Islam in Australia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on Islam by country

Islam in Africa Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Sudan · Swaziland · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) · Zambia · Zimbabwe Islam in Asia Southwest Asia Bahrain · Cyprus · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Jordan · Kuwait · Lebanon · Oman · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Syria · Turkey · UAE · Yemen South Asia Afghanistan · Bangladesh · Bhutan · India · Maldives · Nepal · Pakistan · Sri Lanka Southeast Asia Brunei · Burma · Cambodia · East Timor · Indonesia · Laos · Malaysia · Philippines · Singapore · Thailand · Vietnam East Asia China (Hong Kong · Macau) · Japan · Korea (North Korea · South Korea) · Mongolia · Taiwan Central Asia Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Russia · Tajikistan · Turkmenistan · Uzbekistan · Caucasus Armenia · Azerbaijan · Georgia Islam in Europe Western Europe Andorra · Austria · Belgium · France · Germany · Ireland · Italy · Liechtenstein · Luxembourg · Malta · Monaco · Netherlands · Portugal · San Marino · Spain · Switzerland · United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales) Scandinavia Denmark · Iceland · Finland · Norway · Sweden Eastern Europe Albania · Armenia · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Bosnia · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Estonia · Georgia · Greece · Hungary · Kazakhstan · Latvia · Lithuania · Macedonia · Moldova · Montenegro · Poland · Romania · Russia · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Turkey · Ukraine Islam in Americas Northern America Canada · Mexico · United States · Central America Belize · Costa Rica · Guatemala · Honduras · Nicaragua · Panama · Southern America Argentina · Bolivia · Belize · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Cuba · Dominica · El Salvador · Ecuador · Paraguay · Peru · Uruguay · Venezuela Caribbean Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Dominican Republic · Grenada · Guyana · Haiti · Jamaica · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago · Islam in Oceania Australia Australia · Norfolk Island · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands Melanesia East Timor · Fiji · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu Micronesia Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Northern Mariana Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · Palau Polynesia American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · New Zealand · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna This box: view • talk • edit

Islam in Australia is the fourth largest religious grouping, after Christianity, "No Religion", and Buddhism. According to the 2006 census, approximately 340,392 people or 1.71%^[1] of the population identify as Muslim. Being a community defined by religious belonging, the Australian Muslim community is among the most ethnically and racially diverse, with members from every ethnic and racial background. As such, differing segments within the Australian Muslim community may also espouse additional identies, independent of their Muslim identity, often with related non-Muslim counterparts, either within Australia or overseas.

Although its presence as a religion in Australia is often perceived to be "new" by non-Muslim Australians, having largely been noticed after recent migratory waves from the diverse Muslim World — including the Middle East and North Africa, South East Asia, the Balkans of Europe, Indian sub continent, and most recently from Sub-Saharan Africa — Islam does in fact have a longer history in the land. This history stretches back not only to those few Muslims who arrived as part of the first European contact and during the colonial period, but prior to this and the eventual emergence of Christianity as the numerically dominant non-indigenous religion.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Pre-European Australia 1.2 First Fleet 1.3 19th Century 1.4 Early 20th Century 1.5 Post World War II 1.6 Late 20th century 2 Present day Islam in Australia 2.1 Aboriginal Muslims 2.2 Population Statistics 2.3 Muslims in contemporary Australian society 3 Notable Muslim Australians 4 Islamic schools 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Pre-European Australia

The first Muslims in Australia were traders from ethnic groups indigenous to the Indonesian archipelago.^[2]. The Macassan and Bugis traders from Indonesia may have had a harmonious relationship with the Indigenous people of northern Australia and their language became the lingua franca even among Aboriginal groups of different tribes.^[3]

Macassan trepangers and Bugis traders from Sulawesi (formerly Celebes) visited the coast of northern Australia for hundreds of years prior to arrival of Europeans in Australia to fish for trepang (also known as sea cucumber or "sandfish"), a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary and medicinal values in Chinese markets.

