Issue 111

MUSLIM

AUSTRALASIAN

Multimedia News & Views

ISSN: 1039-2300

Print Post No. PP 255003/01403

Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates

Young Queenslander of 2015

NEWS PAGE 2

Cricket World Cup Fever Mounts BOOMERANG PAGE 3

AMUST Issue # 111

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Email: info@amust.com.au

February 2015; Rabi ul Aakhir 1436

Coffee with a Cop

Journey to Jerusalem

AUSTRALIA PAGE 13

TRAVEL PAGE 18

One freed while 40,000+ still languishing in Egyptian prisons

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News .................................1 - 2 • Federal Funding Cuts to Close Holroyd Community Aid Boomerang ..................... 3 - 5 • Editorial: Delhi Elections • Vilification of Muslims Community ..................... 6 - 8 • Coins, Medals Donated to AMU • Toowoomba Mosque Attack

Abu Anees While the release of Australian journalist Peter Greste by the Egyptian authorities was received with great relief by the global media, the plight of tens of thousands of Egyptians largely held without charge by the regime has escaped the limelight.

It is estimated that there are more than 41,000 political prisoners in Egyptian jails languishing in most brutal conditions.

Many of those detained include high profile academics and professionals as well as young activists including a large percentage of young women held since the military strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi deposed the democratically elected Mursi government in July 2013.

More than 500 of the detainees have been summarily tried by civilian and military courts and have been sentenced to death, news that has outraged the international community.

Peter Greste arrived in Australia to a hero’s welcome as a free man last week to be reunited with his parents and other family members.

Speaking of his time in an Egyptian prison, he said it felt like a “near-death experience”, but also like a “rebirth”.

Greste, together with his two Al Jazeera colleagues, was accused of aiding the now banned Muslim BrotherPeter Greste

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Lifestyle ........................ 9 - 11 • Mobydayze: Return to the Coop Australia ...................... 12 - 13 • NAB Visit to Israel Controversy • Vortex for Peace Ummah ........................ 14 - 16 • Fox News Apology • Media Scan Education ........................... 17 • Attributes of Allah - Part 6 Travel .................................. 18 • Journey of a Lifetime - Jerusalem Social .................................. 19 • Social Networks and Friendships

Aligarh Muslim University Alumni of Australia celebrates Sir Syed Day Story & more photos Page 7

hood which came to power in free and fair elections after the 2011 Arab spring uprising He voiced his great concern for his colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, who remain in prison and will be undergoing a retrial any time soon.

Greste announced that, despite his ordeal, he would continue to work as a reporter.

“I’m a correspondent, that’s what I do,” he said.

It is understood that Greste was released as a result of an international campaign for his release and representations made by top level Australian government officials. Even-

tually the Egyptian authorities concluded that his detention was a PR disaster for the regime and it was best to release him in order to ward off further criticism.

Meanwhile people continue to get killed and injured one way or the other in Egypt.

Earlier this week more than 40 people died and dozens were injured as a result of stampede and clashes between heavy handed police and politically motivated fans at a soccer game.

The relations between Egyptian military and police and soccer fans has been tense since the 2011 popular uprising, when football supporters played a key role in ending

Sport ................................... 20 • Asian Cup Report the rule of former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. There have been clashes with security forces in and outside of stadiums, and as well as in the context of political protests, with police accused of using excessive force while confronting them.

A key backer of Sisi, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Egypt earlier this week and both agreed to boost trade and military cooperation including supplying of weapons to Egypt.

The Arab backers of the Egyptian regime include UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia who are wary of any democratic movement in the Middle East due to self interest, all of them being absolute monarchies..

NSW Government launches ‘Child Not Bride’ Campaign Mobinah Ahmad The NSW Government held a briefing on Monday 9 February in Sydney to inform Multicultural media representatives about a ‘child not bride’ campaign focusing on raising awareness about underage forced marriage.

The Minister for Women, Pru Goward and Minister for Citizenship and Communities.

Victor Dominello addressed the issue of underage forced marriage and female genital mutilation amongst multicultural media representatives.

Ms Goward said the state wide Child not Bride advertising campaign, which starts this month, will appear across multicultural print, radio and digital media.

“The aim of today’s briefing was to bring

together editors, producers and reporters to talk about the vital role they play in this campaign. We will not do this without you.

Multicultural media plays a critical role in this awareness.” Ms Goward said.

The ‘child not bride’ campaign looks to multicultural media to spread awareness and educate parents and community leaders that underage forced marriage is illegal under NSW law and to promote the specialist 24-hour Child Protect Helpline.

The criminal offence for a child forced into marriage is 7 years and for female genital mutilation was between 7 to 21 years.

Ms Goward said that 24 calls to the helpline have been received so far, however none of which had led to police investigation. She said although there have been no prosecutions, there is a start in receiving responses.

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NSW Government launches ‘Child Not Bride’ Campaign Continued from page 1 “Every girl deserves a childhood and the chance for a bright future, including the right to choose who, when and if she wants to marry” said Ms Goward.

Minister Victor Dominello said that there is passion among Australian ethnic media journalists to tackle the big issues facing Australian multicultural society. He said that they play an important role of educating and informing multicultural communities.

Mr Dominello said the campaign has been focus tested on young women and community leaders from multicultural communities and will be supported by fact sheets translated into five different languages.

The advertising campaign will run concurrently with a community engagement strategy and social media campaign called “Hopes and Dreams”.

Cultural Partners Strategic Marketing and Communication Director Paula Masselos from Cultural Partners told that they have

developed three core components to change attitude and behaviour for the long term to achieve long lasting change. The components are to community outreach and discussion, the girls right to choose advocates, and a social media communication mechanism.

Forced Marriage Network Co-Convenor, Jennifer Burn spoke on how to address any gaps in support in legislation and to provide a platform to work together. This program is critical and embedded in the principles of the best practice of community engagement and was highly endorsed by her organisation.

At the end of the media briefing, Ms Goward confirmed that Forced Marriages and Female Genital Mutilation was a cultural practice and not part of any religious practices. She stated that there were misconceptions on these issues and expressed how important education and awareness is to spread to the community..

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Muslim named Young Queenslander of 2015 AMUST Media A young Muslim woman has been named the 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the year, in recognition of her work in leading a successful youth project for years.

“The idea of Youth Without Borders is that young people work together on projects that positively impact their community,” Yassmin Abdel-Magied, the 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year, told 4BC on Friday 6 February.

“A lot of what we do is around creating equal opportunities for young people.

“No matter how old you are, where you are born, you have the capacity to change the world around you.”

Yassmin, won the Queensland award for her efforts and work with the “Youth Without Borders”, an organisation she established when she was just 16.

Yassmin, who is also an oil and gas engineer, said that she is honoured to receive the award that will help her to expand her

organisation’s outreach.

“Awards like this give me the opportunity to speak to more people”, she said.

Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population.

In post 9/11-era, Australian Muslims have been haunted with suspicion and have had their patriotism questioned.

“Anyone who has grown up Muslim in Australia or in the West broadly has a pre-impose 9/11 life”, she said.

Being at the age of 10 at that time, Yassmin “went from someone who was brown and wore slightly different clothes to someone who represented something that I didn’t even understand.

“I represented an evil that people saw,” she added.

“That is something that we have to slowly come back from and that is the reality of the situation.”

Muslims and non-Muslims alike “need to focus on a collective humanity and community and work on issues that support us all together as Australian,” the Muslim winner stated.

From left: Paula Masselos, Minister Victor Dominello, Minister Pru Goward, Mobinah Ahmad and Jennifer Burn at the Multicultural Media Briefing

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Yassmin Abdel-Magied is the 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year

Federal funding cuts to close Holroyd community aid AMUST Media “Emergency relief funding cuts will hit our local community hard”, says Julie Owens, Federal MP for Parramatta, NSW. The funding cuts to Holroyd Community Aid, Western Sydney are part of a $240 million cut to community services in the 2014-15 Budget and support programs that provide emergency relief to some of the most disadvantaged in our community and will see the almost immediate closure of the centre.

“Holroyd Community Aid has been operating for over 48 years in our local community,” said Ms Owens.

“They get the community. They know what the community needs and they’re able to deliver services in a localised and effective way – they’re the experts.”

“This cut will mean that essential services like emergency financial assistance and emergency food supplies will no longer be available to the community.”

“It’s a cruel cut that will hit the poor the hardest.”

Local services offering emergency relief to the community have been granted an extension up to March 31 with no promise of funding after this time.

Several other local organisations across Western Sydney have also lost their funding and are facing prospect of closure which

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Julie Owens, MP will mean staff will lose their jobs and more essential services will go.

The ability for these organisations to deliver emergency relief, financial counselling, volunteering and settlement services will be greatly affected, with some services, like Holroyd Community Aid, having to completely close down.

“This process has been utterly confusing and chaotic for all community organisations involved,” said Ms Owens.

“By contacting organisations right before Christmas, they haven’t even been given a proper chance to look for further funding or fight these cuts.”

“It was an underhanded move and the cuts have completely blindsided many organisations.”

“This confirms that this Government is intent on attacking the most disadvantaged in our community.” She said.

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Cricket World Cup Fever rises down under Zia Ahmad World Cup ticket sales set to hit one million as the anticipation builds for the biggest one-day tournament in Cricket history.

Cricket fans from all over the country congregate this Sunday 15 February in Adelaide for a thriller between traditional rivals India and Pakistan in a preliminary match which is anticipated to rival a final and will be watched by more than one billion people world wide.

The International Cricket Council ICC reports that already three matches have been completely sold out: these are matches between India Vs Pakistan, New Zealand Vs Sri Lanka, and Australia Vs New Zealand.

Other three matches have limited availability.

ICC chief executive David Richardson said “The ICC Cricket World Cup is on track to be the most open and competitive tournament ever. I’d urge everyone who can to get out to do so and support their team.”

The anticipated clash between India & Pakistan resulted in tickets being sold out within minutes of going on sale last year.

Apart from the inherent rivalry that any Indo-Pak encounter always inspires, both sides have got a talented bunch of cricketers. Therefore, naturally whenever these two sides meet, it is guaranteed to be a high quality and fiercely fought game of cricket.

Despite being a preliminary game, some have called this the mother of all matches as both teams will stretch their limits to achieve victory egged on by a huge team of fans moving to Adelaide.

India and Pakistan have played some of the most exciting matches with nail biting finishes, predicting the winner may be no easy task. Only the Ashes can be compared to the Indo-Pak rivalry.

India’s weakness lies in their bowling skills as they do not have express pace or mystery spin, however show obvious strength in their batting. Pakistan, who are struggling after losing Junaid Khan due to his injury and the suspension of Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Amjal from bowling.

The build up for the game continues as three of India’s heavyweights are attending the match in Adelaide as commentators.

Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan will be doing the commentary with his smooth yet serious voice alongside stellar

BOOMERANG

MUSLIM

AUSTRALASIAN

Multimedia News & Views

TIME

AMUST

Issue # 111 Friday 13 February 2015;

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AMUST

www.amust.com.au

22 Rabi ul Aakhir 1436

Delhi elections: A win for democracy

cricket commentators, Harsh Bhogle and Kapil Dev, a former Indian Cricket Captain.

“There is nothing that Mr Bachchan’s voice can’t do. The one thing he hadn’t done was cricket commentary” said India’s bestknown baritone filmmaker, Balakrishnan.

Having Amitabh Bachchan play the role of commentator binds India and Pakistan together in this universally appealing performance.

Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are strong teams at the top, who do not depend on just a couple of players to take them home. In addition to top in-form batsmen and bowlers, they are exceptional fielding teams with athletic stamina to last almost two months of gruelling one day cricket.

Each of these three countries has a cricket captain with tactical strategy and skills to win on the kind of grounds in Australia.

They will be the top contenders to win the cup.

Hashim Amla, the South African captain, of Indian background, opener and Mr consistent who has been regularly hitting centuries as well as occasional double and triple centuries will be a man to watch. A devout Muslim, he has the temperament to lead his side to a world cup win.

A look alike of Amla is Moeen Ali, the English all-rounder of Pakistani background, opening batsman and a consistent wicket taker. Both Amla and Moeen Ali, excellent cricketers they are, standing tall, can be spotted from far away with their flowing long beards.

Australia, playing on their home ground and with a talented all-rounder team in all departments of bowling, batting and fielding and well experienced to tackle big moments under pressure would be the favourites to win the world cup this year.

Among the third world countries, India peaceful way. has shown time and again its perseverOn a national level the Congress Parance with democracy and strong belief in ty remained in power as long as it stuck its democratic institutions. with secularism, freedom and respect of Indian political consciousness is well opinions from all sections of the Indian established and while tested from time to Society. When Indira Gandhi intoxicated time, democracy has served India well since by power committed excesses, she was independence in 1947. promptly removed at the next election, not The democratic experiment in India is only loosing her seat but the Congress was a success story and a role model parswept from power. ticularly for the Muslim countries When the electorate realised that which are largely ruled by dictatothe Janata Party coalition was inEDITORIAL competent to rule the country, it rial regimes and where conflicts Assalamu and differences are resolved by was removed from power at the means of oppression and vionext election and the Congress Alaikum lence rather than through diawas given the chance again to Greetings logue and the ballot box. rule after it was given a lesson of Peace Its true, that Indian democracy that it was not invincible. has its weaknesses. Sometimes it Again during the last few years seems like a political circus on a grand Congress had become paralysed to scale where the players conduct themselves control corruption and failed to uplift the in all kinds of ridiculous ways. Election poor condition of the majority of Indians. campaigns are conducted with divisive Late in 2013, during the Delhi elections, slogans on the basis of religious and caste Congress was routed and Aam Admi Pardifferences, occasionally leading to incite- ty (common man party) that arose from ment and violence. Occasionally criminal an anti-corruption movement formed a elements use political power in order to minority government that lasted only 49 consolidate their interests. There is chronic days. political and bureaucratic corruption that is Again at national elections last year endemic throughout the country.

Bharatya Janata Party, BJP had a landslide In spite of all the drawbacks democracy victory mainly due to stagnation in Conworks in India and the intelligent electorate gress. is well aware of its power to change regimes With fresh elections in Delhi, indicawhen excesses are committed. The decision tors point to the fact that Aam Admi Party, at the ballot box is respected, accepted and AAP has again routed the Congress and helps resolve differences and conflicts in a dented BJP’s Modi Wave.

Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan will be doing the commentary alongside stellar cricket commentators, Harsh Bhogle and Kapil Dev, a former Indian Cricket Captain on Sunday 15 Feb from Adelaide during the India VS Pakistan match.

