Issue 201 - August 2022

AMUST

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES www.amust.com.au

Multicultural News & Views

ISSUE # 201

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AUGUST 2022; MUHARRAM 1444

Islamic Well-Being Index 2022

BOOMERANG PAGE 7

Intensive lobbying:

Aussie pollies flocking to Israel

PH: (02) 9158 3020

How to harmonise your married life LIFESTYLE PAGE 14

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Digital Newspaper Available

EMAIL: INFO@AMUST.COM.AU

My husband was sentenced to 25 years UMMAH PAGE 17

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Leadership and Quranic stories of bird soldiers EDUCATION PAGE 20

Islamic Bank Multicultural Youth Australia: Employment & Careers of Ethical & Shariah Expo in Auburn compliant banking Ms Lisa Lake, Mayor of Cumberland City Council (right) with Shukri Omar.

Photo: Luis Veniegra - Sharpfocus Photography.

Zia Ahmad Jan Koum, Whatsapp founder.

Mohamed Ainullah Recent research by Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has concluded that Australian politicians are taking significantly more privately-sponsored trips to Israel than any other country translating into pro-Israel government policies over a number of years.

Similarly, it has been reported that Pro-Israel lobby groups have poured millions of dollars into recent Democratic primaries in a number of states in USA managing to beat candidates critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians.

One significant donor is WhatsApp founder, Jan Koum donating $2 million to American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful lobbying group in America advocating pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the US government.

Information gathered by the APAN from the parliamentary register of interests shows 18 percent of all sponsored trips between June 2018 and April 2022 were to Israel, with the next closest destinations being Taiwan (12%), and the USA (11%). continued on page 2

Zia Ahmad The Somali Australian Community Association of NSW (SACA) held a well attended Multicultural Youth Employment & Careers Expo in Sydney on Saturday 30 July 2022 from 10 am to 2 pm at Auburn Town Hall.

The Somali Australian Community Association of NSW (SACA) based in Lidcombe is a not-for-profit Somali community organisation that strives to be an umbrella body for the Somali organisations in NSW. SACA NSW provides support for the activities of member organisations, youth, women and coordinates much needed projects within the Somali community residing in NSW with the support of Local, State and Federal Governments as well as working with various businesses and organisations to empower the Somali community in NSW. Invited guests at the event included the

Mayor of Cumberland City Council Ms Lisa Lake, Councillor Glen Elmore, Councillor Diane Coleman, Councillor Sabrin Farooqui, Mr Zia Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief, AMUST, Mrs Mehar Ahmad President, Seena Incorporated, Ms Thida Yang from Multicultural NSW, Ms Julia Finn MP (State Member for Granville) and Dr Ahmed Deria, school educator and former school principal.

With the help of experts from a wide range of professions/industries several workshops were conducted including resume writing, mock job interviews, financial literacy training participated by a large number of young people from the multicultural community.

The formal program was MC’ed by Ayan Gurey and Zuhair Mohamed where a number of speakers addressed the attendees including Cumberland City Council Mayor Ms Lisa Lakes, Dr Ahmed Deria, Mr Zia Ahmad and spokesperson from Auburn Police. continued on page 3

In a media release dated Tuesday 5 July 2022, the IBA group announced that finally Australia’s first-ever Islamic Bank has now been licensed, creating the Islamic Bank Australia, the first Australian bank to offer a full suite of retail and business banking services, all without interest and fully Shariah-compliant for the first time in Australia.

IBA Group Pty Ltd, now Islamic Bank Australia, has obtained a Restricted Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (Restricted ADI) authorisation from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) allowing it to build systems, implement processes and test with a small number of customers in 2023.

IBA Group was originally founded by thirteen passionate Muslims who wanted to bring Islamic banking to Australia for the first time. Together with the original founders, IBA Group is owned by Abreco Group, a large UAE-based company.

Islamic Bank Australia is not open for business as yet.

Initially it will be operating as an Authorised Deposit-taking institution with a “Restricted ADI” licence which allows IBA to build systems and test products before 5 July 2024 and then obtain Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) approval to launch publicly. continued on page 3

Meet & Greet for doctors and healthcare professionals Saleha Khan The Australian Islamic Medical Association (AIMA) and the Islamic Medical Association of Queensland (IMAQ) held a joint event named the “Meet & Greet for Junior Doctors and healthcare professionals” on Saturday 30 July in Gold Coast at the Australian International Islamic College Cararra.

The event was open to students and newly graduated practitioners from all health care fields – medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health.

The attendees listened to a diverse group of guest speakers featuring Keynote Speakers Senator Fatima Payman, the newly elect-

ed Senator for Western Australia and the country’s first Afghan-Australian Federal Parliamentarian.

Other speakers included Dr Muhammad Kahloon, President of Australian Islamic Medical Association (AIMA), Dr Fatima Ashrafi, President of the Islamic Medical Association of Queensland (IMAQ) and Dr Omer Shareef, Vice-President of IMAQ. The event was also addressed by upcoming young doctors including Saleha Khan, a final year medical student from Bond University and the current National GPSN Chair of Australia and Mustafa Hamimi, a final year Griffith University medical Student. continued on page 3

Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd

From left: Dr Abid Majid, Dr Osama Shahid, Dr. Salih Mohamed, Dr Fatima Ashrafi, Senator Fatima Payman, Dr Muhammad Kahloon, Dr Zarin Yesmin and Saleha Khan (MD5).

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NEWS

Intensive lobbying: Aussie pollies flocking to Israel Continued from page 1 While both Taiwan and the USA are amongst Australia’s top 10 export markets, Israel is a very minor trading partner – representing 0.1% of Australian exports. Sponsored trips to Israel also do not mirror community movements – in 2019, less than 0.2% of Australian overseas travel was to Israel.

A surge in political spending by organisations funded by hardline supporters of Israel, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is reshaping Democratic primaries in the US over several months.

AIPAC has spent $6m on to contest in Maryland, more than any other organisation, to oppose Donna Edwards angered some pro-Israel groups during her stint as a representative by failing to back resolutions in support of Israel over its 2011 war in Gaza and other positions.

She also backed the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran when it was strongly opposed by the Israeli government and therefore AIPAC. The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), a private company criticised for minimising Israel’s human rights record, takes more parliamentarians to Israel than any other group.

“Parliamentarians must consider the flowon impact of these junket trips on Australian public policy,” Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President, Bishop George Browning said.

“We need to ensure this doesn’t lead to reluctance to hold Israel to account.”

Former Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, was also critical of the findings, saying “APAN’s report confirms

what was never in doubt: the Israel lobby is the largest foreign influence operation run in Australia – at least since the end of pro-Soviet propaganda and marketing during the Cold War. “The trips and the other activities have only one objective and that’s to see that no matter what Israel does – spreading settlements, for example, or bulldozing Palestinian homes – it will never be criticised by Canberra.”

A decade ago, a Fairfax investigation indicated China was the top destination for lobby trips. However, the current research echoes a 2018 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which found Israel was again the top destination for federal politicians between 2010-2018.

During the period under study, Coalition parliamentarians were almost twice as likely than Labor parliamentarians to take sponsored trips to Israel. Furthermore, Coalition parliamentarians were four times as likely to take AIJAC-sponsored trips to Israel than Labor parliamentarians.

A small number of crossbench parliamentarians also took sponsored trips to Israel.

When analysing sponsored trips to all other countries, roughly an equal number of Coalition and Labor parliamentarians took these trips, with a small number of crossbench parliamentarians also taking sponsored trips.

Only six parliamentarians visited Palestine in this period.

Collectively, there were twice as many Labor and crossbench parliamentarians who travelled to Palestine than Coalition parliamentarians.

Read the research report: https://tinyurl.com/5n93zcej

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-8

COMMUNITY 9 - 10

AUSTRALIA 11 - 13

Tech companies must define terrorism to uphold human rights

AMUST Media Tech companies must define terrorism rather than relying on UN and country designation lists, says a report from experts from across the globe launched by the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.

The report set minimum legal standards to guide tech companies on the most coherent approach, prompting discussion about problems with some nation’s laws, including Australia’s definition.

The inclusion of religion as a cause or motive of terrorism was explicitly recommended against as being inconsistent with terrorism law and human rights.

Australia, NZ, Canada, UK and Facebook are the only countries and company in the world to formally endorse ISIS as ‘reli-

Muslim Lawn

gious-motivated.’

Removing ‘religious cause’ would ‘reduce the likelihood of law or policy being used to further misconceptions and create counterproductive outcomes.’

Care is taken not to give ‘undue credence’ to ‘self-proclaimed values’ when it comes to white supremacy. The ‘same logic and approach should apply across the board.’

GIFCT could prompt change by making the development of terrorism definitions by tech companies a requirement of membership.

The Five Eye Governments (except for the US) must also update their terrorism definitions to focus on political and ideological motives alone.

The GIFCT report, ‘The interoperability of Terrorism Definitions,’ can be downloaded at https://tinyurl.com/2m69tx2t

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

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ISSUE 201 / AUGUST 2022

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 18

EDUCATION 19 - 21

SOCIAL 22 - 23

Multicultural Youth Employment & Careers Expo in Auburn

The panel, from left: Dr Ahmed Deria, Hafsa Ibrahim, Shukri Omar and Zia Ahmad. Photo by: Luis Veniegra - Sharpfocus Photography.

Continued from page 1 Ms Maryan Omar, President of SACA NSW said, “The aim of the Multicultural Youth Employment and Careers Expo was to showcase the incredible array of career and training opportunities for young Somali and CALD people residing in Western and South-Western Sydney.”

More than 20 stallholders were at the Expo, representing local employers, support services, employment agencies, training organisations, government bodies, Western Sydney University and TAFENSW and the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST. “We wanted to inspire young Somali and CALD people by providing this great opportunity to connect with as many employment, training and career avenues as possible,” SACA NSW Youth Programs Coordinator, Ms Ayan Gurey said.

This free event offered interactive demonstrations and industry insights to give young people confidence about job opportunities in Western and South-Western Sydney In addition to stallholders and expert trainers, over 200 young people attended this event and each were presented with a certificate of appreciation by the Mayor of Cumberland Council, Ms Lisa Lake.

The expo concluded with a panel discussion answering a series of posed questions based on their profession, area of expertise and experience. The panelists included: 1. Mr Zia Ahmad – Editor-in-Chief, AMUST 2. Dr Ahmed Deria – Educational consultant with NESA 3. Ms Shukri Omar – lawyer 4. Ms Hafsa Ibrahim – Optometrist The questions included “We would like to thank Multicultural NSW, NSW Department of Communities & Justice and the NSW Government for providing funding for this project, the In-kind contribution of MCCA Islamic Finance and Investments (Australia) as well as the amazing group of young volunteers who made this event possible and all the guest speakers, stall holders for their services,” Ms Maryan Omar concluded.

The Somali Australian Community Association of NSW can be contacted via the following means if you wish to take part in their future programs/events: W: www.sacansw.org.au E: sacansw@gmail.com Facebook: fb.com/somalicommunitynsw/

Photo by: Luis Veniegra - Sharpfocus Photography.

NEWS

AMUST

Islamic Bank of Australia: Ethical & Shariah compliant banking Continued from page 1 The main restriction is that IBA can only accept up to $2 million in deposits during the restricted period and when both IBA and APRA are satisfied that everything is working well, IBA will offer its products to the general public, hopefully Mr Dean within two years.

Gillespie, Australia’s Muslim IBA Chief population grew from Executive Officer. 2.6% in 2016 to 3.2% of all Australians in the recent 2021 Census. Nearly a million Australians identify as being of the Islamic faith.

“With the number of Muslims in Australia growing by more than 6% every year, we’re excited to be bringing this new type of banking to the Australian community,” Anthony said Islamic Bank Wamsteker Australia CEO Dean Gillespie. Mr Gil- IBA Chair and Director. lespie was formerly Head of Home Loan Distribution at Commonwealth Bank, and Head of Mortgages at Bankwest.

“We won’t bank gambling companies.

We won’t bank big tobacco. We won’t bank alcohol companies. We will support charitable organisations for the greater good. We have already started this journey by planting trees and fighting homelessness. We’ll do everything we can to be a fantastic community bank that customers will be proud of.

Islamic Bank Australia is an incluDr Mohamed Ali El Gari, Member sive bank – you won’t IBA Shariah have to be a Muslim Aussie to bank with Committee. us,” said Mr Gillespie.

Islamic Bank Australia’s Chair, Anthony Wamsteker, said “This is a big milestone for Australia as it provides choice, introduces diversity in Australian banking products, and provides financial inclusion for the Islamic community.” Mr Wamsteker was the CEO that founded ME Bank.

Products at Islamic Bank Australia will

be endorsed by internationally renowned Islamic scholars to ensure they are Shariah-compliant. The IBA Shariah Committee is chaired by Dr Rashid Raashed PhD, one of IBA directors, Imam, Islamic thinker, expert on Islamic law and Shariah scholar on Islamic banking.

Other two members of the IBA Shariah Committee Dr Rashid include Dr Mohamed Raashed, Chair Ali Elgari, Professor of IBA Shariah of Islamic Econom- Committee / ics and the former Director.

Director of the Centre for Research in Islamic Economics at King Abdul Aziz University, Saudi Arabia and Professor Dr Ashraf Md Hashim, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ISRA Consulting, a senior researcher at International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) and Professor at the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF).

Islamic banking is based on non-interest-based banking and is built on the concept of partnership between the customer and the bank, rather than the bank simply handing over money and charging interest.

For savings accounts, banks pool depositors’ funds and use them for ethical profit-producing activities, and then shares these profits generated with the customer – like a partnership between the depositor and the bank.

The original deposit Professor Dr Ashraf Md amount will be guarHashim, Member anteed, but the actual profit returned over IBA Shariah Committee the term may vary.

Home finance is based around co-ownership, with the bank charging rent to the customers when they are living as a tenant in the bank’s share of the property (instead of interest).

Mr Gillespie previously wrote to state and territory premiers calling for changes to stamp duty to exempt double taxation of some Islamic transactions; several jurisdictions are either changing as a result (e.g. ACT, Tasmania) or considering the changes.

Mr Gillespie also said that Islamic banks were inherently ethical, refusing to deal with certain industries.

Meet & Greet for doctors and healthcare professionals Continued from page 1 The event was catered with a filling lunch and the unique chance to get to know our future Muslim colleagues in healthcare.

Nearly 80-90 people were in attendance at the event and a huge success at that!

Appreciating the gathering Senator Payman said, “What a fantastic room to be in, just looking around. These are rooms we are going to go to with rooms filled of people with incredible calibre, dedication and discipline, who have dedicated their lives to serve humanity.”

“This is modern Australia, and you should be carrying yourself with pride to not only be proud Muslims, but proud Muslim Australians,” she said.

Dr Kahloon during his address said, “It’s important to know where our Muslims stand within Australia, 60% of Muslims are from overseas, we are the third fastest growing religion in the world. In this year, our employment and economic participation compared AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

Dr. Aslam Jabbar, Dr. Mohammed Ashraf, Dr. Abid Majid, Saleha Khan (Final year Medical Student), Dr. Fatima Ashrafi, Dr. Mohammed Kahloon, Mustafa Hamimi (Final year medical student), Omer Hassan (Second year medical student)

to general Australians who have 45.7% in service only 32.5% of Muslims within employable fields. So how can we change this?

