COMMENT: Not Enough Faith?

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the charity Just Enough Faith (JEF) is under investigation for some funny business involving its fundraising activities and proceeds. JEF was apparently banned from fundraising in 2002 after breaching Charities legislation some three times.

I first became aware of JEF after reading about the experiences of its founder Jeff Gambin in media reports. Later, in September 2005, I visited JEF's premises near Rozelle Hospital where the al-Ghazali Centre volunteers were preparing food for distribution that evening as part of their "Feed The Homeless" program.

I'm not sure if the AGC people were aware of JEF's issues back then. I'm not suggesting they were in anyway involved. As far as I am aware, AGC were only using JEF's premises and equipment. It now appears that JEF's activities will now be managed by Bill Crews' Exodus Foundation.

Feeding and serving the homeless is indeed among the more noble activities, and has formed an essential component of the dawah (outreach) activities of South Asian sufis for centuries. If only more Muslim groups in Australia followed AGC's lead and participated in this kind of activity.

UPDATE: A group of Muslim students in Sweden are also working with a Christian charity to feed the homeless. You can read about their work here with an English translation here.

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf


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VIDEO: Dr Shakira Hussein on Muslims in Australia ...

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VIDEO: Jon Stewart talks to Reza Aslan about his first book ...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Reza Aslan
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

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VIDEO/HUMOUR: Mrs Terrorist ...

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VIDEO: Indian movies ...

Those not used to four-letter words should not watch this hilarious clip from Canadian Russell Peters about the joys of Bollywood movies.




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BLOG: The Aussie Mossie on some Auburn chick named Yasmin ...

(The term "chick" is polite Aussie slang for a person of the female persuasion. This article has been written in response to a number of stories concerning the case of Yasmin Alttahir, a Year 11 student at Auburn Girls High School who was placed on detention for being "out of uniform". Her uniform violation consisted of wearing a 'mantoo', a popular form of overcoat commonly worn by women of Iraqi and Iranian background. You can find media coverage of the issue here and here. The article below was published on The Aussie Mossie blog on Sunday 15 May 2005.)

YASMIN'S CHOICE

A Year 11 female student at a state school is punished with a detention for refusing to wear the school uniform. Fair enough.

A Year 11 female student of Shiite Muslim background attending a high school in Auburn, a suburb containing 5 mosques, a large Muslim population and with at least 4 Muslim councillors on the local council, is placed on detention for wearing what she regards as an essential symbol of her “descent, … ethno-religious or national origin” (to quote the words of Section 4 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977). Very strange.

If this incident had occurred during the early 1970’s, it may have been acceptable. But almost 3 decades have elapsed since the Act was passed. And it is a poor reflection on the Department that it cannot properly train and supervise its staff to ensure that such blunders are not made and the Government is not exposed to legal liability.

It is not unusual to see women in Auburn of various racial and faith backgrounds covering their hair and wearing loose-fitting clothes. Indian women, whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or other denomination tend to wear loose-fitting ‘shalwar kameez’. Catholic and Muslim women cover their hair. I have even seen the State MP for Auburn, Barbara Perry wear a head scarf when visiting the Gallipoli Mosque or the Turkish Welfare Centre.

Women who choose to dress in a certain way should not be subject to harassment, discrimination or inferior treatment. Australians of all denominations were offended when a young sheik from Liverpool made his remarks some weeks back. Regardless of what faith you choose to follow, the common denomination of all sensible people is that a woman can dress howsoever she wishes.

Section 17 of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act clearly applies rules prohibiting racial discrimination (including on the basis of "ethno-religious origin") to educational institutions. Its provisions include a prohibition on “subjecting the student to any … detriment”. One would think that punishing a student with a detention may constitute a detriment. Where the detention arose from her dress, and where this dress is regarded as part of her ethno-religious origin, the school would be breaching the Act.

Muslim women in Auburn run accounting practices, work as solicitors, manage shops and arrange home loans. Two Muslim women can be elected to Auburn Council without their religion being made an issue. The covering page of the Council’s own website shows a photo of Muslim school children in the library (including girls wearing headscarves). And yet a Muslim student cannot wear a jacket over her uniform.

Imagine if the same scene were repeated in the Eastern Suburbs. Imagine if a Jewish boy were stopped from wearing a traditional cap. There would be community outrage. And rightly so.

Some will argue that, as a matter of policy, state schools should insist on strict adherence to school uniform and should not make allowances for religion. Yet overriding any policy must be the will of Parliament. And policies developed by unelected bureaucrats cannot be allowed to override Acts of Parliament passed by elected legislators. If some provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act are wrong, people can lobby their MP’s to revoke them. But whilst in place, the Act must be followed.