During the voyages the Macassan's left their mark on the people of northern Australia — in language, art, economy and even genetics in the descendants of both Macassan and Indigenous Australian ancestors that are now found on both sides of the Arafura and Banda Seas.^[4]

[edit] First Fleet

The early fleets of settlers used Muslims from coastal Africa and the islands and territories under the British Empire, for labour and as navigators.

There were also a number of convicts who were sent to Australia for the crime of ‘disobedience’. Most of these early Muslims inter-married with the local community and their descendants were assimilated into the society. Little is known about them as they left no traces behind, except for a few scattered references to their names. It was not until the 19th century that a more permanent Islamic presence was recognised.

[edit] 19th Century

Between 1860 and the 1890s many Central Asians came to Australia to work as "Afghan" camel drivers. Camels were first imported into Australia in 1840, initially for exploring the arid interior (see Australian camel), and later for the camel trains that were uniquely suited to the demands of Australia's vast deserts. The first camel drivers arrived in Melbourne in June 1860, when eight Muslims and Hindus arrived with the camels for the Burke and Wills expedition. The next arrival of camel drivers was in 1866 when 31 men from Rajasthan and Baluchistan arrived in South Australia with camels for Thomas Elder. Although they came from several countries, they were usually known in Australia as 'Afghans' and they brought with them the first formal establishment of Islam in Australia.^[5]

Many cameleers settled in the areas near Alice Springs and other areas of the Northern Territory and inter-married with the Indigenous population. It is therefore fitting that the Adelaide to Darwin railway is named The Ghan (short for The Afghan) in their memory.^[6]

The first mosque in Australia was built in 1882 at Marree in South Australia.^[7] The Great Mosque of Adelaide was built in 1890 by the descendants of the cameleers.

During the 1870s, Muslim Malay divers were recruited through an agreement with the Dutch to work on Western Australian and Northern Territory pearling grounds. By 1875, there were 1800 Malay divers working in Western Australia. Most returned to their home countries.

[edit] Early 20th Century

In the early twentieth century, Muslims of non-European descent experienced many difficulties in emigrating to Australia because of a government policy which limited immigration on the basis of links with Great Britain and Ireland. Known as the White Australia Policy, politicians of the era claimed that non-white immigrants would cause social disharmony.^[8][9]

However, some Muslims still managed to come to Australia. In the 1920s and 30s Albanian Muslims were accepted along with small numbers of Bosnian Muslims, whose European heritage made them more compatible with the White Australia Policy. Albanian Muslims built the first mosque in Victoria in Shepparton in 1960 and the first mosque in Melbourne in 1963. Bosnian Muslims established various multi-ethnic Islamic Societies throughout Melbourne (notably Carlton) which included Muslims of different backgrounds mainly Turks, Arabs and a small number of Albanians. This occurred particularly in 1957 and 1961. In 1957 the multi-ethnic Islamic Society of Victoria was established and by 1961 was located in Carlton.

[edit] Post World War II

The perceived need for population growth and economic development in Australia led to the broadening of Australia’s immigration policy in the post-World War II period. This allowed for the acceptance of a number of displaced Muslims who began to arrive from Europe.

Moreover, between 1967 and 1971, approximately 10,000 Turks settled in Australia under an agreement between Australia and Turkey. This was the first Muslim community of Middle Eastern origin to settle in Australia. Almost all of these people went to Melbourne and Sydney.

From the 1970s onwards, there was a significant shift in the government’s attitude towards immigration. Instead of trying to make newer foreign nationals assimilate and forgo their heritage and in recognition of the breadth of their imported cultural identities and the positive influence that that cultural influence could have on the matrix of Australian society, the government became more accommodating and tolerant of differences by adopting a policy of multiculturalism.

By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Muslims from more than sixty countries had settled in Australia. While a very large number of them come from Turkey, Bosnia, and Lebanon, there are Muslims from Indonesia, Iran, Fiji, Albania, Sudan, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, among others.