Players to watch: Lookalike Hashem Amla (left) and Moeen Ali (right)

February 2015

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Australasian Muslim Times

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Letters to the editor Sydney Siege

This Australia Day Honours List is just too much to bear in silence.

Abbott’s elevation of his English-German-Greek overlord to a meaningless knighthood just sums up what our federal government now stands for - cringing colonial white lickspittles.

Abbott the English charity immigrant feels superior to the people of the 40,000 year civilisation of our continent. He sees the arrival of the colonial slave fleet, which initiated the genocide of Terra Nullius, as the defining moment in our history.

He expects Indonesia to take his stand on

the death penalty as sincere while, as they have observed, he subjects non-Aryan asylum seekers to slow death in concentration camps or slaughter by hostile locals in PNG. I am proud to be Australian, proud to be a descendant of a First Fleeter but profoundly ashamed of the idiots who now dominate the front benches.

If nothing else, the incompetence of this government and the embarrassment it is bringing to our land makes it absolutely imperative for us to become involved in the political life of Australia.

Bilal Cleland Melbourne, VIC

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HAVE YOUR SAY

Send us your thoughts about news or current events to be published in the next issue of AMUST

Email us at info@amust.com.au

HECS loans: Muslim concerns Em

22 January, 2015 Sydney Siege: The community the white Australia could not be seen and it Indexing the debt to reflect changes in the looked as if a mega city in South East Asia. comes together CPI is not permissible according to Shariah, Let us hope the world becomes peaceful and Hamid 22 December, 2014 It is highly tragic to happen in a city like Sydney but it did. All sympathies with the families who died and injured. My memories of Sydney 1965-1968, when I was postgraduate student at University of Sydney recall as the most pleasant metropolitan place to live. Very friendly people and no haste of life. It was safe everywhere and we enjoyed moving around when Opera House was being built. My repeat visits in 2007 and in 2010 showed lot of immigration effects as

more friendly for its people. I live in Pakistan where frequency of such inhuman acts abounds but everyone is playing its role to mitigate the shadow of sadness and miseries. Let us all play our role to spread humanity by peaceful means in the world

Sydney Siege: The community comes together Hassan Khan

23 December, 2014 read this for the first time, very impressive .. hope to contribute

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as it falls in the definition of interest. HECS loan is haram.

Post your own thoughts at

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AMUST Team

Managing Editor: Zia Ahmad Graphic Designer: Rubinah Ahmad Chief Adviser: Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad Journalist: Mobinah Ahmad Columnist: Dr Abul Jalaluddin (Finance) Columnist: Bilal Cleland (Victoria) Columnist: Manarul Islam (ACT) Columnist: Lydia Shelly (Sydney) Columnist: Anne Fairbairn (Sydney) Promotion: Dr Wali Bokhari Web Developer: Shadow Approved Multimedia: iMoby Productions Printers: SpotPress Pty Ltd Distributers: Wrapaway Transport Pty Ltd Distributers: Abul Fateh Siddiqui, Shujaat Siddiqui, Usaid Khalil, Aamir Ahmad, Ibrahim Khalil, Usman Siddiqui, Zahid Alam

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February 2015

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EDUCATION 17

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Burning: a method of Paganism and Religious Fanaticism Bilal Cleland One of the most terrible assaults upon human dignity is the ancient method of execution, burning a person alive. As a student of history, the mass burnings of dissidents under the Inquisition horrified me and turned me forever against the religious denomination that carried out such acts.

It was a method frequently used by the pagan Roman Empire. Josephus, the Jewish traitor who served Titus, the destroyer of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, reported that after the fall of the city and the capture of thousands of its inhabitants, Titus visited Caesarea on the coast and then Caesarea Philippi ‘...where he stayed a long time exhibiting shows of every kind. Many of the prisoners perished here, some thrown to wild beasts, others forced to meet each other in full-scale battles.’ Another 2,500 were similarly dealt with, some being burnt alive, to celebrate his brother Domitian’s birthday in Caesarea a few months later (Josephus The Jewish War BK VII ch II & ch III.)

Fortress of Cathars

Mass burning at Cathars

When I discovered that Paul of Tarsus, who was in fact the founder of the form of Christianity which became dominant, supported this type of government, my adherence to his religion also faltered. Paul wrote, just a few years before this atrocity, in his Letter to the Romans: “You must all obey the governing authorities. Since all government comes from God, the civil authorities were appointed by God, and so anyone who resists authority is rebelling against God’s decision, and such an act is bound to be punished. Good behaviour is not afraid of

magistrates; only criminals have anything to fear.....The State is there to serve God for your benefit.” (Romans 13:1-4) It was a form of punishment used by the Roman Catholic Church against the Cathars in southern France in the 1200s. These Cathars preached the unity of God, they rejected the trinity and veneration of the cross.

They appear to have been remnants of the early followers of the Gospel who rejected Pauline teachings. They were the target of a major crusade and were exterminated.

Their last stronghold was the fortress of

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Montségur. It was overcome by siege and on 16 March 1244, a large and symbolically important massacre took place, where over 200 Cathars were burnt alive in an enormous fire near the foot of the castle. Over 200 living people burned alive in the pursuit of doctrinal purity! It is not something to forget.

The position of Islam on such horror is very clear. Wael Shihab writes in an opinion, (www.onislam.net) “It is Islamically forbidden to burn a human, whether dead or alive. Allah Most High says, {Truly We have honored human beings} (Al-Isra’ 17: 70); burning a human being is a blatant disregard of the honor owed him or her as per the Divine will. In one of his hadiths, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No one is entitled to punish with fire except the Creator (God) of the fire”.

(Abu Dawud, Sunan, No. 2673)” That is why all of the Muslim world is horrified at the blatant disregard of Divine Law by the extremists in Iraq and Syria with their murder by fire of Muadh al-Kasasbeh, the Muslim pilot they captured. Such horrors belong to paganism and religious fanaticism, they are not part of Islam.

The widespread vilification of Muslims Dr Deepak Tripathi The recent attacks at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine’s office and a Jewish store near Paris have sparked another round of explosive debate about Islam and Muslims. The actions of Cherif and Said Kouachi were condemned. How the two brothers born and raised in France became radicalised was discussed in newspapers and on airwaves. Their existence on the fringes of French society and previous encounters with the law, already on record, were highlighted. Belgian police subsequently carried out operations in Verviers and other parts of the country.

Competition among Western leaders to rush to Paris to mark the tragic events was intense. The British Prime Minister David Cameron and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu appeared particularly exercised. Stakes are high for Cameron and Netanyahu in coming elections in Britain and Israel respectively. The French presidency was not keen on Netanyahu visiting the country, but he turned up anyway.

Reminding the world of his Christian faith, David Cameron condemned the “fanatical death cult of Islamist extremism” and insisted: “You cannot appease them; they hate our democracy, our freedom, our freedom of expression, our way of life.”

Netanyahu was not going to be left behind.

Describing the attacks as brutal acts of savagery, he insisted that radical Islam knew “no boundaries” and the response had to be international.

Reminding his audience yet again that Israel had experienced similar attacks and that he knew the pain, Netanyahu said: “The terrorists want to destroy our freedoms and our civilization … we can defeat this tyranny that seeks to extinguish all our freedoms.”

Some commentators have pointed out the inherent bigotry and duplicity of this rhetoric. Chris Hedges, in a piece on Truthdig. com, said that the Charlie Hebdo shootings were neither about free speech nor radical Islam. Rather, the killings represented the fury of those hopeless, brutally controlled and mocked by the privileged.

The latest vilification of Muslims and their faith is the result of an old alliance of fundamentalist Christians and Jews for at least a century, certainly since the beginning of the Anglo-French project to create what became Israel in 1948. In the post-9/11 era,

February 2015

the trend to caricature Muslims has become more sweeping and venomous. Muslims all over the world are facing a sustained attack.

Had the Palestinian scholar Edward Said, author of the acclaimed book Orientalism been alive, he would have described it as a new form of Orientalism which imagines, emphasises, exaggerates and distorts, and is solely directed against Muslims everywhere.

The rise of the Hindu nationalist BJP to power in India, a secular country of more than a billion people and nearly 150 million Muslims, represents the entry of a new player in this alarming reality. Not even a year in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has already started to fiddle with the Indian constitution.

The terms “secular” and “socialist” are being removed from the preamble in government publications, without the required legislative approval for which the BJP government does not have sufficient strength.

Leading government ministers and party allies have begun to openly suggest that the plan is to do away with the term “secular” from the constitution altogether, some claiming that India was never a secular country. Paranoia and religious zealotry are on the ascendancy.

The leader of the self-styled World Hindu Organisation, Pravin Togadia, absurdly laments that the population of Hindus in India is only 82 per cent. Togadia says he would not let this number decline to 42 in a few years, because “then their property and women will not remain safe”. He is determined to push the Hindu population up to 100 per cent.

Hindu women married to Prominent Muslims are accused of committing “love jihad” and demands are being made that their husbands convert to Hinduism. Walking in the corridors of power, if not occupying seats, are people who would make India a monolithic Hindu theocracy, a distorted mirror image of Saudi Arabia.

India’s vice president Hamid Ansari, a career diplomat before taking up his current post in 2007, was recently hounded by rightwing supporters and sympathisers of Modi’s government. As President Pranab Mukherjee took the salute during India’s Republic Day parade on 26 January, Ansari and several ministers in Modi’s government stood at attention, as the protocol requires.

Only the vice president was singled out for “insulting the national flag” and attacked by chauvinist Hindus in vehemently abusive terms. This against someone who had served as India’s ambassador in countries including Australia, Afghanistan, Iran and

Saudi Arabia, and at the United Nations and, from 1980 to 1985, was Chief of Protocol in the Indian foreign ministry.

As part of the concerted drive against Muslims, a number of myths are being perpetuated by chauvinists and should be critically examined. Two myths stand out in particular. One that only Muslims (the world over) are violent – all others are doves of peace.

Second that India’s 82 per cent Hindus face a demographic threat from Muslims.

Now, let us look at some of the facts.

Traders from what is Damascus today started visiting India in the eight century. Sufi pacifism came to India much before. Muslim invasions began in the early eleventh century. Muslims and Christians of modern India have descended from those who adopted other religions for a variety of reasons – love, allurements, coercion or oppression, no less under the brutal Hindu caste system for centuries.

First Christians were believed to have landed on the coast of southern India in the year 52 AD when St Thomas is said to arrived in Kerala. It has taken almost fifteen centuries for the Muslim population of India to reach 14 per cent. Any talk of Hindus declining by 20 per cent, and Muslims rising, is therefore disingenuous and anti-intellectual.

Let us also examine the claim that only Islam and its followers are violent; others are fountains of peace. The history of wars between Christians and Muslims from the late eleventh to the thirteenth century took numerous lives. Legend has it that Pope Urban II told his followers it was right to kill non-Christians in defence of Christianity and those who die for their faith would occupy a chosen place in heaven.

Christian crusades were extraordinarily brutal and led to Muslim wars. In his war against the United States, Osama bin Lad-

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en’s rhetoric was strikingly similar, as is the rhetoric on the extremes of other religions in modern times. Conflicts in the Balkans and the Greater Middle East are as much local as led by Western military powers. One only has to look at those extremes with sincerity.

Let us see examples of some more fallacies, perpetuated by the appeal to popular opinion, ignorance or blind religious chauvinism. One is that Hinduism is a religion of peace. Not always. Those who killed thousands of Sikhs in India after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by two Sikh bodyguards in 1984 were not Muslims, but Hindus. And at the time of partition of British India in 1947, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs committed unspeakable atrocities on each other, killing more than a million and displacing many more.

Wars in Indo-China and elsewhere in southeast Asia involved Buddhists and Christian colonial powers – French, British and Dutch. Let us ask ourselves who continues to persecute Rohingya Muslims in Burma (Myanmar) which is 80 per cent Buddhist? And where does the responsibility lie for the civil war in Sri Lanka following decades of discrimination of Hindu and Muslim Tamils by the Buddhist Sinhala majority that led to the Tamil rebellion and the rise of Tamil militant groups after the 1983 anti-Tamil riots?

When the fog of hatred is thick and the lust to have it all becomes uncontrollable, it is difficult to recognize that humans throughout history have shown extraordinary capacity to harm fellow humans. No one comes out better in this.

Dr Deepak Tripathi is a British historian, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

(Courtesy CounterPunch, USA)

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Islamic Revolution Anniversary Celebrations in Sydney AMUST

Hanif Bismi The 36th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran was celebrated in Sydney on Saturday 7 February. The event was organised by the World Ahlul Bayt Assembly Australia at the Civic Auditorium, Hurstville, South of Sydney.

The theme of the program was “The Vision of the Prophets” that looked at the Islamic Revolution of Iran from the viewpoint of Australian scholars.

The program started with Quran recitation by the popular Sydney Qari Mustafa

Ashrafi, followed by the Australian and Iranian national anthems.

Haj Hussein al-Dirani, writer and community leader welcomed the guests and introduced the theme.

The keynote address was given by the chief guest His Excellency Dr Abdul Hussein Wahagi, the Iranian ambassador to Australia.

Dr Tim Anderson, economist and international political researcher from the University of Sydney spoke of the lessons leant from the Iranian Revolution particularly for those in the Middle East.

Sheikh Ahmed Hassan al- Junaidi, who

His Excellency Dr Abdul Hussein Wahagi, the Iranian Ambassador to Australia.

spoke in Arabic, on the current conflict in Syria and Iraq and Iranian efforts towards resolving them.

Sheikh Michael Ghanem spoke of how the Islamic Revolution of Iran altered the political and strategic equation in the region with a better outcome for Muslims.

Sheikh Kamel Wehbe spoke of the philosophy behind the sending of the Divine Prophets. He quoted Quran Surah 3 Ale-Imran; verse 164 where Allah speaks about the philosophy behind sending of the prophets.

“The message of every prophet consisted of three dimensions: reciting revelations, purifying the people and teaching them the

Book and Wisdom” he said.

The head of the National Syrian Party in Australia Mr Ahmed al-Ayoubi spoke of the friendship and partnership between Syria, Lebanon and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Jasbeer Musthafa, journalist and peace activist spoke on Imam Khomeini and Mahatma Gandhi: Reflections of common principles of non-violence in their respective leaderships The well-known Sydney poet Mrs Souzan Aoun presented her Arabic poem lauding the Islamic revolution.

The program ended with evening prayers and refreshments.

Audience at the anniversary celebrations of the Islamic Revolution

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February 2015

UMMAH 14 - 16

EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

COMMUNITY

SPORT 20

AMUST

Sir Syed Celebrations in Sydney Zia Ahmad The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni of Australia celebrated Sir Syed Day on Saturday 31 January at the Granville Town Hall in Sydney.