The law is the law. And Yasmin’s choice is clearly the will of the Parliament.

Words © 2005 Irfan Yusuf


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VIDEO: A debate on women's rights, hijab and honour killings in Turkey ...

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COMMENT: The Camden fracas continues ...

It would be improper for me to comment on the legal merit of submissions made by Camden Council’s barrister at a hearing of the NSW Land & Environment Court yesterday afternoon. Excerpts from that letter have been reported in the Camden Advertiser, the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald, not to mention some 11 regional papers.

Camden Council’s submission apparently included a letter signed by four local church leaders. Significantly, the Catholic and Uniting Churches are not signatories. I’m not sure if that letter made reference to issues of traffic, infrastructure and other planning considerations. It did, however, make reference to the school following a religion ...

... driven by a powerful political agenda, ... an ideology with a plan for world domination.

Apparently establishing such faith-based schools was ...

... typical of a regularly repeated pattern to form a beachhead in an area for the development of a sub-culture which, for the most part, regards its own legal system as superior to the current Australian law.

Furthermore, Camden Muslims would seek to dominate public space in Camden ...

... as we have seen in Auburn, Bankstown, Lakemba and more recently Liverpool.

It all sounds like something out of the pages of some fictional Protocols of the Learned Mullahs of Auburn, Bankstown, Lakemba & Liverpool (and soon Camden). Soon these nasty Muslim theocrats will be forcing locals to speak Islamic.

Directors of the Qur’anic Society behind the school proposal have some affiliation with the Tabligh Jamaat (TJ, translated as “preaching group”), a Sufi evangelical group founded in India last century. I have my reservations about the TJ, but these are more to do with some of their preaching methods which I think were best left in the last century.

"Yes Irfan,” some of you will say, “but tell us what these people really believe. What is their real agenda?” I guess the best way to sum up this nefarious group’s revolutionary agenda of world domination is to reproduce their 6 basic teachings:

*Strong faith in God;

*Observing the 5 daily prayers;

*Seeking knowledge while remaining humble through remembering God;

*Showing good manners to fellow believers;

*Sincerity in good deeds; and

*Spreading the message of the 5 abovementioned points.

You can find an expanded version of their terrorist extremist fundamentalist chauvinist Islamo-fascist Auburnist Bankstownist Lakembist agenda here. You’d sooner find Ahmedinejad supporting Zionism than the TJ plotting world domination.

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf


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BLOG: First Aussie Mossie post ...

Reproduced (albeit in edited format) below is the first post on the Aussie Mossie blog dated Wednesday 11 May 2005. I read it now and cringe!

WELCOME TO THE AUSSIE MOSSIE

I cannot stand mossies. And it seems I am not the only one. Those nasty buggers that bite and cause you to scratch yourself - yep, they are a real pain.

But there is one kind of mossie that appears in human form and that is really quite harmless. And that is the Mossie that surrenders to the will of God, thereby attaining peace.

These more cuddly Mossies can be found in just about every town and city of every country on planet earth. In Australia, these Mossies used to trade with the natives centuries before there was any sign of Captain Cook on the horizon. These Mossies treated the locals with respect, dealing with them on equal terms.

The Mossies then came with their camels during the 19th century and helped occupy outback Australia. Burke and Wills may never have returned, but their accompanying Mossies made it back safely.

We apparently had a run-in with some Mossies at a place called Gallipoli early in the 20th century. It wasn't as if we hated them. We were just following orders from the Poms. Our politicians relied on faulty British intelligence, and thousands of our young men died on the cliffs and in the sand. Yet the Mossies we fought were so respectful toward us, and we toward them.

After World War II, more Mossies arrived from Central and Eastern Europe. Yugoslavs, Albanians and Turks from western Thrace (in Greece) joined the great wave of migrants from a Europe ravaged by war.

During the 1950's, the White Australia Policy didn't stop migrating Mossies from Cyprus and Turkey. Thousands arrived and worked as labourers for BHP and other large companies. Their kids and grandkids are still here. One of them runs a large telecommunications company that is a major sponsor of ARL and AFL football [ED: The poor chap passed away some years back. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun].

A Turk at the heart of footy - now that is what i call a fairdinkum Aussie Mossie!

During the 1960's and 70's, quite a few skilled migrants came here from the Middle East and the Indian sub-Continent. My folks were in the latter group. Then during the 1980's, more Mossies arrived from Lebanon escaping the civil war and the Israeli invasion.

