Please note date and venue! Click here to download the program schedule.

 Or you can Register here.

 For how to donate to those in need of food this Ramadan in the Pacific, click here.

Scroll down for details.

Many thanks to the St Lukes Environmental Protection Society (STEPS) for all the great work they do including for this creek of ours - www.meolacreek.org.nz

Click here to read the latest press release.

Meola Creek (Roy Clements Treeway) community tree planting day

A great opportunity for locals (especially those of you in the Sandringham/Wesley/Stoddard/Roskill areas), to get out and help with this important and wonderful cause: enriching a wetland area.

Sunday, 20th June, 10am.

MEET: At Fergusson St, Mt Albert (off Sandringham Road)

This is an Auckland City Council-sponsored event. Here is a link to the Ecoevents website which provides further information.

http://www.ecoevents.org.nz/calendar/event?nid=1082

Here is the unique opportunity to attend a comprehensive professional workshop on Muslim culture for service providers.

Download workshop invitation in pdf format. Download Cultural training workshop flyer in pdf format.

We are pleased to announce the need for a further second cultural training workshop for 2010.

There is high demand for further high quality, objective cultural training that facilitates safe-space awareness and incorporates multi-factored outcomes, from productivity to human relations.

There will only be 25 spaces available in total for all sectors. Registrations open on Monday 14 June, but interest can be expressed now, to training@rmdt.org.nz 

Please click here to register.

Today's NZ Herald editorial notes the grim picture and ever-fading hopes for peace in Palestine/Israel as a result of the latest attacks:"Israeli overkill benefits only the extremists" Read this New Zealand Herald Editorial piece by clicking here.

Also in the Herald today, recent Australian Jewish visitor to Auckland, Antony Loewenstein, points to serious concerns regarding the lack of integrity and honesty in the West when dealing with Israel's actions. Antony was recently hosted in Auckland for the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival. To read his article of today, click here.

The Wellington Council of Christians and Jews presents:

A public symposium: How Our Religious Traditions Inform Economic Policy

Wednesday 9 June 2010 at 7.30pm, Myers Hall, Wellington Jewish Community Centre

80 Webb St, Wellington. Entry by koha, all are welcome

Hon Chris Finlayson Attorney General

Dr Prue Hyman Adjunct Professor, Victoria University of Wellington

Imam Afroz Ali, Al Ghazzali Center for Islamic Sciences & Human Development 

Followed by an panel discussion, and a farewell to founding council member Rabbi Chaim Dovrat

For more information, contact Dave Moskovitz,

dave@sinai.org.nz 027 220 2202

A LIVE and in-person interview of Antony Loewenstein, author of the best seller  "My Israel Question", by Afroz Ali. This interview of Mr Loewenstein will be deliberately interactive to promote audience involvement and discussion - the objective of this event is to facilitate a safe space for open and honest discussion on the issues and to thereby facilitate local contribution to an international conflict, based on all views. Register to avoid missing out. Click below. You can also click here to read about the rationale for the event in more detail.

The Media & Critical Thinking 3-part series will take place on the evenings of the coming Friday and weekend Fri 30th April, Sat & Sun 1st & 2nd May. Starting at 7pm each evening, at Unitec, Carrington Rd Mt Albert (Gate 4, then follow signs). Entry is by gold coin donation. All are warmly invited to any one or all of the three sessions. Critical reasoning faculties are crucial to our fundamental functions as rational and intellectual beings, yet our lives are becoming less intellectually independent and reflection and reasoning less practised. Click here to register for these important seminars.

Don't miss this unique opportunity to attend a comprehensive professional workshop on Muslim culture for service providers.

Download workshop Invitation in pdf format. Download Cultural training workshop flyer in pdf format.

"The increasing number of agencies, public and private, providing services to members of communities with Islamic/Muslim backgrounds has created a demand for better awareness of Muslim beliefs and practices."

Continuing immigration to NZ and resulting multi-culturalism can mean novel and often tricky circumstances for those with Muslims amongst their client base. Informed communication and relationships provide mutual benefits including enhanced and more efficient provision of services.

Please visit the registration page for more information and to register.

Do not miss this rare opportunity register now as there are limited spaces.

