AMUST
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
www.amust.com.au
Multicultural News & Views
ISSUE # 199
/
/
JUNE 2022; DHUL QA’ADAH 1443
Imran Khan gives deadline to call for elections
PH: (02) 9158 3020
Two Muslim ministers in Labor cabinet
/
Digital Newspaper Available
EMAIL: INFO@AMUST.COM.AU
/
$2
/
Crescent Awards: Response to Promoting diversity ‘Xinjiang in achievements PoliceFiles’
NEWS PAGE 3
BOOMERANG PAGE 5
LIFESTYLE PAGE 14
Israeli settlers raid Masjid AlAqsa attack Palestinians
MEFF: The legacy of the largest Eid festival resumes
UMMAH PAGE 17
AMUST volunteers recognised in Australian technology awards
Rubinah
Manar
AMUST Media
Mohamed Ainullah Almost 100,000 ultranationalists waving Israeli flags and chanting “death to Arabs” assaulted Palestinians damaging their property in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem and stormed the Al-Aqsa Masjid under the protection of Israeli forces on Sunday 29 May 2022. The flag march is meant to celebrate the occupation and subsequent annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, a move that has not been recognised by the international community and is considered an attempt to change the status quo of al-Haram al-Sharif where Jewish prayers are prohibited. Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh warned, “Israel yesterday has crossed all red lines and international treaties with its repeated aggression against Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. It attempts to impose a reality that doesn’t align with the historical status quo of Al-Aqsa mosque.” continued on page 2
Zia Ahmad The annual Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair MEFF, a showcase of Multicultural Australia, that had to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, resumed again this year on Sunday 15 May 2022 at Fairfield Showground attracting almost 15,000 people with free entry, rides for big and small and a great variety of food and market stalls. The MEFF reception and opening ceremony was attended by a large number of community and interfaith leaders and politicians including Senator Kristina Keneally, Greens politician David Shoebridge as well as Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who was interviewed by SBS Urdu broadcasting live from MEFF on Sunday 15 May from
Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd
Fairfield Showground. MEFF is the first, the largest and the longest-running Eid Festival in Australia with a long track record as one of the legacies of its founders and workers, displaying great resilience, rain, hail or shine, passing on the skills from generation to generation to celebrate Eid through Australian volunteerism in order to put smiles on the faces of young and old in an atmosphere of peace and harmony. Senator Keneally acknowledged the contribution of its founder, Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad OAM during her keynote address from the stage saying, “his tremendous service to this local community and his passion for bringing interfaith communities together will live on through this wonderful festival that he founded, nearly forty years ago.” continued on page 3
Two of AMUST volunteers have been recognised for their significant contribution to the community in the 2022 Australian Not-for-Profit Technology Awards, held at the Pan Pacific Melbourne on Thursday 12 May as part of the Connecting Up Conference 2022. Manar Ahmad wins Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteering his technological support services, while Rubinah Ahmad wins Tech Volunteer of the Year Award for volunteering her technological expertise, for the notfor-profit sector. Now in its sixth year, the awards recognise the very best in technology innovation and excel-lence by organisations and individuals in the Australian not-for-profit sector. Rubinah Ahmad, AMUST Graphic Designer and Technology Director, was awarded the prestigious Technology Volunteer of the Year 2022 whilst Manar Ahmad, AMUST correspondent in Canberra was awarded the Not-for-Profit Technology Lifetime Service Award. Rubinah was recognised as the Technology Volunteer of the year because of her role as the backbone to the operations of Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST), a non-forprofit print and online newsplatform. continued on page 3
Dispose of this paper thoughtfully - PLEASE RECYCLE
AMUST
NEWS
Israeli settlers raid Masjid AlAqsa attack Palestinians Continued from page 1 In order to facilitate the flag march by ultranationalists, the Israeli authorities arrested hundreds of Palestinians across occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank a day earlier and preventing protests and resistance against provocation by settlers resulting in more than 200 Palestinians injured from heavy tear gas inhalation, beatings and shots from live rounds, as well as rubber-coated steel bullets. The march was spearheaded by right wing extremist organisations La Familia and Lehava who have a long track record of terrorising the Palestinian population in West Bank under the protection of Israeli military and police. Israel has been advancing its illegal settlement project on occupied Palestinian lands since their occupation in 1967 where these fortified, Jewish-only housing complexes are built on Palestinian land in violation of international law and several UN resolutions.
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
Outcry over media downplaying of killing of journalist by Israel Mohamed Ainullah
Aljazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aklah.
There has been an uproar in social media over the downplaying of the deliberate killing of the Aljazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aklah by Israeli sniper fire in Jenin city on Wednesday 11 May, by Western news agencies, politicians and the Israeli government officials. This atrocity comes close to the annual commemoration of Nakba Day, Palestinian Catastrophe on Sunday 15 May leading to the destruction of Palestinian society and exile from their homeland with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and their oppression and suffering ever since. Shireen, 51, a Palestinian-American Christian, who had a long track record of covering news stories for Al Jazeera Arabic for over 25 years, was a passionate and brave journalist who risked her life to highlight Israel’s brutal raids, oppression and atrocities against Palestinians. Ten of thousands of Palestinians attended her funeral at the Palestinian Authority’s presidential compound on Thursday 12 May 2022 in the occupied West Bank city from where her body was taken to Qalandia checkpoint, between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Her burial took place on Friday 13 May in the Old City of Jerusalem. Although US politicians and officials have condemned her killing, they failed to mentioned Israel by name as the perpetrator of the deadly incident in spite of eye witness reports and video evidence. Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Palestinian origins called for a moment
of silence for the Shireen on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday 11 May and condemned the killing in her statements. “An American journalist clearly marked with press credentials was murdered. Doing and saying nothing just enables more killings. Whether you’re Palestinian, American, or not, being killed with US funding must stop,” Rashida said.
Muslim Lawn
She further added, “we need to investigate, ourselves, the killing of an American citizen. Somebody that was out there being a guardian of truth and doing her job was murdered by an apartheid government that we continue to fund with unconditional aid.” Mohamed Ainullah is an honorary Sub-Editor responsible for mediascan section of AMUST.
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.
Part of the local community 2
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
Call us on 02 9826 2273 from 8.30am-4pm Visit www.kempscreekcemetery.com.au
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
SOCIAL 22 - 23
MEFF: The legacy of the largest Eid festival resumes Continued from page 1 Dr Ahmad realised that Eid was not being celebrated as a festival of joy as in his home country India and together with the help of his family organised the first MEFF in 1987 as a multicultural event welcoming all, thus founding the first ever Eid Festival in Australia. The President of Australian MEFF Consortium, the organisers of MEFF, Hanif Bismi, during his welcome address said, “today, we thank Almighty God for us being here to celebrate the 37th MEEF, a journey that began in 1987 with the far-reaching vision of its founding father, Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad. It is of great sorrow to the Multicultural Australian community that Dr Ahmad passed away on 10 February 2022, but we will continue his legacy with help and support from you.” “I thank you all distinguished guest for accepting our invitation and joining us this grand event. Our distinguished guests, Hon Kristina Keneally, former NSW Premier and leader of the Senate, I understand this the time of Federal election still Kristina came to attend this event is great gesture. Mr Rokibul Islam, Ms Maha Abdo, Father Patrick McInerney and Ms Jaya Chivukula and entire Australian community without your support we cannot run MEFF. This is because MEFF is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and requires your support. However, MEFF is part of Australian Multiculturalism,” Mr Bismi said. “I personally thank and acknowledge
Ghanian Drummers at the Stage.
Mr Hanif Bismi, President of MEFF. IFEW Islamic Foundation of Education and Welfare, ARO, Australian Relief Organization, ISRA Islamic Science Research Australia, Sajjadia Centre and Alamdar Association sending their volunteers helping us to set up the venue,” Mr Bismi concluded. A minute of silence was observed from the stage at MEFF where Mrs Mehar Ahmad, a co-founder of MEFF and currently President of Seena Inc said, “MEFF day this year, 15 May marked the annual commemoration of Nakba Day, Palestinian Catastrophe that
lead to the destruction of Palestinian society and exile from their homeland with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and their oppression and suffering ever since. Therefore, while we celebrate in peace, we should also remember those who are suffering because of natural disasters, wars, injustice and oppression. This year’s MEFF was sponsored by Meezan Wealth Management, supported by IFEW with media partnership provided by AMUST, Suprovat Sydney and 5News.
Imran Khan gives deadline to call for elections Zia Ahmad Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan led tens of thousands of protesters in a rally on Wednesday 25 May in Islamabad to force early elections by the current Pakistan government. Ahead of Wednesday’s marches, authorities used dozens of shipping containers and trucks to block major roads into Islamabad and deployed troops to guard important buildings, including the parliament and offices of the president and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The government had responded earlier by launching a crackdown and arresting more than 2000 Imran supporters to prevent the march going ahead “I had decided that I will sit here until the government dissolves assemblies and announces elections, but of what I have seen JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
in the past 24 hours, they (government) are taking the nation towards anarchy,” Imran said on Thursday 26 May. The popular cricketer turned politician, had accused the US of orchestrating regime change conspiring with the opposition and some members of his coalition government through a vote of no-confidence in April, for pursuing a foreign policy free of US hegemony. Meanwhile there has been controversy in Pakistan over claims by Israel President Isaac Herzog that he recently received a delegation of Pakistani-Americans visiting Israel. Imran Khan addressed the delegation’s meeting during a rally on Monday 30 May, saying that “slaves of the US” in the government would do everything ordered to them. He accused the current Pakistan government that it would strike a deal with India at the expense of Kashmiris and also recognise Israel.
PTI leader Shireen Mazari while inferring to the Israeli President’s comment said, “another commitment made to US under regime change conspiracy by imported government and other co-conspirators fulfilled, shameful subservience!”
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
NEWS
AMUST
AMUST volunteers recognised in Australian technology awards Continued from page 1 Since 2014, Rubinah has been key to establishing the newspaper on an online format. From establishing an online portal for authors and writers and online publishing of the newspaper using WordPress to managing the flow of articles using Airtable to preparing the print layout using InDesign to marketing AMUST on various social media platforms using Zoho and other tools. Rubinah has not only implemented these technologies but also taught others through on-the-job training and knowledge sharing sessions with other volunteers. Further, Rubinah has used her expertise to help other Not-for-profit organisations including the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair MEFF, Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare IFEW, Seena Inc, HelpingACT, Canberra Islamic School, House of Sakinah, Canberra Muslim Community, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network APAN, Queanbeyan Mosque and Forum Australia. Whilst, Rubinah has a Graphic Design qualification, most of the skills she leverages for her not-for-profit work has been selftaught. Rubinah and Manar at MEFF 2022.
Manar was recognised for his lifetime involvement with a number of non-profit organisations since he was 20 years old in 1985. One of his passions in all these organisations has been to enable technology within the organisation to meet their objectives and deliver services to their stakeholders. Manar is involved in not-for-profit work as a volunteer (unpaid) an average 10-20 hours a week for most of his adult life. These have included: • Australian MEFF Consortium (organiser of the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair – MEFF) from 1985 www.meff.com.au • Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare (IFEW) (community welfare organisation) from 1985 www.ifew.com • Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST) (Community online and print newspaper) from 1991 www.amust.com.au • Forum Australia (Organiser of forums on contemporary issues) from 2006 www.aussieforum.org • Canberra Islamic School (weekend school focusing on Arabic, Islamic studies) from 2006 www.canberraislamicschool.com.au • HelpingACT (social welfare organisation helping to alleviate poverty and destitution) from 2018 www.helpingact.org • Companion House (providing medical and counselling services to victims of torture and trauma) from 2019 www.companionhouse.org.au Other organisations Manar has provided technology advice and assistance include the House of Sakinah (HoS), Islamic Society Belconnen (ISB), Canberra Muslim Community (CMC), and Gungahlin Mosque Islamic School (GMIS). Connecting Up, the organisers of the awards. is a part of the Infoxchange Group, a not-for-profit social enterprise that has been delivering technology for social justice for over 30 years. They work with community, government and corporate partners to solve issues around home-lessness, family violence, mental health and disability, as well as supporting Indigenous communities, women, youth and families.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
3
AMUST
BOOMERANG
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
Why is Hajj getting so expensive? Ismail Davids Hajj is back for 2022, but oh, so Expensive! I originally wrote an article in 2017 as to why Hajj is getting so expensive. Without a doubt it is now even more relevant to try and explain this and dispel the idea that Hajj agents are ripping people off. I am not writing to try and justify the increases in Hajj prices year upon year, but merely to try and give you some insight into what I believe to be some of the main reasons. This is a question I hear all the time and it perplexes me when I find people still saying, “I will wait until it gets cheaper.” In 1989, I paid $2,000. In 2022 you will pay almost $20,000 per person. That is an increase of 900% in 33 years. And not once in the last 33 years, did the price come down. In my opinion I don’t think it will come down next year either. So, what are the main reasons for such a steep increase this year. As this article is limited in word count, for a more detailed explanation of the price structure, please see my blog article at: www.amidinspirations. org • Mina, Arafah and land transportation in Saudi is the main element that affects the cost of a hajj package and the cost is determined by the Hajj Ministry, which has increased by 100% this year over 2019 • The VAT in Saudi has increased from 5% to 15% overall, which translates to an increase of every element of the Hajj package by 10% • Hajj transportation costs have increased by 10% • Hajj quotas for this year has been reduced
4
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
Sunset, Marshland And The Line Of Baobab Trees Fazlul Huq
by 55% worldwide, which in turn increases cost due to less people but the same overheads • Hotels, though will not have the same demand, has decided to increase their prices as well • Hajj visa fees have not been determined yet • Airfare cost will increase due to fuel cost and demand Food for thought: Can you think of any precious commodity or item, where the price actually comes down? Also, remember the simple rule in buying and selling; supply and demand. The demand is there and will always be there, so the supplier will always be in the ‘box seat’. Hajj is no different, un-
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
fortunately. I conclude by reminding the reader that this article is not meant to justify the cost, but merely to give you an idea of the large amount of variables that cause the increase in prices year after year. How much do you think it’s worth paying to be a Guest of Allah? Ismail Davids is the CEO of the National Zakat Foundation (NZF) Australia. NZF is a non-for-profit charitable organisation guided by the Qur’an and Sunnah decrees defining the ways in which Zakat and other voluntary donations are collected and distributed.