Sir Syed Day is globally celebrated on the birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of the Aligarh Movement that greatly contributed towards the modern education of Muslims in India.

AMU Alumni of Australia was founded in the early nineties and has been holding SS Day every year inviting educationists, community leaders and diplomats for a gala dinner, inspiring talks and entertainment.

The programme started with recitation of Quran by Master Rehan Siraj and its translation by Miss Mariam Hamid.

The President of AMU Alumni, Mr Aale Ali in his welcome address paid tribute to Sir Syed for working single mindedly on his educational mission in spite of widespread opposition from the community elites of the time.

“To keep this spirit of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan alive AMU Alumni of Australia has established a scholarship program which is providing 310 scholarships every year in India for the less privileged students. This year we have planned to increase it to 350 scholarships” Mr Ali said. “ I would like to request all of you to participate in this noble cause of educating the less privileged intelligent students by providing financial support whole heartedly” He appealed.

At this year’s event the chief guest was Mr Sunjay Sudhir, Consul General of India in Sydney who highlighted the contribution of Sir Syed towards modern education in In-

dia. Mr Sudhir who recently arrived in Australia is an electronic engineering graduate from IIT, Delhi having a long career with Indian Foreign Service since 1993.

The keynote speaker at SS Day was Professor Robin Choudhary who elaborated on Sir Syed’s vision for education and his great achievements and services for the community. Prof Choudhary who was born in Kashmir is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Woollongong where he has served as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering.

Dr Samiuddin Syed, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee of the Alumni called on Dr Azhar Nomani, also an Aligarian and a former President of the Alumni to do an audio-visual presentation on his award winning invention, the Ozone Trailer for the disinfection of water mains.

The entertainment included a poem recited in his melodious voice by Mr Khurshid Anwar, the Secretary of the Alumni and several songs and dances by children of Alumni members.

The formal programme ended with the usual tradition of Tarana recited from the stage by some members of the Alumni joined in by the audience.

Dinner was served by the popular Himalayan restaurant based in Granville. The event was sponsored by Human Appeal, Crescent Wealth and Best Price who were acknowledged during the vote of thanks.

A well documented Scholarship Report 2013-2014 was freely distributed at the event listing the names of donors and recipients of scholarships that the Alumni has established as well as a detailed audited financial report.

There has been a steady progress in donations for Alumni’s Scholarship and infrastructure support projects that currently stand at a little over $50,000.

Nahseed presentation at SS day 2015

Audience at SS Day 2015 at Granville Town Hall

Family collection of rare coins and medals donated to AMU Dr Rahat Abrar

Dr S M Javed, former Principal, Yasin Meo Degree College, Nuh (Haryana) and his wife Professor Imam Bano donated their personal collection of rare historical artifacts to the Aligarh Muslim University on 3 February 2015.

Professor Imam Bano, a medical specialist and an academic is the sister of Mr Aale Ali, the current President of the Aligarh Muslim University Alumni of Australia.

Dr Javed, who is an alumnus of this Uni-

versity, met the AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah and presented his family collection of rare artifacts. The collection included silver and copper coins belonging to the era of Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir, Aurangzeb and Shah Alam.

It also included coins of the era of Queen Victoria, East India Company, King Edward-VII and King George V. Dr Javed also donated Gallantry Medals of the Second World War in silver with alloy. The donated archival material includes four rare manuscripts and “Parwanas” from the Mughal period. Of the academic inter-

est also, he donated two novels written by English writer, Sir Walter Scott. These novels were published between 1818 and 1832 in England. Dr. Javed’s father had already donated 22 novels of Sir Walter Scott to the Department of English, AMU about twenty years ago.

Dr Javed said, “The family collection marks the painstaking efforts of several generations of my family and is priceless as far as I am concerned. However, what I have donated to my alma mater today is a very small token of gratitude, which I owe to my alma mater. I feel humbled and honoured by the fact that these documents will enrich the experiences of generations to come when

they visit the University Museum of my alma mater”.

He said that he drew inspiration from his father who had great respect to the Aligarh Muslim University and its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah thanked the donors for their gesture of rare magnanimity and said that the rare artifacts will be preserved in the Moosa Dakri Museum of the University.

On this occasion, AMU Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brigadier S Ahmad Ali, Registrar Dr Asfar Ali Khan, Chairman, Department of History, Prof Ali Ather and DSW Prof Anis Ismail and the author were also present.

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Family collection of rare coins and medals donated to AMU

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AMUST

COMMUNITY

NEWS 1-2

Events Calendar REAL TALK: A spoken Word Theatre Production Friday 13 February, 2015 06:30 PM - 08:00 PM Bankstown Art Centre, 5 Olympic Parade, Bankstown NSW RSVP by e-mailing: admin@acdn.org.au

Know Your Rights: Counter-Terrorism Laws and Police Powers Community Forum Saturday 21 February, 2015 06:00 PM - 09:30 PM Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre Bankstown, NSW Register at http://goo.gl/QDF8sp

‘REAL TALK ‘ is a Spoken Word Theatre production- produced through a series of spoken word workshops facilitated by Ahmad AL-Rady and Yasmine Lewis -involving young local talent from greater Western Sydney.

Knowledge is power when it comes to understanding your legal rights. So, we hope to empower the community with the most up to date information by industry experts and professionals.

It’s an opportunity to ask Barristers and Solicitors about YOUR RIGHTS.

The workshops aimed at exploring the theme of respectful relationships through the medium of poetry.

Mizaan Living - Morning Invocations - Sydney Sunday 15 February, 2015 05:30 AM - 11:30 AM 299 Belmore Rd, Riverwood NSW Register at www.seekershub. org/sydney/event/morninginvocations-sydney/ Join us as we say goodbye to Summer – with a reflection of the beauty and early morning calm of Watsons Bay. With the opportunity to recharge by the water, come together with your brothers and sisters to experience sunrise by the water.

Attend to ask industry experts any questions you may have.

This event is supported by the Muslim Legal Network NSW. This a FREE community designed for the community.

BANKSTOWN POETRY SLAM’S 3RD ANNIVERSARY Ft. Jesse John Brand & Abe Nouk!

Tuesday 24 February, 2015 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM Bankstown Arts Centre 5 Olympic Parade Bankstown NSW Register for Free at Venue at 06:30PM

After praying Fajr together and a morning filled with remembrance of the Divine, enjoy a light breakfast as the day is welcomed by the warm rays of the sun.

Supported by BYDS (Bankstown Youth Development Service) – the Bankstown Poetry Slam is a live spoken word competition where the audience is the judge!

In the interests of community spirit, please bring food and rugs to share!

Advancing Australia Fair: Standing Together, United for Peace

BIO of this month’s feature duo: Jesse John Brand - Australian Poetry Slam Champion, an award-winning writer, and musician.

Sunday 15 February, 2015 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM 3 Parkview Drive, Homebush NSW Register at www.seekershub. org/sydney/event/ advancing_australia/

Abe Nouk Australian Poetry Slam Finalist, performed at the 2014 Glastonbury festival of the arts and together with Jesse John Brand as the featuring poets at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.

Imam Afroz Ali, Father Rod Bower Anglican Parish of Gosford and Mr. Greg Johns (SGI)

Together they present:

In the spirit of such togetherness and our common love for this safe and great nation, we invite you to participate in this inter-spiritual event – including Buddhist, Christian and Muslim reflections – and share lessons and counsel on peace, justice and a safe Australia for all.

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12 - 13

Great Community support after arson attack on Toowoomba Mosque Professor Shahjahan Khan The attempt to burn the Garden City Mosque in Toowoomba, Queensland was discovered by some worshippers who came to the Mosque on Saturday, 24 January at about 12:30pm. When the glass on the entrance door of the meeting hall of the Mosque complex was found broken, several Muslims went to see the building. To their surprise they found the whole building full of smell due to burning of the timber on the floor of the building. The arson attacker spread lots of toilet tissues all across the building to let the fire spread everywhere. They also found the gas stove in the nearby kitchen was left open so that the fire may burst the gas bottle and engulf the whole compound. Later they found the signs of fire and flame at the entrance to the Imam’s office in the main Mosque building.

The footage from the CCTV captured both spots in fire and showed significant duration of burning inside the meeting hall. It was confirmed that after the night prayers on Friday, 23 January 2015 when all the worshippers left the Mosque, one tall person with hood on his head entered the Mosque complex and set fire in the meeting hall about 9:30pm on Friday night. The attempt to burn the office of the Mosque took place at about 9:43pm. The attacker left the property at 9:48pm through the Mosque parking.

Several Police detectives joined the investigation promptly the same evening and night. The fire and rescue personnel finished their investigation at about 6:45pm, but the crime scene was still inaccessible to anyone.

After about 9pm we were allowed to enter the meeting hall after the police finished collecting all the evidences of the crime.

Some of the stories in the national and international media were not based on facts, rather distorted to wrongly indicate that the reason for fire as gas leak rather than the claim that police suspected arson.

We received great community support immediately after the news of the incident spread out. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Professor Jan Thomas emailed me from Hong Kong expressing her concern for the Mosque and support for the community.

I received email from the President of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Ghaith Kreyam, Habib Jamal of Gold Coast, Dr Mark Copland of Catholic Justice Commission, Ali Kadri of Holland Park, Yusuf Limbada of Brisbane, Dr Shamim Siddiqui of Roma, Muhammad Yusuf of Brisbane, and phone

call from Dr John McVeigh, Agriculture Minister of Queensland among many others.

When Dr Mark Copland proposed to join a prayer in the Mosque to express his sympathy for the Muslim community, I told him to think about a show of support gathering by members of the wider community. He talked to several others and agreed to a meeting of solidarity at the Mosque on Monday, 26 January 2015 (Australia Day) at 3pm to avoid conflict/clash with other Australia Day programs in the city.

With a very short notice of several hours a range of dignitaries including Federal Minister of Industry and Research, Hon Ian Macfarlane MP, Queensland Minister of Agriculture, Dr John McVeigh, local indigenous elder Br Darby McCarthy, Acting Vice Chancellor of University of Southern Queensland, Professor Janet Verbyla, Representatives of the Catholic and Anglican Bishops of Toowoomba, Pure Land Learning College, Deputy VC of USQ, Professor Ken Udas, Director of International Office of USQ, Dr Talal Yusef, Labour Party Candidate for Toowoomba South, Graham Storey, and many others confirmed their participation in the meeting.

A solidarity gathering was held at the Garden City Mosque, Toowoomba on the request of a number of members of the wider community, mainly from different churches and multicultural organisations, on Monday, 26 January 2015 at the Mosque property.

The main objective of the meeting was to demonstrate a show of support for the Muslim community after the arson attack in the main meeting hall of the Mosque which burned to a medium size hole on the timber floor.

The Executive Officer of the Catholic Justice Commission, Dr Mark Copland served as the Master of the Ceremony. The meeting started with the recitation from the Qur’an

by Imam Abdul Kader and welcome by local indigenous elder Br Darby McCarthy.

The speakers in the meeting expressed their solidarity with the Muslim community and the Garden City Mosque. They confirmed that criminal act of an individual is no way representative of the peaceful residents of Toowoomba. Leaders in Toowoomba have invested a lot of efforts and resources to make the Garden City a Model City of Peace and Harmony and working hard to receive UNESCO recognition.

The police is yet to identify and capture the perpetrator. The repair of the damage to the Mosque complex would start after getting suitable quotations and sourcing necessary fund. The Committee is also exploring options to upgrade security, and may need to hire provide security company with proper alarm system.

The March Of The Restless Wolves 2015 Tour

The Sydney siege was a tragic day for all Australians. We came face to face with a heinous crime with attempts to politicise it as a religiously motivated crime, associated with the politically loaded term, terrorism.

It was also a time when we as Australians were forced to question our sense of peace, justice, unity and compassion, and reflect on our responsibility to advance Australia fair. What resulted was a tremendous response of a united co-existence, and a rejection of divisive sentiments.

event

BOOMERANG 3-5

Rules of the poetry slam: - 3minutes to perform your piece, no props or music.

- Poem must be your original work -5 Randomly selected members of the crowd will judge the performances.

-No age restrictions - Semi- awesome prizes! and its FREE!

See more events and submit your own at www.amust.com.au/ calendar

Damage at Toowoomba Mosque

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Australasian Muslim Times

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February 2015

UMMAH 14 - 16

EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

LIFESTYLE

SPORT 20

The return to the coop MOBYDAYZE Mobinah Ahmad

When I was 20 years old, I moved out of home. As a Muslim female of Indian background, whenever I told someone living in an apartment in the city, they would look at me with anguish and surprise. More often than not, I got back responses asking whether everything was ok at home, or if I was kicked out. I felt like every time I told someone where I lived, I had to attach a disclaimer that my parents actually encouraged it for studying and independence.

Whilst living in a small studio apartment in Ultimo, I started to realise what luxuries I was giving up. It’s little things that you don’t even realise, like, toilet paper and dish washing liquid - grocery shopping or having the fridge and pantry stocked and food cooked ready on the table.

It also took me about a year to stop feeling lonely. Going from a house of 10 to just 1, I had a lot of time to think, figure out what

kind of person I was on my own. It made me realise how important communication is with family members and friends.

Living alone gave me the time and space to focus on myself, on my studies and my job. I was not distracted by anyone and was able to only think for myself.

I was able to set rules for myself and developed the kind of living i wanted: what time I got home after a party, having friends over and whenever I wanted to clean the apartment. I learnt a lot about shopping smart, learning how much things cost and which one had better value. I also was able to explore my own cooking habits, and develop my passion for trying and making different cultural foods.

Living in the city was extremely convenient when I would go out, there were a variety of options to eat and places to go and getting home was a short bus ride away.

After six years, I moved back home. My friends gave me sympathetic looks like I was giving up my freedom. I had to explain to them that this decision was one that I was excited for. My family needed me and I was happy to return back. I knew my mother was relieved, she would say “it was very difficult without you here”. She needed a lot of my help in the kitchen and around the house.

When I arrived, I realised how important it was for me to come home and help out.

My parents were getting older and I wanted to take on some of the responsibilities and stress that they have to endure. I also wanted

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to let them know how much of a support I wanted to be for them. Whether it was kicking my mum out of the kitchen to stop her overworking herself, bringing my parents food in bed, looking after their health or just spending time with them watching movies.

The change of pace took some time to adjust, and I needed some time to myself. After that period of adjustment, I was ready to take on living at home. A few friends were surprised that I didn’t hate moving back, expecting rare social outings. I am very lucky, my parents are understanding and supportive of the person I am after having lived out of home for six years. They see the value in guiding me and letting me make my own decisions, without telling me what to do.

