Issue 112

MUSLIM

AUSTRALASIAN

Multimedia News & Views

ISSN: 1039-2300

Print Post No. PP 255003/01403

Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates

Muslim Community Statement

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AMUST Issue # 112

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March 2015; Jamaadiyul Oulaa 1436

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Fundraising dinner raises over 1.95 million dollars for IMA

News .................................1 - 2 • Fundraiser for Aged Care Facility • Austria Provokes Radicalism Boomerang ..................... 3 - 5 • Editorial: Loyalty to One’s Nation • Abbott’s Security Address Community ..................... 6 - 8 • ISOC Photography Competition • Events Calendar

Mobinah Ahmad Islamic Museum of Australia has raised over 1.95 million dollars at a gala dinner held on Sat 28 February, marking the first anniversary of its opening last year.

The Melbourne based Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA), the first and only of its kind in Australia has welcomed over 9000 visitors since it opened in February 2014, with almost half the patrons coming from an interfaith background.

The museum displays a variety of Islamic art including architecture, calligraphy, paintings, glass and textiles and has a number of interactive workshops and spaces with a main emphasis on Islam in the Australian context, looking at historical and modern influences.

The Saudi Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Nabil bin Mohammed Al Saleh announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia donated $1 Million in financial support to the IMA. The Attorney General and Minister for the Arts, Senator George Brandis and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop announced that “The Australian Government will contribute $500,000 to IMA to develop a new arts and culture education program to build social cohesion and cross cultural understanding”.

The national education program will aim to promote understanding amongst children and the general public about Islam in Australia, through the Museum’s collection of Islamic art and culture.

Such education programs would help build stronger communities by promoting understanding of different cultural beliefs and traditions, and develop a stronger appreciation of the positive contribution that different cultures would make to the rich fabric of Australian society.

The Australian Government’s continued

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• Trending: #IstandwithMariam Australia ...................... 12 - 13 • Appreciating Australia Fairly • Potential for Islamic Insurance Ummah ........................ 14 - 16 • Muslim Dems of the World, Unite!

• Media Scan Education ........................... 17 • Attributes of Allah - Part 7 Travel .................................. 18 • Journey of a Lifetime - Jerusalem II

The Islamic Museum of Australia building in Melbourne.

Inset: Donation cheque of one million dollars given to IMA support for the Islamic Museum of Australia is part of the ongoing strategy to promote and celebrate Australia’s diversity through the proud expression of art and culture.”

The Andrews Labor government of Victoria will provided a $450, 000 grant to the IMA’s educational program, which works to look at improving cross-cultural awareness and understanding about Islam and to celebrate a positive Australian Muslim identity.

Robin Scott MP, Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs, said “The Islamic Museum of Australia plays an important role in educating the community about Islam, its long and rich influence on art and culture, and the story of Muslims in Australia.” In his speech at the gala dinner, Robin Scott said “The Museum plays an important role

in educating the community about Islam, its rich influence on art and culture, and the story of Muslims in Australia.”

The event was attended by a number of federal and state politicians, community leaders, entertainers, IMA staff and the general public.

Special guests and performers included Jon Faine, presenter of mornings on 774 ABC Melbourne, Maysaa Fahour, Islamic Museum of Australia Chairperson, Ahmed Fahour, CEO & MD of Australia Post, Nazeem Hussain, Comedian and Star of TV Show Legally Brown, Zohab Khan, Australian Poetry Slam Champion and The Brothahood, Internationally acclaimed Hip-Hop Group.

Also speaking at the event were foreign

Business ............................ 19 • Classifieds minister Julie Bishop, leader of the opposition Bill Shorten, Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs Robin Scott and the Saudi Ambassador Nabil bin Mohammed Al Saleh.

Second-generation Australian and IMA Founder and Director, Mr Moustafa Fahour, was this year awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his contribution to the Museum and to the wider Australian society.

In their media release, IMA said “ A big thank you to all who attended our Annual IMA Fundraising Gala Dinner 2015. The performers were amazing and the special speakers were just superb and heartfelt.

Thank you for the generous pledges and donations towards our centre.”

Campaign for Anwar Ibrahim release AMUST Media The eldest daughter of Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah Anwar MP said that the March2Freedom Campaign was not only about restoring her father’s personal liberty, but to seek justice for those who have been TARGETED by the authorities for criticising the government.

She was speaking at a fund-raising dinner organised by the March2Freedom campaign in Kajang, Selangor where her mother Wan Azizah is the state assemblywoman.

Izzah was referring to the crackdown on opposition politicians and government critics, especially in light of the Federal Court

verdict in Anwar’s case which saw him sentenced to five years in prison for sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar recently took to Twitter to issue warnings to the public against making comments about the verdict, a move which attracted the attention of the New York Times which published an article on February 11 entitled “Malaysian Police Use Twitter in a Crackdown on Dissent”.

Those who have been charged or INVESTIGATED so far include Nga Kor Ming (DAP), Rafizi Ramli (PKR), Afif Bahardin (PKR), satire cartoonist Zunar (Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque) S Arutchelvan (PSM), Fariz Musa (PKR), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

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(PKR) and Youth activist Adam Adli Abd Halim.

Several other family members of Anwar ADDRESSED the crowd at the event.

Wan Azizah, Anwar’s wife, maintained that her husband was a victim of miscarriage of justice.

“They can imprison him but they cannot imprison his spirit. He is not guilty.”

Also present and ADDRESSING the crowd were daughters Nurul Ilham and Nurul Nuha.

Then 11 years old, Nurul Ilham recalled her sadness, when she witnessed Anwar’s arrest in 1998 and later when she saw him bearing the infamous “black-eye” inflicted while he was in police custody.

Nurul Izzah Anwar Undeterred by the police crackdown, a street demonstration led by PKR Youth’s #KitaLawan will take place on Saturday, 7 March to push for Anwar’s release from prison as well as to call for the resignation of prime minister Najib Razak.

The rally will be held in front of the Sogo shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur.

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Fundraiser for $20 million Austria provokes aged care facility in Sydney radicalism with bill seeking own version of Islam AMUST Media

A highly successful fundraising dinner was organized last Saturday 28 February at The Renaissance, Lidcombe to create awareness for the building of an aged care facility for Muslims in Sydney.

The event was organized by the Rahma Aged Care who are working on the $20 million project to build the aged care facility near the Auburn’s Gallipoli Mosque to be completed in 2017.

More than 50 items were auctioned in order to raise funds including: 1x1M Gold Laced Kiswah from the Kaaba!

2016 Journey to Umrah with Sh Hamza Yusuf!

Signed Anthony Mundine Boxing Gloves!

Fully signed St George-Illawarra Dragons Jersey!

Fully signed Adelaide United Jersey!

Dune Buggy LG 60” TV Assorted Women’s Jewellery iPad’s & other small household electrical goods Over the years, there has been a growing realisation that the Muslim community in Australia faces challenges in terms of the

care preferences and needs of its older members. Factors such as migration, changes in lifestyles, changes in family structures as well as other compelling factors may overstretch the ability of many Muslim families to look after their loved ones in their homes in their old age or due to disability.

Residential aged care, in general, therefore, becomes a complex issue for those Muslims who try to observe their faith; it is very important for them, to the extent possible, to be able to CONTINUE a lifestyle that follows the tenets of Islam even when they become old and frail.

According to the 2011 Census, Australian Muslims represent over 60 different ethnic groups and racial backgrounds and are the most ethnically and racially diverse religious grouping in this country. In this context, it is safe to say that the diversity of cultural and linguistic backgrounds of Muslims has one point of unity; Islam.

The Muslim community has now acutely become aware of needs of its senior members in their old age to provide them with aged care facility that caters for their religious and cultural requirements.

Organisations such as Rahma Aged Care and South Asian Muslim Association of Australia, SAMAA are taking leading roles to look after the Muslim Senior citizens.

Austria’s desire to have tighter control of its Muslim community, which has been manifested in a bill that seeks to change the status of Muslims, will backfire if it is implemented, experts say. Despite Austria having witnessed no terrorist ACTIVITIES perpetrated by its Muslim community, they are seeking to pass an “Islam bill” to prevent radicalism from occurring.

What looks like a preventative measure to prevent Islamic radicalism in Europe has STARTED to have unsettling consequences for the Muslim community residing in Europe. Countries in the region that are already suffering from increasing Islamophobia, are looking to implement precautions to prevent potential violence from “radical Muslims.”

The latest in a series of these cautions has come from the Austrian government, which is seeking to bring changes that have been deemed to be extremely discriminatory against Muslims.

The draft bill, which seeks changes in the status of Muslims, is thought to be a precursor for regression of the rights of Muslims in the country and has prompted an angry response from the community.

The bill, which has ignited debates in the country since it first became public on Oct. 2, was suspended due to harsh reactions from Muslims who cited discrimination. It was then reopened to discussion at the constitution commission on Jan. 14. The commission accepted the bill after making some changes in accordance with the reactions of the Muslim community in Austria. Muslims, although hailing the changes, maintain numerous concerns regarding some articles that they believe are still problematic for the freedoms of Muslims.

In its current form, the bill aims to prohib-

it foreign FUNDING for Islamic organizations in Austria and imposes a standardized German translation of the Quran and other religious texts. It also prohibits imams from being appointed from abroad, instead making it mandatory that they receive education from the theology departments of Austrian universities. In doing so, according to experts, Austria is aiming to establish its own version of Islam. The consent for only one determined translation of Islam is an apparent sign of the government’s wish to control Islam through its own understanding of it, some believe. They also suggest the move indicates that the Quran is considered problematic by the government.

“We want an Islam with an Austrian character,” Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz had told public broadcaster ORF last October, supporting the current VIEWS that Austria wants to shape Islam with its own ideology.

Highlighting that the bill sets a bad example for Europe, Bayraklı said that taking precautions against Muslim extremism has no reasonable grounds since Austria has not been the victim of any terrorist activities.

Another article of the bill also makes it possible for the government to recognize a certain community or abolish it. The draft bill has also been criticized for including offensive and accusatory language against Muslims, which are deemed as being against the principle of equality.

The Muslim community in Austria is expected to take the bill to the constitutional court once it passes parliament. If rejected by the top court, the community will reportedly consider taking it to the European Court of Human Rights for the violation of freedom of religion.

There are about 500,000 Muslims in the country.

(Courtesy Daily Sabah)

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Abbott’s security address and its implication on anti-terror legislation Lydia Shelly The recent national security address by the prime minister was confusing, inflammatory and an example of pure “dog whistle” politics.

This is a man who implied every Muslim leader who denounced violence and extremism at the very least, “didn’t mean it” and at the most, that they were liars.

This was divisive, inflammatory and a slap in the face for the many Muslim leaders, advocates and community members who work tirelessly for the benefit of the broader Australian community. It disregarded the contributions Australian Muslims have made and continue to make to our country. It was either said out of pure political incompetence or as part of a strategy to purposely demonise the Australian Muslim community. Both scenarios are unacceptable.

His bumbling references to the introduction of new “welfare” restrictions for foreign fighters completely ignores the foreign fighter laws that were passed last year and which contained detailed restrictions on welfare. This attracted criticism that it violated Australia’s obligations under the

Convention on the Rights of the Child as it would affect families, including children. It is unclear what further laws will be introduced or when.

It is likely that further to Raqqa which was designated as a “declared area” last year, that Mosul in Iraq will also become a “no go zone”. As the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security debates this decision, it will likely require further clarification for community members.

Disappointingly, although expected, the joint committee on intelligence and security issued their advisory report on the Data Retention Bill with recommendations that will most likely result in the Australian Labor Party supporting the Bill to be made into law.

This Bill will make mass surveillance on every single Australian a reality, regardless of whether you have committed an offence.

Your data will likely be stored for at least two years by telecommunication companies. The provisions may be subject to further debate in the Senate.

There is no doubt that the Australian Muslim community, like all Australians, wants Australia to remain free from any form of terrorism. To represent otherwise to deflect attention away from unpopular leadership and unpopular policies is mischievous.

Lydia Shelly is a Sydney based lawyer and community advocate.

Muslim Community rejects it’s demonisation by Govt AMUST Media This joint Muslim community statement expresses our position with respect to the Abbott Government’s ongoing demonisation of Muslims in Australia, their organisations, their leaders and their values.

We, the undersigned Sheikhs, advocates, community leaders, community organisations and student bodies of the Muslim community – make the following points in this regard: 1) We reject the Abbott Government’s predictable use of Muslim affairs and the ‘terror threat’ to attempt to stabilise a fragile leadership and advance its own political agendas.

2) We deplore and denounce the continued public TARGETING of Muslims through abominable ‘anti-terror’ laws. The laws passed in late 2014 have been used to justify opportunistic raids on Muslim homes, have created media and community hysteria where in the majority of cases no crime was committed, and have created distressing and harmful backlash towards Muslims, especially women and children.

3) We unequivocally reject Prime Minister Abbott’s and his party members’ use of language that portrays Muslims and the Muslim community as a SECURITY threat.

This narrative threatens social cohesion as it invites suspicion and ill feeling from members of the broader community. The presence of Muslims in Australia as productive contributors to society is not the exception; it is rather the rule.

4) We deplore the undefined and politically expedient use of the words ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ to criminalise legitimate political discourse and critique of the Government’s policies by members of the Muslim community.

5) We strongly oppose Prime Minster Abbott’s politically convenient threats to ‘tackle’ and ‘crack down’ on Islamic groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir who disavow and have never supported terrorist acts, and whose

March 2015

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TIME

Multimedia News & Views

AMUST

Issue # 112 Friday 6 March 2015;

www.amust.com.au

14 Jamaadiyul Oulaa 1436

Loyalty to one’s nation: a universal, Islamic and Australian value

“O mankind! Lo! We have created you In some Muslim minority countries male and female, and have made you into specially the authoritarian ones they are nations and tribes that ye may know one persecuted and disenfranchised to various another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight degrees giving rise to conflicts with auof Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is thorities.

Knower, Aware.” (Quran 49:13).

In a large number of secular countries Throughout history human beings Muslims live as a minority but are have lived in communities consisting treated as equal citizens by law of families, tribes, clans, kingdoms with freedom to practice their EDITORIAL religion and to fully participate and nations and their governance Assalamu was organized on that basis. This in the governance of the counis a natural fact that Islam recogtry. They live with security of Alaikum nizes. their life, property and family Greetings In addition Islam developed with equal opportunities and of Peace the concept of Ummah, the comfreedom to lead their life as they munity of believers joined by their wish. faith for solidarity. Ideally the Ummah Thus Muslims living in these could aspire for a unified governance if countries have a duty to be loyal to their practically possible in the form of caliphate nation states. They have to participate in in order to safeguard the interest of Islam the defence of their nations, their neighand security of Muslims. bours, their environment and their way of Rather than dwelling into history, its im- life in these countries. portant to see the practical realities of today.

