated, the sooner we can save lives and allow our schools, workplaces and society to reopen safely.

Are Governments or Powerful Individuals Trying to Control Us by Giving Us this Vaccine?

Many conspiracy theories are being circulated related to 5G networks, Bill Gates, microchips and governments trying to control citizens or take over the world. None of these is substantiated, technologically possible or realistic.

Narrated Abu Huraira(r): The Prophet (s) said, “Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales…and do not spy…”

(Sahih al-Bukhari: Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 90). We should all seek and share informa-

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

tion only from reliable sources.

Al-Buhuti reported: Umar, (r), said, “O Allah, show me the truth as truth and guide me to follow it. Show me the false as false and guide me to avoid it.” (Sharh al-Muntaha al-Iradat 3/497).

Is the COVID vaccine safe for Pregnant Women?

Pregnancy is a high-risk state for COVID-19 infection.

It is reassuring to know that Pregnant women are no more likely to get COVID-19 than nonpregnant women. Most have no symptoms or mild symptoms; some women can become very sick with increased ICU admission particularly in 3rd Trimester. Recent studies have shown the risk of babies born prematurely, an increased rate of Caesarean section, and a small risk of still birth.

Having the vaccine protects the mother from getting so sick and protects baby from Prematurity and Stillbirth.

RANZCOG and ATAGI have decided it is safe to offer vaccines to pregnant women, postpartum, breastfeeding and those considering getting pregnant or fertility treatment.

This is based on robust data from the USA where 90000 pregnant women have been vaccinated with Pfizer or Modena mRNA. With no safety concerns.

Data have shown evidence of antibodies in cord blood and breast milk offer protection to infants through passive immunity. It remains important to pay attention to social distancing and other hygienic measures.

Do We Know Everything We Need to Know?

As with any new scientific discovery, medication or technology, there are many unanswered questions, including how effective these vaccines will be in reducing community transmission and how effective and safe they’ll be in the long run. Only time will tell how long immunity will last and if we may need additional doses.

Despite these unknowns and based on our knowledge so far, the benefits of taking the COVID-19 vaccines outweigh some of these valid concerns.

With the emergence of the delta variant, COVID-19 is not any more old age disease, children in their teens are getting infective, and young, healthy individuals in their twenties and thirties are tragically dying from this disease.

Given the above, we recommend all eligible Australian Muslims receive the COVID-19 vaccines. If you have questions or concerns related to your medical history, please discuss these with your health provider.

Dr Mohammad Afzal Kahloon is the President of Australian Islamic Medication Association (AIMA). He is fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) and member of the Urological Society of Australia & New Zealand (USANZ) and the Australian Medical Association (AMA). He travels overseas regularly to provide medical care to charitable organisations in numerous developing countries.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

9

AMUST

COMMUNITY

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Fatima Killeen announced as recipient of Australian Muslim Artists Art Prize 2021

Mei Nee Cheong

One of the country’s most highly regarded Muslim artists is the recipient of the Australian Muslim Artists Art Prize 2021.

Fatima Killeen’s collagraphic print, The Crooked Narrative fuses images of a pomegranate and a hand grenade, and speaks to the juxtaposition of the destructive weapon (which takes its name from the French word pomme-grenade) and the sacred fruit – a symbol of life and fertility.

Speaking from lockdown in Canberra, Killeen was overcome when Islamic Museum of Australia’s Founder and Director, Moustafa Fahour OAM delivered the news via Zoom on Wednesday 18 August 2021.

“I was so happy just to be shortlisted. This exhibition is always an incentive to me to keep working and not give up. I’m always keen to share my ideas and show some concern I have for Muslim nations through my work. This is as good as it gets for me,” said Killeen.

Australian Muslim Artists is an annual exhibition hosted by the Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA) in partnership with La Trobe University, which this year saw entries from artists across the country.

Mr Fahour said Ms Killeen was a deserving winner in a very competitive field.

“They say a picture paints a thousand words. Fatima dedicates her time and craft to interpreting compelling and important narratives. Her work enables the viewer to see matters of war and destruction through a unique lens, and to consider the impact of war in a different light.”

“When La Trobe University first came on board to support the Art Prize three years ago, we never imagined that a pandem-

Fatima Killeen in her studio in Canberra.

“The Crooked Narrative”, Fatima Killeen.

ic would interrupt our lives so uniformly, and over such an extended period of time.

Artists and the arts industry have suffered tremendously over the last two years, and that we’re able to support them through this exhibition is a privilege, and it’s so exciting to have received so many high quality submissions,” said Mr Fahour.

Once again, the seventeen shortlisted works represent the depth of talent among Muslim artists and highlight the cultural diversity of Muslims in Australia. In 2021, artists included those who migrated from countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Leba-

The 55th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations designated 21 September as

non, Nigeria, India and Malaysia.

Further, this year, a record number of female artists submitted work, and were included in the shortlist.

La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar AO, said the University is committed to supporting initiatives such as the Australian Muslim Artists Art Prize which build strong connections with Australia’s diverse communities.

“La Trobe congratulates Fatima Killeen on her work, The Crooked Narrative. It is a piece of great depth and complexity and is a worthy winner,” Professor Dewar said.

“La Trobe University is honoured to sponsor the Prize and delighted to welcome the first female recipient with such a powerful work.”

Shortlisting for Australian Muslim Artists was conducted by a panel of judges including Dr Stefano Carboni, currently CEO of the Museums Commission for the Ministry

To celebrate this day you are invited to join an online

Interfaith Prayer Service

On Tuesday 21 September 2021 at 2pm on Zoom https://uca-nswact.zoom.us/j/96010303812 Occasional address: Rev. Simon Hansford, the Moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia NSW & ACT Synod.

Religious leaders from Aboriginal, Bahai, Brahmakumaris, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Mandaean, Sikh, Sufi and Zoroastrian communities will offer prayers for peace. There will be opportunity to light a candle for Peace during the service. So please keep a candle and matchbox ready.

10

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Mei Nee is a marketing professional who has worked across the arts, arts education and travel. She is currently the Media and Marketing Manager at the Islamic Museum of Australia and is based in Melbourne, Australia.

The Stop Racism Now campaign Ernie Friedlander OAM

For further information contact Rev. Dr. Manas Ghosh on 0429 892 548 or email: revmanasghosh@gmail.com

of Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Bala Starr, Director of La Trobe Art Institute; community representative Dr Anisa Buckley and IMA curator, Dr Mahmoud Mohammed.

The Australian Muslim Artists exhibition is on display from 20 August – 20 November 2021 at islamicmuseum.org.au. Museum guests can see the physical exhibition when the IMA re-opens.

As an acquisitive prize, the artwork will become part of the La Trobe Art Institute which manages a collection of art acquired by the University and which has an exhibition and education facility in the arts precinct of central Bendigo.

The Stop Racism Now campaign was launched 9 June 2021 at NSW Parliament by Her Excellency Margaret Beazley, the NSW Governor.

The event was attended by prominent politicians, including the Hon Natalie Ward, the new Minister of Multiculturalism & Hon Linda Burney. Several other groups were represented, including the Australian Human Rights commission, the NSW/ACT Home Affairs, the University of Western Sydney, Multicultural NSW, the NSW Police and the NRL. The Vision Statement states that People need to be considered with respect and dignity regardless of colour, race, religion, gender or nationality. In the process make people aware not to discriminate, stereotype or generalise.

Councils, Schools, Sporting Bodies, Offices , Universities will be encouraged to display the statement.

We are already having success with the Harmony Day Poster & Song Writing competitions (having a record of over 5300 posters & 81 Song entries this year) where Harmony Walks also enhance the credential of Moving Forward Together, the name it self says it all.

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

The Without Prejudice – Towards a Harmonious Society book –published in 2010 is being updated for an online version, introducing current issues , should also assist to drive campaign beyond NSW. The issue of racism & extremism is even more relevant than it was two month ago. The Delta variant and the lockdowns have provided an opportunity and element of frustration seeking to find someone to blame.

Putting it in perspective though, we live in very challenging times where we are far better off than other countries. For example Switzerland has over 700,000 cases of COVID, similarly, Austria & Hungary, their population is 1/3 of Australia, which has 45,000 cases.

Canada which has 1,400,000 – with a population 50% higher than ours. I know it is tough, we need to ride it out and make the best of the situation, helping each other as much as possible and appreciate that despite some imperfection we live in a very good country.

Moving to stage 2 of the campaign, with the pandemic it has delayed the full implantation, we appeal to AMUST readers to join us to drive the message home. We are looking for volunteers who share our vision to assist being Ambassadors – incorporating their ideas. Together we can progress better and faster.

Ernie Friedlander OAM is the President of the Moving Forward Together Association based in Sydney.

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

COMMUNITY

SOCIAL 22 - 23

AMUST

Successful Food Festival and Open Day at Toowoomba Mosque Professor Shahjahan Khan Muslims in Toowoomba had another successful community event on Saturday 31 July 2021 in spite of the pandemic and lockdown in many parts of Australia and Queensland.

This was the 8th Annual Toowoomba Annual International Food Festival and Garden City Mosque Open Day. The event is now an important part of annual calendar of Toowoomba and it has been financially supported by grants from Queensland Government.

The diversity and taste of food were great.

The environment was very welcoming and engaging. People asked questions informally and in the formal session, as well as during viewing of the inside of the reconstructed Masjid building. In general, the participants were very happy and left with an impressive positive note.

The speakers were very positive and highlighted the contribution of Muslims and the Mosque in the social fabric of Toowoomba.

The guest speakers appreciated the message of unity and upheld the actions of the Islamic Society of Toowoomba to bring people together to create a peaceful and harmoni-

ous community breaking barriers of nationality and ethnicity.

The formal presentation session started with the recitation of the Holy Quran by Br Abdu Mohamed.

The speakers included Cr Paul Antonio, Mayor of Toowoomba Regional Council; Hon Garth Hamilton MP, Federal Member for Groom (Toowoomba); Professor Barbara de la Harpe from University of Southern Queensland; Inspector Km Hill representing the Queensland Police Commissioner; Mr Mark Creedon, Principal of Darling Height State School; and Professor Shahjahan Khan, President of Islamic Society of Toowoomba.

A recorded message of Minister for Multicultural Affairs Queensland Hon Leanne Liard MP was played. Hon David Janetzki MP, State Member for Toowoomba South could not join the event as he had to be in quarantine.

Associate Professor Dr Mainul Islam delivered the Vote of Thanks acknowledging all the guests, sponsors, volunteers and participants.

With reference to the contemporary practice to protect people from the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Khan noted Dr Craig Considine’s article in the Newsweek that suggested that Muslims and non-Muslims are following Islamic Shariah by practicing Lockdown and Quarantine.

From left: Federal MP Hon Garth Hamilton; Professor Shahjahan Khan, Inspector Kim Hill, Queensland Police Services; Cr Melissa Taylor and Mayor Paul Antonio, Toowoomba Regional Council; Professor Barbara de la Harpe, University of Southern Queensland; Community Police Officer Catherine English; and Principal Mark Creedon, Darling Heights State School.

As Prophet Muhammad (s) said, “If you Reconstruction of burnt Toowoomba heard the plague of land, do not enter it, and Mosque is approaching to the Final Stage. if it occurred on the land while you were on Donations are welcome: Toowoomba Islamit, do not get out of it.” (Lockdown); and the ic Charitable Trust, BSB 064459, A/C 1034 Messenger ordered, “keep those with conta- 1586 gious diseases away from healthy people.”

(Quarantine).