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
The fireball has neared lower edge of the western sky to have colored the horizon and the sky above in orange and red, brown and gold. But where the fireball on the run has its presence known and felt, the hue is made in blazing white. As the lake and marshland made into one is held in front to have the hue made in black and brown from providence of the morning light. While bodies of green creating veil over the exposed surface try their best to vanish the morning light. As the baobab trees with umbrella like canopies stand in line on body of the distant shore with the hue made in black mixed with tint of red. 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.
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
BOOMERANG
SOCIAL 22 - 23
Labor to form majority government with two Muslim ministers
The Albanese Labor Government will include two Muslim Ministers, a first in Australian History. Ed Husic joins the cabinet as Industry and Science Minister, while Anne Aly picks up the Early Childhood Education and Youth portfolios, making them Australia’s first Muslim ministers. The 2022 Australian federal election held on Saturday 21 May 2022 elected members of the 47th Parliament of Australia and with latest counting results, it Anthony seems that the Australian Labor Party has Anne Aly. Albanese. got a mandate to govern with a simple majority of 76 seats. Green women candidates during this federal The election has resulted in severe losses election where 65% women stood as indefor the Liberal-National Coalition, with dra- pendent candidates in 2022 when compared matic gains by the Greens and independent to only 22% in 2019. candidates, mostly women. The Labor government will be led by AnThe House of Representatives will now thony Albanese, a man of humble beginnings, have at least 57 women, making 38% of the a fair dinkum Australian who honestly speaks chamber female, this being the highest pro- his mind. This brings back the memories of portion of women ever in the lower house. Gough Whitlam, another iconic Labor polThe Senate reached and exceeded 50% itician who made great impact on Australian women in the last parliament, and will main- politics. tain this in the new parliament. Now with this strong mandate, Prime This amounts to a historic moMinister Anthony Albanese needs to ment in Australia’s track record steer Australia towards its Labor towards a parliament that truly values of fair go for all, social endorses and promotes genjustice and an independent forder equality. eign policy. Zia Ahmad The reduction of the Labor initiatives in healthLiberal Party vote was accare namely Medicare, comAssalamu companied by a wave of passionate Centrelink proviAlaikum unexpected wins for women sions, NDIS and affirmative winning as challengers in safe action for the participation of Greetings or fairly safe seats previouswomen in all walks of life and of Peace ly held by key ministers such as support for university students Josh Frydenberg in Melbourne and should be prioritised. and rising Liberal stars like Dave Sharma in In its foreign policy, being realistic with its Sydney. geographical position, Australia should stay Australian voters took advantage of the clear of super power rivalry and become inalternatives presented by independent and dependent of US hegemony carving its own
EDITORIAL
AMUST
AMUST ISSUE # 199 FRIDAY 3 JUNE 2022 3 DHUL QA’ADAH 1443 News
1-3
- MEFF: The legacy resumes - AMUST volunteers recognised - Imran Khan gives election deadline
4-8
Boomerang
- Why is Hajj getting so expensive? - Labor to form majority government - Double standards by the Danish
9 - 12
Community - AIMA Eid dinner - Seniors join Eid celebrations - Youth conference 2022 - Eid at Unity Grammar
Australia
13
- Are international students back? - Australia’s recognition of Palestine
Ed Husic. way of dealing with the world, fairly as an independent power away from US, UK and Europe. Albanese, over the last two decades has expressed fairly independent and equitable views without fear or favour regarding the Israel/Palestinian conflict and now in government he should maintain the same without being bulldozed by the Zionist lobby. Criticism of illegal and oppressive practices by Israel should not be abandoned for the fear of being accused of being anti-semitic and Australia should support the legitimate rights of self determination of Palestinians in all international forums. Similarly Australia should develop mutually beneficial relations with China, India and Indonesia, emerging powers in the Indo-Pacific keeping in mind its own interests and its geographical position. Australia should base its relations with these powers with clauses for upholding of human rights specially in China with respect to its Uyghurs as well as with India with respect to oppression of Muslims in Kashmir and human rights abuses of its large Muslim minority.
Lifestyle
14 - 16
- Body positivity in Islamic tradition - Crescent Awards for diversity - New scholarship opportunity
Ummah
17 - 19
- Response to ‘XinjiangPoliceFiles’ - The incredible fiasco in Pakistan - Concern over Islamophobic MP
20
Education
- Shifting the market society paradigm - Moonsighting: Different perspectives
21
Business
- Launch of EKONOMOS in Sydney - Emerging halal investments in Oz
Social
22 - 23
- Social spotlights - Top Tweets: #JusticeforShireen
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 Muslim Genocide in India
The rich Arab States and their Leaders do not care for Non-Arab Muslims and Palestinians as they are so dependent in cheap exploited Indian Labors . If they expel all the Indian laborer’s, the last one to leave if he switched-off the lights, their States will plunge into darkness. Yusuf L
Re: Life after 30 as a single Muslim woman Loved reading your article. Keep up the great work! It is definately a pandemic unfortunately and a real struggle. That’s what inspired me to start speaking about it. You can check out your YouTube chanel to give you an insight.
Get in touch if you’d like to get involved! Single muslim podcast
• Newspaper • Website • Email Newsletter For more info, Email info@amust.com.au JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
SAY
Re: Understanding how your Energy impacts the entire creation
A beautiful and practical message that enables one to reflect on the myriads of choices we make in relation to every act, person and consumable item in our life. MashAllah the strategies shared are gold and transformational. JAK for sharing this empowering article. May Allah Pak reward you for your efforts inshaAllah and enable readers to embed this message in their lives for a positive impact. Ameen inshaAllah. Naima Iftikhar
Advertise Subscribe Choose from 3 ways of effective advertising
HAVE YOUR
Email your thoughts or comment of current events to
info@amust.com.au
Write
Yearly subscription
Submit your articles
$10 Digital Edition $30 Print Edition
Get published in the newspaper, website & social media
amust.com.au/subscribe
amust.com.au/writers
Subscribe now at
Signup now at
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
Editor-in-Chief: Zia Ahmad Managing Editor: Mobinah Ahmad Graphic Designer: Rubinah Ahmad Multimedia Journalist: Mehar Ahmad 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) Promotion: Dr Wali Bokhari Web Developer: rubinah.design 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.
Contact AMUST Post: PO Box 111, Bonnyrigg (Sydney), NSW 2177 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
BOOMERANG Why will Israel get away with the murder of Shireen NEWS 1-3
AMUST
BOOMERANG 4-8
Dr Aslam Abdullah Shireen Abu Aklah, an American Palestinian journalist, did not know that she would become the news in a few seconds. But the one who killed her knew that the 51-year-old Al-Jazeera reporter covering Israeli atrocities in the Palestinian territory would no more be exposing the state of Israel through her live coverage. He had the specific orders to target her. The Zionist government had already written the plot. It invaded her home immediately after her death and removed the Palestinian flag. Furthermore, it falsely blamed a Palestinian for the killing. Later, it withdrew the statement and called the cause of murder undetermined. What else do you expect from a rogue state that has robbed the people of Palestine of their life, dignity, and property ever since it illegally occupied the land? The inhabitants of the Zionist entity base its claim on Palestine on a mythical, biblical notion that the God of Israel gave the socalled holy ground to his chosen one. When they regard God as their main backer, they can justify everything. The apartheid state has justified every act of brutality as an act of God. Israel touts its legitimacy based on a UN resolution forcibly imposed by primarily Christian nations in 1947. Yet, in the last 75 years of its presence in Palestine, it has rejected every UN resolution that demanded restrictions on its continued expansion on the Palestinian land. Additionally, it has carried out target killings of prominent Palestinian freedom fighters in different parts of the world—hundreds of such victims, including 45 journalists, since 2000.
Israel is a brutal, ruthless killing force without regard for human life and dignity, and its majority regard Palestinians as cockroaches deserving annihilation. The state thrives on the backing of European Christian nations, the United States, and other white settlements like Canada and Australia. Occasional condemnation of Israeli practices has not brought any change in its policies towards the Palestinians. On the contrary, it has become more defiant. Western writers give several reasons for their support of Israel. First, they call it an oasis of democracy in the desert of dictatorship. Second, they consider Israel a protector of Christian interests in the overwhelming Muslim majority Middle East. Third, the US alone has given more than 150 billion dollars to the state of Israel since 1946. The fear of a nuclear Israel has driven many Middle Eastern countries to rely on U.S. arms. Since 1950, they have purchased arms worth 350 billion dollars. But the question remains unanswered why the governments of European and American states have continued to support the apartheid policies of Israel with rare condemnation. The answer lies in the religious perceptions regarding Jews and Israel of Christian evangelicals in these countries. Of 2.38 billion Christians, 400 million are evangelicals—
more than 200 Christian denominations in the US and 45,000 globally. Evangelicals and most Christians believe that at the end of time, Jesus would return to Haifa to lead the war against Jews who refused to accept his divinity. He would convert one-third of them to Christianity and destroy two-thirds, paving the way to establish the kingdom of God on earth. Israel and its existence are essential for the supremacy of Christians. The US Christian charities have donated billions to Israel to develop illegal settlements on the Palestinian land, hoping to create a Biblically mandated country for the return of Israel. The evangel-
The Palestinian prisoner “Ahmed Manasra”, now 20 from Jerusalem, was arrested by the Israeli occupation authorities as a child when he was no more than 13 and was subjected to severe torture during his arrest and subsequent interrogations. The Israelis tried to force him, under torture, to confess acts that he did not committed, and always responded with the phrase “I don’t remember.” Imagine that Ahmad was arrested as a child and today he is a young man in the prisons under occupation. While he enters his eighth year in prison, all his fault is that he was born a Palestinian in an occupied country. Ahmed’s childhood and innocence were lost inside the occupation cells, and today his youth is lost between the prison walls, and we did not hear any human rights organisation or even organisations who defend animal rights to conAUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
AUSTRALIA 13
icals believe that whoever curses Israel earns the curse of God. It explains the silence of mot Christian denominations, human rights groups, and governments led by evangelical groups. Their logic is simple: why should we annoy God by being critical of his chosen people? For 70 years, the world has remained indifferent to Israel’s brutalities and allowed the apartheid state to do away with every violation of human rights. There is no reason to believe that the death of Abu Akleh would bring about any significant change. In its present power structure, the world would not do much against Israel. Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder would not lead to any changes in Israel’s policies. Its brutality would continue because it believes that its God is on its back and the world’s leading superpower is under its spell for religious reasons. 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.
Occupied Palestine Free Ahmad Manasra
Sukoon Quteifan
6
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
demn Ahmed’s condition! What is new is that the Israeli occupation prisons administration recommended extending his solitary confinement for another 6 months, after seven years of detention for a crime he did not commit as a child. Please pay attention to the campaign to demand the immediate release of the child, who has become a young man in the occupation prisons, before his youth is also lost among the occupiers’ cells. As part of the procrastination policy, the trial date of Ahmed Manasra has been set on 19 June 2022. You will not find Ahmed’s story in mainstream media, so be the alternative media and share his story to the world. #FreeAhmadManasra #Unchilding 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 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
BOOMERANG
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Another threat on the horizon: The Seven Mountains mandate Bilal Cleland
There is a theological current primarily in American evangelism, called Dominionism, which seeks to re-establish the primacy of their version of the Christian church within modern society. It is based on Genesis 1:28. which mainstream Christians typically understand as meaning that God gave humankind responsibility over the Earth, similar to the Islamic “khalifullah.” However in Dominion Theology it is understood as a mandate for Christian dominion in all affairs. An article from South Australia outlines this approach. “Their declared goal is to take control of society. And the US government is in its sights. It wants ‘One nation, under God’ … their god. Only once this is achieved, followers believe, will Jesus return in the Second Coming, initiating the End of Days and the prophecies of the Book of Revelation.” [Adelaide Now, 8 January 2019] One extreme strand of these Dominionists has developed the theory of the seven mountains that must be dominated. They claim the Bible verses of Isiah 2:2-3 instruct their followers to take control: “And it shall come to pass in the last days,
that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” It argues there are seven such ‘mountains of the Lord’. The key to this thinking is from the last book of the New Testament, Revelations 17:1-18, which hinges on verse 9: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains.” Mainstream Christian theologians regard the reference to ‘seven’ as indicating Rome – built upon seven hills, the enemy of monotheism, but adherents of this sectarian view argue that this beast – and its seven heads that are mountains – represents the structure of society itself. [The ‘Seven Mountains’ conspiracy, Adelaide Now, 8 January 2019] South Australia is a hotbed of this kind of political theological activity. According to Mike Seccombe “The religious right is on the march in South Australia, literally putting the fear of God into party moderates.” “So troubled is the party hierarchy that earlier this month it demanded some 400 aspiring members sign statutory declarations pledging support to the party constitution and its candidates.” [How the religious right is trying to take over the Liberal Party, Saturday Paper, 26 June 2021] Their intentions are obvious from the website of Southland Church and sermons from pastor Rob Norman, “the main organising force for Pentecostalism in politics.”
One emphasises the “persecution” of believers. A second focuses on power. In another, published on June 1,“Christians and Politics”, congregants are called to take on the “mission” – to get active in party politics and use their numbers to influence policy and the selection of candidates. “Norman celebrates the outcome of the May 2019 federal election, and the man who led the Coalition to its narrow victory.” There are mainstream Liberal party members who understand the threat. One describes the state election in WA as a train wreck, attributable to the dominance of many branches by Pentecostal churches. She also “…noted how attempts by the Victorian right to stack in members of conservative religions – in that case, Mormons along with various minor ethnically based congregations – “blew up” the party and resulted in the expulsion of 150 members.” [Saturday Paper, 26 June 2021] The Seven Mountains Mandate is a strat-
egy of political and cultural infiltration and conquest, and a propaganda weapon for the cultivation of the Christian Right. “The parallels between Donald Trump’s unexpected triumph and Scott Morrison’s “miracle” election win are remarkable. A week on, it’s increasingly apparent this was a Trump-like victory.” [AIM Network, 13 February 2020] The notion of total social domination by a particular religious cult is politically dangerous. It assumes the subservience of all who do not adhere to the beliefs of the Dominionists to their control of the seven mountains, education, religion, family, business, government and the military, arts and entertainment, and the media. It is a totalitarian world view. Bilal Cleland is a keen reader, a prolific writer and a regular columnist of AMUST based in Melbourne.
