The 15th Australian Muslim Achievement Awards were held on Sunday 4 December 2022 at the iconic Sydney Opera House with finalists and community leaders flying in from all over Australia to participate in celebrating high achievements within the Muslim community.
Amongst its award winners this year were Dr Abdul Khaliq Kazi, Lifetime Achiever of the Year, Senator Fatima Payman, Role Model of the Year, Emeritus Professor Dr Syed Hasan Masood, Professional of the Year and many more in various different categories.
The Australian Muslim Achievement Awards, hosted by Mission of Hope led by Ms Hanan Dover raises the profile of Australian Muslims who serve both the mainstream and Australian Muslim communities excelling in many areas of influence, expertise, and community service.
AMAA is an annual event attended by peak organisations, businesses, individuals and the Muslim community at large celebrating the achievements of finalists and award recipients.
The 15th AMAA 2022 was organised with the event management expertise of Rahaf Ahmed of WhiteFlame and sponsorships provided by Halal Certification Authority, Tender Loving Care and The Tax Factor.
After a break during COVID-19 pandemic AMAA 2022 was held at Yallamundi Rooms facing the Sydney Harbour at the Sydney Opera House attended by Ministers and politicians, community and business leaders and companions and families of finalists.
The diverse range of nominees, finalists and winners were selected through a strict criterion in each category by panels of judges from across Australia making the 2022 nominations most competitive in the 15-year history of the awards.
The winners announced at the 15th Australian Muslim Achievement Awards for the year 2022 in various categories were as follows:
| Woman of the Year | Firdousi Obeidullah |
| Man of the Year | Imam Alaa Elzokm |
| Youth of the Year | Daniya Syed |
| Professional of the Year | Emeritus Professor Dr Syed Hasan Masood |
| Role Model of the Year | Senator Fatima Payman |
| Role Model of the Year | Ayah Wehbe |
| Sportsperson of the Year | Nagmeldin ‘Peter’ Bol |
| Creative Artist of the Year | Subhi Alshaik |
| Volunteer of the Year | Osman Rane |
| People’s Choice of the Year | Tagrid Ahmad |
| Community Organisation of the Year | Community Care Kitchen |
| Best New Community Project of the Year | Arise Foundation |
| Business of the Year | Hejaz Financial Services |
| Event of the Year | The Eid Show |
| Media Person/Organisation of the Year | One4Kids |
| Lifetime Achiever of the Year | Dr Abdul Khaliq Kazi |
The formal program at the event was started by the MC, Sara Mansour of the Bankstown Poetry Slam fame, helped by Omar and Oz from The Block with the recitation of Quran by Sheikh Jamal.
Ms Hanan Dover during her welcome address acknowledged the traditional custodians of the land, the first people of Australia as well as the VIP’s present at the vent.
Talking about the highly competitive nature of the awards this year, she said, “we accept nominations from your peers and from the community, and even if the nominations aren’t really flush, our responsibility and mission of hope is to make that nomination as excellent as possible so that it increases your chances among the judges to be voted on.”
She further added, “all the finalists here are special. You’re all winners. It was extremely, extremely competitive. So to get to the stage where you’re a finalist is a testament to your excellence in your particular area of of service, be it, you know, community volunteering, politics, business organisation, we’re really proud of what you actually offer for not only the community, but for your own selves, because we know we’re an Ummah and when someone wins, we all celebrate collectively.”
The winners in each of the award categories were announced and were called to the stage to receive them and at the same time to say a few words.
The Lifetime Achiever of the Year award was won by Dr Abdul Khaliq Kazi AM, the Melbourne based veteran Muslim leader of Pakistani origin who migrated to Australia with his wife in 1961.
He was the first Chairman of the Islamic Council of Victoria in 1962 and was instrumental in setting up in establishing the Australian Federation of Islamic Societies (AFIS) in 1964 and served as the chair for almost 10 years.
The Role Model of the Year award was shared by Senator Fatima Payman Ayah Wehbe while Professional of the Year award was won by Melbourne based Emeritus Professor Dr Syed Hasan Masood.
The audience were also addressed by the Minister for Multiculturalism, Mr Mark Coure, Mr Jihad Dib MP and several other guests.
Zuhr prayer was offered in the outside foyer of the Opera House facing the Sydney Harbour.