[edit] Late 20th century

Large-scale Muslim migration began in 1975 with the migration of Lebanese Muslims, which rapidly increased during the Lebanese Civil War. The Lebanese are still the largest and highest-profile Muslim group in Australia. They form the core of Australia's Muslim Arab population which also includes many Iraqis, particularly in Sydney where most Arabs in Australia live. Approximately 3.4% of Sydney's population are Muslim which is about half of Australia's Islamic population. Sunnis are particularly concentrated in the suburb of Lakemba and surrounding areas such as Punchbowl, Wiley Park, Bankstown and Auburn, while the Shi'a population is centred in the St George region of Sydney, with the large al-Zahra Mosque being built at Arncliffe in 1983.^[10]

There are also Somali populations scattered throughout Australia who have fled their country since the Somali civil war started in 1991. In 2005 tensions between Lebanese-Australian Muslims and Anglo-Saxon Australians caused the 2005 Cronulla riots.

Many Muslims living in Melbourne are of Turkish, Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak), or Albanian ethnicity. Unlike New South Wales, Victoria's Muslims are more likely to be Turkish and Bosnian than Lebanese. Melbourne's Australian Muslims live primarily in the northern suburbs surrounding Broadmeadows (mostly Turkish and Bosnian Muslim) and a few in the outer southern suburbs such as Noble Park and Dandenong (mainly Bosniak) (Bosnian Muslim).

Very few Muslims live in regional areas with the exceptions of the sizeable Turkish and Albanian community in Shepparton, Victoria and Malays in Katanning, Western Australia. Men in both communities work in the local meat-packing industries. A sizeable community of Iraqis have settled in Cobram on the Murray River in Victoria, totalling around 10% of the population.^[11]

Perth also has a sizeable Muslim community. Many live in and around the suburb of Thornlie, which contains both the Thornlie Mosque and the Australian Islamic College (Thornlie Campus). The Australian Islamic College is an Islamic school which is spread across three campuses in the Perth metropolitan area with around 2000 students.

Mirrabooka and neighbouring Girrawheen also contain large Muslim communities which are predominantly Bosnian Muslims. There are a relatively large number of Halal restaurants in Perth. The oldest mosque in Perth is the Perth Mosque on William Street in Northbridge. It has undergone many renovations although the original section still remains. Other mosques in Perth are located in Rivervale, Mirrabooka, Beechboro and Hepburn.

There are also sizeable communities of Muslims from Turkey, the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) and South-East Asia, all of those communities are concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne (the Turkish communities around Auburn, New South Wales and Meadow Heights and Roxburgh Park, Victoria and the South Asian communities around Parramatta and Dandenong. Indonesian Muslims, who are more widely distributed, are a particularly significant element^[quantify] of the population of Darwin.

Australia also attracts a large number of Muslim students for studies, from Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and increasingly from the Persian Gulf region.

There is a deep split within the Australian Muslim community. Most Muslims in New South Wales are Arabs but there are also sizable Turkish and Bosnian Muslim communities, whereas most Muslims in Victoria are of Turkish, Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) or Albanian ethnicity. There are also significant^[quantify] Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim communities in both cities, numbering roughly 10-12 thousand from each community in the country. Victorian Muslims tend to be generally more secular and indications show they are much more integrated than those in New South Wales.

There have been arguments between the two communities with the mainly moderate Turkish Australian community refusing to accept the more fundamentalist Taj El-Din Hilaly (an Arab born in Egypt) as Australia's mufti. Victorian Imams do not recognise Hilaly. However, as of 2007, Hilaly is no longer recognised as a mufti.

