Islam in Australia

The Adelaide Mosque in Adelaide, South Australia is amongst the oldest mosques in Australia having been built in 1888-89.

Islam is the second-largest religion in Australia. According to the 2021 Census in Australia, the combined number of people who self-identified as Australian Muslims, from all forms of Islam, constituted 813,392 people, or 3.2% of the total Australian population. That total Muslim population makes Islam, in all its denominations and sects, the second largest religious grouping in Australia, after all denominations of Christianity (43.9%, also including non-practicing cultural Christians).

Demographers attribute Muslim community growth trends during the most recent census period to relatively high birth rates, and recent immigration patterns. Adherents of Islam represent the majority of the population in Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an external territory of Australia.

The vast majority of Muslims in Australia are Sunni, with significant minorities belonging to the Shia denomination. The followers of each of these are further split along different Madhhab (schools of thought within Islamic jurisprudence for the interpretation and practice of Islamic law) and Sub-Sect. There are also practitioners of other smaller denominations of Islam such as Ibadi Muslim Australians of Omani descent, and approximately 20,000 Druze Australians whose religion emerged as an offshoot of Islam which arrived in Australia with the immigration of Druze mainly from Lebanon and Syria. There are also Sufi (Islamic mysticism) minorities among Muslim practitioners in Australia.

While the overall Australian Muslim community is defined largely by a common religious identity, Australia's Muslims are not a monolithic community. The Australian Muslim community has traditional sectarian divisions and is also extremely diverse racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically. Different Muslim groups within the Australian Muslim community thus also espouse parallel non-religious ethnic identities with related non-Muslim counterparts, either within Australia or abroad.

History

Prior to 1860

Islam has been in Australia since the 1700s when Makassar traders were long-term visitors to Arnhem land (now Northern Territory). A dance among the Warramiri people refers to a dreamtime creational being is given the name, Walitha Walitha, which is an adaptation of the Arabic phrase Allah ta'ala (God, the exalted). The 'Dreaming' creation figure, Walitha' walitha, is also known as Allah. In the Warramiri tradition, Walitha' walitha descends from heaven to re-establish order from infighting and violence between different groups in Arnhem land. Indigenous Australians share this ceremony, known as the Wurramu, with the people of Macassar Indonesia, but the Aboriginal version is a mortuary ritual. Aboriginal elders explain on an 'outside' level' the dance performance is about the new world introduced to Aborigines in pre-colonial times as a result of this first contact experience, but on an 'inside' level, they focus on the Aboriginal deaths that occurred as a consequence of contact with these fishing peoples from the north of Australia. The 'inside' meaning of the ritual relates to the passage of the soul of the deceased to a heavenly paradise above, the abode of Allah.

Main article: Makassan contact with Australia

Indonesian Muslims trepangers from the southwest corner of Sulawesi visited the coast of northern Australia, "from at least the eighteenth century" to collect and process trepang, a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary and medicinal values in Chinese markets. Remnants of their influence can be seen in the culture of some of the northern Aboriginal peoples. Regina Ganter, an associate professor at Griffith University, says, "Staying on the safe grounds of historical method ... the beginning of the trepang industry in Australia [can be dated] to between the 1720s and 1750s, although this does not preclude earlier, less organised contact." Ganter also writes "the cultural imprint on the Yolngu people of this contact is everywhere: in their language, in their art, in their stories, in their cuisine." According to anthropologist John Bradley from Monash University, the contact between the two groups was a success: "They traded together. It was fair - there was no racial judgement, no race policy." Even into the early 21st century, the shared history between the two peoples is still celebrated by Aboriginal communities in Northern Australia as a period of mutual trust and respect.

Others who have studied this period have come to a different conclusion regarding the relationship between the Aboriginal people and the visiting trepangers. Anthropologist Ian McIntosh has said that the initial effects of the Macassan fishermen were "terrible", which resulted in "turmoil" with the extent of Islamic influence being "indeterminate". In another paper McIntosh concludes, "strife, poverty and domination . . is a previously unrecorded legacy of contact between Aborigines and Indonesians." A report prepared by the History Department of the Australian National University says that the Macassans appear to have been welcomed initially, however relations deteriorated when, "aborigines began to feel they were being exploited . . leading to violence on both sides".