Australia is a secular country that guarWe live in a global society where Mus- antees freedom and equal rights to all its lims are spread in all parts of the world. citizens. It does not discriminate amongst They live as absolute majorities in Muslim its citizens and provides opportunities in countries or as large minorities or small mi- terms for acquisition of education, freenorities in many other parts of the world di- dom of thought, speech and religion envided into a number of nation states. shrined in its constitution.

In a number of Muslim majority states Therefore all its citizens have a duty to they suffer from injustice and lack of free- safeguard the safety and security of fellow dom due to authoritarian rule and have min- citizens. This is a universal value, an Isimum say in their governance. Hence the lamic value and an Australian value that Muslim world suffering from turmoil. we all need to stick with.

only ‘crime’ has been to criticise the Abbott Government’s stance towards Muslims domestically and abroad, as they are well within their rights to do. We also oppose the bullying of Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Abu Muhammad by Mr Abbott for his criticism of Mr Abbott’s attempts to silence individuals’ and organisations’ legitimate criticisms of his policies.

6) We affirm our commitment to robust political and ideological debate and discourse for the betterment of humanity at large. The Abbott Government’s attempts to undermine this brings into question his Government’s commitment to its very own purported values and liberal freedoms.

7) We affirm our concern about peace and security for all. We refuse, however to be lectured on peace-building and harmony by a Government that plays divisive politics, uses fear to elicit uncertainty in the general public, undertakes the oppression of asylum seekers and incarceration of children in detention centres, treats its indigenous population tokenistically, and pledges its explicit support to dictators such as Egypt’s El-Sisi, who continues to brutalise legitimate political opposition to his tyranny.

8) We call on all fair minded Australians, including politicians, journalists, academics, bloggers and others concerned about Australia’s social justice, to CONTINUE to scrutinise the Abbott Government’s scare tactics, fear-mongering and political machinations. They do not bode well for societal harmony and only increase the alienation felt and experienced by Australia’s Muslim community.

It is time the Abbott Government stops diverting the attention of the Australian public away from its disastrous domestic and foreign policies by playing the ‘Muslim’ and ‘national security’ card.

Name of organisations and individuals supporting the statement is listed at Islam in Australia website: http://goo.gl/KxzpCX For further details contact: hanandover@gmail.com

www.amust.com.au

Tony does a Howard PSST.. JOHN, YOU'RE LOW IN THE POLLS!

PSST.. TONY, YOU'RE LOW IN THE POLLS!

THEY'RE THROWING THEIR OWN CHILDREN INTO THE WATER!

I WISH MORE MUSLIM LEADERS WOULD SAY THAT [ISLAM IS A ‘RELIGION OF PEACE’] MORE OFTEN, AND MEAN IT.

Australasian Muslim Times

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Letters to the editor PM Security Statement

The PM’s national security statement on Monday 23 January did not include much that was new. The appointment of a national security coordinator seemed to have been the main innovation, along with the proscription of Mosul province for Australian travelers. The cancellation of citizenship of dual passport holders and the restriction of the rights of sole passport citizens were not new. What is of concern here is whether it will be up to Brandis as to who gets this punishment or a judicial process. To date it seems the politician will have the say. The cancellation of welfare payments was not new either and unemployment benefit is automatically cancelled after a time if the recipient is overseas.

What should concern Muslims is his claim that our Islamic leaders are not speaking up against extremism and violence strongly enough. “ I’ve often heard Western leaders describe Islam as a religion of peace. I wish more Muslim leaders would say that more often and mean it.” This suggests our leaders do not mean it when they assert the peaceful nature of Islam.

“Everybody, including Muslim community leaders, needs to speak up clearly, because no matter what the grievance, violence against innocents must surely be a blasphemy against all religion.” He is not aware of the position of the Quran on killing innocents. Perhaps the Murdoch media coverage of Islam is all he knows, so the voices of extreme deviation come to be seen as representing Islam. The use of the term “jihadis” for muharibs (those who fight society/ criminals ), has become commonplace and we have not spoken up loudly enough.

If we have failed to convey an understanding of the teachings of Islam to the

Australian community, we are failing in our basic duty. That is surely a major role for Australasian Muslim Times.

Bilal Cleland Melbourne, VIC

Upset from my bank, NAB

Thank you for sending the February AMUST. I found many interesting and varied articles.

It was great to see the lovely picture of my colleague Professor Marie Bashir in conversation with Sheikh Ahmad Abdou and Rabbi Zalman Kastel.

I was interested to see this years Sir Syed Day, remembering my own participation in this a few years back as the keynote speaker.

I am particularly annoyed to read that my bank, the NAB appears to have supported Israel at the time of their war crimes against Gaza. This seems to be an exclusive AMUST story. I have not seen or heard about it in mainstream media.

I think it is very important to have AMUST as a vehicle for expression of a wide range of news in English language for the great majority of Australian Muslims.

Since your last issue, in todays news I am very upset to see on TV of some ISIS extremists destroying priceless and irreplaceable Assyrian statues in what used to be Ninevah, now Mosul.

Professor Stewart Truswell AO Sydney, NSW

Changing of Prime Ministers waste of talent

I find it a silly aspect of Australian politics that the Prime Ministers are challenged and changed with so much ease. Major political parties are unable to stick to a leader for the full term. I personally did not like Tony Ab-

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bot due to his irrational approach in many areas, yet this concept of challenging a leader has to be far more restrictive. It does not happen in other major democracies of the world.

Minor cabinet reshuffle to remove the weak links would be far more ideal in maintaining political stability. Malcolm Turnbull’s appointment as a treasurer would have helped addressing the current crisis.

Other issues should be resolved through consultative process within the party.

Moreover, a defeated leader is forced to leave politics thus parties being deprived of so much experience and wisdom of senior leaders over the long term. A leader may loose an election or a party ballot in an instance. Why should he/she not continue to serve the parliament?

If leaders such as Paul Keating, Kim Beazley, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, were still parliamentarians, how richer would Labor party be in experience.

Similarly liberal politicians such as Peter Costello, John Hewson, Alexander Downer if available, would provide Liberals much needed political wisdom.

Zahid Jamil Sydney, NSW

HAVE YOUR SAY

During our daily two-hour Skype conversations I ask you about those hand pricked tattoos that adorned your face and your limbs you said: the badiuon women couldn’t afford luxuries like nice garments or jewellery so when it came time to wed they hummed hymns and decorated their skin with sharp pins and hand-picked tattoos in the shape of roses and necklaces’ to show off their bodies to their husband on their wedding night they called it the poor people’s jewellery Grandmother truth is, I never met my grandfather but whenever you speak of him your eyes widen like football fields your withered cheeks blush rosy red your smile fills the room like forgotten curtains on a summer morningyou tell stories of him as your lips break free from the shackles of repressed memories and your wall

collapses relapses

elapses synapses snapping , connections too quick for your thoughts to catch up to you I catch you

daydreaming you place your open palm on my right cheek and bring me closer to you as your chin cuddles my forehead as the salty reminisce of your tear drops travel that oh-so-familiar downward stream Grandmother I know cemeteries that have more life than what we’ve shared with every riff and every breath may God bless those scars that tore your chest when those hospital lights claimed your breasts and those beauty spotted sores upon your skin camouflaged as pores to let hope in a country where suicide is a season in spring time when your nights are spent sleepless and your days are plagued with pretentious advice like ‘time heals all wounds’ Well I’mma give time, time and draw clocks on these cuts as band aids and pain both hands at ‘12’ so my prayers can be on time for a change Grandmother you give me the language to speak my identity for the first time as I have a list of questions I want to ask you like, Did you really walk them to school three-

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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

Contact AMUST PO Box 111, Bonnyrigg (Sydney), NSW 2177 Australia.

Email: info@amust.com.au Ph: 9823 2063; Fax: 9823 3626

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

Speak to me of what the sky could mean (Grandmother) Ahmad Al-Rady

LIFESTYLE 9 - 10

miles every day and back? and how did you feed nine- kids with three loafs of bread every day?

In fact Every blink- a love note to capture your own history Grandmother how did you cope when your sons were treated like unmarked- cargo, nameless as they latched on to steel rods of sails pressed against their flesh tore through obese oceans made do with fragile boats that resembled broken bones of those that couldn’t make it held together by a prayer Grandmother I know your face still do you know mine?

Ahmad Al-Rady is the founder of the Bankstown Poetry Slam who has won the Outstanding Youth Award at the 2015 Zest Awards. Al-Rady also won Best Artist at the Australian Muslim Achievement awards. The Bankstown Poetry Slam has been running for the past two years and attracts 300 people every month. Ahmad said “I fell in love with books and during my first couple of years at university I wrote poems and started performing. I just said we need to have a poetry night close by instead of going all the way to the city and it manifested itself from that.”

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Undermining an Inclusive Democracy Bilal Cleland Tony Abbott has said Australians have been “played for mugs” by “bad people” and the government would no longer give “the benefit of doubt” when it comes to immigration, residency, welfare and citizenship.

[Guardian 15 Feb 2015] This statement from our Prime Minister, who is under threat from a very dissatisfied back bench, suggests a new “Tampa Moment” but this time aimed at his own Liberal Party rather than national opinion in election mode, like last time. The electorate in this instance is very different from mainstream Australian society. It consists of a political party with few moderates left, strongly influenced by the American extremist Tea Party stream of politics.

The attitude of the broad Australian society cannot be totally ignored, as we still live in a democracy, but elections are a long time in the future, so some very nasty behavior can be expected in the short term.

An important source of unbiased news, unlike the stable of Murdoch propaganda sheets, is “The Conversation”, written by academic experts from all over Australia.

In its edition of 17 February 2015, after this ‘benefit of the doubt’ speech from Abbott, Matt McDonald, Associate Professor of International Relations at The University of Queensland, and Suzanna Fay-Ramirez, Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at the same institution, wrote: “Abbott’s stoking of terrorist fears may be a political sideshow.” “Abbott is reeling from a series of poor “captain’s calls”, serious and unresolved questions about his leadership and disastrous opinion polling. In this context, the return to the safe conservative ground of national security suggests itself as an obvious diversionary tactic.”

Whipping up fear and taking public and political party attention away from the incompetence of the government leadership is an old and tried political tactic. However it can be more serious than this. As the authors point out, exciting party and public fears of a terror crisis can be used to justify extreme measures which would not other-

wise be accepted. “Dangers of the “threat within” can be used to justify significant domestic restrictions of civil liberties or even military action abroad.”

They warn that the mention by Abbott of a harder policy on immigration, citizenship and welfare “suggests a less open and inclusive society.”

Increasing marginalization The Queensland University academics put the effects of such social change very plainly. “Research tells us that a hardline approach to “suspect” communities will further ingrain their sense of marginalisation and make radicalisation more likely. In this sense, effective responses to the terrorist “threat within” might require us to be more open and engaged, finding new opportunities for drawing such communities into the national community.”

We know full well which communities are the ‘suspect communities.’ Sheikh Wesam Charkawi, a high school chaplain working in western Sydney, said: ”I work on a daily basis with the youth and what I see at the moment is severe distress regarding the new counter-terrorism laws. The Muslim community feels targeted and besieged. Muslims are almost exclusively viewed through the prism of counter-terrorism laws.” [19 February 2015 Guardian] Associate Professor Anne Aly of Curtin University’s countering online violent extremism research program said “Abbott’s statement and the government’s narrative on national security was making her work harder because it alienated young Muslims who feel under pressure from the language of the national security debate.” She finds herself not only battling the extremist narrative but also the increasingly xenophobic attitude of Abbott and his close supporters.

In Australia the hard stance on national security is the only policy we seem to be developing, unlike the USA, the UK and Europe where it is understood that the struggle cannot be carried out in just this area. As she pointed out, “while the Abbott government had announced $13.4m for programs to counter violent extremism last year out of a $630m package to strengthen government police and intelligence agencies, only $1m had been announced so far and that round had not yet closed, so no funding in the area had yet been released.” [15 February 2015 Guardian]

A narrow, security based assault on radicalization will not bring about change, if that is what is actually sought. The placing of welfare in the hands of Scott Morrison, of Manus and Nauru fame, and residency and citizenship under the new Department of Immigration and Border Protection, with threats to the citizenship of dual passport holders under the Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, which has yet to pass the Senate, add up to a threat to our way of life. To marginalize a vulnerable community even further will not diminish the threat of radicalization and plays into the hands of the extremists. This places an even greater stress on our Muslim community, which, like Anne Aly, must struggle against the alienation of our youth from both government xenophobia and online lunacy.

Post-National Security Statement The tide of negative comment in response to the Prime Minister’s statement on February 23 indicates that Australia is undergoing rapid change. In the immediate response to the 9/11 atrocity in 2001, the whole Muslim community felt the hostility and it was a time when there had been little public discussion of Islam and extremism. Although there has been the usual upsurge in racist attack and bigoted comment, it is very minor compared to past experience. That big-

ots feel empowered by the singling out of a vulnerable community must have been well understood since the Hanson days. Our political leadership must know this.

Nowadays the general population is more aware of how the “terror threat” is being politicised for very narrow purposes, to do with political ambition. It is also well understood by this stage that in order to prevent immature and disturbed individuals being drawn into the criminal terrorist web, their alienation and marginalization from mainstream Muslim society and broad Australian society must be addressed. Denouncing Islamic leaders as two-faced secret supporters of terror, which is what the Prime Minister inferred with his “and mean it” statement and his apparent questioning of Islamic teaching on the killing of innocents, can only increase feelings of alienation and of not being part of Australian society. He must know this.

That the religious leadership of the Muslim community has stood up to the bullying and bigotry we are now encountering, supported by a huge proportion of the Australian community, is very encouraging.

Racism and bigotry as political weapons are diminishing in impact, indicating a very positive future.

nothing but war, massacre and terrorism.

They have forgotten that the word “cruelty” is mentioned seven contexts in the Noble Quran, and in each context it is despised.

The barbarity of ISIS has no place in any religion and its actions have nothing to do with Islam -- it is more like the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia. Slaughter is its goal — slaughter in the name of higher purification.

Brutality, mass executions and extreme violence is part of what makes ISIS so compelling to those who join it. ISIS is more like a mass death cult than a conventional authoritarian or totalitarian state. Most such cults attract few followers and pose limited threats; the danger is mostly to themselves.