[edit] Present day Islam in Australia

[edit] Aboriginal Muslims

The history of Islam with the Aboriginal population may be older than with Christianity. But, its significance is greatly reduced when compared with the influence of Christianity. The first contacts between Aborigines and Muslims include some of the oldest contacts Aborigines had with the outside world itself.^[12] Most of the people neighbouring Australia are Muslim (see Macassan contact with Australia). More contact came with the "Afghan" camel trains, where the two groups found that they shared a similar sense of spirituality and there was some intermarriage.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2003, the growing community of indigenous Aboriginal Muslims, was conservatively estimated as 1000 individuals.^[13] It is reported that the community is rising rapidly. Conversion is driven by the higher visibility of Islam, a rejection of Christianity as a post-colonial religion, identification with Islamic principles, and conversions in prisons where Aborigines dominate the population.^[14] That is due, it seems, to an increasing rate of conversions from their tribal religion. Many do it for spiritual purposes while others see Islam as empowering; they say it gives them strength to face the challenges of being the most disadvantaged group in Australia.^{[citation needed]} Others are descendants of Afghan cameleers or, as in the Arnhem Land people, have Macassan ancestry.^[15] The boxer Anthony Mundine is a member of this community.^[16]

[edit] Population Statistics

The following is a breakdown of the country of origin of Muslims in Australia from 2001^[17]:

1. Australia: 36%
2. Lebanon: 10%
3. Turkey: 8.5%
4. Bosnia-Herzegovina: 4.0%
5. Afghanistan: 3.5%
6. Pakistan: 3.2%
7. Indonesia: 2.9%
8. Iraq: 2.8%
9. Bangladesh: 2.7%
10. Iran: 2.3%
11. Fiji: 2.0%

There were 281,578 Muslims recorded in this survey; in the 2006 census the population had grown to 340,392.^[18]

The distribution by state of the nation's Islamic followers has New South Wales at first place with 50% of the total followed by Victoria (33%), Western Australia (7%), Queensland (5%), South Australia (3%), ACT (1%) and both Northern Territory and Tasmania sharing 0.3%.

The majority of people who reported Islam as their religion in the 2006 Census were born overseas: 58% (198,400).^[18] Of all persons affiliating with Islam in 2006 almost 9% were born in Lebanon and 7% were born in Turkey.^[19]

When comparing top 3 religious affiliations of residents in the top 15 countries of birth of migrants to Australia compared with that of Australian residents born in those countries (2006 census), the following results relate to Islamic population proportions:^[18]

Country of origin	Proportion of people with Islam or Muslim as their religious affiliation in country	Proportion of Australian residents born in that country with Islam or Muslim as their religious affiliation
India	13% are Muslim	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation
Philippines	5% Islam	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation
Greece	1.3% Muslim	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation
Germany	4% Islam	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation
South Africa	1% Islam	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation
Malaysia	60% Islam	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation. Malaysia has a 60% Muslim population, but only 5% of Malaysian-born Australians cited Islam as their religion.[18]
Netherlands	6% Islam	Islam not in top 3 responses for religious affiliation
Lebanon	60% Muslim	40% Islam

[edit] Muslims in contemporary Australian society

There are developed trade links between Australia and several Muslim countries, particularly Middle Eastern, for instance through the export of halal meat. The meat export industry is regulated in Australia and managed by the Meat and Livestock Association.

Of the thousands of international students studying in Australia, a significant number^[quantify] are Muslims from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Since the 2001 World Trade Center attacks in New York, U.S.A, and the Bali bombings, Islam and its place in Australian society has been the subject of much public debate.^[20] The role of Islam and Muslims in terrorism and extremism are discussed in the media. A number of forums and meetings have been held about the problem of extremist groups or ideology within the Australian Islamic community.^[21][22]

In October 2006, controversy erupted when senior Muslim cleric Taj El-Din Hilaly compared women who do not wear the Islamic veil to "uncovered meat", implying that they were responsible for gang rapes perpetrated by Muslims; "if the meat was covered, the cats wouldn't roam around it".^[23][24][25] Hiali's comments echoed earlier comments placing the blame on women for rape made by Sheik Feiz Mohammed.^[26][27] Angry responses to the comments were made from Islamic women as well as non-Islamic figures.^[28] A similar incident occurred in January 2008, when cleric Samir Abu Hamza, leader of the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia, told his male followers they can beat and rape their wives if they're disobedient.^[29] He also denounced Australian culture as one of beer, gambling, and prostitutes.^[30] These comments were widely condemned by both the Muslim community and the public at large;^[31] Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demanded an apology for the comments, saying "Australia will not tolerate these sorts of remarks. They don't belong in modern Australia, and he should stand up, repudiate them and apologise".^[32]

