Minarah College celebrated, in full excitement and flair, 20 years of service to the Muslim community in South-West Sydney at a dinner function held on Thursday 8 December 2022 at Eden Venues, Edensor Park where outstanding contributions of four pioneers were recognised by inducting them to the Minarah Hall of Fame.
Minarah College is an independent Islamic co-educational school catering for students from Kindergarten to Year 12, located adjacent to the Green Valley Mosque, that was established in January 2002 by the Muslim League of NSW Inc.
The Chairman, Mr Mohammed Yakub welcomed more than 300 guests and paid tribute to the Muslim League of NSW, members of the community, teachers, students and volunteers who have contributed to the growth and progress of the school.
“Minarah will build on the success achieved to become the coveted Muslim school in New South Wales,” he said.
The Principal of Minarah, Mr Jay Halai, while describing recent accomplishments at Minarah, told the gathering that he owes deep gratitude to the previous and current parents, students and teachers for their efforts, often under trying circumstances.
“Thanks to their contribution Minarah is being transformed into a dynamic and technologically advanced place of learning. Schooling is all about character building,” said Mr Halai.
“In Minarah no one is left behind,” he further reiterated.
The formal program at the event was MC’d by Faraz Aboo and Eman Ghareeb and commenced with recitation of Quran by Maulana Tanzeel Haider followed by Call to Country by Diana El Safadi.
After the national anthem Mr Imam Ali, Deputy Chairman of the School Board elaborated on the purpose of the school, its achievements and acknowledgement of team efforts.
The keynote speech was delivered by Sheikh Shadi Alsulaiman, President of ANIC who congratulated and commended Minarah for its great progress during the last 20 years giving examples of many other great achievements of the Muslim community in NSW as well as that of UMA.
History of the Minarah College was related by Mrs Samina Ali and recent accomplishments in Islamiat were listed by Ms Labiba Soueid.
The event included handing of awards, slide shows, Nasheeds, Maghreb prayer and dinner closing with dua by Mr Mohammed Ali.
Although the School was founded in 2002 as Green Valley Islamic College by the Muslim League of NSW, the aspirations and ambitions of its founders go well back in history to 1879 when the first batch of Indian workers arrived in Fiji under the infamous indenture system to work in sugar cane plantations.
Known as girmityas, the migrants endured great hardship in Fiji, living in harsh conditions. But their patience, perseverance and faith enabled them to overcome adversity.
When the security of their descendants was threatened, many left Fiji in the aftermath of the 1987 Military Coup; some came to Australia and settled in South-West Sydney.
But well before this date moves were afoot to build a Mosque in Green Valley by a group of pioneers numbering 20-30 believers. This network morphed into the Islamic Society of Liverpool in 1984.
The main objective was to bring together Fiji Muslims living in Sydney for their spiritual needs and to involve them in Islamic activities.
The three trustees of the Association were Muhammad Ali, Mohamed Eqbal Sahaaly and Amjad Mehboob. The organisation was incorporated under the Associations ACT as The Muslim League of NSW Inc in 1999.
The emergence of the mosque played a catalytical role in the development of the school which started with 42 students in two demountables. Struggling with limited resources, two pioneering staff, Mr Shamsher Ali as Principal and Jameel un-Nisa Gani as the class teacher, applied themselves to the challenges with great determination and energy.
Thanks to their mighty contribution the school has blossomed to 1156 students and 90 staff by 2022. The 20-year history of the school has been captured in an 8-minute video – Blossom.
The school, which was rebranded as Minarah in 2022, prides in taking a holistic approach to education. It recently introduced Deep Learning to develop students in areas of Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Citizenship, Critical Thinking, and building students’ Character.
Minarah is gaining momentum, in leaps and bounds around technology and delivery of learning in high tech classrooms and pedagogies to include ICT based lessons. Minarah’s progress has been recognised by several renowned awards, including “The Educator – 2022 5 Star Innovative School Award” and the “Microsoft Surface Lighthouse School Award”.
Students of Minarah College will be dressed in new school uniform, that will further enhance the reputation of quality that the College currently exhibits in all its dealings.
Minarah Hall of Fame was inaugurated at the 20th Anniversary function where outstanding contributions of four individuals were recognised and their positive legacy for Islamic community of Green Valley recorded for future generations.
Late Haji Ameer Hussain and Late Molvi Shafiq were inducted to the Minarah Hall of Fame for their tireless work in the establishment of the Green Valley Mosque while Mr Shamsher Ali and Late Mrs Gani were inducted for their pioneering, selfless work in setting up the school.
The life histories of these great community workers can be viewed by clicking on the images at this link.
Minarah continues to build exemplary Australian citizens and leaders of tomorrow.
Comments