Representatives of the Rasheed Memorial Trust (NZ), Al-Ghazzali Centre (AUS) and Iqra Trust (FIJI) will soon be en route to the areas worst hit by Cyclone Tomas, to personally report on areas of donation demands and to assist in organising further aid as required for the most needy areas. Please refer to flyer below to make an urgent donation.

The highly successful introductory cultural training workshop is now confirmed for May 18-19 2010. RMDT will again host 65 service provider representatives from across all service sectors for a unique 2-day training program with Imam Afroz Ali. Registrations are expected to fill fast once open. Click here to view this year's registration page.

*As in 2009, workshops for other cities are being planned in Wellington & Christchurch, based on demand.

Sunday May 2 presents an opportunity for a unique 1-day seminar on food. All ethical and health related issues will be on the menu, including social and religious perspectives. If interested, email food@rmdt.org.nz for details on how to register.

There will be a viewing centre for Aucklanders wishing to join others for the Celebratemercy.com celebration. Click here to register now. For those celebrating at home, click on the CelebrateMercy flyer below to be taken to the official website.

Join the first ever such global online celebration of this magnitude [click on flyer below]:

OR, TO JOIN THE AUCKLAND CELEBRATION, CLICK HERE!!

TO JOIN THE AUCKLAND CELEBRATION, CLICK HERE!!

The weekend of March 6 & 7 brings a unique opportunity for the community to attend full 1-day seminars on vital topics for the community, Islamic finance & Islamic jurisprudence. All welcome. (Entry by donation).

Islamic finance is of course interest-free and has attracted increased attention following the economic recession. Click here to register 

Islamic jurisprudence includes the development of Islamic Jurisprudence: how rulings were extracated from Primary Sources, the different approaches utilized by scholars to extract rulings and the importance of their Schools (Madhab) to Islam's laws. Click here to register

Email news@rmdt.org.nz to receive a copy of the latest items of interest for early 2010.

The Council of Christians & Muslims draws your attention to this unique opportunity to attend an evening of music that will draw upon  Jewish sources, particularly the Psalms, Muslim poetry, Classical Indian music, Yoga, Dance. The presenters are two dynamic artists, fresh from participating in the opening and closing sessions of the Melbourne meeting of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. They offer their artistic media as a journey into new and ancient regions of Spirit.

 Monday 1st February,

 St.Luke's Church,130 Remuera Road, 7.30 pm

  We invite expressions of interest from all sectors of the community interested in attending cultural training workshops in 2010. An introductory workshop in March is planned for those involved in providing services to Muslim clients, following high demand from a variety of service sectors in 2009. Limited specialised sector-specific workshops can be also catered for – please register your interest with us early, at culture@rmdt.org.nz

HELP DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IN HAITI

Peaceful New Year’s Greetings,

Rasheed Memorial Trust and a number of national faith organisations including the New Zealand Jewish Council and the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ held a dedication to the international Charter for Compassion in Auckland on Sunday 15^th November 2009.

For a recent article in NZ Lawyer magazine on the launch of the Charter for Compassion in Auckland, and compassion in action, in Samoa click here.

Open invitation to all youth! All aspects of Drugs & Alcohol covered. Lots of time for Questions & Answers!

Speakers: Imam Afroz Ali, Muslim Criminal Lawyers, NZ Police, Medical Specialists.

Where: Al Farooq Cultural & Development Trust, 34 Portage Road, Otahuhu.

When: Sun 1st November, 10am-4pm (refreshments and lunch included)
Cost: Free to youth and all others interested in drug/alcohol issues.

Further Drug & Alcohol seminars are planned for 2010. Email learn@rmdt.org.nz for more information or to express interest. We are able to organise faith-based seminars for mosques, churches, and other faith-communities wishing to host or co-organise such seminars for their community groups.

2nd Annual Parenting Workshop. Overhwhelmingly postive feedback from inaugral 2008 Workshop

Part II to cover Adolescence! Issues to be explored from various perspectives and in depth.

RMDT wishes to congratulate the Samaon Muslim community for it's inspirational contribution to Tsunami aid victims. Click here for Monday's editorial in the Samoan Observer.

Further aid is being organised for late 2009/early 2010. To make a last minute contribution, use our account details on this page.

RMDT and Al-Ghazzali Centre have completed their initial aid mission to Samoa. Click here for a full report from the Samoan Observer newspaper.