Professor Shahjahan Khan is professor of The event was covered in the Daily Statistics at University of Southern QueensChronicle last weekend and it was posted land, Australia. He is the former President and shared in many social media helping of Islamic Countries Society of Statistical to reach out to much wider population, es- Sciences and Expatriate Fellow of Banglapecially those who could not make to the desh Academy of Sciences. event.

Viewing the inside the reconstructed Toowoomba Mosque.

One of the delicious food stalls at the festival and open day.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas As we celebrate National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day on 4 August, Al Siraat hosted a special screening of the must see documentary film BEFORE 1770 at Village Cinemas, with the audience made up predominantly of young people.

The film, which explores Australia’s Muslim history was directed by Sheikh Wesam Charkawi.

A beautiful opening prayer was made by Mohammad Jalil Sarwar from Year 10.

The Welcome to Country was performed by local Indigenous Muslim Elder, Brother Andrew Hassan Gardiner. Uncle Andrew also gave a very passionate speech of how SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

he is personally invested in this film which highlights the shared history between the Makassan Muslims and the First People of Arnhem Land, the Yolngu dating back long before 1770.

Co-founder of Al Siraat College, Ms Rahat Arain gave a welcoming speech and spoke about the importance of truth and truthtelling as well as the responsibility each of us has in sharing the truth of our Australian history.

Ms Mouna, a member of the production team of the film BEFORE 1770, gave a very inspiring speech about the empowering message of belonging the film gives to young Australian Muslims. She stated, “Our Muslim ancestors had a rich and long connection with the Aboriginal people of this land for hundreds of years before white settlement.”

Mr Fazeel Arain, Principal and co-founder of Al Siraat College, shared his reflections from the film and talked about his own upbringing and experiences of discrimination.

He gave students several examples of ways young people can advocate for change in their communities and participate in greater Indigenous engagement.

Following the screening, guests had an opportunity to share reflections and ask questions of the speakers. Ms Noori Ahmed, SRC and Interfaith Leadership coordinator was acknowledged for her support in facilitating these important programs.

This program had originally been planned as a part of the Interfaith Youth Forum project to take place during Reconciliation Week but was postponed due to the snap lockdowns and subsequent COVID restrictions in Melbourne. The reduced numbers at this event were in line with Covid restrictions at the time.

Another screening of BEFORE 1770 is

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

scheduled to take place at Village Cinemas, open to local schools, Interfaith partners and community leaders once restrictions ease further in Melbourne.

The moving documentary film, BEFORE 1770 is a must watch for all Australians and a valuable resource for all Australian schools.

Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas is the president of Whittlesea Interfaith Network and Head of Community Engagement at Al Siraat College. Gulhan has four published books and a robust history of advocacy for gambling industry reform, Interfaith engagement, Muslim female leaders and mentoring young people to be spokespeople for their community.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

11

AMUST

AUSTRALIA

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Next generation The Ninth Tower change makers are No apology for public housing residents working the law

Kauthar Abdulalim (left), Director, on the set of the short film “The Ninth Tower”.

Rana Elasmar (left), victim of the Parramatta hate crime.

Rita Jabri-Markwell

Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas who wear the hijab,” Maryam said.

“As a Muslim women who wears the hijab, the discrepancies in laws can leave many women alike myself vulnerable to acts of hatred and denigration.”

As a Sydneysider, Maryam’s passion continues to be finding justice for Muslims living in NSW, and her next publishing efforts are focused on this.

She doesn’t want cases like what happened to Ms Elasmar in the Parramatta cafe to disappear without lessons being placed on the legal record.

Waffa shares this passion to reform the law, especially in relation to asylum seekers and refugees, which she hopes to explore in the future.

Waffa was a tireless advocate while at AMAN. The Anning case wasn’t her only human rights work.

Waffa supported a vulnerable Muslim family to lodge a discrimination complaint against police, Juvenile Justice and others to the NSW Anti Discrimination Board.

She also supported them to lodge a different human rights complaint directed at the Australian Government.

Waffa said giving people a voice empowered them when they felt most alone and powerless.

“Interning with AMAN in matters of discrimination has encouraged my passion for advocacy and reform,” she said.

Waffa is currently finishing her final semester of law at Western Sydney University, while working in a general practice form.

She aspires one day to move into the field of human rights and discrimination law.

When final year law student Waffa Bakfalouni volunteered for the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network, she didn’t realise she would be part of Australian legal history.

One of her jobs was to help draft the orders that AMAN would seek from the Queensland Tribunal against the former Senator Fraser Anning.

Waffa was the last in a series of interns who had dedicated substantial time to the case, and part of a growing tradition of young Muslim law students being agents for change through AMAN. Maryam Hashimi, another volunteer, shares Waffa’s passion for human rights.

Having finished her law degree, Maryam wants to move into research and sees AMAN as a vehicle to produce high value work.

Maryam started on a project looking at the Judge’s sentencing remarks on the case where a 38-week-pregnant sister was assaulted in a Parramatta cafe by a stranger who hated Muslims. This led her down the path of evaluating hate crime laws here and overseas.

Maryam’s efforts were well timed, with the Parliamentary Inquiry in Queensland looking for proposals on hate crime laws.

She co-authored AMAN’s submission to that inquiry and influenced the submissions of a number of other organisations with her groundwork.

“Hate crime laws are essential for protecting vulnerable groups, Waffa Bakfalouni, one of particularly AMAN’s 2021 law interns.

Muslim women

Giving “people

a voice empowered them when they felt most alone and powerless.

“

12

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

In December of 2020, the Victorian Ombudsmen completed their investigation into the hard lockdown of the public housing towers in Melbourne, which occurred on 4 July 2020.

The Victorian Ombudsmen concluded in their investigation that “The rushed lockdown was not compatible with the residents’ human rights, including their right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty [and] based on the evidence gathered by the investigation, the action appeared to be contrary to the law.”

The very first recommendation The Ombudsman made, was for the Victorian Government to, “Apologise publicly to residents of the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing estates for harm or distress caused by imposition of the immediate lockdown on 4 July 2020.”

As we wrap up August of 2021, over a year after the hard lockdowns of the towers and subsequent human rights abuses outlined in the investigation, the residents of the towers are yet to receive that public apology.

To highlight the depth of some of the injustices and distress experienced by families in the towers, up and coming Australian Muslim film director, Kauthar Abdulalim launched her latest short film The Ninth Tower, this year during the 69th Melbourne International Film Festival.

In the film, “Teenager Hassan, a carer for his ill mother, is pushed to the brink when the state government suddenly imposes a hard lockdown at the nine towers in Flemington and North Melbourne housing estates.”

The film was produced under Kauthar’s own independent production company, Blacksand Pictures. In the weeks after the one-year anniversary of the hard lockdown of the towers, we conducted a virtual interview with director Kauthar Abdulalim.

Film is a powerful way to share a story.

What was the inspiration behind your latest short film The Ninth Tower?

When the hard lockdown incident was unfolding and I saw some of the experiences of the tenants being shared on social media, I

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

knew then and there that we needed to capture this and present it in a way that can reach a wider audience. Not many people outside of our community knew what it felt like living under those restrictions and I felt that maybe there was something I could do through film.

What was it like filming The Ninth Tower and is it based on a true story?

Personally for me it was a very transformative experience. It was the first film set I had stepped on post the lockdowns we had in Victoria and it was also the first film under my independent production company, Blacksand Pictures.

The Ninth Tower isn’t entirely based on a single true story, nor does it capture the experiences of all the tower residents, however, there are depictions of true incidents that happened during the hard lockdowns which we have incorporated in the film, and some scenes, characters and plots are fictionalised.

This film is an attempt to capture one of the many stories of a diverse range of tenants who all had very different experiences.

During the investigation Ombudsman Deborah Glass said they found that senior health officials agreed on the morning of Saturday, 4 July that the towers should be locked down to control a COVID-19 outbreak, anticipating a next-day start to allow planning for food supplies and other logistics. But at a media conference at 4 pm the Premier announced the lockdown, starting immediately.

The Ninth Tower captures and amplifies the voices and experiences of the residents of the public housing towers during the hard lockdown of 4July 2020.

For to purpose of demonstrating that we are all truly In This Together, that there is no bias or prejudice, particularly based on socio-economic status, it’s important that our leaders publicly apologise and acknowledge that they could’ve done better, as recommended by the Victorian Ombudsman.

The Ninth Tower is now available to stream for free Australia-wide this week only via the 69th Melbourne International Film Festival website.

You can follow the rest of Kauthar’s work via Instagram @kauthh and @blacksandpictures ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

AUSTRALIA

SOCIAL 22 - 23

Musical: Hope behind the Wire

AMUST

What refugees in detention think and feel

AMUST Media Have you ever been to a detention centre and asked refugees how they feel?

After consulting church groups, lawyers and social groups who visit refugees, Philip Feinstein of Music for Refugees wrote a musical about refugees – he called it Hope behind the Wire. Although he has been a regular visitor to Villawood Detention Centre, this was a huge learning curve for him and the audience.

It was showcased a month ago at the beautiful Wesley Convention Centre in Sydney to about 500 people. There were 65 actors most of whom were amateurs.

In the musical some of the comments made by refugees included . . . .

“Why treat us like this? We are normal and do no harm.”

“The authorities never tell us when someone is being transferred – I never get to say goodbye to a friend.”

“I feel powerless and don’t know what my future holds. I am very stressed.”

The musical included a song where refugees sung their feelings.

Other expressions included . . . .

“I was lucky to meet a people smuggler but never had enough money to bring my family.”

“I cannot show my passport – that was taken by the people smuggler.”

“It is wrong to call us ‘illegals’ or ‘queue jumpers’. And we are not terrorists.”

“My parents abandoned me when I was 7 years old, so I have no-one. I am treated like a criminal.”

With scenes showing people visiting detention centres, the atmosphere depicted much sadness and desperation. Even the visitors showed lots of emotion.

With so little to do while imprisoned, many of the detainees resort to music and poetry. There were musical scenes involving refugees singing and playing music instruments, as well as poetry by a former refugee.

When Philip Feinstein OAM first start-

ed visiting Villawood Detention Centre 14 years ago, there were also young children detained. Consequently there was a scene involving young children singing and playing games. “Thank goodness that ended when it did,” exclaimed Feinstein.

Despite Villawood being a place of incarceration, there is often a shining light that comes through. This was demonstrated when the authorities allowed a refugee to marry his fiancé who lived in the suburbs of Sydney.

The musical showed a guard being human by making a positive contribution to the occasion. Being the final scene of the musical, it concluded with the groom sing the hit song “We gotta get out of this place”.

The audience joined in the chorus with great enthusiasm.

The entire musical was filmed and can be seen on this YouTube link: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=YmRXSg5q4W8 “The musical is not portrayed as a story, but is an information tool to let people know how refugees feel being in detention,” said

Philip. “It also demonstrates visitors giving lots of hope to refugees.”

Feeling proud at having created this musical, Philip added, “Many people have said that this historical musical account should be made available to the public via refugee and asylum seeker outlets (like STARTTS, ASC, SSI, JRS, etc) plus local councils, schools, churches and the media.”

Because it is an amateur production, Philip hopes that a professional producer will take over ‘Hope behind the Wire’ and turn it into a professional production.

“I will make myself available to help where necessary,” he said, adding, “Furthermore the songs composed specifically for this musical will be free from royalties as I was the writer.”

Philip is inviting AMUST readers to view the entire musical on the link above.