This is why we are here.”

Saleha Khan talking about the next gen-

eration of doctors in Australia said, “As Muslims within the healthcare professional we can to bring a sense of a community and belonging within this profession, a support system that lies outside our own workplace.

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We hope to unite and work together to participate in medical projects, community development and raise awareness about impacts on Muslim doctors.”

AIMA and IMAQ are representative organisations that aim to unite and inspire Muslim healthcare and serve humanity.

AIMA organisational structure comprises of a central and branches in states and territories of Australia.

Muslim healthcare professionals from the significant proportion of the Australian Health Workforce. Their membership body reflects the diversity of professions, grades, ethnicities and localities within the Muslims workforce.

Saleha Khan is a final year medical student from Bond University and the General Practice Student Network (GPSN) National Chair of Australia. She is based in Brisbane and hopes to follow into a career of Psychiatry or Paediatrics in the future.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

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AMUST

BOOMERANG

NEWS 1-3

BOOMERANG 4-8

COMMUNITY 9 - 10

AUSTRALIA 11 - 13

Indian diaspora vilified and threatened by Hindutva hate groups Amit Bharti Members of the Indian community living in Australia have been vilified as Hinduphobic, anti-Hindu and subject to beheading threats by Hindutva hate groups.

“Our hatred knows no bounds”. Who would have thought that these words spoken

by Simon Bolivar in the early 1800s will be played out by a group of Hindutva thugs in 2022 in Melbourne.

It all started with Australian Hindu Media taking offence to Halal food being served at an Indian restaurant, a cocktail named Indian bride, and a mural of Gods sharing a meal in suburban Melbourne.

Soon pictures of the owner were shared on Australian Hindu Media’s Facebook page, Twitter handles and across various Facebook groups.

People were urged to give a fake one-star rating to the restaurant, soon one member of the group under a fake handle Sonu Singla started circulating private photos of the couple and disgusting comments like the owner’s wife is for sale were cheered by the mob.

The restaurant was flooded with calls of violent physical threats including calls of beheading. Anyone who took a stand for them was termed anti-Hindu and Hinduphobic.

One Facebook user called out the hate and misogynistic comments made by the users. In return, she was bombarded with a torrent of abuse and threats.

Her work information was shared on Twitter and details of her Facebook post and people she tagged were also shared by Bharti Kundal, from Australian Hindu Media, a known hate monger on Twitter.

Very soon she was labelled as a member of ‘sar tan se juda’ (beheading) gang. She was called Hinduphobic for one of her old Facebook posts where she had raised the rape issue and was termed as anti-Hindus by these goons.

In another instance, a couple decided to visit the restaurant for a bite. They checked in on Facebook and posted stating the place has a good vibe and the food is great.

Their pictures were instantly shared by a fake profile in a Facebook group called Indians In Melbourne – Official. The group has close to 50,000 members and is run by Amit Singh Jadaun.

Just before the pictures were shared, however, the couple was removed and blocked by the group admin thus raising suspicion that the fake handle is run by Amit Singh Jadaun himself.

The group Indians in Melbourne – Official is known to make regular calls of genocide and violence against Sikhs and Muslims. It is a shame that Amit Singh Jadaun who runs the group sits on the Victorian Multicultural Commission Board.

It is suspected that the group has lot of fake handles managed by Amit Singh Jadaun himself to amplify hate against minority groups.

The couple since then had received many violent threats. When they were informed about their pictures being shared in the group by another friend they changed the privacy setting on their pictures so people outside their friends could not see them.

The hate group celebrated it as a victory with Bharti Kundal calling it as him running away and deleting the pictures.

She even put up tweets telling people about the profession of the couple. In one tweet her

followers called them Khalistani, a slang used by Hindutva groups to abuse Sikhs or people from Punjab region. It must be noted that the couple is neither from the region of Punjab nor are part of any separatist movement.

As if that was not enough they used people in India to post pictures of the couple on Twitter with the husband’s face replaced with that of a pig and the wife’s with that of a female dog. They also tagged Tajindar Bagga, a member of the Indian BJP party on the post.

Tajindar Bagga recently attacked the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi and is currently out on bail. One of the partners amongst the couple is from Delhi and now fears for the safety of their family in India. In one message there were also threats that they will find the family members in India and beat them.

Another message from one of the group members called them Hiranyakshapa, a demon in Indian Mythology and asked people to show them the ‘Virat roop’. In Indian mythology, Lord Vishnu, slew Hiranyakashyapa

with his bare hands by ripping his heart out in his ‘Virat roop’. This was a clear call for murder.

Fearing the safety of his family, the husband has since been unable to go out. Thus impacting his ability to earn livelihood for his family.

Many complaints have been made to both local and Federal Police. However, no action has been taken yet against these goons.

Who would have thought that a country like Australia which embraces diversity and love will be hijacked by a handful of Hindutva goons who claim to be protectors of religion?

It must be noted here that Hindutva is not Hinduism, a religion followed by the majority of people from India.

Hopefully just like hate has no boundaries, love too has no boundaries and we shall find a way to bring justice to these thugs and let love and peace prosper again in this beautiful land.

Monkeypox: Opportunity to learn from Islamic health protective system

ities.

In today’s world, first the causes of the diseases are commercialised to the hilt and then the solutions are commercialised in a big way. The psychology of market is that if there will be no problems, there will also be no need of solutions.

If healthcare market is to prosper, markets of the problems must also prosper.

Third, Islam provides a perfect health protective system, and the international health organisations must learn from its three dimensional approach of Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Fundamental Prohibitions.

Fourth, unfortunately, several Muslim countries particularly Arab countries are also fast moving towards the commercialisation of the practices prohibited by Islam.

They must set an example by not only effectively banning them within their own countries but also by building pressure on international organisations to ban them at the global level.

If the world does not listen to the call of God, more and bigger pandemics will continue to emerge and consume human lives.

Dr Javed Jamil The 19th Century began with the pandemic of Swine Flu which killed more than 100 million people while the second biggest killer since then has been HIV/AIDS, which has killed around 40 million during the last 35 years.

Other major killers before the rise of COVID-19 have been HPV virus (which causes Cancer of Cervix in females), Rabies Virus and Corona Virus. Now the WHO has declared Monkey Pox as a world emergency.

All these diseases have shown that the practices declared Haram (Prohibited) in Islam are largely responsible for massive mortality and morbidity.

Swine Flu spreads due to pig farming necessitated by increase in consumption of pork. HIV and HPV have direct relation with promiscuity, homosexuality, prostitution and drugs.

All these substances and practices are prohibited in Islam. (HPV largely spreads in women having relations with uncircumcised men.)

COVID-19 is again believed to have originated from the consumption of meat of animals not permitted in Islam.

Furthermore, many of these pandemics spread and have killed more people in the countries, where night life is flourishing as big market.

More than 60 million people have already died of COVID-19 and now, Monkeypox has just started hitting the news headlines, and it has already been proven to have direct

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relation with sex.

More than 16000 have already fallen ill and the number is expected to rise rapidly.

According to Researchers at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, the sexual transmission component of a monkeypox outbreak that has affected hundreds of people—mostly men who have sex with men— in at least 27 countries outside of Africa.

According to a new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, out of the 528 confirmed cases reviewed, 95% are believed to have transmitted during sex between men.

Monkeypox may not be as dangerous as

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

COVID-19 in terms of mortality, but it can make huge numbers of people bed-ridden or confined to their homes for several weeks, causing huge burden on economy.

What do all these statistics prove?

First, health needs to be given higher position than economics to preserve life and lead a healthy lifestyle.

Second, any substance or practice that has direct relation with dangerous diseases, especially pandemics, cannot be allowed in the name of “Freedom of Choice”, which is nothing but a ploy in the hands of the market forces to commercialise human susceptibil-

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Dr Javed Jamil is a thinker and writer with over twenty books including his latest, A Systematic Study of the Holy Qur’ān”. His other books include “Justice Imprisoned”. “Economics First or Health First?”, “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Roadmap”, “Qur’ānic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Vol: Health), “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough”, “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”.

He is currently Chair in Yenepoya University Mangalore. His email address: doctorforu123@yahoo.com.

ISSUE 201 / AUGUST 2022

LIFESTYLE 14 - 16

UMMAH 17 - 18

EDUCATION 19 - 21

BOOMERANG

SOCIAL 22 - 23

The Islamic Calendar, Muharram and Ashoora

The Islamic calendar commences from the year when Prophet Mohammad (s) and his companions migrated from Makkah to Madinah, a landmark in Islamic history known as Hijrah or migration.

The Islamic New Year 1444 After Hijrah (AH) commenced on 1 Muharram, corresponding to Sat 30-Sun 31 July 2022, the first month and is based on 12 lunar months determined by the sighting of the new moon.

Hijri month are 29 or 30 days making the Hijri year 11 days shorter than the solar or Gregorian calendar, with one year coming to 354-355 days rather than 365 days.

The significance Hijrah lies in the fact that the Prophet and his companions left their ancestral homeland, their families and friends for a higher cause, to protect religious freedom, dignity of humans and in order to establish a just society that respects freedoms, equality, and fairness.

The 10th of Muharram or Ashoora is a day of great significance in Islam as it commemorates the births of several Prophets as well as is the day that Muslims believe the world was created and the day that it will come to an end.

Moreover Ashoora is also considered to grandfather when he challenged the tyrant be the day when Moses (a) led his people and established the Quranic rule that life is towards freedom from the slavery of sacred but still, when the objectives the Pharaoh in Egypt. of life are under threat, martyrdom Fasting on the day of Ashubecomes essential to remind the ra, being kind to dependgenerations of the significance ents and increasing charity of justice, liberty, and pursuit are actions exhorted to all of happiness.

Zia Ahmad Muslims.

The martyrdom was to However, historically eliminate despotism, against Assalamu the most significant event might is right, and fascism to Alaikum by far that occurred on this create a just society that valGreetings day after the advent of Islam ues liberty, equality and freeis the martyrdom at Karbala dom. of Peace of Imam Husain (r), the blessed Lessons of courage, patience, grandson of Prophet Muhammad (s). sacrifice, and standing up to oppression Imam Hussein (r) lived the legacy of his and injustice are universal takeaways from

EDITORIAL

AMUST

AMUST ISSUE # 201 FRIDAY 5 AUGUST 2022 6 MUHARRAM 1444 News

1-3

- Multicultural Careers Expo - Islamic Bank of Australia

4-8

Boomerang

Courtesy Al-Jazeera.

- The Islamic Calendar - Dealing with anxiety in politics - Islamic well-being index 2022

Community

9 - 10

- Empower conference: Muslim youth - Muslims recognised in ACT - AIMA inaugral dinner

Australia

11 - 13

- Stories of migration - Reunion of Jamia Alumni

Lifestyle

14 - 16

- Showcasing joy of live theatre - How to harmonise married life - How to prevent Osteoporosis

Ummah

17 - 18

- My innocent husband sentenced - Why does the world need Khalistan

Education

19 - 21

- Progress through science and tech - Leadership, gender and Quran

Social the martyrdom of Imam Husain (r) and his companions.

The month of Muharram should be dedicated to Hijra and martyrdom for justice, equality and liberty to remember the sacrifice and the movement towards establishing justice.

Ashoora is a reminder to all Muslims that in order to serve Islam and humanity, we must engage in spiritual self-sacrifice as well as physical sacrifice on demand.

The Islamic calendar ends with reminders of sacrifice during the Eid-ulAdha celebrations and then begins with more reminders of sacrifice in Muharram on the day of Ashoora with the beginning of the new year.

22 - 23

- Social spotlight: Albanese - Reliving Hajj at Unity Grammar

Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in articles, and Letters to the Editor, Website Comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Australasian Muslim Times.

Readers comments AMUST Team Re: Fatima Payman: Austral- the world.

In just one lifetime our society has gone ia’s youngest senator and the through a huge transformation for the better. first hijabi in Parliament The election of Fatima to parliament where there are already two Muslim ministers, is an indication of the inclusiveness of the new government and a sign that Australia is changing.

When I attended Melbourne University in the 1960s I took part in demonstrations demanding an end to the White Australia Policy and we were vilified as race traitors for that.

The notion that there were non-Anglo, non-Christian cultures worthy of respect, members of which were worthy of election to our legislature, was so foreign that you sometimes wondered if you were wrong and white Christians were really destined to rule

The positive changes are of course always threatened by reactionary ideas but the platform of the accepted has been raised.

Fatima is a beacon of that change.

Bilal Cleland

• Newspaper • Website • Email Newsletter For more info, Email info@amust.com.au AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

SAY

I’m United States’ citizen & proud to see Ms Fatima as a senator of Australia’s parlement . I wish her all the best in her career.

Naeem Abbas Congratulations to Fatima. She will provide a good example of the Australian Muslim community living in Australia.

Mohammed Hoque

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Chasm within Pacific Islands Forum

Who is Responsible: The West, China, or Pacific Nations?

Kazi Haq

Allegedly, Mr Sogavare is favouring China to stay in power, such as, security of Honiara is outsourced to Beijing, actively mulling to establish a government-owned media which is nothing but will be his propaganda, stopped five Australian aid workers from entering the country while it allows Chinese advisors and praises Beijing as a “worthy partner”, etc.

@AbrahamConference

2022

ABRAHAM CONFERENCE Historically, the Abrahamic religions shaped lives and civilisations. In the last century, they are becoming increasingly marginalised, seen as a matter of private devotion and personal morality at best, or divisive and violent at worst. But religions remain a powerful social force. With the issues that we face in our globalised, pluralist world, how can we recover faith in Faith?

SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2.00 PM - 5.00 PM

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Audience Q&A Join the conversation

TICKETS: $15 OR $10 (CONCESSION) Purchase at: events.humanitix.com/2022-abraham-conference Mindful of COVID, masks are recommended.

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AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Australia is also accused of prioritizing its coal over the Pacific “family”. However, the Australian new Labor leader assured climate issue as their priority and announced to reduce the greenhouse gas to 43% by 2030. Given the decades of negligence by the West, how far the Pacific leaders will be contented remains a big question.

The desperate pacific nations looking for great powers to address their crucial concerns invited China to the Pacific. Out of frustration, the Pacific nations started to shift their allegiance to China. China also appears to be desperate to break through the dominance of the West in the region. It exudes its dudgeon by calling the PIF leaders to attend a virtual meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the same day of the leaders’ summit.

However, it was not allowed to hold.

Rejoining Kiribati into the PIF has become almost uncertain.

Besides, the risk is that if the COP27 and the West do not address their core concerns, more nations would be tempted to leave the forum, placing regional unity in disarray.

Many think tanks in the West expressed concern about growing China’s influence in the Pacific region, accusing China of breaking the status quo. In the absence of aid from the West, if China comes with all kinds of economic uplift and training aids for these nations, then why raise the alarm if the countries involved are unwilling.

The West should find out lacking why these nations sway toward China.

