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Monthly - Independent N 8 June 2009 www.crescenttimes.com.au

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Beore you arrive in he crowdedsuburbs o wesern Sydney youhave undoubedly developedsereoyped ideas abou Lakemba. Iimagined he place as dodgy as hepopular markes o Marrakesh in Morocco,he Hamedia marke o Damascus or evenhe Queen Vicoria Marke in Melbourne.

Indeed he main sree in Lakemba was apleasan surprise in is small size, seasonableacion and Lebanese presence. Te Arabicsigns or shops and businesses were obvious,dominan and conden. Mos o he signs

in Arabic are accompanied wih wriing

in English which you do no usually nd inChinaowns or Vienamese business quarersin Ausralian meropolian ciies - so why allhe uss abou he gheto o Lakemba?

Cerainly Ausralia is a real muliculuralsociey, wih a real equal opporuniy or everysingle culure and language o ge on board perhaps wih he noable excepion o he naive

Aboriginal culures and languages. During my visi o Sydney I me he NSW communiyminiser, who is o indigenous background andshe explained o me ha her grandmoher los

Abov: Auburn Gaipoi Mosqu. Photo:Crscnt Tims, 2009

Cscnt ms gos Natona:

Coas oCoas -he rs

NaionalMuslimCommuniyNewspaper

HIJRAHAUSTRLIAN

MUSLIM

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MAGAZINE

EDIOIAL: [email protected] BUEAU: [email protected] BUEAU:[email protected]

MAIL ADDESS: PO Box 628 Mirrabooka WA 6941PHONE 0414 155 366

GENERL ENQUIIES:[email protected]

ADVES: [email protected]

coming soon!!continued page 14


2/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009Page 2

A Little Bird

Told me..

Qestio abot msi i Islam:

As-Salamu àlaykum! In his awa Does IslamGo agains Laugher? , Sheikh Yusu Àbdullah Al-Qaradawi saed ha when Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq(may Allah be pleased wih him) ried o sop woyoung girls rom singing in he Prophes house, heProphe (peace and blessings be upon him) oldhim: Le i be, or we are now in he eas.

However, Imam Qaradawi did no reer o heollowing hadihs: Ibn Masùd (may Allah bepleased wih him) used o swear by Allah ha he verse: And o mankind is he who purchases idlealk o mislead (men) rom he Pah o Allah . . .(Luqman: 6) reerred o singing. Abu Amir and AbuMalik al-Ashàri (may Allah be pleased wih hem)repored ha he Prophe (peace and blessings oAllah be upon him) said: Among my Ummah wil l behose who make permissible al-hira (adulery), silk,khamr and musical insrumens . . . (epored byal-Bukhari; see al-Fah, 10/51). Anas (may Allah bepleased wih him) repored ha he Prophe (peaceand blessings o Allah be upon him) said: In hisUmmah here will be punishmens o earhquakes,showers o sones and deormiy (ransormaionino animals); ha will be when he people drink

alcohol, lisen o emale singers and play musicalinsrumens. (See al-Silsilah as-Saheehah, 2203;atribued o Ibn Abid-Dunya, Dhamm al-Malahi;he hadih was narraed by a-irmidhi, no. 2212).

Also, Sheikh Qaradawi did no menion heollowing acs: I is repored in a Sahih hadih hahe Prophes laugher was never more han a smile.(epored by Ahmad) According o anoher hadih,he (peace and blessings be upo n him) used o remainsilen or long periods, and laugh litle. (eporedby Ahmad) Aishah (may Allah be pleased wih her)said: I never saw he Messenger o Allah (peace andblessings be upon him) laughing so hearily ha hisback eeh showed; he would o nly smile. (eporedby Abu Dawud)

Now, don he readers have he righ o know heoher side o he coin oo? Bu hen again, perhapsI am wrong abou i. I would however, appreciaei, i he awa issuer could reply o my objecions.

Wassalam . Aswer b a Grop o Islamiresearhers Islam olie.et

All praise and hanks are due o Allah, and peaceand blessings be up on His Messenger.

Firs o all, we would like o hank you or hegrea condence you have in us. We hope our eor smee your expecaions.

Given ha your objecion revolves mainlyaround music and why i is permissible, here is heclaricaion or ha in he ligh o awa issued bySheikh Yusu Al-Qaradawi:

Te whole issue o singing is conroversial,wheher i is wih musical accompanimen or no.Some issues succeeded o gain he Muslim scholarsagreemen, while ohers ailed. All scholars have

unanimous view on he prohibiion o all ormso singing and music ha incies debauchery,indecency, or sin. As or musical insrumens,given he weakness o he evidence indicaing hahey are orbidden, he rule o be applied here ishe one saes ha all hings are originally deemedpermissible as long as here is no Shariàh ex haprohibis hem.

Singing is no more han melodious words; i heseare good, singing is considered good; bu i hey arebad, such singing is deemed bad. alk ha conainsorbidden conen is prohibied. Wha i ha alk isaccompanied wih rhyhm and melody?

Scholars agree on he permissibiliy o singing wihou insrumenal accompanimen and wherehe conen is no prohibied. Tis sor o singing isallowed only in cerain occasions such as: weddings,eass, welcoming a raveler, and he like. Tis is basedon he hadih o he Prophe (peace and blessing beupon him) ha saes: He (peace and blessings beupon him) asked, Have you given he girl (i.e., hebride) anyhing as a presen? Tey (he atendans)replied, Yes. He asked, Did you send a singer alongwih her? No, said Àishah. Te Prophe (peaceand blessings be upon him) hen said, Te Ansarare a people who love poery. You should have senalong someone who would sing: Here we come, oyou we come, gree us as we gree you. In his case,we can say ha a woman can sing only in ron owomen and her non-marriageable male kin.

In he subjec o musical insrumens, scholarsdisagree on he mater. Some o hem permiall sors o singing, be i accompanied wihmusical insrumens or no, and even consider irecommended. A second group o scholars permisinging only when is no accompanied wih amusical insrumen. A hird group declare i o

be prohibied wheher i be accompanied wih amusical insrumen or no; hey even consider ias a major sin. In supporing heir view, hey ciehe hadih narraed by Imam Al-Bukhari on heauhoriy o Abu Malik or Abu Àmir Al-Ashàri(doub rom he sub-narraor) ha he Prophe(peace and blessings be upon him) said, Fromamong my ollowers here will be some people who will consider illegal sexual inercourse, he

Bismi Allah

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Ireer o he exchange beween he Crescenimes and he DAWA Associaion in heissue o 7h May, your newspaper.I would, a he ouse, like o say ha I have

he umos respec or he Brohers a he DAWA

Associaion and know some o hem personally.

Tey are doing a wonderul job!

I consider mysel o be a pious Muslim and

have scoured hrough he enire our Volumes

o Sahih Muslim o nd any reences o music

being specically orbidden. I am well on he way

hrough Sahih Bukhari oo sill o no avail! In

all my readings o he Quran, I have no come

across single verse which inorms me ha music

orbidden. I know many Imams have old us in

Khubas ha music is no permissible in Islam.

o his end hey ineviably quoe Verse 3 o Surah

Muminuun, which reads, And hose who shun

vain alk. In some ranslaions he word vain is

replaced by he word idle alk. Since I neiher am

Arabic speaking, nor do I preend o be a scholar,

I have o depend upon he ranslaions o which I

have a leas hree dieren versions.

I nd i hard o reconcile he words vain and

idle wih music. Idle alk is surely gossip and vain

alk, boasing. Boh pracices are reprehensible. Ihave ound a hadih in which Aisha (ra), prophes

(pbuh) wie was sanding a her door and saw

anoher o his (saw) wives in he disance, and

remarked how small in saure she was. asullah

(saw) responded by asking her i she knew he

enormiy o wha she had jus said. Tereore we

know ha gossip is one o he enormiies, and o be

avoided.

In my many readings I have come across wo

oher hadihs concerning music. In he rs one was

when asullulah (saw) and Abu-Bakr Siddique (ra)

were enering Madina. Te locals were so ecsaic

wih happiness and welcomed hem amid songsand he beaing o drums. In he oher, Aisha (ra)

wen o a wedding o he Ansars. When she reurned

home, asullulah asked wheher hey had music,

and added ha he knew how much he A nsars loved

music. Since he Sunnah no only includes hose

maters which asullulah recommended we do, and

hings which he, himsel did, bu also hose acions

which he saw we do and did no objec o, one has

o wonder on wha scripural proo he prohibiion

o music is based.

o his end we should remember ha asullah

choose Bilal (ra) as he muezzin because he had a

beauiul melodious voice. When our qaris recie he

quran heir prociency is gauged on heir inricae

inonaions, rhyhms and he dieren ocaves in

which hey recie.

Whaever harm here is in music, lies no in hemusic isel, I believe, bu in he manner in which i is

produced. Tis is no a unique siuaion. Compuers,

Mobile phones and any number o oher implemens

suer he same ae. When my chil dren were babies,

I used o pace he oor wih hem cuddled in my

arms, singing o hem. Te lyrics may have been ha

o he salawaa on he Nabie (saw), or some hikr or

oher or someimes i jus was ock a bye baby

on he reeop. Ineviably hey ell asleep in my arms

and I laid hem down in heir cos wih a ligh kiss o

heir oreheads.

Tinking o music makes me remember he ripple

o a brook, he whisper o he breeze, he wailing o

he wind, he roar o hunder, he crashing o he

sur agains rocks, he sound o a bell and he song

o a bird! I is all around in naure.Finally Allah Subhanahu wa a ala has old us

ha He has pereced our aih and compleed His

avour o us. He has expressly prohibied hings like

alcohol and swine and a number o oher hings. My

reasoning suggess o me, ha music was very much

presen a he ime when he Quran was revealed o

us. Surely He would have made i expressly clear and

included music i i was no permissible. Surely i is

no a mater or Ijihaad, or Ijihaad is reserved or

hose maters which were no known a ha ime,

such as cloning, surrogacy, inviro erilizaion, ec.

My hope is ha he good sheikhs a he DAWA

Cenre will help me, as well as all he readers o he

Crescen imes by eaching us exacly wha is wrong

wih music.

Ten he dreams o Edior, and owners o he

imes will be realized because heir newspaperwould be ull ling is purpose.! Ta is, aer all, why

we need his newspaper!