A number of "Mohammedans" were listed in the musters of 1802, 1811, 1822, and the 1828 census, and a small number of Muslims arrived during the convict period. Beyond this, Muslims generally are not thought to have settled in large numbers in other regions of Australia until 1860.

Muslims were among the earliest settlers of Norfolk Island while the island was used as a British penal colony in the early 19th century. They arrived from 1796, having been employed on British ships. They left following the closure of the penal colony and moved to Tasmania. The community left no remnants; only seven permanent residents of the island identified themselves as "non-Christian" in a 2006 census.

1860 onward: cameleers and pearlers

Further information: Afghan cameleers in Australia and Pearling in Western Australia

19th-century mosque in cemetery, Bourke, New South Wales

Among the early Muslims were the "Afghan" camel drivers who migrated to and settled in Australia during the mid to late 19th century. Between 1860 and the 1890s a number of Central Asians came to Australia to work as 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, Victoria, 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.

The grave of an Afghan cameleer

Cameleers settled in the areas near Alice Springs and other areas of the Northern Territory and inter-married with the Indigenous population. The Adelaide, South Australia to Darwin, Northern Territory, railway is named The Ghan (short for The Afghan) in their memory.

The first mosque in Australia was built in 1861 at Marree, South Australia. The Great Mosque of Adelaide was built in 1888 by the descendants of the Afghan cameleers. The Broken Hill Mosque at North camel camp was built by the cameleers between 1887 and 1891.

During the 1870s, in slave like conditions, White owned companies brought in Malay Muslims as indentured servants to work on Western Australian and Northern Territory pearling grounds. This was in response to amounting public pressure on the pearling industry, who practiced child kidnapping and forced labour of Aboriginal women, girls, and even pregnant mothers, as they were thought to be the best at diving for pearls. By 1900, 38% of indentured-servant pearl divers were Malay. It is thought that thousands were killed in this industry and are buried in Australia; one cemetery alone of indenture Japanese pearl divers had over 1000 graves, with the average age of mid-20's.

One of the earliest recorded Islamic festivals celebrated in Australia occurred on 23 July 1884 when 70 Muslims assembled for Eid prayers at Albert Park, Melbourne. The Auckland Star noted the ceremony's calm demeanor, stating: "During the whole service the worshippers wore a remarkably reverential aspect."

20th century

Replica of ice cream van owned by one of the killers in the 1915 "Battle of Broken Hill".

Most of the cameleers returned to their countries after their work had dried up, but a few had brought wives and settled in Australia with their families, and others settled either on their own (some living at the Adelaide Mosque), or married Aboriginal or European women. Halimah Schwerdt, secretary to Mahomet Allum, a former cameleer who established himself as herbalist, healer and philanthropist in Adelaide, became first European woman in Australia to publicly embrace Islam. She was engaged to Allum in 1935-37, but there is no record of a wedding. He married Jean Emsley in 1940, who converted to Islam later. Allam also published pamphlets and articles about Islam.

From 1901, under the provisions of the White Australia policy, immigration to Australia was restricted to persons of white European descent (including white Europeans of the Muslim faith). Meanwhile, persons not of white European heritage (including most Muslims) were denied entry to Australia during this period, and those already settled were not granted Australian citizenship.

Notable events involving Australian Muslims during this early period include what has been described either as an act of war by the Ottoman Empire, or the earliest terrorist attack planned against Australian civilians. The attack was carried out at Broken Hill, New South Wales, in 1915, in what was described as the Battle of Broken Hill. Two Afghans who pledged allegiance to the Ottoman Empire shot and killed four Australians and wounded seven others before being killed by the police.

Melbourne's first mosque, built by the Albanian community

In the 1920s and 1930s Albanian Muslims, whose European heritage made them compatible with the White Australia Policy, immigrated to the country. The Albanian arrival revived the Australian Muslim community whose ageing demographics were until that time in decline and Albanians became some of the earliest post-colonial Muslim groups to establish themselves in Australia. Some of the earliest communities with a sizable Albanian Muslim population were Mareeba, Queensland and Shepparton in Victoria.