“It could be turned into an appropriate story via a musical, a film, a TV series or a play, as there are at least 2/3 potential leading characters,” he concluded.

Which party will help us address Islamophobia?

Rita Jabri-Markwell There is no sugarcoating it. Australian politicians are not offering great options to Australian Muslim voters.

Australia’s current Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Alex Hawke MP, chose not to make any media comment when The Australian Human Rights Commission released their landmark report following the Christchurch massacre, Sharing the Stories of Australian Muslims.

Ironically, the Report showed the desire of Australian Muslims for more public visible allies, including politicians. Instead, there was the opposite from our Government.

Still, he is an improvement on his predecessor Alan Tudge MP, who suggested in September 2020 that immigration detainees were ‘paedophiles, extremists and drug dealers’. Australian research has documented which online groups those narratives come from. The connection to mainstream political discourse was alarming.

Tudge delivered a National Press Club address on the day Australian white nationalist terrorist Brenton Tarrant was sentenced, SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

but made no reference to the rising threat of white supremacist extremism or Islamophobia. The only reference he made was to ‘Islamic extremism’. His approach left me and many other Australian Muslims at a disappointing loss.

Considering these signs, it became apparent why it’s been so hard to get any changes since the Christchurch massacre.

Facebook and Twitter allow Brenton Tarrant’s ideology to run rampant by actors who claim to be merely ‘anti-Islam’ and ‘anti-jihad’. We are dehumanised as rats, aids, scum, tarts, disease, cancer, snakes and vermin. The Australian Government doesn’t appear to even have a team looking at it.

We know there are members of the LNP who support Muslims, who are even Muslim themselves. We hope they will raise their voices.

Meanwhile, Federal Labor and Greens are not offering Australian Muslims helpful policies. The Australian Greens do not support the religious discrimination bill. Federal Labor is unclear.

The only party to be actively pushing a federal religious discrimination bill is the Liberal National Party (who have Govern-

ment), although they haven’t supported our amendments to include vilification (hate speech).

Moving forward, we have to seek clear commitments from all major and minor parties about where they stand on legislating protections against religious discrimination and vilification. It doesn’t have to be in standalone legislation, but those protections are urgently needed.

We don’t want harmful dog-whistling, but we also don’t want parties that claim to care about us (usually to our leaders behind

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

closed doors) and waste our time.

We are a strong community that contributes a great deal to the Australian community and economy.

With the Federal Election coming, it’s time to expect more.

Rita Jabri Markwell is a lawyer and adviser based with the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN), a national body engaged in policy dialogue, political advocacy and litigation, to achieve social harmony, inclusion and security for Australian Muslims. @JabriRita

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

13

AMUST

LIFESTYLE

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Q&A with gallery owner, Shahid Malik Azlin Ali “Keep your head down.

Focus. Push the time for it.

Talk to people. Connect.

Most importantly, have passion.” These were the keywords spoken by Mr Shahid Malik, the owner of Gallery One62.

Back in 2018, Mr Malik had the opportunity to run an Islamic Art and Calligraphy Exhibition alongside Mr Ashraf Shad, a writer, poet and journalist on SBS Australia, at the Bansktown Art Center. That event was a landmark success.

“This was a pivotal moment for me as this was when I was ignited to go deeper into the art world.”

Soon after, Mr Malik tried to set up more events and exhibitions elsewhere but felt like he was restricted by many terms and conditions set up by the other parties.

As an art lover who understands how to work around the art world, he soon decided to open up his own art gallery.

And so he did. Not only in Sydney, in 2018, but another one back in his hometown in Karachi, in 2019, as well.

He aims to shorten the gap between art lovers in Australia and Pakistan, by making sure these two galleries work cohesively in introducing native art of Australia overseas and likewise with Pakistani art and artists.

In January 2020, his art gallery in Pakistan called Art 162, held an Australia Day exhibition showcasing local and aboriginal art.

“It wasn’t just about running these galleries. I was coming out from my shell as well.

I have been drawing since I was 7 years old.

At the time, Bruce Lee and some Pakistani heroes were my inspiration. I taught myself

how to draw as it has always been a passion of mine but it was only a few years back that I was able to fully bloom as an artist.”

I continued the interview by asking him the difference between his gallery and that of others.

“I want my gallery to be a platform in helping local artists. We try to charge as minimally as possible and only make profit if the artists does.”

His gallery in Sydney is called Gallery One62, located in Auburn, NSW and also runs art related workshops besides exhibitions and it’s annual Islamic Calligraphy Exhibition was held in Ramadhan this year.

Besides running these two art galleries, he also runs SignOn Sydney, a print shop with immaculate graphic design services.

What was your proudest moment?

“My solo exhibition held in Karachi in February 2020. It wasn’t just about showcasing my work and getting all the media exposure for it, but the support I received from my friends and family at that time was overwhelming. Some flew in from Australia, Canada, Europe and America. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Who in the art world, who inspire you?

“There’s two. Pro Hart and Sadequain Naqqash, a Pakistani artist who is best known for his skills as a calligrapher and painter. He is considered as one of the finest Pakistan has ever produced. He was also a poet.”

Lastly, what is your hope for the future?

“To open an art gallery or museum in Sydney CBD that specializes in Islamic Art.”

“I want my

Mr Shahid Malik painting on the streets of Turkey.

gallery to be a platform in helping local artists.

“

A painting by Shahid Malik depicting the connection between two countries, Pakistan and Australia.

Azlin Ali is the art curator at Gallery One62, a privately owned art gallery showcasing local and international artists, as well as art workshops, based in Sydney, Australia.

A delightful story to help overcome the covid blues Irfan Yusuf When you’re in lockdown in an eastern state of Australia (or anywhere else in the overly rich and lazy First World for that matter), it’s hard to find things that will make your First World problems go away.

Let’s be honest. Watching or reading the news with wall-to-wall COVID coverage really sucks. Especially if you are like me and come from an “ethnic” family with relatives in overseas locations in a virus warzone.

Social media can provide some relief.

Streaming television services become a bit tedious soon after. In fact, screens in general make you sick after a while.

It was during one of my awful moments of lockdown stress that I discovered printed words on a page. Words that were so easy to read, that told a cheeky story that I wish I had access to when I was in Year 7 or 8.

Young adult fiction isn’t just for young adults. Even not-so-young adults like me can find so much joy and emotional release just by feasting on a story that literally floats off the page.

Huda And Me is the story of a large fami-

14

ly. In the novel they are Lebanese Muslims, but they could be any large family. In the story they are in Melbourne. But the author’s family, on whom this story is based, were in Perth.

Perth has an established, middle class and very multicultural Muslim community. Unlike Sydney or Melbourne, no single ethnic group dominates. Into this melting pot grew H Hayek’s large Lebanese family of two parents and seven children.

And out of that family grew Hayek’s fictitious tale of a young boy and his slightly younger and more adventurous sister who sneak away and fly to Lebanon. Unaccompanied. And no, this isn’t some crazy tale of confused kids joining some tinpot caliphate.

The story begins with a loving family celebrating the birthday of their elderly Polish neighbour, Mr Kostiki. Mum is making a birthday cake for him, while the kids are joining in a traditional Polish dance.

This isn’t the Lebanese Muslim scene you would have read about in the mainstream media. Muslims? Celebrating the birthday of a white European man? A bearded Muslim father laughing, his wife in hijab bringing out the cake with candles? You can almost hear the clapping and the music.

After the party, Dad announces they’re heading to Lebanon to care for the maternal grandmother. They being the parents. The kids are being looked after by an eccentric

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

(to say the least) Aunt Amel.

One of the boys, Akeal, narrates the story.

I don’t want to give too much away, but we are taken to such far-flung places as Dubai and Bar Elias in Beqaa, Lebanon. Readers see these places through the eyes of nervous and highly perceptive kids.

This is a story that will warm your heart

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

and take away the Covid blues. I give it 10 stars out of 5.

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

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

LIFESTYLE

SOCIAL 22 - 23

AMUST

Intellectual castration of women Noora Habeeb Al-Sarray

There is an old adage says “who has money owns a lot, and who has power owns everything.”

In the Middle Eastern societies, and the Arab communities in particular, religious teachings overlap with social determinants and values. Clerics are perceived to be spiritual guides and guardians of people’s awareness and consciences. However once they reign, some clerics authorise themselves to be custodian of people’s money, lives and destinies.

Obviously, whoever seizes the power, he acquires formidable media outlets that direct the awareness of the general public with predetermined frameworks, with which deviation from the prevailing patterns of thinking becomes unpalatable and sometimes dangerous.

As a result of deliberate ignorance for many centuries, the vast majority of people in these societies have become addicted to obeying instructions and walking with the herd. The circular reasoning and the dilemma of binary choice mentality create fearmongering among ordinary individuals.

For example, religious parties in Iraq deny responsibility of improper planning and mismanagement and they often use this logical fallacy to urge people to tolerate the bad situation they suffer from and the reward could be the heaven.

If people reject that, they would trigger unpleasant attitude of god against this defiance. There is usually not enough courage to get out of these ready-made thinking templates. Although power has been exercised and is still exercised over the entire society, men and women alike, females are more vulnerable to intellectual persecution than males.

In the absence of educational programs, critical thinking methods, the lack of intellectual freedom and the abolition of individual identities, the societal enlightenment for women’s rights is a tedious task. Women are often face extreme challenges and their efforts for being self-dependent are hurdled by male social dominance.

Because people are the enemies of what they are ignorant of, the mass media of the religious parties is harnessed to negatively drive the awareness of the majority

Dr Reham Yaqoub who led many women’s marches was assassinated in 2020 in Iraq.

of females who turn out to be resisting the women’s rights movement. This segregation hampers efforts and the ultimate goal would be lost.

There is a serious moral dilemma related to the contamination of society’s awareness and the distortion of its values. For instance, thinking about honor is limited to sexual freedom and the matter is only applicable to women.

Ongoing attempts to consolidate the power of men over women as their guardians, deriving the legitimacy from the huge religious and cultural heritage that is brought up from time to time and whenever is needed.

The exploitation of women in conflicts and warzones is well known throughout history, but the men’s supremacy over women has gone to more dangerous slopes where women’s lives are at stake due to campaigns of incitement and systematic defamation.

The recent last October uprising in Iraq,

for example, witnessed many reckless campaigns to discourage women from the right to demonstrate and actively reject the rampant corruption in all parts of the state and the abuse of power that became intolerable.

Perhaps the attempts to exploit religious teachings to call for gender separation to prevent women from practicing their rights in protesting are the best expression of the old-fashioned mentality that does not belong to the values of modernity and urbanism.

Unfortunately, Iraq has witnessed many cases in which women have fallen victim to the intentional hate speech. Many women were intimidated, kidnapped, and murdered.

Activist Mary Mohammad and many other young women who were greatly involved in October uprising were kidnapped, and forced to confess that they had sex with men protestors to portray them as bad example of youth.

Baghdad and other main cities in Iraq

have been swamped recently with series of kidnapping, torture, and assassinations of prominent women and public figures, including model Tara Fares, Dr Rafif Al-Yasiri and the activist Dr Reham Yaqoub.

These crimes are intended to prevent young people from leading the change and driving the political correctness and to divert public attention from the failure Iraq is experiencing for almost two decades.

These distorted and crisis-ridden values that seek to commodify and degrade women’s dignity do not belong to the twenty-first century and the globalization, and certainly they will not be able to withstand the winds of change.

Noora Al-Sarray is an Iraqi woman, writer, educator, activist ‘feminist’ with strong and unique visions and opinions about cultures, religions, diversity and human rights. She is based in Melbourne, Australia.