Jazakallah

Adam Parker, Perh, WA

Te edior:

Our ediorial policy is o work wih he diversiy o Islamichoughs and belies. We preer osay on he middle way, consideringall Islamic opinions and scholars

wriings as par o he richness oIslamic jurisprudence. Scholarsagree ha some elemens o qh areuncerain and ha we worship Allahusing hese uncerain elemens andopinions. Te only acs are hose

which are menioned clearly in heQuraan and Sunnah or hose relaedo Aqeedah (awheed). We appealo members o our communiy oexercise some olerance owardsellow Muslims when i comes osuch uncerain elemens o Islamiclaw.

Ruling abou music in Islam:wearing o silk (clohes), he drinking o alcoholicdrinks and he use o musical insrumens, as lawul. Alhough his hadih is in Sahih Al-Bukhari, ischain o ransmission is no conneced o PropheMuhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) andhis invalidaes is auheniciy. Ibn Hazm rejecsi or ha very reason. Moreover, he sub-narraor,Hisham Ibn Àmmar is declared weak by many

scholars o he Science o Hadih Mehodology.Besides, his hadih does no clearly prohibi he

use o musical insrumens, or he phrase consideras lawul, according o Ibn Al-Àrabi, has wodisinc meanings:

Firs: Such people hink all hese (he hingsmenioned) are lawul.

Second: Tey exceed he proper limis hashould be observed in using hese insrumens. Ihe rs meaning is inended, such people would behus disbelievers.

In ac, he hadih in hand dispraises he mannerso a group o people who indulge hemselves inluxuries, drinking alcohol and lisening o music.Tereore, Ibn Majah narraes his hadih rom AbuMalik Al-Ashàri in he ollowing wording: Fromamong my ollowers here will be some people who will drink wine, giving i oher names while heylisen o musical insrumens and he singing oemale singers; Allah he Almighy will make heearh swallow hem and will urn hem ino monkeysand pigs. (epored by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih)

Conclusion on Permissibiliy o MusicalInsrumens:

In he ligh o he above, i is clear ha hereligious exs ha sand as a basis or hose whomainain ha singing is haram are eiher ambiguousor inauhenic. None o he hadihs atribuedo Prophe Muhammad (peace and blessings beupon him) is valid as evidence on he judgmen oprohibiion. Moreover, all hese hadihs are declaredweak by he ollowers o Ibn Hazm, Malik, IbnHanbal, and Ash-Shaì.

In his book, Al-Ahkam, Al-Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn Al-Àrabi says, None o he hadihs mainaining hasinging is prohibied are considered auhenic (byhe scholars o he Science o Hadih Mehodology).

Te same view is mainained by Al-Ghazali and IbnAn-Nahwi in Al-Ùmdah. Ibn ahir says, No evena single leter rom all hese Hadihs was proved obe auhenic.

Ibn Hazm says, All he hadihs narraed in hisrespec were invened and alsied.

Proos o Tose Who Maitai that Sigig isHalal:

Our Litle Bird has aken o he

nes wih ill healh over he las

ew weeks bu is hoping o y ino

acion again nex monh. I you

have any birdy news, unocial

saemens or sories o ell,please send i in o us on: news@

crescentimes.com.au or SMS on:

0414 155 366

continud pag 19

First: Te extal Proos:Tey base heir argumen on some auhenic

hadihs o Prophe Muhammad (peace andblessings be upon him). One o hese hadihs is heollowing:

Àishah (may Allah be pleased wih her) narraed:

Allahs Messenger (peace and blessings be uponhim, came o my house while wo girls were singing beside me he songs o Buàh (a sory abou hepre-Islamic war beween he wo ribes o he Ansar,he Khazraj and he Awus). Te Prophe (peaceand blessings be upon him) laid down and urnedhis ace o he oher side. Ten Abu Bakr came andspoke o me harshly saying, Musical insrumenso Saan near he Prophe (peace and blessings beupon him)? Tereupon, Allahs Messenger (peaceand blessings be upon him) urned his ace owardshim and said, Leave hem. When Abu Bakr becameinatenive, I signaled o hose girls o go ou andhey le. (epored by Al-Bukhari)

Tis indicaes ha hese wo girls were no so young as claimed by some scholars. I hey were,Abu Bakr would no have been angry wih hem insuch manner. In addiion, in his hadih, he Prophe(peace and blessings be upon him) waned o each

he Jews ha Islam has room or merrimen and hahe himsel was sen wih a moderae and exiblelegislaion. Tere is also anoher imporan lessono learn here. I draws our atenion o he ac haone needs o inroduce Islam o ohers in a goodashion, along wih displaying is moderaeness andmagnanimiy.

Moreover, we can also cie as corroboraing hisAllahs words ha read, Bu when hey spy somemerchandise or pasime hey break away o i andleave hee sanding. Say: Ta which Allah hahis beter han pasime and han merchandise, andAllah is he bes o providers. (Al-Jumuàh: 11)

In his verse, Allah Almighy joins pasime wihmerchandise. He does no dispraise any o hem, Hejus only rebuked he Companions who le PropheMuhammad (pbuh) alone giving he khubah(Friday Sermon), when hey all rushed o atend ohe caravan and beaing o he drums celebraing isarrival.Seo: I Respet o Islams Spirit a Basis:

I is a ac ha Allah had prohibied or heChildren o Israel some o he good hings o hisworldly lie as a punishmen or heir misdeeds.

Beore sending Prophe Muhammad, He


3/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009 Page 3Community

As Crescen Times reaches ou o become he frs Naional Muslim Ausralian Newspaper, we

welcome profles o: mosques, Islamic organisaions and Imams across he counry. Please

send us your suggesed profle wih relevan phoography or publicaion.

Local news and evens are an inegral par o our media message. Wihou conribuions romreaders in he orm o email, leter or even SMS we won be able o cover all your news.

Your conribuion is mos appreciaed by your communiy.

Balga Warwick Hamersley side,

close o ameniies, o sui clean

proessional or suden, single or

couple. Call Rabikah 089342 0096

PERTH- WA

Specialising in servicing carsand aluminium welding

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Swine Flu may afec Hajj

season or Ausralian

Muslims

his years prospecive Hajjis mayhave o pospone heir pilgrimage ihe H1N1 virus, beter known as swine u,coninues o spread.

Tere is increasing concern among heMuslim clerical and medical bodies, hahe gahering o millions rom around heglobe would provide an ideal venue or heransmission o he virus.

In May Sheikh Ali Jumua, he GrandMui o Egyp, and Muhammad anawi,he Grand Iman o Al-Azhar Mosque calledor Hajj o be posponed, i he World

Healh Organizaion raised heir level vepandemic aler o he maximum level six.

Separaely, Sheikh Abdel Aziz Haddad,Mui o he Unied Arab Emiraes, hascalled on Muslims o delay any pilgrimageo Mecca or he nex ew weeks because ohe H1N1 oubreak.

On he 3rd o June, Saudi Arabia andEgyp repored heir rs cases o hedeadly virus, joining 66 oher aecedcounries batling he pandemic includingoher Middle-easern naions, Kuwai,Israel, Lebanon and Bahrain.

*amara Swann is a Perh based eelancejournalis and wrier

Tamara Swann*

Vicorian Muslim body

slams police inacion

on Indian suden atacks

Several hundred Indian sudens andheir supporers have proesed agains aspae o violen atacks on Indian sudens in

Melbourne.

Many o he atacks ook place in he wesernsuburbs, which have higher raes o crime

han in oher pars o Melbourne, bu Indiansudens were argeed in oher pars o he ciy

as well.Following he Vicorian governmens

announcemen ha a walk would be held on

12 July o celebrae he ciys muliculuralism,

a 21 year old Indian suden rom a AFE inhe ouer souheasern suburb o Dandenongwas knied across he ches when he reused o

hand over cash o a group o men.Te police have se up a helpline saed by

Hindi speakers or Indian sudens who are

atacked.A Vicorian ofcer also wen o India in lae

May o brie sudens planning o come oAusralia on ways o say sae.

Ta drew he ire o he Islamic Councilo Vicoria, who condemned wha i called

an unsaisacory response rom Vicoria

Police.

Council execuive member Nazeem Hussain

said he atacks proved here was a seriousproblem o racism in Melbourne.

Te Indian press also covered he acics used

by he Vicorian police o break up he sudenproess, including accouns by he proesors

ha he orce used was excessive and ha

police had physically atacked he sudens.Is esimaed ha inernaional sudens

pumped more han our billion dollars ino hesaes economy las year.

As Indias long esablished media gaveexensive coverage o he atacks, he proess,

and he responses by he Vicorian and Federal

governmens and police, parens reconsideredsending heir children o sudy in Melbourne.

Te Indian Sociey in Darwin, where here

are only 250 Indian sudens, old he ABC ispas presiden Dr Shaik Hakem was headinghome o ell people he Norhern erriory

capial was a saer opion.

Meanwhile, Premier Brumby says allVicorians should paricipae in he public walk

in suppor o muliculuralism.He old Parliamen ha whaever heir

background, whaever heir walk o lie,whaever heir origins Vicorians should join

us on Sunday 12h July, as we reinorce ha

Vicoria is a grea place, i is a muliculuralsociey and i is also a sae sociey.

ROOM O LEWA- FuLLy FuRnISHEd,

SELF-cOnAInEd/PRIvAE

ROOM $150 PW

Nasya Bahfen

Victoria Bureau

he Perh Ineraih Conerence will bring ogeher people rom dierenreligious radiions or discussion and criicalreecion on curren global issues wih heaim o building more enriching relaionships

beween people o aih.Te conerence has been organised by he

Perh Muslim Youh Forum, in conjuncion wih he Muslim Sudens Associaion o

Wesern Ausralia and he Perh ConvenionBureau.

Organiser Br Gerard, said his was a greaopporuniy or Perh Muslims o lead he

way in ineraih dialogue and o gain urherinsigh ino heir own spiri ualiy.

Program o Evens:Friday 10h Ineraih Conerence OpeningDinner - ivervale Communiy HallBeginning a 7pm, ickes are $30 perperson wih ood and drinks included, plusenerainmen and moivaional speakers.

Saurday 11h A Common WordSymposium & Workshop - UWATis is a special session or aduls seekingo enrich and deepen heir aih. unningrom 10.30am o 3.30pm, he cos is $10 perperson and bookings are essenial.Saurday nigh Keynoe Address by Dr.

