Islamic Council of Victoria’s annual state-wide Victorian Mosque Open Day team ran a training session for participating Mosques on Saturday, February 9 at the ICV to provide support for Mosques who will open their doors for the initiative on Sunday, March 17 this year, during Cultural Diversity Week.
Participants found the training session to be incredibly beneficial and were excited to apply their learning in preparing for their Mosque open. Geelong Mosque’s Islamic Society of Geelong said, “Please accept our deepest gratitude for arranging Mosque Open Day training. Our representative brother Mahmoud told us, he thoroughly enjoyed the training and came back with highly useful information, which will InshAllah greatly assist us in the preparation for the Geelong Mosque Open Day.”
Cultural Diversity Week
The Australian Muslim community is a multicultural phenomenon in itself – and proud Victorian Muslims are celebrating their diversity through caring and sharing. Cultural Diversity Week (March 16 -24) and Harmony Day (March 21) are Victoria’s largest multicultural celebrations, featuring week-long programs of festivals and events in metropolitan and regional areas. This year, the Islamic Council of Victoria’s (ICV) annual Victorian Mosque Open Day will run in line with both festivals, and will see Mosques across Victoria open their doors and hearts for visitors from any race, belief and gender on Sunday, March 17 between 10-4pm.
The Australian Muslim community is adorned with an estimated 63 different backgrounds, and 200,000 Muslims call Victoria home. The Victorian Muslim community is diverse with cultural backgrounds from Albania, Pakistan, Bosnia, Lebanon, Burma, Egypt, Afghanistan and many more. ICV’s Victorian Mosque Open Day project launched in 2017 and has become an annual hit since. Thousands of Victorians have flocked to a local Mosque near them to get to know their Muslim neighbours, partaking in guided Mosque tours, hijab tutorials, henna tattoo art, jumping castles, sausage sizzles and discussions about Islamic beliefs.
The state-wide annual event, supported by the Victorian Multicultural Commission and Victorian Government (Office of Multicultural Affairs and Social Cohesion) and Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) is back this year partaking in the community spirit of Cultural Diversity Week and Harmony Day.
