10th Annual Muslim Achievement Awards names winners

Source: AMAA Facebook page. The winners of AMAA 2016. From left: Nazeem Hussain, Creative Artist of the Year, Sana Karanouh, Volunteer of the Year, Steve Dabliz, People's Choice of the Year & Social Media Award, Talal Yassine, Man of the Year, Father Rod Bower, Anglican Parish of Gosford, Abyssinian Award, Yasmin Khan, Lifetime Achiever, Dalya Ayoub, Role Model of the Year, Somayra Ismailjee, Youth of the Year, and Samah Sabawi, Creative Artist of the Year.

The 10th Annual Muslim Achievement Awards (AMAA) were held on 11 December. Organised by the Mission of Hope, the achievements of Australian Muslim individuals and organisations were celebrated in Granville, New South Wales.

"Mission of Hope is all about enhancing our community and providing opportunities that will enhance the lives of the most needy within our community. The Australian Muslim Achievement Awards is just one of those opportunities to help the community celebrate achievements of individuals who have excelled within their respected categories," said the President of Mission of Hope Nasreen Hanifi in a message shared by the AMAA Facebook page.

Winners included:

Yasmin Khan - Australian Muslim Lifetime Achiever of the Year
Talal Yassine- Australian Muslim Man of the Year

Sherene Hassan - Australian Muslim Woman of the Year
Somayra Ismailjee - Australian Muslim Youth of the Year
Father Rod Bower, Anglican Parish of Gosford - Australian Abyssinian of the Year
Associate Professor Halim Rane - Australian Muslim Professional of the Year
Usman Khawaja - Australian Muslim Sportsperson of the Year
Samah Sabawi - Australian Muslim Creative Artist of the Year
Nazeem Hussain - Australian Muslim Creative Artist of the Year
Sana Karanouh - Australian Muslim Volunteer of the Year
Dalya Ayoub - Australian Muslim Role Model of the Year
Steve Dabliz - Australian Muslim People's Choice of the Year and Australian Muslim Social Media Award of the Year
The White Coats / Homeless Run - Australian Muslim Community Organisation of the Year
Pillars of Guidance Community Centre - Australian Muslim Best New Community Project of the Year
Eid at Taronga Zoo - Australian Muslim Event of the Year, a Crescent Wealth event
OnePath Network - Australian Muslim Media Organisation of the Year
Crescent Wealth - Australian Muslim Business of the Year

In his acceptance speech Father Bower said that he was deeply humbled by the award and accepted it "with acknowledgement to every human being who has ever sought refuge from persecution". "I along with many others here tonight remain committed to the same principles that guided the decisions of the Negus of Abyssinia. Human need always comes before ideology; the spirit of hospitality always overcomes the fear of the stranger and at the end of the day bridges will always make us feel safer than walls," he said.

Interested?

Watch a video of Eid at the Zoo

View the list of 2016 finalists

Hashtag: #EIDattheZOO, #AustralianMuslimAchievementAwards, #MissionOfHope, #AMAA

IFSB Annual Summit to discuss prudential and supervisory infrastructure for Islamic finance

The 12th Annual Summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) will be held on 20 and 21 May 2015, in the commercial capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty. The Summit is aimed at harnessing the latest developments and innovation in regulation, prudential standards, current market practices and future challenges to keep stakeholders informed about the global Islamic financial services market; to provide a platform for dialogue with peers; and to give delegates a voice in contributing to the future direction of the industry.

According to the organisers, the Islamic finance landscape is populated by sovereign sukuk issuances by non-traditional markets such as the UK and Hong Kong; reforms underway in both Asia and the Middle East to integrate Islamic finance into governmental budgets; and increased interest from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. 

Developments such as new IFSB standards on stress testing, liquidity management, capital adequacy are occurring alongside strong private sector activity, the organisers note, especially on the sukuk front: 

• The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector funding arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group has won mandates from Jordan, the Ivory Coast and Senegal to assist them in issuing sukuk. 
• Dubai’s Noor Bank recently debuted a US$500 million sukuk wakālah. 
• Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank inaugurated a RM300 million sukuk murābahah in the Malaysian market. 
• The syndicated sukuk murābahah market helped AlBaraka Turk Participation Bank raise US$268 million.
• The first sharī`ah-compliant insurance product was launched through Lloyd’s of London by XL Group and Cobalt Underwriting.
• The Central Bank of Bahrain launched a new wakālah liquidity management instrument.

The transformational impact of the Islamic finance industry can only be truly enhanced if the requisite prudential and supervisory infrastructure is in place. As such, issues relating to Core Principles for Islamic Finance: Integrating with the Global Regulatory Framework, the Summit theme, require discussion. Discussions at the 12th IFSB Summit in Almaty with focus on the new regulatory developments, policy and market trends in the global Islamic financial services industry, concluding with a panel on The New Silk Road: The Importance of Regulatory Cooperation for Cross-Border Integration.

Need background? Read the Suroor Asia blog posts:

IFSB introduces core principles for Islamic finance
IFSB launches indicators for soundness and growth of Islamic finance banking systems 
ADB and IFSB launch book on Islamic finance for Asia