Open Thread — 27/4/2008

20 comments ↓

#1 Amir on 04.27.08 at 1:28 am

Big Brother’s first Muslim gets cold feet.

#2 null on 04.27.08 at 1:45 am

The first Muslim? Anthony Mundine is Muslim.

(There is no reason to discuss why it is that I know that he was on Big Brother).

#3 Muslim on 04.27.08 at 2:07 am

This guy is not the first Muslim. There was Anthony Mundine, the bellydancer named Demet last year and Turkan Aksoy before that. It’s just PR for the show.

They do have some interesting characters this year like a Pauline Hanson supporter, a guy who believes in UFOs and a member of the Exclusive Brethren. There will probably be the obligatory gay guy too introduced at some point.

#4 DD on 04.27.08 at 4:12 pm

http://gizmodo.com/382026/a-ce.....re-in-jail

#5 Cinna on 04.27.08 at 6:30 pm

“a member of the Exclusive Brethren. “…not very exclusive if they’re in that sort of company.

#6 GMan on 04.27.08 at 7:13 pm

FORMER member of the Brethren. Bit of a difference. Was Delet Muslim or Lebanese Christian? Turkan was definitely not Muslim, she took a Bible into the house with her.

#7 Shadower on 04.27.08 at 11:21 pm

Turkan wasn’t Muslim.

I am pretty sure there is a Lebanese chick in there this year, her names Rima, it was on channel 10 adds before. I think her brother is a stand up comic.

#8 Ira on 04.27.08 at 11:24 pm

If they were real serious about diversity, they’d chuck some guy with a communicable disease like Hep B, a convicted rapist and a junkie in the house to mix things up a bit.

#9 Ira on 04.28.08 at 12:25 am

The journalist Pamela Bone has died.

#10 Anwar on 04.28.08 at 11:46 am

“Turkan was definitely not Muslim, she took a Bible into the house with her.”

Are you being serious? To say owning a bible or even reading it would then, according to your opinion, make numerous Muslims non-believers…

#11 G-man on 04.28.08 at 3:11 pm

Sorry, I should have said: which she read every day and talked about a lot as giving her strength in the house. If she was a Muslim she would surely have taken her Koran in as her first choice of inspiration. Is that better?

#12 Shadower on 04.28.08 at 3:24 pm

I think her family was Muslim/Alawi one of the two or both at one stage.

That article put up by DD I am hoping is a satirical one, because if not it is a little disturbing.

#13 Amir on 04.28.08 at 3:30 pm

Unfortunately, Shadower, it seems that it’s true.

Here is an article about it in a Turkish newspaper if there are any Turkish readers who can translate and verify its contents.

#14 Shadower on 04.28.08 at 3:43 pm

Check out Beijing’s new International Airport, built in time for the Olympics:

http://www.fosterandpartners.c.....fault.aspx

Considering the booms in the Gulf, Russia, India & South East Asia, it seems the 21st Century will be an Asian one, and personally I believe Australia could really capitalize on this.

#15 LDU on 04.28.08 at 5:52 pm

I was asked a complex question by a class mate recently. The question was whether a Muslim male with two wives is allowed to have a threesome with them. I answered no, telling him that the wives couldn’t see each other naked. He then queried, what if they were blindfolded? And even handcuffed? This really spun me out and I had no answer. Excuse the nature of this question but any opinions would be appreciated.

#16 Muhammad on 04.29.08 at 7:05 am

http://www.theaustralian.news......86,00.html

Fadi on the Griffith Islamic Research Unit issue.

#17 Muslim_perth on 04.29.08 at 11:02 am

Ameer Ali vs Tabligh Jamaat

Jihad body linked to top univeristy: By Richard Kerbaj
April 29, 2008

THE Muslim cleric at the centre of Griffith University’s Saudi embassy donation affair - Mohamad Abdalla - is regarded as the Brisbane leader of an Islamic group whose overseas members have been linked to al-Qaeda and the 2005 London bombings.

Dr Abdalla, who has refused to be drawn on the Tablighi Jamaat group, has been identified as its Brisbane head by Muslim community figures, including prominent Islamic leader Fadi Rahman.

“He’s the head of Tablighi in Brisbane,” said Mr Rahman, who attended the 2020 Summit as a delegate with Dr Abdalla.

“I know Mohamad Abdalla very well,” he said.

While Griffith University denied Dr Abdalla was a Tablighi leader, it praised the group - which has been investigated and cleared by ASIO - as a “peaceful movement” that provided spiritual support to disadvantaged community members.

The university also said some Tablighi members attended Dr Abdalla’s Brisbane mosque.

“Based on advice we have received from a number of Queensland Muslim organisations, the group Tablighi Jamaat is not a sect, is not secretive, is not political, is not violent,” the university said in a statement issued last night.

“It is in fact a peaceful movement with the social justice aim of helping Muslims become better Muslims.

“Dr Mohamad Abdalla is not … the leader of Tablighi Jamaat in Brisbane.

“Dr Abdalla, as a leading imam in the Brisbane community, is associated with a number of groups openly involved with Brisbane’s mosques.

“This group is among more than 20 ethnic groups openly associated with Dr Abdalla’s own mosque.”

The Australian revealed last week that Dr Abdalla, director of Griffith’s Islamic Research Unit, helped the university apply for a $1.37 million grant from the Saudi embassy - of which the institution received only $100,000 - and offered the Saudi ambassador a chance to keep elements of the donation a secret.

The university said Dr Abdalla had in the past week received strong support from Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson, Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth and “leaders from both the Jewish and Christian communities of Brisbane”.

The Tablighi’s non-violent teachings about the importance of the afterlife had left some young followers susceptible to recruitment by terrorist outfits as suicide-bombers, said former Howard government adviser Ameer Ali.

“They are not violent, they don’t preach violence. But their mind is set - they’ve prepared the minds of the youngsters who can be trapped by the jihadis and terrorists,” he said.

“So when the jihadis say are you prepared to go to heaven … it carries with their thinking because they are not interested in this world, they believe (their) future is in the next world.”

Dr Abdalla refused to answer questions about his connection with the Tablighi when interviewed by The Australian, except to say membership of the group was not controversial.

Muslim leaders have urged Griffith University to return the Saudi grant.

#18 Shadower on 04.29.08 at 2:54 pm

What’s the issue with this Saudi grant to Griffith Uni? I have only heard about it in the past couple of days whenever Dr Abdalla is mentioned. Any actual information regarding it other than media hype? Because when I read in Kerbies article that “Muslim leaders have urged Griffith University to return the Saudi grant” it conjured up images of groups being against it for all kinds of weird reasons considering how charged Saudi cash can be within the Islamic community (for all kinds of stupid reasons).

So is this Saudi grant a legitimate issue or simply a non-issue being made an issue?

Also, who on earth is Fadi Rahman and when did he become a prominent leader of the Islamic Community?

I would agree with Griffith Uni on the TJ group being a non-threat, and Ameer Ali’s argument is ludicrous, I understood it as saying ‘they teach people to want to go to heaven, which makes them easily susceptible to terrorism’. Completely ignoring the fact that Islam teaches that what al-Qaida are doing is evil, and evil acts don’t open the gates of Paradise, rather they padlock them.

That being said, Kerbies articles are always a pleasure to read.

#19 Shameema on 04.30.08 at 6:26 pm

Shadower, Fadi Rahman is a Muslim Youth Leader who inspires young people and who is definatly a Role Model for us all.

#20 Shadower on 04.30.08 at 10:51 pm

First I hear of him. He did not come across as a very great role model at the 2020 Summit.

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