Anwar Ibrahim - UWA 7-9pm + 1 hr Q&A

Sunday 12h Sidi Arooz Ali and DrMohammed Abdullah - UWA

A ree even beginning a 6.30pm eauringwo discussion opics; A Jus Balance TeSpiri o Service and Muslim Uniy Soluiono All Problems. Open o all, however, mus

be over 13 years o age.

For more inormaion visi:www.ineraihconerenceperh.com

Perh Ineraih Con-

erence UWA 10-12hJuly 2009

CUENT SITUATIONH1N1 Inuenza 09 (Human Swine Flu)

On 3 June 2009, Vicoria moved o amodied Susain Phase o is inuenza plan.

We are now ocusing our reamen onmembers o he communiy mos vulnerableo inuenza, such as he elderly, sudens aspecial developmen schools, hospial paiensand people wih a chronic illness.

Te decision o move Vicoria o a modiedSusain Phase was made on advice rom he

Ausralian Healh Proecion Commitee andhe Commonwealhs Chie Medical Ofcer.Oher saes and erriories will remain in heConain Phase a his sage.

Please go o www.healh.vic.gov.au ordeails o he modied Susain Phase and whai means o you.

Te number o conrmed human swine ucases in Vicoria had increased o 521.

Schools will no longer be closedSudens who are ill should be kep a home.Schools and early childhood providers ha

are currenly closed due o H1N1 Inuenzacan re-open.

For all inormaion on schools go o www.educaion.vic.gov.au.

Businesses

All organisaions should encourage sa who are ill no o come o work and o seekappropriae medical care i necessary.

Good hygiene remains vial.Cover your nose and mouh wih a issue

when you cough or sneeze.Trow he issue in a plasic-lined rubbish

bin aer you use i.Wash your hands oen wih soap and waer,

especially aer you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also eecive.

Avoid ouching your eyes, nose or mouh asgerms spread ha way.

For he mos up-o-dae inormaion :Visi www.healh.vic.gov.auCall he Inuenza Holine on 180 2007 orCall Nurse-on-Call on 1300 606 024 or

exper healh inormaion and advice (24hours, 7 days) Please call your GP i you have au-like illness (ever and cough and aigue).

Please call your local hospial ONLY i youare seriously unwell wih u like sympoms.

D OSEMAY LESEAcing Chie Healh OfcerVicoria

Want to be a

writer? have writingexperience? please

contact the editor on:

editor@crescenttimes.

com.au


4/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009Page 4 WA news

My Imam

His Eminence, Sh. aj Aldin Alhilali:1. Egypian born Azhar graduae wih a PhD

equivalen in Islamic Sudies.

2. Worked as an Imam, Judge and eacherprior o coming o Ausralia (Egyp, Lybia and

Lebanon).3. Appoined Mui o Ausralia in 1989, a

posiion he los in 2007 as a resul o poliicaland media pressure on he Muslim communiy.

A he ime. one researcher wroe a 50+ page

hesis reerring o he reamen o he Imam asLynching by he Media.

4. Migraed o Ausralia in 1982 and has been

he head o he Lakemba Mosque ever since.

5. Over he years, Imam Hilali has proeced

he Lakemba mosque rom being aken over byrigid elemens wihin he Muslim communiy,

including wo noable large scale eors hahe conroned head-on and managed o aver,

preserving he moderae naure o he mosque.

6. Imam Hilali courageously risked his lie orescue Ausralian Hosage in Iraq Douglas Wood

in 2005.7. Imam Hilalis hree daughers are married and

all hold eriary qualicaions and proessional jobs , his son is presenly working as in he I

eld.

Lakemba Mosque

Imam:

aj Aldin Alhilali

Above: Imam Taj Aldin Alhilali reading Crescent Times Newspaper. Photo: Crescent Times 2009

Wyndham, Norh Wes Wesern Ausralia:

Aghan Camels silhouete:a new ribue or Aghan

Muslim cameleers

Crescen imes has previously reporedha he Aghan cemery in Wyndham needs

updaing regarding he misconpion ha camelswere buried wih heir Aghan masers.

Wyndham Shire has jus launched Ausralias

mos recen recogniion o he conribuions oMuslims o Ausralian lie, in he orm o he

Aghan Camels Silhouete. Wyndhams sory is one o rue

muliculuralism and pioneer spiri. Te

Indigenous people o his area, Chinese raders,grocers and armers, Aghan cameleers and

he European setlemen o he Eas Kimberlyregion - sparked rsly by he gold rush in

he mid 1880s and subsequenly he pasoral

indusry - all conribued o build Wyndhamsrich hisory.

Te camels and heir Aghan handlers orman imporan par o Wyndhams hisory and

he heriage o he Eas Kimberly region.

Le: Plaque a heWyndham Memorial

Below: Aghan cameleerssilhouete: camels wihheir Aghan handler

Phoos:Couresy o:Naika Hawes-Wrigh

Perh, WA: LitleLebanon Cae under

atackLitle Lebanon Ca in Wanneroo oad,

Joondana is acing closure on 16h o June2009 ollowing a decision by he Ciyo Sirling. Te decision ound ha hecurren use o he premises is unauhorisedand wen on o reuse permission or he

use o coninue, saing ha he use doesno conorm wih he relevan provisionso he Ciy s Disric Planning Scheme No.2.

Te unauhorised use o he sie as aresauran was rs brough o he CiysCompliance Deparmen atenion via acomplain rom a local residen. Tis led oan invesigaion being conduced by CiyOfcers and subsequen lodgmen o arerospecive developmen applicaion ohe Ciy on 18 February 2009.

Litle Lebanon Ca lodged hedevelopmen applicaion or a resauranaer a major renovaion ook place on hepremises in winer 2008. Te previous

use o as ood oule (Babas Kebaband Bells Kichen) was classied as aD (discreionary) use under he CiysPlanning Scheme.

Te owner o he resauran, GhassenBeydoun, is unhappy wih he Ciysdecision o sop him operaing a resauran

on he premises as he believed he had complied wih all he relevan local planning laws. Hisdevelopmen has provided a valuable culuralhub where all Muslims, Druze, and Chrisians canmee and enjoy middle easern Arab culure and

company.I was obviously a racis, discriminaorydecision Mr Beydoun said. Furher he saedha one o he council members old riends osay away rom he ca because i is ull o drugsand hashish. I seems ha he availabiliy ohe radiional Arab shisha - which uses scened

molasses - has conused cerainmembers o sociey!

In considering he applicaion oruse o he sie as a resauran, he

Ciy noed securiy problems a hesie and complains ha were receivedrom neighbours ha here had been

violen incidens a he premises. A police conac has conrmed oCrescen imes newspaper ha hereis no such repor in he police recordsregarding his paricular business. MrBeydoun said ha he shire securiycame once and issued a ne regardingsound speakers ha were insalledin he back o he premises haapparenly disurbed some back enceneighbours bu his mater was clearedup in December 2008.

Mr Beydoun old Crescen imes

ha i was believed ha he use ohe propery as a resauran had been approved because he receivedCouncil approval o conver he woshops, previously Babas Kebabs andBells Kichen, ino a resauran. Sincehis approval Mr Beydoun has spen

over $200,000 in renovaions, urniure, shop ouand ornamens. Somewha conusingly, i seems hahis approval was o build a resauran and a separaeapplicaion was required o acually operae a resauranon he premises.

Above: Fron o Litle Lebanon Cae, Joondana, WA.Phoo: Crescen imes 2008


5/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009 Page 5Community

CT, NSW bureau

Sydney, 22 May 2009, Te Islamic Friendship Associaion o Ausralia Inc. as par ois hink ank evens brough ogeher anumber o prominen Ausralians or anevening o discussion wih Te Honourable

Linda Burney MP, Miniser or CommuniyServices. Te only indigenous Ausraliano gain a miniserial porolio in he presen

NSW Labor governmen, Ms. Burneypreviously worked in Educaion and has hada solid associaion wih he Souh Wes oSydney or many years.

Ausralian Insiue o Islamic Culure, Dr.Nahla Al Ghazzawy, he chair o he AusralianCouncil or Womens Aairs, His Grace

Bishop Kevin Manning, he Caholic Bishopo Parramata. Te res o he guess hen

engaged in he discussion each conribuingvaluable insigh ino issues acing amilies and

he communiy.Te meeing raised a number o poins wih

he miniser, including he need o mainain

and enhance he oser-carer program hakeeps children wih amilies o heir own aih

radiion.

Br. Keysar pressed he issue o socie ys needo ensure ha Muslims are proeced rom

vilicaion because o our religious ideniy.He said: Tis is no o say ha people

canno robusly debae religious eachings,

religious eachings should always be openor discussion, wha we need is o proec

people who ideniy wih a paricular religionrom vilicaion because o heir associaion

wih ha religion. Mr. rad cied numerousincidens where Muslim women, men and

young people have been discriminaed agains, vilied and harassed because o inadequae

legal proecion in NSW. He pleaded wihhe miniser o make represenaion o her

governing Labor pary so ha NSW can cachup wih he oher Easern Saes and proec

is ciizens rom vilicaion on he grounds o

religion.Br. Keysar hanked Hajj Mohamed El

Mouelhi and Halal Helpline or sponsoring hedinner.

In his now cusomary syle, Keysar rad

he ounder o Islamic Friendship inroduced

he 32 guess o he miniser as he sressedhe imporance o her porolio and our

responsibiliy as leaders o ensure ha everyonein Ausralia appreciaes he need o show love

and compassion o children.Miniser Burney addressed he challenges

acing children in Ausralia and he work o

her deparmen o proec children and hedeparmens work wih parens, schools and

communiies.Te gahering also heard rom Sh. aj Aldin

Alhilali, he ormer Mui o Ausralia, Sh. Dr.Ibrahim Abu Mohammad, he chair o he

Above om le: Keysar Trad introducing the minister, to his right are: Minister Linda Burney MP, Bishop

Kein Manning and Magistrate Jim Coombs, Middle: Minister Linda Burney receiing fowers om KeysarTrad (Right) Photos: Crescent Times 2009

Sydney Muslim Tink ank:

Muslim and Chrisian leaders sress he

imporance o raising children wih love and

compassion

Crescent Health

Dr. Aisha Feel fee to send medical or health questions to

Crescent Times doctor. Questions can be emailed

to: [email protected] or posted to:

P.O.Box: 628 Mirrabooka, 6941 WA

Al-Hidayah sudens rom years sixand seven recenly paricipaedin he Panasonic Kids Winess News(KWN) Inspiraion Session held ahe Subiaco Ars Cenre., Perh WA.

weny sudens rom Al-Hidayahatended he special raining

workshops o learn rom indusryproessionals how o produce a

winning shor-lm enry or 2009.Jack McCoy, one o Ausralias bes

known sur lm-makers, providedcreaive advice or sudens. ShaneMcLachlan, a Direcor and Edior

wih 30 years experience oeredsudens echnical advice, whileProducer, Sarah Garnet gave someprojec managemen ips.

