[OMJ]

Islam — Fastest Growing Faith in Australia
By: Ridwaan Jadwat*, Special to Arab News
25 October 2002

On Monday, Oct. 7, I had the honor to represent Australia and hundreds of thousands of Australian Muslims at the washing of the Holy Kaaba ceremony in Makkah. It was the fourth time that I have been granted the privilege of entering the inner sanctum of the Kaaba and performing prayers inside Islam’s holiest site. It remains a vivid and deeply moving experience.

My invitation to Makkah and the warm welcome that I received from my Saudi hosts and diplomatic colleagues, represents a symbolic acknowledgment that Australia’s cultural and religious diversity is recognized throughout the world.

Islam’s presence in Australia predates European settlement. In the early 16th century, Makassan fishermen from the east Indonesian archipelago were the first Muslims to visit Australia and trade with the indigenous Aboriginal community. In the 19th century, Afghan Muslim camel drivers played an important role in the exploration and opening up of the interior of the Australian continent. Today, Islam is one of the fastest growing faiths in Australia, and Muslims are a vital and integral part of the rich mosaic of Australian society.

In the past 25 years, the Australian Muslim community has significantly expanded. According to the 2001 census, the Muslim community constituted 281,578 people, an increase of 40 percent since the 1996 census and an overall rise of 91 percent in the last decade. And these figures may be very conservative. Some recent estimates suggest Australian Muslims now number between 350,000-450,000.

Australian Muslims are ethnically diverse and come from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. Some 35 percent of Australian Muslims were born in Australia, and the rest immigrated to Australia from over 70 different countries, including Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

There are almost 100 mosques and over 20 Muslim schools in Australia. Reflecting the increasing recognition in Australia of the Islamic faith, Commonwealth and state governments have introduced flexible work hours on Fridays to make it easier for Muslim workers to attend a mosque and observe Juma prayers. Public streets are closed every year of Eid-ul Fitr and Eid-ul Adha to accommodate the tens of thousands of worshipers who attend Eid prayers at mosques such as Lakemba Mosque in Sydney, home to Australia’s largest Muslim congregation.

Islamic community centers, student associations, halal butchers and restaurants are found in every major city in Australia. The peak Islamic authority in Australia is the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC), which is the umbrella organization of Islamic councils from Australia’s various states and territories.

The Australian government recently announced a partnership program with AFIC. The partnership will include employing a journalist to work with the media toward a better understanding of Islam and Muslims in Australia, through facilitating informed and accurate reporting and producing information, articles, and media releases on Islam and Muslims.

Australian Muslims are doctors, lawyers, academics, diplomats, police officers, members of the defense force, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, and laborers. Muslims have contributed much to Australia’s political, economic, and social life, and have cemented their place in Australia’s religious and cultural landscape.

They occupy an increasingly important place on the Australian public square, and are embracing opportunities to participate in a tolerant, inclusive and culturally diverse Australia.

*Mr. Ridwaan Jadwat is second secretary at the Australian Embassy in Riyadh

This post has been edited by OziMedia-Junkie: 30 October 2004 - 05:03 AM

[GreenOz]

Alhamdullilah

Why wouldn't Islam be the fastest growing faith in Australia (or anywhere in the world really) if it is a religion that appeals to the 'intellect'. Australia allows for the opportunity to have freedom of mind, and once used, would naturally progress to the realisation that Islam is rational. Islam should be understood in its 'whole' and not dissected as is usually the case when Islam is presented in the media.

Peace
Hanan

[farkwald]

I've seen this sort of view in many countries. 'Islam is the fastest growing religion in USA, UK, on the planet, in the universe, etc...'

However, I wonder about the long-term conversion rate and the sincerity of the new converts. I've only met a couple Muslim converts. However, over the years I've had several friends and workmantes who became Buddhists, Hare Krishna's, Bahai's etc and years later when I run into them guess what? They are no longer practising the faith they so avidly converted to. I'd be interested to see how many Muslim converts hang around. Not disputing the claims mind you, just don't believe they hold up in the long term.

[Kafr]

The growth in numbers of people practicing Islam is almost exclusively due to the high birth rate of moslems and the declining mortality rate.