Now that I am back home, I want to take care of my parents and ensure that they are well supported. Looking after my parents is my own duty and I appreciate what a blessing it is to support and spend time with them.

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Macarons vs Macaroons Mobinah Ahmad There have been so many times when in conversation, people have used the word macaroons instead of macarons. I know what you’re thinking – “What’s the harm in a misplaced ‘o’? Its not hurting anyone!”Actually it is. You’re hurting two cultures by meshing their foods together.

Foodies all over the world are groaning at this catastrophic error.

A macaron, which has been so very quickly adopted by Sydney dessert culture as being the ‘in’ thing to eat, is from France.

Neither is it a cake, nor a biscuit. It is a macaron. There is no comparison to it in the dessert world. And I hate when people refer to it as a sandwich, those people should be shunned.

The best way to describe it is two meringue-based circular shell filled with a type of ganache. This would be a technical way of describing it however unfortunately it doesn’t really capture the essence of the dessert. Eating a macaron is, by far, when done correctly, one of the most pleasurable experiences you will ever have. It is inspired, especially in the incredible flavours.

February 2015

There is a huge range of flavours and textured macarons.

The key to the humble macaron is that the meringue based circular shells are soft and fluffy on the inside with a very thin casing of shell. So that when you bite into it, the texture of crunchy and soft have a party in your mouth. But wait, then comes the filling, which is a decadent and creamy sensation, an explosion of flavour that accompanies the texture of the shell. It really is a masterpiece of a dessert. The biggest factor for this dessert is the temperature. It has to be at an exact temperature. Eaten when it is too cold or even slightly warm will ruin the entire thing and one should not even be bothered.

The best Macarons in Sydney is Baroque Bistro, a french patisserie, 88 George Street, Sydney near Circular Quay in The Rocks.

They have an incredibly amazing range and the macarons are made to perfection:from colour, texture, flavour, smell and temperature. All credit goes to the master creator for Baroque’s Macarons, Jean Michel Raynaud.

A macaroon, on the other hand, is basically a biscuit cake in every sense of the word.

Its origins are Italian and its made of either coconut or almond. A macaron is an art form and is complex. It required planning and un-

derstanding the steps to make them and advanced baking knowledge (if you’re going to do it correctly). A macaroon is something you can whip up at home when you have ba-

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sic ingredients and don’t want to make too much of an effort.

So there you have it. Never make the mistake ever again.

Australasian Muslim Times

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LIFESTYLE

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12 - 13

Love before vs after marriage AMUST

Zeynab Gamieldien Am I the only person who notices a recurring theme emerge in any number of people’s lives?

This week’s one is definitely the place of love in the scheme of marriage: when it should be present, how much, what form it should take.

I find it really interesting to observe how this debate is played out amongst young Muslims in the Western diaspora, many of whose parents may not necessarily have had ‘love marriages’. There is little precedent as to how to negotiate the complex mix of romantic sensibilities, obligation and religious propriety, the online banter, the text messages and Facebook comments. The gap between love and marriage is often the size of a chasm, and the paths to reconcile the two steep and difficult to manoeuvre.

But what precisely is a ‘love marriage’ in any case? It’s difficult to say. Often, love before marriage, if it’s ever acknowledged to exist in popular religious discourse, is characterised as frivolous, the unwelcome by-product of too many Hollywood rom coms. Very few people actually talk about the extent to which romantic love should guide our choice in partner. Very few people talk about what it means to be in love with someone before we’re actually married to them, perhaps because the simplest paradigm is that love just doesn’t exist outside of marriage, and if it does, it’s illicit or sinful. But there are so many shades of grey in this discussion. (Way more than 50, that’s for sure.) Sure, love is undeniably richer and

deeper within the confines of a marriage, but how many people can claim that their decision to marry someone was entirely clinical and detached from any form of romantic feeling?

The extent to which love guides people’s decision to marry someone varies considerably amongst Muslims. There are extremes on either side of the spectrum, but a large portion of people are simply undecided and hover somewhere in the middle. For ease of reading, I’ll try to condense them into the following categories:

1. Love comes after marriage The people who espouse this mentality like to keep things simple. They aim to treat the search for a spouse as a ‘scientific’ process, one with set criteria and a concrete means by which to attain the person in possession of them. They try to only look when they feel they’re ready to get married, which saves them from cumbersome and distracting romantic entanglements. If they do fall in love with someone outside of marriage, in their mind it doesn’t necessarily follow that they should get married to that person, unless that person also happens to match their criteria.

When they do find someone who matches their criteria, they can often commit fairly quickly and easily. There is no giant chasm to cross, no real barriers except purely practical ones to sealing the deal: if they’re ready, they’ll just go for it. They are confident that where rationality and propriety leads, love will follow.

2. There must be the potential for love, but not necessarily love itself This is probably the most common mentality I’ve encountered. For many young Muslims, some sense of cultural or religious

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propriety prevents them from falling in love unreservedly with someone before they’re married to them. Perhaps they just don’t allow themselves to get close or intimate enough for that. But they must feel that behind the tentative explorations lies at least the potential for deep and satisfying romantic love, the kind they’re certain exists even if they haven’t personally experienced it.

If they don’t have at least some sort of romantic inclination towards the person, it will often be difficult to go plunging ahead into marriage. Whether they do or don’t make it to the Shaykh will often depend on how much they want to get married. If someone really wants to get married, they can often proceed on the smallest of inclinations, but if they’re not in a rush, it’ll often take much more to get them across the line.

3. Love is a must or it’s a no-go For some, love is a prerequisite. They simply wouldn’t be able to make such a huge step as marriage without it. Their love may have begun in an entirely ‘rational’ place, such as shared values and interests, but it will quickly spiral into a huge, beautiful, complex, metastasising web of feelings. Of course, loving someone is no guarantee that it will eventuate in marriage. Love doesn’t conquer all, it conquers some. We’ve all seen those couples who were deeply in love and thus triumphed over all the odds, but just as many crumble on the hard, jagged rocks of cultural/financial/timing/other obstacles.

Sometimes love aligns entirely with what’s easy, and these cases are most likely to eventuate in marriage. For example, if someone falls in love with a family friend of the same cultural background, similar levels of religious observance, similar educa-

tion levels, financial goals etc., then they’re highly likely to just get married. But people often fall in love with less neat possibilities, and for these people the trek to the Shaykh can be long and arduous and filled with prickly thorns. This is why some feel love should be relegated to the back of the line of considerations: it can be a messy, messy means by which to choose a partner. To say ‘I want to marry you because I love you’ may be both the stupidest and bravest thing of all.

People may inhabit different categories at different points in life. Sometimes people try their hand at romantic love, get their heart broken and consequently migrate over to the ‘love comes after marriage’ camp.

Sometimes people try to force themselves to get married to the ‘sensible’ choice and find that they just can’t do it. Sometimes people marry the sensible choice and find that they fall passionately in love with them, and sometimes they just never experience passionate love at all and are content with that. There are no rulebooks in this game, no manuals by which we can operate. Each of us makes, and re-makes, and re-makes, our own path, losing love and finding it again as we stumble our way towards a life of folding laundry and making the bed with that special someone.

Where do you fit into this equation? Do you allow yourself to be guided by love when it comes to choosing a spouse?

Zeynab is an Australian lawyer, social inquirer, traveller and chronic human observer. She created Love Haqtually as a space for Muslims (and anyone interested) to discuss relationships, love, the weirdness of being a Muslim in the 21st century.

Marriage Bureau

Seeker & Sought For is a new initiative that will be starting soon as an opportunity to look for a life partner! Don't be Shy! Let us know who you are and what you're looking for. Parents and friends are welcome to write in as well. Send an email to seeker@amust.com.au, with your initials or nickname, age, cultural background, profession and 20-30 words about yourself.

Sample: JM, Female, 25, Pakistani, Dentist I am a focused, articulate, professional with unconventional humour. Loves poetry, chocolate and watching classic arab movies.

Seeks cultured, open-minded and well read male, 23-35.

All names and contact details are kept private and will not be shared unless permission is provided.

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Australasian Muslim Times

www.amust.com.au

February 2015

UMMAH 14 - 16

EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

LIFESTYLE

SPORT 20

Food review: Iraqi cuisine FOODIE ADVENTURES

Mobinah Ahmad

Come, take my hand, gently squeeze it and I’ll take you down a culinary adventure that will blow your mind. Ever since I could remember, I was always on the hunt, looking for places to satisfy my eagerness in discovering something for the first time.

Having my mind blown at the flavours, textures, learning how it is prepared and the cultural history behind different foods – it’s a privilege to have the money, time, and freedom to go out there. Sydney is such an amazing place to live in, we have a great food scene. There is this dynamic variety of different cultural food experiences - one of our greatest achievements in my opinion.

I love doing sharing adventures with others, especially foodie ones. Food is something we all have in common, it brings people of all backgrounds together. It’s

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Kebab Abo Ali

something to bond over, to mend things with and to discuss. It is, in part, a platform to communicate with each other. There is such a pleasure in watching someone’s face when they discover a new dish. Their eyes light up, a smile across the face, and their anticipation in every bite.

Kebab Abo Ali | 43 Spencer St, Fairfield.

This restaurant is definitely one of the highlights of Fairfield. There aren’t many Iraqi restaurants around, and they know it.

I remember when they use to be small, but they have expanded their size (moving to a bigger place) due to their success and demand. Don’t be fooled by the ethnic restaurant at a south west suburb of Fairfield, its not cheapie cheap food. Most people haven’t eaten Iraqi food, let alone the signature dish: The Parda Plaw, which literally means rice covered in a sheet. The Parda plaw is a

43 Spencer St, Fairfield NSW (Near Fairfield Station Parking) Price: $$ Rating: Must Try: Parda Plaw lamb rice, wrapped in dough, slathered with butter and baked in the oven. It is a big ball of bread until you break it open to see this delicious rice spill out. Every single person I’ve taken there has been in awe of it.

Its huge, enough to feed two people – who aren’t afraid of a little carb overload.

Tajweed for everybody: Innovative way to learn Quran Asma Yusra Tajweed is the set of rules guiding how Arabic letters and words are correctly pronounced while reciting the Quran. It ensures every letter is given its right; with its characteristics, recited for a particular amount of time, from a particular articulation point before the sound is projected from the mouth.

Tajweed – Why the fuss?

As Muslims we believe that the words of the Qur’an are the source of guidance by Allah to mankind through our Prophet (s).

Even when the hearts hear the words of its Creator, it puts us at spiritual ease. In Quran 13:28 Allah says, “Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest”.

Since the Qur’an is placed in an esteemed position in a Muslim’s life, it is also imperative that it is read, written and recited with utmost clarity. “… And recite the Quran with measured recitation” (Quran 73:4) Tajweed – A brief history In the early days of Islam, the Arabs knew their language very well. Everything was recited orally, the Qur’an was not in its written form and there were no harakat or even dots! The Arabs then knew their language

and grammar extremely well. Tajweed was taught by the Prophet (s) and so the Sahabah were very meticulous about how words were recited. When Islam began to spread however, non-Arabs were not able to read it in the same way. Later the scholars started adding signs for irâbs. It was only in the 4th Century that Tajweed became a separate science founded by Abu Muzâhim Al-Khâkânee.

mothers” in Arabic. This venture of teaching is dedicated to both our mothers who taught us to read and have a profound love for reading and memorizing the Quran.

Contact us today for your free consulta-

tion and trial class!

Email asmaandabdul@ummayn.com, call 0402 501 883 or follow us on instagram @ ummayn and Facebook: fb.com/ummayn

An example of the importance of Tajweed Let’s go through an example of a commonly read verse, when incorrectly pronounced, gives you a completely different meaning.

Qul huwallahu ahad – Say, Your Lord is One. When the letter qaf is pronounced slightly incorrectly to sound like a ‘kaf’ Kul huwallahu ahad – means “Eat, Your Lord is One”.

This is only one example of the importance of reading with Tajweed. At Ummayn, in addition to teaching you recitation with Tajweed, we encourage our student to find their personalised melody, character and with a steady rhythm and pace.

We, Asma and Abdulrahman have had over 10 years of experience of privately teaching, with most students being able to read after 12 lessons when starting from absolute scratch. “Ummayn” means “Two

Is one of your new years resolutions to learn to recite the Quran correctly and beautifully?

Abdulrahman and Asma at Ummayn specialise in helping you learn t read with a balanced pace, rhythm and tune to make your reading to more pleasing. We are dedicated to teaching you to read with correct Tajweed, the way it was revealed to the Prophet (SAW). We specialise in teaching you to read with a balanced pace, rhythm and tune to make your reading more pleasing.

Our method is innovative, fun and effective for students of all ages and levels. Our classes are small and all materials provided.

Ummayn is Arabic for “two mothers”. It is dedicated to the two mothers who placed the love of Qur’an in both our lives.

Contact us for your free assessment and trial class.

ummayn.com | 0402 501 883 | @ummayn asmaandabdul@ummayn.com facebook.com/ummayn

February 2015

www.amust.com.au

Australasian Muslim Times

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AMUST

AUSTRALIA

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

US health care: a sick joke that’s coming to Australia Ellena Savage Everyone knows that the health care system in the United States is an hilarious joke at the expense of poor people. The terrifying inequities that play out in surgeries across the country has been documented in the films Sicko (2007), Escape Fire (2012), and all over the internet (search ‘health care horror stories’ on any American masthead’s site). Nothing new.

The constant pressure the Australian Federal Government has been pitting against our own universal health care, though, seems new and raises some disturbing questions. Why would any fair minded political leader want to emulate a brutalising system?

It seems like class warfare dolled up as fiscal responsibility.

Anyone who was born (or naturalised) in Australia after 1984 has enjoyed universal health care their whole (Australian) life.

Universal health care is, philosophically, a fair concession to the shocking materiality of life: I didn’t ask to be born, specifically not in a body that requires a decent amount of upkeep to carry on.

And while it’s not perfect in Australia, universal health care offers the promise that while some people’s bodies require more medical care than others, this is not the basis for discrimination nor an unequal distribution of fiscal responsibility. While there are strategies for pursuing ‘wellness’ – you know, drink four litres of water a day, half a glass of wine, eat red meat, no, don’t eat red meat – no one should be rewarded for the fact that their mother was able to properly

nourish them during infancy, or that no-one has decided to run them over just yet.

A population’s health is largely in the hands of the state and culture, and universal health care is a material extension of this truth. Good health benefits us all, and thus is everyone’s responsibility.

In trying to understand why anyone who is not simply a monster would wish to erode the basic dignity of health, it’s important to remove maliciousness from the equation.