Need for foster care in the Muslim community Tamana Ehsan With almost 50,000 children needing foster care in Australia, what impact will this have on Muslim children who are exposed to homelessness, exposed to haram and not taught Islamic teachings?

NZF understands the importance of Foster Care Week on 13-19 September and is tackling the issue headon with volunteers, a specially designed community program, and partnerships with like-minded organisations in the Muslim community.

In order to develop a better understanding of this issue, we spoke to passionate advocates giving first-hand perspectives on the issue and the help that is needed.

Asif Mulla, National Operations Manager at NZF, shared a personal story of driving through Parramatta (NSW) at night, looking for his friend’s child who ran away from home. He realised a Muslim foster care would resolve run away kids.

However, he realised the dire need for a foster care organisation run by the Muslim community. One that advocates and unites Muslim foster parents to Muslim orphans SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

and children; especially, children who often get lost in various adoption systems without any access to culturally and religiously appropriate care they need.

“With almost 50,000 children in the foster care system in Australia, we know that 2.6% of the population are Muslims,” Asif explains. It is a major issue in Australia. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of the need for foster care locally which is why it is overlooked.

Soon, Ahmad Malas who is the project director of My Foster Family (MFF), a notfor-profit Islamic foster care service that facilitates Muslim foster children to welcoming Muslim families made a remarkable decision to collaborate with NZF along with various Islamic welfare and national agencies.

Asif was also on a similar journey which led him to Ahmad.

Together, they decided to combine the community welfare services provided by both organisations to start the Fostering Hope Program at NZF. This program is designed to support orphaned or homeless Muslim children in need by providing them access to service partners like MFF who join the children with a loving home.

Hayfa Bakour, a dedicated events manager at MFF, is currently advocating for the government to recognise cultural needs for

children within the foster care application and allocation systems while advocating to ensure that Muslim children are entitled to be housed by Muslim families.

She understands the importance of a foster care service dedicated to aiding vulnerable Muslim children.

“These children have been hurt and carry a significant amount of trauma. Older children who cannot be placed with a family are put in homes with limited supervision and children from non-Muslim backgrounds.

You can imagine how insufficient this would be for a young person with complex needs.”

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

NZF aims to provide support services to both foster families and foster children including, mentoring, community care, extracurricular activities for youth and children, and more.

If you are interested in becoming a foster carer by contacting My Foster Family: 1300 663 729. If you would like to donate to support foster children, please go to: www.nzf.org.au/pay.

Tamana Ehsan is an employee of the National Zakat Foundation (NZF) and is based in Sydney, Australia.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

15

AMUST

LIFESTYLE

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Displaced Syrian children hold ‘Tent Olympics’ Faseeha Hashmi As the Tokyo Olympics concluded, as many as 120 boys from 12 different Syrian camps enthusiastically gathered together on Sunday 8 August to stage their very own version of the ‘Tent Olympics’.

Catapulting javelins, leaping over hurdles and sprinting past tent rows to win gold, displaced youth in northwest tent settlement of Yaman in war-torn Syria, became star athletes overnight.

Ten years of humanitarian crisis and hostilities have had a profound impact on the situation of children in Syria, across the region and beyond. The Idlib region is home to nearly three million people with two-thirds displaced from other parts of the country.

The young boys aged between 8-14 years old, also competed in the high jump, discus throw, gymnastics, martial arts, volleyball, badminton, football and even horse racing.

The day was a rare moment of joy for the children. Grinning from ear to ear and surrounded by his teammates, a delighted 12-year-old participant Walid Mohammed al-Hassan recounted his victory; proudly representing his camp in the long jump.

“We had such fun. I won second place in the long jump,” said young Walid.

A gleeful 11-year-old, Haider Jumaa who was forced to leave his home two years ago spoke of how the games inspired him to become even more physically agile.

“I participated in the Olympics today, in the gymnastics competition. I hope to develop my skills and become a gymnastics professional,” exclaimed Haider.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that nearly 2.45 million children in Syria are out of school and face other grave concerns for violations of their rights as children.

The majority of these youth come from families that reside in camp tents or destroyed buildings and are dependent on humanitarian aid to survive.

Organiser Ibrahim Sarmini explained that the aim of the games was to give the children hope and shine a light on the plight of the camps.

We wanted “to introduce the kids to different kinds of sports that we, as a society, hadn’t really tried before”, explained Mr Sarmini.

As the sunset over the red earth, the glorious young winners stepped up onto the podium to receive their medals under a shower of confetti and wild cheers.

Please consider donating to: www.unicef.org/emergencies/syrian-crisis

Silence: A practice of listening to Pulling the plug Allah’s guidance

on bullying Janelle Di Falco Before I came to Islam I had encountered bullying at school as a high school teen not knowing how to deal with those who bullied me. I felt as though I had no voice to stand up for myself as that is what bullies do. They make you feel weak and intimidated. Sometimes all the bully wants is a reaction and so they target a person that appears to be weak and easy to intimidate.

Often, the bullies themselves are the ones who behind closed doors have been possibly abused, bullied themselves or are facing some kind of hardship. However, it is not okay for anybody to be bullied. I felt that after I came to Islam that even though I have still encountered bullying yet, I now know how to manage it because of the empowering teachings of Islam.

First, let’s take a look at what the term bullying is.

Bullying is when people repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions against someone or a group of people to cause distress and risk to their wellbeing. These actions are usually done by people who have more influence or power over someone else, or who want to make someone else feel less powerful or helpless.

Interestingly, the term bullying is the exact word of oppression that is mentioned in the Qur’an where Islam forbids oppression. Oppression is where the creation of disorder, the act of subjugating by cruelty, the state of being kept down by unjust use of force or authority, to be repressed, subjugated, subdued, where there is coercion, cruelty, tyranny, intimidation, viciousness, and brutality.

“Allah orders justice, kindness and good conduct. He forbids injustice, immorality and oppression.” (Qur’an 16:90).

In this verse, Islam teaches us how to behave as a person when facing unjust circumstances. “Therefore, you shall steadfastly persevere – for God’s promise is the truth

16

Princess R Lakshman

– and do not be intimidated by those who have not attained certainty” (Qur’an 30:60).

No matter where one is in life, bullying is something that does occur and it starts with the youth and often can continue into adulthood. However, by coming to Islam, Islam taught me how to handle the bullies and situations like this which has helped me in all stages of my life.

Bullying needs to stop and sometimes the only way to stop the bullies is through our own character and the way we react to these types of situations. Allah says: “Repel evil with which is better.” (Qur’an 41:34) At the very least, not responding to situations like this and not rising to the insults are in fact responding to the evil with which is better. If we can start with the Muslim community inshallah it will continue throughout all communities.

To those who have or are encountering bullying situations remember that every behaviour that someone does, does not go unrecorded by Allah and therefore one can find comfort in knowing that no bully will affect us.

I will forever be grateful for my journey to Islam no matter what struggles I face whether in the Muslim or non-Muslim community.

“O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one’s] faith. And whoever does not repent – then it is those who are the oppressors.” (Qur’an 49:11).

Janelle Di Falco is a Bachelor/Honors Degree Graduate of Islamic Studies at CSU. She is also a Graduate in Psychology. She is in her second final year of completing her Masters in Counselling as well as a qualified and trained Behavioural Therapist. Janelle is additionally an Academic writer on Contemporary Islamic issues. She is based in Melbourne, Australia.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

We often voice our supplications to Allah, but rarely do we practise silence to hear His answers to our questions because we are caught up in reacting to circumstances.

We behave similarly with other people as well.

Have you noticed how we talk more and listen less? We sometimes ask people how they are, however, we do not spend time in silence to listen to their response.

We either walk right past them or busy ourselves with other chores or we start talking about ourselves. Sometimes, when another person is speaking, instead of listening to them attentively, we start formulating a reply to their words to make a point.

Practising daily moments of silence can calm us and make us attentive to people and things around us. Silence does not mean we need to be away from the noise. It means that even in the midst of noise we are still able to hear and listen to our inner voice and keep calm.

Ponder this poem for a moment and understand the significance of inviting silence in your life. A daily practice of silence is what calms the mind’s incessant chatter and judgments of self and others and takes you to place where you can be attune yourself to receive Allah’s guidance through your intuition.

All this noise and meaningless mental chatter, he said, she said, they said, I said.

So much regret and blame, could have, should have, would have, my fault, your fault.

Every blame and shame, regret and complaint, Stagnates your journey forward.

Escape this murky ocean of negativity.

Pause. Be still. Breathe.

Find that still, small voice.

Your soul’s voice.

Ask your question.

Listen to the answer.

Your still, small voice will never lie.

Disconnect from your judgmental voice.

Connect with your soul’s voice.

Your intuition will guide you forward.

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

30-seconds of daily practice of silence 1. After Fajr Salah, DO NOT GO BACK TO BED. 2. Sit in silence on your prayer mat or go outside in nature 3. Straighten your back and let your upper body feel tall 4. Breathe in slowly and deeply, so that you feel your belly expanding 5. Hold for a few seconds 6. Breathe out slowly 7. Repeat for 10 long, deep breaths in and 10 long, deep breaths out Practising moments of silence, whether for 30 seconds or 30 minutes a day will transform your physical, emotional and mental health. Do try it.

If there is an issue that is bothering you, ask Allah’s guidance to find answers to your questions. With each in-breath and outbreath, submit to Allah’s wisdom and His Plans for you. Let go.

Total submission to Allah will enable you to feel calm and joyful. It will bring clarity to your mind and enable you to make decisions mindfully. In doing so, you will live a life of love, compassion, kindness and service to all of Allah’s creation, including yourself.

Princess R. Lakshman is a writer, speaker, qualified clinical nutritionist, life coach and a counsellor. She is based in Sydney, Australia.

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

UMMAH

SOCIAL 22 - 23

AMUST

Explainer: what is shariah law and what version of it is the Taliban likely to implement?

A/Prof Zuleyha Keskin & A/Prof Mehmet Ozalp With the world still in shock over the Taliban’s lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan, Afghan people, especially women, wonder what kind of life awaits the nation. When pressed about preserving the rights of women, a Taliban spokesperson said the Taliban would not discriminate against women and would give them their rights “within the bounds of shariah”.

These seemingly moderate messages from the Taliban give the impression they might have changed. But their track record in the 1990s, their interpretation of Islam, and the events that transpired in the past two decades give us a good idea of how they are likely to implement shariah.

What is shariah and how did it come about?

Shariah literally means “the way to a watering source” in Arabic. It came to denote a unique legal system based on the sources of Islam.

When Prophet Muhammad established the first Muslim community in Medina in 622, there was a need to have a legal system better than the crude customs of the tribal Arabian Peninsula. The revelations of the Quran and the Prophet’s own reforms set out the legal principles and practices that laid the foundations of shariah.

The legal approach of the Prophet was progressive and moderate for its time.

Prophet Muhammad’s wife Ai’sha said whenever he was confronted with a matter regarding people, he would always choose the easier option for people and he never took revenge. This is an important point for the Taliban to keep in mind.

When Islam grew rapidly from Spain to India by the end of the seventh century, the need for a common legal system became paramount. Instead of replicating the Roman and Persian legal systems, caliphs and Muslim scholars built a complex and detailed legal system on the foundation laid by the Quran and Prophet Muhammad.

Scholars identified higher objectives of the law. In the 14th century, influential Muslim jurist Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi identified the highest objective of law as: to promote good and to benefit human beings and to protect them from evil, from harm and from subsequent suffering.

