I first came into contact with ‘The Man’ when he launched his boxing career. That was nearly twenty years ago. I challenged him to a fight. I didn’t really think I could beat him, but I was willing to take a beating if it raised good money for our youth centre. The fight never happened, […]
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The ‘Affinity Intercultural Foundation’ is an organisation that aims to promote dialogue and mutual respect between different religious groups in Australia. Though the initiative came from the Muslim community, their vision is all inclusive: ‘At Affinity our mission is to create and sustain enduring relationships with people from diverse backgrounds, by organising public events, talks
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Father Toufic is a man I felt immediately drawn to when I first met him. I’m not sure if it was purely his beautiful spirituality or whether I was influenced by the beauty of the village of Maaloula (in Syria) where he pastors his congregation. Either way, he’s a man I would like to spend
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This is the only interview in the collection that wasn’t done with this book in mind. It came about simply because my friend, Sheikh Mansour, called me one day back in 2009 and said, ‘Do you want to come to Canberra with me and meet the former President of Iran?’ I said ‘sure’, because it
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I was introduced to Dr Nour Kabbani by my friend, Ansari Jainullabudeen, who described Dr Nour as ‘his Sheikh’. Dr Nour is a Sufi – an Islamic mystic – and, as such, his relationships with his students are more intimate and personal than what one might expect between a regular cleric and members of the
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I can’t remember the first time I met Sheikh Jehad, but I seem to remember him being introduced to me by some guys in the boxing community. Jehad has an excellent rapport with young people and plays a powerful role in mentoring Muslim young men across Sydney. Jehad was one of the first Muslim clerics
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