Bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm

Assalamu Alaikum wa-Raḥmatullāhi wa-Barakātuhu, Brothers and Sisters.

Overview

In Arabic, the word 'Marhaba' refers to 'Welcome'. In Islam, the word 'Ummah' refers to 'Community of the Believers'. The word ‘Community’ shares its root with the word ‘Communication’. For New Zealand Muslims to become an effective Ummah, the key is for all of us to communicate effectively with each other. Due to location, or the pressures and restrictions of this life such as family, work or study, bringing our Ummah together in one place can often seem like an impossible task.

In a small village, Muslims are more aware of the needs of their fellow brothers and sisters in Islam, as they have constant contact with their friends, family and neighbours every day. In New Zealand, although it is a small country, Muslims can easily feel isolated from their Ummah, and this can lead to isolation from the religion of Islam. Muslims can easily become disconnected with the Muslim community.

The New Zealand Muslim community is a constantly changing one, with many people coming and going. Other than the local Masjid, there are not many places where Muslims feel welcomed, included, and part of a community. The essential question is how do we effectively bring everyone together?

One of the most effective tools of communication these days is the internet, so the team at Marhaba.net.nz decided to use this tool to serve Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and bring our Ummah closer together.

Marhaba.net.nz is a team collaboration by three Wellington based Muslims: Mohamad Ait Balla, Nanette Ait Balla and Zaid Al-Dabbagh. The idea began in January 2006, and has been evolving ever since.

Our Aim

The aim of Marhaba.net.nz is to create a small online village, or hub, connecting all Muslims living in New Zealand, Insha Allah. With your input, and the guidance of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, it will be an exciting place where Muslims can know one another, learn more about their faith, and find out everything there is to know about the New Zealand Muslim Ummah.

People in our Muslim community have a lot of ideas they wish to express and share with others. Insha Allah Marhaba.net.nz will serve as a hub for exchanging those ideas, and for collating thoughts expressed within the Ummah. This will not only educate Muslims about the diversity that makes up the community, but also educate non-Muslims about who we are.

As Marhaba.net.nz grows, many more exciting news items, events, articles, information, and services will be added to help us get connected. We are in the beginning stages, and your This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it will guide us.

"Oh mankind. We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another..." (Qur'an, Al-Hujuraat, 49:13).

The team

The Marhaba.net.nz administrators are a small team of Muslims who are based in Wellington. Here is a brief introduction of the background of each team member:

Mohamad Ait Balla has a Baccalaureate from Oqba Ibn Nafi High school in Morocco. He is currently studying a degree in International Business, Linguistics and Asian Studies at Victoria University, Wellington, NZ. He worked with Lever Maroc in Morocco as a customer consultant.

During his six year overseas experience in South Korea, he worked as Export Manager for Daihyun Auto Spare Parts Company, and Parts-mall. He completed a number of contracts involving the translation of promotional video material from English to Arabic, and providing English subtitles. He was employed as an English teacher in a private language school, and also worked as a private English tutor with students of all ages.

Mohamad has experience in many different areas, including the cooking and selling of his own authentic Moroccan foods, landscape design and construction, and working for ‘City Stop’ Wellington as an EFTpost installer for local businesses. He has recently been working with Victoria University International, helping international students as well as helping translating university guides into Arabic.

Mohamad has been involved with the Wellington Muslim community in voluntarily teaching Arabic to Muslim children and adults, and helping and teaching in a number of children’s camps and holiday programmes. He has also had experience in sourcing, marketing and selling Islamic products to Muslim customers.

He has over 10 years of experience in travelling and communicating with different people in different countries.

Nanette Ait Balla has a background in Education, with a 4 year Bachelor of Secondary Education, majoring in English and Visual Art (Queensland University of Technology, Australia.) She has 10 years of teaching experience which includes teaching Art and English in three secondary schools in Queensland over a period of 7 years, and teaching English as a second language to students from all ages for 3 years, in private language schools in South Korea, and private tutoring of immigrants in New Zealand. She has been involved for 3 years in a variety of teaching roles with the Wellington Muslim community, including regular children’s camps and holiday programmes, since her acceptance of Islam.

Zaid Al-Dabbagh has a qualification in BSc Computer Science and a Graduate Diploma in BCA E-Commerce (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ), and over 5 years international experience in Freelancing and Web Development, working in a different range of environments, including New Zealand , Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and currently works as a Rich Internet Application Developer in Wellington, NZ. Zaid has been an active member of the Muslim Students Association, and has provided ongoing support for new comers. Last but not least, Zaid has been active in the education of Arabic to non-Arabic Speaking Muslims, as a Teacher Aid at the local Masjid in Sunday Arabic classes. Zaid currently holds the Treasurer position of Al-Hijra Islamic Education Trust (www.al-hijra.org.nz), and also holds a Treasurer/IT Manager position of the New Zealand Dawah Association (www.dawah.org.nz).

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