Volume 20
Issue 2
Message from the President
Dear Brothers and Sisters Assalamu Alaikum. It's a great pleasure to write to you once again through Minaret, I wish to start by Thanking all who has sent your suggestions to our web site. Thank you and the committee will take care of those valuable suggestions Insha Allah in our upcoming events. Please keep sending your new ideas and the new ways which you like us to approach our community. As we mentioned on our last news letter, we had a huge successful event on the 7th of November 2009. Sri Lankan Hopper and Roti Night was organized to raise funds for Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia. Alhamthulliah, the committee was delighted to see all of your kind support and interest. It was not only a nite of fun and great food, but of course our members got awareness about cancer and I am sure that everyone got touched by hearing the success stories of whom they fought to win cancer. May Allah (SW) show all the ways to Mankind to overcome this diseases. We are happy to announce that USMAA has raised a remarkable amount to donate to the Brest Cancer Association. While we had success on the above event, our sisters thought that they have to do something to help cancer victims over on our own land. So they are organizing their big colour full event, of course the Ladies nite as "My Island My Home" on the 13th of March 2010 and Insha Allah all profit will be donated to Mahragama Cancer Hospital in Sri Lanka. Further details regarding the programme are available on our website. Insha Allah we all hope that this event also will be a great success. Once again as usual please show us your generosity, and let's make this happen. Insha Allah our first approaching event will be the "Melad-Un-Nabi" will be held on the 6th of March at 7.00 pm at the Mulgrave community hall. Our Brothers and Sisters are organizing the programme and all your donations and cooperation's are expected. So as I mentioned, Alhamthulliah, USMAA is growing and glowing. Receiving many invitations from the government and local authorities shows USMAA has been soundly recognized. Personally and on behalf of USMAA I would like to Congratulate and wish all the very best to our newly married USMAA couples. May Allah (SW) show all his blessings and may they be blessed with a happy wedded life. Before I close my pen, keep writing to us, your feed backs can make a difference! Until we meet through Minaret Take care and Wasalm Fahme Abul Hasan
Editorial
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathahu!
Assalamu alaikum and a warm welcome to you all to the first USMAA Newsletter in the year 2010.
There has been a bustle of activity within the Sri Lankan Muslim Community in Melbourne. The main event has been a series a weddings and waleemas during December 2009 and January 2010. Most of the functions were held in Colombo during the holiday season and some of our members who were visiting Sri Lanka at the time were delighted to attend the happy occasions. To all the new brides and grooms (some of whom are still on their honey moon) we wish you all a very happy and blissful wedded life. May all your troubles be 'little ones'.
And what is your resolution for the year 2010? May Allah guide you and show you the way to maintain and achieve your goals. One of the community resolutions this year should be to participate and contribute to the completion of the IEWAD Hallam Mosque currently under construction at the corner of the Hallam Belgarve Road, Hallam. The Editor was delighted to visit the construction site two weeks ago with brother Nuhaim Amirdeen and was happy to see the progress made to date. An update appears in this Newsletter. With the support of the muslim community in Melbourne it is envisaged that the Construction of the Mosque will be completed this year and the facilities used for prayers and community activities. An 'on site' fund raising event is being planned and all USMAA members and friends are encouraged to attend the event and show your support and contribute generously. Let us resolve to complete this noble mission this year, insha allah.
The Newsletter provides members and friends of USMAA with information about what is happening in our Association. Photographs of recent events and reports of things being done by so many people make it a useful read and will enable you to keep your finger on the USMAA pulse. If you have any information and photos worthy of being shared with the USMAA community, please forward them to the Editor for consideration. This is your Newsletter and you make the news.
Breast Cancer Foundation fundraising dinner
The USMAA Fundraising Dinner for the Breast Cancer Foundation (Sri Lankan Hopper and Roti night)was held on 7 November 2009 at the Mulgrave Community Centre.