It has nothing at all to do with people "converting" to islam.

[Sam]

Hi farkweld,

I'm a convert and I don't ever see myself practicing anything besides Islam. None of the other converts I know have changed back either. But that's not to say there arent any.. but none that I know of.

To be honest, I'm not hung up on numbers tho.. I'd rather see quality, rather than quantity.

Regards
Sam

[farkwald]

As a convert you'd be in a position to see a local trend.

I saw a stat in the US a while back to say that local converts in the Washington area dropped back significantly in their masjid prayer attendance over a two-year period. However, it didn't go much beyond that to analyze reasons or look in the wider US Muslim community for any trends. It's an area all religions grapple with no doubt. How to keep those customers....... :wink:

[Sam]

Hi farkwald,

I think most muslims will tell you that their iman goes up and down at various times throughout their life, and I have found this to be the case. We are just human after all.

Here is a nice definition of iman that I found:

"The root of the word Iman is a-m-n which means: to be calm and quiet (in one’s heart); to be protected from fear; trustworthiness and truthfulness (Taj al-Urus). Iman means to accept truthfully, to be convinced, to verify something, to rely upon or have confidence in something. Iman is usually translated in English as faith or belief, and faith in turn signifies acceptance without proof or argument, without reference to reason or thought, knowledge or insight. According to the Qur’an, Iman is conviction which is based upon reason and knowledge; a conviction that results from full mental acceptance and intellectual satisfaction; the kind of conviction that gives one a feeling of inner contentment and peace. And a Mu’min is one who accepts truth in such a way that it ensures his own peace and helps him to safeguard the peace and security of the rest of mankind. In fact, Al-Mu’min is one of the attributes of God Himself(59:23)."

Regards
Sam

[souLja]

the fastest growing religion in australia is in fact buddhism...

Quote

The fastest growing religion in Australia is Buddhism -- the census recorded 357,813 Buddhists in 2001, nearly 80 per cent more than in 1996.

[Wolf]

You're right Soulja. The actual figures are:

2001 1996 % increase
Buddhism 135,844 75,977 78.8
Islam 134,146 96,617 38.8

but they are still the two fastest growing religions.

Wasalam
Wolf

[Jaydee]

Last I heard Paganism was the fastest growing.

[Niche]

I heard that too jaydee, but then i heard buddhism. Who knows. Whats the big fuss anyway about islam being the fastest growing even if it was, because it has one of the highest drop out rates too which shows we as muslims are doing something severly wrong about displaying the true picture of who we are. Or is this what we have become and are doomed to remain for a while yet? I pray we wake up and change our states to show what we are really about and stop letting the minorities and idiots have all the say in the media.

one such group that i am proud of is Al ghazali centre. They hold events in the true spirit of what our religon is about but none more so than the fast to feed project which is a very humane thing to do and what our religon is about anyway.

When we lost humanity and sensitivity in our spiritu-religous ways we lost the soul of our religon and a body without a soul decays very quickly.

Thank you afroz and other groups who sit there resucitating the corpse that has become the ummah in hope that some soul is left in us.

I urge non-muslims not to look at the community as an indication of what islam is about but rather to approach reputable groups such as Al Ghazali center and others who are positively spreading the real truth of our religon.

[Astral]

Islam is not a fast growing religion only because people are 'seeing the light' and converting to it. Another major factor to be considered is the birth rates amongst Muslims. And as farkwald mentioned (and Niche mentioned in another thread) just how many of those converting actually stay Muslim? How many people who say they are Muslim actually practice Islam?

In regards to Buddhism being the fastest growing religion in Australia. Well there are a number of reasons for that too (other than birth rates). Australia is situated in the south pacific, neighbouring other Asia countries. Australia has a high Asian population. And as more and more are intergrated into the mainstream society more and more white Australians (and others) are being exposed to Buddhism. Islam's biggest boost would probably have to be after September 11.

Also...this is a very rough guess of mine but... I think the way people answer the census questions also makes a difference. I think I can safely say (without generalising too much) that more and more young Australians choose to not associate themselves with a religion even though their parents are Christian. I mean, they might celebrate Easter, Christmas, and even scream "Jesus Christ!"... or, they may even talk of God in the Christian sense. But on the census they either say "choose not to disclose" or "agnostic". This is because I have found that a lot of young born Christians are doubting the church n stuff.

