Author: Bilal Cleland

The exclusion of certain categories of people from residence in Australia was established by the very first Act of the Commonwealth Parliament, the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act. Any undesirable immigrant could be subjected to a dictation test in any European language.  It permitted Australian officials to exclude individuals on the basis of race without being explicit.  Between 1902 and 1909, 1359 people were subjected to the test and only 59 passed it. Not one person passed it after 1909. The requirement of ‘European language’ had to be changed in 1905 due to Japanese government objections. In accordance with the...

The lack of political commitment to an inclusive democracy has been brought into the limelight once again.  Stimulated by the fear that the One Nation Party will garner votes in the forthcoming Queensland state election, the dog-whistle has been brought out.  Instead of demolishing racism and religious bigotry, the Turnbull government, following the previous example of John Howard, has opted for compromise on basic principles. As the ABC summed it up “The new measures would see migrants face a tougher citizenship test which will assess their commitment to Australia and their attitudes to religious freedom and gender equality.” Michelle...

The Islamic articles of Belief and the Pillars of Islam are firmly based in the Quran and form the core of the faith. However the great depth of its message, analysed by scholars over the centuries, remains fresh for each generation.   The scholar of the modern period, Said Nursi in the 25th Word of Risale-i-Nur, which deals with the miraculous character of the Quran, describes it  as  ”a revealed scripture which contains in summary the books of all the prophets, whose times were all different, the writings of all the saints, whose paths are all different, and the...