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More than 15,000 Australians in Queensland have embraced Islam since the 9/11 attacks. (ABC).
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SYDNEY,
August 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The number
of Australians embracing Islam has dramatically increased since the
9/11 attacks, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC).
"Once
I started researching for myself and making my own decisions in
regards to research and reading I come to my own understanding and
realize the beauty of Islam," said Omar Boswood, once Catholic
Ryan Boswood.
Like
Boswood more than 15,000 Australians in Queensland have embraced Islam
since 9/11, according to the ABC.
"I
will be honest, but the Bible basically pushed me to Islam because I
had so many unanswered questions, and I found the answer in the Qur'an,"
said Boswood, who embraced Islam last year.
There
are some 300,000 Muslims in Australia, making up just 1.5 percent of
the country's population of 20 million.
9/11
Shift
Boswood,
who used in the past to refer to Muslims in bad names, thought of
joining the army to take revenge from all Muslims following the 9/11
attacks.
"After
I watched September 11, I did go to join the army, unfortunately I was
asthmatic and so I didn't get let in, obviously.
"But
at the time I didn't really understand Muslims or Islam, and I
wasn't… I had no way of knowing what Islam was about."
The
terrorist attacks prompted many Australians to seek more information
about Islam and Muslims.
"It
is sad what is happening in the world but the events are allowing us
to break those boundaries and jump the obstacles, so we're getting a
greater opportunity to speak to the people about the religion
Islam," said Uzair Akbar, a Muslim imam in Queensland.
Targeted
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The Australian government has rejected calls to ban hijab in schools (Reuters).
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Despite
the rising number of Muslims in Australia, they feel they are being
targeted more than ever.
Akbar
lamented that people tend to generalize in their judgment about
Muslims.
Following
the July 7 terrorist attacks in London, Australia has been
contemplating tougher anti-terror legislation.
Australian
Premier John Howard has defended his government's right to spy on
mosques and Islamic schools under claims of fighting terrorism.
Australian
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison has proposed amending laws to
enable security authorities to prosecute
imams involved in religious preaching and writing "inciting
violence".
Australian
Muslims have decried anti-terror measures, which include detaining
people on terror-related suspicion for up to seven days and
questioning them for up to 48 hours without charges.
They
maintain that security measures create a climate of fear and
apprehension among the Muslim minority in the country.
Akhbar,
however, asserted that Australian Muslims are determined to fight
extremism and violence.
"We
can't be complacent. We have to look out, we have to be very careful.
If we see anyone talking about violence, or backing up the acts of
violence, then we will inform the authorities."
Australian
Muslims are preparing for an all-inclusive meeting to consider a plan
of self-policing young Muslims in the country.
Hijab
Ban
In
another development, Australian Education Minister Brendon Nelson
rebuffed calls to ban hijab in state schools, the ABC reported Sunday,
August 28.
"As
far as the Government is concerned, we defend the rights of all
Australian children to be able to go to schools which their parents
think best meet the needs of their own children and, in doing so, to
wear the symbols of their own religious conviction and affiliation, so
long as they are consistent with broader school's uniform
policies," he said.
The
comments came ahead of a meeting between Nelson and the principals of
the Islamic schools about the teaching of Australian values.
Federal
Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop earlier called for banning hijab in schools.
"The
headscarf is being used as a sort of iconic item of defiance,"
Bishop told Channel Seven.
"I'm
talking about in state schools. If people are in Islamic schools and
that's their uniform, that's fine. In private life, that's fine."
The
hijab ban call was also slammed as extreme and running counter to the
Australian values of religious freedom.
"These
are very extreme statements from Bronwyn Bishop and Sophie Panopoulos
and if John Howard has the respect that he espouses for recognizing
the difference of religious beliefs and customs in this country then
he'd pull these two into line," said Labor education spokeswoman
Jenny Macklin.
The
issue of hijab has recently taken central stage in a number of
European countries.
France
triggered the controversy after adopting
a bill banning hijab in state-run schools and public
institutions as of March 15, which was branded by the Human Rights
Watch (HRW) as "discriminatory".