Whereas Muslim youths for example I think are taught to be proud of their heritage and taught not to doubt it. I mean when I was in highschool for example, I would see Turkish and Lebanese boys and girls boast their Turkish/Lebanese/Muslim heritage but they would not even behave like a cultural Turk or cultural Lebanese or like a Muslim. Australians don't seem to care about nationalism all that much. They occassionally get provoked by the government with rants like "this is in our nation's interest to go to war' n stuff but as a society i think Australia's are more concerned about the easy life..the surf, the bbq, the night life...

well, I hope I am making sense... and I don't mean to offend anyone...


ma'assalama,
shyness.

[Mowlana Vector]

Non-Christian Religions In Australia 2001



Australian Social Trends: Religious Affiliation & Activity

Religion by Australian States & Territories

Fact Sheet: Australian Muslims

HEROC Report: Muslim Australians

Buddhism, Hinduism & Islam among Fastest Growing Religions in Australia

Muslims Beat Cook to Australia: Muslim Leader

FURTHER READING:

Tradition and Change: Australian Churches and the Future

The New Believers

Sectarianism Australian Style

Hyped To The Heavens

Death, Mortality & Religious Diversity

Chasing Paradise

3 Faces Of Hope

[Sam]

JazakAllah for that 4UEyes

I'll say again what I said before - quality, not quantity.

If I'm not mistaken, when Islam ruled India, Muslims were the minority.

salaams
sam

[Mowlana Vector]

Quote

... I'll say again what I said before - quality, not quantity... 

hear, hear

Also, I guess, it's time to fully rethink our self-defeating ghetto philosophy, media apathy & illiteracy; and move toward some tactically-minded & much-needed practical communicative strategies ... Insha'Allah

W'salaam

[idriys]

.

[idriys]

:idea:

[idriys]

As a revert, I go with the quality before quantity argument; which is backed up by the Qur'an: but I can't remember the quote: something in the order of: ...do you not think that you will be tested and, if failing in faith, another people ... So! Don't get hang up on the various Chauvinisms and other forms of shirk, lest the cUmma's geography changes quite dramatically. At least, in its centres of influence.

[Mowlana Vector]

Quote

Islam - Is It A Food?
"What is Islam - is it something to eat?" ask the children at Garstang. "What colour are Muslims?" The hands fly up. Someone says brown, another black, and another white. "What about blue, green and yellow?" says Anwar. The children giggle. "So what makes me a Muslim?" A boy says it is because she has brown skin. "So when you go to Barbados and get a suntan does that mean you are then a Muslim?"

MORE HERE ...

[Mowlana Vector]

Muslim Community Meets with Parliamentarians
Source: AMCRAN (18 June 2004)



A group of seven Muslim community representatives from various organisations visited Parliament on 17 June 2004. A total of three meetings were held: first, with the Greens and Senator Kerry Nettle, secondly with ALP Members of Parliament Laurie Ferguson, Stephen Smith and Robert McLelland, and finally with Democrat Senators Andrew Bartlett and Aden Ridgeway. The meetings were organised by Diana Abdul Rahman.
The meetings were to discuss issues important to the Muslim community. Topics covered in rough order of priority as discussed with the political parties were:

==> The effects of the anti-terrorism legislation on the Muslim community.
==> The high levels of racism towards the Muslim Community as exhibited by the Isma3 report issued by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commisssion.
==> The status of refugees in detention.
==> Support for Muslim Women's groups.
==> Requesting that the parties take more balanced positions with respect to international situations.

It was also an opportunity to let the parliamentarians know about the engagement between Muslims and the rest of the community. In particular, an example of the Islamic Auxiliary of the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne that raised over $200,000 for the Royal Children's Hospital.



A letter outlining the key issues was left with the parliamentarians. It is hoped that responses will be received outlining each of their parties' responses to the issues, and the responses will be posted on the AMCRAN Web site, so that Muslims and Australians can make well-informed decisions on these particular issues.