The outcome of privatised healthcare is, of course, brutal. But to believe that a person who has found a way to intellectually compartmentalise literal human suffering completely lacks compassion would infer that they are evil. Evil is intrinsic, evil has no human remedy. Evil can’t be reasoned with.

Which means that a person is not responsible for the evil they commit.

But what could reasonably motivate a person who, in attaining the life and health required to make political arguments in the first place and is therefore a beneficiary of adequate health care, to believe that other people are not entitled to their health?

It is not really the budget deficit, is it? The one that all economists say is negligible.

The one that also allows for the military’s acquisition 58 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at a cost of $12 billion. The emphasis on a budget ‘crisis’, and naming low-income earners as those who are responsible and will have to bear the brunt of it, is an example of inane populism. Certain ideologues regard this as reasonable, part of a system that requires the poor to be dependent the labour provided them by the very wealthy.

Without universal health care – in America – the main way of accessing basic health care is by having a ‘good’ job. So if you’re not independently wealthy, your employer, rather than the state or the collective, is ef-

fectively your barrier to health. Do we really trust the market so much as to place in its hands the bodies of workers? And how free can any person be if they are indentured to their job?

There is a vested interest in dismantling the protections on health care for poor people. It effectively pushes them into forms of work that benefit capitalists. And this type of labour, and what it requires of people psychically – working full-time, for a lifetime, for another person’s wealth – is to derive their ideas about their selves and their autonomy through work, and not in spite of it.

The orthodoxy of the market says that it’s

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not enough to be alive and contributing to whatever your community is; you have to pay for the privilege. In rent, in acquiring objects, health care, in unwittingly contributing to the demise of the environment. So if we’re going to live until we are 150 – as Joe Hockey reckons – we’d better figure out if this is indeed the model of being alive we should aspire to.

Ellena Savage is the editor of The Lifted Brow, commissioning editor at Spook Magazine, and a graduate student in creative writing.

(Cortesy: eurekastreet.com.au)

Controversy surrounding NAB’s visit to Israel AMUST Media During the recent Israeli offensive against the Palestinian people in Gaza, when war crimes were committed against the civilian population, the CEO of the National Australia Bank (NAB) Cameron Clyne led a trade delegation to Israel.

Mr Clyne brushed aside requests to cancel or even postpone the controversial visit.

Even his Israeli hosts were surprised by his decision to give moral and ethical support to the internationally condemned assault on Gaza which killed hundreds of civilians and wounded or maimed thousands.

The Business Review Weekly (BRW) reported a member of the delegation saying: “The Israelis were exceptionally emotional that we, the Australians, still came, while most of the other delegations had cancelled.” This was a reference to other scheduled delegations which refused to visit while Israel was launching its offensive and killing Palestinians. An NAB delegate said that “we were criticised on Twitter by people we don’t know who said even just being in the country looks like you’re supporting Israel and we didn’t respond to that.”

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Amnesty International and other human rights organisations Israel’s aggression resulted in the killing of 2,151 Palestinians (including at least 577 children, 263 women, 102 elderly, 17 journalists and 23 doctors and paramedics) and injured over 11,230 people (including at least 3374 children, 2088 women, 410 elderly and 83 doctors and paramedics). In addition Israel deliberately destroyed most of the economic and civilian infrastructure including schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, a number of dairy, chicken and agricultural farms, 195

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factories according to the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce and Industries as well as the main electricity plant, the sewage and treatment plants and the water plants and supplies affecting the entire 1.8 million Palestinians of Gaza. Seventy Israelis were also killed, 67 of them were soldiers.

Israel’s war crimes in Gaza were condemned internationally and are currently being investigated by the UN Human Rights Council. The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) has also agreed to investigate possible Israeli war crimes during its brutal bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The NAB delegation did not visit Palestine nor try to find trade opportunities that exist in Palestine.

The visit was organized by the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) whose patron is the Israeli ambassador in Australia. Since its establishment and following its change to a business enterprise in the 1980s the AICC has been run by dedicated Zionists.

Despite its claim that it is “apolitical”, the AICC has a strong political link with the Israeli government; its main objective is to support and promote Israel economically, politically and in propaganda.

“Crikey”, the internet magazine, reported Kim Jacobs, the AICC NSW chamber’s state president, as saying: “We really appreciate the support” from the NAB delegation.

The callously organized visit to Israel has inflicted massive public relations damage on NAB which is ranked as the 17th largest bank in the world. Its reputation for integrity in the banking community has been recklessly disregarded in providing moral support to the apartheid-style regime in Tel Aviv.

While the purpose of the visit was to explore business and investment opportunities

Australasian Muslim Times

in Israel, the political prejudice of the visit was also revealed by the “briefings” in the program given by Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, former Chief of Staff at the “Israeli Defense Force”, and Carmi Gilon, former head of the Israeli Security agency Shin Bet. At the time of the visit, Lt General Ashkenazi was indicted by the Israeli police over the so-called “Harpaz Affair” and also under an international arrest warrant by the Turkish High Criminal Court over the Israeli army’s 2010 flotilla raid of the Mavi Marmara in international waters and the killing of 10 Turkish passengers.

Only a few months earlier, Shin Bet’s Carmi Gilon fled Denmark following a complaint filed against him by a Danish civil organization for his involvement in the torture of Palestinian political prisoners. He was even condemned by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem and other humanitarian groups for violating the human rights of Palestinians.

Torture during interrogation of detained Palestinians has been a major issue in Israel for many years, and notably throughout the period when Mr Gillon occupied high positions in the secret police agency.

The AICC booked the NAB-led delegation into the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv which was built in 1965 on the ruins of the Abdel Nabi cemetery, an historic Islamic trust, and in Jerusalem at the King David Hotel where the Jewish terrorist organization, the Irgun, committed its massacre in 22 July 1946, killing 91 people of various nationalities including British officials and injuring 46 others.

The managing director of Palestine Publications and former Palestinian ambassador Mr Ali Kazak asked why the NAB-led trade mission met Israeli military and secu-

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rity generals who have Palestinian and Arab blood on their hands.

“What interest does NAB have in supporting Israel politically and economically while it is occupying Palestine, violating human rights and international law and committing war crimes?” he asked.

Mr Kazak said NAB has been supporting Israel and its extremist lobby in Australia for years in different ways. For example, for more than 10 years NAB’s Yachad Scholarship Fund had sent students and academics to and from Israel with the aim of “expanding awareness in Australia of the shared interests of Israel and Australia”.

Australia’s trade with the Arab countries is over $16 billion and the balance of payment is heavily in Australia’s favour, while with Israel it is about $950 million of which 75% of the balance of payments is in Israel’s favour.

Mr Kazak said: “The NAB CEO led a delegation to Israel while it was launching a bloody war against the Palestinian people, killing hundreds of children and innocent civilians and destroying their cities and economic infrastructure: this is not acceptable behaviour by any decent human being. “The bank’s refusal to remedy its hurtful and damaging action is evidence of its hostility towards the Palestinian and Arab people.”

Mr Kazak added: “I am sure that many staff, shareholders and customers will be very concerned and they will not support the NAB’s biased support for Israel. This issue will not go away.”

Mr Kazak said he was in the process of alerting the Cairo-based Arab League, the General Union of Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, the Union of Arab Banks and the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS).

February 2015

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EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

AUSTRALIA

SPORT 20

AMUST

Coffee with A Cop: Meeting Police Chaplains Fairfield Police Officers build closer ties with members of the community over cups of coffee A Meerah Police officers are often seen as enforcers of the law, carrying the responsibility of ensuring that our community is safe.

In their blue and black uniforms, it can seem intimidating to connect with them on a personal level.

However, in an innovative move, first in Australia, the Fairfield Police have taken the initiative to actively engage with the community to develop a positive relationship and to discuss local issues and concerns facing them.

The Coffee with a Cop event was held on Friday 30 January in the morning at The Coffee Emporium in Stocklands Wetherill Park, a western Sydney suburb. On the event publicity flyer it stated “No agenda or speeches, just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the officers in your neighbourhood!”

Superintendent Peter Lennon of Fairfield LAC, NSW Police Force said that the “Coffee with a Cop” initiative originates from the US that has now the potential to be replicated in other parts of Australia.

“Previous events have been very success-

ful and a great way for Police & community to mix and discuss whats happening locally, nationally and around the world in a casual and relaxed environment - and I buy the coffee,” he said.

The monthly event is held in a community area with the aim of inviting members of the community to engage with Police Officers.

Community members were able to convey what issues were important to them and were able to develop a good rapport with officers.

Members of the community attended included representatives from cultural and religious groups and organisations. They were able to meet with Police officers including the State’s only Muslim police chaplain Sheikh Ahmed Abdo as well as Reverend George Habib, a Christian.

The police chaplain’s role is to listen to the concerns and problems of civilian staff of the police force, police officers and their families from all faiths and backgrounds. As “help of the helpers”, chaplains continue to provide comfort and spiritual guidance to officers to help them deal with traumatic events.

Superintendent Lennon said “This is another opportunity for Police to meet with

Meeting police chaplains at Coffee with a Cop at Wetherill Park our Community; a great opportunity for our Arabic chaplains to meet our community also and interact for the Police.”

“I see as very important for our community to see and understand our Chaplaincy relationship,” he said, In a multicultural society, the role of chaplains is crucial to promote unity at a time of increased tension and misunderstanding between Muslims and the wider community in light of the global conflicts.

With police and clergy working together during times of crisis, a more comprehensive and appropriate service can be provided to those in need.

The Police Chaplain Program creates a partnership with various faith-based leaders of a community to respond and assist police and other law enforcement agencies providing an overall better quality to the citizens of cities and communities.

The faith-based leaders will perform tasks

of a more emotional, social or spiritual nature while the officers handle those tasks that are of a law enforcement nature.

The role of the Chaplain is to be the ‘balancer.’ The Police Chaplain is to provide support for Police Officer and civilians in their needs. Chaplains are there to provide appropriate assistance, advice, comfort, counsel and referrals to those in need who may request support.”

Tugba Ozen, a young community member who attended the Coffee with A Cop event expressed her keen interest in becoming a police officer. She had this great opportunity to liaise with police officers on their experience and was able to learn what steps are required to join the force.

Superintendent Peter Lennon welcomed for her to come to the station for a tour and further information in trying to develop a career with the NSW Police Force.

Police and community at the Coffee with a Cop event at Wetherill Park

Vortex for Peace: Interfaith dialogue

Philip Feinstein

Recently, I attended the Together for Humanity ( w w w. t o g e t h e r f o r h u manity.org.au) gala dinner at the Sapphire Function Centre in Auburn. It attracted almost 250 Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sikhs and others who came to hear the former Governor, Marie Bashir, plus other extraordinary speakers and also to see a performance by the internationally acclaimed Aboriginal Cultural Dance Group: Minning Minni Kaiwarrine. One of the objectives of the Together for Humanity organisation is to bring together young people who have never met a Muslim, a Jew, a Christian or other faiths before.

The evening commenced with an enthralling speech by student Ibrahim Sakar.

He shared that he participated in a Together for Humanity Interfaith program at his school, Punchbowl Boys High School, which was led by Rabbi Zalman Kastel, Sheikh Ahmad Abdo and Taha Allam, an ex-student at the school, and Christian Pastor Greg Lake, who used to be a manager of Christmas Island refugee detention centre.

He relayed Greg’s emotional story about a young boy who lost his family and came to Christmas Island as an asylum seeker. Ibrahim also spoke of his pride that he was born in Australia and that he and his family didn’t need to risk their lives to enter this beautiful country. In looking at our multicultural society, he commented on his learning that

February 2015

Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have things in common and that hatred should not be part of society. He concluded how he learned that respect and communication can be all inspiring in how to treat other people.

Another highlight of the evening was simultaneous prayers. Sheikh Ahmed Abdo recited Muslim Magrib prayers in Arabic, whilst Jewish Maariv prayers in Aramaic and Hebrew were delivered at the same time.

In his keynote speech, Together for Humanity National Director Rabbi Zalman Kastel called on all Australians to meet our fellow Australian brothers and sister with respect. ” We need our thinking expanded.

We need to be bigger and not allow our fears, or the failings of some of us, to define us or each other.” He added “The Torah, the Jewish bible, states that Jacob, Yakub in Arabic, the grandson of Abraham, was afraid of his brother. It is the same today! Australians fear their fellow Australians.”

Rabbi Kastel also noted: “Things also happen in Australia that worry us. This is our focus tonight. As Sheik Ahmed says, we need to ‘localise thinking’. Yet, as we tell the students this does not always end well.

Sometimes we put out a hand of friendship and our hand remains hanging, and our goodwill is not always reciprocated. But we have a simple choice: We can withdraw and let the hate and fear fester, or we can reach out and broaden the minds of some.”

Donna Jacobs Sife, School Programs Director with Together for Humanity for 8 years, shed some light on their activities. She began with a short demonstration of their introductory activity ‘Out of the Box’ which

From left: Sheikh Ahmed Abdo, Rabbi Zalman Kastel and Prof Marie Bashir exposes the tendency to make assumptions about those who seem different from ourselves. Donna talked about the slightly different directions Together for Humanity has taken in the past couple of years, such as working with Sutherland shire students, and the specific challenges of working with mono-cultural communities, and the lack of experience and therefore understanding of diversity. She described activities they have developed to find commonality, equality and empathy, so that when two schools from dif-

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ferent shires get together they were prepared and able to see themselves as equals.

The enlightening evening concluded with the Aboriginal Cultural Dance Group Minning Minni Kaiwarrine performing a fabulous routine involving music and dance - a fabulous way to bring together this Vortex for Peace.

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

Australasian Muslim Times

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UMMAH

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12 - 13

Terrorism has no religion AMUST

Zahid Jamil It has become a fashion to call violent acts against civilians ‘Islamic terrorism’ and those who perpetrate these in the name of Islam ‘Islamic terrorists’.

To me terrorism has no religion. Instead it should be said that it is the terrorism carried out by extremists who call themselves Islamists.

99.9 % of Muslims do not agree with their acts.

As Muslims, we should say that it is a minuscule percentage of Muslims who call themselves Islamic although they are engaged in blasphemous acts of far more gravity than what Charlie Hebdo did. If a person or a group engage in an act which is strictly forbidden in a religion, such as killing of innocent civilians, and does so under religious oath or banner, it is certainly the biggest insult to that religion.

It is an extremely serious challenge for both Muslims and non-Muslims to counter terrorism with all the available resources.

Let us not forget that majority of people killed by terrorists over past few years have been Muslim civilians, including women and children. Muslim scholars must play a major role by openly coming out in challenging the terrorist leaders and forcing them to reject this dangerous and misguided ideology. While Muslims around the world continue to practice spiritual Islam to seek peace in their personal lives as per their ability, those who engage in political Islam need to seriously study their strategy to find solutions for peaceful coexistence with the wider world community.