Double standards by the Danish shenanigans forming their Muslims. But that would have forced an internal introspection; the People’s Church would have to answer its own difficult questions. As the co-head of Danish People’s Church, 2019-government choose discrimination and racism, and hypocrisy and Islamophobia at the same time.
Dr Mohammed Naushaduddin The “Ghetto Package” law targeting the Muslim minority in Denmark has now been amended to accommodate the Ukrainian refugees. The problem In 2019, the Danish government introduced the ‘Ghetto Package’ – blatantly harsh in intent, substance and implementation. It was acted in the name of ‘better social integration’ and avoiding ‘parallel societies’, aiming for ‘no ghettos by 2030’. The ‘Ghettos’ were not-for-profit community-homes dwelled by poor ‘non-Westerners’ (‘Westerner’ meant exclusive ethnicity of only 7 European and 5 English-speaking countries, including Australia and New Zealand). Clearly the Ghetto was a euphemism for ‘Muslim homes’ who were perceived to lack the ‘Danish values’, which remained undefined. These poor citizens (largely from Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, etc) were soon called ‘Ghetto parent’ and ‘Ghetto child’. Impervious to the fact that 20th-century Nazis next door used the Ghettos for nefarious ends. The punishment was equally harsh: the community-homes will be capped at 30-40% in a suburb – bulldozing some 10,000 homes, police could define the geographic area and doubly punish its zoned citizens, children aged more than one year had to attend daycare for more than 25 hours per week for families to receive benefit payments so that they can learn ‘Danish values’. My understanding To my Muslim mind, the 2019-Danish government lacked courage of introspection. The lashing out on poor Danish Muslims was a diversion and a lost learning opportunity. Denmark is a nation of about 6 million citizens, blessed to possess a large land mass in the form of Greenland. German-influenced Danish monarchs converted to Catholicism in the 10th century, and then to Protestantism JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
in the 14th century. In the early 19th century, the radical French influence got rid of imposed Lutheran exclusivism. The monarchy adapted; the Lutheran Church became the “People’s Church”. Other religions were welcome but the state religion, with privileges, remains Lutheranism – managed by 11 bishops and lorded over by the monarch and the Danish Parliament. 10% of citizens are foreign, and 60% of these are ‘non-Western’ – meaning different hues of Muslims. A person baptised in Denmark automatically becomes a member of its People’s Church, with an option of relinquishing it later on; ~75% thus are members. The Church is deeply embedded in the homes: 70% kids gets confirmed, 30% couples swear their marriage vows and 80% gets last rites by the People’s Church. However, only 2.5% attend the Church weekly, 30% attend on the Christmas Day; 25% believe Jesus is the Son of God, 18% believe he is Saviour of the World. In these 200 years, the radical French influencers have won their cultural war. The reason for hate: 3-front attack More than a thousand years ago The Song
of Roland was unleashed on the uninformed, to misguide and terrify the population against Islam; popular culture was weaponised to fuel the Crusading wars. Post 9/11, the US Islamophobes (enthusiastic proponents of “War on Terror”, a euphemism for War on Islam) are playing a similar role by launching a near simultaneous 3-front attack on Muslims: 1. Christians are led to fear the imminent Islamisation of Europe and English-speaking world. 2. The atheist and the far-left are reminded that Islam remains the most conservative and unreformed religion of the world. 3. Racists are riled up that the brown immigrants will over-run their much developed world. No wonder we see Quran gets burned in the midst of large crowd attendance, reminding us of the barbaric persecutions of the past. The current Danish fringe is directly influenced by Islamophobic fringe in the US; we live in a global village. Lack of courage If the 2019-Danish government were well-meaning part of world community, they would have embarked on a policy of re-
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
Nakedly exposed, and may be ashamed In 2022 the hyper-paranoid Russians rolled in, forcing the Ukrainians to flee west. These innocent civilians – all “non-Westerners” – were channeled to the Ghettos, needing the amendment of the “Ghetto Package” law for their safety. Now, the Ghettos will no longer be bulldozed; no child will be electronically wired; no mother be forced to chose a daycare for her family’s needs. The Europeans, the UN, the humanitarians were correct all along. The law was dishonest, and unproductive. The fringe had held the country to cultural ransom; the 2019-Danish government obliged by risking the nation’s moral fibre. How do I make sense of all these I am just one of 1.6 billion Muslims: educated, inclusive and humanitarian. There are many millions like me, and we want Islam to play a positive role in our lives, in human discourse and progress of humanity in the coming decades to come. People like me have come to realise the importance of science, individual freedoms, dignity of human race, and caring of our planet as our village. We also realise the stubborn entrenchment of old religions, however great role they may have played in lives in past humanity. We are playing our roles in lessening the gap between two epochs, to safeguard our collective heritage and innovate a better future. If Danish government wants to play a similar constructive role, it needs to live the reality. And not be worried about Islam – which has a wide scope of change and reciprocation. Dr Mohammed Naushaduddin is a General Practitioner in South West Sydney, Australia.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
7
AMUST
COMMUNITY
NEWS 1-3
AIMA Eid dinner for medical and health professionals Dr Habib Bhurawala The Australian Islamic Medical Association (AIMA) organised an Eid dinner in Sydney on Saturday 14 May 2022 attended by medical and other health professionals, junior doctors and medical students. Medical students from various medical schools in New South Wales included UNSW, University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, Macquarie University, University of Wollongong, University of Notre Dame Australia and Newcastle and New England Medical program. The event was MC’d by a couple of medical students, Noor and Shafaf. Dr Habib Bhurawala, Sydney based Pae-
diatrician and central executive committee member of AIMA, welcomed everyone and provided a brief update on the event’s purpose. He explained that this Eid dinner event is an opportunity to meet and interact with ample networking opportunities, especially for junior doctors and medical students. The programme commenced with a short talk on the significance of Ramadan, lessons and guidance based on the Holy Quran delivered by Dr Omer Shereef, consultant neuropsychiatrist based in Townsville and a member of the central leadership team of AIMA. Dr Muhammad Afzal Kahloon, Canberra based senior urologist and President of AIMA, explained that the objective and purpose of AIMA is to unite and inspire Muslim health professionals in Australia. He further stated that AIMA members wish to serve and contribute to the welfare of Mus-
Dr Ahmed Saeed Goolam speaking at the dinner.
8
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
Dr Fariha Dib speaking at the dinner.
BOOMERANG 4-8
lims and the broader Australian community. An AIMA video showed previous events, including a public health awareness campaign during COVID-19, CPR training in masjids and Islamic centres, and Blood donation drives. Dr Kahloon urged Muslim medical and health professionals to come forward and support AIMA’s vision, goals and objectives with active participation in various activities. Dr Faraz Pathan, Staff Cardiologist, Head of Cardiac Research at Nepean Hospital, NSW, delivered his talk via Zoom on the Pros and cons of pursuing research, especially for junior doctors and medical students. He also discussed tips for managing worklife balance whilst pursuing research. Dr Fariha Dib, General practitioner, member of AIMA executive leadership team, an examiner of RACGP, and Board member of two Islamic schools, spoke on “Muslim Women in Medicine- Balancing faith with work and study”. Dr Dib shared her experience volunteering in Cambodia with ‘Health the Sick’. She also highlighted her experience coping with racism in the workplace and Working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities, especially during COVID-19. Associate Professor Sol Qurashi, the senior Orthopaedic Surgeon at various Sydney hospitals and director of the orthopaedic training program at one of the Sydney hospitals,
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
spoke on Surgical Career pathways, specifically in orthopaedics. He provided valuable tips for medical students and junior doctors on choosing a career- consider viability, length of the program, ease of entering the program, remuneration, work-life balance and location. After dinner was served, the question-answer session commenced, moderated by Dr Ahmed Saeed Goolam, Sydney-based Urologist and member of the AIMA executive team and MCs Noor and Shafaf. Dr Nadir Hafiz, Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Elhassan Elabbas, Geriatric advanced trainee, A/Prof Sol Qurashi, Dr Muhammad Afzal Kahloon; Dr Fariha Dib, and Dr Habib Bhurawala participated in the Q&A session that generated much interest from the audience. The seminar program concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr Ahmed Saeed Goolam. Recording of various previous AIMA sessions and details of other activities conducted by the Australian Islamic Medical association is available on the website: www.aimamed.com.au Dr Habib Bhurawala (MBBS MD FRACP DCH) is a consultant general paediatrician currently working at Nepean & Blue Mountains hospitals in Sydney. He has a strong interest in community work, especially health education/promotion.
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
COMMUNITY
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Seniors join Eid celebrations after long isolation AMUST Media SAMAA held Eid Milan on Sunday 22 May 2022 at Bankstown Sports Club to bring together community elders to celebrate the annual Eid al-Fitr festival, this being the first physical gathering after a long break of more than two years due to COVID lockdowns. The main theatre at the club, a state of art facility, was filled with the dignitaries, a large number of South Asian Muslim Association of Australia, SAMAA seniors, community friends and volunteers as well as members of many South Asian communities who extended their support to SAMAA. Due to recent rise in COVID cases, many more seniors and guests expressed their inability to attend. The programme commenced with the delightful performance of famous Naat “Tu Kuja Man Kuja” by Sydney singer Tariq Mahmood which took audience into a spiritual and cosmic realm. MC Dr Nisa Sheriff requested the community to support SAMAA without which SAMAA cannot reach the goals of offering best of services to our elders. Our buzurg deserve
best of treatment and services in these golden years of their life as they have reached here after working very hard throughout their lives and sacrificing a lot to raise their children and families, she said. SAMAA has signed a MoU with Gallipoli Home, the Muslim aged care provider who have built a grand residential aged care facility in Auburn. The two videos were screened showing the facilities at their 102 bed aged care home and detailing the services they offer for Home care. Dr Abdur Rahman Asarogulu, Chair of the board of directors of Gallipoli Home, in his speech, emphasised that at this Muslim facility, they observe compassion, kindness, and respect for the seniors and their families from all cultural & religious backgrounds. We value the emotional, spiritual, and physical health of our elders, to help them live healthier and happier lives by actively ensuring their individual needs are met. Representing SAMAA, Mr Zahid Jamil told the audience about SAMAA activities and programmes. To alleviate social isolation of elders, SAMAA brings them together in picnics, cruises, cultural shows which include important information sessions and entertainment.
During COVID scare of past two years, SAMAA held 25 zoom programmes which included important presentations by health and aged care experts and entertainment including Urdu poetry, South Asian songs, Qawwali, and religious talks by overseas and local scholars and poets. Mr Jamil told the audience about the challenges, the elderly face in Australia and why it was important for them to seek available services, both home care and residential aged care. He observed that there was reluctance among seniors and their families to avail such services which was causing suffering to the seniors. Mr Jamil also emphasized the need of building a respite centre for SAMAA seniors which will bring relief to their carers as well. He appealed to the community to reach out to SAMAA for more information. (http://samaa.org.au) Hon Shaoquett Moselmane, MLC, gave an emotional speech on serving the seniors and how he himself served his aged mother for many years. He emphasised the need of unity among 1 million strong Australian Muslim community to better undertake important community projects. Labor government is committed to provide better aged care services for all the communities.
Mr Moselmane presented an award to Mr Zahid Jamil in gratitude for his dedication to the South Asian Muslim Community. Mr Syed Afzal Hussain made a fund raising appeal to the audience. Donations to SAMAA are tax deductible. As we reach end of financial year, you can donate for this noble cause, get reward in hereafter and get tax deduction. The contribution can also be made via the link https://gofund.me/05c4ad0e. In the second half, Adakar Theatre staged the famous play Dozakh and audience were spell bound during more than an hour of play. Written by the legendry Ismat Chughtai and directed by famous Sydney director Saba Zaidi Abdi, the play was a colourful roller coaster of emotions between two women Naulasi Khanum and Umdah Khanum. The skilled performance of Saba Zaidi Abdi,, Bobby Mallik, Aditi Dey kept the attention of everyone. The dialogue delivery, the soundtracks, the background music, the lighting effects enhanced the ambience as people described it a very professional and polished performance. It was an all round excellent show which could grace any professional stage. The evening brought smiles to the seniors as they left the venue in cheerful mood.
Youth Conference 2022: Dealing with challenges faced by Muslim youth Muhammad Wasiq A Sydney based conference to address the challenges faced by Muslim youth living in Australia has been organised by Minhaj-ul-Quran International on Friday 10 June in Bankstown. The conference will be addressed by prominent speakers including Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, the President of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, Dr Jan Ali, an acedemic from WSU, Ms Ayesha Bux, founder of SalamFest, Mobinah Ahmad, Managing Editor of AMUST. Minhaj-ul-Quran International, ia an international organisation working to promote peace, tolerance, interfaith harmony and education, tackle extremism and terrorism, engage with young Muslims for religious moderation, promote women’s rights, development and empowerment, and provide social welfare and promotion of human rights in more than 100 countries around the world. It’s founding leader Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri is a well-known and renowned religious scholar throughout the world. Minhaj ul Quran Australia has realised the need to address the social and contemporary JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
challenges faced by Muslim youth living in Australia and hosting a Youth Conference to address these issues. It will be held as per following schedule: Date: Friday, 10 June 2022 Venue: Bryan Brown Theatre and Function Centre Corner of Rickard and Chapel Roads, 80 Rickard Rd, Bankstown NSW 2200 Time: 5:30PM to 9:00PM Keynote Speaker: Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, is the President of Minhaj-ul-Quran International and is also the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of Minhaj University Lahore (MUL). He is also affiliated with the University of Melbourne Australia as Senior Fellow for many years and is also an author of thirty books, writer of over fifty research articles and a reputed international speaker. In December 2019, Dr Hussain was honored with Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA Award 2019) in recognition of his meritorious research work in the field of Islamic economics and finance. Invited Guest Speakers: Dr Jan Ali, is a religious sociologist specialising in Islam. He holds an appointment as a Senior Lecturer in Islam and Modernity in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at the Western Sydney University. His main sociological focus is the study of
existential Islam. Jan has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in international journals and book chapters. He has written three books as well. Ms Ayesha Bux, is the founder of SalamFest. Ayesha is on the board of JCMA(Jewish, Christian, Muslim Association) and the chair of the Women’s committee. Ayesha has served on the board of SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council and as the Honorary Investment Consul for Pakistan in Melbourne. Ayesha has a desire to share and celebrate Muslim contributions in arts, culture and cuisine with the broader Australian community. Ms Mobinah Ahmad, is the Managing Ed-
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
itor of Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST) which highlights positive news and brings to light issues within the multicultural communities. She is currently an Account Director at Fifty Acres. She has been an executive officer of the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry NSW and worked with the Australian Human Rights Commission. She is mentor of many Muslim women and youth. Book your spot, seats are limited: https://tinyurl.com/yck5w5de Muhammad Wasiq is the President of Minhaj ul Quran Australia NSW and is based in Sydney, Australia.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
9
AMUST
COMMUNITY
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
If you know of students, teachers and schools who are worthy of such recognition, please nominate them today.