During the 1990's, we opened our doors to refugees from Bosnia, not all of whom were Mossies. These traumatised refugees established businesses and worked hard. One of them, a cool dude named "Ito", is a famous cartoonist from Mostar who has won numerous awards for his work in newspapers in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia.

And then there were the Kosovars who enjoyed our hospitality while their leaders were worting out the finer details of a political settlement.

In recent times, we have seen waves of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq arriving at our shores. Many are Mossies, but many aren't. Their plight remains uncertain [ED: Until a new government removed those blasted Temporary Protection Visas].

The Aussie Mossie is here to stay [ED: You obviously haven't read Andrew Bolt's blog lately]. It was an anglo-Australian Muslim who first coined the term 'Aussie Mossie'. And it is therefore my honour to dedicate this site to Dr Yusuf Reeder, the inaugural editor of the Aussie Mossie newsletter ...

And who am I? Well, my name is Irfan Yusuf. Friends call me 'Irf' or 'Evan'. I've heard worse pronunciations, one poor chap even calling me 'earphone'. My parents blessed me with a name which literally means "profound spiritual recognition of God's presence" ...

So what else would you like to know? My occupation? Well, I am happy to declare that I solicit on a regular basis. Although I prefer to do so before a judge or commissioner. Apart from lawyering, I also write. The Aussie Mossie is not my only blog.

I used to have some involvement in a conservative youth movement called the NSW Young Liberal Movement. I left in disgust after the Movement was hijacked by a bunch of wackos. One day I will consider re-joining. [ED: Yes, I'll re-join when I am reincarnated as a funnelweb spider]

I have been a candidate for local council (in Bankstown) and federal parliament (for the Sydney metropolitan seat of Reid) [ED: Laurie Ferguson narrowly defeated you by a mere 17,000 votes!!]. I have also campaigned for John Howard, Jackie Kelly, Ross Cameron, John Fahey, Charlie Lynn, Tony "Maaaaaate" Abbott and a host of other luminaries. [ED: Do we look like we give a shite?]

Anyway, avagoodweekend, and don't forget the aeroguard in case you are attacked by some REAL mossies! [ED: Yes, very funny. Hohoho]

Urgggh!

Words © 2005-09 Irfan Yusuf


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COMMENT: Too many friggin blogs!

Seriously, I really do have too many blogs. In this age of downsizing and rationalisation, perhaps it's time I issued a redundancy notice to a few of them. I'll start with the Aussie Mossie blog. The last time I posted there was June 2007.

I'll be transferring posts from that blog here. It will be a gradual process. As each post arrives here, it will be deleted from there.

The "philosophy" (if you could call it that) of the Aussie Mossie blog can be summarised as follows:

Two decades ago, an anglo-aussie PhD student named Yusuf Reeder joined forces with some friends to start a newsletter called 'The Aussie Mossie'. It folded after a year or so, but the memory lives on. We hope to revive it in all its stinging glory.

Another good reason for getting rid of that blog is that I discovered last Ramadan that a newspaper of that name is being published in Sydney. Though I'm not sure if it's still being published. The point is that there's no point having two publications of the same name!

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf


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TURKEY: The Mor Gabriel Monastery Dispute

The Midyat district located in the south eastern Turkish province of Mardin is home to the Mor Gabriel Monastery, belonging to the Syriac Christian congregation. In recent times, a dispute has erupted between the Monastery and local villagers over land adjacent to the Monastery building. That land, consisting of some 285 of the total 1,227 hectares on which the Monastery stands, was recently declared "woodland" by the Land Registry General Directorate.

Local Muslim village heads have brought court proceedings against the Monastery, seeking to have the wall built by the Monastery around the forested woodland removed so as to allow for grazing animals. This court dispute has now become an international incident, with both the EU and the Obama administration watching Turkey's handling of the issue very carefully.

There is some suggestion that local villagers are being "manipulated" to turn this into a religious issue, pitting local Muslims and Christians against each other. The (ironically Islamist-leaning) Turkish government is seeking to avoid this turning into a religious dispute, and is pressuring the farmers to withdraw their court application pending a government investigation into the historical land registry records.

You can find out more in this article from Zaman.

The Monastery is one of the oldest active Christian monasteries on earth. It pre-dates the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.

Speaking of whom, the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said (more or less):

Whoever mistreated a non-Muslim citizen of an Islamic state will have me witnessing against him on the Day of Judgment.

Turkey may not be an "Islamic" state. But its government should insist on minorities not being mistreated.

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf


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LETTER: Peace and love at Easter

My hands are still smelling of disinfectant. I spent around 20 minutes washing feet at a church in Ashfield. Bill Crews' hands are probably also still smelling, as are the hands of two Buddhist monks from Strathfield. Each year, on the Thursday before easter, we get together at his church to wash the feet of those who have fallen on hard times. These days, the number of such people has increased dramatically.