Muslim jurists deduced five basic human rights for Islamic law to guarantee – the right to life, property, freedom of religion, freedom of mind (including speech) and to raise a family. Caliphs and sultans could not violate these individual rights.

Legal pluralism was also practised in the Muslim world. Many schools of law were established, having developed over centuries, and implemented in much of the Muslim world. Five such schools survived – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali and Jafari.

The last is for Shiite Muslims, and the others for Sunnis.

Shariah became the most sophisticated and developed legal system in the world from the eighth to the 17th century. It served as the common legal code across the vast Muslim lands and populations characterised by racial, cultural, religious and geographic diversity.

Why does shariah appear backwards today?

Why, then, does Islamic law appear to have a medieval flavour and appear backwards when it is implemented in modern times? There are five main reasons.

First, from the 11th century onwards, Muslim scholars declared the closure of the gate of ijtihad (legislation) and discouraged new legal interpretation. The 11th through to the 14th centuries was the era of the Crusades, Mongol invasion of Muslim heartlands and the plague. It was not the time to make new interpretations with so many crises taking place. Anyway, scholars reasoned, Islamic law was quite developed.

Second, European colonisation of the majority of the Muslim world from the 19th century onward collapsed the political, legal and religious institutions. Busy with independence movements and dealing with the onslaught of modernity on conservative society, Muslim leaders and scholars had no time to develop Islamic law.

Third, when Muslim nations gained their freedom, mostly after the second world war, they began nation-building. The political leadership were mainly secular modernists who wanted to westernise and modernise their nations. There was no place for Shariah in their vision. The new Republic of Turkey, for example, implemented direct translations of Swiss civil codes instead of Shariah.

Fourth, the historical role of Muslim scholarship has shifted. Newly established secular nation states nationalised rich endowments that belonged to religious institutions. Muslim scholars were persecuted for fear of dissent and opposition. Islamic scholarship was reduced to a small, underfunded university faculty. Talented Muslims chose professions other than Islamic law.

The result is a major loss in the quality of scholarship and a gap of at least 150 years with no practical development in Islamic law.

The last attempt to align Islamic law with a modern legislative framework was made by the Ottoman Empire in its Majalla civil code project. Completed in 1876, Majalla consisted of 16 volumes and 1,851 articles.

Since then, the world has changed dramatically without an adequate theoretical and practical response from Islamic law.

A fifth factor is the influence of puritanical Salafism among jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State.

These groups often ignored the vast Shariah legal literature, scholarship and historical experience. They cherry-picked and imple-

The teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and the Quran laid the foundations of shariah law. mented certain Quranic verses and prophetic traditions as Islamic law.

So, Islamic law appears relatively underdeveloped when compared to other legal systems. It simply did not have a chance to develop in the modern era.

Contemporary Muslim views on shariah Muslims have differing views on the contemporary application of shariah law.

One view held by secular and modernist Muslims is that shariah was more suited to classical agrarian societies. Given the world and Muslim societies have changed dramatically, shariah is no longer applicable.

The opposite view is held by ultra-conservative Muslims and Islamists. They insist shariah is complete and perfect as it is, and modern societies should be changing to conform with shariah.

A third group, holding perhaps the majority view, believes Shariah is applicable at all times. The key is to know how to apply it correctly, given the changes in time and place.

The third view considers the complexity of the world and proposes committees made up of Islamic scholars alongside scientists and sociologists to fully examine Islamic law. Using the principles and methodology of Shariah, old legal rulings could be evaluated and, if there are grounds, modified.

New issues not found in classical Islamic law would also be responded to.

Taliban’s idea of shariah and women Almost certainly, the Taliban holds the second view – society has to change in line with the shariah. This means a move away from the liberalism Afghans grew accustomed to in the past two decades.

The next important question is whether the Taliban will follow the puritanical Salafism or a more traditional Islamic legal school?

In the 1990s, with its support of Al-Qaeda and use of harsh punishments, the Taliban appeared to follow puritanical Salafism.

Their fall in 2001, Islamic State’s demise in 2019, and regression of Al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death would suggest they

have learned a lesson or two.

Muslims of the subcontinent and central Asia traditionally follow the Hanafi legal school, which is one of the more liberal of the four Sunni Islamic legal schools. Even if this legal school is implemented, its most recent form is the 150-year-old Ottoman Majalla legal code. It will be curious to see if Taliban will consider Majalla at all.

An important consideration is the degree of change the world and Afghanistan have gone through since the first Taliban rule.

The Taliban were isolated when they first came to power. But now all of their officers have smartphones connected to the internet and social media. Most importantly, they are using them effectively. Online access to the world would certainly have a moderating effect.

In the first Taliban rule, women had almost no rights. Women had to cover their body and face with the burqa, and they could not get education or work. They could only travel with a male chaperone.

The Taliban today claims to be more inclusive and tolerant of women. While wearing the burqa may not be imposed, women (and men) will be required to cover the rest of their bodies, much like in Iran.

Girls would be allowed to receive an education in girls-only schools staffed by female teachers and administrators. Women would be able to work in a narrow list of professions where there will be limited or no mixing of genders.

In short, life for women in Afghanistan will be better than during the first Taliban rule, but worse than the liberal rights they enjoyed in the past two decades.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original at: https://tinyurl.com/kr8y3n7n.

Zuleyha Keskin is an Associate Professor, Charles Sturt University and Mehmet Ozalp is an Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University

Sentiments of American interventions Marin Raimi

While watching the departure of the US Forces from Afghanistan, I reflected upon the time I watched US Marines hastily depart Sana’a Yemen. A few weeks later, I had a simple exchange with a local that symbolized US interventions in our countries.

In Sana’a, the capital city of Yemen, most of the cars int the second-hand yard at the end of my dusty street come from South Korea or the USA. The Korean cars are usuSEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

ally decommissioned taxis still dressed in Korean taxi livery. American cars are usually tray back pick up trucks still sporting “America First” bumper stickers.

A man was circling around a shiny pick-up, marveling at his new ride. He wore in a tan coloured thawb dress, that came down to his shins and a dagger belt embroidered with fine gold thread around his scrawny middle.

He stopped at the back of the pick-up and gazed upon a bumper sticker. I noticed he’d fixated on this point, so I asked him if he knew what it was.

He didn’t. I told him it was a US Marines sticker.

A look of horror spread across his face and he stared at me a moment as if not breathing before asking, “what do the words say?”.

I translated into Arabic, “My brother fought for your freedom.”

The man burst into action, squatting down at the back bumper and feverishly started scratching off the sticker with his new car key while muttering astaghfir Allah (God forgive).

The key wasn’t effective, so he unsheathed his dagger and looked at the

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

smooth mirror surface of the blade lovingly and started to shave the sticker off carefully so not to scratch the paint. He didn’t stop until the sticker was a pile of curled plastic pieces on the dust.

“How noble of him,” said the man as he wiped the blade of his dagger and returned it to the leather sheath at the front of his belt.

He looked up at me and flashed a grin of satisfaction before swinging into the drivers’ seat and driving off.

Marin Raimi is the former Director of Jawaher Projects Sana’a Yemen. Marin is currently based in Sydney and works in an alternative school catering for youth struggling with mental health challenges.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

17

AMUST

UMMAH

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Commemorating 20 Years since September 11 Gulhan Eryegit Yoldas Most people over 30 have a distinct memory of what they were doing when they first found out about the September 11 attacks, twenty years ago.

It was a time of sheer horror, uncertainty, fear, anger and hopelessness for many people around the world.

In the immediate aftermath of 11 September 2001 was an onslaught of abuse and oppression against Muslims in Australia, especially “visibly Muslim” women who wore the hijab.

At the time there was no way of documenting each of these incidents so the figures are based on the sharing of various stories of lived experiences within the Muslim community. Islamophobia didn’t just happen overnight.

Thankfully the Islamophobia Register was established to get a clear picture of the magnitude of Islamophobic attacks, which disproportionately impact the easily identifiable, hijab-wearing Muslim women. (1) The ruthless media bias fuelling anti-Muslim sentiment was relentless across most mainstream media platforms over many years, until it was embedded to form a system that disproportionately discriminated against Muslim women, impacting their right to equal opportunities in employment, in quality education, participation in sports, leadership positions, forming intersectional barriers for Muslim women to participate fully in society. (4) It’s no wonder that immediately after the September 11 attacks many Muslim women, for fear of being the target of Islamophobic attacks, chose to remove their headscarves, for their own safety. (2) All peak Islamic bodies across Australia denounced terrorism over and over again.

Every Muslim with a pulse was shouting from the rooftops, “Islam means peace” yet the collective efforts were never enough.

The relentless media bias, the public figures in positions of influence, made sure the labels stuck. The bigoted politicians made sure the fates were sealed. The community turned the other way.

It was during these early days, weeks and months, after the September 11 attacks, a time when tensions were high and public were angry, that the Australian Intercultural Society, took on the challenging task of hosting an extraordinary Interfaith event.

The event was hosted at the iconic Melbourne venue, Leonda by the Yarra. Despite

the glamour, my friend and I hesitated as we walked in, not knowing what to expect.

This would become the first of many Interfaith events I participate in over the next 20 years.

The large hall was full of people wearing all kinds of robes and all kinds of religious headdress. Every faith community was represented both in the audience and in the panel of speakers.

One after another, spoke the voices of peace, voices of collaboration, of community, of respect, of compassion. Building bridges, peace-building, strengthening community, cohesion, God is love…

“Surely these people must not be watching the news,” I remember thinking, because we were greeted with open arms by a whole community of faith leaders willing to listen and to make sense of what was unfolding in the world. There was no animosity, no fear, only curiosity and compassion.

There was an opening prayer. There was enough common ground and common values in the room for people to have meaningful conversations, exchange business cards and form those earliest networks for inter-

faith engagement in Victoria.

It’s now been 20 years since those first robust Interfaith engagement events and today there’s an abundance of Interfaith networks established across Australia, all serving to bring faith communities together for the betterment of their communities.

Over the years, countless Muslim leaders shared the teachings of our beautiful deen with the broader community to counter the persistent negative stereotypes.

With all the combined efforts of the Australian Muslim community, the transformation over the years has been significant, but nowhere near enough.

The systems and structures that are designed to discriminate against Australian Muslims, especially hijab wearing Muslim women and girls, continue to function today.

Lack of diversity in Australian mainstream media, in books, in movies, and on TV, limit and censor the authentic voices of our diverse communities. Without positive representation of diversity in media, the biased derogatory narratives continue as the status quo.

Our politicians continue to hide behind

freedom of speech to fuel widespread Islamophobia and right wing sentiment, a growing threat against Muslim communities in Australia. There is little consequence for hate speech by public figures and politicians. (3) It’s now been 20 years since September 11. We reflect this month on the families and the first respondents and the communities who were directly impacted by the September 11 attacks, who lost their lives, their loved ones or their health.

We must also acknowledge the ongoing trauma and inequality experienced by Australian Muslims, especially Australian Muslim women and girls, who’ve been unjustly scapegoated for this heinous terrorist attack for far too long.

to Him. So, let us take this concept in our hearts to be free from all fears or anxieties.