Most of the people would agree that current terrorism would not exist without invasion of Muslim lands by major world powers which killed millions of innocent people, made millions more totally disabled and looted their national resources over past few decades. It has mainly happened when the right wing of politics ruled these countries. What Shall we call these Western leaders who carried out these aggressions, very often under false pretexts such as WMD and under the banners of noble principles of democracy and human rights using respectful umbrella of United Nations.

Let us check reports by various human right agencies to assess the gross violations of human rights, extending to war crimes, during these invasions. These Western leaders have been as strong violators of the great principles, these nations were founded on as the terrorists violate the noble religion of Islam.

It is also true that although 99% of Muslims reject acts of terrorism but they do feel hurt by violence against Muslim nations by Western powers. It is not only Muslims, majority of non-Muslims reject Western invasion of Muslims and third world countries as well.

The terms “Radical Islam”, “Islamic Fundamentalists” etc given by the Western media to describe terrorist groups may be a deliberate attempt to degrade a noble religion. Let Muslims find the right terminology for terrorists such as misguided/fallacious/ill-advised Muslims etc.

The whole of Europe is chanting “I am Charlie”. I have been told from my childhood: do not hurt others sentiments, be respectful to others, do not insult others, do not abuse or bully others etc etc. That is what Charlie Hebdo did for many years.

Can these millions of people belonging to so called civilized world rethink and see what

message are they trying to convey? Yes, I have also been told that if others do it to you, have patience and ignore them. There are hundreds of articles by Islamic scholars circulating over past few days stating even stronger similar teachings of the holy prophet. We, Muslims or non-Muslims, are being taught that even if you react, you cannot become violent.

Coming to Muslim solution to terrorism, it is obvious that as long as Muslims are weak, the powerful nations will continue to dominate them. This would anger many and a few

would resort to extreme reactions. The only way to reverse this trend is to build Muslim nations in Knowledge and power through education and hard work. Once Muslim nations are powerful enough to talk to the world powers on equal terms, the powerful nations will have no choice but to negotiate with Muslims to live respecting each other in peace and harmony. Till Muslims are able to build themselves, they should only exercise the most important lessons of Quran i.e. Patience (Sabr).... in adversity and wisdom .

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February 2015

UMMAH 14 - 16

EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

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Fox News: Your apology won’t do Qasim Rashid One of history’s most deceptive, barbaric, and inhumane dictators once said, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

While Fox News has apologized for their “no-go zones” claim, the after-effects of their repeated lie are far from over. Lies have consequences that aren’t remedied by a simple apology.

Not long ago, mosque arsonist Randolph Linn told an Ohio judge, “[I don’t know any Muslims] I only know what I hear on Fox News… Muslims are killing Americans and trying to blow stuff up. Most Muslims are terrorists and don’t believe in Jesus Christ.”

As Daily Beast journalist Dean Obeidallah points out, less than 2 percent of terrorist attacks in Europe were committed by Muslims in the past five years. And in America, the FBI reports that Muslims account for only 6 percent of all acts of terrorism in the past 25 years.

But unfortunately Linn isn’t the exception to the growing campaign of anti-Muslim sentiment. In fact, studies demonstrate people who watch no news are more informed than people who watch Fox News.

Fox anchors and all media who perpetuate the “no-go zone” myth, among the greater myth that Islam is an extremist faith, only add to the increasing anti-Muslim violence witnessed in the Western world. When it comes to Islam, media is all too often intoxicated by its own ignorance and propagation of falsehood. Too many in media refuse to engage in honest dialogue about the root causes of extremism and instead write ignorant narratives blaming all Islam and Muslims. Such falsehood has deep ramifications that a simple apology cannot resolve.

For example, France recorded 133 an-

ti-Muslim events in all of 2014. This month alone at least 128 anti-Muslim incidents have occurred in France. These incidents include public threats, arson, use of fire arms, and cold-blooded murder.

It is no wonder that a 2011 study by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute discovered the following: 83 percent of Americans say people who commit violence and claim to be Christians are not really Christian, while less than half of Americans – 48 percent – think that self-proclaimed Muslims who commit violence in the name of Islam aren’t truly Muslims.

This is true at the highest levels of government. For example, George Bush acknowledged his Christian faith drove him to wage the (illegal) war in Iraq that has caused up to 1 million deaths of innocent lives. Dick Cheney boasts about torturing prisoners of war — a barbaric position the majority of Christians in America support.

Tony Blair was motivated by his Christian faith to wage war.

But when was the last time you heard media blame all Christians or Christianity in general for such violent and intolerant positions? Nor should they, but they should drop the double standard with Muslims.

This doesn’t absolve extremist clerics in the Muslim world, nor does it mean only western imperialism is the issue. Substantive issues exist in Muslim majority countries like death for blasphemy laws, oppression of women, and despots and dictators.

The point is, however, that such issues cannot and will not be resolved when media perpetuates incomprehensible myths such as “no-go zones.”

Instead, media has a responsibility to report accurately and consistently. When media and anti-Islam critics over-represent Muslims

Tokyo newspaper publishes apology for reproducing cartoon Tokyo Shimbun, the only Japanese newspaper that reproduced the cartoon published on the front page of the special edition of Charlie Hebdo magazine after the murder of its cartoonists, has published an unconditional apology to the Muslim Community in Japan.

The move came after Japanese Muslims demonstrated in front of the newspaper’s offices in Tokyo and subsequently community leaders had constructive dialogue with its staff explaining their point of view.

Among a population of 127 million, Muslims are thought to number around 100,000.

There are an estimated 200 mosques around the country, many set up in former private homes. The oldest, in Nagoya, was built in 1931 while the largest is the Ottoman-style Tokyo Camii. The religion was properly established in Japan around this period but contact with Muslims reaches back to the 8th century and trade missions in the late 19th century secured ties with the Ottoman Empire. Indian merchants and Malay sailors were a regular sight in Japan’s ports around this time. Today, university cafeterias, ho-

February 2015

“No-go zones” in Paris according to Fox News as terrorists, they do material harm, includ- maybe it’s to win power — or maybe it is to ing to Muslim children, and promote fear inadvertently follow Hitler’s barbarism to, in an already vulnerable demographic. If “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saymedia and anti-Islam critics had responded ing it, and eventually they will believe it.” to the Charlie Hebdoattacks by putting the The 1,200 percent increase in anti-Musblame where it rested — on the individual lim incidents in France, the record breaking attackers — and not all Islam and Muslims, anti-Islam marches in Germany, and the risthey could have helped promote peace. But ing anti-Muslim sentiment in America prove peace comes from education, compassion, too many in the West believe the media’s antruth, and integrity — each of which is lack- ti-Islam lies. Extremist politicians likewise ing in the media’s current portrayal of Is- mimic Hitler ideology when they demand lam. As Islam teaches, the first step in peace banning the Qur’an, stopping all immigrais to say and do what’s right — even if it is tion from Muslim nations, and promote raagainst yourself. cial hatred.

It makes me wonder, however, when even No, an apology alone simply won’t do. after Fox News apologized for its blatant When reporting on Islam, it is high time medisregard for facts, why certain dia stopped treating education, compassion, right-wing politicians perpetu- integrity, and truth as “no-go zones.” ate the “no-go zone” myth?

Qasim Rashid is a US based lawyer, speaker Maybe it’s to win votes, and best-selling author of “EXTREMIST” maybe to win funding, Courtesy: The Huffington Post

Media Scan Ainullah

tels and restaurants offer halal meal choices and there are prayer rooms at airports and on company premises, as well as more than 100 Islamic associations.

In 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke of the “unbroken bond” between Japan and the Muslim world. Largely this is due to an economic influx of visitors, tourists, exchange students and workers -- from Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia during the 1980s. Some later married Japanese nationals and became permanent residents.

However, there are concerns the videotaped killings of Japanese nationals, Yukawa and Goto by ISIS will undermine this harmony. “By seeing videos that created fear in them, they could have unconsciously gained a negative impression of Islam,” Ryoichi Matsuno, a media psychology professor at Chuo University, told the Asahi Shimbun of his students. Psychiatrist Rika Kayama told the newspaper the tactic of killing hostages without attempting to negotiate made Japanese feel that communicating does not work.

AMUST

Tunisia’s Islamic Party to join coalition government

Tunisia’s Islamic party Ennahda has agreed to join its main rival secular party Nidaa Tounes as part of a coalition government.

The deal reached on Sunday came after Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Habib Essid’s new cabinet faced a threat of rejection in parliament last week from key parties opposed to his choice of ministers.

Ennahda holds the second largest number of seats in parliament.

Tunisia has been praised for its recent run of free elections, new constitution and politics of compromise between secular and Islamic leaders four years after an uprising overthrew autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Representatives from the leftist Popular Front have rejected Essid’s new cabinet

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partly because it contained former officials from Ben Ali’s regime, some of whom they said were suspected of corruption in the past.

Since its 2011 uprising, Tunisian politics has often been dominated by compromises between secular and Islamic leaders to keep democratisation on track after a series of deadlocks threatened to overturn its transition.

Nidaa Tounes won a parliamentary election in October and party leader Beji Caid Essebsi, a former Ben Ali official, also won the presidency in a second-round run off.

In the 217-seat parliament, Nidaa Tounes holds 86 seats and has some backing from the liberal, secular UPL party, which has 16 seats. But without the support of Ennahda, the party is left short of the 109 majority they need to ratify the cabinet.

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AMUST

UMMAH

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12 - 13

Obama warns Modi on religious intolerance

AMUST Media

Obama photo with ModiMaking a strong pitch for religious tolerance, US President Barack Obama on Tuesday 27 January said every person has the right to practice his faith without any persecution and that India will succeed so long it is not “splintered” on religious lines.

Addressing a Town hall event at the Siri Fort auditorium on the third and final day of his visit to India, Obama also said that America can be India’s “best partner”.

“Every person has the right to practice his faith without any persecution, fear or discrimination. India will succeed so long it is not splintered on religious lines,” Obama told the audience comprising mainly young people.

The President’s comments came against the backdrop of the controversy over religious conversions and ‘Ghar Wapsi” programmes by right wing Hindu outfits in India. Obama also cited Article 25 of the Indian Constitution dealing with Freedom of religion.

“Your (Constitution) Article 25 says all people are equally entitled to the freedon of conscience and have right to freely profess and practise and propagate religion. In both our countries, in all countries upholding

with freedom of religion is the utmost responsibility of the government but also the responsibility of every person,” he said.

Obama also said that around the world we have seen intolerance, violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to be standing for upholding their faith “We have to guard against any efforts to divide us on sectarian lines or any other thing,” he said.

Obama further said that no society is immune by the darkest impulses of man and that more often religion has been used to tap into it.

Obama recounted an incident that occurred three years ago in Wisconsin where a man went into a Sikh gurudwara and “in a terrible act of violence” killed six innocent people which included both American and Indians.

“In that moment of shared grief, the two countries reaffirmed the basic truth that we must again today. Every person has a right to practice the faith that they choose and to practice no faith at all and to do so free of persecution, fear or discrimination,” he said.

In his speech, attended by young students, scholars and others, Obama said such a proposition holds much importance in India.

“And nowhere it is more important than in India. Nowhere is it going to be more necessary for that foundational value to be upheld,” he said.

Concern over religious freedom in India Attacks on churches, forced conversions to Hinduism and glorification of Gandhi’s assassin are manifestations of a divisive and hateful ideology AMUST Media Besides the President’s statements, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom has highlighted the rapidly constricted landscape for religious freedom in India in a press release earlier this week. US expressions of concern come in the wake of forced conversions of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism, the demonization of minorities and the glorification of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin since the new administration in India came to power.

IAMC had written to the President before he left for India to be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations, urging him to communicate the international community’s concerns over attacks on minorities in India. On the final day of his visit to India, President Obama addressed a town hall event at the Siri Fort auditorium in which he called on India to uphold religious freedom. “Every person has the right to practice his faith without any persecution, fear or discrimination. India will succeed so long it is not splintered on religious lines,”the President stated. He followed this up with

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remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, stating that Mahatma Gandhi would have been shockedat the “acts of intolerance” in India.

The USCIRF press release made explicit references to these acts of intolerance. “In just the last three months, five churches were attacked in Delhi; Hindu nationalists reportedly forcibly converted Christians and Muslims; and a mob of more than 5,000 people attacked the majority-Muslim village of Azizpur, Bihar, killing three Muslims and setting about 25 houses on fire,” USCIRF stated. “In addition, on February 5, police detained hundreds of Christians demonstrating against attacks on churches in New Delhi, including John Dayal, a human rights activist, who testified on April 4, 2014 before the Tom Lantos Commission on “The Plight of Religious Minorities in India,”” added USCIRF in the recent press release.

President Obama’s reference to Mahatma Gandhi must be seen in the light of attempts

by Hindu supremacist organizations affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to glorify the Mahatma’s assassin, Nathuram Godse. The RSS affiliated Hindu Mahasabha plans to install the assassin’s

Australasian Muslim Times

statue in temples across India. A bridge in the town of Alwar in the state of Rajasthan was going to be named after the man who killed Gandhi, but the plan was later shelved over fears of sectarian tensions. These brazen attempts to vilify the great champion of non-violence is rightly being seen as a sign of worse things to come for India’s beleaguered minorities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence in the wake of such disturbing developments, lends credence to the belief that his administration professes a commitment to development, but looks the other way when RSS and its affiliates go about subverting India’s secular polity. A recent advertisement issued by the government on the occasion of India’s Republic Day omitted the words “secular, socialist” from the Preamble to India’s Constitution.

“The US should follow up its expressions of concern with concrete action, such as inclusion of human rights and religious freedom in the US-India Strategic Dialogue,” stated Mr. Umar Malick, President of IAMC. “A broad-based partnership between US and India must necessarily include a shared commitment to uphold our common values of pluralism and religious freedom,” added Mr. Malick.

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February 2015

UMMAH 14 - 16

EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

EDUCATION

SPORT 20

AMUST

The 99 Divine attributes of Allah Part 6 - Attributes 32-36 of Allah BEYOND THE BOX Dr Q Ashfaq Ahmad This issue continues the series exclusive to AMUST on the 99 divine attributes of Allah.