“China has

already started gaining support from the Pacific leaders in its quest to propagate the Chinese Communist Party doctrine in dealing with its ethnic minorities

Religion for the 21st Century: Recovering faith in Faith

KEY SPEAKER

Kiribati switched its allegiance to one China the next day the Solomon Islands did in 2019. After visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Kiribati in May 2022, Kiribati formalized over ten agreements with China “to further elevate cooperation” between the two countries. The deal includes refurbishing and expanding a strategic airfield in Kanton Island, 1,800 miles away from Hawaii, that would surely raise the alarm bell in the Pentagon.

Until recently, China has been successful in making more than 40 bilateral agreements with the Pacific nations. China has already started gaining support from the Pacific leaders in its quest to propagate the Chinese Communist Party doctrine in dealing with its ethnic minorities.

Making the West flabbergasted, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, and lately Vanuatu joined with 69 countries to back a statement to the Human Right Commission in Geneva that announced issues concerning Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet are China’s internal affairs.

Over the decades, these tiny nations’ economies remained stagnant due to a lack of engagement by the West. Presently, their great concern is the climate change-related sea-level rise. PIF communique also expressed great concern on the climate change-related issues and declared a “climate emergency”.

The West has so far failed to address the concerns of the Pacific nations which is also evident from the speech of US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who spoke virtually at the meeting of PIF. “We recognize that in recent years the Pacific Islands may not have received the diplomatic attention and support that you deserve … we are going to change that,”. So she announced USD600 million to Pacific coffers, and new embassies in Kiribati and Tonga, She said.

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Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) concluded the 51st meeting (11-14 July) in Suva, Fiji, without the presence of Kiribati.

Even President Taneti Maamau of Kiribati was not responding to phone calls when tried by some forum leaders. The abysm within the forum started in 2021 when five Micronesian countries signed a communique to withdraw from the PIF on the issue of the Pacific forum leadership dispute. However, after intense negotiation, four countries joined the meeting except Kiribati.

The absence of Kiribati has raised the question of PIF unity. The nidus of great powers’ strategic competition in the Pacific raises the question of who lays the egg.

Amidst the contest in the region, the Pacific leaders in recent years have started to shift their allegiance from Taiwan to one China.

China punishes the countries in terms of economic retaliation that support Taiwan.

Palau’s economy has been shattered as China stopped its citizen from visiting the islands because it supports Taiwan.

The security deal between the Solomon Islands and China in April 2022 raised the alarm bell in the West, following a series of reactions by the USA and Australia. Although the PM, Manasseh Sogavare of Solomon Islands, assured that his state would never be the military base for China, it raises obscurity as he entered into a security agreement with China while he said the USA, Australia, and New Zealand would remain preferred security partners.

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.

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Dealing with anxiety in politics Bilal Cleland In the recent federal election which witnessed an upsurge in anti-government feeling which saw Teal candidates take over major conservative seats, the major issues were integrity vs corruption and the demand for a sane response to climate warming.

It resulted in the removal from the parliament of the Treasurer and many Coalition members.

The Prime Minister became a backbencher and the new Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, looked set to take it into oblivion.

When the former PM, preaching at Margaret Court’s Pentecostal church in Perth, declared his lack of faith in government and the United Nations, there was a dropping of jaws across Australia.

Government under Morrison had dealt kindly with Margaret Court’s church.

During COVID, the WA Margaret Court Pentecostal church which declared that the blood of Jesus would protect parishioners from the deadly virus, still got more than $500,000 in Jobkeeper, plus a $50,000 Federal Government cash flow boost. [Independent Australia, 21 July 2022] The Morrison government appointed its people to many key positions.

The Grattan Institute “A better process

for public appointments” Report No. 202209, July 2022, drew attention to what is going on.

“Across all federal government appointees, 7 per cent have a direct political connection. This figure rises to 21 per cent among those positions that are well paid, prestigious, and/or powerful. For the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), an important body that makes rulings on government decisions, the figure is 22 per cent after a significant rise in recent appointments with political connections.”

“This is not just a federal government or a Coalition phenomenon. Our analysis shows political appointments are also common at state level. Federal and state governments ignore and subvert good process.”

The Grattan Institute suggests an independent body should be responsible for such appointments.

Also of interest was the focus Scott Morrison put on the question of anxiety in his 50 minute sermon.

“All of this anxiousness, all of this anxiety … all of this feeling about the bills that are pouring in, all of this feeling about the anxiety, and then the oil of God, the ointment of God, comes on this situation and releases you, if you will have it, and receive His gift,” he said.

Succumbing to anxiety was “Satan’s plan”, he said. [The Age, 18 July 2022] No notion of accountability or seeking justice. All will be smoothed over.

Over a thousand years ago Ibn Hazm in

Muslim Spain dealt with the question of anxiety too. He was a literalist but did not try to create division based on religion.

In Pursuit of Virtue, paragraph 79 he wrote :”Put your trust in a pious man, even if the religion that he practices is a different one from your own.”

In answer to the question as to how to deal with anxiety, he concluded: “You should therefore understand that there is only one objective to strive for, it is to dispel anxiety; and only one path leads to this, and that is the service of the most high God. Everything else is misguided and absurd.”

What does this entail?

Ibn Hazm was very clear: “Do not use your energy except for a cause more noble than yourself. Such a cause cannot be found except in Almighty God Himself: to preach the truth, to defend womanhood, to repel humiliation which your Creator has not imposed upon you, to help the oppressed. Anyone who uses his energy for the sake of the vanities of the world is like someone who exchanges gemstones for gravel.” [In Pursuit of Virtue]

Islamic Well-Being Index 2022

Maldives tops Indonesia and Malaysia Dr Daud Batchelor Maldives was newly included for IWI 2022 assessment amongst 33 Muslim majority counties for which religiosity (Deen) data is available from World Values Surveys. Former leaders, Indonesia and Malaysia, share second place.

That these three demonstrate exemplary well-being reflects Islamic resilience in facing COVID-19 pandemic’s travails. They are also societies where women play large roles contributing to societal well-being.

Two prominent countries, Turkey and Pakistan, displayed the greatest one-year fall of rankings due to economic and political problems, exacerbated by the pandemic. Tunisia dropped from second place last year, coinciding with the appearance there of authoritarian rule.

Stellar performer is Kosovo, newly-independent in 2008, although recognised by just half of UN-member states. Kosovo shows the sharpest well-being rise. Kosovans are ethnically Albanians, while Albania itself stands last in IWI 3.0 rankings. Kosovo itself placed last in 2013 and 2021 Islamic Well-Being Indexes.

The Islamic Well-Being Index (IWI) aims to assess the mean Islamic condition of Muslim citizens in majority Muslim countries.

Two countries facing existential threats did well in the new rankings for Muslim countries (IWI 3.0-2022).

As Maldives is the 2022 leader in Islamic Well-Being, one may expect it to be a virtual paradise. However, the sea that provides its allure, also causes great unease as sea-level rise from global warming threatens to overwhelm the island nation within 60 years.

The faith of Maldivians however, remains high.

The 2022 Index follows the approach detailed in the writer’s 2021 article “An Enhanced Islamic Well-Being Index (IWI 2.0AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

Islamic Centre Grand Friday Mosque in Male, Maldives’ largest masjid.

AMUST

How different are the world views of this long dead scholar and our immediate past political leader.

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

Coded In The Big Bang!

Fazlul Huq

2021) for Muslim Countries,” based on the Higher objectives of Islamic Law (Maqasid al-Shari‘ah) published in Islam and Civilisational Renewal, journal of IAIS Malaysia.

This is an enhanced version of “A New Islamic Rating Index of Well-Being for Muslim Countries,” published in 2013.

The five essential maqasid – protection of religion, life, intellect, lineage, property – as proposed by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (died 1111CE), are the salient purposes of Shari’ah by general consensus (Kamali).

Benefits of the IWI are that it offers a scorecard that highlights leader and laggard countries and provides insights for countries that aspire to move to a higher state.

The IWI indicators provide a way to spot problems, set targets, track trends, understand outcomes, and identify best policy practices.

Fifty majority Muslim countries could be assessed for the four Maqasid fields of Life, Intellect, Family and Wealth. Based on composite averages, Kazakhstan (1), Tunisia (2), and Kosovo (3) did best in rankings.

Morocco and Oman declined most.

Leaders in the Life Objective are UAE (1), Albania (2) and Jordan (3). Those that improved most were Kosovo and Maldives, while Morocco and Algeria showed the greatest decline.

Leaders in the Intellect Objective are Kyrgyzstan (1), Albania (2), and Bosnia Herze-

govina (3).

Leaders in the Family Objective are Tunisia (1), Iran (2), Kazakhstan and Syria (3), while Morocco and Jordan fell sharply. Divorce rates increased worldwide, particularly in Morocco and Oman (doubled) in 20192020, exacerbated by pandemic lockdown restrictions, but especially in Morocco following 2004 revision of the Moudawana family code, which allowed women to request a marriage dissolution.

Leaders in the Wealth Objective are Palestine (1), Burkina Faso (2), Malaysia and UAE (3). Palestine’s position is not significant since it reflects paucity of data.

Comparing overall Muslim country averages for IWI indicators with World average values, shows Muslim countries often fare worse than World averages, except in Religiosity, homicide rates, Gini coefficient, ecological footprint, and infant mortality rates, where they perform better.

This year’s Index identified leading countries that showed resilience facing the pandemic, but also those that were severely impacted (Turkey and Pakistan) and declined most in rankings.

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

WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

From bang of the fireball at time zero of the universe about fifteen billion years ago.Inspired and ever deemed to be complex, as particles fused and aggregates queued.

So has life begun and continues to evolve.

As all march towards the Final Abode, willingly on the straight path or by force.

Do you not ponder about His intent and design!

In order to comprehend Signs within and beyond.

As goodness provides the lift and force and evil takes you back or makes you astray.

Do you not have the urge to tune and resonate.

To bind in truth and justice, love and compassion.

But fragment not in greed and hatred.

So let us reject evil and embrace goodness, and as always rejoice in His Glory and Praise.

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.

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Hijra: A journey that changed the course of human history Dr Aslam Abdullah The Islamic New Year 1444 After Hijra (AH) commenced with 1 Muharram, corresponding to 30-31 July 2022, the first month in the Islamic calendar that marked the migration of Prophet Mohammad (s) and his companions from Makkah to Madinah.

Madinah, then known as Yathrib was still a town with non-Muslims in the majority. The total number of Muslims in Madinah 1438 years ago was not more than 75, yet, at the command of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (s) and his companion Abdu Bakr (r) travelled to this city to implement divine guidance for a better society.

Why did Allah choose Madinah to be the city to establish a society based on divine ideals?

Why was this not done in Makkah, where the patriarch of monotheism Ibrahim (s) built the first house dedicated to one God? People often argue that the Prophet was under persecution in Makkah, and the political climate was not ripe to practice Islam. Hence, the Prophet moved to a more open city to his ideals.

The messengers and prophets never turn their back upon the people they are sent to and run away from persecution. On the contrary, they endure and stay their ground.

So it was not the persecution that led the Prophet to Medina. It was primarily to prove

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that divine guidance is not limited to a particular place or town. It can be lived anywhere in the world regardless of the number of people who adhere to the message.

The migration demolished several practices and myths the world had entertained for ages.

It destroyed the false division between the house of peace (Dar-ul-Amn) and the house of war (Dar-ul-Harb). It demolished the division between the land of Islam and the land of Kufr.

Furthermore, it proved the idea that God created everything that exists, and He is in control of everything. Therefore, he is the owner of everything that is out there in our universe.

It also proved that divine guidance is for all, regardless of the number.

Madinah promoted the idea of a plural society concerning all.

What happened in Madinah after the arrival of the Prophet was something unique and unheard of in society.

The Prophet invited the powerful tribes to come together and sign a covenant to ensure the interests of all. The covenant, also known as the constitution of Madinah, promoted the idea of common citizenship for the people living in Madinah, regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

As a result, all were one Ummah or nation.

The Prophet made the security of the people of Madinah a top priority, and the signatories participated in the defense of the city as one people.

Moreover, they had the assurance that while defending the city, if anyone lost their

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lives, the entire population would take care of the family of the fallen slider.

It is what one calls insurance in modern terminology.

The covenant also ensured that each religious community had autonomy in dealing with its affairs according to its religious ideals and traditions. Furthermore, each was guaranteed its religious family and personal law, provided it did not infringe upon the rights of others.

The Prophet also secured women’s rights and rights of weaker sections of the society.

Additionally, he accepted the right to dissent with the covenant when four tribes of Awas refused to sign the treaty.

The process of formulating the covenant was lengthy, The tribes would discuss it among themselves, and then all tribes would have a discourse on its salient feature. It was democracy in action at the grassroots level.

So what are the lessons from Hijra?

1. The distinction between Dar-ul-Islam and Dar-ul-Kufr is false. Every land belongs to the Creator.

2. The divine guidance is for everywhere.

3, Muslims must not isolate themselves from the society they live in.

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4, Muslims should get involved in the communities they live in.

5. Muslims must ensure the safety and security of all citizens and should join the system to protect all.

7. Muslims should respect the personal and family laws of others.

8. Muslims must follow a system that secures the participation of each member of the society in the decision-making process.

9. Muslims must not be entrapped by the false divisions people create based on ethnicity and religion.

10. Monotheism means the unity of humankind.

This society the Prophet created and left his birthplace for was the centre of monotheism.

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.

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Empowerment Conference: Raising issues of concern for Muslim youth

Hussein Dirani Almost 100 students from various universities in NSW and a number of Islamic schools, attended a unique youth empowerment conference in Sydney on Sunday 17 July 2022 held at Ahlulbait Islamic Centre, Auburn, where they frankly raised the issues that concern Muslim youth, in the presence of guests of honour Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Coure MP, Dr Muhammad Pournajaf , Charge Affairs of the Embassy of Iran, Ms Lynda Voltz MP for Auburn, Anglican Priest Father Dave Smith as well as a number of ulama and community leaders.

The event organised by the Shia National Network of Australia Inc introduced new dimensions to the traditional youth conferences where instead of a few high profile speakers sermonising on youth issues, the youth spoke while the ulama, politicians and community leaders listened.

During the program, Mr Syed Zawar Shah, the President of the Network welcomed the

VIPs, bureaucrats, professionals, parents and the youth. He elaborated on the concept of the youth empowerment conference. He said that VIPs have been invited just to hand the plaques to the Multicultural Media and mainly to listen to youth.

Dr Pournajaf, during his highly enlightening extempore unwritten address in the morning session, elaborated on the unique explanation of Muttaqeen as empowerment and the three characteristics of Muttaqeen

given in the Quran in terms of empowerment.

Father Dave Smith emphasised on the rights of the neighbours without considering their religion, colour or race, while providing the explanation of the Other that Jesus talked about being your neighbour that you need to love.

Attending the afternoon session, The Honourable Minister of Multiculturalism, Mark Coure appreciated the services provided by the communities and encouraged them to ne-

gotiate with the related Departments for community grants.

Mr Shah had collected and documented issues listed into different piles, educational, psychological, mental, social, marital, employment raised by the youth to be addressed by government authorities, ulama and community leaders.