Allah’s guidance is: ‘(And to those) when afflicted with calamity say: “To Allah we belong, and truly, to Him is our return:” They are those on whom (descends the) blessings from Allah, and (His) Mercy, and they are the ones who receive guidance.’ (Quran 2:156-157) Thirdly, we should seek protection from Allah from all the harmful things (Including COVID-19) He has created, as Allah taught us in the Holy Quran: ‘Say: “I seek shelter (and security) with

the Lord (Rabb, the Cherisher) of the dawn (Falaq), from the harm (Sharr) of the created things.” (Quran 113:1-2) Besides, let us pray hard, eat well, exercise well, rest well, look after our health well and take care of one another with love and kindness. Let us be kind on humans in order to receive kindness from Allah.

References: 1. http://www.islamophobia.com.au/resources/ 2.https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/ racial-hatred-act-case-study-1 3.https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/ amp.abc.net.au/article/100337536 4.https://www.amust.com.au/2020/10/ research-shows-australianmuslim-workers-overqualified/

Dealing with COVID as Muslims

Farid Ahmed

Who are we? We are the obedient servants of Allah. Aren’t we?

Because that we believe in Allah, and we follow Allah’s guidance through the teachings of Allah’s Messenger, we look at everything in the light of Allah’s guidance. We seek answers for the trials and tribulations that we face in our lives in Allah’s divine guidance. That makes us unique in our faith and attitudes, even though we share our lives with other humans in love and peace.

COVID-19 is causing devastation in humans. Sufferings, death, fear, business loss, anxieties, job loss, study disruption, Hajj disruption, event disruption, travel disruption, import or export business disruption, trouble in balancing immigration flow, domestic violence in many homes, hopelessness in many minds, suffering in many with depression, ballooning house prices in many

18

countries, differences between rich and poor is sky rocketing, charitable organizations are struggling to keep up the supplies, hunger is increasing among many children of Adam and so on are prominent features in News and in human minds. It does not look good at all.

The concern in each human’s mind is, “When will Covid-19 go away? Or will it go away at all? Or is it a new normal in life?”

Scientists are racing against time. Many are assuring the new vaccine is the answer when some people are disappointed for the death of their loved ones despite taking vaccines.

There are so many questions without all the answers.

In this gloomy situation what can we do according to our faith?

First, we need to say what Allah guides us to say in the Holy Quran.

‘Say: “Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector:” and in Allah put their trust as believers.’ (Quran 9:51) Second, we need to surrender our life, death, trials, and tribulations to Allah. We are from Allah and one day we must return

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

Farid Ahmed is a survivor of Christchurch attack on 15 May 2019, a peace advocate, author of HUSNA’S Story and Quran teacher in Christchurch.

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

UMMAH

SOCIAL 22 - 23

AMUST

The challenge for the Taliban government

A dynamic application of the Sharia’h Dr Rashid Raashed The recent victory of Taliban in capturing Kabul on Sunday 15 August 2021, along with the other cities in Afghanistan, made some people happy throughout the globe and many others worried.

It is being speculated that the impending application of the Shari’ah law in Afghanistan, would lead the Afghan Muslims and particularly, the Afghan women, towards ‘barbaric dark ages’.

According to some, it would reverse the gains of the last 20 years led by the American and NATO invasion and occupation of this poor nation since 2001!

Given the freshness of the wound inflicted and the associated sensitivities, we deliberately avoid to make any finding as to who was right and who was wrong in this invasion, occupation and the subsequent sudden withdrawal.

In order to avoid the casualties of soldiers, fighters and the civilians, however, it was indeed a smart move that the Afghan Army commanders negotiated their surrender to the Taliban with the aim to avoid the widespread bloodshed.

The fact that various key cities fell to the Taliban quickly without resistance was the best outcome for ordinary Afghan people.

Islam stands for peace and to avoid conflict.

The mission of Prophet Muhammad (s) has been nominated by the Qur’an 21:107, as “the blessings for the entire universe” and not exclusively for Muslims.

The challenge now for the Taliban government is to prove that the Islamic rule does guarantee the peace, safety and security for all citizens under their rule in Afghanistan, including the freedom of choice and religion for the non-Muslims.

If the Taliban’s approach to the application of the Sahri’ah is driven by the blind folded copying of the traditional Hanafi Fiqh of the past, it would be bound to fail to secure the needs, necessities, and comforts of modern day society.

However, should their quest be to dig out the dynamic, pragmatic and contempo-

rary Islamic expertise, both in the domain of Islamic political and legal sciences, such expertise are available, on a global scale, in abundance!

The mandatory prelude In engaging with the various aspects of Islamic legality, this article dwells only on the main and the original sources of the Shari’ah law i.e. the Qur’an and the authentic Hadith.

The Qur’an does not obviously need an introduction or definition. But the Hadith is defined as ‘the words, actions or deliberate reinstatement (of a practice or an action of others), by Prophet Muhammad (s).

A Hadith must also be proven by an authentic chain of the narrator/s, that it indeed was stated or reinstated by the Prophet himself. In an Islamic legal setting however, the Hadith either analyses, interprets or contributes to the Qur’an being applied in a contemporary life- setting.

In this sense, the Hadith is the secondary source of the Islamic Law ie ranked after the Qur’an. To keep up with the legal requirement thus, both the Qur’an and the Hadith must be read in a holistic approach and not in a piecemeal sense!

The Islamic Fiqh, meaning the applied Islamic Jurisprudence at various times in the past, is an important Islamic legal tool to comprehend the main two sources of the Shari’ah ie the Qur’an and the Hadith.

But given the differences in time and space elements, the traditional Fiqh of the past must not be applied and copied, at a later time, space or on a society, verbatim!

The comprehension of the Sharia’h therefore, has to accommodate the finding of solutions for the issues and challenges in a given time and place.

The onus for it is on the contemporary Islamic scholarship of the law and legality.

The most useful tool in this space however, is to utilise effectively, the legal instrument of “Securing the evolving cases of public interests by providing the custom made solutions”.

The applied approach to Shari’ah The securing of ever evolving public in-

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (centre), emerging leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Photo: Alexander Zemilianichenko. terests has to be accommodated within the main frame of the following Qur’anic dictums: “God intends to make life easy for you and He does not intend to make not difficult.” (Qur’an 2:185).

In another resounding theme also, the Qur’an dictates: “God intends to make your life light and bearable for you, because the humans are created weak.” (Qur’an 03:28) The above approach to the Qur’an and to the Shari’ah, has been truly reflected in the following authentic Hadith by A’yesha (r), the wife of the Prophet (s): “Whenever the Prophet was given an option to choose between the two solutions, without a variation, he would opt for the easier one”. (Sahih Bukhari Hadith No 6126 and Sahih Muslim Hadith No. 2327) Obviously, no one would have known the Prophet (P) more than his wife!

Logically thus, devising the ‘easy’ and the ‘light’ rulings must be the custom made fit for ‘the weak humans’ that God has created!

Obviously, similar to what we call today the ‘default setting’, the Creator knows the best!

It provides a huge legal mandate for the scholars of various times, in proper utilisation of which they must not fail. None of the revealing, yet legal terms used in the above verses, ie ‘easy’, ‘difficult’ ‘light’ and ‘human weakness’, are defined in the Qur’an.

By default thus, the room for a vast legal provision has been accommodated in these verses, for the scholars of the day, place and time, to deduce the relevant Islamic rulings, as they see fit!

Understood in their true contexts, these verses lay down the universal principle of Islam to accommodate the ever-evolving public needs and interests of humanity at all times and places.

With such a holistic, pragmatic and universal understanding of this revealed Book, the Qur’an would prove to the just and fair-minded that ‘the mission of Islam is indeed, the blessing for the entire universe and the mankind.’ (Qur’an: 21:107) In this role and context, the traditional Fiqh is an important Islamic legal heritage to guide the contemporary legal scholars of Islam in shaping up their legal thoughts and processes.

But, the traditional Fiqh is not however, an independent source of the Shari’ah Law. It is therefore, incumbent upon the contemporary legal scholars of Islam, to come up with the custom made, documented and dynamic solutions of their own times, places, circumstances and challenges.

The Qur’an is bound to deliver on this.

But whether, the Taliban would undertake the journey, the time will tell!

Indonesia facing the worst COVID-19 crisis Rowan Gould Indonesia has become the epicentre for COVID-19 infections and deaths with daily figures outstripping those of countries such as India and Brazil.

The country is being devastated by the highly transmissible Delta variant. With daily infection rates nearing 50,000 and daily deaths of over 1,500; the Delta variant is tearing through the country as health facilities are overwhelmed and unable to cope.

Makeshift tents are being erected to accommodate some, but many others are being turned away. Those self-isolating at home are struggling to access life-saving oxygen, with even hospitals grappling to access the supplies they desperately need.

While official numbers are devastatingly high, actual numbers are likely far worse with low testing rates and hundreds of infections and even deaths going unreported.

Communities are struggling to bury their loved ones.

Here’s how you can help The Australian Indonesian Muslim Exchange Program (AIMEP) have initiated an emergency campaign for our Indonesian brothers and sisters in this time of need. In SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

conjunction with key Indonesian stakeholders, including the national Muhammadiyah COVID-19 Command Centre, this campaign will work with trusted Indonesian organisations to provide support where it is needed most.

Your Donations will go toward: • Basic essentials to enable people to self-isolate. Many in poorer communities have no choice but to leave their homes to survive. By giving the poorest members of our communities the food and medical supplies they need, we can make self-isolation a reality • Support for the elderly and women, who are amongst those most affected by the pandemic. The loss of family livelihoods, and the devastating impact of COVID on those who are elderly or pregnant is destroying the lives of hundreds. Your donations can provide basic essentials to help people survive • Support for orphans. Children are dying of COVID in Indonesia and so are their parents. The community organisations in our networks are working to identify and support children who have been orphaned by COVID. By supporting orphanages and extended families to provide children with the basic necessities they need to survive, together we can help to protect them • Provide masks, PPE and other basic equipment, including oxygen tanks. Indo-

nesian hospitals are crying out for support to be able to help those most in need. Our networks are actively providing this support as we speak. Let’s build their capacity, build their supplies, to make their good work go further • Burial funds. Give peace of mind to those left behind by enabling the burial of a loved one. Volunteers are working night and day to wash and bury those who have died with the respect and dignity they deserve. Your donation can ease that burden

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

by building up supplies and the number of people who can help Every dollar makes a difference.

Please give generously from what you can to this heartbreaking cause and help our neighbours in Indonesia.

Donate now: https://tinyurl.com/ydrza53h Rowan Gould is the Director of the Australia Indonesia Muslim Exchange Program (AIMEP) and a researcher at the University of Melbourne.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

19

AMUST

UMMAH

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

How US imperialism dismantled peace in Afghanistan: A brief history Muhammad Zuhair The rise and dominance of European empires in the 19th and early 20th centuries gave birth to two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The two nations were collaborators during World War II. But they turned into vicious rivals during the Cold War (1947-1991), a global conflict that lasted almost five decades.

What had driven this conflict? The ideological differences and an unquenched thirst to dominate! The US de facto pledge to capitalism and democracy while the Soviet’s commitment to communism escalated this rivalry.

The principal characteristic of the Cold War was proxy confrontations (for example, Korean War and Vietnam War). No direct, face to face warfare tactic was adopted where the two opponents locked the horns on the battlefield.

The relationship of the United States with the Middle East was all peaceful when the US appeared initially as a superpower. The consensus preceding the Cold War in many parts of the Middle East was that the US had no imperialistic objectives.

But the advent of the Cold War set the Middle East on fire. Both the US and Soviet Union felt that this central location would be a suitable battle arena to confront each other since it is on travel and trade routes (land, sea or air), which connects East to West.

In addition, both the superpowers craved to have ‘friends’ in the Middle East because of their extensive oil and energy reserves.

