Australia’s First Islamic Museum to Open in March

MUSLIM VILLAGE
By Carolyn Webb

AUSTRALIA---A young team of people largely working pro bono have helped to complete the first Islamic Museum of Australia in just four years. Director Moustafa Fahour, 32, is nervous but excited that the $10 million institution, mostly privately funded with less than 20 per cent government input, will open to the public on March 3. A prayer room overlooks a billabong at the former warehouse in Anderson Road, Thornbury. The museum will explain the tenets of the Islamic faith, and the meaning of misunderstood terms such as jihad and sharia. Patrons can stand in a minaret and listen to the call to prayer. Visitors can eat Arabic sweets at a cafe near gum trees, and learn the origin of camels in the outback. [link]