As part of the broader issue of women's rights under Islam (particularly in light of the misogynistic statements by Islamic leaders) the perceived or real gender inequality in Islam has often been the focal point of criticism in Australia via comparisons to the situation of women in Islamic nations. Muslim women face hurdles both from within the Muslim community and from the wider community.^[20][33]

Unemployment rates amongst Muslims born overseas are higher than those born in Australia. Average wages of Muslims are much lower than those of the national average, with just 5% of Muslims earning over $1000 a week compared to the average of 11%.^[20]

A 2004 report from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission showed that many Muslim Australians felt the Australian media was unfairly critical of, and often vilified their community. The use of ethnic or religious labels in news reports about crime was thought to stir up racial tensions.^[34]

[edit] Notable Muslim Australians

• Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen
• Waleed Aly
• Taj El-Din Hilaly
• John Ilhan
• Fehmi Naji
• Osamah Sami

[edit] Islamic schools

• Al Amanah College, New South Wales
• AlKauthar Institute, Victoria, New South Wales
• Al-Hidayah Islamic School, Western Australia
• Al Faisal College, New South Wales
• Al Noori Muslim Primary School, New South Wales
• Al Qiblah College, New South Wales
• Al Zahrah College, New South Wales
• Arkana College, New South Wales
• Australian International Academy (formerly King Khalid Islamic College of Victoria), Victoria
• Australian International Islamic College, Queensland
• Australian Islamic College, Western Australia
• Australian Islamic College of Sydney New South Wales
• East Preston Islamic College, Victoria
• Ilim College, Victoria
• Isik College, Victoria
• Islamic College of Brisbane, Queensland
• Islamic College of South Australia, South Australia
• King Abdul Aziz School, New South Wales
• Langford Islamic College, Western Australia
• Malek Fahd Islamic School, New South Wales
• Minaret College, Victoria
• Noor Al Houda Islamic College, New South Wales
• Sule College, New South Wales
• Rissalah College, New South Wales
• Werribee Islamic College, Victoria

[edit] See also

• Islam by country
• Religion in Australia
• Malay Australian

[edit] References

• CIA Factbook [1]
• US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2006 [2]

[edit] Further reading

• Cleland, Bilal. The Muslims in Australia: A Brief History. Melbourne: Islamic Council of Victoria, 2002.
• Deen, Hanifa. Muslim Journeys. Online: National Archives of Australia, 2007.
• Kabir, Nahid. Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History. London: Kegan Paul, 2004.
• Kabir, Nahid (July 2006). "Muslims in a 'White Australia': Colour or Religion?". Immigrants and Minorities 24 (2): 193–223. doi:10.1080/02619280600863671. 
• Saeed, Abdullah. Islam in Australia. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2003.
• Saeed, Abdullah and Shahram Akbarzadeh, eds. Muslim Communities in Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2001.
• Stevens, Christine. Tin Mosques and Ghantowns.

[edit] External links

• Australian Federation of Islamic Councils
• Muslim Journeys – historical community biography produced by the National Archives of Australia
• Australian Multicultural Foundation
• Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001 Census Dictionary - Religion category

v • d • e Religion in Australia Christianity Roman Catholic  · Anglican  · Uniting Church  · Presbyterian  · Baptist  · Lutheran  · Coptic Orthodox  · more Other Religions Buddhism  · Islam  · Sikhism  · Judaism  · Hinduism  · Bahá'í Faith Related Topics Irreligion  · Australian Aboriginal mythology

v • d • e Islam in Oceania Sovereign states Australia · East Timor1 · Fiji · Indonesia1 · Kiribati · Papua New Guinea · Marshall Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · New Zealand · Palau · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu Dependencies and other territories American Samoa · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Guam · Hawaii · New Caledonia · Niue · Norfolk Island · Northern Mariana Islands · Pitcairn Islands · Rotuma · Tokelau · Wallis and Futuna 1 Transcontinental country.