In future a general body meeting of the students in order to informed of the suggested solutions and the practical support offered by the kind hearted specialists who are in favour of initiating youth leadership programs.

Besides collecting the data on issues, the youth will be encouraged to post their issues needing to find solutions on Network website. Efforts will be made to find the answers by the panel of professionals.

This process will knit the youth and adult communities. It will give birth to the generation of more welfare, educational and recreational programs.

Hussein Dirani is the Trustee of the Australian Iranian Friendship Association Inc, Senior Trustee of the Shia National Network of Australia SNNA and the Ahulbait World Assembly representative in Australia. He is a writer and commentator on many international Arabic media channels and is based in Sydney, Australia.

iCAN holds 7th AGM

Zahid Alam

The Islamic Circle of Australia & New Zealand (iCAN) held its 7th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Sydney on 23-24 July 2022 at Cataract Scout Park attended by 84 core team members from across the country.

The formal program started with the recitation of holy Quran by Imtisal with translation

by Awais Slaeem.

Following an address by iCAN President Muhammad Nabeel Musharraf, reports from all 15 chapters & departments of iCAN from all across the country were presented and discussed.

The AGM elected Hafiz Mian Muhammad Rashid as President of iCAN for the session 2022-23 and the following members for the AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

Consultative Council (Shura).

• Qamar Mehmood • Nabeel Musharraf • Amir Rajput • Kashif Latif • Muhammad Latif • Zia ur Rehman Following the AGM, on Sunday 31 July 31 Jul, YMNA Liverpool circle organised a horse riding event at Endeavour Park Equestrian Centre lead by Naveedullah and Zahid attended by 65 youth and kids of various ages together with their families.

If you would like to know more about iCAN and its initiatives then please visit iCAN’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/islamic.circle/ / http:// www.icandawah.org/ OR send an email to secretary@icandawah.org WWW.AMUST.COM.AU

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AIMA inaugural dinner for medical and health professionals Zein Salim The Australian Islamic Medical Association (AIMA) organised an inaugural dinner in Western Australia on Saturday 18 June 2022, attended by medical and other health professionals, junior doctors and medical students. Guest speakers included Dr Muhammad Afzal Kahloon, the president of AIMA, currently based in Canberra, and Senator Fatima Payman.

The event was MC’d by Dr Sehr Shah, a General Practitioner, and Dr Mohammad Jehangir, a consultant Paediatrician. Dr Shah and Dr Jehangir are members of the central leadership team of AIMA Western Australia.

Dr Shah welcomed everyone and provided a brief update on the event’s purpose. She explained that this 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 by Dr Syed Muhammad Hamid, an Imam, a consultant anaesthetist, and a member of the central leadership team of AIMA Western Australia.

Dr Syed Hamid recited verses from the

Dr Muhammad Afzal Kahloon talking to the audience.

Holy Quran, followed by a talk emphasising that the AIMA establishment aims to combine the two characteristics of being Muslims and health professionals to further become better people in contributing positively to the broader community.

This virtue has been mentioned in the Holy Quran in Surat Al Maidah (Ayah 32), ‘whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity’.

Dr Syed Hamid finally highlighted the importance of the Islamic Code of Medical Ethics, established in the First International Conference on Islamic Medicine held in Kuwait in January 1981.

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 Muslims 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.

Senator Fatima Payman, who is proudly the first person of Afghan origin in Parliament and the youngest Australian Senator (the third youngest Senator in Australian history), provided an inspiring talk to the audience.

She highlighted the importance of being proud of our culture and religion and representing our communities positively and emphasised the need to empower our youth to take a leadership role in not only serving their families and communities but serving the wider community as well.

The event was concluded by Dr Kalilur Anvardeen, a consultant Cardiologist and a member of the central leadership team of AIMA Western Australia.

Dr Anvardeen encouraged the audience to invite other health professionals to join AIMA and participate in upcoming projects. This event was concluded with a question-answer session followed by dinner and networking.

Recording of previous AIMA sessions and other activities conducted by the Australian Islamic Medical association is available on the website: www.aimamed.com.au.

Zein Salim is a doctor from Kenya, currently working in Western Australia.

Muslims recognised at ACT Multicultural Awards Manarul Islam

A number of Muslims were recognised for their contribution to the ACT community at the ACT Multicultural Awards 2022 held on Tuesday 19 July at the Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra.

Mainul Haque, a prominent member of the Muslim and wider community in Canberra, was named one of two ACT Multicultural Ambassadors as part of the ACT Multicultural Honorary Ambassador Program which recognises ACT residents who play an active role in promoting the ACT as a welcoming and inclusive city.

“I’m humbled and honoured to be appointed as the Honorary Ambassador for the ACT. It’s an honour and also a huge responsibility”, he told AMUST. “This is the community that has brought out the best in me. I look forward to work

New ACT Multicultural Ambassador, Mainul Haque (right), with Brendan Smyth, ACT Commissioner for International Engagement

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with Minister Tara Cheyne MLA and Commissioner Brendan Smyth to serve our Canberra community with sincerity, integrity and impartiality inshallah.”

ACT Multicultural Ambassadors use their links and networks to promote the business and investment opportunities available across Canberra and the ACT region. More detail about this role can be found here. https://www.communityservices.act.gov. au/multicultural/programs/honorary-ambassador-program Nazmul Hassan won the ACT Outstanding Excellence Award for Diversity and Inclusion for mobilising support and delivering food hampers to Canberrans across all faiths and backgrounds, Mr Nazmul Hasan has been a role model in serving community needs.

“I am passionate about bringing people together, building community and helping others, particularly the most vulnerable,” Nazmul told AMUST. “Alhamdulillah, I am very grateful to the Almighty God Allah to give me the ability to serve the community during very difficult

Mohammad Mahmodul Hassan and Nazmul Hassan

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Winners of ACT Multicultural Awards time. I thank to the Canberra community for their overwhelming support. This award belongs to them.”

Her Kitchen table, represented by Nazia Ahmed, won the ACT Community Organisation (Multicultural Champion) Award.

Her Kitchen Table provides training and support for women from diverse backgrounds to gain and maintain economic independence, taking a compassionate and innovative approach that serves as a model for similar programs across Australia.

Dr Shamaruh Mirza was highly commended in the category of the ACT Multicultural Individual Champion Award for being instrumental in establishing her organisation SiTara’s Story to raise community awareness of mental health while training women from diverse cultural backgrounds in mental health and disability issues.

Nazia Ahmad, from Her Kitchen Table.

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Jahin Tanvir was highly commended in the category of ACT Outstanding Excellence Award for Diversity and Inclusion and recognised as an emerging leader with a wide range of accomplishments for someone of a relatively young age, working across social media and other non-traditional channels to build awareness of the issues facing young people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Full details of the awards and the other winners can be found on the ACT Community Services website: https://www.communityservices.act.gov. au/multicultural/awards Manarul Islam is an IT professional, community worker and AMUST correspondent based in Canberra.

Dr Shamaruh Mirza (left).

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Complicated, ever-changing, and isolating: Stories of migration Tipper Chang YCollab, in collaboration with Democracy in Colour, held a listening session of stories from the Migration with Dignity in South West Sydney on Saturday 9 July 2022 to hear and share stories from the community on their temporary visa experience in Australia where each group highlighted the multi-faceted issue of migration.

The issues ranged from worker exploitation as an international student, cases of domestic violence, and the financial stresses from making ends meet. Participants shared feelings of uncertainty, isolation and a lack of support when going through the arduous process of meeting the changing visa conditions.

People from different backgrounds and across different age groups bonded over their mutual understanding within their unique experiences of being on a temporary visa.

The two storytellers from Democracy in Colour, Ushant and Leila, illuminated the dual and often opposing emotions of uncertainty and stress felt by temporary visa holders as well as the complicated and confusing bureaucratic and financial hurdles they must

Image Credit: Charles Gream

overcome.

A participant reflected that it was heartening that connections were still possible despite language barriers.

By the end of the day, an unassuming listening session became a place of community united by the tapestry of shared experiences.

“This event much needed solidarity amongst some of our community members with some walking away with more confidence, new connections, and support,” a

New community group to map the future of Sydney cemeteries

AMUST Media A new Stakeholder Engagement Council (SEC) has been established to map the future of Sydney’s cemeteries, enlisting 15 community representatives from a broad range of faiths and communities in NSW. The council includes members of the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi, Indigenous, Filipino, and Catholic communities and will report to the board of Catholic Cemeteries & Crematoria.

The first meeting of the council was held on 23 June 2022, chaired by community and consumer campaigner Christopher Zinn who has served on the board of the NSW regulator of cemeteries and crematoria.

Mr Zinn said, “Our first meeting recognised the urgent need for more burial spaces in Sydney, especially among the fastgrowing Muslim population, which like some other faiths, have traditions which require they bury their dead.

“The council is committed to ensure that communities and consumers’ diverse needs and views, regardless of their faith or even lack of it, are catered for in respectful and affordable ways in the process of funerals, burials and cremations,” he further added.

The objectives of the SEC include: • The interment practices and beliefs of all religious and cultural groups are respected equally AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

• The quality of interment products and services meet community expectations • And affordable and accessible interment practices are available for all, particularly for those of limited means.

“We want the SEC to advise and help us better understand how cemetery operators can deliver the best possible experience to families, consumers, cultural and faith groups so we can continue to serve the community now with the Catholic trust’s four existing cemeteries and two more to be developed,” Mr Zinn concluded.

Representatives & Communities Mariam Ardati: Muslim Community Rosette Shamoun: Chaldean and Assyrian Community Barry Barakat: Catholic Maronite Community Darren Bark: Jewish Community Peter Murphy: Baptist Community Auntie Lisa Hunter: Dharawal Indigenous Community Kazi Ali: Muslim Community Jhun Salazar: Filipino Community Dean Fr John Ho: Catholic, Vietnamese, Polynesian Communities Lourdes Kaiser: Filipino Community Albert Olley: Uniting Community Dominic Niezgoda: Polish Community Ayya Suvira: Buddhist Community Shefali Pal: Hindu Community Dianne Van Aken: Indigenous and Catholic Community

YCollab volunteer shared.

According to a Migration Worker Justice Initiative report, Australia currently has over 1 million temporary visa holders, including international students, employer-sponsored workers, and refugees.

A survey conducted by the Migrant Workers Centre reports that on average, it takes 5.1 years to acquire permanent residency.

Furthermore, 65% of survey participants experienced wage whilst working in Australia and 1 in 4 migrant workers experienced other forms of labour exploitation.

Democracy in Colour’s Migration with Dignity campaign envisions an Australia where all migrants including permanent residents, temporary visa holders, refugees and people seeking asylum are treated with dignity and respect throughout their migration journey to settle on this content in Australia.

YCollab is a non-for-profit youth advocacy organisation that provides opportunities

for young people in South West Sydney to create a positive social impact in their local communities through grassroots youth-led initiatives.

Democracy in Colour is a national racial and economic justice organisation by, and for, people of colour. The organisation runs campaigns that tackle structural racism and build the power of people of colour to shape the critical issues that affect our lives.

For more information on YCollab, please email hello@ycollab.com.au.

For more information about the Migration with Dignity campaign, please email info@democracyincolour.org.

Zahid Alam

update of the association’s activities to the members.

Mr Ateev Dang a highly accomplished stand up comedian, entertained the gathering while Pari, daughter of Dr Vikrant Kishore, Vice-President of the association impressed the gathering with her Bollywood songs and keyboard skills.

Awards were given to the winners of the trivia as well as to a number of office bearers of the association were acknowledge their significant contributions.

Families enjoyed a sumptuous lunch sponsored by Mr Intaj Khan, an alumni of the Association.

Tipper Chang is the Community Development Director of YCollab, a non-for-profit youth advocacy organisation which provides opportunities for young people to create a positive social impact in their local community of South West Sydney.

Reunion of Jamia Alumni Victoria

An enthusiastic gathering of over 100 men, women and children belonging to the JMI Alumni Association of Victoria was in full display at the annual reunion of its members on Sunday 24 July 2022 at the Uniting Church in Boronia, Melbourne.

Welcoming the members, Mr Syed Asif Hasan, President of the Association, stressed the importance of alumni families remaining connected and in support of the association to fulfil its objectives.

Mr Hasan expressed his delight in having some new families attend the event this year especially, after a couple of years of no face to face activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mrs Yasmin Siddiqui, Secretary of the alumni association, provided the annual

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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.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

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AUSTRALIA With our dismal history of bombings in Iraq, Australia cannot take the high moral ground on Ukraine NEWS 1-3

AMUST

John Stapleton From Malcolm Turnbull’s first day as Prime Minister in 2015, the bombings on Iraq increased. We all became responsible for killing great numbers of Muslims.

For years putrid skeletons were being dug out of the rubble.

Lovers, sons and daughters, soldiers old and young, men and women, children.

Most of all, believers in an Abrahamic god, Allah.

On both sides of the conflict they died in their thousands for their beliefs; in a modern day Crusader War which, like its predecessor, would echo down the centuries. All for a soldier’s wage: the simple, urgent need to support their families in the collapsed economy of Iraq.

As columnist Nicolas Stuart wrote in The Canberra Times: “I can still smell the filth, the lingering odour of death (think vomit plus defecation) that seeped up from under fallen masonry blocking the street. I can still see, in the houses, the scattered detritus of clothes and baby toys, the remains of lives torn apart by horror.

“No glory there, watching Iraqi people dying senselessly while our planes flew overhead.

“None, either, amongst the confusion of militias, each attempting to rule their own tiny patch of land according to the one true faith, whichever it happened to be at that particular moment of time; Shia or Sunni, Orthodox or Catholic, animist, nationalist or, when all else failed, simply a lust for power and money.”

Australian bombs helped make those corpses.

The ill-informed general public, betrayed both by the nation’s politicians and a heavily dumbed down media, thought about these deaths for not one second.

Certainly not the editors at the war mongering Murdoch rags; nor the national broadcaster, which could not claw itself away from gay marriage and climate change long enough to notice thousands of bodies rotting in the rubble of some far off place.

Even when Australian taxpayers had been ripped off for billions to contribute to this massive military debacle.

In a thunderclap of seismic proportions, the psychic echoes of a blood drenched conflict could be heard across the world. By anyone who cared to listen.

Former Prime Minister, the Jesuit trained Tony Abbott reliving the Crusades, was responsible for dropping 669 bombs on Iraq and Syria between September, 2014, when

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Mays, a young Iraqi Shi’ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family’s home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle on August 18, 2004.

he announced he was taking Australia back into the Iraq War, and September 2015, when he was turfed from office.

No amount of security theatre or military posturing would save his dismal prime-ministership.

Ditto his successor.

The number of bomb drops began to increase immediately after Malcolm Turnbull seized power. Despite requests, no explanation was forthcoming from either the Prime Minister’s office or the Defence Department.

On gaining office in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his country would cease aerial bombardment.

No such humanitarian commitment came from Australia’s Prime Minister.

The bombs were estimated to range in size between 225 and 2000 lbs with a blast radius which could take out a city block.

By April of 2017 Turnbull had been responsible for dropping 1256 bombs.

