More ridiculous claims against Dr Abdalla

If ‘secretive’, as claimed by The Australian, then the Tabligh Jamaat (TJ) group must be one of the worst kept secrets in the Muslim world. Established in India in the 1920s, TJ has a presence in over 80 countries around the world. The main activities of the apolitical movement are to encourage Muslims to be more religiously observant, particularly in terms of prayer, charity, and fasting, as well as to provide social support to Muslims who are isolated, sick, or disadvantaged. Muslims associated with the TJ spend considerable time in mosques and regularly make spiritual journeys to mosques in different towns, states, and countries.

In Australia, the TJ operates with the full knowledge and support of the mosques in which its members are present. Although many Muslims see TJ members as conservative in terms of their views and appearance, they are generally appreciated for their simplicity and reminders of traditional Islamic values, norms, and manners. While actual TJ members generally comprise only a small proportion of the congregation in most Australian mosques, it is not uncommon for large numbers of the congregation to join TJ study circles after prayers to listen to narrations of Prophetic traditions.

It is this traditional focus that attracted Dr Mohamad Abdalla to the movement in his younger days. While he is not a leader of the TJ, he maintains a close association with the group as he does with various other organisations within the Muslim community. As Acting Imam of the Kuraby Mosque for many years, Dr Abdalla was expected to develop positive relations with various Muslim groups and to build bridges of tolerance and understanding between the Muslim community and the wider Australian society. He is widely acknowledged for his success in both these regards.

Time and again Dr Abdalla has been a voice of forgiveness and restraint. In the aftermath of the burning down of the Kuraby Mosque in September 2001, it was Dr Abdalla who calmed the Muslim community and began working with various levels of government on engagement strategies. He has subsequently played this role at times of other major issues such as the Cronulla riots. Dr Abdalla should be judged on his work; false assumptions and innuendos are no bases for a fair assessment of this important Australian figure. It is unbecoming for The Australian as the national daily of this country to tolerate sensationalist, inflammatory, and biased journalism like that of Richard Kerbarj. Mr Kerbarj has previously been proven to have written misleading articles but has chosen to not correct these. A correction is expected this time.

Statement endorsed by:

Ikbal Patel
President, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils

Suliman Sabdia
President, Islamic Council of Queensland
(Representative body of 16 Islamic Societies of Queensland)

Shaykh Moez Nafti
Australian National Council of Imams

Imam Yusuf Peer
Chairman, Queensland Council of Imams

Dr Mohamad Hanief Khatree
President, Muslim Business Network

Mahmood Surtie
Kuraby Mosque

Naseem Abdul
Islamic Society of Gold Coast

Mustafa Ally
Crescents of Brisbane

Nora Amath
Managing Director, AMARAH inc.

I personally would also endorse the comments contained in this letter. I have seen the Tablighi Jamaat travelling to remote parts of Australia where isolated Muslim communities have benefited from their teaching, much as many years ago Anglican priests travelled the outback as part of the Bush Brotherhood ministering to the needs of isolated country Australians. My limited interaction with them has always confirmed their refusal to be involved in political Islam, preferring to focus on the spiritual development of the individual. To castigate a prominent and responsible academic such as Mohamad Abdulla for supposedly being a member of the TJ 'clergy' (not an appropriate term for Muslim academics as we do not have a 'church' institution)
is once again contributing to the tide of Islamphobia that directly discourages the excellent work many of our prominent Muslim Australians are struggling to perform.

The Danger of Misperceptions about Griffith Uni

Published yesterday in the Australian was a second attack on Griffith University and in particular the Islamic Research Unit established by Dr. Mohamad Abdalla. Citing Judge Wall - who has suddenly become an expert both on Islamist influences in the West as well as Islamic extremist theology - the Oz claims that because a donation was made by Saudi Arabia to the centre, that it necessarily follows the centre must be akin to a Pakistani madrassah.
Not only is this an insult to the students who attend Griffith University, but it certainly shows that the Oz considers our universities to be entirely unaccountable when it comes to the content of their teaching. What an outrage to relate any Australian University – with their emphases on critical thinking, academic writing and sound research to madrassahs which are typically based on rote learning at a very elementary level.