The immediate impact of the meeting was shown when that evening at 8:00pm Senator Kerry Nettle stood up in the Senate and outlined the concerns of the group that had come to meet her, with respect to the Anti-Terrorism Amendments.

The people who attended the meeting were:

Diana Abdul Rahman.
Keith (Ghayth) AlHasani.
Noor Dean.
Dawood Goddard.
Jamila Hussain.
Waleed Kadous.
Asmi Wood.

It was planned that two other people would attend but they couldn't make it due to unforeseen circumstances.

Bilal Cleland.
Kuranda (Seyfi) Seyit.
=================

SEE ALSO

MWNNA : The Learn to Lobby Workshop

[Mowlana Vector]

Muslim Australians Speak Out
By: Sarah Stephen
GLW (14 July 2004)

Green Left Weekly asked a number of people active in Sydney's Muslim community to share their views on why anti-Muslim prejudice has developed such roots in recent years, and what can be done to change it.

Dr Akbar Khan, president of the Islamic Association of the Western Suburbs, Sydney, is deeply concerned about the implications of Australia's “anti-terrorism” laws, and initiated a public meeting in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn on June 19, with speakers from across the political spectrum. It attracted a crowd of some 500 people.

Khan explained that he felt it was important to let the public know the real story about the anti-terror laws, that they were mainly being used against Muslims at the moment, but that they may be used against other groups in future.

“The news media is against us. People are only getting one side of the story; we need to make them aware of the whole truth”, Khan told GLW. “People tell me I shouldn't be doing this, but someone has to take the courage to tell the truth.” He labelled the series of arrests of Muslim Australians on terrorism charges “an election stunt”, adding: “The government wants to frighten and terrorise the people, convince them that the government is doing the right thing.”

GLW also spoke to Waleed Kadous and Agnes Chong, who set up the Sydney-based Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network (AMCRAN) in May. The group has published a know-your-rights booklet for Muslims called ASIO, the Police and You, to be launched at the end of this month.

Asked why so many people have been sucked in by the fear campaign against Muslims and terrorism, Kadous said: “People are likely to ascribe behaviours to `others' that they would never consider doing themselves. One unfortunate example of this was the Tampa affair. The idea that anyone would be willing to throw their kids overboard to get into a country is just ridiculous. We would never, for example, think that people from Britain or France could do such a thing. But because they don't know Arab or Islamic culture, they think that Muslims could do such a thing.”

Asked whether she thought Islamophobia was intertwined with racism, Chong pointed out that “people do not seem to realise that Muslims cannot be defined as any race, or an ethnic group. Yet people insist on labelling Muslims as Arabs, or Lebanese only, while there are Muslims on every continent of various racial and ethnic backgrounds.”

Kadous said: “I think the government has a track record of `wedging' the community. In the 1998 election it was against the Aboriginal community, in 2001 it was against boat people, and it looks like in 2004, it's the Muslim community's turn.”

Khan expressed his disgust at the refusal of the Labor Party to oppose the Coalition government's agenda, pointing out: “If a person with guts stood up and opposed Howard, it could make a difference.”

Khan said he was happy to work with anybody who is prepared to tell the truth about what the government is doing. He felt that solidarity between Muslims and non-Muslims was very important, citing as an example the open day that took place at the Rooty Hill mosque on July 4. “For people who have the wrong idea about Muslims, who wonder what goes on inside of a mosque, they can come and find out.”

Kadous and Chong both agreed that solidarity between Muslims and non-Muslims was important. Chong told GLW: “The voice of a victim crying foul does not have the same weight as the testimony of a bystander. If we work together I think the voices will be much stronger and we would be much more likely to make a difference.”

Kadous pointed out: “In the particular case of AMCRAN, we have had great support from the non-Muslim community, from organisations like the Civil Rights Network, the UTS Community Law Centre, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, the Greens and Green Left Weekly. Plus we have also received a lot of support and encouragement from countless individuals, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.”

Chong added: “When we first approached these organisations about our anti-terrorism know-your-rights booklet they were all very supportive and enthusiastic. I think people realise that this is an important issue that is really slowly eating away our civil rights (and sanity) that needs to be addressed.”