In May of that year the bombing increased still further, with 119 bomb drops on Iraq, a further 106 bombs in June and 104 in July.

Dodging around legal definitions of war crimes could not hide the truth: Their actions were profoundly irresponsible; and those who were silent complicit in the outrage.

By the end of the year, the claim was that Islamic State had been defeated. Others, better informed, argued that the profound slaughter and martyrdom of its followers, courtesy of American and Australian bombs,

was in itself a jihad trap.

Experts warned that Islamic State, far from being defeated, had created a major jihad spectacle in order to drive recruitment.

For this ludicrous level of strategic incompetence someone had to go to work in a factory and pay their taxes.

While the Prime Minister grinned and gripped his way through another insincere day.

Military analysts warned that far from the media coverage’s cartoon simplicity of good versus evil, the brutal nature of the Mosul occupation and the carpet bombing of so much of the Middle East was counterproductive, fuelling jihad sentiment worldwide.

Australian politicians paid no heed.

And wasted billions of dollars, only to make a difficult situation worse while the cultural legacy of Islamic State, including its thousands of videos and often powerful propaganda, would live on for generations.

It was a story which should have been staining the soul of the West, and the conscience of Australian citizens, if they had not all been trapped in a zombie zone of television soaps or raucous conviviality, looking everywhere but at the face of history.

Overlapping the site of Nineveh, once the largest, most populous and advanced city in the world, “the great city” as the Bible called it, the pulverising of Mosul and the massacre of its citizens held echoes from the past. The consequences of these 21st Century slaughters would transmit down future centuries. The prophetic methodology.

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There was clearly, even viewed from the other side of the world in the heavily censored environment that was Australia, an occult aspect to it all.

The creation myths of the Assyrian empire, existing as early as the 25th Century BC and of which Nineveh was a major capital, saw the universe beginning in war. This was a cosmology echoed by Islamic State, as reporter James Verini recounted in his stunning book They Will Have To Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate: “Existence began in war and through war it was perpetuated. Theirs was a creatio continua, and it was the responsibility of the Assyrian king to carry on the work of creation, to perpetuate the order the gods had introduced at time’s beginning.

“He did this through combat. It was official explanation and sacred rite. It was the means by which he communicated with the divine, connecting reality to myth, present to past, god to man. To the Assyrians, in other words, all war was holy – all war that they waged, at least – and holiness was warlike, to a degree that is hard to fathom for us today, even with the presence of movements such as the Islamic State.

“Splendid, too, was torture, which the Assyrian kings looked on as strategic propaganda and sacrificial ritual. Impaling, dismembering, disembowelling, flaying, beheading. The surviving historic friezes celebrated them all, especially beheading.”

As Verini records, in the books of the Old Testament the city is a byword for peerless cruelty: “What the prophets feel in the face of Assyrian abuse is not so much anger as shame, or the white-hot anger that can only come of shame — the shame of men abandoned by their maker.”

Twenty seven centuries before, the Assyrian king Sennacherib had been known for his building projects and beautification programs for Nineveh, including quite possibly the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

In waking dreams Alex walked gracious terraces, looked across oases of date palms, was bowed to by supplicants as the desert air began to heat into the day.

In 21st Century reality the place was a torture chamber; and nobody could have imagined that “the great city” could end like this, in ruins.

Courtesy: Pearls and Irritations, John Menadue’s Public Policy Journal.

John Stapleton worked as a general news reporter for The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald for more than 20 years. He is the author of a book on surveillance in Australia, Hideout in the Apocalypse.

PAK Eid Milan party at Olympic Park Shafqat Ali Pakistan Association of Australia organised an Eid Milan party as a family day out on sunny Sunday 17 July 2022, at Sydney Olympic Park.

Whenever you think of Eid, your mind imagines festivities where family and friends are gathered around food and having activities full of fun. But due to COVID-19 restrictions, community interaction for almost a couple of years has been limited. Not anymore.

This get-together offered something for everyone, competitions for children, networking opportunities for adults and free food for the families.

The best part was that the business community fully sponsored the event, hence free parking, free entry and free food for all.

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The Young Innovators Australia collaborated with the Pakistan Association of Australia to organise children’s activities, including musical chairs for young and old, skipping rope competitions, father-child races, treasure hunt competitions, and many more activities for the whole family.

The winning children were rewarded with prizes.

Face painting and balloon-making services were provided to engage and entertain little children.

Delicious Biryani lunch was provided with the sweets Jalebis.

A quiz competition participated by large numbers was held about Eid with winners given prizes.

Mr Farhat Jaffery thanked the sponsors who chipped in to make the event free and the volunteers who made it possible, including Hamid Sarooha, Sahar Zeeshan, Farah Khan, Najeeb ul Hassan, Ahmed Jamal, Rana Abbass, Zulfiqar Ali, Muhammad Rana and many more.

He also acknowledged the Young Inno-

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

vators Australia team’s efforts, including Shafqat Ali, Zawiyar, Shayyan, Sharmeen, Ayaan, Shahzeen, Eman, Dua, Areej and Shanzay.

He thanked media representatives and community leaders, including Zafar Hussain (Sada-e-Watan), Taseer Hussain (Hum Watan), Dr Khurram Kayani (President PPBEA) and Sujahir ul Islam (PakOZ).

PakOZ team streamed part of the event online to showcase the children’s talent and community feedback about the event.

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You can watch their video report: https://tinyurl.com/2wype853 You can watch community feedback about the event in this video https://tinyurl.com/mr3rr5e6 Shafqat Ali is the Founder/President of Young Innovators Australia. He is a Trainer, Youth Mentor, Author and Consultant. You can reach him via email at gul52470@gmail.com.

ISSUE 201 / AUGUST 2022

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Change of government: A time to celebrate Philip Feinstein After a long period of the Liberal-National Party running the country, a change finally came about.

Australia desperately needed a change from the autocratic totalitarian government that seemed to show little care for the First Nations people of the country and for the more recent refugee arrivals.

With demonstrations happening almost on a weekly basis, the Morrison clan took no notice. Australia was seen as a pariah state at an international level with many local people openly saying “I am ashamed to be an Australian”.

As so, despite the various underhanded tricks employed by the government, the public unanimously made their feelings known at the polls to make the change. With a combination of Labour, Greens and a variety of independents, it was “goodbye Morrison”.

The writer of this article was privileged to be invited to the ‘Greens Victory Celebration’ a few days after the result of the elections was known.

In his victory speech David Shoebridge, Greens NSW Senator-elect said: “Australia voted for change and a parliament that does things fundamentally differently. Thank you so much to everyone here tonight and to all our campaigners, supporters, lower house candidates and especially voters. This has been a huge collective effort.” The cheers were overwhelming! “We now have the biggest ever Greens team in Canberra. One of the things I am most proud of is that our

party has the strongest grassroots links of any political party. Together we are going to make politics work for people and the planet.”

The huge crowd then applauded Lee Rhiannon, Former Greens NSW Senator, to the stage: “The Greens NSW have made history at this election” she said. “For the first time we gained more than 550,000 votes. Our record vote of 11.4 percent topped our 2019 result by 2.7 percent.”

There were also warm congratulations for Dominic WY Kanak and Stuart Davis, Greens candidates for two lower house seats. “Their work in the seats of Wentworth and Kingsford Smith helped promote the Greens election commitment to climate action, free public education and justice for First Nations people” said Rhiannon.

Meanwhile our new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was wasting no time in getting things moving and repairing the damage caused by the Liberals.

Together with his Deputy Richard Marles and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, our new government is also taking to the international stage to promote Australia.

With the help of the Adam Bandt led Greens Party, and the many forward-thinking Independents, I believe Australia has a bright future. And hopefully that optimism will also apply to our First Nations people and to the many refugees still locked up in detention centres.

PS: I need to end this article with a big congratulations to the Australasian Muslim Times on reaching their 200th issue. Well done to the AMUST team!

David Shoebridge delivering his thankyou speech

“Together we are

going to make politics work for people and the planet.

“

Philip Feinstein is a Sydney based writer, musician and activist working for MUSIC FOR REFUGEES www.musicforrefugees.org

Call to support the Uluru Statement from the Hart

Follow AMUST on Social Media @amustnews

Loss

AMUST Media

Dr Reginald Naulty It was so wonderfully beautiful but he had to leave.

His soul opened up in a way he never thought it would, in longing and regret.

Later, came determination to support the good things that make life precious – things of quality and stature that inspire lives to endure.

Then on to the good, the future, and the light.

The Riverwood Community Centre hosted NAIDOC Week celebration on Friday 8 July 2022 with a call to unite community members together to collectively sign the Uluru Statement on a display banner, to commemorate it from the heart and endorse a message of unity and respect.

“I was please to see that many members of our local community from multicultural background spoke loudly and proudly in supporting the Uluru Statement and referendum on First Nations Voice to parliament,” said Clr Karl Saleh OAM, the chairperson of the Riverwood Community Centre.

“The success of the Uluru Statement from the Heart referendum depends upon the community to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! to meet this moment,” Mr Saleh further said.

The Riverwood NAIDOC Week celebration included a smoking ceremony, welcome to country, traditional dance, music, storytelling and knowledge sharing , and was attended by the many community leaders and local resident from diverse cultural backgrounds.

AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

Dominic WY Kanak addressing the crowd

Dr Reginald Naulty, originally from Adelaide, has taught at Charles Sturt University and has been a prolific writer since 1972.

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AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

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AMUST

LIFESTYLE

NEWS 1-3

How to harmonise your married life Princess R Lakshman Ideally, a Muslim marriage represents a beautiful, blessed journey of a woman and man united in their values to serve Allah through their soulful companionship and a daily intentional practice of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.

As a psychotherapist in the Muslim community, I’ve observed a rise in the number of divorces and separation due to disharmony in marriage.

Despite the hundreds of religious texts, practices, self-help books, and podcasts that teach us ways to demonstrate love, compassion, care, and kindness, marital problems continue to soar.

So, what exactly are we failing to understand about human connection and soulful companionship?

Is it that we use words without practising the essence of those words? For example, we use words like love, kindness, compassion, empathy, and so on, but we don’t really understand how to translate these words into action.

Take the following examples: Husband surprises his wife by cleaning

the pantry, but when wife sees the pantry, she tells him off for putting everything in the wrong place. She doesn’t thank him, instead storms off in anger.

Another example is when the husband is glued to his phone instead of helping with household chores and the kids.

Or when spouses are constantly trying to find fault with one another through incessant arguments, bickering, and nagging, grudge-holding, and passive-aggressive behaviours, such as silent-treatment.

These examples show what love, compassion, respect, and kindness doesn’t look like.

So, what does love, compassion, kindness and respect look like? How does one translate these words into action?

It’s in your tone, your gaze, and your touch. It’s in your ability to hold space while you listen to your spouse’s words without judgment or reaction. It’s in your expression of gratitude, first and foremost, for everything your spouse is already doing for you.

It’s in your choice of words – are you accusing or seeking clarification? Are you name-calling? Are you blaming? Are you using respectful words, kind words and speaking them in a kind, respectful tone?

Love, kindness, compassion – these are just empty words unless you translate them into deeds that are in harmony with the es-

Save a life through the Sunnah of community wellbeing Ameera Syed Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in our century with Muslims making almost 25% of the world’s population and yet our community seems to fail at helping our own hold back from suicide.

The Sunnah of strengthening the Ummah and community wellbeing is one of the core teachings of our faith which many of us treasure in our daily lives.

You may be someone who organises regular gatherings, treats friends like family and warmly greets any Muslim brother or sister who passes you by during your day.

A question that remains for us all to reflect on is, how well are we looking after ourselves and those closest to us?

Allah says, “Surely We will test you with a bit of fear and hunger, and loss in wealth and lives and fruits, and give good tidings to the patient.”

(Quran 2:155) Hardship is ingrained into our lives in unique ways as Allah’s Way of drawing us near to Him in worship, but we can also look for aid through the blessings He has gifted us.

According to research conducted in 202021 by Australian Bureau of Statistics, nearly 20% of adults living in Australia experience severe psychological distress at any given time, including 3139 suicide-related deaths.

That’s nearly 4 million people living right here in Australia and unfortunately Muslims are not immune to this.

As Muslims in Australia, we face a wide range of mental health issues, including suicidal tendencies, stemming from stress, stigma, racial/religious discrimination and

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societal disadvantage as migrant populations.

Most of us force ourselves to strap up our boots and walk on, while many of us are still left behind.

Suicide is a harsh reality many families are facing following the death of their loved ones, but unfortunately their stories only make it a few steps into the community before being shut down as a taboo.

As a community, we have to reach out to our children, brothers, sisters, parents and friends, ask them how they’re really doing (physically and mentally), what is taking up their headspace.

Their answer might be a simple “I’m good” but that’s still a good start. Soon, these simple chats open up into conversations that could save their lives without even realising.

Knowing that someone cares enough to check up on them can make a big difference on how they view their lives and self-worth. The same goes for yourself.

Are you OK? How are you feeling? Is there someone who you can trust to provide support and guidance?

Remember, our Prophet Muhammad (s) once said, “The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with sleeplessness and fever” (Bukhari & Muslim).

The faith and trust we keep in Allah’s Plans are a strong protector against hardships, but it is also important for us to seek for support through the people Allah has blessed us with.

Contact us at www.nzf.org.au/contact or call 1300 663 729.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

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sence of these words.

One Simple Strategy Have at least one hour every day with your spouse where you are not on any gadgets – no phones, tablets, laptop, smartwatch, or TV – nothing that you are wired to. Just try to be in each other’s company without depending on any external forms of connection.

Try to soulfully connect with each other. Hold space for an organic conversation to happen and flow. Hold space for your spouse to speak while you listen, without interrupting even once.

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Make this a daily teatime or coffee time or juice time or smoothie time, whatever you both prefer. Learn to once again be with each other and learn to enjoy being with each other.

May Allah bless your marriage and keep you safe and healthy. Remember, marriage is all about daily efforts in the actual practice of kindness, compassion, patience, care, love, and respect.

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

Re-shaping young people’s mindset Nesrin Khalifa Growing up, a question that I was frequently asked by my family and friends was, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And after many years, I realized that this type of question often leads to young people making the wrong decisions regarding their career path.

When you often meet a child for the first time, you unconsciously find yourself curiously asking them what they want to be when they’re older, and you hear answers such as ‘a doctor’, ‘an engineer’ etc. But what’s wrong with such a rephrased question is that it directs kids wrongfully.

This is because children’s response to this question tends to be driven by what their parents expect from them or even what they commonly see around them.

For example, I grew up surrounded by family members working in the medical field, and when I used to get asked this question, guess what my answer was…a doctor, of course!

This is because I was influenced by the people around me, believing that their career path was what is expected and accepted from me.

The right question that we must ask young people is, “Who do you want to be?” or, “What do you want to be known for?”

A question that is phrased this way will allow them to stop and think.

Think about how they see themselves in the future.

Think about what they are passionate about.

Think about what they are good at.

Think about the person they want to be rather than one specific occupation/profession.

This will eventually guide them correctly.

How? Because it will open so many doors for them.