Cancer strikes people whether it is the young or the old and breast cancer is a major disease that affects many women (statistics show a high rate in Australia) and some men. As part of the awareness campaign and in order to support the wonderful work carried out by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the USMAA Youth with some of the older members organised a fund raising dinner on Saturday 7th November at the Mulgrave Community Centre.
The event was well attended by both members of the public as well as our USMAA members. The support was overwhelming such that all tickets were sold out two weeks in advance. The function was attended by members of the foundation and the Premier of Victoria was represented by Hon. Judith A Graley, State member for Narre Warren South. The evening was a fun fulfilled night of both awareness, entertainment and culinary delights. The organisers would like to thank Hon Judith Graley and Sis Fairooza Gaffar for sharing their experiences with the audience and Bro Nazeem Hussain for the wonderful comedy sketch. The function raised a sum of $4339.80.
This event also brought positive publicity for our organisation and USMAA, and for the first time an event of our organisation and members of the community have been mentioned in the State Parliament. It has been recorded in the Hansard. The Management Committee would like to congratulate Sis Hilma Marikar and the dedicated band of energetic youth and other members who gave their time and resources to make this project an outstanding success both in terms of fund raising as well as lifting the profile of USMAA.
Visit the following link for more details including sister Fairooza Gaffar's speech. www.usmaa.org.au/BCFFunds.php
Eid Ul Adha 2009 prayers and breakfast
The Eid ul Adha was celebrated on Friday, 27 November 2009. Prayers were organised and conducted at the Sports Complex, Monash University Clayton Campus. The prayers were attended by a large gathering of Muslims living in Melbourne. The Prayers were conducted by Brother Abu Omar.
Eid breakfast was organised by USMAA after the prayers at the Mulgrave Neighbourhood House on Mackie Road in Mulgrave.
Aalhamdulillah, the breakfast was a very well organised function. It was the result of a great deal of planning and hard work by many people together with the support of USMAA members and friends. The function was organised on the lines of the old and established USMAA formula. The idea was to organise the venue, food and drinks and no monies to be collected at the venue (any contribution to be collected upfront). USMAA paid for the hall hire and the food was provided by keen volunteers. It was delightful to see all the young and the old enjoy the Sri Lankan food and sweets which was available in abundance. There was indeed a joyful festive spirit. It is hoped that the same simple style will be followed in the future, insha allah.
The organisers of the Eid breakfast were sisters Shirin Fahmi, Nizra Haniffa, Saleeda Wazeer and Farah Dole. May Allah reward them for their kind efforts.
Eid Ul Adha dinner 2009
The Eid Dinner was held at the Mulgrave Community Centre on Saturday 5 Dec 2009.
The programme for the evening was:
It is always nice to invite young brothers and sisters to participate in our functions.
The Eid dinner was well organised and well attended except for some families who had gone overseas for the holidays. The Eid functions are always a great opportunity to meet family and friends in one location and to spend some time together. It was a fully catered function and USMAA absorbed the entire costs. The dinner was catered by sister Saniya and her brother in law (who has recently opened his restaurant named Aasha in Sydney Road, Brunswick).
The function was co-ordinated by brother Fahmi Haniffaa and Sister Nizraa Haniffaa ably assisted by the Main Committee and a happy group of volunteers.
Hallam Masjid progress update
"Whoever builds a mosque for the sake of Allah, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise." [Sahih-al-Bukhari]
The landscape is changing at the prominent Belgrave-Hallam Rd intersection in Hallam, well known for the Frog Hollow open space reserve. Construction of the IEWAD Masjid in Hallam has reached the stage where it can be seen to its full 11 meter height. The iconic building can be seen from 100s of meters away.
Former USMAA President Fahmi Haniffa, visited the building site recently and spoke to Nuhaim Amirdeen who lives in the neighbourhood and has been involved in this project. It has been a hard road to this stage over a period of more than 10 years. More than 95% of funds collected so far have been from the local Muslim community in Melbourne.
Nuhaim said "In June 2009, we set out to collect the required funds to construct the main structure of the Mosque. We organised a fund raising dinner and the community responded generously and Alhamdulillah, we were able to achieve what we set out to do". The entire ticket sales of 30k was used for building funds as the dinner was fully sponsored by well wishers. Fund raising got off to a great start with a generous 100k donation from an USMAA member.