But there are examples in modern history of whole societies falling under the influence and control of a mechanism whose aim is to dictate every aspect of life after an image of absolute virtue, and in doing so to produce a mountain of corpses. This is what happened in Cambodia under Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge.

ISIS has joined a death cult to an army and a rudimentary state, presenting itself as the avant-garde of a mass movement with horrific consequences.

Violent extremism is not unique to any particular religion, region or culture and Cambodia provides an example of how a Buddhist country fell into the hands of a barbaric regime as a result of the Americans dropping the equivalent of five Hiroshimas

on rural Cambodia during 1969-73. Terrified and half-crazy, the people were ready to believe what they were told. As John Pilger points out “that was what made it so easy for the Khmer Rouge to win the people over.”

A Finnish Government Commission of Enquiry estimated that 600,000 Cambodians died in the ensuing civil war and described the bombing as the “first stage in a decade of genocide”. What Nixon and Kissinger began, Pol Pot completed.

According to Pilger, ISIS has a similar past and present. By most scholarly measures, Bush and Blair’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 led to the deaths of some 700,000 people - in a country that had no history of

jihadism. The Kurds had done territorial and political deals; Sunni and Shia had class and sectarian differences, but they were at peace; intermarriage was common.

So while condemning ISIS and its brutality, it is important for Muslims and the world community to work together to find just and workable solutions to the problems in the Middle East. Just as these problems will not be solved by ISIS or its ilk nor will they be solved by western invasions, bombing and drones nor by oppressing Palestinians and denying them their rights nor by dictators and oppressive regimes that abuse human rights in the name of stability.

ISIS same as Khmer Rouge Fadlullah Wilmot The only Muslims who think ISIS represents Islam, or even Muslims, are ISIS themselves. The world’s Muslim societies are remarkably diverse but whether Sunni or Shia, conservative or progressive, rich or poor, Arab or non-Arab or living as a majority or minority the great majority of Muslims agree on one thing: ISIS do not represent Islam. In its 14 centuries of history the Muslim world and in particular the Arab world has never generated or incubated the kind of violent extremism that we witness today Using a discredited interpretation of the Holy Quran, ISIS and those like them have transformed the Qur’an into a manifesto for war and terrorism. Like many other violent apocalyptic groups, they tend to see them world in Manichean terms and themselves as participating in a cosmic war between good and evil, in which moral rules do not apply. Thus, they have begun a war between the believers and non-believers, Muslims and non-Muslims, the Shiites and the Sunnis, war among the Shiites, war among the Sunnis. Their God is a warrior who orders

March 2015

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ISOC Orientation Week 2015 AMUST

Teguh Suwando

Like many other universities throughout Australia O-Week at the University of NSW was held last week from Monday 23 to Friday 27 February.

The O-Week is an annual event where all society and clubs at UNSW have the chance to open a stall to promote their activity to new and returning students of UNSW. The O-Week has been known by students as the liveliest week in UNSW where new friendship and freebies are up for grab.

The Islamic Society of NSW stall act as the hub for information to new students, staff as well as their visiting families. It provides information regarding Musallah and Juma prayer, Chaplain’s message regarding ISOC that address ISOC vision to facilitate student life at the campus, how to live as Muslims in Australia, upcoming ISOC activities, and information on Islam to people of all faiths and no faith.

In addition this year students were offered discount vouchers and 8GB usb for those who took pictures of ISOC stall and uploaded it to facebook group Islamic Society of UNSW with #ISOC2015.

ISOC has gained more than 200 new member from UNSW O-Week 2015. Majority of the new member are new students with few second year student and some staff including five non-muslim members who were interested to know more about Islam and Muslims.

ISOC conducted some social functions throughout the week. These included a Morning Tea Session on Monday, Arab Lunch on Tuesday, Sister’s Catching Up Session at Passionflower on Wednesday, Prize Giving Ceremony for Photography Competition and Turkish Lunch on Thurs-

day and last but not least, Pizza Trivia Night on Friday.

All of these events were open to all, aimed to get people together and to know more about ISOC. Throughout the week, a huge number of participation from eager new and existing students.

Halal Hunt was held on the 1 March that provided information and location of Halal restaurants in Sydney specially in area like Broadway, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and in Manly.

The ISOC pizza and trivia night was a very successful ISOC event during the O-Week. This event attracted more than 50 people. During the trivia competition, the participant were divided into group of 5 with 5 set of challenging trivia questions categorized into sport, general knowledge, Islamic knowledge, Australian Geography, and Guess the Logo.

The winner of the trivia competition was a group of 3 friends from Malaysia, Marwan, Farhan, and Mohammad who joined forces with Mohammad Arafat Mahmud, a PhD student and Hammad Abid, a Masters student in Petroleum Engineering who were awarded the $250 prize.

The pizza dinner was joined by a group of Catholic Club members as well.

Sydney Muslim Leader passed away AMUST Media

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Lt Cdr Alikunhi Mailanji, 92, passed away peacefully on 21 February 2015 from pneumonia after developing a sudden chest infection. His funeral was held at the Gallipoli Mosque, Auburn on Sunday, 22 February attended by family friends and a large number of the Muslim community.

Kunhi sahib, as he was popularly known arrived in Sydney, Australia in 1970 representing Pakistan International Airlines, PIA for Australia and New Zealand. He later worked as General Manager, Saudi Arabia for Aquila Steel before he retired.

Originally from the Indian state of Kerala, Kunhi Saheb migrated to Pakistan before finally settling in Australia.

During the seventies, when the Muslim community was very small, he was one of the most competent speakers to talk on Islam specially while addressing non-muslims having an excellent command on the English language. He spoke at Churches on a number of occasions explaining Islamic teachings and removing misunderstanding about Islam and Muslims. He also acted as an Imam at Friday congregational prayers at the Surry Hills mosque during the early seventies.

He was active and popular member of the Pakistani community and established the first Pakistan Association in Sydney.

He and his wife, Nefeesabi Alikunhi, had a high profile within the Pakistani community

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Lt Cdr Alikunhi Mailanji and hosted frequent popular get togethers at their Killarney Heights home for the Pakistani diplomats, dignitaries and politicians.

He was looked after by his daughters at his home in his old age till he passed away.

He is survived by his daughters Shaheen and Shama, son Shahid, daughter in law Hasna and grandson Mohammad Ali and granddaughter Sabeeha.

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Winners of ISOC photography competition announced

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Munirah Izzah binti Mohammad A prize giving ceremony for winners of the ISOC Photography Competition together with lunch was organized on Thursday 26 February at the University of NSW. The competition was launched in October last year at the 45th celebration of the founding of the Islamic Society of NSW, ISOC. The theme revolves around what makes ISOC special – our cultural diversity.

Since 1969, ISOC has enjoyed the company of students from all over the world.

Therefore, in celebration of ISOC’s diversity, all of the members were invited to capture their essence of cultural identity.

There were a total of 11 entries of beautiful shots with nine of them qualified with the terms outlined for the competition. The two categories for the entries were, Jury Panel Award where the winner was chosen by the official jury and The People’s Choice award where the winner was chosen by ISOC members on the Facebook page. The entry with the most likes won the competition.

READING TO KILL TIME (PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD $150) The People’s Choice Award was won by Sister Fitri Faradilla. The winning entry was collaborative work where of Sister Fitri Faradilla, a PhD student of Food Science and Technology was the photographer and Sister Anissa Riani, a Master of Financial Planning student was the object. Both of them originated from Indonesia and share the same interest in photography and trav-

“Reading to Kill Time” won People’s Choice Award.

“The Lost Art” won the Jury Panel Award. elling. Their photo entitled “Reading to Kill Time” had gained 46 Likes till the end of the voting period.

Sister Fitri said, “A reading culture to kill time has been degraded with the culture of playing games with gadgets. This reading culture should be brought back to our society, especially among Muslims, since ‘Iqra!’, which means read, is the very first word of Quran that Allah asked our Prophet to recite.”

THE LOST ART (THE JURY PANEL AWARD $250) The main prize, The Jury Panel Award went to Brother Iman Fakhri, currently a

final year student of Mechanical Engineering. He is a Malaysian international student with deep interest in photography especially in the area of portraits, journalism, and nature. His work entitled “The Lost Art” of a middle-aged man working in his workshop during Iman’s trip to Victoria captured jurors attention.

Brother Iman said said, “We now live in the age where everything is automated and mass produced, we have lost the sense of personal touch that make something stands out from the crowd. Hence the picture depicting a person keeping the art alive, giving his own personal touch to the objects that he

creates. My take on culture identity.”

There were a number of highly competitive entries that were shown at the event and included photos of Juma prayers at UNSW

by Fahim Alam, Wudu at a pond in Bangladesh by Taugir Ullah etc.

ISOC members highly appreciated the talents and creativity shown by the competitors and hope that this theme will increase the awareness and appreciation of different cultural identity and background of students at UNSW. Munirah Izzah binti Mohammad is a Chemical Engineering student at the UNSW.

Arabic Made in China launched in Melbourne Mobinah Ahmad The online course Arabic Made in China was launched at the Islamic Museum of Australia in Melbourne on Friday 27 February.

The course developed by Dr Imran Lum is simplified to learn Arabic in a lifestyle format.

The gathering at the launch was quite intimate with Lum’s closest friends and students attending the event.

Guests were given a private tour of appreciating the exceptional exhibits at the IMA. MC, well known comedian Nazeem Hussein kicked off the evening with a few jokes Dr Lum invigorated the audience with the Arabic language basics in a lifestyle format, including learning how to say “I like turtles”.

The event was catered by 2013 Masterchef finalist, Samir El Khafir with delicious gourmet finger food and dessert.

As guests mingled, live music was played with an eclectic sound of Arabic flamenco on the tabla by Rasheeda Cooper and guitarist Zak Wilson, followed by a guitar performance by Waleedy Aly (Robot Child) and Zak Wilson.

Intezar Elham ended the evening with an incredible rendition of Rhianna’s 4, 5 seconds.

A surprise video of thanks was presented to Imran Lum and his supportive wife Anisa from his past students thanking him for the selfless time and effort he had provided teaching them Arabic.

For more information on learning Arabic in a lifestyle format, visit www.arabicmadeinchina.com.

From left: Nadal Ali, Anisa Buckley, Imran Lum, Waleed Aly, Zak Wilson

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Open Tues to Sun 11am - 9pm Weekend breakfast from 8am 1020 Albany Hwy, East Victoria Park WA 6101

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Events Calendar Brisbane : Prophetic Health Workshop Saturday 7 March, 2015 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Griffith University - Nathan Campus, Building N78, Room -1.23, QLD Buy tickets at http://goo.gl/C0wC9q Session 1 - Spiritual Detox

by Sheikh Hassan Elsetohy Session 2 - Holistic Nutrition

by Br Mohammad Quadan Session 3 - Permaculture Concepts

by Sheikh Hassan Elsetohy Session 4 - Health Foundation

by Br Mohammad Quadan Course Fee: $30 BOOK NOW - LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE

Youth Talent Smash: Creative Arts Show Saturday 7 March, 2015 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM The Bryan Brown Theatre, Bankstown NSW www.facebook.com/ events/1522939847966343 For the first time in Australian history, you have the opportunity to witness rising stars from the Muslim community!

Spoken-word poetry, nasheeds, martial arts stunt show, cooking segment, creative writing, art gallery, short films and more!

Come along for a FUN evening for the whole family Call us at ISRA on (02) 9649 9040 to purchase your tickets TODAY! $20 for adults (13+) and $10 for students.

MISS – Marriage Information & Services Seminar Sunday 8 March, 2015 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM The Bryan Brown Theatre, Bankstown NSW www.facebook.com/ events/624710750968900/ A one day event for those looking for their other half or wanting to rekindle the romance in their marriage through discussion and interaction.

Studies have revealed that 95% of a person’s happiness and emotional fitness after marriage is a result of how their spouse treats them. As such, the greater the emotional fitness, the more productive a person will be with respect to his/her faith, career and other important areas of life.

The MISS one-day seminar will allow individuals to become the best spouse they can be and equip attendees to live in a harmonious marriage for the sake of Allah (SWT).

Affinity Lecture Series: Darren Goodsir | Editor in Chief, SMH & The SunHerald Thursday 12 March, 2015 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM Suite 502, Level 5 51 – 57 Pitt St - Sydney, NSW Register at http://goo.gl/XnpNWi (Light lunch will be served from 12.00pm. Lecture will start at 12:30pm) This is a free event though places are limited and will be prioritised to early RSVPs.

Appreciation Award Dinner for Multicultural Mawlid Concert 2015 Friday 20 March, 2015 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Al Amanah Assembly Hall, 56 Nagle st Liverpool, NSW info@darulfatwa.org.au

Holroyd Harmony Day Celebration - Merrylands Saturday 21 March, 2015 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM Merrylands Memorial Park, Treves Street, Merrylands NSW Register at http://goo.gl/XnpNWi Harmony Day in Holroyd will be celebrated in a community harmony walk which will take place on Sat 21 March at 5:00pm at Merrylands Memorial park, Treves St and finish at 5:30pm at the Holroyd Garden, Pitt St, Merrylands.

The walk is free and suitable for people of all ages and abilities.

Wear something orange to show your support for harmony, wear comfortable shows and bring a bottle of water with you.

Holroyd Harmony Day Celebration - Guildford Friday 27 March, 2015 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM Guildford Youth Centre, 367 Guildford, West Guildford, NSW RSVP by emailing beatrice. sesay@holroyd.nsw.gov.au The Harmony Day Celebration event will take place at the Guildford Youth Centre. Activities to be held on the night includes: free multicultural food, around the world fashion parade, cultural performances, multifaith prayers for world peace and speakers. You are welcome to wear your traditional costume.

RSVP by 13 March 2015, Betray Sesay 9840 9677, beatrice.sesay@ holroyd.nsw.gov.au

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

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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

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I will judge you and Modest Street here’s why its OK Fashion MOBYDAYZE Mobinah Ahmad

First off let me just say that I truly believe that only God can judge a person’s soul. Neither their family, nor friends nor society nor the legal system.

You don’t know what’s in someone’s heart or mind. You don’t know what their intentions are and you don’t know where they are at, in their life. So take that as a disclaimer to this blog post and don’t send me emails/private messages telling me that I can’t judge people. Because I can and I will without feeling guilty and I’m about to tell you why.