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It will give them the space so that later, when they’re wiser and know what’s best for them, they find multiple options, not just one specific view, which is most likely to be biased due to external factors influencing them.

Try it yourself! Next time you see a younger cousin, sibling, family friend etc… ask them, “Who do you want to be?” and I bet their answer will be broad and open; such as, ‘a motivational leader’ or ‘a successful team worker’ When they grow up and their time comes to make a decision regarding their career path, they will be able to explore more options, since a leader could be one in any field, in any profession, for any purpose.

Parents and older siblings, cousins and family friends must start shaping younger people’s minds to a more flexible mind-set.

A mindset that includes all types of jobs, opportunities and professions.

A mindset that doesn’t feel obliged to become a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer.

A mindset that throws away all societal expectations and starts embracing something it’s good at, passionate about and most importantly, will help them live the life that satisfies both Allah and itself.

Nesrin Khalifa is a 15-year-old student in Al-Noori Muslim School. She is a passionate writer, public speaker and debater who loves to advocate about various matters that interest her and the Australian Muslim community.

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That Good Night Zayna Siddiqui Inspired by Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas – written by a fisherman from the 20th Century, who loves writing To the coffee that burns my tongue And the cigarettes that destroy my lungs To the rain outside my window Thank you for sharing my sorrow To my wooden oak messy desk Is it considered to be writer-esque?

To the armchair that swallows me Thank you for being my oasis of serenity To the books on my sacred shelves I swear they put me under beautiful spells To the notepads in my drawers Thank you, my mind was always yours To the fireplace that warms my aching soul I confess, sometimes I feel like I’m losing control To the wastepaper bin beside the basket Thank you for keeping my secrets To the ink that stained my bed and hands My precious pen, I’m terribly sorry I forgot to place you on my nightstand To my lamp that accompanies me throughout late nights Thank you for being there for me, both in difficulties and delights To the glittering waves in the sea They’re so pretty, but in the past, they’ve made a fool out of me To the sails on my fishing boat, that catch ferverous winds in my favour Thank you, because smooth seas never made skilled sailors To my spirited shoes that take me far Wandering in the city, wondering how life is bizarre To the ground in which the cobblestones are placed Thank you for the feet you constantly embrace To the blanket that lies on my bed And the pillows at its head To my mattress upon which my body rests Thank you for comforting me, I am blessed To my Creator that has given me the world The ability to observe and be absurd To my five senses and my limbs Thank you, I’m grateful for everything To the stars twinkling above me And the moon shining luminously To the dear reader who has finished reading my poem Thank you, be kind, speak your mind and always try to show your appreciation.

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AMUST

Showcasing the joy of live theatre Mehar Ahmad After several cancellations due to COVID-19 surges in Sydney during the last couple of years, Adakar theatre finally managed to showcase their twin plays ‘Dozakh’ and ‘Mughal Bachcha’ on 23-24 July 2022.

After watching Netflix and YouTube while locked in our homes and occasional trips to cinema when restrictions from COVID-19 eased, it was a great joy to experience live theatre on Saturday 23 July evening at the Nida Theatre in Kensington.

In addition to seeing the play, we were very keen to catch up with many of our South Asian friends who we usually met at such artistic events. We indeed did meet them although it was very difficult to know who was who since all faces were hidden behind veils, women’s as well as men’s.

Due to risks still posed by COVID-19 as well as surge in influenza in Sydney, the Nida Theatre authorities had mandated compulsory mask wearing and ensured strictly that all attendees did so.

The audience in full house inside the theatre had the great pleasure to appreciate the two classic plays ‘Dozakh’ and ‘Mughal Bachcha’ in fine Urdu by highly talented team of artists put together by Saba Apa. Saba Zaidi Abdi is a well know drama artist based in Sydney who has showcased a number of productions in Australia in the

past. A graduate of Aligarh Muslim University, the National School of Drama, India and UTS, Sydney, she began her career at the Indian national broadcaster Doordarshan as a TV drama director/producer back in India.

She has been awarded numerous awards for her productions and designing, notably the National Award for her costume design in ‘Trikaal’, as well as Doordarshan Awards for her plays ‘Wapsi’ and ‘Zewar ka Dibba’.

Recently, Saba Apa had a major role in the AACTA-nominated ABC/Netflix TV production ‘The Unlisted’, the first Australian TV show centred on an Indian family; she has also acted in the acclaimed ABC series ‘The Letdown’.

She is the founding artistic director of Adakar and this is her fifth major production for the Sydney stage. Formed in 2014, Adakar Theatre is a community based not-forprofit theatre and cultural group committed to bringing Australian communities together through theatrical and cultural exchanges.

Both the plays staged depicted bittersweet stories of a bygone era that capture the plight of women confined to live a life of dependency and oppression within the domestic world.

In ‘Dozakh’, two old women seek refuge and joy in each other’s company from their impoverish existence, must face the truth that they cannot live with or without each other – and grapple with the consequences when one of them has to leave.

‘Mughal Bachcha’ is the tale of proud, beautiful Gori Bi and complex, egotis-

tic Kale Mian set against the backdorp of Mughal culture’s fading glory. Among the ruins of Fatehpur Sikri, the lonely Gori Bi spends a lifetime waiting for her husband’s return as her fortunes change.

Both plays were written by Ismat Chughtai, one of the pioneering feminist writers of Indian literature and one of the founders of the Progressive Writer’s Movement in 1930s India.

‘Mughal Bachcha’ is an adapted story of Ismat Chughtai by Danish Iqbal, an award-winning playwright, performer, teacher, writer, researcher, and arts administrator.

To find talented artists who can act as well as render the plays into fine Lakhnawi Urdu in a land far away from our homes, in Australia and showcase our Ganga-Jamani culture is not an easy task.

On top of that persisting in finding the opportunity in a COVID-19 atmosphere inspite of setbacks to keep the group together with encouragement and continuing rehearsals shows the resilience of Saba Apa in staging these shows most successfully.

The quality of acting, use of fine language, classical dialogues, superb costumes were highly admirable and indeed Saba Apa needs to be congratulated for putting up this show. Well done.

Mehar Ahmad based in Sydney is a Public School Teacher and President of Seena Inc, Publishers of the Australasian Muslim Times AMUST.

Zayna Siddiqui is a university student currently studying for a Bachelor of Communication.

She is an avid reader, a seeker of knowledge, and is passionate about helping others in need.

AUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

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COVID-19, influenza and winter AMUST

Naveed Mohammed

It has been over 2 years now and COVID-19 is still a concern in the community. While the spread of the COVID-19 virus was ongoing for the past 2 years, the trouble from influenza was lesser and also got unnoticed. But, this winter has been a nightmare for many households throughout Australia.

Both influenza and COVID-19 are respiratory illnesses. Similar symptoms between the two viruses include a runny nose, sore throat, fever, headache, and exhaustion.

Both COVID-19 and influenza can cause varying degrees of illness in individuals.

Some people may be symptomless, have minor symptoms, or have a serious illness.

When a person with COVID-19 or influenza coughs, sneezes, speaks or breathes, droplets and aerosols are released into the air. People nearby—typically within one meter of the sick person, but occasionally much farther—can get the droplets and aer-

osols in their eyes, noses, or mouths.

By contacting contaminated surfaces, and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth without washing their hands, people can also contract COVID-19 and influenza.

According to the health.gov.au website, “Australians are being encouraged to take on winter by receiving their flu shot and staying up to date with their COVID-19

vaccination. The new ‘Take on winter’ campaign reminds people we are more vulnerable to illnesses this year and it’s safe to have both COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations at the same time.”

People with chronic medical conditions, older adults, and pregnant women should be very careful as they have a higher risk of getting infected. Compared to influenza,

religion.

“Who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him, and Who relieves its suffering, and makes you (mankind) inheritors or the earth? Can there be another god besides Allah? Little is that you heed?” (Quran 27:62)

COVID-19 is much more contagious and spreads more quickly.

Australia has done well in limiting COVID-19 when compared to several other nations. International and state border restrictions, sporadic lockdowns in select areas, and a very effective initial vaccination launch have reduced the impact of illness to a greater extent.

Our communities should step up their efforts to preserve population immunity through booster vaccinations and appropriate preventative measures for the remainder of the winter.

We need to make sure that our COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations are current.

Avoid crowded areas at all costs, and when we must, we should use a mask. We must continue to cover our faces when we offer Juma prayers in a mosque.

Simple routines, such as washing hands and coughing or sneezing into a bent elbow or tissue, can have a big impact. Let us try our best to stay protected this winter.

Naveed Mohammed is a Digital Marketer, a sports enthusiast and a community worker based in Auburn, NSW, Australia.

Significance and importance of Dua Qasim Abbas In this perishable world, humans face many sufferings and hardships.

Some sufferings and hardships come from nature, and some result from their own deeds.

They try to overcome these hardships through various means. Finally, they remember their Lord and call on Him, making supplication or Dua to Allah.

Humans remember and call on their Lord when they do not find other means to overcome their sufferings and hardships. In addition, they call on their Lord on specific occasions, sad or happy, like marriage, childbirth, family deaths etc.

This practice is common almost in every

Our Rocky 2020 Aneesa Sultan I’m gonna tell you the terrible story of 2020, When devastating things happened too quickly!

First it was the fires!

It made us lose what we desired.

Then, COVID-19, was really mean, Especially because it’s so unclean.

When the fires stopped, we were certainly glad, But then the floods came, we were all mad.

This tells us to be prepared, everyday, or else anything bad can come your way- how sad!

But don’t you dare lose hope, Because, i’m sure your life has many things, That are totally dope!!

Aneesa Sultan is a 10 year old Sydney based student who loves writing creative pieces, narratives and short poems.

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Calling on Allah: In Quran, Allah, Himself orders His slaves to call on Him and He will hear their prayers.

“And your Lord has said: Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer.” (Quran 40:60) “Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah does not love those who trespass beyond bounds.”

(Quran 7:55) “And When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.” (Quran 2:186)

Allah’s nearness to believers: “And surely, We created man and We know what his soul whispers to him, and We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.” (Quran 50:16) Every believer makes Dua daily: Making Dua to Allah is performed by a believer daily, more than once. In daily collective Prayer, a believer recites Surah Al Fatihah a minimum of 20 times and a maximum of 48 times.

Surah Fatihah is compulsory in Prayer. Ayats 4, 5 and 6 of Surah Al Fatihah, in fact, is Dua, which is as under:

“You alone do we worship, and to You alone we turn for help. Guide us to the straight way. The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your blessings. Not of those who have been condemned (by You), and nor of those who go astray.” (Quran 1:4, 5 and 6) Dua – a worship of Allah: To make Dua is also worship because the believer, while making Dua, remembers Allah with His beautiful names, Asma-ul-Husna like Ya Ghafurur Raheem, Ya Arhamar Raahemeen.

Thus, reciting the beautiful names of Allah is, in fact, worship.

Understand what you are reciting in Dua: Try to understand the meaning of Dua while making Dua in Arabic. This will bring believers closer to Allah as they understand what they are reciting.

Qasim Abbas is Chartered Accountant, Cost Management Accountant, Arabic Scholar, multi languages writer and writing newspapers columns based on Quranic Verses.

How to prevent Osteoporosis Dr Ghazala Kirmani

is often first noticed when a bone breaks due to fall. The best test to find out about density of bone is DEXA scan.

Are You At Risk Of Developing Osteoporosis?

Do You Know What To Do For Your Bone Health?

Many individuals are unaware the bone loss starts at an early age, however, develops faster in middle and/or older age.

Lots of bone mass is preventable.

What can you do about it?

Actions you can take to prevent yourself from obtaining this condition is; take regular weight bearing exercise such as walking, stop smoking, cut down on alcohol and caffeine, have adequate calcium in your diet (recommended 1000 – 1500 mg daily), eat calcium rich foods such as milk, dairy products, fish, citrus fruits, sesame and sunflower seeds, almonds, b r a z i l nuts, hazel nuts and tofu.

Who is at Risk of developing Osteoporosis?

Women who Are thin and slight smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, little exercise, have little calcium in their diet, high coffee intake, have a poor diet in general, lack hormones due to menopause and who take cortisone tablets are at risk of getting osteoporosis.

How do you know you have it?

Most women in fact do not know because thinning of bones occurs inconspicuously. It

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

How can falls be prevented?

Falls tend to cause fractures in osteo-

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p o r o - tic bones, they can be prevented by; removing loose or worn carpets and scatter rugs, wearing low heeled shoes, holding on to railings when using stairs, installing safety bars in the bathroom, using night lights to provide improved visibility, being cautious while consuming drugs(especially sleeping pills/tablets) and having good eyesight, regular eye checks are advised. These are the methods to prevent an individual from falls.

After all, it has to be taken into consideration that Osteoporosis is common in women, however, also usually occurs to men. It is only preventable by lifestyle modifications.

Dr Ghazala Kirmani is a qualified doctor from India and is based in Sydney. Worked for Priority care health solutions as an Injury Management Advisor. Runs Health and wellness workshops at House of Sakinah educating Women on health issues.

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My innocent husband was sentenced to 25 years These testimonies are the stories of Uyghurs and Falun Gong Practitioners affected by the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to commit genocide against them and other minorities. Their families and friends are at risk of forced organ harvesting. Many have pledged to never source an organ from China if they ever needed one.

END TRANSPLANT ABUSE IN CHINA

Mehray Mezensof My name is Mehray Mezensof and I am a registered nurse who lives in Melbourne, Australia. My husband, Mirzat Taher, an Australian permanent resident, is currently being held in a prison in Urumqi, Xinjiang as part of the Uyghur genocide and systematic crackdown being committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

My husband Mirzat is a really friendly, easy-going and down to earth guy. He has an amazing relationship with his family; he is very family oriented.

He is the type of guy who gets along well with anyone regardless of their age. He was always smiling and laughing.

Whilst my husband lived in Turkey he worked as a tour guide. When he returned to Urumqi, he was helping run the family business; his father’s kebab shop.

My husband and I met online in 2016, and we got married in August. I stayed with my husband in Urumqi whilst his Australian visa was getting processed. His spouse visa was granted in April 2017, but before we were able to leave my husband was arbitrarily detained by police.

We didn’t know at the time, but this was the beginning of the mass detention of Uyghurs. At the time, the reason given for his detention was that he traveled overseas and lived in Turkey.

My husband went through the CCP’s so-

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called re-education system where he “graduated” and was released 2 years later in May 2019. Just when we thought our nightmare was over, my husband was detained again in May 2020 for the same reason as the first time. However, this time he was released after 100 days.

Not long after my husband was released, he was detained again for the third time. I didn’t know this would be the last time. He knew that Chinese police were coming to detain him as he had been notified prior.

He told me this over the Chinese messaging platform WeChat on the 26th of September 2020. That was the last time I spoke to him. This time, my husband was sentenced to 25 years in prison for “participating in a terrorist organization, splitting the country and preparing to commit terrorist activities.”

This was absolutely bizarre and ridiculous because my husband has done no such thing. I believe the reason for his persecution is because of his ethnicity and his travels to Turkey.