The project has so far cost over 1 million dollars. The commercial value of work done so far would be much higher. IEWAD has been able to keep costs to a minimum due to voluntary work and skill contribution by the community. Estimated costs to complete the project for here onwards is approx 700k
In order to get formal approval and occupancy certification, the next major items are the roof cladding & plumbing (80k), windows & doors (78k), the first floor slab including 2 stairways (85k) and car park (120k). Then there are other works like electrical, internal plumbing, ceiling, carpets, tiling, etc. IEWAD plans to do the minimum required of these items at this stage and complete this over a period of time.
IEWAD is planning an 'open day' in early April so that the Muslim community may look at how their donations have been spent and also consider what they can do to complete their Masjid. First the site must be made safe & secure for such an event.
IEWAD hopes the Masjid will be ready for Tharaveeh prayers this Ramadhan - InshaAllah.
Please visit www.iewad.org.au for more details.
UPCOMING MAJOR USMAA EVENTS
The annual Meelad Un Nabi will be celebrated on 6 March 2010. Food has been catered. Members are cordially invited to attend with their families and friends.
It's a free function and all are welcome.
USMAA will hold its annual ladies night on Saturday, 13 March. All profits from this event will be donated to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maharagama, Sri Lanka , the largest hospital that offers specialized treatment for all types of cancers in Sri Lanka . The NCI is a teaching hospital under the auspice of the Department of Health and is also a tertiary referral hospital dedicated to the diagnosis and follow up treatment of cancer patients. Treatment is free and it is the only hospital on the island that offers this service to the vast number of patients who cannot afford to pay for such specialised treatment. Services offered by the NCI include modern diagnostic facilities necessary for the identification and confirmation of all kinds of cancers, specialized therapeutic care, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The NCI helps to identify cancers in about 10,000 new patients, and does the follow up treatment for nearly 30,000 patients per year. The daily average of inpatients is 750. The NCI depend heavily on donations to upgrade medical equipment, expand their units to accommodate the increasing needs of patients and welcome specialist help by visiting physicians. With a population of over 20 million in Sri Lanka , medical treatment is a luxury for a large number of patients suffering from cancer whose incomes are just enough to support their basic needs. Funds received are directly used to improve the needs of the patients. To find out more about NCI, look up www.ncisl.lk/about.php This year's ladies night takes the theme of "My Island, My Home" and will comprise of a night filled with good food, games, live entertainment, door and ticket prizes.:
For Tickets:
Islamic Forum will be held on Saturday, 27th March at the Mulgrave Community Centre from 6.30 pm onwards.
Topics:
The Janaza Committee has organised a fund raising Buffet Dinner to be held on Saturday 15th May at The Ashwood, 61-63 High Street Road, Ashwood, Victoria 3147 at 7.00 pm. It will be Buffet Dinner and tickets have been priced at $25.00 per adult $18.00 per child. Children below 4 will be free. For Further information contact Bro Eddie Dole (0403221808) Bro Imtiaz (0417056950), Bro Ritzvi ( 0430507863) or Bro Fahme (0430381562) Members are advised that the Janaza Committee has decided to have a fund raising dinner from now on instead of the Sports Day.