Post-war migration

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 white European Muslims who began to arrive from other parts of Europe, mainly from the Balkans, especially from Bosnia and Herzegovina. As with the Albanian Muslim immigrants before them, the European heritage of these displaced Muslims also made them compatible with the White Australia Policy.

Albanians partook in the revival of Islamic life within Australia, in particular toward creating networks and institutions for the community. Albanian Muslims built the first mosque in Shepparton, Victoria (1960), first mosque in Melbourne (1969) and another in 1985, and a mosque in Mareeba, Far North Queensland (1970).

With the increase in immigration of Muslims after the war from countries such as Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo, the Islam in Australia developed its characteristic plurality. The move proved enriching for Muslim migrants, who "met Muslim fellows from many different ethnic, racial, cultural, sectarian and linguistic backgrounds" and "found Islam more pluralistic and more sophisticated" than their countries of origin.

Later, between 1967 and 1971, during the final years of the step-by-step dismantling of the White Australia policy, approximately 10,000 Turkish citizens settled in Australia under an agreement between Australia and Turkey. From the 1970s onwards, there was a significant shift in the government's attitude towards immigration, and with the White Australia policy now totally dismantled from 1973 onwards, instead of trying to make newer foreign nationals assimilate and forgo their heritage, the government became more accommodating and tolerant of differences by adopting a policy of multiculturalism.

The Chullora Greenacre Mosque

Larger-scale Muslim migration of non-White non-European Muslims began in 1975 with the migration of Lebanese Muslims, which rapidly increased during the Lebanese Civil War from 22,311 or 0.17% of the Australian population in 1971, to 45,200 or 0.33% in 1976. Lebanese Muslims are still the largest and highest-profile Muslim group in Australia, although Lebanese Christians form a majority of Lebanese Australians, outnumbering their Muslim counterparts at a 6-to-4 ratio.

1990s

Trade and educational links have been developed between Australia and several Muslim countries. Muslim students from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, are among the thousands of international students studying in Australian universities.

A number of Australian Arabs experienced anti-Arab backlash during the First Gulf War (1990–91). Newspapers received numerous letters calling for Arab Australians to "prove their loyalty" or "go home", and some Arab Australian Muslim women wearing hijab head coverings were reportedly harassed in public. The Australian government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission included accounts of racial harassment experienced by some Australian Arabs in their 1991 report on racism in Australia.

21st century

Kuraby Mosque Brisbane attracts large number of worshippers in Friday prayers.

By the beginning of the 21st-century, Muslims from more than sixty countries had settled in Australia. While a very large number of them come from Bosnia, Turkey, and Lebanon, there are Muslims from Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Fiji, Albania, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, among others. At the time of the 2011 census, 476,000 Australians (representing 2.2 percent of the population) reported Islam as their religion.

On a few occasions in the 2000s and 2010s, tensions have flared between Australian Muslims and the general population. The Sydney gang rapes formed a much-reported set of incidents in 2000; a group of Lebanese men sexually assaulted non-Muslim women. In 2005, tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in the Cronulla area of Sydney led to violent rioting; the incident resulted in mass arrests and criminal prosecution. In 2012, Muslims protesting in central Sydney against Innocence of Muslims, an anti-Islam film trailer, resulted in rioting. There was an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment in the aftermath of the Sydney hostage crisis on 15–16 December 2014, including a threat made against a mosque in Sydney. However, the Muslim community also received support from the Australian public through a social media campaign.

Pro-Palestinian protest in Melbourne, 15 October 2023

The founding president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils has said that with moderate Muslims being sidelined by those promoting more fundamentalist views, there is a need to be more careful in regard to potential Australian immigrants. Keysar Trad has said moderate Muslims need to take back control.

An article in The Australian in May 2015 opined, "Most Muslims want the peace and prosperity that comes from an Islam that coexists with modernity; it is a fanatical fringe that seeks to impose a fabricated medieval Islam". It describes Dr Jamal Rifi as a brave insider who is working to assist "the cause of good Muslims who are struggling for the soul of Islam".