“Muslims are in many cases involved with the peace groups around Sydney, because almost all of them oppose the war on Iraq”, Kadous explained. “I think what's exciting about this work is that it is bringing people on both sides into contact with one another.”
========================================
SEE ALSO:



Howard’s Racist Country: A Better Australia Is Possible

[Mowlana Vector]

Book Tells How Muslims Are Stereotyped
By: Ellen Connolly
The Sydney Morning Herald ( 6 Auguest 2004)



Arab and Muslim Australians are the victims of increasing vilification and violence because of the "moral panic" perpetuated by politicians and some sections of the media, a new book says.

Bin Laden in the Suburbs , which was launched last night, describes the emergence of "the Arab Other, a figure of fear that is created in the national imagination".

Associate Professor Scott Poynting, a co-author of the book, said entire Muslim communities were being stereotyped as dangerous, barbaric and disrespectful of Western laws.

Dr Poynting said they were perceived as "little bin Ladens in the suburbs".

He said the demonising of the "Arab Other" began during the first Gulf War and experienced an upsurge after September 11, 2001, and the Bali bombings.

The Australian Arabic Council recorded a 20-fold rise in reports of discrimination and vilification of Arab Australians in the month after September 11, 2001.

Professor Jock Collins, another of the co-authors, said that the idea of the "Arab Other" reinforced processes of national belonging and had "everything to do with social anxieties and moral panics."
=====================================================

Bin Laden in the Suburbs: Criminalising the Arab Other

Extracts from Launch Speech (5 August 2004)
By: Joseph Wakim OAM (Founder of Australian Arabic Council)

Thanks for invitation by four authors to officially launch their new book and congratulations to the Sydney Institute of Criminology.

It is a timely chronicle of this dark chapter in Australia's history. A chapter when the dark enemy beyond became the enemy within - lurking, incubating, dormant, cellular. When Australian turned against fellow Australian. When our Arab phobia was so overbearing that we became scared of our own shadows.

The book paints the picture of Arabs being framed as 'folk devils' on three fronts: international terrorism, national refugees and local gangs.

Picture yourself gazing out of your besieged homes through the windows, fogged up through all our panting, anticipating the other. Then picture your reaction when you realise that the window is actually a mirror.

We raise our hands to our cheeks and exclaim: "What have we done? Who have we become?” It is a scene reminiscent of the 1990 cartoon-like block-buster "Home Alone". The besieged child barricades the windows, sets up booby traps for the invaders, and realises how desperate and vulnerable he is when unprotected by parental power. Are we so spiritually parentless as a nation that we need to replace Mother England with Uncle Sam?

The mirror reflects how we have been seduced by simplistic stereotypes and how we have been systematically manipulated to harden our hearts against those who want to rape our innocence and "take advantage of us as a soft touch" (p122). By the end of the book, you will see who in fact has used the politics of fear and treated us as a soft-headed target.

The book provides some sobering statistics to help us see the unfogged mirror in its entirety, clarity and depth, rather than the smoke screen of reactive generalisations that we have been fed. It challenges each myth with the sobering question: show me the evidence? …

This book helps Australians to map out these realities in the cold light of day, rather than in the heat of media deadlines and media headlines.

It debunks the pathological paradigm for understanding criminal behaviour and reminds us of "the dynamics of economic inequality, globalisation, social change or international politics" (p201).

The book untangles and deconstructs the many stereotypes which have been rolled into one interwoven "otherness".

The authors pursue its expose without fear of favour: it does not defend ethnic community leaders, youth workers, religious clergy and even the "other within the other" (p196). … The cover of the book reveals the existence of Arab Road in Padstow, near Bankstown. It is peculiar that there is a Howard Rd parallel to it, so I explored whether Arab Rd and Howard Rd ever converge, perhaps down the track. Sadly, not at all.

I am not going to say that this book is so gripping that you cannot put it down. On the contrary, it is so loaded with spices that you need to put it down at the end of each chapter. Pardon the gastronomic metaphor, but please digest in small doses.