NOMINATE BEFORE 30TH JUNE
Neither Crescent Wealth nor any of its products is associated or affiliated with Crescent Capital Partners
Crescent Awards Partners:
10
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
COMMUNITY
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Celebrating Eid at Unity Grammar Muhamed Saeed Unity Grammar recently celebrated Eid in style on Thursday 5 May 2002 at their school campus in Austral. All students in K-12 were treated to a day of celebration with fun rides, delicious food, carnival games and of course, a stunning fireworks
display to seal the day. The students laughed, ate a variety of yummy foods and shared memorable moments with their peers in celebrating the end of Ramadan and completion of their fasting month. Like every year, 2022 was no different in bringing together the community to share a wonderful time. The stalls on the day included Islamic books and giftware, a unique candy store stocking rare and unusual confectionary from around the world, a specialised barista coffee stall serving the smoothest and richest cup of coffee, toys and showbag
stalls, face painting, professional henna stall and much much more. Even the parent volunteer team got involved and raised funds by serving a variety of delicious foods like falafel rolls and chicken skewers. The delicious food did not stop there however. Ranging from wagyu steak sandwiches to tender burgers, corn in a cup to potatoes on a stick, and of course how can we forget our authentic gozleme. Regardless of your favourite cuisine, you were sure to be pleased. Unity students and staff were joined by
their immediate family members to continue their celebration in unity, until the conclusion of the event at sunset. Thank to all the participants for their attendance and a belated Eid Mubarak from Unity Grammar. Mr Muhamed Saeed is the Business Development Manger at Unity Grammar, one of Sydney’s leading Islamic Schools located in Austral, NSW. He is a trained and qualified teacher with a strong and proven background in Sales, Business Consulting and Islamic Finance.
IPDC QLD Ramadan: Celebrating multiculturalism Abdul Aziz Islamic Practice & Dawah Circle (IPDC), QLD unit has celebrated Ramadan with a number of events that offers a call for an inclusive and better Australian society including the Quran competition, Multifaith and community leader iftar and an Eid exhibition for kids. These events offer a model to engage the younger generation as well as multifaith leaders to promote a culturally diverse and inclusive Australia. The Annual Ramadan Quran Competition The Annual Ramadan Quran Competition has been a flagship event of IPDC with impressive participation of around 450 boys and girls from different locations of the greater Brisbane this year. A series of competitions were held in different mosques including Darra, Logan, West End, Gladstone and the final round of events at Stacks Creek Mosque. It has been such an overwhelming reception of our talented kids, and young boys and girls inspired by the Holy Quran in the blessed month of holy Ramadan. In line with
previous years, the IPDC organised the Annual Quran Competition for the 5th year consecutively.
Award giving ceremony of the final round of Quran competition held in the Australian Centre for Unity, Slacks Creek Mosque, Queensland
Multifaith and community leader iftar A multifaith and community leader iftar has provided a chance to meet and gather with politicians, multi-faith leaders, and community leaders. One of the main attractions of the program was to acknowledge and inspire the youth leaders who just completed six months short course on the leadership program organised by IPDC QLD’s next-generation division. The event was full of political signatories including councillors, politicians and multifaith leaders. Eid exhibition for kids The event has offered a chance for all Muslim kids to showcase their creativity by presenting decorative images and videos of their Eid celebration. The event marks a historic and timely initiative for the younger generation to express their religious identity through cultural exhibitions of the Eid festival. The exhibition was held at the Logan central library which carries a special meaning, and also adds value to the wider Australian community. The participants expressed their enthusiasm about such a creative display to celebrate and share Eid festivity and joyous moments with the community. In these events, participants were engaged with great interest and enthusiasm that add-
ed a strong bond for the community in order to foster strong bonds in the next generation. Many participants said that the events significantly benefited their personal and social development through social gatherings and attending religious speeches and competitions. Additionally, such arrangement may contribute to cross-cultural literacy among non-muslim to see Islamic cultural appropriateness in an Australian multicultural environment. Furthermore, the successful completion of these events this year left with an impres-
A view of the prize-giving ceremony of the Quran competition.
JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
sive positive note for organising many more events in coming years. IPDC QLD, the organiser of these events thanked all participants and parents for their contribution to making these events successful. IPDC QLD is inspired and committed to organising more multicultural events to ensure active participation and involvement of the Muslim community. Abdul Aziz is a PhD candidate at the School of Communication, Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
A view of participants after completion of six months short course on leadership program organised during the multifaith and community leader iftar.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
11
AMUST
COMMUNITY
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
Aligarh and Jamia alumni jointly celebrate Eid Zahid Alam The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association Victoria and Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association Victoria jointly organised an Eid celebration for their families on Saturday 28 May 2022 at Azooba Bar-B-Q Lounge, Tullamarine in Melbourne. The function was attended by more than 150 people, men, women and children. The event was graced by a large number of distinguished seniors, particularly from AMU as well as the past and current office bearers of both alumni associations. The program was wonderfully compered by Dr Saba Qutub, Secretary, AMU Alumni Victoria starting with recitation from Holy Quran by young children who also received awards for their efforts and contribution in the form of Eidi envelopes. Dr Mohammad Ayubi, President, AMU Alumni Association Victoria and Mr Syed Asif Hasan, President, JMI Alumni Association Victoria, delivered their inaugural ad-
dress at the joint gathering. Welcoming the guests, Dr Ayubi highlighted the joint fund-raising efforts by the two groups in the past in response to the public health and natural disaster challenges during the past couple of years. Mr Hasan reciting Urdu poetry during his speech captured the imagination of the crowd while pointing out that the event was historical in nature as this was the first time that the two alumni organisations representing two peak Indian Muslim Universities were hosting a joint gathering in Australia.
While expressing his gratitude for the AMU group in taking this initiative, Mr Hasan touched on the historical significance of the emergence of Jamia Millia Islamia by its founding fathers. He further stressed the need for closer ties between the two organisations in making a real impact on areas of mutual interest in serving their community by quoting the great American political and disability rights activist, author and lecturer, Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf, once said “alone we can do so little; together we
can do so much”. A melodious “Naat” was recited by Ms Kulsum Imdad which helped spread the religious fervour in the gathering. The celebratory event convincingly appeared to promote closeness and networking amongst the families as well as enliven the spirit of culture and values of the two great Milli institutions of India. A sumptuous dinner followed the formal proceedings enhancing the relaxed and lively atmosphere of the evening. A similar event Jamia Alumni Eid Celebration was organised by Sydney and Canberra teams with the help of Sajjad Zaheer and Rashid on Sunday 22 May 2022 at Bunmarra Picnic Shelter in Parramatta. Zahid Alam is a Project Manager in Telstra and AMUST correspondent based in Sydney. He immigrated to Australia in 2005. He holds a Masters of Engineering Management degree from the University of Technology Sydney and a diploma in Electronics Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
Eid Milan at NSW Parliament
Shafqat Ali
Pakistan Association of Australia (PAA) hosted an Eid Milan Party at the NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Wednesday 18 May 2022 evening attended by a large number of prominent members of the Australian Pakistani community. The High Commissioner of Pakistan Mr Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri was the chief guest at the celebration along with his colleague Muhammad Ashraf, Pakistan Consul General in Sydney. The session was opened by the anchor at the event, Hamid Sarooha (PAA General Secretary) with the recitation of Quran by Maulana Nazeer ul Hassan Thanvi followed by Mehreen Javed singing both the national anthems of Australia as well as of Pakistan. Member Parliament Shaoquett Moselmane shared his experience of Eid and his trip for delivery of wheelchairs to Pakistan thanked Dr Ayla Khan for her support and company for the project. Farhat Jaffery, President of PAA addressed the audience thanking all guests for attending the party and encouraged all Pakistanis to choose the right candidates during
12
the upcoming federal election. Ms Julia Finn MP shared her views and experience regarding Eid and encouraged the community to have such events in the people’s house. The High Commissioner, Mr Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri shared his great pleasure in
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
being part of celebrations and congratulated PAA for completing 50 years while thanking the community for playing a positive role to promote Pak-Australia relationships and trade ventures. Local media personalities including Syed Zafar Hussain, Munir Hussain, Abbass Naq-
vi and Raja Taseer and Hanif Bismi, President of MEFF also attended the event. Awards and gifts were handed to new Huffaz ul Quran, Mr Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri and other guests before the Eid Milan was concluded with networking opportunities over sweets and warm high tea. Photo by Syed Abbas Naqvi.
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
AUSTRALIA
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Are international students back? A look at the numbers
Adrian Edlington
As borders closed in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so did the usual flow of international students. International education contributes $40 billion to the wider economy – which was twice as much as in 2015. It also affected jobs in the sector with a loss of over 35,000 academic and professional staff. So, what happened to the sector during the pandemic, and are international students back? Has the sector recovered or is there a long way to go? Savvy investigates the numbers. Wipeout: the decimation of international students during the pandemic from China and eventually the rest of the world to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This meant the usually robust influx of international students ground to a halt. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics via Statista, in March 2020, Australia welcomed 61,880 international students on temporary student visas. In April, only 300 arrived. In February 2019, around the time when university and TAFE courses are about to commence, 191,500 international students arrived on Australian campuses. Throughout 2020, the growth in international students dipped by 9% and a further 17% in 2021. According to the Department of Education, Skills, and Employment, numbers fell from the twenty-year peak of 756,636 international students in 2019 to just 557,836 students by the end of 2021 – representing
a drop of 26%. This bucked a trend of an average of 9.4% growth streak from 2013 to 2019.
Are international students coming back to Australia? Yes – but still not up to the record levels we’ve seen. More than 56,000 international students arrived in Australia since November 2021 bringing the total to about 440,129 as of March 2022. According to the ABC, “the university sector has warned the export income from overseas students has halved to $22 billion in two years, and it will be a long time before numbers return to pre-pandemic levels.” Where are international students coming from? In 2019, the bulk of international students came from China, with 211,975. In distant second was India, with 115,082, This was followed by Nepal (53,526), Brazil (27,339), and Vietnam (26,003.) As of March 2022, the top three remains the same – China on top spot with 127,094 students, India with 72,642 students, and Nepal with 38,946 students. However, the subsequent three have changed somewhat with Vietnam now in fourth place with 17,069, Indonesia with 12,632, and Malaysia with 12,416. Some countries have dropped off the scale entirely, such as the United States of America. In 2019 we had 11,972 in Australia, whereas in 2022 we’ve only seen 2,676 US students, according to the DESE. Note: A student can be counted across multiple years if their period of study spans two or more years. How long will it take for international students to come back fully? At this point, it’s hard to say when inter-
International students are finally returning to Australia. national students will come back to previous record levels – if they will at all. As Australia dragged its feet on opening up borders, international students opted for other countries to study, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The surge in November was spurred on by the Australian Government’s decision to have their visa application fees refunded if they arrived between 19 January 2022 and 20 March 2022. Speaking to the ABC, Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson called the numbers “promising” – “Before COVID, there were about 400,000 international students, since COVID it’s been about 300,000. So, we’ve got some numbers to make up.” Savvy CEO Bill Tsouvalas says that we’ve felt the impact of low international student numbers in retail and hospitality, where jobs are going begging. “The national employment rate is four percent, which is fantastic, but it also exposes our reliance on international students and temporary workers – if you’ve seen signs for ‘staff wanted’ at local cafes, bars, or restaurants, those brief shortfalls are usually
filled by students and seasonal workers. “International students can now demand better conditions and wages in retail and hospitality. It may also be incentive to study retail and hospitality as a pathway to permanent employment and permanent residency, which some international students will be more than interested in if they build social networks while they study.” More support is required to attract international students back in Australia, such as increasing the 20 hour per week limit on work, further visa fee waivers, and rebuilding the reputation of Australia after stories of students paying full fees despite being locked out of the country for over two years. “The way we have treated some international students who have already paid their way is appalling, and a PR blitz needs to happen to repair our reputation as a premier destination for education once again,” Tsouvalas says. Adrian is PR & Communications manager at Savvy, a national online loans broker. He regularly reports on developments in the higher education sector, automotive, home, mortgage and personal finance.
