The Islamic Information & Services Network of Australasia (IISNA) is an independent Islamic organisation based in Coburg, Victoria

Coburg, Victoria

Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, although a handful of properties on Coburg's Eastern boundary are located in the City of Darebin...

, a suburb in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The organisation is led by Samir Mohtadi, better known by his kunya

Kunya (Arabic)

A kunya is a teknonym, the name of an adult derived from their child, especially their eldest son, in Arabic names.A kunya is expressed by the use of abū or umm in a genitive construction, i.e "father of" or "mother of" as a honorific in place of or alongside given names in the Arab world and the...

 - Abu Hamza. It is a non-profit organisation, and holds regular Islamic educational classes, and larger lecture events biannually. The organisation is well known to propagate the Salafi

Salafi

A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...

 methodology of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, which in recent times has become increasingly popular, especially in the Western world

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

.

IISNA today

IISNA has held events in all major cities of Australia and also many cities in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

. IISNA recently became involved with organisations in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, after giving support following the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

. IISNA through support from the Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 community of Australia raised funds to build an orphanage in the nation for Tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

 orphans.

IISNA has taken part in the Unity Cup since its inception. The Unity Cup is hosted by the Australian Federal Police

Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...

 and the Essendon Football Club

Essendon Football Club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

. IISNA has competed over the last 3 years and has fielded a team which won the competition on all 3 occasions.

In early 2010 it was announced that IISNA would be building a new youth centre based in Broadmeadows, Victoria in the heart of Melbourne's Muslim community. The new centre would be named the Multicultural Youth Centre, or MyCentre for short.

Abu Hamza

Abu Hamza, also known as Samir Mohtadi has led IISNA since its beginning. His family background is Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, however he was raised in Australia. Abu Hamza's grandfather was originally a Maronite Christian from Zgharta

Zgharta

Zgharta, or Zghorta is a large town in North Lebanon, with an estimated population of around 70,000.Zgharta is about 150 metres above sea level and lies between the rivers of Jouit and Rashein...

 who embraced Islam at a young age.

He gives talks at IISNA every Sunday, which are all broadcast online on Paltalk

Paltalk

Paltalk Messenger, or simply referred to as Paltalk, is an Internet chat service that allows users to communicate via instant messaging, voice and video chat. It offers thousands of chat rooms and the ability for users to create their own virtual chat room on any topic and category...

.
Some of Abu Hamza's most popular talks which he has given are:

• Jinns & Magic
• The Neglected Rights of the Parents
• Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?
• The Meaning of Surat al-'Asr

Abu Hamza was one of the guest speakers who took part in the Peace Conference in 2007 which was held in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and was hosted by the Islamic Research Foundation

Islamic Research Foundation

The Islamic Research Foundation is a registered non-profit organization, which is based in Mumbai, India, that promotes Islamic Da’wah. The founder and President of IRF is Dr. Zakir Naik, who is a Islamic orator and preacher of Islam. The IRF Ladies' Wing was established in 1992 and is led by Dr....

 and was broadcast on Peace TV

Peace TV

Peace TV is a Sunni Islamic satellite television network broadcasting globally 24/7 from Dubai, UAE. Peace TV programs are all in the English language and telecast free-to-air...

. Along with Abu Hamza another representative from IISNA also took part in co-hosting the events at the conference.

External links

• www.iisna.com - Official website