Okay so right now, I’m guessing you probably disagree with me, right? That I shouldn’t be judging people? If you find yourself nodding, then alright lets see if I can get you to agree with me by the end of this post. The word ‘judge’ has such a negative connotation when really, all it is, is to evaluate something to determine an

appropriate response. When I say the word ‘judge’, I don’t mean being critical, I mean forming an opinion about someone. After all, isn’t that we all do for anything? If we’re crossing a road with no lights, we have to make a judgement on whether to cross or not – we judge the speed of the car and how long it will take to get to where you are. We make a judgement in ORDER to determine an appropriate response to ensure our own safety. Why can’t this car analogy be APPLIED to interpersonal relationships?

We make judgements on people based upon their behaviour in order to determine the appropriate response and ensure our safety.

Life is short and we preserve our time to spend with people we like – so we’re constantly making instinctive reactions to preserve our safety and happiness. That’s how we determine who we like and connect with and who we don’t like and don’t connect with. We judge people (yes, I said ‘we’, this means you) based upon some of the following things (depends upon your preference, experience etc): how long we’ve known them, how attractive they are, what they’re wearing, how they react to certain

things and how they make you feel. Deny it all you want, but it’s true. We judge people based upon their words and actions in order to determine whether we want to be around them or not.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the first type of judgement, is to judge someone’s soul – to make an absolute judgement on who they are as a person. Now I don’t think anyone can do that except God. But humans, do judge people based on who they are right now, based on what they see and their instincts. And that’s okay. But rather than judging them absolutely, you judge them on that specific behaviour.

For example, friend A was cheating on her husband with his best friend. Friend A told Friend B. When Friend B said “What? Are you serious? How could you do that to him.

That is wrong. If you want to leave your husband, then deal with that first.”, Friend A said “Stop Judging me! How dare you judge me”.

Our behaviour and actions are there to be judged by our friends and loved ones. This is how we know that the people around us care enough, to pull us to one side and say “hey I care about you, what you’re doing is wrong. I know you’re a good person.” Obviously its got to be done in the right way. Its okay to judge someone if they are being immoral or unethical because you’re worried as to how it will affect you. If your friend is lying to others, the chances of you being lied to are extremely high.

If you find that your friend is talking behind someone’s back or not keeping someone’s secret (gossiping), chances are they’ll do the same to you.

So of course your instincts are going to tell you to cut and run if you don’t like the moral choices of your friend. We seek people who have similar values and principles as us. Well I don’t know if that’s something everyone does, but I do. I mean idealistically people say “oh you cant judge others.” – but everyone does! Its part of our nature to have an opinion on what others do.

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Photography by Baha Ben

Sumaya, Student, Sumaya bought this skirt from Valley Girl.

Do I sound harsh?

Do you still disagree?

Respond to info@amust.com.au

Yebisu (Japanese Food) FOODIE ADVENTURES

Mobinah Ahmad

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 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. I love watching it, in a non-creepy way of course.

March 2015

Yebisu | George Street, Sydney There are heaps of Japanese restaurants around but Yebisu is by far, the best among the rest. I like having all kinds of food experiences. I don’t often do up market, but when I do – its amazing. Food is of the highest quality (and price). I always order the same dishes: Kingfish Nigiri, Agodashi Tofu and Earl Grey Crème Brulée. It’s not halal, but they have plenty of seafood and vegetarian options.

Fariha, Student, Fariha got this long shirt from Suelle Boutique.

The “What Are You Wearing” series We are starting a series that will be displaying the great diversity of Modest Street Fashion. We need more entries! If you would like to be part of the series, please email us a photo at info@amust.com.au and let us know what you’re wearing, where you got it from and why you like wearing it.

Yebisu Shop 7-10, 501 George Street ​, ​Sydney, NSW Price: $$$ Rating: Must Try: Agodashi Tofu

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Why don’t people matchmake?

Zeynab Gamieldien The very word ‘matchmaking’ tends to send people running for cover, whether it be the thought of being set up or setting other people up. In a society where individual choice and autonomy reigns supreme (thank you, modernity), it’s not hard to see why.

Many people are fiercely protective of their love lives, resisting any perceived ‘interference’. But is matchmaking really the big nasty it’s made out to be?

The answer is no, it’s not. In fact, it’s all the more necessary and handy for the Muslim diaspora in the West, largely displaced from traditional support systems for finding a partner and swimming in a big sea of ineligible classmates and colleagues. The increase in online marriage sites and Tinder-esque apps reflects the confusing mesh of requirements for love amongst Muslims in the 21st century. We want romance, but we also want commitment. Some of us have families who can find us someone, but we aren’t up for that. Some of us don’t have that option at all, whether it’s because our families are non-Muslim or simply not well-connected. We want ‘organic’ connections, despite knowing that the chances of simply bumping into that special someone are slim to nil. We feel like we know most of the people there are to know, and the people

we don’t know…well, we just don’t know them and we aren’t sure how we could go about knowing them.

This is where the third party referral system can step in. I call it referral rather than recommendation because I know the very idea of vouching for a person’s character puts people off matchmaking entirely. They worry that if it doesn’t work out, they’ll somehow be held responsible. They feel like they’re just not qualified to make an assessment as to the compatibility of two people, and feel it would be presumptuous of them to even try.

But what are we really doing when we matchmake? At its simplest, all we’re doing is providing an introduction. Whatever happens from there is completely up to the people in question. Whether it works out or doesn’t is immaterial because we’ve done our part: put two people in contact who wouldn’t have otherwise had the agency or courage to. If I suggest a person talk to another person, I’m not claiming to know that they’re meant to be together. I’m not claiming that it even has a high chance of working out. All I’m doing is providing an ‘in’ for them to use as they see fit.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we should try to set two people up simply because one is a girl and one is a guy. Some thought should be given to whether they’d be compatible on at least a superficial level, but if it’s presumptuous to think two people are compatible, it’s also presumptuous to think two people won’t be compatible.

People aren’t linear; they’re jagged and

Widyan Al Ubudy engaged to marry Hussein Fares

Sattar & Haiffa Al Ubudy announce the engagement of their daughter, Widyan Al Ubudy (23 years) to Hussein Fares (27 years), son of Hala and Ali Fares. Widyan is a journalist and project manager and Hussein is a Disability Support worker.

The wedding will take place on 21 March 2015. Photography by Charlie Co.

Share the celebration of your engagement, wedding, anniversary or birthday with the rest of the community!

Send an email with your information (photo optional) to seeker@amust.com.au

complex and multi-faceted. I’d much rather give two people the chance to discover that they’re not compatible for themselves, rather than simply assume that they’re not and thereby deprive them of even the slightest chance they may have had.

I know, I know, it’s not exactly how many people picture meeting a partner, but I’m pretty sure no one fantasises about meeting a partner on an app either. At least with the introductory system, someone can at the very least vouch for the fact that someone is who they say they are and isn’t a wanted criminal (in this jurisdiction, if not elsewhere).

A guiding hand in the process, however invisible, can also be invaluable. Negotiating everything on our own, as exciting and romantic as it may be, is often a spectacular failure, given the lack of parameters or set expectations. (Oddly enough, many of us seem to prefer the spectacular failures to the perceived rigidity and constraints of letting our family or friends have a hand in selecting a partner.)

The other good thing about matchmaking is that it’s a fairly fluid sort of institution. It ranges from people being set up who don’t know each other at all to people who may have an interest in each other but are too scared or don’t know how to go about pursuing it. In the latter cases, the matchmaker is simply there to facilitate the interest.

This scenario is a lot more common than people realise, but it’s fairly obvious why it happens: it’s difficult, scary, risky and potentially darn embarrassing to try to make

something happen with someone we barely know, and perhaps even more so when we do know the person.

If we see marriage as a purely individual, private project for each person to determine on their own, we’ll naturally resist both the impulse to suggest people to others or have people suggested to us. Frequently, the desire to respect people’s privacy or not to offend holds us back from inquiring about their lives, their happiness or lack thereof.

The burden for seeking assistance usually lies with the person in need of it, but often people are too embarrassed or ashamed to ask. After all, who’d be comfortable to ask someone to help them find a spouse?

It implies we’re incapable of doing it ourselves, and no one likes that idea. But if we see marriage as a communal project and the path to it as a communal struggle, we’re a lot more likely to both offer and accept help.

People struggling to get meet potential partners often share similar issues: family pressures or constraints, lack of opportunity to widen their circles, lack of time or energy to actively seek it out. If we’re all on the same journey, why not give each other a leg-up and help to spread the love as we go along?

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.

Visit our website www.amust.com.au for the latest news and views

Marriage Bureau - Seeker & Sought For An initiative by the Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare (IFEW) Seeker & Sought For is a new initiative that provides 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.

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

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

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Placing a notice

Responding to a notice

If you would like to place a notice, fill out the matrimonial form at: www.amust.com.au/marriage-bureau

If you would like to respond to a notice, email seeker@amust.com.au with the notice number, your name and response and it will be emailed to them along with your email address.

All notices will be allocated a unique number and relevant personal information kept on file. Such information will remain confidential and will not appear on the notice.

All notices must be sent through the form

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It will be up to that person to respond to your correspondence.

All information is held in strict confidence

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Seekers

M20151: Devoted Sri Lankan Muslim male, aged 34, self employed, based in Sydney, seeking hand of devout Muslimah.

M20152: An Australian citizen reverted Muslim male, from Indian background, age 33, working as a financial analyst in a multi national IT company seeking an educated Muslimah from a cultured family

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Trending on Twitter: #IStandWithMariam AMUST Media

Human rights activist and Lawyer Mariam Veiszadeh had become the target of racist abuse online, particularly from an Australian Defence League member.

Veiszadeh didn’t just cop the abuse, she reported it to the police, and the woman was charged with harassment by Queensland Police.

The story became widely known internationally, and despite Mariam receiving support, white supremacy groups in the US had posted abusive language and photoshopped

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images. She herself started the hashtag #IStandWithMariam which began to trend all over twitter.

Facebook

March 2015

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Appreciating Australia fairly AMUST

Ernie Friedlander Too many times we tend to look at negatives instead of positives. It would be far easier to cope with the issues not to our liking if we see the positive side.

I came to this country at the age of 15, 64 years ago – I went to night school for two years to learn English, which enabled me to get a better job. After the 2 years I went back to night school to matriculate.

I strongly believe we need to ask ourselves where we would rather live? After speaking to visitors and Australians travelling overseas a lot– I believe this is the place to be.

Most people have some grievances, me included, but when I take a step back – they are not unsurmountable – just need to find solutions. Some are not always achievable, but with patience and perseverance the prospects, except for non-curable sicknesses are mostly gettable .

Let’s now look at another option – not being happy, frustrated, angry, starting the blame game – leading to lashing out – re-

sentment and conflict. Some people, instead of taking some responsibility, start to vilify others and battle lines are drawn.

Looking outside Australia makes us realise how lucky we are, not to living in Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe or South America.

So should we complain or go forward leaving the past behind and build a safer future for our families?

Our organisation is dedicated to confront prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping, be it for colour race or religion in a pro-active way. We are now celebrating the 10th Anniversary of our Harmony Poster competition for school students in NSW. Last year we had over 4800 entries. 3 years ago we also introduced the Harmony Day Song Writing competition and the Harmony Walk.

In 2015 we are introducing the Short Film competition ( 30 – 60 Seconds ) – this years theme being “Harmony Day – Everyday“.

Our committee consists of a wide range of individuals and some other organisations, including STARTTS, the Australian Bahaií, Multicultural NSW , the Australian MEFF Consortium, CISA (the International Student Association ) NRL, Cricket Australia, Together for Humanity. We are honoured to have Regal Pa-

Music Instruments for forgotten refugees Philip Feinstein Despite some of the Australian Detention Centres closing, there is still a huge gap when it comes to music instruments being supplied to stressful refugees in custody. When the detention centres at Pontville (Tasmania), Scherger (Queensland) and Port Augusta and Inverbrackie (South Australia) closed down, music instruments from those centres were transferred to other detention centres. But somehow Yongah Hill in Western Australia was forgotten. And the same can be said for the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres. There are many desperate refugees from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, as well as other places, who are stuck at those centres. And once again the Music for Refugee project is doing all it can to assist.

With music instruments being donated from a variety of people in Sydney, including Christians, Jews and Muslims, Music for Refugees has shipped a large container of instruments to Yongah Hill. And this has come about with the assistance of SERCO, the managing agents of all mainland Australian detention centres, agreeing to deliver the consignment. The asylum seekers at Yongah Hill are in for a pleasant surprise when they see that guitars, ukuleles, violins and bongos, plus other instruments, are about to be delivered to them.

Music for Refugees has also packaged two huge containers for delivery to Nauru and Manus Island. In this case the deliveries will also include guitars, ukuleles, bongos plus some unusual instruments like glockenspiels, tambourines and mouth organs.

Delivery in this case will be expedited by Transfield Services, the managing agents of those two facilities.

Meanwhile a most unusual donation has come in: An Indonesian instrument called an Angklung was donated by a convent in Sydney. “I am absolutely fascinated by this huge bamboo instrument that has so many notes to it” said Philip Feinstein, principle of Music for Refugees. “Now we need to find an Indonesian family or group to give it to.”

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The Music for Refugees organisation collects and distributes music instruments for refugees both in and out of detention. We should all bear in mind that these people have come from troubled areas and are seeking a better life in Australia. “And seeing that many Australians come from a refugee background, we should be able understand their plight” commented Philip. Members of the public are encouraged to donate instruments to any of the many drop-off points listed on the website www.musicforrefugees.org

tronage by his Excellency, General David Hurley. We are non-political and humanitarian.

Our Ambassadors are in alphabetical order – Jihad Dib, Mario Fenech, Stepan Kerkyasharian AM, Dr Natalie Mobini, Hugh Riminton, Dr Tim Soutphossane, Dr Charlie Teo, Tim Wilson.

I am very impressed by your AMUST

monthly newspaper – it helps to build bridges to different communities – and proves what a wonderful melting pot Australia is.

Lucky to be living here away from the major conflicts that plagues our world. Let us appreciate it.

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

Visit our website www.amust.com.au for the latest news and views

There is also a Facebook page on https:// www.facebook.com/pages/Music-for-Refugees/1500789130197574 Philip Feinstein is a Sydney based writer, musician and activist working for MUSIC FOR REFUGEES www.musicforrefugees.org

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Potentials for Takaful (Islamic Insurance) in Australian Financial Market FINANCE Dr Abul Jalaluddin The Australian financial services market offers a comprehensive suite of Islamic financial products comprising of home finance, leasing & hire purchase, superannuation, fund management, equities and property trust. There is a significant vacuum for Islamic insurance products which could profitably be made available to meet the demands from Muslims and non-Muslim Australians alike.