Islamic denominations in Australia

See also: Islamic schools and branches

Most Australian Muslims are Sunni, with Shia, Sufi and Ahmadiyya as minorities.

Sunni

Rochedale Bosnian Mosque, Brisbane

In Sydney, adherents of the Sunni denomination of Islam are concentrated in the suburb of Lakemba and surrounding areas such as Punchbowl, Wiley Park, Bankstown and Auburn.

In Australia there are also groups associated with the "hardline" Salafi branch of Sunni Islam, including the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia and Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association (Australia) (ASWJA). While their numbers are small, the ASWJA is said to "punch above its weight".

There are communities of NSW Muslims who adhere to Tablighi Jamaat form of Islam and worship at the Granville, Al Noor Masjid, which is led by Sheik Omar El-Banna. Similarly many Bangladeshi Tablighi Jamaat, Muslims worship at mosques in Seaton, NSW and in Huntingdale Victoria.

Dawateislami, which is a "non-political Islamic organisation based in Pakistan", has adherents in Australia.

In 2015, Wikileaks cables released information that Saudi Arabia closely monitors the situation of Islam and Arab community in Australia, whilst at the same time spending considerately to promote its fundamentalist version of Sunni Islam within the country.

Shia

In 1977 Sheikh Fahd Mehdi the first Shia cleric arrived in Australia and established the first Shia place of worship in Sydney, Al Zahra Mosque with funding from overseas and the help of Sayed Mohamed Kadhim Al Qazwini. He went on to establish the first Shia Islamic centre in Sydney AL-Jaafaria Society in Rockdale NSW.

Shi'a commemorating Ashura outside the Opera House, Sydney.

The Shi'a denomination of Islam is centred in the St George, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Auburn and Liverpool regions of Sydney, with the al-Zahra Mosque, built in Arncliffe in 1983, and the Al-Rasool Al-A'dham Mosque serves the region in Bankstown. In 2008, the mainstream Shia community numbered 30,000 followers nationally.

In October 2004 Sheikh Mansour Leghaei established the Imam Hasan Centre in Annangrove, NSW.

In November 2014, up to 3,000 Shi'a Muslims marched in Sydney on the annual Ashura Procession to mark the death of the prophet's grandson. In November 2015 there was Ashura march in Sydney and a Victorian school observed Muharram.

Others

There are also others from smaller non-mainstream sects of Islam, including approximately 20,000 Alawites from Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese backgrounds. They have at least one school called Al Sadiq College, with campuses in the Sydney suburbs of Yagoona and Greenacre. There is also a population of the related, though distinct, Alevis.

There is also an Ismaili population of unspecified size. While Dawoodi Bohra, a small Ismaili Shia sect has its Sydney Jamaat located in Auburn NSW.

Additionally, the Druze, who practice Druzism, a religion that began as an offshoot of 11th-century Ismaili Islam, are reported to have around 20,000 followers living in Australia.

Sufi

The study of the history of Sufism in Australia is a fledgling discipline. Initial examination indicates that the Sufis have played an important part in Muslim engagement with Australia and its peoples. There are many reported instances of Sufism amongst the cameleers, though the best available evidence of this to date exists within a hand written manuscript at the historic Broken Hill mosque, providing at least one instance of Qadiri Sufis amongst the cameleers.

Baron Friedrich von Frankenberg, who was inspired by the man who first brought to the West, Inayat Khan, moved to Australia from Germany with his family in 1927. The baron and his Australian wife were well-liked, and students would study Sufism under von Frankenberg at their home in Camden, New South Wales. In 1939 he organised the visit of a renowned Sufi leader, or Murshida, and devotee of Khan, known as Murshida Rabia Martin. Born Ada Ginsberg, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants to the US, Martin's visit was of great significance because of her link to Khan. After the baron's death in 1950, the poet and artist Francis Brabazon, student of Meher Baba, another early spiritual teacher took up a leadership role. However, there is some contention regarding the extent to which this group adhered to Islamic practice, limiting the extent to which this group can be considered a representation of Islam in Australia.