Or is this deep insight based on Dr. Mohamad Abdalla’s beard, cap and gown? Is his centre being publicly rejected with the same small mindedness frequently accorded a woman wearing hijab?

Muslim Australians are being encouraged by their leaders and peers to enrol in higher education courses that allow them to expand their knowledge and critically analyse the more modern and extreme teachings that have become a common part of the discourse surrounding Islam. Centres such as the one at Griffith and Melbourne provide an excellent opportunity for such students to continue the long tradition of academic scholarship that existed for centuries prior to the European Renaissance, which established the University system that is universally accepted today, and on which modern Western education is based.

By denigrating such rigorously supervised Islamic centres, journalists and newspapers the likes of Richard Kerbaj and the Oz, run the risk of derailing this necessary step of bringing young Muslim minds into modern academic discourse. If they are denigrated along with their mainstream Australian institutions, they may very well be driven into studying in a Pakistani madrassah instead.

Irfan Yusuf has very capably delivered a very good read with his usual witty sense of humour – for a good read - Planet Irf

Peace Forum

The Columban Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice organised another of its frequent Peace Forums at which I once again pleased to contribute. The Peace Forums discuss the origins and solutions for peace that exist in each of our religions - in this case from two Christian speakers and two Muslim speaker.
The event was held in the Sydney CBD - in the Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts in Pitt St, and the turn out - as well as the organisation - was excellent. In my case I focussed on the element of compassion in Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem - In the Name of God the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, which pious Muslims are required to say before they perform any act. Combined with this attitude of compassion are the rigorous guidelines of the Shariah - the comprehensive yet flexible parameters which have been debated and moulded over many centuries - a system which ensures security and justice while limiting the negative attractions of society - alcohol, gambling and adultery amongst others. There are also many initiatives being undertaken in all parts of the world, to bring about peace, a state of being that cannot exist without a concurrent feeling of justice.

Ethical Economics

I was fortunate to be invited to attend a luncheon with an ethical economics advocate in the person of Dr. Kamran Mofid - shown here third from the left - who is a renowned international speaker, academic and writer who spoke to an assembled group of business and faith community leaders at the premises of GHK Ferrier Green Krejci at the invitation of the Edmund Rice Centre. Dr. Kamran (http://www.commongood.info/mofid.html) is passionate about the terrible ethical state of the world's population, the division between rich and poor, and is confident of the potential use of economics as a tool to bring about positive change. Of course, for most of us the economic drive is commonly seen as the ultimate cause of our consuming materialistic world, but Dr. Mofid is convinced that economics can equally be used as a tool to bring about meaningful change, if it is used in an ethical manner.
His talk was enlightening, well grounded in the reality of today's economic environment and challenging spiritually. Although a Christian and born in Iran, he has actively called to other faiths to work together in overcoming some of the greatest injustices to humanity that exist today. He is the co-convenor of the "Globalisation for the Common Good" conference in Melbourne and is due to speak along with Seyyid Mohammad Khatami. (http://www.gcgmelbourne2008.info/)

Wonderful Malaysia!

Over the Easter weekend I was very privileged to be invited to speak at two main venues in Kuala Lumpur. The first was for the Muslim Professionals Forum which actively provides a number of services for the wider Malaysian community, although it is only a very young organisation, albeit run by a very educated and committed group of Muslims.
The second venue was a fundraising dinner for the Khilafah Institute Project School. The Khilafah Institute was established by a committed group of Muslims who had studied under the late Prof. Muhammad Al Mahdi. His specialty was in child psychology and also in Physics. During the past 10 years or so of his life, Prof al Mahdi had established a concept of khalifat responsibility that he desired all Muslims to adopt. Amongst his numerous teachings, he outlined three simple steps to follow -

1)To make ourselves good
2) To help others to become good
3) To keep the physical world safe, clean and beautiful