A family event for all to attend. A place where your family and friends can come and listen to inspiring stories from the Muslim tradition as they drift lazily into the fading evening light. Every Friday night between Feb 19 - April 2 from Sunset till 9:30PM at the Coburg Lake Reserve, Lake Grove, Coburg. Melways reference: 17 H10 Contact: Hisham Moustafa 0400 163 443
FREE Tea and Coffee will be provided. Please visit www.storiesinthepark.com for registration and further information USMAA has received an invitation from 3ZZZ Radio Station to participate in the radio program Sri lanka segment. All members and kids who are interested in participating are kindly requested to contact Sister Ziada Tokhi on (9878 5496) as soon as possible. Speak up and be heard. In preparation for the 2010 Annual Australian Islamic Conference (April 2nd - 4th 2010), Mercy Mission is calling on Muslim youth, the future of the Muslim community, to take part in an essay writing competition. Participants from each age category (ages range from 5-6 years of age to 16-18 years of age) are to select a given topic. All valid entries will also be displayed at the conference. The winning entries will be announced at the conference and published on the mercy mission website. Entries close at 5PM on Friday 26 March 2010 Prizes on offer for the winner in each category. Please visit www.mercymission.org.au/index.php?q=node/448 for more details including essay topics and the email address to submit your entry. Visit the Mercy mission website for more details about the conference www.mercymission.org.au
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) - Muslims Australia, strongly encourages you to take full advantage of this opportunity to support and encourage Young Muslims to participate in this program. Please distribute the following attachment widely among young Muslims and Muslims Youth groups.
www.usmaa.org.au/attachments/for_email/AFIC_MYA_grant_application_2010.pdf
Nikah and Weddings We are happy to inform you of the following nikah and weddings that took place recently. Shameera - Abdullah, The Nikah of Fathima Shameera daughter of Mohamed and Naufara Salahudeen to Abdullah Mahmud son of Mr and Mrs Tariq Mahmud took place on 30 December 2009 in Colombo. Mariyam - Ahamed, The wedding of Ahmed son of S H Aslam and Shereen Aslam to Mariyam daughter of Dr and Mrs A M Mohideen took place 10 January 2010 at the Grand Ballroom, Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. Shakira - Azam, The wedding of Shakira daughter of Mohamed and Naufara Salahudeen to Azam son of Mr and Mrs Osman Kassim took place on 16 January 2010 at The Grand, Wantirna South, Victoria. We wish the couples Allah's blessings for a happy and long married life. "It is He who created you from a single soul, And made its mate of like nature in order that you might dwell with her in love...."(7:189)Meelad Un Nabi
Date
Saturday, 6th March 2010
Venue
Mulgrave Community Centre, 355 Wellington Road, Mulgrave
Time
7.00pm start
Contact
Bro Fahme Abulhasan0430381562
Bro Najeeb 0402002270
or Sis Azeeka Hussein 9366 1214
USMAA Ladies Night : National Cancer Institute, Maharagama fundraising dinner
Date
Saturday, 13th March 2010
Venue
Mulgrave Community Centre, 355 Wellington Road, Mulgrave
Time
7.00 arrival for a 7.30pm start
Tickets
$28.00 per Adult
$100.00 for a group of 4 adults
Includes dinner and dessert
Dress
Sari, Sarong or Sequins
Contact
Islamic Forum
USMAA Janaza Fund - Fund Raising Dinner
USMAA Events Calender 2010
EVENT
DATE
VENUE
MEELAD
Mar 6 - 7.00 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
LADIES NITES & CHARITY FUNCTION
Mar 13 - 7.00 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
ISLAMIC FORUM
Mar 27 - 6.30 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
QIRAATH CONTEST
April 29 - 6.30 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
JANAZA FUND RAISING DINNER Outside venue
May 15 - 7.30 pm
The Ashwood, 61-63 High Street Road, Ashwood, Victoria 3147
TRIVIA NITE
May 29 - 7.00 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
MULTI CULTURAL COOKERY DEMONSTRATION & SENIORS NITE
June 19 - 7.00 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
USMAA AGM
Jul 17 - 6.30 pm
Mulgrave Community Centre
RAMADAN IFTHAAR
Aug 21
Mulgrave Community Centre
RAMADAN IFTHAAR
Aug 28
Mulgrave Community Centre
EID FESTIVAL DINNER
Sept 11
Mulgrave Community Centre
FELLOWSHIP EVENING
Oct 23
Mulgrave Community Centre
Other news
Stories in the Park
Participate in the 3ZZZ Radio
Mercy Mission - Budding Writers Competition
AFIC - Muslim Youth Australia National Youth Week grant application 2010
Community Announcements
Farah - Azmi, The Nikah of Farah daughter of Zulficar and Fazly Badurdeen to Azmi son of late Mr S Shahabdeen and Mrs F Shahabdeen took place on the on 25 December 2009 at the Mahaweli Reach Hotel, Kandy. The Waleema took place on 28 December 2009 at the Liberty Ballroom Ramada Hotel, Colombo. 