Te Inspiraion Sessions helpeddevelop skills required o creae a

well-produced lm and inroducedsudens o new ideas andechnologies.

School Principal, AbdullahKhan said ha Tis was a anasicopporuniy or our sudens o atenda workshop sponsored by Panasonic,

Young

FilmmakersInspired

where atendees wen away wih invaluable ips on howo make a grea shor lm.

Te KWN is a naional shor lm program whichencourages sudens o hink more deeply, explore heircreaiviy and develop communicaion skills hroughhe use o echnology. Te program inegraes subjecssuch as English, Compuer Sudies, and Social Scienceensuring he program saises educaion requiremens.Sudens all around Ausralia will direc, shoo and sarin a ve minue video, involving all aspecs o lmmakingincluding deermining he subjec mater, scripwriing,lming and ediing.

Al-Hidayah was he WA Primary School Winner or2008 in he presigious New Vision Awards. Te schoolsshor lm enry was iled, A Day in he Lie o a MuslimSuden. Click he link below o wach he video.

Above: Al-Hidayah eachers and sudens geting ips on how o ake

he perec lm sho. Phoo: Couresy Al Hidayah School


6/20


Ausralian Muslim Newspaper

PUBLISHE:Crescen Press Py Ld

MONHLY - MODERE -

INDEPENDEN

EDIOIAL EAM:EDIO IN CHIEF: arek Chamkhi: [email protected]

PODUCION EDIO:Joanne McKeown: [email protected] EDIO: Nasya Bahen [email protected]

SYDNEY EDIO: Keysar rad: [email protected]

OPINION EDIO: Iran Yusu: [email protected]

CONIBUOS IN HIS ISSUE: Nasya Bahen - Zabrina A. Bakar - arek Chamkhi - Jamal Daoud - Linda Delgado- Hanan Dover - Mohamed El Mouelhy - Eugenia Flynn -Hyder Gulam - Joanne McKeown - Debora McNichol - AdamParker - Yvonne idley - amara Swann - Keysar rad - Iran

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Obama speech inCairo:

Remarks on aNew Beginning

Presiden Barack Hussein Obama ooko he sage in Cairo and made a speechha has he poenial o change he uureo he Muslim and non Muslim worlds. Hemanaged o deliver a speech ha conainedhe radiional Muslim greeing, quoed versesrom he Quran, reerred o he creaion oa Palesinian sae and menioned Hamas

wihou calling i a erroris organisaion. Evenone year ago, such a speech by an AmericanPresiden would have been unhinkable.

Te Presidens speech covered he siuaionin Iraq and A ghanisan, he Israeli-Palesinianconic, nuclear weapons, democracy andransparency o governmen, religiousreedom, womens righs - including he righo wear hijab and economic developmenand opporuniy.

Only ime will ell wheher hese brave wordswill be ranslaed ino acion bu he speechrepresened he rs real acknowledgemeno he Muslim worlds concerns and desires.

Reel Bad Arabs

his documenary by JackShaheen aired on ABC1 and ABC2 in he rs week o Juneand presened Proessor Shaheens

work on he sereoyping o Arabsand Muslims in American lm andelevision.

In his research o abou a

housand lms rom 1896 ohe presen ha included Arabcharacers or reerences, Shaheenound ha around 12 gave posiivedepicions, 52 were neural, andsome 900 were negaive. Tedocumenary gave viewers heopporuniy o see some o hesenegaive porrayals rs hand anddescribed how, in many cases,hese porrayals reeced USgovernmen oreign policy o heime. In addiion, Islamophobiaand sereoyped images oMuslims - and Muslim women inparicular - in lm and elevision

were revealed. Proessor Shaheennoed: I seems o me ha hemore Arab women advance, hemore Hollywood keeps hem inhe pas.

AFIC, Ausralian Uighursurge accepance or Uighur

Guananamo deaineeshe Ausralian Federaion o Islamic Councilssays he ederal governmen should say yeso he reques by he Unied Saes o resetle

seveneen Uighur deainees currenly being heldin Guananamo Bay.

China has publicly denounced he reques,calling he deainees erroriss and saying i wanshem reurned o be deal wih by Chinese law.

Te Unied Saes and China are wo oAusralias mos imporan rading parners, andhe Federal governmen is in he difcul posiiono rying o avoid disruping eiher bilaeralrelaionship.

Tis is he hird ime he US has asked Ausralia o ake he men, who have beencleared by American auhoriies o being enemycombaans.

Te deainees have been held wihou rial orseven years.

Tey were reporedly living in Aghanisan when Pakisani auhoriies caugh hem andhanded hem o he US miliary.

While he ederal opposiion has urged hegovernmen o rejec ourigh he US reques,

oreign miniser Sephen Smih says each deaineescase would be examined individually.

AFIC Presiden Ikbal Pael says Ausralias well

esablished Uighur communiy o around wohousand people would help he deainees setleino he counry.

Te Ausralian Uighur Associaion and heEas urkesan Associaion o Ausralia say hecommuniy would welcome he men.

ighs groups warn he deainees would almoscerainly be orured, i hey were o be sen backo China.

Te Uighurs are a Muslim ehnic minoriy ourkic descen, whose homeland is Chinas resourcerich norh-wesern province o Xinjiang.

Alleging discriminaion and oppression byhe Chinese governmen, he Eas urkesanIndependence movemen opposes Beijings ruleover he nine million Uighurs in China.

Bu he Chinese governmen classies Uighurseparaiss as erroriss, and despie ehnic, religiousand culural dierences insiss ha Xinjiang is a paro China.


7/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009 Page 7

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Dr.Ehab IbrahimMoha ma d en ,he echn ica lOfcer a Vicorian

AgriBiosciences CenreLa robe Universiy,

Vicoria, is one o manyMuslims conribuingo he developmen oechnology and indusryin Ausralia bhroughheir invenions andresearch.

Mos curren irrigaionsysems depend on a imer sysem oracivaion. Tese imers (Manual or

Auomaic) do no ake ino accoun anyenvironmenal condiions or he curren soilmoisure level when waering. Such sysemsconsume much more waer han he plansrequire, conribuing o he Ausralian waershorage.

Te amoun o waer ha plans consumedepends on exernal and inernal acors.Te inernal acors include he physiologyo he plan, he plan ype and he plan age.

Te exernal acors include surroundingenvironmenal condiions such as heemperaure, amoun o sunshine, he wind,he humidiy and he ype o soil.

Given he waer crisis acing many pars o hecounry, here is a need or a smar irrigaionsysem ha considers he surrounding

Aussie Muslim Invenion:Smar Irrigaion Sysem

Duaa rom Sunnah:O Aah, ord o Jibraa, Mkaa and Israa (gratangs) crator o th havns andth arth, knowr o th sn andth unsn. You ar th arbitratorbtwn your srvants in that whichthy hav disputd. Guid m to thtruth by your av, in that whichthy hav dird, or vriy you guid whom you wi to a straightpath.

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environmenal condiions and delivers hecorrec amoun o waer ha he plan requires,avoiding he over waering common wih manyprevious sysems.

Tis invenion, he Smar IrrigaionSysem, has been designed in order o providean advanced irrigaion sysem ha is simple,cheap, eecive and easy o insall, as well asresponsive o he imporan exernal acors

which aec he irrigaion process such as ligh

inensiy and soil moisure level. Tis invenionis inended or general domesic use as well aspublic gardens and greenhouses o conrol

waering sysems by aking surroundingenvironmenal condiions ino accoun.

Above: Te Smar Irrigaion SysemPhoo: Couresy Dr Ehab Ibrahim


8/20


Editorial:

Opinion

Te illusionis of he Whie House

I wonder how many o you have woken upo he ac ha Americas laes leader isreally a poliical Houdini ... an illusionis on apresidenial scale.

In ron o our very eyes he has morphedrom a genle inellecual and srong deendero human righs ino a war-mongering bully

who sponsors argeed assassinaions andorders pre-empive srikes wih casual ease.

I ook George W. Bush years beore he daredo unveil his rue inenions and invade Iraq,displacing hree million people in a war whichcos he lives o housands o US soldiers andhe slaugher o counless civilians.

Whereas he smooh-alking Obama hasachieved he same in jus a ew monhs sincehe arrived in Te Whie House by launchingan illegal war on Pakisan ... bu hes usingsomeone elses army insead o hi s own.

He is wice as clever as he previous WhieHouse incumben and ar, ar more deadly.Obama is quie possibly one o he worlds mosskilul manipulaors and his greaes illusion soar is ooling he public as well as he media.

While blaanly using Pakisans army as acheap source o miliary labour he holds hecounrys leader Asi Ali Zadari in suspendedanimaion, rapped helplessly in an almoshypnoic sae, induced by he promise omillions o dollars and he suppor o he

worlds bigges miliary machine.O course we mus lay some blame a

Zadaris ee or allowing himsel o be usedlike a magicians assisan insead o acing wihhe digniy and honour his ofce, counry and

people demand.Obama is ar more lehal han his predecessor

- and ye his ransormaion rom Mr Nice Guyo somehing more siniser seems o have gonelargely unnoiced by he worlds wachingmedia which appears o be inoxicaed by hepowerul charisma emanaing rom his rich,

bu smooh seducive ones.

He has already reneged on promises overclosing down Guananamo, ending miliaryribunals and releasing o he public he enirearchive o shame which capured he orureand abuse o he previous adminisraions

War on error in video and lm rom 2001onwards.Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guananamo deainee

remarked recenly over one o his u-urns:Presiden Obama has recenly granedimmuniy o CIA agens ... i he desire o gea wha wen wrong is so blaanly covered upunder cover o naional securiy concerns,here will be no end o his. And once again,he warmongers will ge away wih anoherodious and criminal cover-up.

He has he power o make Guananamos vile prison disappear and or a ew gloriousweeks human righs aciviss across he worldwaied wih baied breah or he cages o Cuba,Bagram and elsewhere o y open.