The Muslim market in Australia is sizeable, with as high as (estimated) half a million Muslims. This segment of the population requires various insurance services to protect their properties and belongings. This opportunity represents a high potential to generate profits for companies and create jobs for all Australians. Have a look at the number of cars the Muslim community owns, a share of mere 10% of this market would produce millions of dollars in profits in no time.

In the year ended 30 September 2014, there were 115 insurance companies in Australia licensed to conduct general insurance business, of these 103 were direct insurers and 12 were re-insurers. The net earned premium for the industry in the year was $31.3 billion, up 2.6% from the previous year and the net incurred claims for the industry in

the year were $19.3 billion, up 5.8% from the previous year. In the same period, the total assets for the industry were $112.6 billion. The total industry net profit after tax for the same year was $4.7 billion which represented a return on net assets of 16.9%.

This makes insurance a highly profitable business in Australia.

Takaful or Islamic insurance mitigates risks associated with properties and families. Conventional insurance is a contract between the insured and the insurer. Takaful differs from the conventional concept of insurance in the sense that a Takaful operator is not an insurer insuring potential risks of Takaful participants (insured). Takaful participants jointly guarantee each other against risks and Takaful operator simply acts as the manager of the Takaful fund. In a nutshell, Takaful participants contribute premiums in a fund (which constitutes the Takaful fund), Takaful operator manages it including investment of funds, settles claims and makes a profit out of this operation.

The Shariah position on Takaful is clear.

In 1965, the Congress of Islamic Research in Cairo discussed the legitimacy of insurance in the Muslim World. In 1985, the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah had approved mutual insurance (Takaful) as an alternative form of insurance because it is based on a system of co-operation and mutual assistance for the good of society. The European Council for Fatwa and Research has confirmed the same ruling. In 1984, Ma-

laysia has enacted its Shariah based legislation- Takaful Act 1984.

Takaful (Islamic insurance) provides two broad categories of cover: general Takaful and family Takaful. Broadly speaking, the former includes vehicle, home & contents, travel, public liability, professional indemnity and the latter includes health, hospital, permanent disability and death. In a death policy, for example, the incidence of death is not insured, what is insured is the potential suffering resulting from a death.

The governance of Takaful business is based on a number of contracts such as Mudarabah (profit/loss sharing), Wakalah (agency), Ju’alah (commission), Waqf (endowment) or a hybrid of these contracts.

These contracts manage the relationship between Takaful participants and Takaful operators in terms of underwriting, premiums, settlements of claims and business profits.

The contracts of Mudarabah and Wakalah are widely practised in the Takaful industry around the World.

In Islamic insurance, it is possible to get back a part of the premiums paid to Takaful operators (insurance companies). This regularly happens to Takaful participants in Malaysia. It is possible because of the Mudarabah contract of finance where Takaful participants (policy holders) provide the fund through premiums and Takaful operators manage it. After settling claims and business expenses, the remaining profits, if any, are distributed between Takaful par-

ticipants and Takaful operators on a re-determined ratio. This arrangement entitles Takaful participants a profit from their insurance companies.

There is a large global Takaful including Re-Takaful industry, mainly based on various countries of Southeast Asia and the Gulf. The major markets are located in Malaysia, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Other countries with significant Takaful operations include Indonesia, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey, Sudan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Philipines and South Africa. According to Earnest Young, the global Takaful market grew at 14% in 2014. By 2017, the global Takaful industry may reach over US$20 billion in assets.

Australian Muslims have a substantial need for insurance, a considerable part of it would be met through Takaful if available. This would relate to both, the general Takaful and Family Takaful such as vehicle, home & contents, travel, public liability, professional indemnity, health and hospital.

It will be useful and commercially viable to have an Islamic insurance company in Australia.

What is halal, and how does it’s certification work?

James Wang and Julian Mills

Halal food certification in Australia has become a contentious issue. Recently, a Western Australian cafe received hateful and anti-Islamic messages after its owners tried to explain halal on Facebook. A South Australian company stopped certifying its yoghurt in November 2014 after it was TARGETED by a social media campaign.

And on Tuesday, independent senator Jacqui Lambie threatened to introduce a private senator’s bill to close what she claims are “legal loopholes” that: … could allow FINANCING of terrorists and Australia’s enemies through halal money.

Lambie is not the first to raise the issue in federal parliament. WA Liberal MP Luke Simpkins claimed that halal is converting unwitting consumers to Islam. LNP MP George Christensen linked halal certification to religious extremism.

Activist groups are telling consumers to boycott halal products. They also claim that certification FUNDS extremist groups and is part of a campaign to introduce sharia law.

Halal food certifiers and others in the Australian Muslim community have rejected these claims, and those who make them are yet to produce any evidence. But a lack of transparency from certifiers, along with a fragmented marketplace and confusion over what the halal certification process involves, creates a climate of uncertainty for anti-halal campaigners and Muslim consumers alike.

What is halal food?

Muslims choose to eat halal food because it meets requirements that they believe make it suitable for consumption. Halal originates from rules set out in the Qur’an and the Ha-

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dith (the Prophet Muhammad’s example), which have been FOLLOWED throughout generations of Islamic practice.

As a concept, halal does not only pertain to food.

Halal means “permissible” and can refer to any aspect of life covered by the teachings of Islam.

Halal is a part of sharia as a system of morals to guide Muslims’ actions and behaviour, but this should not be confused with halal as part of a codified system of sharia law. Halal prescriptions might be considered by observant Muslims to be religious obligations, but Australia is a secular country and halal forms no part of any Australian law.

As with many aspects of Islamic practice, the definition of halal food is a CONTESTED issue. For example, there is disagreement within the Muslim community about whether stunning animals before slaughter produces halal meat. Both sides DRAW on Islamic teachings and traditions to support their positions. Disputes such as this highlight why halal certification is important for Muslim consumers.

How does halal certification work?

There are three different types of halal certification in Australia.

Individual products can be certified, meaning the production process and ingredients in that particular product are halal.

So a consumer could buy halal yoghurt, for example, from a STORE that also sold non-halal yoghurt.

Production facilities can be certified, so that any products produced according to the certification standards can claim to be halal.

For example, in an abattoir that is certified to produce halal meat, the meat will be halal no matter what cuts or final shape the meat takes. However, it may not even get labelled as halal when it reaches the MARKET .

Retail premises can also be certified so that all food prepared and sold from that business is halal.

The halal certification process varies depending on who is performing the service.

This is where uncertainty creeps in. Muslim consumers are largely unable to find out exactly what process has been FOLLOWED in the certification process and what standards have been set by the certification provider.

Why is halal certification needed?

Halal certification is needed in Australia for two key reasons.

Firstly, certification helps local Muslims decide which products to buy. Modern food processing and globalised MARKETS make it hard for Muslims in Australia to know how their food was produced and where it has come from. To get around this uncertainty, consumers who want to buy halal food need a system that checks whether products meet the requirements of being halal.

In this sense, halal certification is similar to any type of food certification and audit system. Whether it be halal, kosher, gluten-free or organic, food certification services help consumers to make informed decisions about the food they eat.

The second reason has to do with TRADE . With the global halal food trade estimated at A$1.75 trillion annually, Muslim MARKETS provide a lucrative opportunity for Australian companies. If companies want to export their products to those markets, they need to have halal certification.

Who certifies halal food?

Certified halal products in Australia can come from two sources: domestic products that are produced locally and certified by local businesses, or imported products that have been certified overseas.

Numerous halal certifiers operate in Australia. The Department of Agriculture maintains a list of Islamic organisations that have

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an “Approved Arrangement” to certify halal meat for export. There are 21 such organisations operating in Australia as of November 2014.

However, Australian government regulation APPLIES only to providers that certify meat for export. While much of this meat may end up in the domestic market, certification providers that service only the Australian market do not come under any government regulation.

While some halal certification providers are associated with, or part of, larger Australian Islamic organisations, such as the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, others are stand-alone businesses that provide local certification services.

With so much uncertainty about what constitutes halal, how products are certified and who is doing the certification, consumers who wish to BUY halal food can find that a difficult task.

For non-Muslim Australian consumers, however, halal food is little different to any other food available. It only matters whether or not food is halal if a person has the religious conviction and desire to eat only halal food. Although improvements could be made, halal certification is one way Muslims are able to do this.

James Wong is a Masters Student and Julian Mills is a Senior Lecturer and Future Fellow at Monash University, Melbourne.

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Malaysia’s veteran leader passed away Dr Abul Jalaluddin Nik Abdul Aziz, the highly respected and popular Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Kelantan for 23 years passed away on 12 February 2015. He was 84.

He died on Thursday night which is considered to be Friday, a holy day of the week for Muslims. He was the Chief Minister of the state of Kelantan for 23 years, from 1990 to 2013, under the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). In addition to a highly successful politician, he was a prominent Sheikh (Islamic scholar) with degrees from Darul Uloom Deoband, India and Al Azhar University, Egypt. Although he had a Chief Ministerial house in the city, he always lived at his modest house in the village of Pulau Melaka in the state of Kelantan. His residence was surrounded by a Mosque and a large Islamic school. Local people affectionately called him Tuan Guru (Respected Teacher). He died in the house where he was born.

Nik Abdul Aziz visited Australia several times, once was a guest of the NSW government and I had the opportunity to be with him during this time. I vividly remember then Islamic Council of NSW organised a dinner in his honour; he delivered a Friday Khutbah at the Lakemba Mosque and Sheikh Taj el Din Helaly offered a banquet for his delegation and paid a visit to Auburn Gallipoli Mosque.

Tuan Guru’s house was just 10 minutes-drive away from my father in law’s place. When I was able to, I used to go to his Mosque for Fajr prayers behind him. It used to be an enormous experience in the Nik Abdul Aziz

pursuits of spirituality. Immediately after the Fajr prayers, I regularly witnessed long queues of people with their new born babies on their laps waiting their turns for Tuan Guru to bless their children with honey and dates. This was an example of peoples’ reverence and veneration to this humble politician cum spiritual leader.

Birth, Early Life and Education Nik Abdul Aziz was born on 10 January 1931 at the village of Pulau Melaka, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, British Malaya which is now the sovereign Malaysia. His parents were Nik Mat Bin Raja Bantar and Aminah Binti Abdul Majid. He was a descendant of Raja Jembal (Jembal royal family) in Kelantan.

He was the second of five siblings and was raised by his single father who was a famous Islamic scholar involved in teaching at local pondok (Islamic) schools. His early Islamic education began in pondok (Islamic) schools in Kelantan and Terengganu. He went on to study at Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, India for five years. He also obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Studies and Master of Arts in Islamic jurisprudence from Al Azhar University, Egypt.

Professional Career Nik Abdul Aziz began his working life as a teacher at various religious schools in Kelantan. Before entering politics, he was teaching at Kelantan’s famous school called Maahad Muhammadi in Kota Bharu. He was able to converse in Malay, Arabic, English, Urdu and Tamil in addition to his native Kelantanese dialect.

Political Life Nik Abdul Aziz joined PAS in 1967. He contested and won the federal parliamentary seat of Hilir in a by-election in the same year. He held the seat (later renamed Pengkalan Chepa) until 1986. PAS lost the Kelantan state election in 1978 and he was appointed as PAS state Commissioner in the same year. As the state Commissioner, Tuan Guru began to question the then president Asri Muda’s central leadership of PAS. Fi-

Funeral of Nik Abdul Aziz nally, in the PAS Muktamar (General Assembly) that year, Asri was forced to resign.

In 1986, Tuan Guru stepped aside from the federal politics and he contested as well as won the state seat of Semut Api holding it till 1995. In 1990 general election, PAS managed to wrest control of Kelantan state government back from Barisan Nasional, the ruling party of Malaysia. In his capacity as party Commissioner (leader) in the state, Nik Abdul Aziz became Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Kelantan on 22 October 1990.

Nik Abdul Aziz’s government was re-elected on four occasions in four subsequent general elections in 1995, 1999, 2004, 2008 and until his retirement in 2013. Due to his age and ill health, he willingly retired from the job of Chief Minister on 6 May 2013 and gave the job to his Deputy Datuk Ahmad Yaakob, although he was popularly elected as a Chief Minister.

Tuan Guru succeeded Yusof Rawa as

Mursyidul Am (spiritual leader) of PAS in 1991 and held this position till his death in 2015. He was the Head of PAS Ulama Wing from 1971 to 1995. He was PAS Kelantan commissioner from 1978 to 2013.

Retirement and Death After relinquishing the position as Chief Minister in May 2013, he continued to be the member for the state seat of Chempaka till his death which he held from 1995. Over the ensuing two years, Tuan Guru became increasingly ill with prostate cancer and died at 9.40 pm Malaysia Standard Time on 12 February 2015 at his residence in Pulau Melaka, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. He was buried in the cemetery of his village of Pulau Melaka.

Tuan Guru is survived by his wife Tuan Sabariah Tuan Ishak (they were married in 1963) and 10 children. One of his sons, Nik Mohamad Abduh, is a sitting member of Malaysian federal parliament.

AAP victory at Delhi elections Zahid Jamil

AAP’s stunning victory in Delhi has surprised the political pundits in India and has created a new chapter in the history of Indian democracy.

Widely acclaimed electioneering strategist Amit Shah has been humiliated and invincibility of Narendra Modi has been thrashed by a humble socialist Arvind Kejriwal, an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

Minorities felt overjoyed as the results may help weaken the saffron wave of extreme right Hindu nationalists who have been increasingly threatening the secular fabric of India since Modi came to power as India’s PM last year.

When elections in Delhi were announced couple of months ago, Modi Wave was still prevailing across India. BJP had won a a number of state elections and it was in no doubt that similar results would be repeated in the nation’s capital.

Aam Admi Party (Common Man’s party) was not seen as being capable of challenging the authority of Narendra Modi who had launched several popular programmes in India and was applauded for his charismatic leadership skills during his overseas trips including US and Australia. Political opponents had described Kejriwal an unstable character who had run away from governance within 49 days of being elected the Chief Minister of Delhi early last year.

However, Kejriwal knew the real issues of the ordinary masses which they were made

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Kejriwal celebrating AAP victory with party members in Delhi. to forget by manipulative political leadership of India for past several decades.

Delhi’s water supply is scarce, electricity expensive, half of Delhi population lives in slums, unauthorized colonies are overpopulated with little facilities. Kejriwal raised issues that concerned the common people in the capital.