Bill Crews is carrying on the tradition of Christ, who washed the feet of his disciples. In feeding the poor and homeless, Crews is carrying on the tradition of Muslim scholars and sufis such as the late Shaykh Muinuddin Chishti, not to mention the work of numerous Buddhist denominations.

Easter is a time when Christians celebrate a loving God who (Christians believe) gave His son to die on the cross and then be resurrected. Muslims and Buddhists don't share the letter of these beliefs, but certainly share their basic spirit. So do other faiths such as Sikhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism.

Another thing all faith-communities have in common is that we're not monoliths. There are lots of different types of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews etc. Those who choose to show hatred and discord try to ignore this variety, to dehumanise believers and to present denominations as monolithically evil. Prejudice is built on the foundational myth of the monolith.

I wrote about the phenomenon of prejudice in a recent article for the Sydney Morning Herald. Here's an excerpt:

On the ABC's Q&A program on Thursday, columnist Andrew Bolt spoke of "a rejectionist strand" that made Muslim immigration experience different to the experiences of Greek and Italian migrants. Again, the underlying assumptions are based on ignorance. To speak of a recent singular wave of Muslim migration is to engage in historical revisionism. Virtually all waves of migration incorporated an element of Muslims, including Europeans from Albania and the former Yugoslavia .

Some Muslims came as refugees, others as skilled or business migrants. Some have hardly been out of an immigration detention centre for a few years. Others are descended from Afghan cameleers who married indigenous women in the 19th century.

Yet, for some reason, Australian Muslims are treated as some kind of monolith. We hear pundits and self-serving religious leaders speak of a mythical entity called the "Muslim community". The idea that Muslims define themselves primarily by their religion sounds ridiculous when one considers that membership of the Lebanese Moslems Association is limited to adult males eligible for Lebanese citizenship. Yet what happens at this Lakemba mosque is somehow a reflection of 300,000-odd Australians who feel inclined to tick the "Muslim" box on their census forms.

One reader named "The Spectator ' decided to type up a letter and send it to the Sydney Morning Herald who forwarded it onto me. I thought I would share it with readers as it is relevant to this blessed time and to the issues raised in my Herald article. I've made some slight adjustments to the text.

April 3 3009-04-03

YOU AND YOUR CAMEL F*CKING MATES JUST DON'T GET ...DO YOU?

Why do you think there is a phobia against you second class citizens? I will give you a few hints ...you moronic uneducated imbecile.

The formation of a Middle eastern Crime Unit...why would this be. ?

The constant flow of Middle eastern names that crop up each time there is and arrest

The Shabby Sheiks mosque performance calling the police

The drug trade and bikies awash with these low lifes like you.

Car rebirthing,ATM raids, drugs, rapes ( Whats a fine bunch the Skafs were )

In your article you mentioned the Greels and Italian migration...big difference ...these people came to this country to work, and work they did...not bring their criminal ways and mentality to disrupt and corrupt a country that opened their doors and took them in from their war torn peasant backgrounds. You breed like flies and live like the pigs that you are.

I would suggest you and your criminal mates ( Adam Houda, another prime example) piss off back to where you came from...you are persona non grata and not welcome here. You are parasites and leeches on Australian society

Maybe Fred Nile is right. His concerns when low lifes like you and your Muslim mates want t change the way we live in are a danger to the freedom and democracy of this mighty country that our forebearers fought and died for .

"The Spectator '

I wish all my friends a happy easter. That includes "The Spectator '.

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf


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VIDEO/IRAQ: Zahra weeps for her husband ...

Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a nasty place. There was little political freedom. Opposition figures were murdered, as were any persons deemed by the regime to belong to the opposition.

At the same time, there was security for ordinary Iraqis. It was a time when Iraqis lived side by side, when even the most devout intermarried across sectarian lines. Then the Americans and Brits came and toppled the dictator Saddam Hussein. The vacuum was filled by various forces - Al-Qaeda, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, sectarian militias and criminal gangs.

Sectarian strife is new to Iraq and has split apart families including the family featured in the following documentary entitled City of Widows, shown on the AlJazeera English documentary show Witness. Here is a short summary of the videos.

Filmmaker Rashad Radwan follows Zahra, a Shia in Iraq, as day after day, she visits police stations, hospitals and morgues in a desperate search for her kidnapped husband, and in the face of disapproval from a society where widows are still expected to be invisible.

The documentary is in two parts.

Words © 2009 Irfan Yusuf






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