Jus how difcul is i or he media o dip

ino heir own archives and remind Obamaabou he pledges he made on he campaignrail and hold him o accoun? His rs promiseon he Whie House websie was ha hisadminisraion would be he mos ransparenin US hisory. Sadly hese grand saemenshave no been ollowed hrough.

Bu his journalisic amnesia is alloo convenien - wha happened o hisdeerminaion o bring home all comba roopsrom Iraq wihin 18 monhs?

Is here no journalis rom he WhieHouse lobby prepared o remind him o howhe said during elevised presidenial debaesha geting Osama bin Laden was our

bigges naional securiy prioriy? Perhaps

he hypnoic Obama Eec has wiped heircompuer hard-drives and heir memories bui you lisen o his very rs V inerview ashe Commander-in-Chie o America he saidOsama was more han a symbol.

His acual words were: Hes also heoperaional leader o an organizaion ha isplanning atacks agains U.S. arges, adding

ha capuring or killing bin Laden is a criicalaspec o samping ou al-Qaida.

Having secured he voes rom red neckerriory by saying Obama will ge Osama, henow says ha killing or capuring he al-Qaida

chie is no longer necessary o mee our goalo proecing Americ a.However, American Armenians are no

so gullible and quie a ew were shocked ouo heir rance ollowing he US Presidensrecen visi o urkey when he execued wihhe greaes o ease ye anoher presidenial ipop.

As Presiden, I will recognise he Armeniangenocide, he declared loud and proud duringhis campaign, bu when he arrived in urkey hesor o mutered, when asked abou he hugelysensiive subjec: My views are on he record,and everyone knows my views. And hen hereused o elaborae and sae hem!

Sunligh is he bes disinecan saidObama beore he ook he keys o he Whie

House - may be has why, when I wach heUS Presiden perorm under he glare ohe spolighs on he world sage, I can seesomehing o he nigh lurking around hispresidenial shadows.

Tere are a ew o us who are immune o hecharms o he new presiden. Like me, hey

believe ha he sheeps clohing has vanishedand wha we now have is a dangerous wolsalking he corridors o power on CapiolHill.

Yes, heres a new ac in he Whie Househese days bu while Harry Houdini buil hisrepuaion perorming deah-deying escapesand magic ricks his poliical Doppelgangeris cerainly he maser o dark ars and mass

illusion.Tis presiden has gone rom charming o

harming and ew have noiced.*Journalis Yvonne Ridley is a paron o he

human righs organisaion Cage Prisoners awww.cageprisoners.com and a member o he

RESPEC poliical pary as well as being apresener o he weekly poliical show Te A gendaon Press V

Yvonne Ridley*

LEBANON: March 14 Marches Ahead

he June 7 elecion in Lebanon has providedanoher dramaic urn o evens in hecounry s umuluous poliical arena. While earlyopinion polls had poined o a landslide sweepor he March 8 opposiion ha prominenlyincludes Hizbullah, he Wesern and Arab

backed March 14 coaliion won he majoriy oparliamenary seas in a surprise vicory.

Since he las parliamenary elecion in2005, Lebanon has been orn beween he womovemens March 14 and March 8. Te March8 pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian coaliion includeshe Shia Hizbullah and Amal paries, he SyrianSocial Naional Pary (SSNP) and he ChrisianFree Parioic Movemen (FPM). Lebanonsani-Syrian March 14 movemen is comprisedo he Chrisian Phalange pary and LebaneseForces (LF) as well as he Druze ProgressiveSocialis Pary (PSP) and he Sunni FuureMovemen.

Te Jdeidani amily, who came rom Swedeno voe, mirrors he inernal ri ha dividesLebanon. We are eleven brohers; some ous suppor General Michel Aoun (who leadshe FPM), while he res are wih he LF, Jean

Jdeidani old IPS.People waied hours under he scorching

sun on Sunday o cas heir ballo. I have been waiing since seven in he morning, Alia, aFuure Movemen supporer who was queuing

o voe in he easern village Saadnayel said laein he day. I am here o show he world I wanan independen Lebanon.

As he polls closed a 7pm, he minisry ohe inerior repored an unprecedened urnou.I surpassed 54 percen, according o ineriorminiser Ziad Baroud, way ahead o he 2005urnou o 45.8 percen.

Some Beiruis waied hours o voe in heBeiru 3 disr ic, an area radiionally known o bea March 14 basion, said Fuure MP MohamadKabani. He said his years 40 percen urnou inhe disric was a massive improvemen on he25 percen winessed in 2005.

Kabani said he signican improvemenin urnou was in par a reacion o a speech

by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah

where he said May 7 was a glorious day inhe esisances hisory. More han 70 peopledied in clashes beween pro-governmen andopposiion gunmen in Beiru and around inMay o las year.

Te urnou now showed ha he Lebanesewan a srong and independen sae, Kabanisaid.

Bu saisician Abdo Saad, direcor o heBeiru Cenre or esearch and Inormaion,described he elecion as he mos disgraceul inhe hisory o Lebanon.

I have been saying or days ha anygovernmen ha would emerge rom he curren

elecions - wheher opposiion or majoriy led -would be an illegiimae one due o he massivevoe buying ha has been aking place in recenweeks, he said.

Saad said he urnou o 70 percen seen in heKeserwan region was due o expas bribed inocoming back o voe.

He said i was nally he voe in Zahlehin he eas o Lebanon ha shaped he newLebanese parliamen. A Chrisian area, he ciyis represened in parliamen by seven MPs, andhe March 14 coaliion won all o he seas.

In he end, March 14 reained is parliamenarymajoriy wih 71 depuies (including woindependens) while he opposiion March 8group won 57 o he 128 seas.

Te smear campaign used by March 14

agains Hizbullah, which was accused o beingSyrian and a hrea o Lebanon, seems o haveworked, said FPM MP Alain Aoun.

Bu he elecions alone will no decide he aeo Lebanon. In he nex ew days, he composiiono he nex governmen, and wheher or no iincludes he opposiion, will weigh heavily onhe counrys sabiliy and peace.

Mona Alami - Beiru - IPS

Media outlets to reduce racism

Irus my wies experise in Anglo Ausralianname calling as she derives rom an AngloIrish Ausralian amily whose elders arrived inhis counry agains heir will in 1788. I easemy wie someimes ha I am a more auhenic

Ausralian han she is as I arrived o my ownree will, wih a permi and even permanenresidence o live in his coninen monhs

beore I go here. I have anoher advanage aswell - a prined ciizenship cericae while she

doesn have anyhing!Well, when i comes o ser ious maters such

as racism and hared I rus her inerpreaion when she ells me ha some people believeha he racis erm wog originally mean:wealhy orienal genleman.

Following my rs visi o he Emirae oBanksown in Wes Sydney, where you could

wihou doub nd los o wealhy orienalmen and women - well I mean los o my ellow

wogs - I sared o realise ha racism is moslyo do wih social jealousy beween dierenraces, raher han wih skin or eye colours,religions or where hey came rom.

When I hear racism rom Arab Lebanese,Asians, Greeks or Ialians I hear hurul namecalling and vilicaion agains Anglo Ausralian.

acism is a wo way social, economic and ehnic jealousy. Iran in his aricle has go i righ:many o us commi he sin o discriminaioneiher by acion or reacion.

I may agree ha word such as wog eiherapplied o a skinny wog or a wog, has becomemore a orm o social easing beween hedieren racial elemens o sociey, han reallya racis insul. Bu wha i i is accompanied

by swearing, or oher racial or religious slurs?Cerainly hen we will need o sand up andake acion.

Crescen imes newspaper was born lasNovember as a dream o serve our Muslimcommuniy ollowing he racism againsMuslims experienced in he media under heHoward governmen.

While as an ediorial eam, we are doinganasic harmonious work ogeher, ourMuslim businesses, have o do heir par oo,hrough adverising or even donaion. We arecommited o disribue he newspaper ree oour readers.Te ac is ha we all have a role oplay in ensuring he success o his newspaperas a voice or o ur Muslim communiy.

We are launching anoher wo projecs orhe bene o our communiy insha Allah.Firsly, Te Muslim Pages, he rs naionalMuslim business direcory, which may helpo nance he newspaper in he long erm.Secondly, he rs Ausralian Muslim lie sylemagazine: Hijrah which we hope o launch in

January 2010 insha Allah.Again, we mus work ogeher o make hese

much needed publicaions as success.Our ediorial eam appreciaes all your

suggesions and conribuions regarding heseproposals above. Wasalamu alaykom.

arek ChamkhiEdior in Chie


9/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009 Page 9Opinion

Presiden Obamas

ground breaking speech

Urgen inviaions wen ou o so many las weeko atend a momenous even:Presiden Obamas speech rom Cairo.Te hos, i n Sydney, was he US Consulae and mos

o he guess were rom he Muslim communiy.Te speech covered many issues including

Aghanisan, Iraq, corrup despoic regimes who usedemocracy o ge o power and hen become repressive,i covered he righ o Muslim women o wear he scar

and he presiden also made sure o menion hoseMuslim counries ha had eleced a woman o heop job and hese cerainly ounumbered heir liberal

Wesern counerpars.Te presiden also oered programs o improve

educaion in he Muslim world and businessconacs beween boh. Presiden Obama sressedhe imporance o peace and dialogue, drawing onhe civil righs sruggle o Arican Americans whichempowered Arican Americans and enabled hem oachieve heir aspiraions.

o be hones, even beore becoming presiden, Iound Obama o be a very inspiring oraor, I wachedmany o his speeches on he ne, he slogans, he wellimed deliveries, he well chosen words, he cleverconceps and he abiliy o address he needs o heaudience concisely.

Te presiden acknowledged he suspicions haexis o America amongs Muslims and he pleaded,ha as he promised o comba unair sereoyping

o Muslims, ha Muslims also comba he unairsereoyping o Americans.

Whils acknowledging he righ o Israel o exiswihin secure borders, Presiden Obama unlike someo his predecessors showed much courage in reusingo simply hand over Jerusalem o Israel bu insisedha his ciy should be open o Jews, Chrisiansand Muslims. He also acknowledged he righs oPalesinians o a homeland and he may well have

been he rs presiden in recen hisory no o reero Hamas as a erroris organisaion in his speech,nowihsanding ha he ailed o acknowledge hai was he democraically eleced represenaive ohe People and insised on he PA as he parner innegoiaions. Whils he presiden criicised herockes and bombings ha had sruck women andchildren, he did no give he same reamen o he

inenional bombardmen o women and childrenby he Israeli miliary.