Read previous parts at www.amust.com.au/category/education/beyondthe-box/

(Al-Baqarah, 2:257) 1. The ignorant persons have coined many gods and deities but the actual matter of fact is that over-all Sovereignty (godliness) belongs to the permanent One Being without any interference to Him, rather He is alone by virtue of His own existence. The whole system of all this cosmos is established only because of Part 6 – Attributes 32 to 36 of Allah Him. He Himself is the Controller and Executor of all the affairs of the Sov32. Al-Halīm – The Most Forebearing ereignty. Hence whenever any other “And do not make Allah a pretext, when you deity is established as His equivalent, swear by Him, to avoid doing good, being this commences conflict in the absolute righteous and making peace between peoTruth. ple. Allah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing 2. This statement nullifies the opinions of “Allah will not call you to account for any the persons who give the Supreme Beoaths you uttered un-intentionally, but He ing Allah (God) the same position and will take you to task for what is intended in then assign to Him the nearness that are your hearts. Allah is Most-Forgiving and the indications of imperfection. Bible Most-Forebearing (32).” declares that God created heavens and

the earth in six days and took rest on the (Al-Baqarah, 2:224, 225) Sabbath (seventh day). Thus it has been interpreted in two types of testaments by The authoritative ahadith depict that if one the followers of the Bible. has taken an oath and then causes to know 3. No one is having any share in the partthat it is better to abandon that oath, then he nership with Allah. His planning and His should abandon it and pay the amnesty for control over the universe is permanent. it. The amnesty is to feed ten poor persons Anyone else whom human beings assign or to give them clothes or to keep fast for His partnership shall be questioned on three days. This directive has been referred the day of Resurrection. in the following verse from Al Quran: 4. Here is the total denial of the interpreta“Allah will not impose blame upon you for tion of the polytheists who use to conwhat is meaningless in your oaths, but He sider that there are some humans, angels, will impose blame upon you for (breaking) or other unseen objects who have great what you intended of oaths. So it’s expiation influence over Allah. They are admonis feeding of ten needy people from the averished here that rather having influence age of that which you feed your (own) famover Allah none can dare upon his/her ilies or clothing them or freeing of a slave. transgression over Allah.

But whoever can not afford it then fast of 5. This statement of the Quran is a trementhree days (is required). dous blow over the foundation of poly theism. In this another verdict has been (Al-Mā’idah, 5:89) disclosed that in His Sovereignty there is no legislative directive as well as it is 33. Al-‘Azīm – The Most Great also indicated that no one has the knowl36. Al-‘Alīy – The Most High edge to grasp the wisdom and strategies for the control and management of the Note: The verse (2:55) is known as Ayatwhole cosmos. ul-Kursi which deals with the attributes 6. Humans, Jinns or the Angels have limited of Allah in a comprehensive manner. The and imperfect knowledge of the secrects Prophet declared it as the loftiest verse of of the cosmos. Thus if any individual the Quran (Ibne Kaseer with difference becomes so much mistaken that his/her to Muslim and Ahmad). This verse, also influence or intervention is operated in known as the Throne Verse, has won the the functioning of the cosmos, the whole admiration of non Muslims. According to cosmos will be totally disturbed. Hence, the well known commentator of Quran eventually any living being is totally deKareem, George Sale, “it is a magnificent pendant on the guidance and directives description of the Divine Majesty and of the Supreme Power who is the real Providence.” According to the Arabic Source of all knowledge.

English Lexicon, it is “one of the most ad- 7. The word Kursī is used in Arabic which mired passage in the Quran.” means plinth of a building that holds it.

This verse consists of ten short sentencIt is generally used for the word superes. In the first verse the word Allah is vision which stops becoming exhausted the Ism-e-Zat (personal name of the One and tired.

Supreme Being) Who is the Creator, and 8. This long verse number 255 reflects the Controller of all and Who is free from all cognition of Allah to the greatest extent. defects. The attribute numbers 34 and 35 Hence the verse is considered as the in the last ten sentences encompass all the most respectful verse of the Quran. other nine attributes mentioned in this 9. This verse is the end of the passage long verse. Hence it has been selected as starting from the verse 243 that is i.e. 13 the best reflection of these two important verses before. This is the precise verdict attributes of Allah. of the last final addition of the divine message of Allah started systematically “Allah, there is no deity except Him, the from the Prophet Nuh. First the believers Ever-Living, the Sustainer of (all) existwere prompted to spend their wealth and ence1. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him life for the establishment of the Sovernor sleep2. To Him belongs whatever is in eignty of Allah in their societies. Then the heavens and whatever is on the earth3. it was expected through the historical Who is it that can intercede with Him exendeavours of the previous believers of cept by His permission?4 He knows what Bani Israeel. Then it was informed that is (presently) before them and what will be success and victory in any endeavour after them5, and they encompass not a thing does not depend upon the quantity of of His Knowledge except for what He wills. material sources but rests with the faith, His Kursī6 extends over the heavens and the patience and perseverance and firm perearth and their preservation tires Him not. sistence for the cause.

And He is the Most-High (36), the Most- 10. Then the Wisdom of Allah with the pheGreat (33). nomena of battles and wars: Allah for

controlling the management of world

February 2015

affairs removes one group of people through the other group because of the conflicts among them, one on the right side and the other on the wrong side.

Then this dilemma passes to the next process.

11. If Allah has deputed the Prophets to finish and diffuse the conflicts among humanity then these deficiencies would not vanish. Another question arises why Allah is helpless that He could remove the differences among the humans? The answer of this dilemma has been dealt in subsequent passages.

rainwater.

Just see one mountain! you will feel it of different colours and of different geological constituents in its different portions. Even in human beings two siblings are not essentially similar to each other. A person much impressed and interested with similarity among humans gets bewildered on the vast differences and dissimilarities among them.

Actually all the variants and varieties are providing evidence about the actions of the Almighty Wise Being Who created the universe with lots of laws, rules and regulations impressing upon the humans the existence of Unique Creator and highly Exalted Ar34. Al-Ghafūr – The Forgiving tisan possessing plentiful and innumerable 35. Al-Shakour – The Appreciative designs for the selections of these attractive manifestations. The extreme variance proNote: The attribute numbers 34 and 35 ductions have been possible only by differare mentioned in the Quran together at ent human beings of different thinking and important places where Allah’s wisdom different knowledge and capabilities. and great-heartedness is most explic- Hence these verses give exceptional eviit. The following passage of four verses dence that the humans are not the occurdraws the picture very beautifully en- rence of a sudden random endeavour. The compassing these two adjacent attributes. occurrence of the great plan and creatures is itself the proof of the Most Wise Single “Do you not see that Allah sends down rain Being. Only a foolish person can consider from the sky, and We produce therefrom the existence of these occurrences without fruits of varying colours? And in the moun- the Wise Being. tains are tracks white and red of various 1. a) The persons who shall be unacshades (some) extremely black. quainted with the essential attributes of “And among people and moving creatures Allah shall ever neglect the existence and grazing livestock are various colours and need of Allah while the persons similarly1. Only those fear Allah, from with cognition of Allah shall become among His servants, who have knowledge2. saturated and then find the attributes of Indeed Allah is the Appreciative (35) and Allah which would ultimately provide The Forgiving3 (34). them the directives and injunctions of “Indeed, those who recite the Book of AlAllah to be followed. lah and establish prayer and spend (In His 2. b) The word ‘ulama’ refers to the cause) out of what We have provided them, knowledge of the cognition of Allah. secretly and publicly, (can) expect a transThe knowledge not having about Allah action (in profit) that will never perish” is not referred to the ulama who don’t “That He may give them in full their rehave the consciousness and fear of Alwards and increase for them of His bounty. lah.

Indeed, He is the forgiving (34) and Appre- 3. Allah is Almighty and Powerful to ciative (35). the extent that He cares large-heart edly with His obedient servants. He is (Al-Fatir, 35:27-30) not the Master who is strict in dealing This passage depicts the reality of the whole with His servants in punishing them if universe that there is no where full homogethey make any slight mistake. He is so neity and one same monotonous scenery in Benevolent and Merciful that he fully the world. There are immense number of vaappreciates the sincere services of His rieties in the universe of plants and fruits of obedient servants and also forgives different sizes, colours and taste produced them on their minor mistakes. from one piece of land through the same one Continued in AMUST issue #112 March

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Australasian Muslim Times

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AMUST

TRAVEL

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12 - 13

Journey of a lifetime: Part 2 Jerusalem Muslim and Christian quarters Hasan Fazeel My next flight was for the one of the trips of my life so far, one of the most awaited one and one of the most I have always wished for, the travel to Jerusalem; The Mosque Aqsa.

I was getting the feeling of my destination when I was waiting in the line to board the plane. As soon as the plane landed on the Tel Aviv airport, people going back home started clapping as soon as the wheels touch the ground. The clap was the sign of their nationalism and pride.

Israel is a place with very tight security all over and you can see it and feel it as soon as you step out of the plane. Security officials at the end of the tunnel and then immediately the passport control. I was respectfully asked to wait in a designated area for an interview before they can give me on arrival visa and allow entry to the country. I was guided to wait in a small waiting room with a coffee and a wending machine in the room; and the coffee was good. I waited for about 5 minutes before a junior (I assume only) immigration officer took me with her for interview. She accompanied me back to the waiting area and asked me to wait for the next interview. About10-15 minutes of wait a young man, probably the senior (I assume only) immigration officer took me with him for interview. The interview was related to my personal life, purpose of travel, my work etc… After about an hour long interview I was asked to wait in the waiting area. After a cup of green tea, the immigration officer walked into the room with a smile and my passport; handed me over the passport and said, “Enjoy your stay.” The people all over the airport are friendly, smiling and helpful.

I could feel that people welcome tourists with open hearts.

The weather was warm outside. I went to the taxi section and boarded a minivan taxi called Sherut to go to Jerusalem (the cheapest mode of commute from the airport). The travel is about 1.5 hours due to dropping off passengers in on the way.

What a sight it was when I saw the golden dome of Al Quds when we entered the city, Jerusalem. The city with history dated back to more than 5000 years. The place considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Being an emotional person I was already getting the influence of the rich history and thousands of years old airs I was inhaling.

After about 1.5 hours and at 1:00 AM in the morning, the driver stopped about 5 minutes’ walk away from the Jerusalem old city. I must tell you some background of the location and geography otherwise I will not be doing the justice with this piece of writing.

The oldest part of Jerusalem was settled in the 4th Millennium BCE. The walls were built around Jerusalem under the rule of Sultan Suleiman of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan who build Blue Mosque, restored

Dome of Rock (Al Quds) and restored Kaaba. Today those walls and doors still exist and define the Jerusalem Old City. The Jerusalem Old city is a world heritage since 1981 and is on the list of world heritage in danger.

The Old city is divided in 4 quarters – The Muslim Quarter, Jewish Quarter, Christian Quarter and Armenian Quarter. The Muslim and Jewish Quarter share the walls offal Aqsa Mosque compound.

I started walking down the street on a slightly curved road and after about 5 minutes’ walk, I was standing just outside the Damascus gate. I stood there for few minutes assembling all my emotions and prepared myself to share a piece of 5000 years old history.

I entered through the gate, the narrow streets (cars cannot enter the old city because streets are too narrow), closely build multi storey rock buildings took me back into time. After about 15 minutes’ walk, passing through 3 check posts I was in front of my hostel. I went straight to bed for a well needed sleep.

I woke up early in the morning, got ready for my tour to the Dead Sea. Had breakfast, stood outside the hostel and realised that my hostel was sharing the wall of the Al Aqsa compound, I was the neighbour to the first Qibla, the door to the Aqsa Mosque compound and my hostels were only literally 2 seconds walk away, I was extremely happy and rushed to enter the Mosque but I was stopped at the check post and I was asked if I were a Muslim (only Muslims are allowed to enter the Mosque), they asked me to recite some Quran before the allowed me to enter the Mosque. As soon as I entered, ALLAH HU Akbar, how can I forget the sight of the Mosque and the Al Quds (Dome of rock) my panoramic eye sight captured. I was mesmerised and I stood still for few seconds before going further inside. I only toured the outer area of the compound, didn’t enter the Mosque and left for my Dead Sea tour (later I regretted it).

Security outside the Mosque compound is in control of Israeli police and special police whereas the security inside the Mosque is in control by Jordanian authorities. The Mosque is opened during the prayer hours.

Five time Adhan and prayer is offered in the Mosque. Technically the Mosque is closed for 2 hours between Duhar and Asar prayers and then closes down after Isha prayers.

I was picked up from outside the old city by the tour operator and left for the Dead Sea. About 1.5 hours’ drive we were at the Dead Sea; the lowest point of the Earth. No sign of life in the area, no birds, no waves in the water. I floated in the water, the water is so salty and concentrated that you can feel the salt on your body while you are in the water. No swimming is allowed and only floating is allowed. It is recommended to have a mud mask of the shore mud and wash it in the water as it is extremely good for skin. I did the same, took mud mask and floated in the water. The scenery was so beautiful but it was constantly reminding of the people of the Prophet Lut; who are buried in the bottom of the Dead see and I

The Dome of the Rock

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Australasian Muslim Times

Map showing Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian quarters could only recite ASTAGHFAR throughout my visit to the Dead Sea. Dead Sea is technically a river, one bank touches Israel while the other touches Jordon On our way back we were taken to Ahava factory, which makes cosmetics and skin products from Dead Sea mineral (very expensive). By the time I reached back to my hotel it was already after Isha prayer and the Al Aqsa Mosque was closed.

Next morning I found out that the Al Aqsa Mosque is closed, first time since 1967 Arab-Israel War. A heart break for me. I could hear my heart broken – this was day I reserved only for the Mosque in my itinerary.

Due to a major conflict the Mosque was closed down, helicopters flying over the old city and non-residents of the Muslim quarters were not allowed to enter the Muslim Quarter and every entry near to the Mosque had couple of check posts to stop people from entering the Muslim Quarter and eventually inside the Mosque.

I was feeling the unluckiest person on the planet; imagine I travelled so far to visit the Al Aqsa mosque and the something happened that has never happened in last 47 years. I felt like ALLAH was not happy with me, and I realised that I went against the Hadith that not to go near the places where Divine Punishment was given to the people.

I went to the Dead see to take lesson from the past to improve myself personally but I forgot that my intentions were far below to what Prophet Muhammad (s) told us. I felt sinful, I regretted and started repenting. In those moments of repentance, I felt Allah inspired me to tour the old city.

I started to tour the old city myself that day. Explored the Muslim quarter and entered into the Christian quarter. The first 2 places to visit were the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Omar Mosque Church of Holy Sepulchre is very sacred for Christians, some of the main highlights of the Church are: Piece of rock, as per Christian belief that Prophet Isa died on that rock Grave of Prophet Isa, as per Christian belief, Prohet Isa’s body was taken by angels from that room Possible grave of Prophet Adam. As per the local believe that Prophet Noah brought the remains of Prophet Adam before the great storm and buried him there after the storm.

