MUSLIM
AUSTRALASIAN
Multimedia News & Views
ISSN: 1039-2300
AMUST
Print Post Publication No. 100021354
Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates
Reconciliation to End Sectarian Conflicts
BOOMERANG PAGE 7
Forum on Mental Illness, Drugs & Alcohol COMMUNITY PAGE 9
S
TIME
www.amust.com.au
Phone: (02) 8006 2063 Email: info@amust.com.au
Issue # 142
September 2017; Dhul Hijjah 1438
Introducing FoodFlukes LIFESTYLE PAGE 14
$2.00
Debt & Promises: A Toxic Soup BUSINESS PAGE 21
Over 2 million performing Hajj Zia Ahmad More than two million people have descended on Makkah, Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year. Comparatively, 1,080,000 men and 780,000 women performed Hajj last year. Most pilgrims for Hajj come from Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Nigeria in descending order. Hajj or the annual pilgrimage to Makkah during the specific Islamic calendar dates in the month of Zulhijjah is considered one of the five obligatory pillars of Islam. The first day of the six day Hajj journey commences on Wednesday 30 August ending on Monday 4 September and includes overnight stay in Mina followed by spending the day on 9 Zulhijjah at the plain of Arafah and by completing the rituals of rami, sacrifice, tawaf and sai during the rest of the days. During the same period on 10 Zulhijja, Muslims in other parts of the world will be celebrating Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice commemorating Prophet Ibrahim (a) act of obedience to God’s command. Eid-ul-Adha will be celebrated largely on Friday 1 September throughout the world based on the global sighting of the crescent moon except in India, Pakistan and Iran where it will be celebrated on Saturday 2 September based on regional moonsighting. The Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu
Masjid Al-Haram (The Grand Mosque) with the Kaaba in the centre in Makkah. Mohamad together with the Australian National Imams Council in a media release has declared Friday 1 September for Muslims to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha in Australia. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Australia will be, therefore, offering Eidul-Adha prayers on Friday 1 September
while some mosques will organise Eid-ulAdha prayers to be conducted on Saturday 2 September. The celebrations for the feast of Eid-ulAdha will continue from Friday well into the weekend with early morning prayers, sacrifice of animals, visits to family, friends,
neighbours and backyard BBQs. Many Muslims on this day visit the sick and elderly at their residence, hospitals or nursing homes as well as pay a visit to the cemetery to remember their loved ones who have passed away and pray for their salvation.
The face against hate Exclusive interview with Brice Hamack, President of Islamophobia Register Australia
Manarul Islam AMUST: Assalamulaikum. We are speaking with Brice Hamack who has just recently been elected as the president of Islamophobia Register Australia (the Register). Brice, considering what Mariam (Veiszadeh) went through as the past President of the Register, what led you to volunteer? Brice: Well, in my time at the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), I grew accustomed to a lot of the hate and the vitriol that people in those positions deal with. To me it’s just part and parcel of being in a position where you’re really pushing back against deeply entrenched prejudices and bigotry. Also, unfortunately, I think that because Mariam was a minority Muslim woman wearing hijab, that whatever she went
through will not be anywhere near in comparison to what I’ll have to go through, inshaAllah, as a Western Caucasian male with an American accent. What’s your day job? Right now I work in Legal Aid ACT client services. My job is mostly comprised of reviewing applications for legal aid that come to our office. Making sure they comply with the Legal Aid Act and the guidelines. Client Services is more or less the front line of legal aid - we interact with people who are seeking out legal assistance. I really do see almost every single application for legal aid that comes through our office. This helps me gain a better understanding of how I and institutions can better serve that community, including the Australian Muslim community contained therein. What is the primary function of the Reg-
Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd
ister? The primary function is to correlate incidents of Islamophobia across Australia to create a central database that can be relied upon in producing academic papers and reports to present to elected officials and to community leaders to say this is how much abuse our community is getting, here are specific examples, what can you do to help us, how can we work with you to solve these issues. The data from the register is the data in Islamophobia in Australia, a report which was just referenced in Parliament House the other day by a senator discussing the issue of Islamophobia in Australia. Until you have this type of verifiable accredited information to put out there to give to people, you’re not going to be able to have your story told properly.
Islamophobia like abuse or harassment of a Muslim or the Muslim community, and they will report that through the Register’s reporting tool (islamophobia. com.au). Continued on page 9
So how does the Register work? Well there are no paid people, we’re all volunteers. It mostly works when people experience or witness an incident of Dispose of this paper thoughtfully - PLEASE RECYCLE