I am honoured to declare that Bin Laden in the Suburbs: criminalizing the Arab Other, is now launched and firing, not with falafel but with falafali (chilli peppers) !
=================================================

REVIEW:
Bin Laden in the Suburbs: Criminalising the Arab Other
By Scott Poynting, Greg Noble, Paul Tabar & Jock Collins ( Institute of Criminology, 333 pp, $49.95)

Reviewer: Bruce Elder
Section: The Spectrum, The Sydney Morning Herald (6 November 2004, P. 13)

If you have been looking for a powerful, fact-based antidote to all the implicit and explicit anti-Muslim racism that has choked the media (and particularly the opinion pages ) over the past few years, then this hard-hitting analysis of racism in modern Australia I compulsory reading.

Using the writings of all the usual media suspects (Miranda Devine, Piers Akerman, Padraic P. McGuinness, Janet Albrechtsen), and then extending their search into the fuzzy worlds of implied racism in news stories, letters to the editor and editorials, the authors dissect the way Australia has decided that all Arabs and Muslims are a danger to society.

What is most distressing about this book is the ease with which most of the outrageous claims , actively promoted by the media, are shown to be transparently wrong. For example: Yes, it was true that there was a spike in the number of sexual assaults in the Bankstown area (the average was 10 a month and there were 70 in June 1999) but the evidence shows “that they were mainly committed by a single individual who has since been charged, convicted and imprisoned”. So why did the media blame Arab Muslims? This is a damming indictment of all the powerbrokers: The media, politicians, legal and social services.
=========================================================

BACKGROUND INFO
==> "FAIR-GO" WATCH: The ISMA Report 2004

[Jaydee]

I've yet to read the book but I hope the auhor goes a bit further than the focus on the gang rape issue like it's the only thing that has attributed to the stereotype in the "nations imagination" pre 9/11

Quote

Professor Jack Collins, another of the co-authors, said that the idea of the "Arab Other" reinforced processes of national belonging and had "everything to do with social anxieties and moral panics."

I think professor Jack collins needs to get out more

[OMJ]

Campaign of Intimidation Against Muslim Leader
By: Eamonn Duff
The Sun-Herald (17 October 2004)

The leading spokesman for Australian Muslims revealed yesterday how he and his family have been subjected to a series of death threats.


Living in fear: Keysar Trad with his wife Hanifeh and their family outside
their home in Yagoona. Photo: Lee Besford

Keysar Trad, public spokesman for the Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilaly, has received more than a hundred intimidating letters and phone messages over the past three years. But in recent months, the campaign has intensified.

In one letter delivered to his office, Mr Trad was warned: "There is a bullet set aside for you at your next public appearance."

Another read: "The hooked knives are ready to disembowel you."

Mr Trad also revealed how his family awoke on Good Friday to find a severed pig's head dumped on the bonnet of their car. In the latest incident, a fortnight ago, his 14-year-old daughter discovered two pig's trotters stuffed inside a letter box.

Bankstown police Local Area Commander Mick Plotecki said the matter was being treated "very seriously" and that an investigation was under way to establish who might be behind the campaign.

Speaking for the first time about his terrifying ordeal, Mr Trad said: "I am trying to not let these events unnerve me but it is hard when someone is clearly going to so much trouble.

"The problem is, I can't say for sure who is behind all this.

"The threats have occurred at different times, when I have spoken in public on a range of unrelated issues.

"Some of the threats have originated from outside the Muslim community. But with others, I am not so sure. For that reason, it would be wrong for me to point the finger at anyone in particular."

As public spokesman for Sheikh Al Hilaly, Mr Trad has constantly found himself defending the religious leader over comments which were claimed to have been translated incorrectly.

He has been a vocal opponent of the Federal Government's stance on refugee and war-related issues. He has also been instrumental in developing inter-faith harmony through a series of events which brought Muslims, Christians and other Australians from various religious backgrounds together in the name of friendship.

"It's a true honour for anyone to hold a job which provides the opportunity to make a real difference," Mr Trad said. "But in the past year, I have had to question whether all this is worth it. I would never want my safety, or my family's safety, compromised by the work I do."

Mr Trad's wife, Hanifeh, said she was upset and disappointed. "My husband fights for harmony but clearly there are people out there who do not want the same," she said.

Mrs Trad added the threats had been particularly hard for her children to comprehend.