Whils acknowledging, albei in an indirec wayha he US should no have invaded Iraq, PresidenObama disappoiningly insised on he Aghaninvasion and occupaion.

Yes, presiden Obamas speech signals a move ogreaer balance, however, some areas c learly indicaeha here is a need or greaer undersanding, in heoreron o hese are he Palesinian issue and Iraq,

Aghanisan and much o Arica. As a rs sep, he posiives in his speech were

numerous and cerainly pave he way or greaermuual undersanding and appreciaion. * eysar rad is he presiden o Islamic Friendship

Associaion o Ausralia Inc, and NSW edior oCrescen imes.

Australian foreign policy:one step forward, two steps backwards!

here is no doub ha Ausralianshad hoped or a lo o change ahe las Federal elecion. Te acha John Howard los his own sea in he laselecion is clear evidence ha Ausralians had

voed or oal change in ha elecion. Tisincludes change in oreign polic y.

Te udd promise hroughou he elecioncampaign o wihdraw he roops rom Iraq

was an early promising indicaion ha here would be a undamenal dierence beweenhe incoming governmen and he ougoingregressive one. Bu wha happened laer leeveryone wih deep disappoinmen.

Yes, he new udd Labor governmen ooka decision o end he comba mission o he

Ausralian roops in Iraq. Bu apar rom hissupercial change, here is no much hahas changed. We should remember ha he

Ausralian paricipaion in he Iraq war wih lesshan 800 soldiers (ou o more han 150,000comba oreign roops) was never more han a

symbolic one.Te new udd governmen did no make

any undamenal changes o oher policiesimporan or our communiy and oherNon-Anglo communiies. Te governmendid no depar rom he close associaion

wih aggressive American policies. Te udd

governmen, or example, did no depar romhe policy o parici paing in he so-called waron errorism.

Te governmen resised uncoveringany documen abou he manuacuredconspiracies in his area. On he conrary. Tenew Labor governmen reused o abandon oro undamenally reorm he Ani-errorism

laws. Te governmen also has no aken anyserious seps o improve he ransparency orials o erroris suspecs.

We also remember ha during he laesIsraeli barbaric invasion o Gaza, he uddgovernmen did no ake a undamenallydieren sance on his issue. Maybe he uddgovernmen urged all paries o sop he cycleo violence immediaely, unlike he Howardsgovernmen suppor or Israel o coninue isinvasion. Bu he udd governmen did blameHamas or saging he war.

Ten we saw how he governmen haddecided recenly o resor o he same Liberalregressive poliics o branding Muslims aserroriss. Te governmen decided recenly

o re-lis Hizboulah as a erroris organisaion.Tere is no indicaion ha he new governmenis aking any sep o reassess he siuaion andli naional resisance organisaions, likeHamas, Islamic Jihad and Lashker el aybehrom he lis o erroris organisaions.

We also noe ha he governmen decided

o increase Ausralian paricipaion in he warin Aghanisan, regardless o he clear ailureo his invasion o achieve any o is declaredobjecives.

Wha concerns us oo is ha here is no realalernaive poliical orce in Parliamen House.

We did no see any MP or senaor sanding upo demand a reverse o he Howards desrucive

measures and laws. Te war on Aghanisan,Islamophobia including paricipaing in hewar on errorism campaign and lising onaional resisance orces is no acing anyserious opposiion rom any ederal poliician.

I is very clear ha wihou any srongMuslim Federal poliician in Canberra, hesepolicies and pracices will coninue unabaed.I is unexpeced ha a privileged Anglo-Saxonpoliician would even undersand he sueringo Muslims in he ghetos o Banksown,

Auburn and Lakemba. Te same is rue inregard o he issues o he oher marginalisedcommuniies.

O course he new Labor governmen hasmade sligh progressive changes in all issues

and whaever he new Labor governmen isdoing ha is unsavoury, i is incomparable o wha we wen hrough under he medievalHoward governmen. And maybe his is

wha he Labor governmen is couning on inreusing o go urher o reverse he devasaingpolicies inroduced by is predecessor.

Te paries ha shared he marginalisedcommuniies voes (especially he Laborand he Greens) hink ha we (marginalisedpeople) do no have any oher opions. Teyclearly believe ha we would no dare no o

voe or hem, as he oher opion is o bringback he medieval devil. Tey clearly did noge he message rom he las ew elecions.

In he las ew elecions, marginalised voerssen a clear message ha here are a lo oopions. Tese opions include:1. Tere is always room or new poliical orces2. We also can boycot voing (voing inormallyor no voing a all)

We believe ha marginalised communiiesshould be more sric in holding hese paries(he Labor and he Greens) accounableo heir promises. Tey were he ones hasucceeded in being eleced o he parliamenand he governmen by claiming ha hey areprogressive and are ghing or our righs.

Bu a he same ime we should alwaysremember ha he cause o he problem willnever be par o any soluion o ha problem.

*Jamal Daoud is a communiy worker and humanrighs acivis. He wries regular aricles in Arabicnewspapers abou muliculuralism, Islamophobia,human righs and oher social jusice issues. He isco-ounder o he Social Jusice Nework.

Jamal dao*

F O C U S :

Its Not Free For MeLinda Delgado*

Ariend o mine owns a Muslimmarkeplace. She impors manyiems o provide a wide seleciono producs in her sore. ecenly sheadded a discoun o all iems or sale. AMuslim husband-wie couple came oshop. A he checkou he husband arguedabou he bill oering her less moneyhan wha was owed. When he ownersaid each iem was already discouned,he wie hen demanded a ree gi. Whydid his couple demand somehing ree?Te owner didn ge he producs ree.

She had o pay or hem in order o beable o sell hem. She has a amily o helpsuppor. When Muslims go o a secularsore hey don demand or expec oreceive somehing ree or demand a highdiscoun.

I publish books and sell hem. Muslimswrie o me saying hey don have moneyor books and ask or ree books. When Iell hem I can aord o give ree bookshey ac insuled and generally send meemails quoing he benes o me givingchariy.

Many o hese same people own acompuer and pay or Inerne service,have a leas one elevision in hei r home,

and pay or cable service. Tey renmovies and buy compuer games orheir children wihou expecaionha hese iems are ree or discouned.

When heir Islamic school sponsorsa book air and promoes only booksrom secular book publishers inseado Muslim publishers/reailers, hey

buy hese books wihou complain ordemand or ree books.

Why do hese Muslims pay or allhese secular services and hings

bu when asked o pay a air price or

Muslim books or producs, hey expeca high discoun or ask or i o be givenree? I coss me housands o dollarso publish a book. I coss money o

buy mailing supplies and mail books.Tese expenses are no ree or me orhe auhors. Islam eaches ha a workershould be paid a air price or his/her

work. Why don all Muslims pracicehis?*Linda Delgado - AK Widad is a rever,moher o hree and has 8 g randchildren.Widad is he auhor o he award winning

Islamic Rose Books series, and owner-publisher o he Muslim Wriers Publishingbusiness: www.MuslimWriersPublishing.

com.

Keysar rad*


10/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009Page 10 Society

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Irfan Yusuf*

PLANETIRF:

We oen ge old ha Ausraliais a erribly racis counry. Teevidence? Well, we have racerios on our beaches where people draped in

Ausralian ags assaul hose who resemble

Jesus oo much. Our suburbs oen won allowMuslims o esablish schools. Our criminalsenjoy assauling Indian overseas sudens. Andour a wogs can help bu address he skinnierones wih Chk chk boom!!.

Should we believe ha our naion really isracis? Or is i jus a loud minoriy? Aer herecen Land & Environmen Cour decisionover he Camden Muslim school, I elemped o poin he nger a Camden locals

who cheered a he cours decision and whole commens on he Camden Adveriser likehis one:

Camden will now no look like Lakembain jus a ew years rom now and our culuralheriage has been preserved...or a while longera leas. Jesus said: I am he Way, he ruhand he Lie, no man comeh uno he Faher,

bu by me. (John 14:6) No he pirae andalse prophe Mohammad, or his moon-god

Allah, bu Jesus. And i is because o Him ha

we can enjoy he lie we have oday. Despie hespin rom Council, religion had everyhing odo wih i, o ensure we didn end up wih anideological regime ha seeks o desroy he

Wes, all cloaked and veiled in religion. Bu jus as my nger was abou o be raised,

I realised ha hree ngers were poining righback a me. Hopeully ha doesn mean Imhree imes as racis as every oher Ausralian.

Wha i does mean is ha I should be preparedo recognise my own abiliy o discriminaeagains and misrea people on he basis oacors beyond heir conrol. I also meansI have o recognise how my racism and heracism wihin hose who share my layers o

ideniy acually conribue o he sum oal oracism in Ausralia.In my own religious communiy, I olerae

racism. I happily pray a mosques whosemanagemen commitees deny membership ooher Muslims on he basis o heir ehniciy. Iam largely silen over he racism exhibied byimams and commitee members oward Anglo-

Ausralians, Muslim or non-Muslim, as well asoward Muslims whose origins aren rom hesame par o plane earh.

I have also been guily o oleraing imbeciliccommens made abou oher races, especially

Jews. I know ha one o he Mohers o heBelievers, one o our Prophe Muhammads

wives, was o Jewish heriage. I know haMadinas mos senior rabbi became a ollowero he Prophe wihou ever having o aceslurs abou his heriage. Bu I also know hasome Muslims in Ausralia preer o ake heircue rom yrannical governmens o Muslim

majoriy saes where ani-Semiism isused in ofcial newspapers and media odiver peoples atenion rom corrupionand he absence o libery.

Indeed some Muslims, includingreligious leaders, use evens overseasas an excuse o spread hared no juso Jews bu also o members o oherreligious congregaions and even ooher Muslim secs.

And hen here are our doublesandards when i comes o ghingracism. I seems many Muslims areineresed in racism when i aecs hempersonally or when i aecs a group

overseas hey eel some afniy o. Bu wha abou joining in solidariy wih vicims o racism wih whom we haveno afniy wih oher han our basichumaniy?

For insance, when was he lasime you saw or heard non-IndigenousMuslims in Ausralia showing solidariy

wih Indigenous people? When was helas ime you saw a major Muslim groupinvolve isel in a meaningul ashion inissues acing Indigenous Ausralians?