Mariam - Hamish, The wedding of Mariam daughter of Dr. Aqa Tokhi & Mrs. Ziada Tokhi to Hamish son of Mr. Robert Graham and Mrs. Graham took place on the on 9th of January 2010 at the Northcote town hall in Melbourne. The Nikah was solemnised by Imam Gul Shah of Doncaster Mosque, in Aug 2009. 
Yusra - Shafraz, The Nikah of Fathima Yusra
daughter of Azeeka and Hussein Nizar to Shafraz son of Mr & Mrs Ameer Munas took place on the 10th of January 2010 at The Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo 03. 
Shabana - Naushard, The wedding of Naushard son of (late) Mr Junaid Cassim and Mrs Mazeeda to Shabana daughter of (late) Mr Pervaiz Iqbal and Ms Nikky Salgadoe took place in Colombo. The Waleema took place on 15 January 2010 at The Empire Ballroom, Mount Lavinia Hotel, Colombo. 'Once in a while, right in the middle of an Ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale'.
Birth
We are happy to inform you of the following birth.
Aaliyah Shanine Ismail - Rumies Ismail (Jim) and Shezmin Ismail of Cranbourne East were blessed with a baby girl on 6 December 2009.
May Allah shower his blessings on the new arrival.
"and your lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but him, and goodness to your parents. if either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) "ugh" (a word or expression of anger or contempt) nor chide them, and speak to them respectful words" [Quran 17:23]
Community Achievements
Victoria's Mulicultural Awards for Excellence - 2009
Dr Fahmi Haniffa was the recipient of a 'Meritorious Service to the Community Award' for his outstanding voluntary contribution to the Sri Lankan Muslim Community of Victoria. The annual awards are organised by the Victoriam Multicultural Commission.
Fahmi who is a founder member, past President and current Trustee was nominated for the award by Fahme Abulhassen, President of USMAA.
The award was conferred on Fahmi by the Governor of Victoria Professor David De Kretser in the presence of the Premier John Brumby and a large gathering at a grand ceremony held at the Government House, Melbourne on 26 November 2009. Photographer is Vicky Jones.
USMAA Web site
The USMAA website has a picture gallery of images that relates to USMAA events and newsletters. Please email newsletter@usmaa.org.au if you wish to remove any images from the newsletter or the USMAA gallery. Please ensure you provide a link to the image you want removed. The USMAA website now has the prayer times for Melbourne updated daily on it's home page www.usmaa.org.au. We hope this is an incentive to visit the USMAA website more often and check for updates. If you have come across any interesting features that might be useful and add value to the community then please pass it along.
As you may have already noticed, some Community Announcements appear in this issue of the USMAA eNewsletter. We would like this to be a place where the achievements of community members is applauded and a place where community information both happy and sad is shared.
We would like to encourage all members to send the following information to share with the community.
Please email to newsletter@usmaa.org.au
The information you send may be edited to fit the space as needed.
Insha Allah we hope you will utilize this tool to its full potential.
Advertisements
The businesses who have advertised on our website are sponsoring the web hosting costs. They are all owned and operated by USMAA members and we hope you will take note of their messages and support them when possible.
Members can place advertisements in the USMAA eNewsletter and website. We charge a nominal fee which will go towards the cost of administration and hosting the website. Please email webmaster@usmaa.org.au for details.
Email: members@usmaa.org.au USMAA INC. P O Box 120, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia. ABN 16207175319 http://www.usmaa.org.au
If you wish to be removed from the mailing list, click here and send us a blank email
The editorial board of USMAA will not be responsible for the views expressed in this newsletter.
USMAA Newsletters are available at: http://usmaa.org.au/Newsletter.php