After identifying the significance of the Middle East, they competed with one another to build alliances with different Middle Eastern regimes.

The Soviet Union’s influence in the region was making roads during the 1950s. The US was constantly finding ways to neutralise these developments. To further their efforts to curb Soviet power, the United States decided to take Saudi Arabia as an ally. The US understood that Islam as a political tool could be a vital weapon to deracinate the Soviet Union from the region.

The different ethnic groups in Afghanistan united against the Soviet Union and its puppet communist regime that came to power in 1978.

The US also offered resources, weapons and guerrilla warfare tactics to the politically motivated Afghans. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a project worth $51 million printing millions of school textbooks, which

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN 2012: Boy sitting on Destroyed Tank on the hills over Kabul City in Afghanistan. Photo: Karl Allen Lugmayer / Shutterstock.com

glorified jihad, celebrated martyrdom and dehumanised Soviet Union—the foreign invaders.

These schoolbooks are on display in National Army Museum in London to demonstrate ‘the reality’ about their society.

The USAID stopped funding this project in 1994, but countless copies of such texts were in circulation in the late 1990s and 2000s. Finally, the Afghans drove the Soviets out from their land in 1989, and the great Soviet superpower collapsed in 1991.

Meanwhile, Americans started spreading their imperial wings in the Middle East, and one of the examples was the deployment of their troops in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991).

A group of the same Afghan resistance forces emerged against the US and laid the foundation of al-Qaeda as they opposed the increasing American presence in the Middle East.

This group revolted against their former benefactor and collaborator—the United States because of their continuous encroachment on Muslim land. The same people were behind the unfortunate 9/11 attack.

In the post 9/11 analysis, President George W Bush and his administration offered no critical assessment on such factors and their long involvement in the Middle East. They picked the easily accessible explanation for such attacks; the clash of civilisations—a theory invented and popularised by Zionist scholars like Bernard Lewis and his colleague, Huntington.

The President created a binary between superior and civilised “us” and malign and backward “them”. Thus, the clash between both was inevitable. Lewis had a significant influence in the Bush administration, which

reflected when the clash of civilisations was considered the ideological foundation for the “War on Terror”.

The clash of civilisation theory was meant to establish that there was something inherently problematic within Islam that made all Muslims into violent terrorists. Bush even used the terminology “crusade” to refer to “War on Terror”, which implies a holy war against Muslims, reminiscent of the Middle Ages.

The nexus between power and knowledge needed additional fuel to charge their imperial circuits. They then used the portrayals of Afghan Women in the popular imaginary to legitimise Western intervention.

Dr Nivi Manchanda (Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary College, University of London) critically uncovered Anglo-American portrayals of Afghan women after 9/11. She demonstrates how the discourse of ‘saving women’ composes Afghanistan, particularly its women, as an object of ‘empirical’ knowledge and physical intervention.

She argues, “The preoccupation with the markers of physical or visible difference— evident in the declaration that the clothes these women wear are windows to ‘their’ mindsets, soul and lifeways—is an overt tactic in the preservation of the (Western) Self.

The positing of the Other women as fundamentally, indeed visibly, different is used to cast her as either intrinsically suspicious or as needing to be rescued and ‘normalised’.” Her critique on undermining the agency of the Afghan woman, and exploiting them as a channel to stigmatise Afghanistan, particularly Islam, can be found in the recently published book “Imagining Afghanistan: The History and Politics of im-

perial Knowledge”.

The US received solid support from the UN security council and other international organisations. Ultimately, the Bush administration launched attacks on Afghanistan to cure “Islamic terrorism”—the terminology exclusively associating terrorism to a religion of 2 billion people.

Such language of combining the word Islamic with terrorism or fascism or extremism reinforced the purportedly tangible and organic link between Islam and barbarism.

It diffused a message to the world that this war was against Islam.

Therefore, this connection between Islam and violence permeated into world political discourse with time. The continuous reiteration and dissemination of these engineered tropes and stereotypes gradually ossified in minds as the ‘truths’.

Later in 2003, the US forces invaded Iraq to disassemble Saddam Hussain’s regime and established new governments under their control. The US administration made a case to drive local and international support that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and Saddam hid al-Qaeda members.

Since the US had nothing to substantiate these charges, the critics continuously pressured them to reveal their ambitions for invading Iraq. The American administration invoked Islamophobic narratives to drive support on a larger scale.

What was the “War on Terror”, if not a new version of colonialism, this time claiming to civilise the Other of their ‘innate terrorism’? It exhausted their resources and led to almost 117,000 innocent dead in Iraq and 19,000 in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2003.

This mobilisation of terror to purportedly overcome terror also razed most of the basic infrastructure in these countries such that it affected health supply and clean water, resulting in widespread disease and more deaths.

In addition, approximately 4 million Iraqis and 2.7 million Afghans, as estimated by 2013, were displaced and scattered to over 80 countries. The refugees often live in poor conditions and are therefore vulnerable to diseases and death.

Afghanistan is an inherently violent state in the Western imagination and according to the West, they themselves have little to do with this violence.

Muhammad Zuhair is a PhD scholar (Geosciences) at Monash University, Melbourne.

He is a founding member of the Australia India Muslim Forum (AIMF), a political knowledge building and awareness-raising community initiative by academics and activists. Besides Science, Zuhair is interested in History, Islamic Sciences, Sociology and Geopolitics. He is an alumnus of AMU and IIT Kharagpur, India.

Lebanon’s water system is collapsing Faseeha Hashmi The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that Lebanon’s public water system is “on life support” and could collapse at any moment, putting 71 percent of its population in immediate risk of losing access to safe supply.

It is feared that over 4 million people including 1 million refugees are at sudden jeopardy of losing access to safe drinking water.

The UN agency stated that maintenance costs, funding shortages and the parallel collapse of the power grid, have exacerbated the rapid dismantling of the water sector.

Lebanon has been reeling since the severe and prolonged 2019 financial crisis dubbed

20

by the World Bank as “deliberate depression”.

The country was also devastated by the August 2020 Beirut explosion largely blamed on government neglect, which killed more than 200 people and injuring thousands.

As Yukie Mokuo’s UNICEF Representative in Lebanon explains the currency collapse has translated into severe shortages of basic goods such as medicine and fuel.

“Unless urgent action is taken, hospitals, schools and essential public facilities will be unable to function,” said Ms Mokuo.

It is anticipated that most water pumping will gradually cease in the next four to six weeks.

The water issue is yet another cascade of challenges, nevertheless, it may be one

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

of the most pressing. Unless urgent action is taken, millions will be forced to resort to unsafe water sources.

“A loss of access to the public water supply could force households to make extremely difficult decisions regarding their basic water, sanitation and hygiene needs,” said Ms Mokuo.

Despite Lebanon being abundantly surrounded by natural water resources, population growth, as well as the influx of Syrian refugees, have placed a significant strain on the country.

Without access to clean water, there are significant risks to community welfare, health and safety concerns within Lebanon.

“Hygiene would be compromised, and Lebanon would see an increase in diseases.

Women and adolescent girls would face par-

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

ticular challenges to their personal hygiene, protection and dignity without access to safe sanitation,” explained Ms Mokuo.

Please consider donating to: https://www.unicef.org.au ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

EDUCATION

SOCIAL 22 - 23

AMUST

Hidden benefits of pursuing an education Jenanne Ibrahim “Oh Allah, indeed I ask you for beneficial knowledge, and a good Halal provision, and actions which are accepted.”

How is having to memorise endless lists of law cases, 1000 quotes from academics, or convoluted math formulas, truly going to help me in life? What is the purpose of having to be so pedantic about reference lists? Most importantly, how do all of these things possibly bring me closer to my Creator, and improve my Imaan in any way?

These are questions I impetuously quiz myself on quite often.

If you ever feel demotivated by the topics of your studies, exhausted by endless hours of studying, or unnerved by memorising information that seems frivolous, you are definitely not alone. You may feel that some of the subjects you undertake lack importance, or in particular, relevance to Islam.

Well, as a third-year student at University of Sydney and having endured high-school, the HSC and now three years of university, I am no stranger to finding my studies fruitless sometimes.

Yet, through deeper reflection and research, I have discovered hidden benefits to our studies which you may not have realised. I hope that these will allow you to gain a newfound appreciation for the prosperous journey of education Allah has bestowed upon us.

First and foremost, it is crucial to remember that we are so fortunate to study in a first world country where education is available to us. “Allah grants wisdom to whom He pleases, and to whom wisdom is granted, indeed he receives an overflowing benefit.” (Quran 2:269) Allah has willed us to obtain knowledge and raised us in intelligence. Alhamdulillah, this is a blessing from Allah that is frequently overlooked when we find ourselves stressed with our studies.

The following are the six hidden benefits of pursuing an education:

we enter the workforce and represent Islam alongside our expertise, we are spreading a positive message of Islam. We are enlightened by the Hadith that “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his way paved to paradise by God as a reward for this noble deed.” (Bukhari, Muslim).

So, take pride in the path of acquiring knowledge as a noble act of worship.

2. Every subject we learn increases God-consciousness Whether it’s learning about the human body’s anatomy, algebra, politics or World War II, everything we learn offers us an insight on how our world operates. With everything you learn, try to delve deeper to find its significance in Islam: when learning about anatomy, reflect on how the Creator designed mankind so incredibly.

When solving algebraic equations, remember the importance of mathematical skill in observing the laws of nature through which Allah has shown us a plethora of signs. When learning about politics, realise the importance of understanding pragmatic leadership that was demonstrated to us by Prophet Muhammad (s) and the Caliphs who succeeded him.

With World War II, reflect on the message war propounds about peaceful coexistence, and useful lessons that can be learnt from the wars of the Prophet’s (s) time. Everything has a link. Through learning, we develop rationality and wisdom to understand worldly injustices and crises.

“The first

university in the world, the University of Al Qarawiyyin, was founded

by FatimaalFihri, a Muslim woman.

SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

“

1. Acquiring education is considered a superior act of worship in Islam The first university in the world, the University of Al Qarawiyyin, was founded by Fatimaal-Fihri, a Muslim woman.

University, education and knowledge constitute a deep part of our heritage as Muslims. Allah has made it a duty upon all Muslims to gain knowledge, both religious and all other forms of it.

All disciplines, from the natural sciences to the humanities, allow us to garner useful information about how to navigate the world in which we live, the world that Allah swt has so magnificently created.

Allah tells us in the Quran: “God will exalt those of you who believe and those who have knowledge to high degrees.” (Quran 58:11) Through acquiring tertiary education, we are able to become intelligent members of society who are practicing Muslims. What this means is that we see Muslims breaking the mould in all fields and empowering fellow Muslims, especially the youth, to become respectable and well-versed individuals in our chosen disciplines.

This is also a form of Da’wah, as when

3. Our education teaches us discipline Education teaches us that rewards come only through hard work. Like in Islam, whereby we must pray and fast to gain rewards from the Most High, with education, we need to put in the work to see genuine results.

Good grades, success, job offers and opportunities don’t come without applying effort. When we discipline ourselves to overcome procrastination, study smart, read widely and complete assignments, we are doing ourselves a favour, as this trains us to become more productive and efficient individuals.

It helps us to develop discipline in other areas, such as ensuring to pray our prayers on time, and avoid what is prohibited for us during fasting. Practically, the more we are able to implement mind over matter with our tasks, the easier we will find it to, for example, get out of bed for Fajr on time, if this is something you struggle with.

Disciplining ourselves in our education also helps us to set goals and achieve them.