My husband is currently being held in a prison in Urumqi. Initially he was taken to a pre-trial detention centre in Hami where he was held for 17 months and then he was transferred to Xinjiang No 1 Prison in February this year.

I am so afraid that I will not get a chance to be reunited with my husband again. I am so scared that I will never be able to see him or speak to him again. I worry deeply about how he is, the conditions that he is living under and the torture that he is having to endure.

It absolutely scares me to not know anything about how he is doing. It also scares me how long he will be detained for – I am in disbelief that he can possibly be locked

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Mehray’s husband, Mirzat Taher, an Australian permanent resident, is currently being held in a prison in Urumqi, Xinjiang.

away for 25 years.

I feel absolutely heartbroken and extremely upset and angry that we are living in the 21st century and there is a genocide happening right in front of our eyes, yet China is getting away with it and has been getting away with it for the past 5 years.

I want the world to know my story and every other Uyghurs’ stories and to please try and do everything they can to help us reunite with our loved ones again.

I question, in what universe is it okay for innocent people to be locked up and sentenced to prison for no other reason than for their ethnicity? How can it be normal that us Uyghurs have lost all contact with our family members, and have no way of knowing if they are even alive?

I want people to imagine, to just try to put themselves in our shoes for even one second. Us Uyghurs are living out our worst fears and worst nightmares but unlike our nightmares, we do not know if and when we will ever be able to wake up from it.

I wish for people to be more proactive when it comes to the Uyghur genocide, and I hope they will start speaking out more.

I wish for people to take action against the

CCP in any way that they can, whether it be something as simple as being a voice for the Uyghurs or helping to amplify the voices of the Uyghurs by using different social media platforms and also writing to our senators and Members of Parliament about what is happening.

People can also help by signing petitions or by helping to put an end to Uyghur forced labour fashion by boycotting those brands found complicit. There are so many things one can do to help the Uyghurs. Please don’t let our voices go unheard.

Mehray Mezensof is a registered nurse who lives in Melbourne, Australia.

The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), China Aid and supporting organizations are asking for your help to raise awareness of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China and mobilize a global movement to end this transplant abuse.

Take the pledge: endtransplantabuse.org/pledge

Why does the world need Khalistan?

Dr Aslam Abdullah Khalistan means the land of fully initiated Sikhs. Khalsa means ‘to be pure’ or ‘to be clear’ or ‘to be free from’ or ‘to be liberated.

Ninety-one percent of the world’s 27 million-plus Sikhs live in India, 77% live in Punjab, followed by 13% in Chandigarh, 6% in Haryana, 5% in Rajasthan, 3% in Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, and 2% in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Sikhs comprise 2% of India’s population, but their literacy rate is over 77%, and their representation in the Indian army is 26%.

A substantial number of Sikhs seek to create a homeland for their community, Khalistan. The proposed sovereign state would comprise Punjab and parts of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and several Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh districts.

With India marching towards a militant and violent Hindu Rashtra, the demand for Khalistan is gaining momentum.

Under a Hindu nationalist government, India would have to face a vibrant Sikh movement with support from Europe, North America, and Australia for a separate homeland for Khalsas.

Regardless of the relevance and feasibility of the demand, if any religious community deserves a separate state, it is the Sikh community.

The 26 million community has outpaced all other religious groups in its concern for humanitarian issues. During the last few decades, there has not been a single humanitarian crisis that the Sikh community did not respond to with its resources.

Christians generally expect the beneficiarAUGUST 2022 / ISSUE 201

The Queens Village group feeding people in 2020 at a Sunnyside protest in New York over the killing of George Floyd and other black Americans by the police.

ies of their social work to convert to their faith while Jews are primarily concerned about Jewish life. Hindus are interested in the welfare of their upper castes while Liberals come to the aid of only those who believe in their ideals.

Only the Sikh community has shown during the last few decades that it can rise above its interests and serve humanity as a whole.

Recently, the Sikh community has proven that their service to humanity is selfless and without any expectation. Its 24-hour food ser-

vice through places of worship for strangers is unmatched.

It feeds more people in the world than most NGOs with huge budgets. Its free food services to the participants of the world parliament of religions is a testimony of its dedication to a plural world.

Imagine how much good this community would bring to the world if it had its own country. The community knows how to utilize its resources for the betterment of life, and through its own country, it can offer a

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new approach to strengthen the ideals of the unity of humanity.

While other religious communities have failed to live their ideals, the Sikh community has shown its commitment in actions to its core values.

They include love for all, selfless service, humility, compassion, equality, and justice.

During the last 100 years, no religious community acted in defense of human dignity, despite tall claims.

Muslims, with 56 majority countries, could not live their commitment to justice while ranting about Madinah or the Islamic state.

Christianity failed to distance itself from racism and white supremacy, and Judaism refused to see the humanity of Palestinians regardless of their faiths.

Through their organizations like VHP, RSS, and BJP in India, Hindus promoted a worldview built on hatred and violence.

The world awaits the emergence of a religious community that views humanity as one and proves through its action that its commitment to service is selfless.

During the recurring crisis the world has faced in the last few decades, the Sikh community has demonstrated its ability to take the lead and put its money where its mouth is.

The world needs to support Khalistan. If a Jewish state was possible to rehabilitate the persecuted followers of Moses in Palestine in 1947, a Sikh national state could also become a reality for a better world.

As a Muslim, I feel compelled to support Khalistan because my religious scripture reminds me to stand for good wherever I find it.

At present, the Sikh community has proven that it symbolizes good among all other religious groups as far as social morality is concerned.

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Palestine: The devastation of 50 years of injustice

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Shireen Abu Akleh - Al Jazeera New Reporter

Sadia Shareef As the unfortunate war continues in Ukraine, many around the world have shown sorrow and support for the people of Ukraine. But what many don’t realise is that there are many countries, like Ukraine suffering due to unjustness and violence. One of those countries is Palestine. For more than half a century, Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

For more than 50 years, Palestinians have been stripped of their fundamental human rights, land, livelihoods, friends and family.

For more than 50 years, Palestinians have witnessed and suffered the deaths of loved ones—the destruction of their homes and business.

Forcefully, they have had to live a life of persecution and violence, a life of fear and torment. Their homeland being torn apart, generations of bloodlines vanishing throughout the years, and their existence crumbling in front of their eyes.

The persecution of Palestinians is truly an inequitable and prejudiced sight.

But unfortunately, many have turned a blind eye to this issue. The number of unjust and appalling acts that the Palestinian people have faced over the past weeks, months and years is truly an ugly sight for many.

This conflict has had numerous short and long-term consequences for Palestinians.

Innocent people, such as Shireen Abu Ak-

leh, have died due to these impacts. Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian-American journalist who was killed by Israeli soldiers while filming for the Al Jazeera news channel.

Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by Israeli forces while capturing footage of an Israeli army operation in the West Bank.

Al-Samoudi, a journalist who was shot in the back at the same site, said that “We were going to film the Israeli army operation, and suddenly they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming”.

They were not even given a chance to leave before shots were fired.

Luckily Al-Samoudi survived, but unfortunately, Shireen Abu Akleh died instantly from significant injuries and couldn’t be saved. Hanaysha, a reporter at the scene, said that “We were four journalists; we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets,” This clearly shows that the Israeli soldiers could identify that they were members of the press and shouldn’t have fired shots at them.

What these reporters had witnessed was truly appalling and unjust.

Not only did Israeli soldiers kill Shireen Abu Akleh, but they also mercilessly attacked individuals who were at her funeral to mourn the death of a highly influential, innocent, passionate person who was loved by many.

Akleh did not receive the funeral she deserved. Mourners were brutally beaten with batons while they held her coffin up high.

Shireen Abu Akleh couldn’t leave this world peacefully, which is truly upsetting.

Hundreds of people across Palestine are affected by horrific events daily.

Palestinians are suffering incessantly, and

many are grieving the loss of loved ones who did not deserve to die for standing up for their right and freedom to live a normal life.

Palestinians cannot participate in their religious or cultural beliefs and are being forced out of their place of worship. They do not have the freedom or right to do what they wish without the fear of being killed, tortured, or imprisoned.

Palestinians are people, too; they have the right to be humans and be treated like human beings and not like worthless beings.

These so-called ‘rules’ placed by the Israeli Defence Force are a breach of international

A three-member delegation of IFAM comprising of President, Rais Khan, Vice President, Dr Kashif Aziz and Secretary General, Usaid Khalil visited the US towards the end of May to attend the ICNA convention in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Islamic Forum for Australian Muslims (IFAM) is a grassroots national daawah organisation that has been working closely for a number of years with its counterpart, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

This year the ICNA annual convention was held on 28-30 May 2022 at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, the USA, attended by thousands of people, including representative delegations from various national and international Islamic organisations.

The three-day, 47th annual convention with the theme “Building a just society: AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

Sadia Shareef is a high school student based in Townsville, QLD. She is passionate about writing topics that affect our society & humanity.

IFAM delegation attends ICNA convention in US

Usman Malik

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law and human rights.

To this day, Shireen Abu Akleh has yet to receive the justice she deserves.

When will Palestine be given a chance to breathe freely?

We anxiously wait for that day when Palestinians can rejoice and celebrate with family and friends without the fears and injustice they are currently going through.

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The Mission Continues” brought together the most competent speakers from North America and overseas, highlighting the Islamic mission of creating a just society free from discrimination-based culture, race, or language.

The convention also serves the purpose of imparting the message of Islam to the young generations living in the West and keep their connection with the global Ummah.

IFAM delegation expressed a feeling of immense pleasure to be part of the event and remarked that such events were significant in environments where people had limited sources of connection with Islamic education.

The delegation appreciated ICNA’s consistent efforts in arranging large-scale events and ensuring their smooth operation. They had the opportunity to network with Muslim activists and leaders in North America.

IFAM aims to hold similar events in Australia on a national level with delegates from overseas to strive globally for Islamic awareness, social justice and harmonious living.

Usman Malik is the MGM of IFAM. He is based in Sydney.

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Muslim World can progress through science and technology again Prof Dr Mohammad Ilyas Much of our modern activities relating to economic well-being, social development, abundant food supply, health, societal happiness, national security, and meaningful living depend upon harnessing the fruits of science and problem solving technology through good economic and educational setting and material prosperity and welfare with industry and commerce to eradicate poverty, disease, and insecurity in the Muslim World today.

Starting in 609 CE in Makkah, Islamic Civilisation rapidly spread throughout much of the Mediterranean and the Middle East and further east. The Muslim Empire in South Asia was established in 1175 CE which led to the eventful rule by the Mughals until 1857 CE. Muslim Empire survived in Andalusia (Spain) until 15th century and the Ottoman Empire ruled over Bosnia and Belgrade and had sway over Romanian principalities near Danube. The Muslim Khilafah on the European and Central Asian parts and north Africa survived until 1923 CE and as a result, Aragon, Cordova, Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus, Granada, Delhi, Agra, Basra, and many other cities continued to be at the zenith

of cultural and commercial glory for many centuries with early development of modern roads and bridges and elegant buildings.

Since its inception, Muslim State dealt with many challenges including the Mongol sacking of Baghdad, European Crusades and the period beyond to modern times but Muslims were generally resilient and united and overcame these setbacks with strong science and technological capabilities built on good economic strength.

Around 1660 CE, two of the greatest monuments of modern history were erected: St. Paul’s Cathedral in (European) London and the Taj Mahal in (Muslim) Agra. Between them, the two symbolize, the comparable level of architectural technology, craftsmanship and sophistication up to that point of history.

Today, despite Muslims controlling nearly 50% of critical global resources, Muslims who ruled for over 1000 years across three continents, have a world GDP share of about 2% for a population of around 22%. Almost 50% of the Muslims live below poverty line.

What the Muslim World desperately needs is inspirational leadership, unity and reawakening. Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina summarized bench mark Muslim science and technology culture in the following words: … a civilization that was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Driven by invention its

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. commerce extended from Latin America to China. Its mathematicians created algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers and the creation of encryption and technology industry. Its physicians found cures, its astronomers paved the way for space travel and exploration. … The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians. ….

Muslim Countries need to regain their sense of self-respect through science, technology and economics which they enjoyed for nearly 1300 years.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a revolutionary leader who pushed for Muslims to re- energise in modern science and technology at the later part of 19th century and established a first modern institution for this purpose, the renowned Aligarh Muslim University in India where the author also had honour to be educated.

Prof Ilyas taught physics at Adelaide University, in Malaysia revived modern global Islamic Astronomy, published numerous books, recognized in Noble Peace Prize 2007 to IPCC .

A journey of mercy for Qurban Zahid Alam A group of four parents and students took a journey of mercy to distribute Qurban from Sydney, Australia to Cambodia and Vietnam from 7-13 July 2022 in spite of risks and uncertainty associated with COVID-19.

The delegation organised by Amity College with the charity partner ARO included Mehmet Saral, Ronya Naboulsi, Abdul Habib and Serkan Iner.

The main aim from this trip was to give children within the group experience of values that they cannot experience while being in Australia experiencing first hand the resilience of people struggling in the third world.

The group stayed 2 days in Vietnam and 3 days in Cambodia.

The trip started in Vietnam where the group had a chance to see their cultures and lifestyles with scooters being the main mode

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of transport. More than 50 million scooters are used in the country because having a car is very costly. You can see 4-5 people

(whole family ) people on one scooter.

The Group had a chance to learn Vietnam’s history and a chance to witness how they struggled and survived even in hopeless situations during the visits to the Cu Chi tunnels.

How those difficult conditions improved their resilience after the experience of a 20 year of war against the most powerful country. It was a lesson for us that one must never give up even when you are in the most difficult situations.

The group visited the genocide museum in Cambodia realising the importance of freewill and human rights by listening to the stories of those unfortunate people.

They learnt how a regime or a dictatorship -one manpower – makes one nation destroyed its elites. They had a tour guide who lost her father and brother during those times. She fled from Vietnam with her mother.

The regime killed many people for different reasons. One of them was checking the people’s palm. If the palm was soft and not rough they kill that person because he/she may be an educated person.

The Group distributed meat packs and some Eid gifts to the children. They all experienced the joy of giving and had a chance

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to experience empathy. All of the members in the group felt very emotional when they saw the smiles on children’s innocent faces.

It was hard to explain the enjoyment of the thoughts when those disadvantaged people were taking the meat bags.

The Group understood the blessings that they have in our country when they saw the people who don’t have running water, a proper bed or a kitchen facility. Most of them live and sleep in one room. Some of the houses(if you can say it is a house ) do not have walls.

The Group visited the dormitory of a sister school of Amity Girls. They were overjoyed to see with the effort of local support 25 girls had the advantage of having shelter to continue their education. Most of their parents live in very remote areas and that dormitory became a chance for them to get a proper education.

They thanked Amity parents for sponsoring their education. They were in very humble conditions but were very happy.

When the Group asked what they wanted to be, they all said that they wanted to go to uni and become teachers, doctors dentists to serve their country.

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Boosting breaks for bursting brains of HSC students Shafqat Ali

Just like everyone else nowadays, most of the time, HSC students are under exam stress as they have to study long hours to prepare for their exams. Mostly their study tools are electronic gadgets. When studying, they are on the computer, and when they take a break, they use either their phones or watch TV. So in all of these kinds of activities, the body is less involved and the brain is heavily churning all its energy. That’s why mentally, they start to feel more tired and it creates an imbalance between the body and the mind.

