Surry Hills---Sydney's Backyard

jasonnewman

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From: http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/school/staff/dunn/C00.pdf

King Faisal Mosque, 1978

The mosque at Surry Hills provides religious services to Muslims working and visiting the inner city of Sydney, especially for Asr and Jum'ah prayers.

The Surry Hills Mosque is also referred to by at least three other names on occasions. The most common alternative to King Faisal is "Surry Hills Mosque". Reference is sometimes made, mostly by non-Muslim sources, to the "Dawn of Islam Mosque" (Gregory's, 1998:173: Collins, 1998) and even less commonly to the "Central Mosque" (see Amust, 14.6.91:7). Most of the references in the Muslim community press refer to the "King Faisal Mosque" (see Amust, 17.1.92:7).

In 1972, the Council of the City of Sydney's Chief Planning Officer described the area where the King Faisal Mosque was built as "mixed residential and light industrial use. The immediate area is predominantly ageing terrace houses". Council had planned that the precinct would primarily become an industrial zone, with the continued decline of the residential component, and the area was zoned Light Industrial at this time. The zone contained lower order residential uses, small-scale industrial activities, as well as wholesaling which fed-off the nearby CBD and key transport nodes. However, this area did not quite develop in the 1980s as anticipated by Council, and by the 1990s it would be better described as a zone of active assimilation. Like other parts of the inner city there has been a rejuvenation of residential properties. Indeed, after a period of depopulation in the 1970s there was an almost doubling of the South Sydney and Sydney SLA populations since the mid-1980s. There has also been a gradual decline of the industrial uses in the Surry Hills area. Some residual clothing manufacturing activities persist although these are now heavily dependent upon retailing and shopping tourism.

Mohammed Affif had arranged Eid festivals at the Sydney Town Hall and other places since the early 1950s. He would arrange loans of Persian carpets, and later used large sheets of canvas, for the Eid prayers. Sometime in the early to mid-1960s Mohammed Affif, along with a Lebanese and a Cypriot Muslim, bought two residential terraces between Commonwealth Street and Beauchamp Lane, Surry Hills. The properties purchased were occupied by rental tenants, and as described earlier, the terraces in this area were "ageing". The owner had also needed a quick sale and so the premises were bought quite cheaply.

Jum'ah prayers began in the property almost immediately after the purchase. These premises were the first permanent mosque in Sydney. Some parts of the properties were still leased, and these rental monies helped fund the operation of the mosque and a school for Muslim children.

In the early 1970s, the Society began planning to demolish the residential terraces and construct a purpose-built mosque on the site. The construction was funded from community donations, rental incomes, as well as considerable contributions from Mohammed Affif.

The certification of halal meat was raising funds which enabled the construction of community infrastructures, a scheme which AFIC was able to mirror in later decades. The Society would also later receive a $100,000 donation from the Saudi Government to assist with construction costs. An Egyptian-Australian provided the Society with a design for the new mosque, which would come to be called King Faisal Mosque.

Sometime in the early 1970s, the Society wrote to the Premier of New South Wales announcing their intention to build a mosque in inner Sydney. The Premier of the time responded favourably to the plan. The Society attached a copy of the Premier's affirmation to their Development Application which had been lodged with The Council of the City of Sydney.

The Development Application was lodged in May of 1972 (DA 213/72). The Society's proposal benefited not only from the Premier's letter, but also the geography of the Surry Hills at the time. The property was zoned Industrial 4(b), and Council's strategic plan was to encourage less residential and more industrial uses in the area. The site was also very close to major train and bus transport nodes.

The City Planner requested that the DA be reviewed by consultants who were presently engaged by Council to formulate a Development Action Plan for West Surry Hills. The consultants expressed the feeling that the mosque would be "out of scale with the surrounding development", that it would break the streetscape, and that it would be better sited on a larger block which would allow for ambient landscaping. However, Figure 6.3 clearly demonstrates that the completed mosque hardly breaks the streetscape, and criticisms that the mosque would be out of place in a residential block near industry are hard to justify. Other than the small symbolic minarets in the centre background of Figure 6.3 the building is hardly noticeable as a mosque. The consultants themselves noted that the zoning of the area, the proximity of the public transport, and the aesthetic merits of the mosque design, all meant that here was little likelihood of the development being able to be refused on legal grounds.

The Chief Planning Officer also noted that the "relationship to the environment of this proposed development would be one of considerable contrast regarding appearance, scale and use, but would introduce a degree of diversity". Consent to the DA was granted by the Town Clerk, under delegated authority, in September of 1972.

