Issue 131 October 2016

Page 1

MUSLIM

AUSTRALASIAN

Multimedia News & Views

ISSN: 1039-2300

AMUST

Print Post Publication No. 100021354

Print edition published Monthly on first Friday with Website updates

Democracy & Dress Code

BOOMERANG PAGE 7

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Issue # 131

Jamila Hussain: Pioneer

COMMUNITY PAGE 9

October 2016; Muharram 1438

Ali’s Wedding: Film Review

LIFESTYLE PAGE 15

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Advice to HSC Students

EDUCATION PAGE 20

Commissioner addresses privacy concerns Zia Ahmad The NSW Privacy commissioner Dr Elizabeth Coombs addressed the issue of privacy during her lecture on Wednesday 21 September at the Sydney offices of Affinity Intercultural Foundation. There has been great anxiety in the community regarding the on-line census data collection that was considered very elaborate and thorough. Moreover, the technological hitches and breakdown of the system during the Census night marred the reputation of ABS. The formal collection period of the 2016 Census closed on 24 September. The Census will help distribute government funds and plan services the community. Part of the Affinity Lecture Series, the topic of Dr Coombs lecture was “What’s happening ~or not~ in privacy”, where she elaborated on the right to privacy and addressed concern from the audience on the security of

the data collected in the 2016 census. Before the commencement of the lecture, the audience were welcomed by Emeritus Professor Alan Knight from UTS Affinity Advisory Board member. The speaker was introduced by Professor Michael Adams from UWS. Dr Coombs referred to the Universal declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that include the rights to privacy. “The right to privacy is also established in international conventions such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities”, she said. She further added “ Recognising that Affinity seeks to nurture interfaith and intercultural learning, and to help build personal relationships between people of diverse faiths and backgrounds, I make the point that privacy is also integral to many faiths and for some worshippers, privacy is essential if they are to have freedom of worship

and to be able to practice their faith safely”. The Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights of 1981 has at Section 22 the right to privacy and the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, also includes the right to privacy. “NSW Privacy law, and there are two Acts – the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act, 2002, provide important privacy protections for NSW citizens in certain circumstances but I stress these are by no means comprehensive protections”, Dr Coombs admitted. In conclusion, she stated: Privacy is a fundamental human right worthy of legal protection. › There is public interest in protecting privacy. › Privacy enables other rights such as freedom of expression, and is a means to secure beneficial outcomes for society. › Privacy protection is a shared responsibility of individuals and organisations, as

Photo by Samet Erkut.

Dr Elizabeth Coombs. well as government and the Parliament. › Australian privacy law should: - Meet international standards. - Be adaptable to technological change. - Be clear, certain, coherent and consistent - Be accessible to citizens irrespective of financial status.

Call for Just Peace in Sheikh Fehmi Imam passed away aged 88 Palestine Zia Ahmad

In celebration of the 2016 International Day of Peace, “Instrument for Just Peace” Seminar & Art Exhibition was held on Wednesday 21 September at the NSW Parliament House in Sydney. The event was hosted by Mr Victor Dominello MP, the NSW Minister for Innovation and in addition to talks by eminent speakers, it highlighted innovative artwork by Marcelle Mansour, Light Artist and Ambassador for Peace. Mr Victor Dominello welcomed the invited guests and introduced Ms Mansour as an accomplished artist and a passionate proponent of peace in Palestine. Ms Marcelle Mansour, born in Gaza is an Australian Palestinian Visual Artist, Painter, Photographer, Writer, Poet, Journalist and publisher. She earned a BA in English

Literature in 1977 from Ain Shams University, Egypt and Master of Studio Arts (MSA) in 2011 and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in 2012 – 2013 at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. Her artwork expresses the plight of Palestinian people under Israeli occupation as well as the quest for just peace. An elaborate display of her light artwork was showcased at the exhibition at the Parliament House. Ms Marcelle artwork has been showcased in Australia as well as internationally in many countries. During her keynote address in addition to explaining her accomplishments as an artist, she made a strong point for freedom of Palestinian people from occupation and peace with justice in the Middle East.

Speakers at the Seminar in front of the Light art work exhibition. From left: Mr Victor Dominello, Ms Marcelle Mansour, Dr Izzat Abdulhadi, Mr Jihad Dib, Professor Stuart Rees and Mr Gregory Stone. Proudly Printed in Australia by Spotpress Pty Ltd

Abu Anees The Melbourne based Sheikh Fehmi Imam, one of the senior Muslim leaders of Australia passed away at the age of 88 on Saturday 24 September 2016 morning and was buried next day at the Faulkner cemetery. He was the Imam of Preston mosque for decades and served as the Grand Mufti of Australia from June 2007 to September 2011. He played a major role in the development of Muslim community in Melbourne. His Janaza prayer held at Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, Preston on Sunday was attended by hundreds of people including community and interfaith leaders, politicians and police officers, academics and clerics. Fehmi Naji El-Imam, was born in Lebanon and arrived in Australia in 1951 at the age of 23. He got married to a local convert lady and had 3 sons and one daughter. At the time of his demise he leaves behind 9 grand children. In 1957, he and a small group formed the first Islamic Society in Victoria. He organised prayers in people’s homes and the first weekend school to provide Islamic teaching for Muslim children. He was largely a self educated Islamic scholar and apart from his theoretical studies

of Islamic sciences developed great insight into living Islam in Australia for members of the budding Muslim community. Together with Dr Abdul Khaliq Kazi and Mr Ibrahim Dallal, in 1963 he founded the national body, Australian Federation of Islamic Societies (AFIS) based in Melbourne. AFIS was restructured into Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) with the election of its Founder President Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad and moved to Sydney in 1976. During the early seventies, Sheikh Fehmi Imam became full time Imam with the Islamic Society of Victoria and embarked on an ambitious project to build a large Islamic Centre in the northern suburb of Preston. He was a regular Sheikh attending the highly successful AFIC youth camps during the late seventies and earl y eightees and was very popular amongst the school going youth who he greatly empathised with in their search for an Australian Muslim identity. He served as a board member on the Muslim Community Reference Group, an advisory board established by the Howard Government from 2005 to 2006. He was given Order of Australia award by the government for his services to multiculturalism, the Muslim community and multi-faith u n d e rstanding.

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