Newcastle Talk | Session 1 and 2, Sunday 28th April
On Saturday the 28th of April Mr and Mrs Keskin and Miss Mahsheed Ansari started their journey to Newcastle.
Affinity was invited to talk about some Islamic topics in a panel type conference titled and advertised to Newcastle residents as "understanding Islam".
Mr Ahmet Keskin delivered first addressing starting by giving insight to Affinity’s projects and initiatives. Next, Mr Keskin addressed some of the probing questions of Sharia, Mufti & Imam. This was followed by Q& A. Mrs Zuleyha Keskin then addressed the topic of Women in Islam, providing a personal interactive delivery. This was followed by Q & A session followed by a last delivery by Miss Mahsheed Ansari on the topic of Youth in Islam, where the efforts of Affinity as a positive youth organisation was highlighted with illustration of interfaith events and activities that Affinity has undertaken.
A social and interactive lunch was followed by an open session with the audience- and many were interested in the theological issues. Many questions on belief and God were raised, as well as prayer, marriage, youth and interfaith. A few questions were raised on how to motivate youth positively towards faith.
The second leg of "Understanding Islam in Australia" took place in East Maitland Catholic Church on the 6th of May, 2006.
Affinity had three speakers, Mr Mehmet Ozalp and Mr Sadiq Ansari from Sydney and Mr Mesut Kivrak as a local speaker.
Although, the crowd was similar compared to the week before, the audience seemed more relaxed and friendly.
It looks like this talk is the first of many initiatives in Newcastle. There was great interest in the home encounters project, with a number of people putting their names down to be able to participate. There is also an interest in organising a panel in Newcastle. If all goes well, the panel will take place in mid July. One other programme that will be welcomed in Newcastle is the iftar (breaking of the fast dinners) programmes in Ramadan.