Young people, fed up with corruption saw in Kejriwal genuine honesty which was not to be found elsewhere. They volunteered with much enthusiasm throughout the election process and got the and were rewarded for their tireless efforts where AAP Tsunami wiped out Modi Wave and the AAP ended with 67 of the 70 seats, only three won by Modi’s BJP. It is important to realize that despite being routed in Delhi Assembly elections, BJP was successful in retaining its share of

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vote bank of BJP loyalists at approx. 33%.

They are defeated as the rest of the vote was not divided among opposition parties, as would be the case generally.

AAP’s election victory in Delhi is a great success story of India’s revolution which had begun 4 years back with Anna Hazare movement. Repeatedly, millions came out to streets in Delhi and across India to protest against corruption and against lack of government action to curb crimes such as rapes and murders. The forward march of this revolution would still be difficult as unscrupulous, at times criminal and corrupt leadership across India will find it confronting to face obstacles of an honest opposition. However, democratic institutions of India are so strong that AAP’s march to progress is expected to continue in coming years.

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Despite all its difficulties, India emerges as a role model for many third world and Muslim countries. In neighbouring Pakistan, Imran Khan had led a similar movement in 2013. Pakistan’s youth was equally excited about the change as Imran had promised them corruption free governance which would also be free from foreign interference. The elections were badly rigged and Imran Khan did not have many options to prove his case.

Arab spring in many Muslim countries ended up with far worse results for the people of those countries. The great historical movement of Tahrir square in Cairo falls in ruins. The powerful monarchs of gulf nations crushed the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood government by financing the powerful military of Egypt and to the pleasure of democratic champions in West. The Syrian ruthless dictator still holds his position as the great historical monuments of Syria are destroyed and hundreds of thousands of civilians pay penalty with their lives for trying to rise up against their autocratic regime. While Iran and the Arab monarchs compete for greater influence in the Middle East, several fringe terrorist groups played havoc as Muslim men, women and children continue to be sacrificed in the name of Islam by the rival groups who claim that they only were the true followers of the religion.

Despite Hindu extremists in India being noisy and threatening, they accepted the verdict of the people. They will find it harder to challenge the secular and democratic values of the nation after the latest election results. India thus sets a good example for many nations including the Muslim world for peaceful transfer of power.

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Muslim Democrats of the World, Unite!

Ghaleb Bencheikh, Anwar Ibrahim, Felix Marquardt, Tariq Ramadan Since the end of the nineteenth century, the movement for a critical reflection on the foundations and interpretations of Islam has lost momentum, impeded by the predominance of a sclerotic, arabo-centric Islam based on an obsolete worldview and often dismissive of non Arab muslims.

Today, we solemnly call on muslim leaders committed to democracy, whether political and religious authorities or intellectuals/ theologians, to convene in France in early 2016 to define the contours of a progressive interpretation of Islam firmly grounded in the 21st century.

Following in the steps of such scholars as Malik Bennabi, we need to start questioning the romanticized, nostalgic historical doxa predominant in muslim majority societies. It is imperative we examine carefully our civilizational failures, from the precolonial era to that of globalization and the reason why regular calls for an Islamic Renaissance in the past were left largely unanswered.

It is also essential that we (finally!) relaunch the reformist work of ijtihâd undertaken by Muhammad Abduh, Abd alRaḥman al-Kawakibi and Muhammad Iqbal at the turn of the 20th century: an uncompromising critical analysis of the Quran and the prophetic traditions.

It is time we stop projecting cultural parochialisms onto religious dogma: muslims around the world should be able to understand much more clearly where Islam ends and where indigenous cultural practice begins.

It is time we question the legitimacy and overbearing influence of certain politically and socially backward countries in deciding what is Islamic and what is not, who

is a good Muslim and who is not. And just as importantly, it is time we give far more weight in the latter matter to Asian muslims, in no small measure more appeased, democratic and legitimate, by virtue of sheer demography, in the twenty-first century.

The muslims of Asia, those of Europe, subsaharan Africa and the Americas are not second-class muslims. Too often, the opposition between Western and certain Arab governments has been masqueraded as one between Western and Muslim people. Whatever the nationality and religious creed, humans must be free to approach their citizenship and relation to religion as they see fit.

In 2015, to stress this is not more western than it is oriental, Judeo-Christian more than it is Islamic.

It is crucial also that we not let autocrats once again tarnish our reputation as muslims by hijacking our cause as reformers and turning into a mockery one of the paramount aspirations of muslims worldwide in the twenty-first century: to live in a just and democratic society. While we must stand up as Muslims to publicly voice our attachment to secular politics, let us never forget that on a global scale, Muslims themselves are the first victims of both the often brutal dogmatic literalists who claim to represent Islam and of the secular autocrats who claim they are the only resort to contain the former. Dictators can call for a reform of Islam as much as they please, let there be no ambiguity: they do not roll on our team, nor do we on theirs.

We must take ISIS’s and Boko Haram’s claims to be practic-

Crackdown on The spy terrorism in cables Karachi expose Fifty cases of bomb blasts and militant attacks by proscribed organisations have been prioritised for hearing on a day-to- Mossad day basis by the 10 antiterrorism courts in Karachi.

A list of the 50 cases has been handed over to police to ensure the production of prosecution witnesses in courts.

Of the over 2,600 cases pending disposal before the 19 antiterrorism courts across Sindh, nearly 200 militancy-related cases were prioritised for a day-to-day hearing.

Meanwhile countering terrorism in Pakistan is still a big challenge for the Police with on going change of tactics by the terrorists.

The attacks on the Army Public School (APS) and Imamia Masjid, Hayatabad, in Peshawar have offended the police to a great extent, but still they are unable to work out an effective anti-terror plan in the provincial metropolis.

The militants’ new and frightening strategy is that they set their vehicles on fire soon after they reach the target and carry out their activities with full determination to kill and get killed. Mostly young and energetic bombers are used for the purpose.

ing a rigorous Islam seriously: suggesting simply that terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam have nothing to do with Islam is not serious. The accusations brought against the ‘silent majority’ of Muslims as a result of the actions of these terrorist groups may be unjust, but they must be addressed.

Once and for all, we must let the barbarous murderers who justify their crimes in the name of Islam know: when they attack anyone, they are attacking us Muslims, our faith and values, first and foremost.

Muslim opinion leaders must be aware of their crucial responsibility in this area.

If we do not want Islam to be permanently hijacked, it is our duty to constantly advocate moderation and a reformist approach to issues of religious education, governance, the rule of law, freedom of expression and the protection of fundamental liberties while taking a clear stand on the interpre-

tation of scriptural sources (ijtihâd).

Those who want to divide humanity use uneducated shortcuts to associate Islam and barbarism and imply that there is an intrinsic violence in our religion, a natural solidarity between Muslims and terrorists. They imply that Islam is intrinsically incompatible with democracy.

In reality the vast majority of Muslims reject violence. And when freedom and democracy suffer, they suffer too, just as Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians or Jews do. The enemy is not our neighbour who goes to the synagogue, the church, or the temple. The real peril lies elsewhere: it is in the withdrawal, the ignorance, and the stigmatisation of the other; it is in the prejudices that drive us apart when we should be joining together as humans.

The time has come to turn the tables on the hijackers and set a new course for Islam in the 21st century. Our future, as peace-loving Muslim democrats, is at stake.

to commemorate its golden jubilee.

Dr. Jain said: “If they want to survive, they should take the blessings of the Hindu saints.”

“The ancestors of Muslims were not Aurangzeb or Babar. They had a Hindu lineage and it is the blood of Maharana Pratap and Chattrapati Shivaji which runs in their veins.”

Earlier this week, in a programme at Rohtak, BJP MP Yogi Adityanath claimed that the main problem facing the country is not poverty or hunger but ‘politics of appeasement.’ He had also accused the Muslims of Mewat region of southern Haryana of not being patriotic and claimed that this was a problem in most minority-dominated areas.

South Africa, grew from a 2005 INTERNATIONAL CALL from Palestinian groups, and aims to increase pressure on Israel to bring to a halt its expansionist policies including building settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Media Scan Ainullah

A leak of hundreds of secret intelligence documents from agencies all over the world have been leaked to Aljazeera.

The Spy Cables include papers written by intelligence agencies the world over, including: Israel’s Mossad, Britain’s MI6, Russia’s FSB, Australia’s ASIO and South Africa’s SSA. One of the cables from Mossad, dated as far back as 30 July 2012, one month after Morsi was sworn in as Egypt’s president, was seeking information from South African intelligence on Muslim Brotherhood plan of action with respect to governance, influence on military and the courts.

President Morsi was later deposed by the army chief General Sisi mid 2014. It has been widely suspected this changeover of a democratically elected government was orchestrated covertly by the joints efforts of Saudi Israel and other middle eastern absolute monarchies primarily Saudi Arabia.

Muslims Must Become Hindus If They Want Respect “Muslims are at war across the globe and the hatred against them is growing.

If they want respect in India, they should become Hindus,” joint general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Dr Surendra Jain said.

He was addressing a Hindu Sammelan at Yamunanagar as part of the organisation’s district-wise programmes in Haryana

March 2015

From left: Ghaleb Bencheikh, President of the World Conference for Religions for Peace; Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, head of the national opposition and chairman of the World Forum for Muslim Democrats; Felix Marquardt, founder of the Abd al-Raḥman al-Kawakibi Foundation and of the Khlass (Enough with) the silence! movement; Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Islamic Studies, Oxford University.

More US Colleges Boycott Israeli Goods

A decade-old movement for boycotting Israeli goods in the United States is gaining momentum at AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. An increasing number of American students are now joining the Boycott-Divestment-Sanction movement, refusing to sell off STOCK since January with student governments at some universities taking divestment votes.

Student governments at five of the 10 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CAMPUSES have voted for divestment with two more doing the same which include Santa Cruz and Davis.

In addition, divestment has gained, since December, the support of the labor union UAW2865 which represents thousands of teaching assistants and workers for the entire UC as well as the UC Students Association representing student government bodies statewide.

The movement, based on the campaign against the former Apartheid regime in

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Courtesy: Huffington Post.

Parliamentary elections in Egypt will be postponed Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled that the country’s Elections Constituency Division Law is unconstitutional.

Shortly after the SCC issued its ruling, a spokesman of the Higher Electoral Commission (HEC) said that the parliamentary elections, previously set to start on 21 March, would be put on hold for the time being.

Egypt has been without a parliament since the house of representatives elected in late 2011 was dissolved in June 2012, following a court ruling that judged the law regulating its election to be unconstitutional.

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi holds legislative powers until an elected parliament convenes.

Meanwhile an Egyptian court listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization part of a sustained crackdown on Islamists in the country.

In a separate case earlier in the day, a court sentenced the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s top leader Mohamed Badie to life in prison while other members received the death penalty. “The Egyptian court’s decision to list the Hamas movement as a terror organization is shocking and is dangerous, and it targets the Palestinian people and its factions of resistance,” Hamas said in its statement after the verdict.

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The fallacy of rising Anti-Semitism Uri Avnery Anti-Semitism is on the rise. All over Europe it is raising its ugly head. Jews are in danger everywhere. They must make haste and come home to Israel before it is too late.

True? Untrue?

Nonsense.

Practically all the alarming incidents which have taken place in Europe recently – especially in Paris and Copenhagen – in which Jews were killed or attacked – had nothing to do with anti-Semitism.

All these outrages were conducted by young Muslims, mostly of Arab descent.

They were part of the ongoing war between Israelis and Arabs that has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. They are not descended from the pogrom in Kishinev and not related to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

In theory, Arab anti-Semitism is an oxymoron, since Arabs are Semites. Indeed, Arabs may be more Semitic then Jews, because Jews have mingled for many centuries with Gentiles.

But, of course, the German publicist Wilhelm Marr, who probably invented the term Antisemitismus in 1880 (after inventing the term Semitismus seven years earlier) never met an Arab in his life. For him the only Semites were Jews, and his crusade was solely against them.

(Adolf Hitler, who took his racism seriously, applied it to all Semites. He could not stand Arabs either. Contrary to legend, he disliked the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who had fled to Germany.

After meeting him once for a photo-opportunity arranged by the Nazi propaganda machine, he never agreed to meet him again.)

So why do young Muslims in Europe shoot Jews, after killing cartoonists who have insulted The Prophet?

Experts say that the basic reason is their profound hatred for their host countries, in which they feel (quite rightly) that they are despised, humiliated and discriminated against. In countries like France, Belgium, Denmark and many others, their violent rage needs an outlet.

But why the Jews?

There are at least two main reasons: The first is local. French Muslims are mostly immigrants from North Africa. During the desperate struggle for Algerian independence, almost all the Algerian Jews sided with the colonialist regime against the local freedom fighters. When all Jews and many Arabs emigrated from Algeria to France, they brought their fight with them. Since they now live side by side in the crowded ghettos around Paris and elsewhere, their mutual hatred lives on and often LEADS to violence.

The second reason is the ongoing Arab-Zionist conflict, which started with the mass immigration of Jews to Arab Palestine, CONTINUED with the long list of

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wars and is now in full bloom. Practically every Arab in the world, and most Muslims are emotionally involved in the conflict.

But what have French Jews to do with that far-away conflict? Everything.

When Binyamin Netanyahu does not miss an opportunity to declare that he represents all the Jews in the world, he makes all the world’s Jews responsible for Israeli policies and actions.

When Jewish institutions in France, the US and everywhere totally and uncritically identify with the policies and operations of Israel, such as the recent Gaza war, they turn themselves voluntarily into potential victims of revenge actions. The French Jewish leadership, CRIF, did so just now.

Neither of these reasons has anything to do with anti-Semitism.

Anti-semitism is an integral part of European culture.

Many theories have been put forward to explain this totally illogical phenomenon, which borders on a collective mental disease.

My own preferred theory is religious. All over Europe, and now also in the Americas, Christian children in their formative years hear the stories of the New Testament. They learn that a Jewish mob was shouting for the blood of Jesus, the gentle and mild preacher, while the Roman prefect, Pontius Pilatus, was desperately trying to save his life. The Roman is depicted as a humane, likeable person, while the Jews are seen as a vile, despicable mob.

This story cannot be true. Roman rulers all over the Empire used to crucify potential troublemakers. The behavior of the Jewish authorities in the story does not conform to Jewish law. But the New Testament story, written long after the death of Jesus (whose real Hebrew name was Jeshua), was aimed at the Roman audience the Christians were trying to convert, in hot competition with the Jewish missionaries.