Te insulariy o many Muslimreligious insiuions is in isel a kind oracism. A he very leas, i ensures hahose claiming o represen Muslimsare seen as only publicly worrying

abou racism when i aecs heir own,however dened.* Iran Yusu is a Sydney based lawyer,wrier and columnis. He is he opinionedior o Crescen imes.

A atst acst ncdnts acoss t conty:

Racism is two waymisunderstanding

and disrespect

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Are you Benny?

One day I wen o visi my uncle whohad jus came back rom a longpilgrimage rip. Te whole ime Iwas here, he exciedly relaed his experienceso he wonderul and glorious journey he had,

Alhamdulillah.Wha is amazing abou my uncle is ha jus

abou a year ago, in he middle o he nigh, h esuered a major hear atack and as a resul oha, had a prety severe sroke which paralyzedhe whole righ side o his body.

I remembered visiing him many imes andsaw his ears. He looked so helpless hen. Hecouldn even ge he words o come ou righ.My aun had o inerpre wha he said andhen convey i o ohers. He became oallydependen and powerless - a sae which Ihad never seen him in beore as he is a man o

power and auhoriy.Ten, jus abou a week aer he sroke, he

decided ha he waned o go or he pilgrimagehe very nex year. He knew ha he neededo pass he minimum medical and physical

examinaion. However, wih his curren sae,i was nex o impossible o do so.

Bu, I guess he decided no o make hiscondiion a hurdle or him - as ober Fulghamonce said,

I you break your neck, i you have nohingo ea, i your house is on re, hen you go aproblem. Everyhing else is inconvenience.

Yup, or him, his condiion was jus aninconvenience. And he knew ha inconveniencecould be overcome.

So, once he docor allowed i, he saredhis physioherapy exercises. He was asked operorm a ew exercises or he duraion ha hecould endure. By ha, he herapis mean like15 minues. Bu my uncle wen on or hours.

He pushed himsel o he edge. He wouldswea jus by liing his righ paralyzed arm. Hedidn allow anyone o help him. I he was onhe bed, he would do some leg exercises. He

would also ry o walk very slowly, push hard,pull somehing heavy jus o make sure hismuscles were always moving. Someimes his

Life Storyteller

Zabrina A. Bakar*

leg gave way and he ell. Bu he didn care. Hewas deermined.

I remembered ha Our Lord has promisedus in His own Glorious words,

Indeed hose who say, Our Lord is Allah,

and, urher, sand sraigh and seadas, heangels descend on hem (rom ime o ime):Fear you no! (hey sugges), Nor grieve! Bureceive he Glad idings o he Garden (oBliss), ha which you were promised! We are

your proecors in his lie and in he Hereaer:herein shall you have all ha your souls shalldesire; herein shall you have all ha you askor! A hospiable gi rom One O-Forgiving,Mos Merciul! (Surah Fussila 41: 30-32)

I read and re-read hese Holy Verses over andover again. Don you eel like His very Wordsalone could make us charge he unknownerriory wih ull condence?

His Insrucion was simple, you agree? Sandsill and be ocused in whaever ha we do. Beseadas and say posiive. Always hink ogood hings. And wih ha, we shall have whaour hears desire and all ha we asked or!SubhanAllah! Amazing, you agree?

Le me share wih you a sory abou a armerand his donkey named Benny. Once, a manaccidenally drove his car ino a deep dichon he side o a road. Luckily a armer passed

by wih his big old donkey named Benny. Teman asked or help and he armer said Bennycould pull his car ou. So he backed Benny upand hiched him o he mans car bumper. Tenhe yelled: Pull, Nellie, pull! Bu Benny didnmove. Ten he yelled Come on, Pull anger!.Sill Benny didn move. Ten he yelled reallyloud: Now pull, Fred.... pull hard! Bu,Benny

jus sood here. Ten he armer nonchalanly

said, Ok, Benny... now pull! And Bennypulled he car ou o he dich.Te man was very appreciaive bu curious.

He asked he armer, Why did you call yourdonkey by he wrong name hree imes?Te armer replied Old Benny is blind. I hehough ha he was he only one pulling, he

wouldn even ry!Ya Allah! A classic case o mind over mater,

righ? Le us reec and ask ourselves onesimple quesion my riends - Have we ever

been, or are we sill, behaving like Benny?Tink abou i.

* Sis Zabrina also known as Zabrina A. Bakar, isa Lie Soryeller, moivaional and inspiraionalwrier and speaker; and auhor and creaor

o Islamic moivaional book Lie Open Secrebook series htp://www.LieOpenSecre.com.She mainains an acive blog a htp://www.WisdomTruWords.blogspo.com. and socialneworking plaorm a Web 2.0 a htp://www.

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12/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009Page 12 National

Debora McNichol*

he older I ge, he more I appreciaemy sisers. Neiher Denise nor Dianaare Muslim, bu we love each oher

and enjoy our occasional reunions. Is unny,hough, how our values have diverged as wevegoten older. Or perhaps our values are similarenough, bu our perspecives have changed. A couple o years ago, Denise and I were

waching he news a our avorie gaheringspo, Chez Mom. One o he pieces concernedan inerne video showing ooage o hecheerleaders a a high school ooball game. Tegame isel was ignored. Te camera ocused onhe girls rear ends and legs, waching hem - in

voyeur ashion - adjusing heir uniorms andunderwear. Te camera panned in and ou,looking or everyhing ha made hose younggirls human, vulnerable, vicims, mea.

Te parens and Denise were ouraged ha

a depraved man had he audaciy o shoo hevideo and hen circulae i on he ne. I was noouraged. I was sumped.

How, I argued wih my siser, couldhese parens be ouraged wihou akingresponsibiliy or having exposed he girls osuch a creep in he rs place? Cerainly, noone would argue ha aking he video or so-porn purposes is no despicable. Bu whenparens ignoranly pimp ou heir own girls,providing he maerial and opporuniy, donhey lose heir righ o be indignan?

I was reminded o he cheerleaders recenly while reading abou he prevalence o highschool sexing. Nave eens, in love or

he rs ime, send picures o hemselves invarious saes o undress o heir boyriends viacell phone. Boyriends orward he picureso heir riends or any number o reasons: or

bragging righs, upon break-up, or ou o sheersupidiy. Te girl is devasaed and loses herrepuaion in her school and in he communiy.Te damage happens in a second. Jessica Logan, an American high school

suden, commited suicide over sexedpicures ha made heir way around herhomeown. She was beraed and humiliaed orher indiscreion. And hough she undersoodha she was hersel responsible or h er picure

being published, he pressure proved oo muchor her o bear, and she ook her own lie las

July. o her credi, beore her deah, Jessicaused her misorune o make ohers aware ohe dangers o sexing.

Unorunaely, Jessica probably will no behe only sel-made vicim o sexing beorehe world wises up. A recen American sudyo one housand eenagers showed ha a ullone h o hem had sen less-han-modespicures o hemselves eiher via cell phone oronline. Ausralia is no immune o sexing, and

incidens are increasingly common. Were

nding ou ha sexing is no limied o si llpicures. Adelaide Now recenly reporedha a small group o eens, wo o hem

only hireen-years-old, were recenlycaugh lming a sex ac on a cell phone andsending i ou o riends.

Cell phones, he inerne, and oherechnologies being relaively new invenionsor us, we canno imagine all he ways heycan be used or harm. Our kids can.

Our kids may no undersand, however,ha sexing is no only morally corrup andprohibied by Islam, bu also illegal. Tisis pornography, aer all, even i i is sen

willingly by he eenagers own hand. Alhamdulillah, Muslims are probably

more aware o he dangers o our childrenhan anyone can be and probably do moreo proec our children han mos. Ye we

canno hold a alse sense o securiy haells us ha our kids are sae because heyreour kids and hey atend Islamic schools.Cell phones do no become dysuncionalon school grounds, and even innocenchildren can receive unsolicied porn. Wemus be vigilan and houghul o proecour children, insha Allah.*Deb McNichol is an American Muslim,moher, wie, wrier, lawyer, and edior in

Norh Carolina and Virginia, USA. Visi herediing business websie www.SawaLad.com.

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Overexposed

Freedom o Religion versus

Religious Vilifcation Laws

Hase Sali an Ausralian Muslim whoborn in Shepparon in Vicoria.His parens migraed o Ausralia prior o World War II om Albania. Haseis a Monash Universiy Law Faculy pioneer,wih a Bachelor o Laws Degree and a

Bachelor o Jurisprudence Degree includingsudies in hisory, inernaional law, poliical

philosophy economics and accouning. Haseis a oundaion Member o he AusralianFederaion o Islamic Councils and served as a

presiden and or many years, aced as SeniorHonorary Legal Advisor o AFIC. He recenlyco-esablished wih oher religious leaders, he

Ambrose Cenre or Religious Libery, mainlyo gh agains he religious vilicaion lawsinroduced in VIC and o lobby he ederalGovernmen opreven inroducion o similarlaws naionally.

Crescen imes approached Hase Sali oclariy he moivaion o his acion agains

vilicaion laws when many oher Muslimssee such laws as a necessiy o deendourselves as a minoriy. He replied Muslimsin he ime o our Messenger Muhammad[peace be upon him] were advised by himo leave Mecca o avoid persecuion byhe disbelievers and move o Abyssinia[Ehiopia] a Chrisian counry. We live in aChrisian counry like hem and we have hereedom o work wih oher believers in Godo ensure religious reedom is mainained.Hence I am happy o do his. He added hahe Holy Quran acually oulines guidelines

or our conduc. He explained ha here arehree such imporan guidelines: Firsly Lehere be no compulsion in religion. Goodsands ou rom evil; whoever rejecs evil and

believes in God has grasped he rusworhyhandhold He [God] will never break; or Godhears and knows all hings 2/256.

Secondly, regarding he ineracion wi h hePeople o Te Book [Jews and Chrisians]: Neiher your desires [Muslims] nor he

desires o he People o Te Book [Jewsand Chrisians] can prevail over Gods Will.Whoever does evil will be punished and hey will no nd any proecing riend or helperagains God. Whoever does good works

whils believing and having Faih in God suchwill ener Heaven and no he leas injusicewill be done o hem. W ho is beter in religionhan hose who commi heir purpose o God

whils doing good or mankind and ollow heradiion o Abraham he rue in Faih? ForGod did choose Abraham as a riend. 4/123-125.