Australia’s recognition of Palestine: Long overdue Professor Shahjahan Khan In the 21 May 2022 Federal Election, Australians have voted Australian Labor Party (ALP) to form the Federal Government. By voting ALP to power, Australians have supported its policies and trusted its leadership to lead the nation for the next three years. This change of Government in Canberra has many reasons such as the failure of the Scott Morrison-led Coalition Government in managing the vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, insufficient protection of our elders in nursing homes, internal party disputes and wrong-doings of ministers, complaints of women abuse, failure to set up the promised integrity commission, foreign and defence policy failures, inadequacy or refusal to response to climate change issues, unexpected rise in the cost of living etc. Expectations are that the Anthony Albanese-led ALP Government will address issues affecting ordinary Australians, including helping relieve their living costs, creating new jobs with higher wages, moving to a green economy to address climate change, establishing an integrity commission, looking after senior Australians, improving health care and education, pursuing a balanced foreign policy, and protecting our national security and interests at home and abroad. The election of a record number of independent and Greens MPs is a big message to mainstream political parties – listen to people and act on climate change, integrity, social equity and the rightful place of women. In its National Conference in Adelaide from 16-18 December 2018, the ALP passed JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
a resolution calling that the next Labor government recognise Palestine as a state and that this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor government”. The same was re-iterated in its March 2021 Conference by Shadow foreign minister, Penny Wong. “It reflects our belief that Israelis and Palestinians deserve to prosper in peace behind secure and recognised borders. “It reflects this conference’s prior expression of its view on statehood, while recognising this is a decision for a future Labor government. An Albanese Labor government will take a principled approach to these issues,” she said, If Australia genuinely believes in ‘twostate’ solutions, why has the Government recognised only one state? Why the Australian Government has been turning blind eyes on the ongoing occupation, continuing land grabbing, and brutal murder of Palestinian Christians (remember Aljazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh) and Muslims struggling to protect their land and identity? In spite of Zionist media control and undue influence on western political institutions, 138 countries have already recognised the
State of Palestine including European countries. Unfortunately, Australia is a laggard. In my recollection, the only time the Australian Government did not blindly side with the USA in all UN resolutions supporting the Israeli apartheid state is when Kevin Rudd and Bob Carr were Foreign Ministers, two ALP champions and great Australians. This, even though in 2014, Australia voted against a UN Security Council draft resolution proposing withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the West Bank by 2017. In March 2020, in a petition to the Australian Parliament signed by over 1000 Australians, and tabled by Hon Graham Perrett MP from Moreton, the House was requested to recognise the State of Palestine, because this was essential if the House was genuinely committed to a lasting two-state solution and advancing peace in the Middle East and beyond, and it was essential to formally recognise the State of Palestine (to ensure two sovereign states), based on the implementation of relevant UN resolutions and international law. The petition emphasised that Palestinians
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
are a stateless people who have suffered under the shadow of Israeli occupation far too long. They naturally want freedom, justice, equality and the right to self-determination. For over 25 years, Palestinians have engaged in a rigged “peace process” while Israel confiscated their lands, colonised their country with Jewish settlements and imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza that pauperised its population. As Israel consolidates its hold over the Occupied Territories and the remaining Palestinian enclaves continue to shrink, the window of opportunity for a two-state solution is closing fast. Failure of the two-state solution will leave Israel as an apartheid state, ruling over an indigenous underclass of permanently disenfranchised Palestinians. Such a situation would destabilise the entire region and serve as an invaluable propaganda resource for extremist and terrorist organisations around the world. Given Israel’s overwhelming political and military advantages, the Palestinians will never win their freedom and basic human rights without international intervention. This is where the Australian Government could play an important role to ensure that “Palestinians have a right to self-defend” and deny all occupation and apartheid rules imposed on them by the foreign illegal settlers. To see the map of illustration of illegal Palestinian land occupation by Israel since 1947 visit https://tinyurl.com/mhv9cfxp Professor Shahjahan Khan is professor of Statistics at University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He is the former President of Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences and Expatriate Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
13
AMUST
LIFESTYLE
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
Body positivity in Islamic tradition Anhaar Kareem “Allah does not look at your outward appearance and your goods. He looks only at your hearts and your deeds.” (Hadith: Muslim) In the current society we live in, everyone, particularly young people are subject to beauty standards and degraded simply to the way in which they look. Fatphobia and diet culture have become so ingrained and normalised in society, that we don’t even think to question common conceptions that ‘fat’ is an insult and to lose weight, a compliment.
Research shows that culturally and religiously marginalised groups are at a unique risk of developing eating disorders, and poor body image. For young people of colour, western beauty standards can be alienating and cause shame and dissatisfaction with one’s body. In my own Arab culture, I see a troubling double standard. My family enjoy cooking food as a way of expressing love and celebration, encouraging me to eat food, while also perpetuating harsh beauty standards. I find them complimenting each other when they lose weight and lecturing me about healthy eating. In almost the same breath of air, they will tell me I need to be skinnier, so that I’m suitable for marriage and then feel insulted that I’m not eating their baklawa. Although in
many cultures, this body negativity is common, it is not something that is evident in the true Islamic tradition, and is rather challenged and condemned by Allah. People of all colours and shapes are loved by God and can be equally pious and successful in our religion. Islam stresses the need for self-care and body-positivity, seen in the hadith where the Prophet Muhammad (s) said, “Your body has rights over you,” which highlights the importance of supplying our body with nutrients, rewarding it and caring for it. It is also said that our bodies are an ‘Amanah’ or ‘trust’ from Allah and it is therefore our responsibility to treat ourselves well. As a young Muslim woman who chooses to wear the hijab, I see the hijab as a way of defying the objectification of women and the
degradation of human beings to how we look. As Islam teaches us, Allah created our bodies for so much more than how they look. In our religion, what we believe and our actions, will always outweigh our appearance. It is our social and our Islamic duty to be accepting people who are promoters of body positivity. Remember that Islam is a religion centred around what is in our hearts, not what size we are, how we look or what we eat. Our body is a gift from Allah, one that we should love and be kind towards. Anhaar Kareem is a 14 year old student and Western Sydney resident. She is an advocate, writer and speaker who is passionate about issues concerning young people.
Crescent Awards: Promoting diversity in achievements Dr Sayd Farook
Australian Muslims have always played a diverse role in society from their contribution to health, sports and society, to their achievements in the arts and media sectors. Yet, the emphasis of many organisations and most of the existing educational awards programs has been to encourage a singular focus on academic achievement. The Crescent Awards seek to change that narrative and recognise the diversity of achievement of Australian Muslim Youth and the educators and institutions that have facilitated that success. A new generation of Australian Muslims is emerging through our school system. The objective of the Crescent Awards is to recognise the outstanding and impactful achievers among them, and the leading educators and schools who enable them to excel and pave the way for a brighter future for Australian Muslims. Nominations for 29 different Crescent Awards under four categories, primary and high school Muslim students, individual educators, educator teams, and schools, are open now, and will be accepted until the deadline Thursday 30 June. In order to showcase the awards and winners, the inaugural Awards Gala dinner will be held at the Waterview, Bicentennial Park, Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday 6 August 2022.
“A new
the Crescent Foundation, and supported by Crescent Wealth and Islamic Relief Australia with thought leadership from the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education at the University of South Australia. The Awards are truly a community initiative, with the support of several community organisations including Brothers in Need, Gould Studio and National Zakat Foundation. Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST) is the program’s media partner. In July, an independent panel of high-profile Muslim educational and community leaders will judge applications against a broad spectrum of achievements including academic impact, sporting achievements, creative contribution, innovation, leadership, community contribution and extra-curricular activities. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner at the Waterview venue at the Bicentennial Park in early August.
generation of Australian Muslims is emerging through our school system.
14
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
“
A True Community Initiative The Crescent Awards, are administered by
Voices from the educator community Dylan Chown, lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education, University of South Australia and a judge in the educator’s category said that we have many passionate and talented educators in our field, who have not received the same level of professional recognition and acknowledgment for their inspired educational practice or service, especially in priority areas and distinct forms of practice that are often not covered in independent schooling awards. It’s time that these impactful contributions to students and school communities in part through the outstanding practice of educators in Islamic education settings received due recognition. “The Australian Muslim community has
grown to around a million people, who through all walks of life, and building upon our shared long historical presence in this country, are now making a major contribution to Australia in the present. A new generation of Australian Muslims is emerging through our schools and educational settings and the communities they serve -through the Crescent Awards we want to recognise those young people demonstrating outstanding achievement, contribution, and service, and the leading educators and educator teams, as well as our schools who enable them to excel and pave the way for a brighter future for not only our community but our society,” Mr Chown said. Osman Karolia, Principal, Arkana College in Sydney and a judge for the Educator Lifetime Achievement Award said the Crescent Awards focused on the holistic development of Australia’s Muslims as contributors to society. “For example, the Crescent educator awards seek to recognise and appreciate educators who have had an all-round positive impact on students and not those who have only elevated a student’s academic performance. Because of this, the educa-
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
tor’s award is also open to other non-direct teaching roles such as student advisors and community liaison individuals, all of whom can influence students in a range of positive ways,” Mr Karolia said. He further added, “the school award seeks to recognise schools that promote outstanding education for our Muslims learners. The school awards are open to all schools as long as they demonstrate their contribution to nurturing Muslim learners and supporting Islamic values.” Nominate now If you know of students, teachers and schools who are worthy of such recognition, please either nominate them today or encourage them to nominate by sharing the link with them. Apply here: www.crescentawards.com.au Applications close Thursday 30 June 2022. Dr Sayd Farook is Head of Group Strategy at Crescent Wealth and Executive Director of Crescent Foundation. He is also a Senior Partner at DinarStandard, the global growth strategy consulting firm. ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
LIFESTYLE
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Understanding how your Energy impacts the entire creation
Princess R Lakshman
Your energy comes to you and through you to affect all of Allah’s creation. Subhaan Allah. Do you realise what this means? It means you have the beautiful mercy from Allah to use this powerful energy to impact the entire creation. Take a moment to observe your hands. Look at them closely. You will notice a slight movement. Close your eyes and feel the aliveness in your hands. That aliveness is called vibration. Vibration occurs because the atoms we are made of are constantly moving. It doesn’t matter whether the creation is in the form of solid, liquid or gas. Everything moves. Everything vibrates. This vibration enables things to transform from one state of matter to another. For example, water into ice or moth balls into
fumes that keep the bugs away from your cupboards. Even the dead body disintegrates into dust because of this constant vibration. The force that fuels this vibration is known as Energy. The law of energy states that energy does not stop. You can’t switch off energy. Energy continues. Everything you eat and drink, every thought you think, every word you speak and every action you perform is fuelled by energy which passes through you to impact the rest of creation. If your thoughts are negative, your feelings become negative and therefore your behaviours are negative which then impact upon your family, your community and sets off a ripple effect that impacts every being on this planet. Understand your energy and how it impacts everyone and everything around you.
Princess R. Lakshman is a writer, speaker, qualified clinical nutritionist, life coach and a counsellor. She is based in Sydney, Australia.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
PEOPLE Make a list of all the people you interact with daily. Beside each person’s name, write down how you feel after interacting with them. Name each feeling, such as, joyful, sad, angry. Once you are able to identify your feelings, you will be able to reject negative energies and absorb only positive energies from people. You do not have to break ties with anyone. Simply, be mindful of what to accept and what to reject, keeping in mind that whatever energies you accept from anyone else will absorb into your own life and pass through you to the rest of the world.
Make a list of all the foods and beverages you consume on a daily basis. Beside each, write down how it makes you feel. Acknowledge these feelings and decide which ones you wish to continue consuming and which ones you need to let go of.
THOUGHTS Write down thoughts that you obsess over repetitively. They be thoughts about your finances, your relationship, your appearance, any many more. Beside each, write down how it makes you feel when you think that thought. Acknowledge these feelings and decide which thoughts you can change into a gratitude statement. For example, if your thoughts are about lack of money in your life, change the thought into a gratitude statement such as, “Ya Allah, I am grateful for the abundance you have blessed me with. Everything I need, you provide immediately. Alhumdolillah.”
A Facebook friend is not a friend at farewell and funeral
Follow AMUST on Social Media @amustnews
Qasim Abbas
We know an English proverb: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Presently in this computer/ IT/internet/Facebook era, the new proverb about friend has become like this: A Facebook friend is not a friend at farewell and funeral. Is this modern proverb really applicable in practice? Well, let us analyse this. Imagine, a person having more than 2,000 “friends” on Facebook! Can you imagine his/her happiness? No worldly problem at all for him/her due to support of 2,000 plus friends! Is the above observation a reality? A fact? A fantasy? Or just emotional thinking? What did these “innovative inventions” like “chatting”, “internet friendship”, “SMS” etc bring into our lives? Cultural revolution? Or downgrading or morals? Presently millions of people, including teenagers, are wasting their and other’s precious time and energy on internet on such fantasy. Particularly, study of students is affected. The concept of “friendship” has been killed, where one internet user has thousands of friends, and more than 90% of these “friends” are not known personally to him/her. Other downgrading of morals has been brought by SMS, which is also a time killing device, and perhaps the time wasted on this should have been utilized in some concrete and useful activity. Some SMSians proudly boast that they send/receive more than 200 JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
Reconciliation Dr Reginald Naulty
messages each day!!!! How about message from Allah ie His Message, Holy Quran? How many of such people ponder over message of Allah in Holy Quran daily? One should give serious consideration to this aspect in view of precious time we have to spend in useful activity in our life bestowed to us by God Almighty. “O believers, Fear Allâh and keep your duty to Him. And let every person look at what he has sent forth for the tomorrow
(Day of Judgement), and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is All-Aware of what you do.” (Quran 59:18) Therefore, in light of above Quranic Verse, we should devote our time carefully, since time is much precious, and this life has been given to us by Allah only once. Qasim Abbas is Chartered Accountant, Cost Management Accountant, Arabic Scholar, multi languages writer and writing newspapers columns based on Quranic Verses.
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
More beautiful is the accord between souls than the moon`s halo, or the sun`s shadow in a desert grove, but the time must be ripe. Like the red leaves on the vine or the purple on the fig there is a waiting, and, as well, some artifice, and a deft touch of Providence before it is accomplished. Then they become a spiritual cocoon, they are both in tune for the work they must do. Dr Reginald Naulty, originally from Adelaide, has taught at Charles Sturt University and has been a prolific writer since 1972.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
15
AMUST
LIFESTYLE
NEWS 1-3
A CHECKLIST FOR PERFORMING HAJJ Farid Ahmed There is a proverb, “Well begun is half done” and for performing Hajj, that proverb is also very much applicable. By seeking to answer the questions posed in this checklist would broaden our understanding of Hajj, for achieving the goals for which Allah has prescribed the Hajj for and achieving the desired outcomes during and after the performance of Hajj: Do I know well about the Hajj?
Do I know the reasons why some Hajjes are not accepted?
If I do, then, do I share my knowledge with other Muslims for Da’wa?
Do I know the conditions from Allah for the acceptance of the Hajj?
If I don’t, then what effort am I making to know well about the Hajj?
What are those conditions? If I am planning to perform Hajj, am I fully prepared?