Also, the early Christians were a small, persecuted sect in Jewish Jerusalem, and their grudge lives on to this very day.

The picture of the evil Jews crying out for the death of Jesus is unconsciously imprinted in the minds of the Christian multitudes and has inspired Jew-hatred in every new generation. The results were slaughter, mass-expulsions, inquisition, persecution in every form, pogroms, and finally the Holocaust.

There has never been anything like this in Muslim history.

The Prophet had some small wars with neighboring Jewish tribes, but the Koran contains strict instructions on how to deal with Jews and Christians, the People of the BOOK . They had to be treated fairly and were exempted from military duty in return for a poll tax. Throughout the ages there were some rare anti-Jewish (and anti-Christian) outbreaks here and there, but Jews in Muslim lands fared incomparably better than in Christian ones.

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If this had not been so, there would have been no “Golden Age” of Muslim-Jewish cultural symbiosis in medieval Spain. It would have been impossible for the Muslim Ottoman empire to accept and absorb almost all the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from medieval Spain, driven out by their Catholic Majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella. The outstanding Jewish religious thinker, Moses Maimonides (the “Rambam”) could not have become the personal physician and adviser of the outstanding Muslim sultan, Salah-al-Din al-Ayubi (Saladin).

The present conflict started as a clash between two national movements, Jewish Zionism and secular Arab nationalism, and had only slight religious overtones. As my friends and I have warned many times, it is now turning into a religious conflict – a calamity with potentially grievous consequences.

Nothing to do with anti-Semitism.

So why does the entire Israeli propaganda machine, including all Israeli media, insist that Europe is experiencing a catastrophic rise of anti-Semitism? In order to call upon European Jews to come to Israel (in Zionist terminology: “make Aliya”).

For a Zionist true believer, every Jew’s arrival in Israel is an ideological victory. Never mind that once in Israel, new immigrants – especially from countries like Ethiopia and Ukraine – are neglected.

As I have frequently quoted: “Israelis like immigration but don’t like immigrants”.

In the wake of the recent events in Paris and Copenhagen, Binyamin Netanyahu has publicly called upon French and Danish Jews to pack up and come at once to Israel for their own safety. The prime ministers of both countries have furiously protested against these calls, which insinuate that they are unable or unwilling to protect their own citizens. I suppose that no leader likes a foreign politician to call upon his citizens to leave.

There is something grotesque in this call: as the late Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz

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remarked, Israel is the only place in the world where Jewish lives are in constant danger. With a war every few years and violent incidents almost every day, he had a point.

But in the wake of the dramatic events, many “French” Jews – originally from North Africa – may be induced to leave France. They may not all come to Israel.

The US, French Canada and Australia offer tempting alternatives.

There are many good reasons for a Jew to come to Israel: a mild climate, the HEBREW LANGUAGE , living among fellow Jews, and what not. But running away from anti-Semites is not one of them.

Is there real anti-Semitism in Europe? I assume that there is.

In many European countries there are old and new super-nationalist groups, who try to attract the masses by hatred of the Other. Jews are the Others par excellence (along with Gypsies/Roma). An ethno-religious group dispersed in many countries, belonging and not belonging to their host countries, with foreign – and therefore sinister – beliefs and rituals. All the European nationalist movements which sprang up in the 19th and 20th centuries were more or less anti-Semitic.

Jews have always been, and still are, the ideal scapegoat for the European poor. It was the German (non-Jewish) socialist August Bebel who said that “anti-Semitism is the socialism of the stupid guys”.

With frequent economic slumps and a widening gap between the local poor and the multinational super-rich, the need for scapegoats is rising. But I do not believe that these marginal groups, even if some of them are not so marginal anymore, constitute a real anti-Semitic surge.

Be that as it may, the outrages in Paris and Copenhagen have nothing to do with anti-Semitism.

Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom.

(Courtesy: CounterPunch)

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The 99 Divine attributes of Allah Part 7 - Attributes 37-41 of Allah

“99 Names of Allah” artwork by Zayna Siddiqui, 11 years old, great granddaughter of the author, Dr Ashfaq Ahmad.

Student of class 6A, Unity Grammar College.

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.goo.gl/L1wvP2 37. Al-Kabīr – The Sublime “And whoever responds (to injustice) with the equivalent of that with which he was harmed and then tyrannised - Allah will surely aid him, Indeed Allah is Pardoning and Forgiving.1 That is because2 Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and because Allah is Hearing and Seeing3.

This is because Allah is the Truth, and that which they call upon other than Him is falsehood, and because Allah is the most High, the Sublime (37)4”

(Al-Hajj, 22:60, 61, 62) 1. This verse contains two connotations: a. the killing and punishment against tyranny allowed by Allah though it is itself undesirable; b. Allah, to whom you have totally submitted, is the Pardoner and Forgiver for the mistakes done by the humans.

Hence you should also be soft in punishing the culprits as well. The believers should be large hearted, soft and patience-bearing. They can punish the culprits but never get themselves indulged with the spirit of vengeance and hatred.

2. Allah prefers all such acts of bringing punishment upon the tyrant traitors, bestowing rewards upon the righteous believers, helping the oppressed persons and taking the side of the believers against the tyrants because of their good attributes.

3. Allah is the Sovereign over all the universe. The nights and days are always in His control and supervision. This obvious material manifestations of nights and days also indicate the hidden secrets of Allah. The same Allah is also capable of emerging the night of the day from the darkness of night and covers the darkness of night over the bright day. Hence Allah is also capable of the setting down of the shining sun of any human dominance drawn to the end of humanity. History has proved the rise and fall of nations by Allah. The jahilliy world system has been changed into the peace and prosperity world system in the past and therefore the present period of chaos and tribulations can also to be changed into peace and harmony among all the human beings in the world. Allah is all-Hearing and all-Seeing. He is neither deaf nor blind.

4. The Rabb (The Sustainer) may have His devoted servants apparently divided in different religions and ideas but they can be considered by Allah to be united for living and respecting each other by changing their hearts, minds and souls.

38 - Al-Hafiz - The Protector “Indeed I have relied upon Allah, my Rabb and your Rabb. There is no creature but that He holds it’s forelocks (contracts it). Indeed, my Rabb is on a path (that is) straight.1 So if they turn away, (say), ‘I have already conveyed with which I was sent to you. My Rabb will give succession to a people other than you, and you will not harm Him at all. Indeed, my Rabb is over all things is the Protector (38)2’ ” (Hud, 11:56-57)

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1. It emphasises that Allah my Sustainer and Care Taker, performs every action and deals every matter just matter correctly. There is no underhand crossed way in His domains. He is controlling the whole universe with justice and honesty. Hence how does it become possible that you become astray and perverted and still get on having success on one hand. And on the other hand I remain true and obedient to His orders and live at a loss in this world.

2. The second verse number 57 is starting with ‘say’ is the indirect answer of the prophethood in negation to the blasphemy of his people to go on being other partners to Allah. The Prophet Hud straightforwardly condemns the polytheist mentality of the people in the end of verse 54 and number 55. On the basis of that way of Allah presented in verse 55, Hud declares his assurance that Allah shall definitely take care of Hud and keep him safe from the people.

39 - Al-Muqit - The Recompenser 40 - Al-Haseeb - The Reckoner “Whoever intercedes for a good cause will have a share (reward) therefrom and whoever1 intercedes an evil cause will have a portion alternative there from. And ever is Allah overall things the Recompense (39).

And when you are granted with a grant2 (in return) with one better than the previous. Indeed Allah is even over all things, the Reckoner2 (40). Allah; there is no deity except Him. He will surely assemble you for an (account on) the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is more truthful than Allah in statement3.

(An-Nisa, 4:85) 1. The type of recompense of a person receives on the day of resurrection is dependent on their actions in this life.

The one who strived to call people to the way selected by Allah and acted righteously according to Allah’s direc-

tives will receive a positive recompense while the one who engaged in creating misunderstanding amongst the people about Allah and continued to divert the people to keep away from the directions of Allah will be of deserving the punishment.

2. When these verses were revealed, the relation between believers and non-believers were tense. Hence the believers are advised by Allah at this time to have a lot of patience and bear the sufferings.

So not only the believers but every person should seek to be noble and humble to soften our hearts towards one another.

3. In the last verse Allah is making very clear to the non-believers that Allah shall declare to all the humans on the day of resurrection, the recompense of their deeds in the next life. Hence the non-believers are reminded that they have to believe in the verdict and message of Allah through the Prophet as Allah can never declare anything wrong or untrue. Allah has given the benefit of clarity to them to follow the right or wrong for which he has very clearly explained to the non-believers through his message, Al-Quran.

1. In the verses 55:25-30, both the Jinns and humans have been reminded about the two following realities: a. Firstly, neither you nor the all bounties and supplies in the universe which you are using for your benefit are permanent. The unperishable and the universal is then only the Owner of Majesty and Superior Most for which the whole universe is evidence.

There are some who have received some benefits and favours through His Benevolence and these has turned them haughty and proud through the illusion of ownership. b. Secondly, two species have been admonished to not include other beings as deities or partners to Allah as the source of this sustenance. Those beings are themselves helpless and in need of necessary provisions for survival. So how can they be of any use to you.

2. At every moment, the unlimited occurrence of Allah’s creative process of creation is very pertinent and he is creating continuously new and unique objects and the whole universe is changing in different ways and situations. The Benevolent Creator brings with existence 41 - Al Jalil (Zul-Jalal) - The Owner of Majesty different forms and styles of their oc42 - Al Karim (Zul Ikram) - The Owner of Glory. currence in the universe quite different “Which of the favour of your Rabb will than the past. you deny? Everyone upon it (the earth) is 3. Hence the word ‘favours’ is used for exdoomed to perish while there will remain the traordinary achievements of the people.

Face1 of your Rabb, Owner of Majesty and Whenever one gets deceived by conHonour (40-41). So which of the favours of sidering oneself superior and becomes your Rabb would you deny? Everyone in associated with his false ‘godness’ as the Heavens and the Earth with the humans the permanent one, then he/she, if not question him everyday. He manifest Himself verbally then at least by performance, in a new state2. So which of the favours of considers himself better than Allah, the your Rabb would you deny?”

Owner of Majesty of the Rabbul-Ala(Ar Rahman 55:25-30) min (The Sustainer of the worlds).

“So which of the favours3 of your Rabb will you deny? Blessed be your Rabb’s name, full Continued in AMUST issue #113 April of Glory and Majesty.”

(Ar Rahman 55: 77-78)

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Journey of a lifetime: Part 3 Jerusalem II Jewish and Armenian quarters and Masjid Al-Aqsa Hasan Fazeel The Jewish quarter was my next stop.

The first place to enter in the Jewish quarter is through the Buraq Wall or formerly referred to as the Wailing Wall and now more commonly known as the Western Wall. The most sacred place for Jews who believe it to be the only surviving structure of the Herodian temple. For Muslims it is known as the Buraq wall, for on the other side is where Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) tied the Buraq , the winged riding animal upon which he rode during the Night of Ascension. The area around the wall is divided into 2 parts, men and women. You can see religious Jews reciting Torah, praying and putting written prayers on a piece of paper on the wall.

Some locals advised me that Jew from all over the world can hire services of a Rabbi to pray on their behalf on the Western Wall. The place is open 24 hours and it is believed that the place is always surrounded by the divine spirits There are Western Wall tunnels that run beneath the Western wall and through to the Muslim Quarters. Visit can only be possible via a tour operator and must be booked in advance.

Riding up, away from the Western wall to enter the main Jewish Quarter, the first thing you notice is a pure gold Menorah (Hanukkah), a seven branched lampstand. Places inside a glass box. Below are the exact words marked on the glass plate next to it: “At the time it is brought to its proper place within the sanctuary is shall be sanctioned for the Divine service of the Holy temple. May it be rebuild speedily and in our days.”

Zion gate (Bab Al-Nabi Dawood) is located next to Armenian Quarter and the route is through Jewish quarter. There is a small compound inside the Zion gate: Maqam of Prophet Dawood This is believed to be the tomb of the Prophet Dawood, father of Prophet Suleiman. Some historians believe that this is not his tomb but a ‘maqam’ where he once stayed. You will see a Rabbi in the room who holds the visitors head to his head and recite something as a part of Jewish ritual The room of last Supper This is believed to be the room where Prophet Isa had his last supper before he was arrested before the crucifixion. As per Muslims belief, Prophet Isa was taken by angels from this room and was never crucified.

Ruins of the Jerusalem city discovered, about 5000 years old By that time. I had toured the entire old city, all four quarters and started heading back to my hostel.

Muslims living in the Muslim Quarter call themselves Palestinian and hold Jordanian passports. They have a residence card of Jerusalem issued by Israeli authorities that require a renewal every three years, and if it doesn’t get renewed; you loose the right to live in the area as a local. Muslims from the Muslim Quarter travel the world on Jordanian passport for education and jobs around the world but they are determined to go away fro few years, save some money to get married and start a small business and settle in the Muslim Quarter for the rest of their lives so that they are in the area to protect their interest – Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa. It is believed by the local Muslims of Muslim Quarter that getting a permanent visa to any first world country is not an issue for them since the world wants them to get away from their thousands year old homes.

I woke up half an year before Fajr prayer and went straight outside to see if the Mosque was open but sadly denied entry because I was under 50 years old. However on my second attempt, a kind officer granted me the entry for an hour. The security took my passport before letting me in.

I ran inside the compound. I wanted to make the most of that one hour and ran straight to Al-Aqsa in rain getting all wet.

There are lots of places in the Al-Aqsa compound; sacred and contains rich history.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the structure with silver/grey dome at the front of the Mosque and also known as Qibly Masjid as it is located nearest to the Qiblah. As soon as I entered the Mosque, I ran towards the Mihrab where the Imam was reciting Quran before his Friday sermon. I prayed 2 Nafil (optional) prayer there and thanked ALLAH for giving me this opportunity.

I realised then that I was in the place where hundreds of Messengers of ALLAH and many Sahabah are buried. The place where ALLAH has shown his miracles, a place which ALLAH Himself calls a blessed place, referred directly and indirectly 70 times in the Quran, the place where Angels have descended with ALLAH’s message, the second house of ALLAH built on earth, the station of Al-Isra and Al-M’iraj, the only Masjid mentioned by name in the Quran apart from the Ka’bah, the only place on earth where all the Messengers of ALLAH prayed at the same time led by the Prophet Muhammad (s) and the first Qiblah for Muslims.

