Library & Innovation Centre

Key points:
* The report found 84 per cent of respondents agree that multiculturalism has been good for Australia
* It also found "substantial" negative sentiment towards people from Africa, Asia and the Middle East
* Intolerance towards Muslims is still far higher than people who follow any other religion

Australia is a vibrant, multicultural country. We are home to the world’s oldest continuous cultures, as well as Australians who identify with more than 270 ancestries. Since 1945, almost seven million people have migrated to Australia.

While she [Dr Amath] proudly wears the hijab as "an expression of faith" and a symbol of empowerment, it can lead to stereotypes and discrimination.

"Muslim women who are identifiable as being Muslim like myself, we probably bear the brunt of most Islamophobic incidents," she told the ABC.

Maab doesn't look like a typical 'feminist'. Or at least, that's how she's been made to feel.
As a hijab-wearing Muslim, she often receives stares on the street or comments from concerned bystanders assuming she needs to be "saved from this ideology".

Scarves and veils of different colors and shapes were customary in countless cultures long before Islam came into being in the seventh century in the Arabian Peninsula (which includes present-day Saudi Arabia). To this day, head coverings play a significant role in many religions, including Orthodox Judaism and Catholicism.

A forced marriage is when a person gets married without freely and fully consenting, because they have been coerced, threatened or deceived, or because they are incapable of understanding the nature and effect of a marriage ceremony, for reasons including age or mental capacity.

... this information booklet to help young people from migrant and refugee communities better understand what happens in these situations,
what their rights are and what the laws in Australia are regarding child, early or forced marriage (CEFM).

A Melbourne Muslim cleric accused of performing the forced marriage of a child bride has been sacked.

Imam Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, is charged with conduct that caused a minor to enter into a forced marriage at Noble Park on September 29 last year.

School principals and teachers have reported girls as young as nine being taken overseas, where they are forced to marry, the New South Wales Government has said.

Increasingly, Muslims have been making their homes in secular countries in the West. Their religion, Islam, which means submission to God, lays down a comprehensive code for life known as the Sharia, which has laws governing most aspects of a Muslim’s daily life, including detailed laws on family and relationships. Muslims in secular nations still try to live by these laws but at times encounter difficulties when Islamic law is not readily reconciled with state law.

Families are considered to be at the heart of every Muslim community. Family life was created by Allah to keep society together and Muslims should follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad, who was married and raised a family.

Know dear reader that Allah (s.w.t) has created things in pairs. Those pairs must get together in certain ways in order for reproduction to occur. The way for reproduction to occur amongst humans – males and females, is through marriage, known in Arabic as nikaah. Islam urges Muslims to marry, and prohibits pre-marital relationships.

Islam teaches the importance of both belief and practice; one is insufficient without the other (except for some Sufis). The following six beliefs are those that are commonly held by Muslims, as laid out in the Quran and hadith.

According to the Islamic statement of witness, or shahada, “There is no god but Allah”. Muslims believe he created the world in six days and sent prophets such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and lastly Muhammad, who called people to worship only him, rejecting idolatry and polytheism.

Western Australia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural society. Religious freedom and mutual respect for all religions are integral parts of our shared culture and are important underlying principles of multiculturalism and democracy.

Ramadan Mubarak! If you ask your friend out for lunch this month and they say no, don't take it personally.
They may be celebrating the month where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

Millions of Muslims around the UK and the world are about to celebrate the festival of Eid al-Fitr.
Eid - as it is commonly known - is one of the biggest celebrations in the Muslim calendar.

The English word "mosque" denotes a Muslim house of worship. The word evolved from the Arabic term masjid, which means "place of prostration."

The rise of Islam is intrinsically linked with the Prophet Muhammad, believed by Muslims to be the last in a long line of prophets that includes Moses and Jesus.

The start of Islam is marked in the year 610, following the first revelation to the prophet Muhammad at the age of 40. Muhammad and his followers spread the teachings of Islam throughout the Arabian peninsula.

Islam is a one of the world’s major monotheistic religions. It began in the early 7th century. Islam comes from the word “al-silm” and “istaslama” which means peace and surrender. The god in Islam is referred to as Allah, which in Arabic means “the god” or “the deity”.

Islam has five primary obligations, or pillars of faith, that each Muslim must fulfil in his or her lifetime.

For Muslims, Prophet Muhammad is the most revered of all men. He is the last and most authoritative in a line of prophets that includes Moses and Jesus and is believed to have received direct revelations from God through the archangel Gabriel.

...residential development occurred during the 1950s and 1960s, spurred by immigration, industrial growth and the construction of public housing estates.

This document presents a brief data profile or the Western Sydney district. It contains a series of tables and graphs that show the characteristics of persons, families and communities. It includes demographic, housing, child development, community safety and child protection information.

Sydney’s second centre is just a train ride away from the city and home to vibrant eat streets, sprawling parklands and lots of adventure.

Here out West, a film that intertwines eight distinct interconnected scenarios set in Western Sydney, is as globally-oriented and locally-inspired as Australian cinema gets.