Right now, is Hajj an obligation on me? If not, what is my plan towards the eligibility for Hajj one day?
What are the important aspects in the best preparation for Hajj?
If yes, then, when am I performing the obligatory Hajj?
Have I got the Halal money to do the Hajj? Have I learnt every rule already or have I left it for the last minute?
Am I waiting to be older for performing my Hajj? Am I waiting to be perfect before I perform my Hajj? Do I know when Hajj becomes a compulsion on me? Is it old age or perfection or the ability?
If I have done my Hajj, what the Hajj changed in me? Or am I the same as before? After my Hajj, have I become a Da’ee Ilallah (Inviter to the path of Allah)?
Is hajj a priority in my life? Or is it in the bottom of the list?
What work am I doing in spreading the teachings of Hajj to others?
Do I know the benefits of the Hajj well?
Hajj is responding to Allah’s call. After my Hajj do I respond to Allah’s call five times daily by attending in Salah? Or in Halal and Haram issues? Or in the obedience of Allah in every aspect of my life? Has my Hajj made me a Muttaqi, a kind, generous and a peaceful person with good moral character?
Do I know the bad consequences if I do not perform the Hajj despite my ability? If I do Hajj, what is the right intention for doing it? Do I know, some Hajjes are not accepted?
Farid Ahmed is a survivor of Christchurch attack on 15 June 2019, a peace advocate, author of HUSNA’S Story and Quran teacher in Christchurch.
16
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
New scholarship opportunity for Muslim students Mei Nee Cheong
A new scholarship opportunity for Australian Muslim students offered through the Islamic Museum of Australia’s Patrons, was announced towards the end of May 2022. The Australian Muslim Academic Scholarship (AMAS) Program is a partnership between the Islamic Museum of Australia and universities across Australia including La Trobe University, the University of South Australia, Edith Cowan University, Western Sydney University and the University of Queensland. The aim of the program is to provide development opportunities for all future Islamic leaders across Australia, ensuring gender equality and equal opportunity to all. The program will support Year 12 graduates with high academic merits and/or young working professionals with leadership qualities to obtain graduate and/or postgraduate qualifications through one of our preferred university partners. Islamic Museum of Australia Patron’s Chairperson Mr Khalil Shahin AO said the Fund hopes to offer ten scholarships valued at $10,000 each in its inaugural year. “We’re committed to supporting students who experience barriers in their academic journey. The national approach is fundamental to reaching students who would benefit the most. To that end, we’re very pleased to work with universities in five states.” Islamic Museum of Australia Chairperson Azmeena Hussain OAM said she’s excited to see applications from people of diverse backgrounds. “This scholarship is for students who demonstrate strong leadership skills and academic performance, but who may also experience socio-economic barriers in their learning journey. Too often we see people from CALD communities miss out on academic opportunities for reasons that are out of their control, the scholarship contributes to correcting this issue,” said Ms Hussain. The partner universities echo their support for the national approach and a dual selection focus of academic merit and equity.
Pro Vice Chancellor, Engagement & Enhancement, Professor Alphia Possamai-Inesedy, Western Sydney University said, “Western Sydney University applauds the vision of the Islamic Museum of Australia to establish PhD scholarships for students studying at the University. This generosity will enable students to further their knowledge and to pursue their dreams.” More information about the AMAS Program is available from amasp.org.au The Islamic Museum of Australia’s Patron’s support the advancement of Australian Muslims in their academic and creative pursuits. The Islamic Museum of Australia is located in Thornbury, in Melbourne’s north. It is the only Islamic museum in the country and provides educational and cross-cultural experiences for all ages. The Museum is open 10am–4pm, Monday to Saturday. 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
Two Muslim teens recognised at Macarthur Youth Awards 2022
Aroosh Khalid Two Young Innovators Australia Team members have won awards in Macarthur Young Champions Awards 2022 ceremony held on Friday 27 May 2022 at Western Suburbs League Club in Leumeah. WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
Shayyan Ali and Sharmeen Ali were the award winners at the event organised by Rainbow Crossing Incorporated. Aroosh Khalid has done MPhil in Human Resource Management and based in Lahore, Pakistan. ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
UMMAH
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Response to ‘XinjiangPoliceFiles’ Shayida Ali On the morning of Tuesday 24 May, when I first looked at my phone I saw a post from my little sister that said, “I feel terrible, I am in pain.” I messaged her back immediately, asking “Are you ok baby girl? Who hurt your feelings? Where are you?” I feared someone must have done something very bad to her because she has become very tough over the years from living alone in Istanbul, and she barely posts anything about her feelings. When I was about to send her another text she shared the link ‘XinjiangPoliceFiles’, and said nothing else. I then realized what her pain was about. I was shaking, and I couldn’t look at Hawagul’s eyes. She still has tears in her eyes, and her face is telling me that she is terrified. What have they done to her that scared her so much? I couldn’t look at Anihan Hamit’s face, the 73 years old grandma. She has been arrested and mistreated ruthlessly instead of resting and enjoying her life like an elderly person is supposed to. I also couldn’t look at Rahila Omer, the 15 year old girl who looks so scared. She doesn’t know what the future holds for her inside the concentration camp. Another little girl with a huge, old black jacket and pink shirt caught my eye. Her head was shaved, and they had tried to make her look older with the jacket, but that didn’t change anything because she is so young and innocent. Later, I saw a lot more children with the same black jacket, some who were too little to predict their age. There are many other innocent children on this list in similar situations. I wonder where their parents are. What happened to them? How did they end up in a concentration camp? When are they supposed to go to school, play games, and grow up with their families?
Shayida’s father, Elijan Mamut, was abducted and arbitrarily detained by the Chinese government.
Although it has been mentioned that these lists of victims are those who were detained during 2017, and are only from Konasheher (Shufu) county, I still wanted to confirm if my father is on the list. This is because my father is currently detained in my hometown region, which is only about 20km away from Shufu. I searched for my father’s name, Elijan Mamut (and his Chinese name, Ailijiang Mamuti). I held my breath, not knowing what I would do if I saw his name show up. Would I click the picture? I thought, his head might be shaved, or he might have bruises on his face, or tears in his eyes. But his picture didn’t show up. Even though my tears keep rolling down my face I felt a little bit relieved because I don’t think I can see him like that. I continue to read the reports, and try not to look too much into the victim’s eyes because I wouldn’t stop myself. These files contain a long list of 300,000+ personal
records, including reasons for internments, police operation manuals including shootto-kill policies and security plans for the camp. There is even a whole article about Xijinping’s direction on mass detention. This is real, and this is the proof that the camps are real. It’s systematically organized and directed by the top leaders of China. I feel that indescribable pain my sister had, but it is somehow familiar. I had this shocking and helpless feeling when I heard my father had been taken to camps for the first time. I felt this again when I heard Mihrigul tursun’s, Zumret Dawud’s and Gelbinur’s testimonials about what was happening inside the concentration camps. I couldn’t stop myself from crying when I heard their speech. I still have nightmares about re-living their experiences. Despite their heartbreaking testimonies, the UN has failed to take immediate action, and there are still some countries that deny the exist-
ence of concentration camps and the Uyghur genocide. How can the genocide be denied when there is credible evidence of horrific crimes like forced organ harvesting happening? For years, the UN has failed to investigate and take needed actions against China to stop the oppression. Rather they continue to have strong ties with China. Now, the undeniable evidence of ‘XinjiangPoliceFiles’ has come into the spotlight, at the same time the UN high commissioner, Michelle Bachelet went on a trip to China. The UN has chosen their side; the high commissioner stood with the oppressor, but not the victims as she had promised. Uyghurs have waited for years, hoping that the UN investigation might change the fate of the victims. Unfortunately, there is still no word from the UN human rights high commissioner, despite all of the facts. I felt disappointed and betrayed after learning that Michelle Bachelet too was persecuted by a dictator, and was brave enough to fight for justice and equality when she was young. I sent her a letter before her trip, stating my admiration for her bravery and effortless work for human rights. Now I realize she didn’t give a damn about my words or any of my fellow Uyghurs who have begged for her to take action. Uyghurs are again left alone, but our desire for justice and our strength to fight is at its peak. The faces of our innocent brothers and sisters will forever stay in our hearts. The world failed to save the victims of the holocaust in the last century, and now Uyghurs have become the tears of this century. Shayida lives in Boston, USA, and is the mother of a new-born baby. Shayida’s father, Elijan Mamut, was abducted and arbitrarily detained by the Chinese government when Shayida was in college. Although she has been unable to gain contact with him, she continues to try and get her story heard, and research evidence about forced labor, torture, abuse, brainwashing, forced sterilization, and forced organ harvesting.
The incredible fiasco in Pakistan
Professor Jamil Farooqui
The opposition forces in Pakistan had been plotting to topple Imran Khan’s PTI government for months by various means and finally succeeded in doing so allegedly with the help of a foreign power in early April 2022. The mechanism adopted for overthrowing the elected government was to entice coalition members in the government as well as MP’s of PTI by various means including bribery and promise of attractive privileges. At this juncture two very significant and crucial questions come in our mind. One is why USA, a super power, was so much interested in ousting Imran Khan. Second is why the legislatures and leaders of Pakistan were so unscrupulous that they did not hesitate and were prepared to sell the national and public interest to for cheap privileges. America’s annoyance THE US is a super power and wants the world affairs to be determined according to its grand plan and wishes. As such, it safeguards its interests by defining what is democracy and what is dictatorship and what is terrorism and what is peace. It claimed that Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction without credible contrary to all facts and that Usama bin Laden was involved in the atrocities of 9/11 without credJUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
ible evidence. With self delusion, US leadership believes that it has superior economic and political strategies that can bring prosperity and peace to the world and it has the moral high ground to determine what is good for humanity. Anyone challenging America must be ousted from the political influence not only in world affairs but also within their own countries, hence the the culture of regime change consistently employed by US for decades. Imran Khan, an elected leader of a weak and poor nation was the first head of a state, particularly of a Muslim state, who became so courageous to dare say that he wanted relations with US at equal level, that is, as a friend and not as a Master. He further stated that he was shocked to know that Usama bin Laden was killed by American forces without taking Pakistan into confidence when it was an ally of America. Later on, he declared not to partner with US in wars against others and did not allow US forces to use Pakistan’s air bases. Recently, he did not yield to foreign pressure to condemn Russia for its military operation at Ukraine and took aneutral view that matter be decided by discussion and mutual understanding. Further, Imran Khan went to Russia to meet Putin against the wish of the super power raising eyebrows and annoyed the big power and was then warned
that he will be ousted and replaced by US friendly forces in Pakistan. The misfortune is that so called America as the champion of democracy, human right and political freedom did not allow others particularly weak nations to enjoy the fruits of these concepts. It seems that these are the prerogatives of the affluent nations that can do anything under the denomination of these notions. The weak nations have no right to have independent view and policy for the benefit their people but only to obey those with power and wealth. The unscrupulous leadership in Pakistan Pakistan in the process of developing as a nation has been under the influence of the West. Most Pakistanis feel proud to adopt Western culture to show superiority to others who do not follow it. Even now most of the educated and high-ranking persons wear Western dress and consider it a symbol of superiority. When America emerged as a dominant and powerful nation and influenced the affairs of the world by her tactics and power, the leaders, bureaucrats, officials and even intellectuals of Pakistan were influenced by dominant role of America in the world affairs and were happy to live under American patronage. America exploited this situation and used these high-ranking per-
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
sons for implementing her plan and strategy to dominate the region. America did not want Pakistan to be an independent and developed country America envisaged the potentialities of Pakistan and thought that if it will developed independently, it can change the political scenario of the region. Thus, America engaged Pakistan in superfluous activities and made it dependent on its meagre monetary and military help. Group of greedy, corrupt, unethical, amoral persons emerged and began to operate in the country under American patronage making Pakistan slavishly safeguarding American interests while they themselves benefitting in accommodating wealth and power. When in power, these Pakistani elites did not develop the country, instead collected money from different sources and deposited in foreign banks. They were only interested in money, power and leading luxurious life at the expense of the national interest. They were involved in endemic multi-generational corruption and in many criminal cases from financial mismanagement, bribery to disappearances and murders. Imran Khan, a proud Pathan and a highly successful iconic sportsperson honoured the will of people and stood firm in not submitting to anyone and is a ray of hope for the Pakistani civil society to deliver Pakistan as an independent nation on world stage. Dr Jamil Farooqui is the professor of Sociology at the International Islamic University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
17
AMUST
UMMAH
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
International Day of Families: Fleeing persecution, and separation from family Aishah Jacobs Every year on 15 May, the UN observes the International Day of Families to reflect on the importance which the international community attaches to families as basic units of society as well as its concern regarding their situation around the world. In 2022, we have seen an increase in the number of conflicts around the world, with many families becoming separated in the midst of a conflict or during the process of fleeing or migrating. In honour of the International Day of Families 2022, Advocates for Dignity (AFD) hosted a webinar on Wednesday 18 May, focusing on the effect that despotic regimes have had on families from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Turkey. The webinar was opened by AFD President, Mr Mehmet Saral, who introduced the moderator for the webinar, former ABC journalist John Cleary. The speakers included: 1. Prof Sophia Pandya from the California State University of Long Beach, who talked about Turkish refugees escaping the Erdogan regime in Turkey 2. Emeritus Prof William Maley, former Professor of Diplomacy at the ANU, who talked about Afghan refugees escaping the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. 3. Dr Olga Oleinikova, senior lecturer from the Social and Political Sciences Program at UTS, who talked about Ukrainian refugees escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The webinar began with Prof Pandya reflecting on her studies of Turkish families
18
that crossed the borders of Turkey to Greece through the Maritsa river, to flee persecution as a result of President Erdogan’s regime after the attempted coup of 2016. She noted that in 2022, over 84 million people have become displaced to political turbulence and conflict around the world, with at least 35 million of those being children. “When we think about the refugee status, crossing a river is only one stage of their journey. For some, the journey may include arrest, exploitation, human trafficking, sexual assault, conlfict and death,” Prof Pandya said. She further added, “it is actually women and children who die in higher rates, and they are more vulnerable, especially to violence and sexual assault. Women and girls suffer disproportionately from poverty, family separation, language barriers, lack of access to resources.” Prof Pandya’s research found that the impacts of the trauma of displacement resulted in depression, anxiety, and a diminished
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
ability to parent effectively, which is how displacement becomes an intergenerational issue within families. In addition to enduring the poor living conditions, a series of relocations, and mental health problems, especially PTSD, children can also face poor care due to the diminished mental health of their parents. She then provided an example of an interview with a displaced Turkish mother in Greece. “A mother of twins said she arrived in Greece with her twins, and couldn’t provide diapers for them. Now that they are 2 years old, she expresses that she does not want to play with them anymore. She said ‘I don’t want to be with them, I can’t handle them’. She did not want to be a mother. This is a family crisis, there are many mothers who are so emotionally and psychologically affected that their family lives are in crisis,” Prof Panya said. Prof Maley spoke about how displacement has been such a major part of the life of Afghan families for decades, highlighting that what displacement fundamentally does is tear apart support networks that are fundamental in sustaining families in functioning societies. Prof Maley stated that several specific problems have arisen for Afghan families both within and outside of Afghanistan as a result of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan as of August last year. The first is physical safety; people are being attacked/becoming victims of terrorist strikes. “Each victim is a member of a family. This will affect the internal dynamics of the family, they may lose their breadwinner, their children, their elders. It is very difficult for families to move forward when they are dealing with the overwhelming grief of these attacks,” he said. Prof Maley continued, “the very idea of family is complex, it can very significantly vary in different countries. About 1 million people have fled since August last year. The conception of family which tends to be applied by western bureaucracies, which can be relevant when people are seeking to use sponsorship mechanisms to reunite fractured families, does not cover their relation-
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
ship with aunts, uncles, cousins and other extended family members…disruption to family life then affects their ability to function on a day to day basis.” Dr Oleinikova started her presentation with an image of destruction in the Kyiv Region, which has severely suffered from the Russian invasion of Ukraine this year. She stated that the human costs of war are severe, with 7.1 million people that have become internally displaced, and 5.5 million refugees that have fled the country. This equates to 25% of the whole population of Ukraine being displaced. Within this escalating refugee crisis an estimated 55 children are forced to flee Ukraine every minute. “Men between the ages of 18 and 60 can’t leave Ukraine because they can be called to the front at any time. Those who are fleeing Ukraine are mostly women and children as a result, as well as the older generations, so mostly vulnerable groups are being displaced,” Dr Oleinikova said. As the war started, Dr Oleinikova established a small fund to cover relocation costs for Ukrainian refugees including visa applications, document translation and much more, to assist in the first week of the war when these resources weren’t available as they are now. She was working with 10 volunteers on the ground in Ukraine. “My grandparents live in Kyiv, they are 85, they were surviving the first very harsh months thanks to food and medication provided by volunteers, otherwise they would not have been able to maintain their basic survival needs,” Dr Oleinikova said. She then recounted many cases of mothers and children which she knew of personally, who were forced to cross the borders to flee Ukraine during the freezing winter months. Many of these cases had safe endings, however some included the loss of mothers and fathers volunteering to protect their country. The program was concluded with Mr Mehmet Saral thanking each of the speakers for their insightful talks.