"Our children are proud Australians, raised to accept everyone and everything as one. But when this kind of thing occurs, it challenges what they know and confuses them. They don't understand why people would want to make such threats, especially when they see how hard their dad works in an effort to promote peace."

Mr Trad appealed to the individuals behind the threats to end the campaign against him.

"Through my work, I am always accessible. My phone number, the place where I work, the details are available to everyone," he said.

"To these people, I'd just like to say that if you do have problems with me, please come and address them face to face. It is not fair to put my family, or me, through this."

===============================================

This post has been edited by OziMedia-Junkie: 21 October 2004 - 02:55 AM

[Mowlana Vector]

Husic Victim of Slur on Islam, Says MP

[Mowlana Vector]

Jaydee, on Aug 5 2004, 08:32 PM, said:

...

Quote
Professor Jack Collins, another of the co-authors, said that the idea of the "Arab Other" reinforced processes of national belonging and had "everything to do with social anxieties and moral panics."

I think professor Jack collins needs to get out more



I think U need to take this out of your imagination and read some (more of Collins & Co) books

[Mowlana Vector]

An Islamo-Aussie Outlook:

Impact of Muslim Presence in the Western World

[Jaydee]

Quote

I think U need to take this out of your imagination and read some (more of Collins & Co) books

I think YOU should also get out more. Collins' and posse give very shallow conclusions on a much deeper scenario. But that's ok, you keep your head buried in his books, or should I say sand

[Mowlana Vector]

Jaydee, on Oct 29 2004, 06:22 PM, said:

I think YOU should also get out more. Collins' and posse give very shallow conclusions on a much deeper scenario. But that's ok, you keep your head buried in his books, or should I say sand



I think it's much better to get out of this thread ... for good

Jaydee, your reductionist reading of undesirable critiques always fascinates me

Pulllleeeeesssseee, don't start yet another of those threads like that one, remember ???

Have U actually read " Collins' & posse" book(s)? Or is this (mis)reading like one of those Jaydeean (academic) assessments?

BTW, my policy (still) stands

(me back keeping my head more buried in books ... )

[Mowlana Vector]

Jails on Alert Over Muslim Converts
By: Alex Mitchell
The Sun-Herald (31 October 2004)

A security alert has been declared in NSW jails and the activities of the growing number of convicts who are converting to Islam will be monitored.

One imam has been stopped from visiting jails after prison authorities became concerned about his firebrand religious message.

NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham said jail converts were instantly recognisable when they shaved their heads and grew beards.

"We have prisoners who are walking the walk and talking the talk of overseas terrorist groups," he said. "They've picked up the rhetoric and become extremely dangerous."

He said prisoners on the high security list would have their mail intercepted and copied, their phone calls monitored, their visitors strictly vetted and no physical contact allowed.

Special surveillance of Muslim prisoners in NSW follows overseas evidence that jails have become a recruiting ground for terrorist organisations.

While in Washington for the US-Australia Leadership Dialogue Group in June, Premier Bob Carr was briefed on Islamic conversions in jail.

In Madrid last week, a judge warned that Spain's jails were breeding grounds for Islamic militants after filing terrorism charges against 17 people who allegedly plotted to ram a truck packed with explosives into the National Court.

Spanish prison director Mercedes Gallizo has ordered a detailed report on all prison incidents involving Muslim inmates after it was revealed that the truck bomb plot was hatched by the "Martyrs for Morocco" who were jailed for last year's train bombing in Madrid.

Mr Woodham said about 20 hardline criminals had embraced the Muslim faith in the past couple of years; others were studying the Koran.

Covert conversions were causing major concern.

Mr Woodham is to ask prison chiefs from all states and territories for complementary legislation across Australia so national security prisoners can be transferred from one state jurisdiction to another.
=============================================================

SEE ALSO

Convertitis - or the Case of the Insta-Scholar

A Proposal: Development of Da'wah Efforts in Australia

Resource Watch: New Muslims

How Did You Accept Islam?

Islam Attracts Converts by the Thousands, Drawn Before and After 9/11 Attacks

Muslims in Australia: A Brief History

Facts on Australian Muslims

Australian New Muslim Association

Converts in the Houses of the Lord

Australian Muslim Converts Stories

From Mosman 2 Islam

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