Australia Does Not Restrict Religious Schools Set Up

South Wales

There are no restrictions in conducting Islamic religious activities in Australia.

Doctor Chalidin Yacob, Principal, Ashabul Khafi Language School of new South Wales, Australia disclosed this yesterday. Doctor Chalidin said in average 2 to three people converted to Islam in Australia every week. While there are a large number of mosques in Australia, Islamic Religious School are still small.

The main priority now he said is building more religious schools. The Australian government he said has never imposed restriction to Muslim community in holding religious activity provided they follow certain procedures.

Government ministers often attended such religious ceremonies in a show of support to the Islamic Council, where every state has its own Islamic Council. All this council he added is affiliated under an organization known as the Australian Federation Islamic Council.

Currently, there are twelve Islamic schools in Australia that can only accommodate around 4 to 5 thousand students. However the number of Muslim students between the aged of 5 to 18 years old are around 25,000. This means some 21,000 muslim children have no formal Islamic education in school.

Taken From: http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/July03/300703/nite04.htm

Islam's Future

LAST week more than 900 or so Muslim scholars and theologians gathered in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, to ask a simple question: What is the role of Islam in the era of globalization?

This was a star-studded occasion with many prominent religious and political figures from more than 70 Muslim countries across the globe. The participants heard 22 learned papers and sat through some 36 hours of debate spread over three days.

One theme ran through most of the papers and much of the debate: The Muslim world, ridden with internecine feuds and conflicts with the West, is in deep crisis. It was clear that most participants regarded the Muslim world as a victim of injustice, misunderstanding and unfair propaganda. Many lashed out against "Islamophobia," which is supposedly growing in the West with tacit encouragement from powerful "lobbies" in Washington.

Each time it was necessary to take a clear position, for example on terrorism and suicide bombing, the conferees weaseled out with the help of demagogic pirouettes.

Despite some attempts, notably by Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad, at focusing on concrete issues, the conference drifted into the uncertain seas of obfuscation, where conspiracy theories make waves and dead souls assume the captaincy of phantom vessels.

Taken From: http://frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9083

Brazil: Permanent WAMY office ready for opening

Sao Paulo

The construction of the permanent office of the Riyadh-based World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) in the San Bernado district of Sao Paulo,Brazil has been completed, and is ready for inauguration. It is expected that the opening ceremony would be held in August, and would be presided over by the WAMY secretary-general, Dr. Abdullah Al-Wiheiby. It is expected that other Muslim notable from various parts ofLatin America and from such countries asSaudi Arabia, apart from the local Muslims and government officials will attend the ceremony.

Taken From: http://www.islamicnews.org/english/en_daily.html