I started to cry realising the holiness of the place and a person like me who is nowhere near the Islam Prophet Muhammad (s) left amongst us. I could only thank ALLAH in those moments of happiness and shame at the same time.

On the south-east side of the Al-Aqsa compound, underground is the Marwan-e-Masjid. When the Crusaders had control of the Mosque they used to use this area as stables for their horses and it became known as Solomon’s stables. Holes can be seen on the base of many of the columns

The author in front of city of his love.

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Inside Masjid Al-Aqsa. which were made by the crusaders to thread rope to tie their horses. Islamic tradition credits a caliph named Marwan I with transforming this area of the vaults into a series of usable rooms, rather than just going down to the bedrock directly, and regards the location as having originally been intended as a Mosque (which is this known as the Marwani Mosque). In 1996, the Palestinian Waqf converted the area (which had from crusader times been mostly empty) into a modern Mosque, capable of housing 7000 people.

Al-Quds (The Dome of rock) is situated behind Al-Aqsa Mosque and in between is a beautiful fountain with taps installed for ablution. Al-Quds is often mistakenly referred to as the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This structure was built by Caliph Abd-Al-Malik and houses the sacred rock from which the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ascended to Heaven after the night journey to Jerusalem.

It is the opinion of some scholars that the angel Israfeel will blow the Soor from this place to herald the Day of Judgement.

Orthodox Jews believe the Dome of Rock to be the centre of the world. Christians and Jews believe this is the place where the Prophet Ibrahim (upon him be peace) was prepared to sacrifice his son Ishaq (upon him be peace) after seeing a dream indicating for him to do so.

This is a fundamental difference to the Muslim belief that it was actually his elder son Ismail (upon him be peace) who he was prepared to sacrifice and that this happened in Mina, Saudi Arabia. Inside the Dome, the major Quranic inscription over the arches of the inner arcade is addressed to the “Followers of the Gospel”, i.e. Christians, denying the shocking notion that ALLAH had sired a son. It warns them against inaccurate and dangerous statements about ALLAH. Underneath the Dome of the rock is a cave called ‘The Well of Souls’; as some believe this is where the souls of the dead gather to wait for the event of Judgement Day. However, this may be a myth as is the notion that the rock itself is floating without any support.

At the rear of the al-Aqsa platform are two prominent places: 1. Residence, where the famous Islamic scholar Imam al-Ghazali stayed in Jerusalem. In the cave underneath the dome is where he wrote his major work Ihya’ Ulum al-Din or Ihya’u Ulumiddin (The Revival of Religious Sciences).

2. Building, believed to be the place where the Prophet Suleiman passed away while standing up in prayer and leaning on his cane.

Walking towards Buraq Masjid (inside the compound) you can see the the remains of the cross on which the Crusaders, upon conquering Jerusalem, slaughtered thousands of the resident Muslims on. It was broken up when Salahuddin Ayyubi reconquered the city. When the crusaders smashed there way into the Dome of the Rock mosque and stripped it of all the gold and silver. The

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Muslims fled into Al-Aqsa Mosque before surrendering and agreeing to pay a ransom to their leader, who proved to be very untrustworthy. The next morning the Crusaders re-entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque and slaughtered everyone. No one knows exactly how many were butchered, but many historians estimate that over 70,000 people died. One of the Crusaders spoke of struggling to walk through a mass of blood and bodies more than knee high.

Before exiting the compound I went back to the veranda of the Dome of Rock to have a final view of the entire compound captured in my eyes. I starting walking towards the exit, drenched in rain and I saw smoke in the sky (it was either a tear gas or shelling, I am not sure but smoke of something that was fired in the sky to disperse crowd) in the Muslim Quarter. I thanked every security personnel at the gate for letting me in and shook their hands, their response was very welcoming then, I guess it was all duty they were doing since all the time long.

I now had to rush to the airport to catch my flight. The cabbie, a Muslim, despite knowing of my situation that I was running late and he was probably my last hope to make it on time charged me the usual rate and did drive very fast to drop me on time.

Jerusalem is a place where whoever choses to live bears the responsibility of carrying the flag of their religious and historical identity. You will find places of worship filled with people all the times of worship – Mosques, Churches and Synagogues. The peace agreement between Sultan Al-Kameel and Frederick II, the most daring peace deal in the history of Jerusalem is still shared i.e.

Muslims control the Al-Aqsa compound and Christians control Citadel and the Church of Holy Sepulchre.

Jews were left alone in that treaty and now Jerusalem being the part of Israel, you can feel a unique kind of difference in the air; something I cannot understand what it was, something I cannot find words to describe.

Locals do not enter in each other’s holy sites whether it is Jew, Muslim or Christian; tourists I suppose are an exception.

Being a Muslim, I was happy to see Muslims practicing the religion and staying in the city, but sad at the same time considering the factors that they are not Israeli citizens, they have only residential permits that reduces their chances of progression in the world, leaving the future of their children uncertain. But I find myself not qualified to have any opinion of why they have chosen to be Jordanian instead of Israeli and still live in the place, may be something I can never understand. For them, they have chosen to live for the religious identity.

I was happy that my travel is over and I will finally have some rest before I go back to work. I was happy and still am that I returned with great memories – memories that I can cherish for the rest of my life. Stories that I can share with people and a personal satisfaction of visiting Al-Aqsa, place I always wanted to visit and pray in.

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BUSINESS

BUSINESS 19

AMUST Classifieds Charity Organisations

Human Appeal International Human Appeal International (HAI) works on a number of charitable causes, specialising in areas from Social and Educational Development to Health Care and Emergency Relief.

Phone: 1300 760 155 Website: www.humanappeal.org.au Islamic Help Islamic Help was able to play a significant role in the delivery of aid and assistance after major crises like the Pacific Ocean Tsunami, the Bam Earthquake and the Pakistan Earthquake.

Phone: +61 (0) 2 9750 0596 Website: www.islamichelp.org.au Islamic Relief Australia Islamic Relief Australia promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disease.

Phone: 1300 308 554 Website: www.islamic-relief.com.au Australians for Revive Kashmir We are a part of a global initiative, aimed at providing help and support to the people in Kashmir - to contribute towards rebuilding and rehabilitation.

Phone: 0457 766 425 Website: www.kashmir.org.au

Education Australian Nasheed & Arts Academy Performing and Creative Arts for children & teenagers 3 - 16 years old. ANAA seeks to encourage, support and teach children the power of expression through arts.

Phone: 0423 084 806 Website: www.nasheedarts.org.au/wp/ HikmahWay Institute HikmahWay offers Islamic educational courses to equip Muslims of today with the knowledge, understanding and wisdom to lead balanced, wholesome and beneficial lives.

Website: www.hikmahway.com Islamic Foundation for Education & Welfare The Islamic Foundation for Education & Welfare (IFEW) was founded in 1987 and operates from Sydney, Australia. Its aims are to address current issues through education, information dissemination and welfare projects.

Phone: (02) 9823 2063 Website: www.ifew.com

ISRA Australia ISRA is a point of reference for Islamic education, resources and information services. ISRA conducts pioneering research on social and religious issues of relevance to the Australian society and international community.

Phone: (02) 9649 9040 Website: www.isra.org.au Ummayn Quran Institute Abdulrahman and Asma at Ummayn specialise in helping you learn to read Quran with a balanced pace, rhythm and tune to make your reading more pleasing.

Phone: 0402 501 883 Website: www.facebook.com/ummayn

Buy/Sell/Trade

Halal Food

Hygienic Spray (for toilet) Shattaf Tahara Spray. Stainless steel hose.

Including free installation with diverter/ connector. Long distance charges apply Phone: 0418 204 251 Email: sasdqi@gmail.com

Fujiyama Japanese cuisine 100% Halal Japanese made by chefs with 12 years experience in Japan. Contact our team today for catering enquiries big or small.

Phone: 0490 402 164 Website: www.facebook.com/ FujiyamaJapaneseCuisine

Multicultural Eid Festival & Fair MEFF provides stallholders the opportunity to sell or promote to the Muslim community. Stall bookings open on Monday 20 April 2015 Phone: (02) 9823 2063 Website: www.meff.com.au

ADVERTISE HERE

Homebush Halal Meats A halal butcher in Ashfield, provides you with the best and freshest halal meats in the area. We stock lamb, beef, goat, poultry and game meat.

Phone: (02) 9799 7049 Website: www.homebushhalalmeats.com.au

(Minimum 5 words)

Email advertising@amust.com.au

iMoby Productions Photography / Filming.

Female Photographer. Weddings and engagements, birthday parties, festivals, corporate events, filming and producing.

Phone: 0432 608 350 Website: www.imobyproductions.com MCCA Commitment and service to Australian Muslims by offering quality financial solutions that are profitable, sustainable, convenient, and Shariah compliant.

Phone: 1300 724 734 Website: www.mcca.com.au Morning Star Migration Services Do you need a visa to Live, Work or Holiday in Australia? We help you with your application for all types of visas.

Phone: 0478 173 474 Website: www.morningstarmigration.com.au

Great Wall Kitchen Great Wall Kitchen makes great Indian style Halal Chinese food. We are located at 154 Haldon Street, NSW. Phone: (02) 9759 9531 Website: www.facebook.com/gwkhalal Halal Square Australia’s favourite online guide to restaurants and eateries offering halal food, halal groceries and restaurant reviews.

Covering all major capital cities in Australia Website: www.halalsquare.com.au

Promote your business, sell your products.

Only $2 per word

Services

AMUST

SAMAA South Asian Muslim Association of Australia (SAMAA) is a non-profitable incorporated association which aims to provide care to the elderly of South Asian Muslim Community.

Phone: (02) 9543 9769 Website: www.samaa.org.au Shadow Approved We provide strategic design services that enable our clients to increase sales, build brand awareness and increase customer reliability www.facebook.com/shadowapproved Website: www.shadowapproved.com UAK Design Design and construction. Architectural & structural plans, DA & CC Approval, Renovation & Extensions, Project Management, Duplex, Granny Flat.

Phone: 0411 081 624 Email: info@uakdesign.com.au

Like us on

Facebook

fb.com/amust.au

construction

0411 081 624 uakdesign.com.au info@uakdesign.com.au

March 2015

www.amust.com.au

Australasian Muslim Times

Scan and add us to your contacts

19

AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

MEDIA KIT 02/2015 AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING

The Australasian Muslim Times, AMUST is a leading community newspaper highlighting what’s happening in the Australian multicultural community.

The core focus of AMUST is to be provide a platform to the multicultural community to speak out on issues that are not heard in mainstream media. It is designed to engage readers by providing hard hitting news editorials, opinion pieces, lifestyle, current events, sport, entertainment and so much more. $0867 LV GLVWULEXWHG WR D YDULHW\ RI FRPPXQLWLHV GLႇHUHQW IDLWK JURXSV DQG JRYHUQPHQW ERGLHV ZLWKLQ $XVtralia as well as overseas. It’s sold at newsagents Australia wide, distributed at community centres, events and various business outlets. Advertising in AMUST ensures that your advertisement reaches the multicultural and mainstream communities.

Supporting and complementing the newspaper’s monthly print edition are a strong online presence that include the website and social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+.

Advertising Sizes

All dimensions shown in mm’s (Width x Height)

AMUST is printed on a tabloid size newsprint

FULL PAGE

MEDIA KIT 02/2015

HALF PAGE

ONE THIRD PAGE

Advertising Rates

Discounts

All dimensions shown in mm’s (Width x Height)

Name

Size (mm)

Price

Full Page - A3

260x368

$650

Half Page - A4

260x179

$350

One Third Page - A3/3

260x122

$300

Quarto Page - A5

130x179

$200

Semi Quarto Page - A6

130x89

$100

Minimum 5 Words

$2/word

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Full advance payment

3 or more consecutive advertisments

Rႇ for one issue

Rႇ for three issues

$585

$1,657.50

Save $65

Save $292.50

$315

$892.50

Save $35

Save $157.50

$270

$765

Save $30

Save $135

$180

$510

Save $20

Save $90

$90

$255

Save $10

Save $45

$855

$2,422.50

$675

$1,912.50

Premium Position Rates A3 Portrait

260x368

A4 Landscape

QUARTO PAGE

260x179

A3/3 Landscape

SEMI QUARTO PAGE

260x89

CLASSIFIEDS

Full Back Page - A3

260x368

$950

One Fourth Front Page - A3/4

260x89

$750

Save $95

Save $427.50

Save $75

Save $337.50

* AMUST does not charge GST

For any questions or queries, please email advertising@amust.com.au or call (02) 8006 2063 Book Advertisment Space: Fill in online form at www.amust.com.au/advertising or email advertising@ amust.com.au 3ULQW 6SHFLÂżFDWLRQV AMUST is printed in Tabloid size in full colour and is published on the 1st Friday of every month.

ONE THIRD PAGE A5 Portrait

260x368

A6 Landscape

www.amust.com.au AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

260x179

Directory

2

Booking Deadline: Advertisements must be supplied 2 weeks before publish date in a PDF format with no bleed and no trim marks. AMUST can provide logo design/artwork at extra cost.

Minimum 5 words

info@amust.com.au www.amust.com.au MEDIA KIT 02/2015 AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES

WEBSITE ADVERTISING

3

info@amust.com.au MEDIA KIT 02/2015

EMAIL ADVERTISING All dimensions shown in px’s (Width x Height)

Advertising Sizes

BANNER A

Advertising Sizes

All dimensions shown in px’s (Width x Height)

Top Right 468x90

BANNER C

BANNER B

Top Right 300x250

Right Sidebar 300x250

BANNER D

Middle 468x90

Advertising Rates

(Banners remain online for one month)

Name

Size (px)

Price per month

Name

Size (px)

Price per month

Banner A

468x90

$350

Banner C

300x250

$200

Banner B

300x250

$250

Banner D

468x90

$150

Advertising Rates

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For any questions or queries, please email advertising@amust.com.au or call (02) 8006 2063

For any questions or queries, please email advertising@amust.com.au or call (02) 8006 2063

Book Advertisment Space: Fill in online form at www.amust.com.au/advertising or email advertising@ amust.com.au

Book Advertisment Space: Fill in online form at www.amust.com.au/advertising or email advertising@ amust.com.au

%RRNLQJ 6SHFLÂżFDWLRQV $OO ÂżOHV WR EH VXSSOLHG SUHGHVLJQHG DV MSJ RU JLI RU SQJ 2WKHUZLVH D design charge will be applied.

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20

www.amust.com.au Australasian

4 Muslim Times

info@amust.com.au www.amust.com.au www.amust.com.au

5

March 2015 info@amust.com.au