While there I was also privileged to meet with a number of private schools in Malaysia. It seems that the Islamic private educational sector has only been established in the past 15 years or so, and is still developing towards the senior years. Many of these schools have been established by individuals or by foundations, and are in the process of achieving long term plans for facilities and resources. Some of the challenges that these schools are facing include – a need to network with each other, share resources, ideas and lobby more effectively for resources; no government funding for school recurrent or capital funding; low fees and comparatively low wages paid to staff – which results in a high turnover as young graduates obtain experience in the private Islamic sector, and then move to the better paying government schools; minimal resources – libraries are often quite small, numbering less than 5,000 books per school; teacher training – while some training is done through the public or government sector, many of the teachers are only subject trained, but not trained in the specialties and techniques of teaching strategies, pastoral care, behaviour management etc; shortage of policies and accountability – there are many areas where regulation is missing from the government which would ensure that schools have high accountability standards in finances, Occupational Health and Safety, discipline, policies throughout the school in all areas, and so on. These are areas where the more established schools in South Africa, Australia, America, England and so on should step in, in order to support their colleagues and prevent the unnecessary ‘reinvention of the wheel’ – redoing and redesigning much of what is already available in most schools elsewhere.

Of course, one of the greatest challenges to Muslim schools today – in every part of the world – is the overall development of the Muslim child. With an increasing focus on competitive entry to Universities and other educational sectors, there is a tendency to focus on the immediate and apparent success of our schools through high academic achievement. Occasionally there is time to encourage a few of our graduates to master memorisation of large sections of the Quran, but the overall development of a pious, knowledge seeking Muslim who has the manners and attitude of the Prophet s.a.w. has largely escaped all of us. How schools and teachers can achieve such piety and practice of the Sunnah, while successfully avoiding ambitious consumerism and love of the world - is still the golden elixir that we compete to discover.

Faithways Walk

March 15th – a summery bright day, saw approximately 100 Muslims and Christians gather for the first Faithways walk in Sydney and possibly in Australia. Starting at Auburn Gallipolli mosque, and supported by local politicians and community organisations, there was a wonderful feeling of expectation and friendliness between the participants. After viewing the beautiful interior of the mosque and pairing up with someone new from another faith, the spiritual neighbours walked about 3 kilometres to St. Joachim’s – a vast cathedral of a church for another spiritual tour followed by a traditional Aussie barbeque. The attitude of all involved – particularly Father David Vaughan with his volunteer helpers and the Affinity troupe along with FAIR (Forum for Australian Islamic Relations) representing the Muslim crew – was open, willing and helpful. Teaming up to cook the sausages, cut the bread and hand out the drinks, Muslims and Christians who had never talked to each before, discovered the commonality of their humanity. The only fly in the ointment was a slightly parochial attitude of the mosque and its lack of hospitality and compassion to their visitors. The mosque – as with most houses of worship – should be a trust held on behalf of the community, not property that is owned and which the community should feel privileged to access.

An ethical lecture and an ethical retirement

Friday night witnessed the retirement dinner for Medinia Abdur Rahman, who has been serving as the Principal of Arkana for the past 18 years. As Principal of Arkana which is a small but effective school, Medinia has contributed substantially to the Muslim community through her work with Muslim Aid, MEFF and her numerous committee presences for the Association of Independent Schools. She has maintained an excellent relationship with her professional colleagues in the AIS who spoke strongly of her contribution to independent schooling and their personal respect for her. There are few Muslims who have been able to maintain such a professional status with their Australian peers, let alone the respect and admiration of the Muslim community she so admirably served for so many years. Arkana was the second Muslim school to be established in NSW after Al Noori, and the fourth to be opened in Australia. Insha Allah (God willing) the new breed of Principals who will be taking on the easier role of maintenance from their earlier pioneering forebears, will contribute as effectively and maintain a healthy respect for the work of those before them.
Kamran Homid
On Friday I was privileged to be invited to a business lunch with Dr. Kamran Mofid. An economics professor and long time lecturer, Dr. Kamran is passionate about the ethical responsibility of economists and the need for an ethical economy. His personal endeavour is to bring about a change of attitude in economists today, while recognising that the economy cannot be dismantled or substantially altered, his cry for a spiritual resurgence and a turning away from wealth and consumerism for its own sake found a surprisingly good response amongst the businessmen and lawyers who attended. Our society is struggling with growing poverty in the advanced as well as the developing world, high levels of depression, child abuse, wife battering, suicide, drug taking and overall unhappiness. Record numbers of adults let alone children are now being prescribed anti-depressants on a daily basis. For all of our wealth, our greed has not made us happy, and Dr. Kamran carried a vital message about the importance of balancing our love of this world with a spirituality that makes us less materialistic and more capable of finding happiness.