Islam Awareness Week 2018 – an annual seven-day event focusing on spreading the knowledge, values and message of Islam religion will be held between Monday, September 17 and Sunday, September 22 across New Zealand.
An Initiative of FIANZ, The Federation of Islamic Association of New Zealand, this seven-day is hosted in collaboration with regional Muslim Associations and Islamic Trusts in different parts of the country.
This week-long event will have numerous activities planned across Islamic Centres and mosques in different parts of the country.
Each year, a theme is decided to focus on one or more tenets of Islam and this year the theme is ‘Halal more than just food’.
The concept of ‘Halal’ which simply means ‘permissible by Islamic Law’ is not just limited to food but extends to many aspects of life and living; the money used to buy goods, food, house, etc. should be legally acquired.
“Allah (God) is Pure and only accepts that which is pure. Unless what we eat, feed our families, feed others, wear, donate in charity and shelter ourselves from the elements are from halal sources, God’swill does not accept it from us,” a spokesperson from FIANZ said.
Islam stresses the fact that whether its business, family, work, food or any dealings should be fair and transparent and that is the definition of halal.
“The Islamic concept of halal is embedded in many of the values that New Zealand as a country espouses, such as eating wholesome and nutritious foods and not eating or feeding others what is harmful, living on what is legally earned, giving measure for measure in all our dealings, fair wages for fair services, transparency, not wasting resources nor damaging the environment, and, above all, fostering peace and harmonious coexistence,” the spokesperson added.
Anything opposed to these values is ‘haram’ or forbidden by God.
The national opening of the ‘Islamic Awareness Week’ will be opened at FIANZ office in Wellington on Monday, September 17 in the presence of community members, dignitaries from government departments, local councils and faith groups. The event will also feature a presentation of harmony awards and speeches from various dignitaries.
The regional programmes at different Islamic Centres and mosques will include various educational and charitable activities, and Mosque Open Day on Sunday, September 22.
The regional Islamic centres participating in the IAW 2018 are New Zealand Muslim Association Incorporated (NZMA) and South Auckland Muslim Association Incorporated (SAMA) in Auckland, Waikato Muslim Association Incorporated (WMA) in Hamilton, Manawatu Muslim Association Incorporated (MMA) in Palmerston North, The International Muslim Association of New Zealand Incorporated (IMAN) in Wellington, Muslim Association of Canterbury Incorporated (MAC) in Christchurch and Otago Muslim Association Incorporated (OMA) in Dunedin.
These regional Islamic Centres will host several workshops and seminars on topics such as promoting harmony within families and community, anti-violence messages etc., engaging with the broader community so that Islam’s message of serving humanity is promoted, donations for charity, engaging competitions for the children such as Islamic Calligraphy, designs, Quran reading competition, art and craft etc. There will also be exhibitions on Islamic history, its teachings, Islamic artefacts, prophets’ lives etc.
FIANZ has recently purchased and established Mataura Masjid/Islamic Centre in Gore in South Island and has appealed the community to come forward and donate to the establishment of Whangarei Masjid/Islamic Centre which will also be called Northland Islamic Centre. The two Islamic centres are an initiative of FIANZ under FIANZ New Masjid Project.