POLITICIANS DISAPPOINT AUSTRALIAN MUSLIMS ON ISLAMOPHOBIA
Australia’s current Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Alex Hawke MP, chose not to make any media comment when the Australian Human Rights Commission released their landmark report following the Christchurch massacre, Sharing the Stories of Australian Muslims. Ironically, the Report showed the desire of Australian Muslims for more public visible allies, including politicians. Australian research has documented which online groups those narratives come from. The connection to mainstream political discourse was alarming. Tudge delivered a National Press Club address on the day Australian white nationalist terrorist Brenton Tarrant was sentenced, but made no reference to the rising threat of white supremacist extremism or Islamophobia. The only reference he made was to ‘Islamic extremism’. These politicians leave Australian Muslims at a disappointing loss.
CANADIAN POLICE INVESTIGATING TORONTO MOSQUE BREAK-IN
Authorities in Canada are investigating a break-in vandalism to a Toronto mosque. The caretaker at the Baitul Jannah Islamic Centre, at Kingston Road and Brimley Road, Scarborough, discovered the break-in when he opened the mosque at around 5:30 a.m. Sunday for morning prayer. “I am deeply disturbed by the vandalism targeting the Baitul Jannah Islamic Centre in Toronto. Islamophobia has no place in Canada and we will continue to take action to make our communities feel safe,” Prime Minister, Justine Trudeau, tweeted. Police said break-ins occurred at the mosque in March and April as well as June, but authorities said it was too early in the investigation to call the latest incident a hate crime. However, the police hate crimes unit has been notified.
POLICE RELEASE 600 MUSLIMS ARRESTED AT MOSQUE IN MOSCOW
Security forces released approximately 600 Muslims who were arrested at a mosque in Moscow. “All those arrested have been released,” lawyer Mariya Krasova told the Russian TASS news agency. Earlier, another lawyer, Lidiya Anosova, told TASS that police detained the community in the Kotelniki district of Moscow. Anasova said the identities of the detainees are being checked and no charges have yet been filed. The Press Service of the Moscow Regional Administration of the country’s Interior Ministry said that information about the detention was being monitored.
SRI LANKAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DEMAND WOMEN QUAZIS
The Sri Lankan cabinet in March, 2021 decided to abolish the Quazi courts which are Islamic Shariah courts adjudicating marriage and divorce disputes among Muslims. The Quazi courts were to be substituted by family courts. But if family courts could not be established, cases could be taken up by the district courts, the cabinet said. However, these decisions are yet to be implemented. Muslim women’s rights activists want women to be appointed as Quazis. They want litigants to be allowed to appeal to the mainstream courts system in the country. They also want the Ministry of Justice, which appoints the Quazis, to ensure that the Quazis (male or female) have formal legal qualifications to enable them to proceed and judge in a proper way. Muslim theologians have been divided on the issue of appointing women as Quazis from the earliest times in Islamic history.
JAKIM INTRODUCES NEW DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES ON ISLAMIC TOURISM
The Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) to develop Malaysia’s Islamic tourism by enhancing the latter’s Institut Pengajian Islam dan Dakwah Sabah (IPDAS). With the collaboration, IPDAS is now able to provide new Islamic tourism programmes which are Diploma in Islamic Tourism, Diploma in Creative Teachings, Diploma in Digital Teachings, and Bachelor of Contemporary Teachings. These will be added alongside the institute’s existing programmes which are currently the Certificate of Foundation in Islamic Studies and Teachings (SAPID), Certificate of Islamic Studies (SPI) and the Diploma in Islamic Teachings (DDI). ITC would also train both IPDAS’ academic staff and industry players to have a broader understanding of Islamic Tourism and Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality (MFTH).
NGO TAKES DOWN MERDEKA VIDEO GONE WRONG
A video produced by a Muslim NGO, very likely to promote unity among Malaysians, backfired when it was seen to be perpetuating stereotypes – and has since been taken down. The video which went viral shows a Malay father describing Indians and Chinese in derogatory terms and stereotypes them as gangsters and drunk drivers. In the minute-long video commissioned by Ikram for Merdeka, a father is seen on a chair looking at videos on his phone while his son does his homework at a nearby table and his mother cleans a table in the background. The video then has the boy saying: “I was not born racist, but I was taught”. Throughout the video, a disclaimer on the top says, “The racist words observed in this video are for filming purposes only and should not be practised at all.”
FATIMA FIRST WOMAN TO WIN ISLAMIC ART AWARD
Fatima Killeen, a graduate of ANU’s School of Arts and Design’s First-Class Honorary Painting, won her award for her collage “The Crooked Narrative” printed on paper. A respected member of the ACT art community, she was born in Morocco but has lived in Australia with her husband and family for many years. Her work has been exhibited in more than 60 solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Jordan and Morocco, and is held at the Australian National University, Australian National University, Australian Human Rights Commission and National Museum of Australia. And the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, which hosts the awards she just won. She has won the International Honorary Award for Moroccan Art and Culture and the 2016 Australia / Africa Excellence Award. Her grenade award-winning image was designed with the pomegranate in mind and is part of the pun, which means “grenade” in French.