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
UMMAH
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
The Indo-Pacific Strategy and its connotation Kazi Haq The US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) has become a buzzword among interlocutors at present days. The reason behind this is that, according to the USA, the Indo-Pacific region has become an epicenter of great power competition. Leaving behind all other great oceans, it would be a general inquisitiveness to all of us that why the USA is putting so much emphasis on IPS. It would be hard to define IPS in a simple term, but at the same time, it also does not operate in a vacuum. Undoubtedly the USA has a comprehensible plan behind creating this idea, although Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in 2007, mentioned for the first time in the Indian Parliament, “confluence of the Two Seas is coming into being”. The main elements of IPS are security, economy, and ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Facts remain that FOIP is the main element of IPS. The USA, unlike China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), did not invite other countries to join IPS or has not been placed for signing/ratifying by interested countries. Some strategists termed it as the USA’s strategy to counter the rise of China which is generally accepted by all interlocutors. Even China came down heavily against IPS and labelled the IPS to counter the rise of China. We may be able to guess some ideas from the speech of former secretary of US Defence Secretary, James Mattis, “all nations large and small are essential to the region, in order to sustain stability in ocean areas critical to global peace.” The USA also changed the name of US Pacific Command (PACOM) to be called “Indo-Pacific Command”. The good thing about IPS is that the rights and privileges of small countries, whatever the size and population, have been taken into confidence through IPS. The Indo-Pacific region has been identified by many in different ways. The Department of Defence, USA, Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, June 2019 defines the region as “a vast globe from the west coast of the United States to the western shores of India”. However, it doesn’t say anything about the upper and lower limit. But surely, the eastern part of China including the South China Sea (SCS) and East China Sea (ECS) in the north, and Australia in the south fall within the Indo-Pacific.
The present day’s maritime concern indicates the contemporary hotspots of Indo-pacific are Korean Peninsula, ECS, SCS, and Taiwan Strait; and most significantly, the strategic maritime trade route Malacca Strait is situated at the heart of Indo-Pacific. The Indian Ocean is a major maritime trade route and also the largest source of marine resources. The Indo-Pacific is a concentration of 60% of the world population and one-third of international trade. The stability of this region is obviously a great concern to not only the littoral countries of this region but also to other developed nations, eg, the document, “France and Security in the Indo-Pacific”, says that any “crisis or conflict in this area is likely to affect adversely the interests of France as well as Europe’s”. The vulnerability of the Malacca Strait is supposed to be a concern to all Indo-Pacific countries including China. China very well knows her vulnerability, as such, China is desperate to maintain connectivity with the Indian Ocean through Pakistan, Myanmar, or Thailand. Why does China attach too much importance to this issue that needs watchful study. Chinese relations with its neighboring countries especially in the Indo-Pacific region give a very concerning picture of China’s intention. China has made the SCS a zone of tension by drawing nine-dash lines and claims most of its Islands making enmity with almost all the ASEAN (Association of Southeast
Asian Nations) countries – notably Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, etc. Killing almost 130 people, China occupied Paracel and Spratly Islands from Vietnam. In 2015, despite a public pledge by President Xi Jinping that “China does not intend to pursue militarization” of the Spratly Islands, China placed anti-ship cruise missiles and long-range surface-to-air missiles on the disputed Spratly Islands in 2018. Natuna/Riau Island has started becoming a maritime debacle over its claim by both China and Indonesia. China’s relationship with Taiwan is extremely bitter than ever. China’s territorial claim over the Senkaku Islands of Japan made the Sino-Japan relationship tense. Over the installation of the US’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defence system, the China-South Korea relationship remained very sour. And we all know that the relationship between China and India remains tense over the territorial claims. All these activities by China in the Indo-Pacific region don’t reflect China’s respect for rules base order at seas and FOIP. So, all developed countries like Europe, America, and Australia along with other littoral countries of the Indo-Pacific have become increasingly worried about the evolving security threat of this region. To exercise ‘freedom of navigation of operation’ (FONOP), the USA along with allies deployed their naval ships in SCS wa-
ters. Royal Naval Australian ships also participated with the British carrier strike group last year to exercise FONOP in the disputed water. India also joins with the USA, but their ships are mainly deployed in the Indian Ocean. To counter the allied naval forces, China is also deploying its naval armada in and around the Indo-Pacific region. In the mid of May, one Chinese navy ship was seen operating off the coast of Canberra, Australia. From the above scenario, it is evident that the Indian-Pacific region has become a convergence of the world’s maritime powers and thus became a contested region. SCS dispute and the military buildup in the Indian-Pacific region are a matter of great concern. After the WW-II, the USA emerged as a superpower and exercised its maritime supremacy all over the oceans of the world. Rising China has challenged the USA’s “freedom of navigation” in the Indo-Pacific region. So, the USA along with its allies wants to restore rules-based order at seas and thus ensure the USA’s supremacy around the world. Kazi Haq is a retired Commodore from Bangladesh Navy and an electrical engineer. He served as Director in Prime Minister’s Office, National Parliament, and Managing Director of a dockyard. Kazi is the founding member of BIMRAD(Bangladesh Institute of Maritime Research and Development). He is now based in Sydney.
Concern over Islamophobic MP visit to Australia AMUST Media There is a great community concern over the invitation of Indian politician Tejasvi Surya to participate in an Australia India Youth Dialogue conferences scheduled for Melbourne and Sydney from Monday 30 May to Saturday 4 June 2022. Tejasvi Surya is an Indian politician of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a member of Hindu right wing organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is a Member of Parliament representing the Bangalore South constituency. He is also the current president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of BJP. Tejavi Surya has expressed clearly incendiary anti-Muslim views and has stirred hatred and violent sentiments against Indian Muslim minority. A group of concerned academics, global activists from the Indian Diaspora and members of various civil society groups belonging to the Australian Alliance Against Hate (AAAH), have raised serious concerns about the invitation forwarded to BJP leadJUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
er Tejasvi Surya from the Australia India Youth Dialogue (AIYD). The Humanism Group THP, NRI Tejasvi Surya Affairs, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, AFIC, Islamic Council of Victoria ICV together with and many other organisations in Australia has sent a letter to the sponsors and the relevant authorities to protest at the the invitation of this person to Australia. “As evident in his profile on the AIYD Website, Mr Surya identifies himself as an RSS Swayamsevak,” the letter points out.
“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is a militant Hindu organisation that borrows from the tactics of European fascism to transform’different people’ into ‘enemies’. Groups that have experienced RSS-related discrimination and violence for decades include Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Adivasis (Indigenous), and Dalits (historically positioned at the bottom of the hierarchical caste system),” the letter stated. The letter was sent in the hope of providing a clear overview of the politician’s incendiary remarks and activities in the hope that the government would reconsider his visa status and that sponsors would
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
reconsider whether they want to put their names behind such an event. Some of the sponsors have withdrawn their sponsorship for the event while one sponsor denied that they sponsored the event and were at a loss as to how their name was included. Initially several universities and corporations did pull out their logos from the website of the Australia India Youth Dialogue event after a number of groups and activists protested against inviting a BJP MP known for his amplified nationalism on social media. The Australia India Youth Dialogue (AIYD) is a young leaders’ dialogue between Australia and India. It is held in India and Australia on alternate years; the AIYD claims to host 15 of the “best and brightest young minds from each country at an annual conference”. According to their website, AIYD “enables a rich exchange of ideas between emerging leaders to think creatively about how the Australia-India relationship may be strengthened through their own work and efforts”.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
19
AMUST
EDUCATION
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
Equal not Same: Shifting the market society paradigm Dr Asrar Talukder Disclaimer: I read Quran in the light of science, philosophy, ethics, and public policy. This is not a theological discussion, but some rational thinking shaped by the Quran. When we talk about feminism, most of the time we confuse between equal and same. I have one girl and one boy. My daughter is relatively better in language and weak in math and my son is the opposite. As a father I want them both to be good in fundamental literacy and numeracy. So, I’m taking them to some extra tuition; maths for the girl and English for the boy. This is a very small example but a fundamental one when developing the equal access to opportunities between men and women in public policy. Thinking more about different preferences and tendencies of my children, I found out that these have been coming from very far back in the time. During our hunter gatherer past, which was almost 85 percent of our human history, men were hunter and women were gatherer. In the food table, men brought proteins and fats and women brought carbohydrates and vitamins. In terms division of labour, men and women were working in different areas but in terms of home economics, they were providing the same value. They were equals.
Then comes agriculture. Before machination, significant parts of agricultural production lines were at around home premises and women used to have significant contributions. Same was for cottage industry. The manufacturing was at home premises and women had big participation in the production. However, with the advent of steam engines and industrial revolution when food processing and manufacturing went to the mills and factories, the roles of women became mutually exclusive choices; home making or bread wining. One role requires home stay and the other makes them away from home without any effective arrangement for their children. Since then, it has been a continuous struggle for women between home and away. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, women in the Western world went to the mills and factories at the cost of their tra-
Faith Ecology Network initiative on biodiversity Zubeda Raihman The International Day of Biodiversity was on 22 May. Since 2020, Faith Ecology Network (FEN) has had a focus on the wonders of biodiversity. “Building a shared future for all life” is the slogan of this year’s International Day of Biodiversity, chosen in order to continue building momentum and support for the post 2020 global biodiversity framework at the postponed #COP15’s UN Biodiversity Conference to be held later this year. They go on to say, “Biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better.” In the context of biodiversity collapse, the current work on a post 2020 global biodiversity framework, and the call of our First Nations to heal Country, the FEN Steering Team has led events and prepared resources to listen and learn from knowledge holders and practitioners who help protect species and life systems. This is so that we, people of diverse faith traditions and none, will grow in our awareness and practice. At this special time, we invite you to look at and use some of these excellent resources: Ten Ways Faith Groups Care for Biodiversity Restoring Biodiversity: Faiths Acting Locally Biodiversity Emergency: Faiths Regenerating Ten Ways Faith Groups Care For Biodiversity: 1. Listen to and Learn Wisdom from the Elders 2. Grow in your sense of Place
20
3. Learn from the ecological Sciences 4. Collaborate with and learn from local groups 5. Become eco-citizens 6. Bring nature into worship/gatherings 7. Develop and use green calendars 8. Be an active voice 9. Grow in the wonder of nature 10. Share successes Biodiversity Emergency: For too long, we humans have been exploiting and destroying our planet’s ecosystems. We have become disconnected from the natural world. In 1992 1,700 scientists warned that human beings and the natural world were “on a collision course”. Biodiversity loss is now at an emergency level. Australia’s Life Support Systems are on Life Support was how ecologist Professor Lesley Hughes titled her presentation at this World Environment Day webinar held by the Affinity Intercultural Foundation in collaboration with FEN. She gave us a punchy overview of a February 2021 report on Ecosystem Collapse from the Tropics to Antarctica in which she was one of 38 scientific authors. This was followed by religious reflections by two FEN members. This webinar is useful to share with your faith community. youtube.com/watch?v=9nINkF5TWK0 We would love your support to employ a P/T facilitator to help grow FEN.
ditional families. Whereas the women in the Eastern world including the Muslim world remained at home at the cost of their personal economic dependencies. The capitalist system provided us an individualistic market society, where the person’s worth and social status is defined by his or her own buying capacity.