King Faisal Mosque is an area zoned Light Industrial, but it is immediately surrounded by residential terraces. The Islamic Society of New South Wales has purchased the property to the immediate north of the Mosque to enable further expansion.

Despite the funds which had been raised through community contributions, the Society had difficulties funding the construction of their mosque. A year after the DA was approved, the Society lodged its Building Application for "erection of mosque", in which the cost of construction was (under)estimated at $60,000 (BA 885/73). The BA was quite quickly approved by Council after the Society agreed to hand over a 13m2 strip of their property so that Council could widen Beauchamp Lane. Between 1972 and 1974 Council officers reported that the "proposed development had not yet commenced". In late 1973, the Society were compelled to request Council to extend their DA and BA consents. It was not until June 1974 that the two terraces began to be demolished.

Following the demolition, Council officers reported that work in progress on BA 885/73 had commenced, but by late 1975 that the work had been suspended. Office bearers from the Society were able to convince Saudi Embassy officials that some of the funds which the Saudi
Government were making available for Muslim community structures in Australia should be directed towards the construction of the Surry Hills mosque. Approximately $100,000 was donated to the Society, and during mid-1976 work on the Mosque re-commenced.

The Mosque was in use by September 1978.

The King Faisal Mosque is available for daily and Jum'ah prayers. However, during some periods of internal strife within the Society the mosque was closed other than for the Jum'ah services for city workers. The Mosque has a separate female prayer space, as did the residential terrace which had previously been used. The weekend school for religious teaching and for Arabic has taught about 30 to 40 children for many years. These morning classes are run by the Mosque's Imam and two or three other members of the Society. The Society had given consideration to the formation of a full-time private Islamic school, but they were unable to plan beyond the constraints of limited teaching expertise, space and facilities. The Mosque also hosts High School students from all over the state who visit as part of school excursions. The Society purchased the residential terrace adjacent to their property which they intend to demolish and then extend the King Faisal Mosque.

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-10-8 17:16 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

THE FOUNDER OF THE SALVATION ARMY

William Booth began The Salvation Army in July 1865. Preaching to a small street congregation in the slums of London, his spirit was as militant as that of a professional soldier while battling an almost overwhelming enemy.

Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among Booth's first converts to Christianity. His congregations were desperately poor. He preached hope and salvation. His aim was to lead them to Christ and link them to a church for continued spiritual guidance.

Even though Booth's followers were converted, churches did not accept them because of what they had been. However, Booth gave their lives direction in both a spiritual and practical manner and put them to work to save others who were like themselves. They, too, preached and sang in the streets as a living testimony to the power of God.

In 1867, Booth had only 10 full-time workers. By 1874, the numbers had grown to 1,000 volunteers and 42 evangelists. They served under the name "The Christian Mission" and Booth assumed the title of General Superintendent, although his followers called him "General." Known as the "Hallelujah Army," the converts spread out of the east end of London into neighboring areas and then to other cities.

In 1878, Booth was reading a printer's proof of the organization's annual report when he noticed the statement, "the Christian Mission under the [sic] Superintendent's of the Rev. William Booth is a volunteer army." He crossed out the words "volunteer army" and penned in "Salvation Army." From those words came the basis of the foundation deed of The Salvation Army which was adopted in August of that same year.

The Salvation Army gained a foothold in the United States by the work of Lieutenant Eliza Shirley, who had left England to join her parents. She held the first meeting of The Salvation Army in America in Philadelphia in 1879. In 1880, General Booth sent a party of eight Salvationists, led by George Scott Railton, to officially begin the work of The Salvation Army in the United States.

In 1886, President Grover Cleveland received a delegation of Salvation Army officers and gave the organization a warm personal endorsement. This was the first recognition from the White House and was followed by similar receptions from succeeding presidents of the United States. The Salvation Army expanded rapidly to Canada, Australia, France, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Iceland, Germany, and many other countries.

General Booth's death in 1912 was a great loss to The Salvation Army. However, he had laid a firm foundation for the organization. Today, The Salvation Army serves people in 103 countries.

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-10-8 17:24 编辑 ]

jasonnewman

Central Station

[ 本帖最后由 jasonnewman 于 2007-10-8 17:19 编辑 ]

西门吹哨

看图说话，赞

jasonnewman

Saturday, 13 October 2007

Prince Alfred Park will host the 8th Surry Hills Festival, on Saturday
13 October, 2007. The Festival offers a wide variety of entertainment
options, so make sure you get there early, at 10:00am.

More info at http://shnc.org/FestivalPromotion.htm