The Church of Holy Sepulchre closes down in night and is re-opened before the dawn breaks. Interestingly the keys to the lock of the church are in the custody of a Muslim family for centuries, the same family who was given the custody of the church to look after at the time Ottoman capture.

Mosque Omar is exactly opposite to the main entrance of the Church of Holy Sepulchre. This Mosque is strictly open for prayers only. When Hazrat Omar conquered the Jerusalem city and was taken to the church of holy Sepulchre, the time of Duhar prayr started. Hazrat Omer denied to pray

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inside the church besides being offered by the custodian; advising that he didn’t want any conflict in future between Muslims and Christians over the place. He threw the stone from the gate of the church and prayed on the sport where the stone landed. This Mosque was later build on that place.

Next stop was Khanqah Salahuddin Ayyubi. This room, tucked away in the Muslim quarter, neighbour to the church of Holy Sepulchre is where the great Muslim general Salahuddin Ayyubi stayed when he wanted seclusion and carry out voluntarily (Nafil) worship. The pillars still exist next to which Salahuddin Ayyubi sat and pray. The place is a Mosque and inside a house which is now occupied by a Muslim family. The place is maintained on donations from the visitors.

Via Dolorosa is the main street passing through Christian and Muslim Quarters.

This street is believed to be the path Prophet Isa walked, carrying his cross on the way to his crucifixion. It is marked today by 9 stations with further 5 stations inside the church of holy Sepulchre. Few main highlights of the street are: Church of holy Sepulchre Chapel of Simon of Cyrene A small chapel where the metal crown of thorns is preserved which is believed to be placed on the head of Prophet Isa during his crucifixion.

Birth place of Hazrat Maryam Birth place of Hazrat Maryam, the room is secluded and a church is built over the place.

This is Church of St.Anne located near the Lion’s gate in the Muslim Quarter.

Ruins of the Jerusalem city and place near where Prophet Isa killed a man The ruins are just outside the church above the birth place of Hazrat Maryam Via Dolorosa runs through Muslim Quarter and ends at the Lion’s gate where there is a hundreds of year’s old Muslim graveyard. There rest in peace, Hazrat Shaddad Bin Aus who have narrated several ahadiths directly from the Prophet Muhammad (s).

Mount of Olives is further down the road, about 15 minutes’ walk outside the old city.

The bottom of this mount are 2 tombs significant for Muslims and a place mark: Tomb of Hazrat Maryam A Church is built around the place Grave of Al Sheikh Abdul Rehman Mojeer Uddin Alhanbli (grandson of the great caliph Hazrat Omar) Next to the tomb of Hazrat Maryam under a prominent shade above the Jew cemetery Maqam of Hazrat Salman Farsi – this place is on the Mount of Olives that marks where once he stayed On my way back to enter the old city, I was not allowed to enter the old city because of some conflict that took a night before. But a senior office allowed me to enter when I advised that I am a tourist and staying inside the old city itself.

Next, Part 3 Jerusalem II in AMUST issue # 112, March 2015.

February 2015

#SOCIAL Are social networks ruining our real friendships?

UMMAH 14 - 16

EDUCATION 17

TRAVEL 18

SOCIAL 19

SPORT 20

Mobinah Ahmad

According to social intelligence theory, there is a strong correlation between how social a species is and the size of the brain (also known as social brain hypothesis).

Robin Dunbar, a professor from the University of Oxford, found that as brain size increases, so does the number of friends a person may have, which led him to to the conclusion that the maximum number of friends you can have is 150. He looked back in history at tribal and village groups, military (fighting units) and business groups and found that number of each group was around 150. He said that in larger groups, people became unfamiliar with each other.

The reason Dunbar’s number is significant is because he claims that as the quantity of friends increase, the quality of the relationship decreases. The term friend is probably one of the most misused words in the English language, because the quality of these relationships are more complex than just one word. Think about it. Have you ever felt that some friendships were more impersonal and superficial and have you ever felt isolated from other people. Of course you have, because feelings of loneliness and isolation is a typical human trait we all go through at some point in our lives.

“Man is lonely today, as he never was. You live in a crowded world; you are tied into an intricate network of social links and bonds; like a tiny atom, you are whirling around in the company of a multitude of others like you, acting and interacting with each other; yet, you are ‘lonely’. The ‘lonely’ man – a product of our age – is wandering in search of bonds which will not snap like dry twigs and leave him in the lurch.”

Back before when the internet was not a vast cyberworld where people communicated, a social network was used to describe friendships. It was an offline arrangement of groups of people who would meet through different social occasions. Since the start of chat forums, Myspace, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, the term ‘social network’ began to be used to describe the framework in which users are able to communicate with one another. Essentially these websites were dubbed as ‘social networking sites’. Communicating over the internet has redefined a lot of offline terms when they are applied to the online space.

Online Fake Friendships The term friend has the connotation that there is a significant connection between people that maintains a kind of relationship. In order to maintain this friendship, people have to care about each other and to be aware of what is going on in each other’s lives through direct conversation. Our biological programming gives us the belief that trust is based upon a sharing of personal information, including talking about family, thoughts, desires etc. Friendships are

February 2015

based upon the mutual knowledge of each other’s lives. However Facebook has managed to completely redefine the concept of online friendship, whereby being Facebook “friends” with someone just means that there is a consensual connection between two users. The connection does not need to be meaningful; it could even just be that both users are aware of each other’s basic existence. There is no sense of meaningful bond between users. Facebook provides ritualized ways of joining and opportunities for ritualized consumption of its content, but it also redefines the notion of friendship and provides a peculiar safety net for falling out of touch with friends. This concept of digital friendship is based upon the realisation that users personal information is being broadcast to everyone who has consented to knowing them.

Facebook benefits by treating Facebook friends as real friends, which is most definitely not the case. The term “Friend” has completely been bastardized, and has become a primary concern for how users share their personal information with others. Most users keep being Facebook friends with people, not because they have any sort of significant connection, but rather having that connection may come in handy down the road. Therefore, this implies that we aren’t Facebook friends with our friends, but rather we are Facebook friends with people we might be able to use or who could help us.

This idea is detrimental to having a real relationship with another user.

It is not only friendship that is being redefined, it is the whole notion of privacy. Online technology looks at privacy as black or white, either users are public or they are private. Facebook’s aim is not for pre-existing friends to be connected, it is just to openly share personal information with anyone and everyone. Therefore totally altering the definition of friendship, making it extremely superficial. Having mutual friends with someone does not make you friends; Facebook encourages superficial friendship and excessive openness for their own personal gain.

Layers & Levels Dunbar’s research found that there are other patterns to group sizes for human beings whereby most people have a select small group of close friends. There are various layers of friendship which increase in number but decrease in intimacy and fre-

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quency of contact.

Layer 0 – Very close friends (3-5 people) – those who you can turn to in crisis, ask for money, lean on for support and express your deepest confiding secrets.

Layer 1 – Close Friends (12-15 people) – Known as “The Sympathy Group” which you are in contact with once a month.

Layer 2 – Distant Friends (45-50 people).

Layer 3 – Maximum number of Friend (150 people). – Dunbar’s number.

Layer 4 – 500 people. (Number of people you have have on Facebook) Layer 5 – 1500 people. (Facebook friends if you like to mass social netoworking).

Layer 6 – Plato’s Ideal size for a democracy (5300 people).

Mobinah’s Friendship-Acquaintance 6 Stage Theory I have also actually written a friendship theory similar to this, agreeing that there are certain layers or circles of friendship. Society has made the word ‘acquaintance’ derogatory and that is why it seems offensive, but it truly describes the nature of a preliminary, somewhat superficial relationship. I believe that as people’s emotional states change, so can the layers of friendship - friends can go up or down the levels, with the understanding that throughout a dynamic friendship, people become closer or further apart from each other.

Pre-Acquaintance – Strangers or people who know just your name (10% of people).

Acquaintance Level 1 – Basic Knowledge (20% of people) Acquaintance Level 2 – Liking & Preliminary Care (30% of people) Acquaintance Level 3 – Significant Connection & Care (25% of people) Pre-Friend – Potential Friend (14% of people) Friend – Mutual Feelings of Love (1% of people).

Solutions In order to look at how to find a solution to the complex online/offline relationships we have with our friend, we have to look into ourselves and see how much love we have for others, how do we treat them and are we genuinely interested in being friends with them or just like the idea of stalking them online or hoping to use the friendship in the future. Know the difference between a friend and an acquaintance.

There are this very small group of people that have such incredible vast inner resources that they feel no need to form meaningful friendships and in fact, to have friends seems rather insignificant. I am certainly not that type of person. There is so much to gain from having a bond with another person, being able to share affection, warmth, support and experiences – it is extremely meaningful to have such pleasures of life. Ultimately, it is to have the blessing of love. Friendship is one of the greatest sources of sustenance and nourishment spiritually, morally, intel-

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lectually, socially and even physically. The friendships that we have are of such fundamental importance in determining our moral compass. Good friends are a source of help and comfort in this world, as well as to help you to be a good person.

I’ve often thought that the relationship between two friends is like that of a couple.

Just as each person has a duty to one another that must be fulfilled, friends also have particular duties of what you say and how you feel towards the other person, touching on areas such as forgiveness, sincerity, loyalty, relief and considerateness. In reading the wise words from Imam Al-Ghazali, there are duties to fulfil a friendship and to be a good friend.

Always allow your friend to have rights over your property if needed. I was recently reminded of the situation that if your friend asks you for money, instead of asking how much, you give them your wallet and let them take out as much as they need. If you find that you don’t share the value of material assistance, then you’re not really friends. All you have is a superficial relationship without a formal connection that lacks depth, love, religion and care.

Providing your friend with priority and care without waiting to be asked is a mark of a good friend. Basically, your friend’s needs should be more important than your own. Don’t neglect them or what they may be going through, and they should be given assistance without having to ask.

There are times where you should sometimes be silent. Don’t mention your friend’s faults in their absence or presence. And most importantly, when your friend confides in you – keep it between you two. Overlooking the faults of your friends is a mark of a good person. However there are times when you should speak out. Friends need to be able to express affection for one another and to enquire about how they are. The Prophet (pbuh) said “If one of you loves his brother, let him know it!” I feel like in today’s age, we don’t express how important the friends in our lives are to us. And because of this, it is easy to forget why we are friends with them and what we love about them.

Forgiveness is one of the greatest qualities in a lasting friendship. Forgive your friend’s mistakes, errors in judgement and behaviour. Forgive them if they are occasionally inconsiderate or make a mistake. When you forgive, your heart will soften from any kind of resentment.

Sincere loyalty is what marks a distant superficial friend to a true lasting friend.

Loyalty includes being considerate and maintaining trust and respect. It means not listening to gossip about your friend or talking about them behind their back.

Mobinah Ahmad is a social media consultant with a Masters Degree in Digital Communication & Culture, specialising in online privacy & user vulnerability. She has a background in arts and science with a major in psychology.

Australasian Muslim Times

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SPORT

NEWS 1-2

BOOMERANG 3-5

COMMUNITY 6-8

LIFESTYLE 9 - 11

AUSTRALIA 12 - 13

Asian Cup: Australia rises as the champion of Asian Football AMUST

Jumanah Husna Australia has risen in its stature as a footballing nation after the Socceroos defeated South Korea in a tense, physical match that went to extra-time.

Having booked our tickets in June last year, there was a hope that Australia would at least make it to the Final after the disappointment of zero Socceroo games scheduled in our home city of Canberra.

And we weren’t let down!

The atmosphere was intense. As you

would expect there were a large number of Socceroo supporters but the South Korean supporters in their resplendent red and their incessant chants were more than conspicuous making up a crowd of over 76,000.

It seemed that we were heading for a nilall score line at half-time when rising star, Massimo Luongo, shot past the keeper into the corner of the net with seconds to go.

The second half was as intense and perhaps more so for the South Koreans who had to make up for their lapse in defence in the previous half. Plenty of yellow cards were given out as the clock ticked towards desperation for one side and relief for the other.

However the Socceroos, and the overwhelming proportion of the crowd, had to

Socceroos with the Asian Cup 2015

stop the countdown to the end of injury time when Son Heung-min shot the ball past keeper Mathew Ryan for the equaliser about a minute before it would have been all over.

As you would expect there was burst of energy from the South Korean fans as their chants heightened particularly from one-end of the stadium.

The Socceroo fans who had been standing through the last few minutes deflatedly looked around in wonderment and sat back down to ready themselves for extra time.

It can be fair to say that most would have foregone the extra half an hour of entertainment for the win but at the end the Australian supporters had it both ways when Tom Juric amazingly got past two defenders and

shot the ball towards the South Korean goal.

The keepers deflection followed by no-mistake kick into the net by James Troisi saw the Socceroos one ahead again (2-1).

Tense moments in Australian defence and desperate plays by the South Korean attack failed to change the scoreline and the Australians managed to gain their highest achievement in football on the international stage.

The award ceremony followed unremarkably except for the consistent booing whenever Sepp Blatter was mentioned.

A wonderful result for Australia and (real) Australian football – there is plenty to watch out for as Australia matures as a footballing nation.

Australian fans of Socceroos at the finals at ANZ Stadium

Muslim nations shine but fall short in Asian Cup Football Manarul Islam Muslim nations in the Asian region played with determination and vigour in the AFC Asian Cup hosted by Australia recently. However despite the potential, only four managed to progress to the knockout rounds and none made it into the final.

Iran and UAE dominated Bahrain and Qatar in Group C, whilst Iraq played well to progress from Group D leaving Jordan and Palestine behind. Uzbekistan also progressed from Group B with Saudi Arabia left behind.

Oman and Kuwait suffered heavily in Group A where they were up against Australia and Korea Republic (South Korea), the eventual finalists.

That said Oman’s defensive performance against the formidable Korea Republic attack in the Canberra match was extraordinary, losing only by one goal. However, Australia made them pay heavily with a 4-0 score line.

Of the Muslim nations UAE was the most successful followed by Iraq. UAE lost to Australia 2-0 in the semi-final before defeating Iraq for third place.

Iran, which was considered a favourite by some for the tournament, lost to Iraq in one of most entertaining and exciting matches played out to a full and vibrant Canberra Stadium. The two teams were tied 1-1 at

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Well prepared Socceroos fans leaving for the game Countries that qualified for the Asian Cup 2015 full time and then 3-3 after extra time. The penalty shootout was ultimately won by Iraq. The sometimes very emotional crowd were enthralled and entertained throughout the match.

Iraq was then defeated 2-0 by Korea Republic in the semi-final.

United Arab Emirates striker Ali Mabkhout was awarded the Top Goal Scorer Award after the Al Jazira player scored five goals in six games.

Australasian Muslim Times

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February 2015