If you have an objective of completing an assignment by a certain time, ticking off tasks like these on your to-do list can also manifest through Islamic practices. For example, setting goals to learn more Quran, improve your Tajweed or fast more Sunnah days.

The discipline we practice through our studies can help us in many ways, and as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf notes, our education guides us to become efficient decision-makers, critical thinkers and problem-solvers.

our Lord has truly placed benefit in all the good we do.

Undertaking your studies increases your concentration and mindfulness. Naturally, the more you practice an action, the better you can master it.

Mufti Menk provides scholarly advice that focusing on one task centres our concentration and betters our ability to avoid becoming side-tracked.

Consequently, this can come into effect while maintaining our khushu’ (concentration) during Salah. When we pray, we are ordered by Allah to maintain khushu by comprehending the meaning of each verse.

Hence, we can practice this by maintaining mindfulness while grasping the words we read on the page during study.

tellectuals in Islamic history, including Ibn Rushd Averroes the polymath and jurist, Ibn Miskawayh the historian-philosopher, and Al-Fadl Ibn Naubakht and Humayun Ibn Ishaq the renowned translators, who were entrusted with the responsibility for the organisation and maintenance of libraries.

Additionally, it is mentioned in Hadith that: “Acquire knowledge, for he who acquires it in the way of Allah performs an act of piety; he who speaks of it, praises the Lord; he who seeks it, adores Allah; he who dispenses instruction in it, bestows alms; and he who imparts it to others, performs an act of devotion to Allah.”

So while there are rewards for the acquisition of knowledge, Allah also rewards us for educating others.

5. Our presence as Muslims in all areas of society is absolutely crucial It is our job, the upcoming generation of Muslim scholars, doctors, psychologists, politicians, media practitioners and social workers, to instigate a society of intelligent, trustworthy and pious Muslim leaders.

The onus is on us, through all our hard work, study and dedication, to give back to the community through our professions and follow in the footsteps of the great Muslim leaders who came before us.

Muslims look to other God-fearing Muslims to gain trusted medical advice, assistance in education, psychological help, and halal financial advice. Therefore, we need to pave the way for our fellow brothers and sisters, and this starts from our education.

Prophet Muhammed (s) commanded all Muslims to seek knowledge as far as they can reach, and to seek it at all times. The Hadith of our Prophet pbuh enlightens us that “the ink of a scholar is equal to the blood of a martyr.” From this, we recognise the profound value of knowledge, and our responsibility as Muslims to seek it.

During the early days of Islam, mosques formed the central learning hubs of all political, social, religious, scientific and educational activities. We can admire early in-

6. Gaining knowledge teaches us Sabr (patience) Verily, Allah loves the patient, and the significance of Sabr is emphasised in the Quran and Hadith. Have faith in Allah that the reward for the long hours you spend toiling, working and studying is twofold: good deeds for gaining knowledge, and good deeds for having patience in achieving your goals.

Cliché I know, but the best things don’t happen overnight, so be patient, persistent and trust in Allah. Our Lord reminds us in the Quran: “O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful.”

(Quran 3:200).

Conclusion Our brains are powerful tools, and by the favour of Allah, we are able to learn every single day. May these reflections further encourage your acquisition of knowledge, increase you in wisdom, and elevate you in piety through spiritual guidance, Ameen.

Jenanne Ibrahim is a third-year student majoring in Media and Communications and Arabic at the University of Sydney, and is based in Sydney, Australia.

4. The benefits of memorisation We’ve probably all felt disheartened by needing to memorise loads of content for exams. But have you ever considered how training your brain to commit information to memory can actually help prevent memory loss, and also strengthen your brain’s ability to memorise Quranic verses? SubhanAllah, WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

21

AMUST

#SOCIAL

NEWS 1-3

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Social Spotlights Helping ACT

@HelpingACT

Jihad Dib MP

@JihadDibLakemba There are some things that cut you much more deeply than others. Osama, this beautiful young man, with a life of dreams ahead of him, has lost his life. He was a kind hearted soul and a regular teenager who loved his sport and family. As you can imagine, his immediate family is completely devastated and your collective good wishes mean a lot to them. Please, whatever higher power you may believe in, take a moment for a prayer or a reflective thought for them during this most horrific of times. May Allah (swt) God, grant him a place in Heaven and give his family shifa (healing) and patience to navigate these dark days. May his extended family and friends always remember the very best of him. Put yourself in the family’s position for a moment and you will understand why I ask that you not focus comments to this a post about your views of COVID or vaccines or things that may create online arguments; this young man and his family deserve more respect than that. The family has lost a child, this is the time for your compassion.

Our Saturday: Divide the day into two halves. First half receiving calls from those requiring food assistance and organising and delivering food to them. Three families rang and we delivered hampers with two bags each - one having long life food - other having grocery and meat. All families thanked whole heartedly.

Second half of the day was still to receive calls and two families rang. Rest of the afternoon was for purchasing groceries and some specific food needs for a family.

These two families need food tomorrow morning and we will deliver them.

Situation is really demanding. Job Losses are affecting. Quarantine is affecting.

But weather can not remain gloomy.

Spring is knocking the door. Can you listen it’s knock. Yes it is knocking the door. Go and get a bouquet of fresh flowers from it.

You derseve it.

Stay blessed.

Mohammed Ali

@Abubakrzoud

You are extremely privileged if you believe that temporarily wearing a face mask, and temporarily being locked down in the comfort of your own home, is oppression.

You only need to look at the world situation around you to understand the above statement.

Look at the slaughtering of the innocent, the genocides, the displacement of millions, never to return to their home lands, those deprived of basic human needs, those locked up and threatened to be killed because of , and those who have already been killed because of their faith.

This is the real oppression.

People bring depression and anxiety upon themselves when they continuously complain and ignore the worship of gratitude.

Gratitude, positivity and optimism is one of the greatest remedies for depression and anxiety.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Osman Karolia

@osman.karolia

You realise your true purpose and potential, if you do what you love and act from your heart.

You only need to change one person’s life to start your journey and we changed 148 lives with the The Fred Hollows Foundation by restoring their sight in some of the world’s poorest communities giving them new opportunities and a fresh start.

Our team collectively ran 478km, I managed 203km and Salima 104km, incredibly proud of her!

Big shout out to our team Saifedin Hadid and Abu Zayds Intention + action = impact.

If you’re able to, do something amazing this lockdown, just $25 can restore sight to a person. https://www.fredsbigrun. org/s/17187/17878/

Renegades Female Cricket League - NWMCA

Abu Bakr Zoud

22

BOOMERANG 4-7

@NWMCAGIRLS

Amity College

@AmityCollegeAU

Amity College High School put together a gift for our Year 12 students as a token of appreciation for all their hard work this term during these difficult times.

Our Year 12 students, who are about to sit their online Trial HSC examinations, have worked tirelessly with their teachers all year and especially so this term, through remote learning. As a school we could not be more proud of each and every one of you and we wish you the best of luck for your upcoming exams.

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

We have an exciting announcement; Our VMCU U17 GIrls coach this season is Maryam Omar!!!

Maryam is a very passionate cricketer and she is renowned as the captain of the Kuwait National Ladies cricket team and has earned numerous awards internationally.

She led her side at the ICC world Cup Qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand.

Maryam has been playing for Dandenong Cricket Club in the Victorian Premier League and has helped her team win the T20 title.

This season she joins Carlton Cricket Club.

She brings with her a wealth of experience and is an excellent mentor for young cricket players.

We just can’t wait for the season to start.

Welcome to the NWMCA Maryam

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 20

EDUCATION 21

TOP 5 Memes

#SOCIAL

SOCIAL 22 - 23

Meals of Mercy App TOP 5

AMUST

Tweets

#Kabulairport

Ahmed Osman 240,000 meals and counting!

Just before Ramadan 2021, we launched Meals of Mercy with a simple mission: a mobile app to feed those in need. With a few clicks, anyone could strive to earn Allah’s mercy by donating meals for as little as $2.

Alhumdulillah, we are so happy to report that since then, over 240,000 meals have been donated, and the hunger pangs of so many beneficiaries have been satiated!

The photos below are from a recent meals distribution to Syrian refugees in Turkey.

There are many more in the Your Impact section, a new feature on the App. Other new features include an option to pay via Google Pay, Reminder Notifications, and an updated recurring donation interface.

Check it out here: Android/Google: bit.ly/wMealsofMercy iOS/Apple: bit.ly/xMealsofMercy For all enquiries or donations, please don’t hesitate to visit us online: maainternational.org.au, call: 1800 100 786.

East Sydney supports South West Sydney with $10,000 pledge Dean Mousad Brothers in Need would like to say a massive thank you to Franciscan Friars Australia, for pledging $10,000 towards our meat and hamper campaign.

It’s great to see people from different communities supporting each other. In this case, it’s East Sydney coming to support South West Sydney.

The $10,000 will be of great benefit to community members doing it tough with the lockdown rules.

Dean Mousad is the Co-founder/Managing Director of Brothers in Need, Co-founder/ Treasurer of Project Quran, a Teacher/Mentor at Alfirdaus College and a registered Counsellor with the Australian Counselling Association.

SEPTEMBER 2021 / ISSUE 190

Franciscan Friars Australia’s pledge of $10,000 will go towards Brothers In Need’s meat and hamper campaign.

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

23

NEWS 1-3

P rotect

OUR PEOPLE

BOOMERANG 4-7

COMMUNITY 8 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12- 13

Why should I get vaccinated for COVID-19?

Protect yourself and the community Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against infectious diseases.

Vaccines strengthen your immune system by training it to recognise and fight against specific viruses.

When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself and helping to protect the whole community.

Prophet Mohammad (s) SAID:

Make use of MEDICAL TREATMENT,

FOR ALLAH

HAS NOT MADE A DISEASE WITHOUT

APPOINTING A REMEDY FOR IT. [Sunan Abi Dawud 3855] [Sunan Abi Dawud 3855]

24

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Help reduce COVID-19 in the community COVID-19 can spread quickly and widely. It has resulted in the deaths of over 1.9 million people worldwide and over 900 deaths in Australia.

When enough people in the community are vaccinated, it slows down the spread of disease.

Achieving herd immunity is a long-term goal. It usually requires a large amount of the population to be vaccinated.

Studies will monitor the impact of COVID-19 vaccines in Australia and whether herd immunity is developing over time.

For this reason, public health practices will stay in place until evidence shows that: • vaccination prevents transmission and • herd immunity is achieved in Australia.

• The best strategy to manage the potential public health risk posed by incoming travellers to is mandatory quarantine with regular COVID-19 testing.

Reduce the health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic Higher vaccination rates makes outbreaks much less likely. It also reduces the need for preventive measures, such as border closures and travel restrictions.

This will reduce the health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will help save lives and livelihoods.

Source: health.gov.au

Current vaccine preventable diseases Diseases for which vaccinations form part of the NHMRC Standard Vaccination Schedule • • • • • •

diphtheria tetanus pertussis (whooping cough) poliomyelitis (polio) measles mumps

• • • • •

rubella haemophilus influenzae type b infections hepatitis B influenza pneumococcal infections

Other diseases where a risk may arise for a particular person or group of people in specific situations • cholera • hepatitis A • meningococcal disease • plague • rabies • bat lyssavirus Source: health.gov.au

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

• • • • • •

yellow fever Japanese encephalitis Q fever tuberculosis typhoid varicella-zoster (chickenpox)

Let’s work together to eradicate COVID-19 and add it to this list!

ISSUE 190 / SEPTEMBER 2021