In the Muslim world, we have not been able to create an alternative to the market-society paradigm. As a result, despite the enormous success of the Muslim women to keep the national birth rate positive, their housewife status has become the symbol of their backwardness. Our religion tells that man and woman are equal but not the same. Their primary roles are different but of equal values. They are supposed to contribute and complement each other in the family and society. However, if we don’t find an alternative to the market society paradigm for our economic growth, our theology alone will not be enough to solve the real cultural and economic problems that our girls are facing and will be facing in their day-to-day life. Read full version: https://tinyurl.com/5n7rw6uj Dr Asrar Talukder is a marine geologist and a passionate community activist. He is based in Perth, Australia.
Moonsighting: Quranic and astronomical perspectives Qasim Abbas Islamic scholars insist on physical sighting of the crescent for the commencement of new Islamic month, based on Prophet Mohammad’s (s) authentic Hadith. “Whenever you sight the new moon (of the month of Ramadan) observe fast, and when you sight it (the new moon of Shawwal) break it, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then observe fast for thirty days.” (Hadith, Muslim) Indeed during that period in human history, local moonsighting was the only means of determining the commencement of lunar months in the absence of watches, timetables and calendars based on astronomical calculations. For Suhoor and Iftar in Ramadan, the divine order is: “And eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct from the blackness of the night at dawn, then complete the fast till night.” (Quran 2:187) For starting of Ramadan, these scholars follow physical sighting of new moon, as per Hadith while for Suhoor and Iftar times, as per Quranic verse stated above, no one goes outside in open area, to make sure that they have stopped eating Suhoor before “whiteness of the day has become distinct from the darkness” and they have started Iftar when sun has set ie the night has started. Instead, they rely on prayer time table, having sunrise and sunset times, prepared in advance by scientists who are experts in astronomical calculations based on the solar system. Hence, while time table based on astronomical calculations for the solar system is followed for prayers, Suhoor and Iftar, moonsighting time table based on lunar sys-
tem is generally ignored by the traditional scholars. Both solar system and lunar system are from Almighty Allah, wWho controls both systems, as per following verses from Holy Quran: “The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed.” (Quran 55:5) “He (Allah) makes the night for rest and tranquility, and the sun and moon for the reckoning (of time).” (Quran 6:96) “It is He (Allah), Who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty), and measured out stages for her; that you might know the number of years and the count (of time).” (Quran 10:5) There are many scholars who follow astronomical calculations for new moon following divine commands of Allah as stated above without insisting on physical moonsighting. Other scholars while following solar system calculations refuse to follow lunar system calculations insisting on determining the commencement of Islamic lunar months by physical moonsighting. This causes division among Muslims and social disharmony specially at the blessed times of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid alAdha that should showcase Muslim unity as ordered by Allah: “And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah (The Holy Quran), and be not divided among yourselves.” (Quran 3:103)
Zubeda Raihman is the Principal, ZKR Accounting and Taxation Services; President of Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia, Inc. and is based in SYdney, Australia.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
BUSINESS
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
Launch of EKONOMOS in Sydney Dr Frank Alafaci Amidst the lush premises of one of Sydney’s five-star hotel chains, The Australian Business Summit Council Inc hosted a Who’s Who of business leaders, diplomats and politicians at the 2022 ABSC Inc Annual Gala Dinner on 5 May 2022 to formally launch the third issue of EKONOMOS, the annual business affairs magazine published by this leading management consulting forum. ABSC Inc President for the fourth consecutive year, Dr Frank Alafaci welcomed more than one hundred VIPs and guests to this signature event at The Langham, Sydney, including the Ambassador of Turkey, the High Commissioner of Pakistan, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Ukraine, the Consuls General of Spain, Austria, Poland, India, Chile, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Turkey, the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors, and the state Shadow Minister for Small Business, Multiculturalism and Property. Since its registration as an incorporated association at New South Wales Fair Trading in late 2018, the ABSC Inc has served the needs and requirements for Australian businesses to expand, bolster profitability, and achieve sus-
tainable competitive advantage. Under its charter, the ABSC Inc seeks to promote the bona fide rights of Australian businesses by enhancing Australian entrepreneurship in the domestic market and across the international community. EKONOMOS, the ABSC Inc’s annual business affairs magazine, presents well-written reports and penetrating appraisals of the current business trends and forces that impact on economic growth by authoritative expert figures in the fields of finance, trade, investment,
politics and diplomacy drawn from the Australian and international communities. As an evident Greek-sounding play on the English term that denotes the study of the distribution of wealth and income, EKONOMOS Issue 3, 2022 comprises fourteen article contributions by the ABSC Inc President Dr Frank Alafaci; HE Mr Shingo Yamagami (Ambassador of Japan); HE Dr Mykola Kulinich (former Ambassador of Ukraine); HE Mrs Hellen De La Vega (Ambassador of the Philippines); HE Dr Joseph Agoe (High Commissioner of
Ghana); HE Mr Mohammad Sufiur Rahman (High Commissioner of Bangladesh); Mr Joseph Rizk AM / OAM (CEO/Managing Director, Arab Bank Australia); Ms Lee-May Saw (Barrister, Fredrick Jordan Chambers); Mr Gary Garner (Director, The Garner Partnership Pty Ltd); Mr Kian Ghahramani (Principal, RSM Australia Pty Ltd); Ms Laura Robbie (Managing Director, YouGov Australia); Mr Schon Condon (Managing Principal, Condon Advisory Group); Mr Art Phillips (Founder / Director, 101 Music Pty Ltd); and Mr Stephen Parker (Director / Digital Transformation Specialist, 1Vision OT). Heading the eminent VIP speakers at the 2022 ABSC Inc Annual Gala Dinner, the Ambassador of Turkey, HE Mr Korhan Karakoc and the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, HE Mr Mohammad Sufiur Rahman joined with Mr. Joseph Rizk AM/OAM, the CEO/ Managing Director of the Arab Bank Australia Limited, the Hon Mr Mark Coure MP, NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors and the Hon. Mr Steve Kamper MP, NSW Shadow Minister for Small Business, Multiculturalism and Property to commend the Australian Business Summit Council Inc for its remarkable successes and continuing efforts to promote Australian businesses. Dr Frank Alafaci BA (Hons.), MA (Hons.), Dott. Lett., PhD is an academic and the President of the Australian Business Summit Council Inc.(ABSC Inc.), based in Sydney.
Emerging halal investments in Australia Partners, says. “If a pack a day smoker cuts down to five cigarettes a day, can they label themselves a ‘non-smoker’ of course not. Ethical investing has become the latest How is it possible then for managed funds and buzz word for investment manager to investment managers to simply reduce exposprout to investors when talking about sure to controversial areas, and retain expofinancial strategy for the future. sure and still label themselves ‘ethical’? In fact, in 2020, the Australian responsible “For Haven Wealth to brand as ethical then investment market reached $1.281 billion, a it must be a pure as possible, not watered significant increase from $983 billion invested down conventional investment. This is why in 2019 according we had our fund to figures revealed Shariah certified, to by the 20th Reshow how truly ethsponsible Investical it is. Australia’s ment Benchmark Muslim population Report developed are experiencing a by the Responsible shortage of competInvestment Assoitively priced investciation Australasia ment alternatives. and KPMG. We strive to address The proportion of this issue.” responsible invest“Haven Wealth is ment assets under dedicated to providmanagement rose ing a multi asset balto 40 per cent from anced style invest31 per cent in 2020, ment for individuals despite an only two and institutions alike per cent increase in to invest in. Chariall professionally ties in particular are managed funds in interested in talking Haven Wealth Co-founders Umair Javed Australia over the to us about investing & Nick Heuzenroeder. same period. their capital for two reasons: firstly, as the peoThe report highlights the ‘significant gap’ ple most likely to donate money are those who between those that claim to be practicing re- have the strongest social agenda and, second; sponsible investing and those that truly embed that a charity cannot afford the reputational those practices through formal policies and risk of investing in companies that support accountability commitments. the exact thing they are there to address. We “Let’s define the term ‘ethical’,” Nick Heu- are concerned that thousands of charities and zenroeder, managing director, Haven Wealth AMUST Media
JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
non-profits registered in Australia are not fully aware of what their capital is invested in.” Haven Wealth’s ‘Ethical Absolute Return Fund’ is invested in Australian shares, property and Australian fixed income. This domestic focus helps reduce geopolitical risk and currency risk – two factors being influenced heavily by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between Israel and Palestine. “The portfolios we have built are tailored for each client so we include the sectors and markets they desire,” Heuzenroeder says. “In this
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
part of our business, we invest in equity and property markets in US, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Singapore, as well as in Australia. “We do not expect our initial product to be a ‘one size fits all’,” Heuzenroeder says. “Hence why we custom build investment portfolios to suit the needs of wholesale investors and do so for an ultra-competitive cost. Haven Wealth is currently working with family offices, large institutions and super funds to custom build ethically focused portfolios with a combined $850m tenders currently underway.”
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
21
AMUST
#SOCIAL
NEWS 1-3
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
Social Spotlights Tu Le
@TuLe2166 Last Friday we held a thank you and farewell dinner for Chris Hayes. When he announced his retirement, the Vietnamese-Australian community wanted to show their gratitude to Chris for his years of support, advocacy and friendship as the member for Fowler. It was a wonderful evening, attended by over 350 people including old staff, community leaders and members of the community who love and appreciate Chris and wanted to give him the best send off for his retirement! Photo credit: Quang Le
Unity Grammar
@UnityGrammar
Major Robotics Announcement Unity Grammar’s very own STEM Cells team has been selected to represent Australia at the FIRST Global Challenge in Geneva, Switzerland. They will be known as “Team Australia”
Helping ACT
@HelpingACT
Silent Signs
@SilentSigns
I’m so touched to receive a certificate of appreciation from @ihic_earlwood for my advocacy and volunteering work; making sure their programs are accessible for people with hearing loss. @bekcramp also received one for her constant Auslan interpreting and going above and beyond to learn about Islam and our culture/community. Even choosing to wear the hijab and learning Arabic! Thank you to @ihic_earlwood staff/ volunteers for also working tirelessly behind the scenes and all the technical set ups/ Auslan live streaming as well! Alhumdillah! While we do this for the sake of God or to help others, it’s nice to be recognised for all the hard work that goes behind the scenes.
22
BOOMERANG 4-8
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
Congratulations to Sister Diana Abdur Rehman and Canberra Islamic Centre Committee for holding End Of Ramadan or Eid Festival today at the Canberra Islamic Centre Monash. The event was highly successful and provided an opportunity for all Canberra Communities to gather together on a glorious autumn day and celebrate the happy occasion with the Muslim community. #helpingact stall was attended by many attendees who appreciated its work. HelpingACT is proud to have organised pick and drop to five Afghan Refugees families for them to participate in the joyous activities that included horse riding. My commendations to Manar Ahmad arrange pick and drop. It also organised a Biryani Lunch for them prepared by Sawagat Restaurant Tuggeranong and distributed long life food and, Mother’s Day gifts donated by Lee Tammy. David Pocock, David Smith, Kim Rubenstein Dr Fuxin and Br Ahmad Yusuf l, all visited the stall and appreciated the ongoing work. HelpingACT is thankful to many of its supporters who donated generously today. Needless to say that we really needed some donations for our food operation continued. Congratulations again to all organisers of the Festival. We are many but we are one In celebrating together we are next to none. Mohammed Ali
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
as they compete alongside 180 nations from around the world. The STEM Cells team is the only Australian team that has been nominated to participate in this exclusive event. It is a huge honour to be selected and we are so grateful for this opportunity. You can read more about the event that is described as the “Olympics of Robotics” at https://first.global Go Team Unity…Go Team Australia!!
Brothers In Need
@Brothers In Need
Homeless Outreach Program - Sydney Food, drink, sanitary packs, PLUS free haircuts were provided to members of our Homeless Community during last night’s Homeless Outreach program at Martin Place. A huge thank you to the staff and students from Unity Grammar, for their excellent contribution towards the program. A special mention also to Hair and Beauty Kingdom for bringing free haircuts to community members in need! #Legends Join us on our journey to continue helping those around us locally. https://brothersinneed.org.au/donate/
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022
LIFESTYLE 14 - 16
UMMAH 17 - 19
EDUCATION 20
BUSINESS 21
#SOCIAL
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST AMUST
TOP 4
TOP 6
Tweets
Memes
# JusticeforShireen
Reconciliation NSW Today is National Sorry Day - a day to acknowledge the mistreatment of First Nations peoples who were forcibly removed from their families, communities #familymatters The 26th of May was selected as National Sorry Day because on that date in 1997, the Bringing Them Home report was published. The report made many recommendations, including formal apologies from federal and state governments, and compensations to help deal with the consequences of the white Australia policies. John Howard who was the Prime
JUNE 2022 / ISSUE 199
Minister at the time, refused to issue an apology, but in 2008 Kevin Rudd delivered an apology on behalf of the government and Australia people. However, sorry means you don’t do it again. The situation is worse now than it was 20 years ago, with more than 20,000 First Nations children in out-of-home-care. We thank Common Ground for putting together this resource. #NationalSorryDay #nationalsorryday2022 #StolenGenerations #OurKidsBelongWithFamily #BringThemHome #FamilyMatters
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
23
NEWS 1-3
BOOMERANG 4-8
COMMUNITY 9 - 12
AUSTRALIA 13
AMUST
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
OUR READERS ARE READY FOR QURBAN Advertise your Qurbani services in AMUST, the voice of Australia's diverse Muslim community.
A Time of Faithful Giving
Take the opportunity to promote your qurbani services to the community at a time of faithful giving. Most Muslims have intentions to support organisations, businesses, projects and initiatives to support their community. Ensure that your company is at the forefront of their minds.
Why Advertise in AMUST
AMUST has a finger on the pulse in the community especially with our themed content and strategic distribution during Eid. We are a resource of information, as well as provide an incredible platform to showcase organisations and businesses to the community for their support.
Book by Wed 22 June
For Media Kit & More Information email info@amust.com.au
24
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
ISSUE 199 / JUNE 2022