Australian Muslim named father of the year

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Tuesday 01 Sep 2015 - 11:29 Makkah mean time-17-11-1436 (Image from google) Sydney, (IINA) - In recognition of his efforts in serving the Muslim community, a Muslim father-of-five has been named Australian father of the year, adding to a long list of awards he had received over the past few years, according to Australian SBS broadcaster. Known as the strident voice of the Muslim community and a beloved GP in western Sydney, Dr Jamal Rifi has been a prominent figure uniting and fortifying Australian Muslims for nearly 20 years.  He was named the Australian Father of the Year by the Shepherd Centre, a Newtown-based children’s charity. The charity said the title went to Dr Rifi because of his “generous spirit and tireless efforts in the areas of youth, family and community development”, in particular his determination to bridge gaps between Muslims and non-Muslims. "The nucleus of any society is family and fathers have a vital role to play," Dr Jamal Rifi, told SBS on Monday. Born in Lebanon, Dr Rifi vowed to become a doctor after losing his younger brother from an anaphylactic reaction to a penicillin shot. Despite of his fears of not being the perfect father for his family, his sons confirmed that he has been an inspiration to them.  No stranger to awards, Dr Rifi has won The Australian newspaper’s Australian of the Year, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Award and the Pride of Australia Fair Go Medal, but said this accolade was "the greatest honour of them all”. He first caught the media’s attention with his stance against the small but violent gang activity in the Lebanese community during the mid-1990s and was a defiant voice during the Cronulla riots in 2005. Recently, he has publicly denounced the barbarity of ISIS. Muslims, who have been in Australia for more than 200 years, make up 1.7 percent of its 20-million population. Islam is the country's second largest religion after Christianity. SM/IINA