Tirdly: hey [all people] are asked o do nomore han his: Worship only God; be sincerein heir [Faih and] devoion o Him; be rue[hones, genuine and loyal] esablish regular

prayer and pracice regular chariy. Tis is ruereligion. 98/5.C asked As Muslims in Ausralia are

under hrea daily rom racial and religious vilicaion, a se o laws o proec hemshould surely be recommended? As a lawyer

wha do you hink is he bes proecionagains Islamophobia and racism? He replied:

Muslims can be under hrea anywhere in heworld even in Ausralia and he bes responseis o live by he hree guidelines se ou above.I persecuion is pracised agains any Muslimhere are many laws ha comba such conducincluding Commonwealh and Sae AniDiscriminaion Laws. In he meanime weneed o concenrae on seting a good exampleinside and ouside Ausralia.

He added ha: No legislaion can eliminae

discriminaion i people are deermined opracice i.C asked, as a human righs acivis wha

soluion would you propose o proec yourellow Muslims rom red neck xenophobicracis evens such as he Cronulla rios, redneck

journaliss and poliicians?Mr Sale replied: In Ausralia we have

reedom o religion and reedom rom religion.Exremiss will ulimaely bring hemselvesundone. All we need o do is respec he law,oher peoples righs and be calm.

Wih regard o he discriminaory decisionregarding he proposed Camden IslamicSchool, Mr Sali noed: Camden Muslims areno Members o AFIC and hey have no askedme o help hem. Te rs hing hey need o

do is spell ou ha hey ollow he Holy Quranand especially he 3 above guidelines. Paienceand respecing he righs o ohers is a mus. Idiscriminaion is praciced agains hem heycan asser heir righs beore he Land Couror oher appropriae Cours.

Shariah complian mor gagelender MCCA ges AFSL

Muslim Communiy Co-operaive Ausralia(MCCA) has been graned an AusralianFinancial Services Licence (AFSL), marking isrs seps owards building a wealh managemenpracice ha oers nancial planning services.

MCCA, which unil now has been limied ohome nance and various orms o invesmen,is now licensed o deal in shariah complianmorgage unds and propery rus schemes meaning hey will be run in accordance wihIslamic law.

According o managing direcor ChaabanOmran, he shariah complian unds are se oevenually become he key invesmen mandaeor Ausralias rs shariah-complian Islamicsuperannuaion und.

In addiion, he wealh managemen pracicewill in due course apply or a dealers licence andoer nancial planning services o he Ausraliancommuniy as an alernaive o convenionalproducs, repackaged o oer a moresophisicaed version o ehical invesmen,

Omran said.He added ha under he supervision o

he Ausralian Securiies and InvesmensCommission (ASIC), MCCA has a new mix osa o prepare or a sricer compliance regime.

Te unlised public company ogeherwih he AFSL is cerainly on he righ rack ocorporaisaion.

Omran said he AFSL will no only allowMCCA o embark on a wealh managemenpah, bu also assis hem in he esablishmen o

Ausralias rs Islamic bank.

He noed ha local and inernaional bankshave approached MCCA as ineres in Islamicnance and banking is increasing.

Source: Amal Awad - Money Managemen and MCCA.


13/20

Crescent Times No 8 June 2009 Page 13

Drug Addiction:How are we responding

as a community?

he Ausralian Muslim Communiy

lacks he provision o drug and alcohol(D&A) awareness and prevenion

campaign, and relaed services, or he Muslimcommuniy. A culurally-appropriae responserom he Muslim communiy is needed whereideniying, recognising, and respondingo he needs o he communiy should bemade a prioriy. Oen sruggling parens ochildren wih D&A relaed issues are le oend or hemselves in desperaion lookingor suppor as mos mosque and communiycenres do no have he aciliy o caer o suchindividuals. Shame, is also a common concernamongs Muslim D&A users and heir amilymembers whereby hey believe ha accessinghelp rom heir local communiy would arnishhe repuaion o he amily.

Tere is no curren research on h e numbero Ausralian Muslims experiencing drugdependency, bu mos o he awareness ohis concern comes rom Muslim mosque,communiy, and youh groups ha requenlyexpress heir concerns abou he rising problem

wihin heir communiy and amilies ha heysuppor. Tere is an increasing siuaion whereamilies are calling upon Muslim youh groups

and Muslim communiy leaders and imams orespond o he call o educaing he communiyabou he dangers o drugs and alcohol becausehere were increasing sories o youh drugdependency.

Furhermore, Muslim communiy youh workers ry o implemening prevenion andearly inervenion sraegies, hrough educaion,inormaion, and spiriual menoring, in ordero assis he individuals. Mos o hese youh

workers are no rained or educaed in youhwork bu are orced o address he issues ha arebecoming increasingly prominen. Mos o heyouh workers or menors are voluneers andare learning during heir roles abou he eecs

o drugs and alcohol. Tey lack he healhundersanding and knowledge o biochemicaluncions o drug and alcohol dependency.

Te D&A dilemma is seemingly seen as amale problem, bu more cases o Muslimemales experiencing drug and alcohol issuesare also emerging.

Even when Muslims ener jail because odrug relaed oences, here are no culurallyappropriae service wihin he jail and

correcional services ha can caer o heunique needs o Muslim inmaes.

Despie he bes eors o newgeneraion ype youh organisaions andgroups, he realiy is ha hey are under-resourced, inexperienced in he areas odrug healh educaion and addicion,

ye hey mus ake responsibiliy orsupporing roubled youh and hose whoare on drugs or drink alcohol o absainrom his desrucive behaviour, based on

boh religious and human values.Wha we need is a culurally appropriae

projec ha has religion and spiriualiy asan aid o inervenion and prevenion. o

achieve his, we need o accep ha wehave hese growing concerns and henhave he courage o address and implemenprograms o suppor o hose sruggling

wih D&A relaed use and dependency.

*Hanan Dover is a orensic psychologist and

regular contributor to Crescent Times. You can

reach her on

[email protected]

National

nSW:Aae Islami StiesWome Ol

date: Saurday 13h o Juneime: 10.00am o 12:00pmLoatio: Conerence oom, AuburnMosque, Gelibolu Pde, Auburncost: FreeDuraion: Once a week or en weeks

Auburn Gallipoli Mosque is pleased o oer hispopular course, which will give you a ho roughinroducion o classical Islamic sciences. Tiscourse covers spiriual developmen based oncore Islamic eachings, heology & knowledgeo God, o heologic al and legal inerpreaionso Islam & Shariah o he characer o he

Prophe Muhammad (p), science o Hadihand much more.daar Aisha Short corse

chilre or Allahdate: Sun 14 June 2009ime: 2pm - 830pmLoatio: 74-76 Haldon Sree LakembaChildren or Allah: ighs o parens, righso children, echniques rom Sirah, IslamicUpbringing rom birh, oddler, school, eenage

years and adulhood. egisraion Essenial- Women only. Call on uesday, Tursdayor Saurday o regiser 02 9759 6222 : [email protected]

Laies OnLy alet nightdate: Saurday 13h Juneime: 6pm 11pm

Loatio: Lidcombe Communiy Cenre 3Bridge Sree, Lidcombecost: $12 o paricipae O $15 o jus sihere and enjoy yoursel.Organised by Afniy InerculuralFoundaion.o paricipae: Send siser Jo your music, song

Australia wide community events:or whaever i is you are planning on doing.

You migh consider poery, reciaion, singinga nasheed, dancing a radiional dance - hechoices are limiless. For urher ino conac

Jo Hassan - [email protected]

Mizaa Liig Ioor Rokclimbig

date: Sun 14 June 2009ime: 815amLoatio: Climb Fi, Uni 4/12 FrederickS, S Leonardscost: $25 (includes enry, climbing harnessand climbing shoes)

Wha o bring: Waer, snacks, comorable

exercise wear and sneakers i you preer noo hire climbing shoesAdditional Information: Children welcomeunder adul supervision (Parens/adulshave o belay children under he age o 12,cos $10 + harness hire)

Web link: htp://www.climb.com.au/Enquiries: Email: [email protected] el:0410104616egisraion is essenialMizaan is an iniiaive o al-Ghazzali Cenreor Islamic Sciences & Human Developmen-

working owards bringing balance backino our lives. As par o is learn & pracisehealh & well being program, Mizaan invies

you o join our nex advenure, indoor rockclimbing.

Sos O Light: Astralias LargestIslami coert

date: 12 July 2009ime: 330pm-8pmLoatio: Acer Arenaickes ickeek

Websie www.soundsoigh.com.au

MSA Unigoaldate: Sunday 12h July 2009ime: 0730am or an 0800am sarLoatio: Condell Park Spors Cenre,Tird Avenue, Condell ParkTe ourh annual UniGoal Indoor Soccerournamen or pas and presen MuslimUniversiy sudens as well as local HighSchool sudens. Tis one day indoor soccercompeiion will consis o pas and presensudens and heir riends and amily,o diverse backgrounds, emerging romuniversiies all hroughou NSW.

For more inormaion and o regiser eams:conac Muhammad on: 0401 158 149 oremail: [email protected]

vIc:Sos O Light

Astralias Largest Islami coertdate: 11 July 2009ime: 6pm-10pmLoatio: Dallas Brooks Cenreickes ickeek

Websie www.soundsoigh.com.au

Please send your

communiy evens,

news and announcemens o

Crescen imes o publish

or FREE. Email: news@

crescentimes.com.au

SakeenahHanan Dover:*

Halal help line

Laely Muslims in Ausralia have beenconused abou he inormaion hey aregeting abou gelaine. Some say gelaine isHalal i i is derived rom Halal slaughered beehides and/or bones, ohers say i doesn materi he animals were slaughered by Muslims orno. o op i all here is a movemen now hasays gelaine made rom pork hides and bones isHalal or consumpion by Muslims! Te reasonhey say is because he gelaine is he resul oransormaion.

Gelaine is no a naurally occurring proein,

bu is derived rom he collagen ound in animalskin, bone, sinews and connecive issue.

aw maerials inended or medicinal use andood producion are generally rom skins and

bones o pigs or bee. In Ausralia o cus are usedi.e. ears, ails, ace hides ec. Tey are washed in alime soluion and chemica

Monthly - Independent N 8 June 2009 Www.crescenttimes.com.Au

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