In the early days before computers, studying used not just the brain but the body as well. For example, picking up a book and reading involves sitting in different postures including walking and when you write, you are using your hand and you sit in another posture.

Nowadays, everything is on a computer so you sit in one position and do all those activities that have created more brain work, which has disturbed the body-mind balance; especially when you are sitting in that position for a longer time and your brain is fully hooked up in these learning activities.

You can also refer to your brain as being “hijacked” as you are unaware of your body’s natural tiredness.

Eventually, your brain gets disconnected from your body, forgetting that the brain also needs energy, like the oxygen in its blood supply which is given by the body. So that’s why it’s recommended that study sessions should be broken into 30 to 40 minutes segments, a maximum of an hour session followed by a break.

But in most cases when thinking of a break, one might think of playing a game or watching TV, only to realise those activities still use the brain and might instead be using more brain energy.

Students should ideally do something with extensive body use and minimum brain activity in order for the body becomes active again and uses more oxygen to make the brain active again to do another study session.

We call them ‘Booting Breaks’ that boost your brain again and make it less tired, more energetic and active. These breaks should be in between 5-15 minutes.

Let’s explore what kind of boosting breaks students can do. The first thing is to give a list of some options, mainly which you can do at home depending on your surrounding environment and the facilities around you.

Some require more resources and some don’t need much to simply start off with.

Indoor Boosting Breaks The first list is about indoor activities,

Leadership, gender, and Quranic stories of bird soldiers 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.

After the defeat of Hilary Clinton, many considered that USA was not yet ready for its first female president.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh with 3rd largest Muslim population has known only female prime ministers and the leaders of the oppositions since 1991. In non-Arabic Muslim world female prime ministership is not uncommon.

These female prime ministers do not prove or disprove the acceptance of female leadership in Islamic countries. It is safe to say that the female leadership in Islamic discourse is highly contested.

A c c o r d - ing to t h e Quranic story, Hoopoe, t h e bird soldier of King Solomon, brough the news to the King that there was a great kingdom down south throned by a queen.

Indeed, the Kingdom of Saba’ was highly prosperous trading nations. The ancient city of Ma’rib, located approximately 120 km east of Yemen’s modern day capital city Sana, was their capital. The main source of their prosperity was their advanced knowledge in dam technology.

The King Solomon invited the Queen to the One God and asked her to submit. Otherwise, he would invade her land. And here comes my point: when the letter from King Solomon reached the Queen with the carrot of an open invitation to God and a big military stick, the queen called her royal council to discuss.

The advice from her top generals was

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that they were adequately able to face the threat, but they would follow her decisions.

How many of great kings went down in the annals of history just because they failed to control their generals. The Sabean queen was able to come to submission to God with her full court and thus save her nation.

The Quranic story continues.

After many years a great flood overflowed the dam and destroyed their irrigation systems and all agricultural produces. The Quran does not tell us if they had a king or a queen during that period of calamity. But the Quran did tell us about the fate of a later king from the same Yemen.

He was Abraha who came to Makkah to destroy the Kaaba. When he went to destroy the Kaaba, God sent flocks of birds, who threw stones upon him and all the solders to their annihilation. Thus, the Kaaba was saved by divine will.

“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice.

Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing” (Al Quran 4:58) Here the divine command did not say that the public trust should go to the most righteous man among us. Instead, we are asked to put our trust to the most qualified among us.

I’m not trained in theology. It appears to me that according to the Quranic stories, the Sabean Queen was the right choice for her people.

This is a shortened version of the full online article. Read the full article: https://tinyurl.com/mrbhyn38 Dr Asrar Talukder is a marine geologist and a passionate community activist. He is based in Perth, Australia.

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

which don’t require many resources besides you. Some simple cardio exercises, like star jumps, commando jumps, simple push-ups or shadow boxing. Within two or three minutes, you will be breathless, which means you want more oxygen in your body, which means you need more breaths, to have that extra oxygen.

Skipping is another excellent exercise that will give you the same outcome but it needs a little bit of practice. If you have Wii Fit, it has games which can be more entertaining, but it is not as accessible to everyone.

Table tennis is another good indoor game that may go a bit longer and requires another person, maybe a sibling, parent, or friend.

You can invent your own game as well and within five minutes you will be laughing as warmth travels throughout your body.

In these activities, your brain will align with what your body is doing. It’s not easy for your mind to be wandering around while you’re jumping up and down wanting the rest for your brain and body to be energised and refreshed.

Just in case you are unable to do cardio physical activities, you can do simple body

stretches. Salat will also help you to practise having that self-focus. House chores may also count as a break to your mind helping your family out and keeping your environment clean, essential in keeping a positive mindset that is appealing to the eyes.

Outdoor Boosting Breaks The simplest form of outdoor activity that will allow you to relax is going for a walk or jogging. But in that walk, you must be more engaged with your surroundings than with the psychological drama you have going on in your head or your phone ready for you to start watching something.

Outdoor volleyball or any kind of sport is recommended to do with siblings or a mate that may not fit within two or three minutes but it really is worth that good time.

There is one word of caution: You must be aware of the time while you are in that boosting break. Don’t stretch these breaks to the point where you begin to take up your time to study.

What do you think you can start doing as a Boosting Break?

Online HSC exam success secrets workshop

Shayyan Ali In most cases, HSC results are a foundation stone in someone’s career.

Many students overwhelmingly take the pressure of HSC exams due to the heavy competition in order to get high marks.

Every year, Young Innovators Australia runs workshops on HSC which include how to manage your studies and do your exams.

On the 12 July 2022, the Young Innovators Club team organised an online workshop on “HSC Exam Success Secrets” for Year 10, 11 and 12 students.

It was FREE to attend and also streamed on social media. In the workshop, topics were covered • Time Management tools to keep your study time organised and stress-free.

• How to “Be in the Best Shape” to have the energy up on mental and physical levels.

• Best Revisions techniques to save time with less effort.

• How Trial and Prac/Past Papers can help

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you to gain confidence that you are ready for exams.

Towards the end, students were briefed about how to organise their routine on exam day to avoid any mental blocks and any kind of stress or anxiety.

It was an interactive workshop based on learning activities. Many people had a laugh and had fun. The event was very smooth and participants learnt many new things and skills.

Along with STEM learning workshops, Young Innovators Australia also helps students helps to become independent, innovative and productive learners.

The workshop was conducted by Shafqat Ali and Shayyan Ali, who is also year 12 student.

You can watch the whole workshop on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=5U4G1QfVBa8.

Shayyan Ali is a youth mentor who helps students in their learning journey through interactive STEM Learning workshops. You can get in touch with him through his website https://sites.google.com/view/shayyanali/.

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Bear-baiting is a national shame for Pakistan Christine Osborne “He who harms even a sparrow, so shall he answer to Allah on the Day of Judgement.” (Hadith) Bear-baiting was a popular form of entertainment in Elizabethan England, but due to widespread horror at animal cruelty, it was finally made illegal in 1835, with the ban being later applied throughout the British Empire.

How sad then to learn that bear-baiting is still active in Pakistan. A distressing video posted this month on social media by wildlife carers carried a plea to the international community to condemn this heinous practice.

In fact bear-baiting is officially illegal in Pakistan, but the law is rarely enforced with authorities often in cahoots with dog-owners. Not in the least that gambling — thousands of rupees may be waged on a fight — is considered as much an abomination as alcohol by the Holy Qur’an.

Every week during summer, bear-dog fights are held in the notorious city of Rahim Yar Khan in the southern Punjab. Watched by hundreds of men and boys (women are not allowed) a bear is released in a dusty circle to be set upon by savage dogs, multiple

times, during the afternoon program.

As puppies, hunting dogs are taught to attack by chasing rabbits. When training is complete, they are taken into the natural environment where any creature is seen as fair game: a civet cat, jackal, wolf, a wild boar; nothing is safe. There are even competitions with prizes awarded to the most aggressive canine.

Wildlife expert Fahad Malik in Lahore says that hunting wildlife is seen as a game, or a hobby, with small children also taking part. Sometimes a rare striped hyena is trapped and secured in a pit for the dogs to worry it.

Brown bears and the endangered Asian black bear used in such contests are poached

in Pakistan as well as Afghanistan. The mother bear is usually killed in order to capture her cubs whose teeth are extracted, their claws trimmed and a ring with a spike is inserted in their nose so they can be led by a rope.

Pakistan does not generally enjoy a compassionate reputation — remember Kavaan, the elephant rescued from Islamabad Zoo and flown to sanctuary in Cambodia? But there is genuine concern among the educated for animal welfare both wild and domestic.

Dog owners arrested over a fight in Rahima Yar Khan on 22 July 2022 In 2001 General Musharraf proposed that a sanctuary should be established for res-

cued dancing bears and those baited in dog fights.

Located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the first such centre was destroyed in the catastrophic 2010 floods when thirty bears were drowned.

Following this tragedy, the Balkasar Bear Sanctuary was set up by WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) and BRC bio-resource centre Pakistan, a seven hectare wilderness haven in the Punjab, where rescued animals they can live out their days.

But saving bears from a miserable existence is a sensitive process. It involves lengthy negotiations with the owner and the provision of a viable alternative livelihood.

When the owner agrees to surrender their bear, BRC then offers training so they may set up a new business.

Balkasar offers hope to wipe out bear baiting forever. However perhaps one should not be too harsh on Pakistan when it is considered that Britain banned fox-hunting under the Hunting Act of 2004, but toffs still defy the law to ride to hounds.

Christine Osborne is an Australian photojournalist and author. Her website www.travelswithmyhat.com features books and photographs of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. She has visited more than 30 Muslim majority countries. Christine Osborne is author of An Insight And Guide To Pakistan (Longman UK). See also www.amongbelievers.com

About the importance of Dhikr Ismar Nesiren Dhikr is a very powerful and simple way to worshp Allah and carries many benefits and virtues. We want to support muslims worldwirde to strenghten their relationship with our Creator through remembrance of Him. The moment our soul gets infused into the body, we forget where we came from, where we are going and who we are. Sent to this the world of matter and senses to find answers to these questions – to remember.

The term Dhikr literally means “to remember”. There are several forms of dhikr

and one of these powerful spiritual practices is tasbih. It’s the most common form of dhikr and it means to praise.

Chanting or reciting the Divine Names and attributes, phrases such as la illahe illalah, prayers or salawat on Prophet Mohammad(s) lead us to God. By remembering God and who we truly are beyond reality and ego, we are returning to God, which is the ultimate goal of every believer.

Using prayer beads is recommended for tasbih to keep count. Besides the practical side of a prayer bead, to keep count, having a haptic tool is relaxing and soothing and supports our focus and concentration.

We want to support Muslims worldwide in their dhikr – and to do it fairly, sustainably and with respect for what He has given us.

We started RAHATNOOK to create beautiful high-quality products for a muslims everyday use. Our desire to implement naturalness and organic consciousness in every corner of our everyday lives is our way to honour the raw materials He provided us with.

Our passion for simple design and natural materials leads us to launch our woven prayer rugs collection last year. Now we are excited to present our tasbih collection made of olive wood from Palestine.

Using the wood of the blessed tree for a product that symbolizes prayer and dhikr most likely and thus devotion to the One is the most obvious admission to naturalness and originality.

The special grain and the different shades of the wood make each bead and each tasbih unique and give it a warm look. The silky smooth surface ensures a pleasant feel. In addition, olive wood has antibacterial properties due to the essential oils.

To start our first production run we are launching a crowdfunding campaign and we would love you to be part of our journey and to support you in your daily remembrance of our Creator.

To learn more visit www.launchgood. com/tesbih Ismar Nesiren is the CEO and founder of RAHATNOOK and is based in Munich, Germany.

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Social Spotlights

Zuleyha Keskin House of Sakinah

@TrustHOS

House of Sakinah Women Support Centre, held its Sakinah for Seniors event on Thursday 28 July 2022. We had lunch and played fun games, were the seniors shared interesting facts about themselves

Anthony Albanese

@AlboMP

Our government has ambition for our country to be even better.

A country where we take care of older Australians.

A country where we seize the opportunities of acting on climate change and renewable energy.

A country where secure work and fair pay is available to all.

We will be a Government worthy of the Australian people.

A pleasure to welcome Senator Fatima Payman and Senator Linda White to the Labor team today.

Muslim Women’s Association of SA @MuslimWomens AssociationSA

Food is language known by many; it’s beautiful, diverse and always evolving!

In collaboration with Adelaide Central Market and Red Cross Australia, we took our students ‘Learning English Through Cooking’ to the stage to introduce ‘A World of Flavours’ We held a live cooking demonstration of ethnic foods; kibbeh, injera and milk barfi by our very own students The platters of Middle Eastern, East African and Sri Lankan delights were amazing to taste, and we’re sure everyone there could have said the same This #RefugeeWeek we’re standing in solidarity with all refugees and asylum seekers in Australia! At MWASA, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity for community and healing, and we will do our best to continue to support that Big thank you to the participants, volunteers, guests, MWASA staff, Central Market and the team from Red Cross for co-hosting this incredible event.

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One of the sisters who attends our Wednesday night halaqas, gifted me a book she wrote. Dr Iman Al-Attar wrote her book on “Baghdad: An Urban History Through the Len of Literature.” We have amazing women in our community

Senator Fatima Payman It has been so lovely to have my family in Canberra with me this week.

In the Address-in-Reply yesterday, I thanked my Mum and my siblings for their unwavering support, love, and patience. They have been my source of stability and comfort amongst all these new and exciting changes.

I hope my nephew will look back on these photos one day and feel proud of his auntie!

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Arise Foundation Australia

@arisefoundationaustralia Congratulations to the Arise Academy graduating class of June 2022! You inspire and amaze us.

Huge thanks to Clifford Chance, a proud partner of Arise Foundation Australia, and hosts of a lovely and engaging graduation event for onsite and virtual graduates last week in Sydney. In addition to a joyful ceremony marking the incredible drive and achievement of these Arise women, the day was filled with speakers in our leadership and motivational series, Naomi Griffin, Nadia Kalic, Rachael Natoli and Ray Itaoui, one-onone mentorship with Clifford Chance staff and a professional attire tutorial from Candice Graham.

Thank you to all our speakers, and to our other fabulous supporters for this wonderful event, Lokahi Foundation AUS, Fitted for Work and Thread Together.

And we cannot adequately thank the generous facilitators of Arise Academy’s Employment Ready Program and our hero volunteers. We are truly humbled to be able to celebrate the success of these remarkable Arise women with some of our facilitators and our amazing partners.

‘Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.’ – Helen Keller

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TOP 6 Memes

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Reliving Hajj at Unity Grammar

Our Junior School students were treated to a wonderful event. Students in K-6 enjoyed reliving Hajj experience with the help of our Islamic Studies Department. Build-

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TOP 4 Tweets

#Hajj2022 #Hajj1443

ing connections with Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is part of forming the students’ identities and building affinity with the sacred sites of Islam.

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