The second phase of aid is now underway. 1000 packs for families is now being targetted for direct delivery to needy families in need of food. Please click here for a list of items included in each food pack. Each food will feed a Samoan family for at least 1 week. NZ'ders please use the RMDT account details provided in the news item below.

A very big thank you to all for your support.

A group of Rasheed Memorial Trust members will travel to Samoa over the next 24 hours (1 October) to help assist stricken villages and other areas needing assistance. The Trust's local village contacts and inter-faith relations are proving helpful in ensuring funds and practical assistance is directly and promptly received.

Donations are grateful received and will be passed on to those most in need. (For Muslim donors wanting to use Zakaat-tax money, this is fine: all recipients will be eligible by virtue of need.)

Donations Account details:

Name: Rasheed Memorial Dawah Trust Inc.

Number: 12 3043 0365388 00

Charities Commission Reference: RAS22987

CONTACT: Aarif Rasheed - 021 29 555 49.

________________________________________________________________________________

RMDT's view remains that for New Zealanders to achieve a lasting respect for each other, we need to adopt a roll-up-sleeves approach to working together for a better society, that involves practical cooperation and a charitable spirit in all our endeavours - volunteer or not. It's this sort of purposeful yet generous engagement that will achieve our ideal community - including both people and place. And for those who prefer to stand back, that's fine, but the more arm-chair you are, the less of a critic you should be!

Our public forum has been revived! Feel free to restart any contributions or suggestions you have.

*** FINAL JOINING DATE EXTENDED: LAST CHANCE TO JOIN IS NOW ON Sun 27th September, 7:30PM (FOLLOWING SUNSET PRAYER; SAME VENUE; Retreat to the rear of the Masjid after Maghrib salaat.***

For all those who've been asking (and asking) about a beginner's course in Arabic language.

This course is designed to focus on both the grammatical and conversational aspects of classical Arabic. In doing so, Quranic examples will also be used to familiarise students with classical usage in the Quran.

It is taught by Sh Amjad Ali who holds a master's degree from Madinah University where he learnt his Arabic and he has over 10 years of teaching experience in New Zealand as well, including teaching Arabic language.

This course is purely a service to the community* and there is no charge other than for materials photocopying.

The course begins on Sat 12th September at Masjid Umar - 185-187 Stoddard Rd, Mt Roskill, 4:45pm, following the Asr (mid-afternoon) prayer. (A book, pen, pencil & eraser are essential.)

For further information, email learn@rmdt.org.nz or text 021 29 555 49.

An Ecology Rihla to Samoa!

Greetings,

Sincere thanks to all those volunteers, participants and presenters who contributed to a highly successful Cultural Training Workshop at St Columba Centre, Ponsonby on April 29/30.

Apart from those who are awaiting the next introductory workshop, there have been numerous requests for specialised cultural training coming out of the recent workshop, which we will endeavour to fit into the the 2009-2010 program. Requests at this stage are being targeted for supply by the end of 2009.

Currently, the trust is considering requests in the areas of specialised cultural training (sector or organisation-specific), policy development (all sectors) and advanced cultural training for policy and governance. Due to some urgency being placed on specialised training, the 2nd introductory workshop will now be deferred from the original June date to later this year (date TBA).

Organisations requiring legal services ancillary to and integrated with training or policy development simply need indicate such a requirement when contacting us.

Please use the Contact Us page for an Expression of Interest form, after which we can begin to tailor a possible solution for your organisation. The quickest way to receive one is by emailing us a request to email it back to you.

RMDT.

Here are a few images from the workshop

[Registrations closed early with 70 people from nearly 50 different organisations registering.

To the many who missed out, please contact us with your details so that your interest can be used to host another such workshop later this year.

Many thanks for your interest.

RMDT.]

Greetings!

Don't miss this unique opportunity to attend a comprehensive workshop of this kind!

Download workshop Invitation in pdf format. Download Cultural training workshop flyer in pdf format.

"The increasing number of agencies, public and private, providing services to members of communities with Islamic/Muslim backgrounds has created a demand for better awareness of Muslim beliefs and practices."

Continuing immigration to NZ and resulting multi-culturalism can mean novel and often tricky circumstances for those with Muslims amongst their client base. Informed communication and relationships provide mutual benefits including enhanced and more efficient provision of services.