Currently there are communities representing most of the major Sufi Orders within Australia, including, but not limited to the Mevlevi, Rifaii, Naqshbandiyya Archived 22 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine, and Burhaniyya. Amongst these Sufi communities, it is estimated there are at least 5,000 adherents.

Sectarian tensions

Conflict between religious groups in the Middle East are reflecting as tensions within the Australian community and in the schools.

Religious life

The Australian Muslim community has built a number of mosques and Islamic schools, and a number of imams and clerics act as the community's spiritual and religious leaders. In 1988, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) appointed Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly as the first Grand Mufti of Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, Hilaly was succeeded by Fehmi Naji in June 2007 who was succeeded by the current Grand Mufti, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed in September 2011.

Sunshine Mosque located in Melbourne serves the Turkish Cypriot community.

Fatwas, edicts based on Islamic jurisprudence which aim to provide "guidance to Muslim Australians in the personal, individual and private spheres of life", are issued by various Australian Islamic authorities.

Organisations

Main article: Islamic organisations in Australia

A number of organisations and associations are run by the Australian Islamic community including mosques, private schools and charities and other community groups and associations. Broad community associations which represent large segments of the Australian Muslim public are usually termed "Islamic councils". Some organisations are focused on providing assistance and support for specific sectors within the community, such as women.

Two organisations with strong political emphasis are Hizb ut-Tahrir which describes itself as a, "political party whose ideology is Islam" and Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association (ASWJA).

Islamic Museum of Australia in Melbourne

A number of financial institutions have developed Sharia-compliant finance products, with university courses leading to Islamic financial qualifications also being established. Other Australian Islamic organisations have been set up to manage sharia-compliant investments, superannuation, Islamic wills and zakat management.

Halal certification

Main article: Halal certification in Australia

There are close to two dozen Halal certification authorities in Australia. Halal meat and meat product exports to the Middle East and Southeast Asia have greatly increased from the 1970s onwards; this expansion was due in part to efforts of the AFIC. Halal certification has been criticised by anti-Halal campaigners who argue that the practice funds the growth of Islam, results in added costs, a requirement to officially certify intrinsically-halal foods and with consumers required to subsidise a particular religious belief.

An inquiry by an Australian Senate committee, which concluded in December 2015, found the current system is "lacklustre" and made recommendations for improvement. It found there was no evidence to support claims that the profits of halal certification are used to fund terrorism. The report recognised that halal certification has economic benefits for Australia because of increased export opportunities. It recommended that the federal government increase its oversight of halal certifiers to address fraudulent conduct, with halal products to be clearly labelled and for meat products sourced from animals subject to religious slaughter, to be specifically labelled. It said that it had heard, "credible reports suggesting that the lack of regulation has been unscrupulously exploited". In tabling the report, committee chairman Sam Dastyari said, "Some certifiers are nothing more than scammers." The committee recommended a single halal certification authority. The committee in recommending clearer labelling, specifically referred to the need for meat processors to label products sourced from animals subject to religious slaughter.

Demography

See also: Demographics of Australia and Immigration to Australia

Historical population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1981	76,792	—
1991	147,487	+92.1%
2001	281,578	+90.9%
2011	476,291	+69.2%
2021	813,392	+70.8%

During the 1980s the Australian Muslim population increased from 76,792 or 0.53% of the Australian population in 1981, to 109,523 or 0.70% in 1986. In the 2011 Census, the Muslim population was 479,300 or 2.25%, an increase of 438% on the 1981 number.

The general increase of the Muslim population in this decade was from 147,487 or 0.88% of the Australian population in 1991, to 200,885 or 1.12% in 1996.

In 2005 the overall Muslim population in Australia had grown from 281,600 or 1.50% of the general Australian population in 2001, to 340,400 or 1.71% in 2006. The growth of Muslim population at this time was recorded as 3.88% compared to 1.13% for the general Australian population.. From 2011-2016, Muslim population grew by 27% from 476,291 to 604,200 with majority residing in New South Wales.

The following is a breakdown of the country of birth of Muslims in Australia from 2001:

There were 281,578 Muslims recorded in this survey; in the 2006 census the population had grown to 340,392. 48% of Australian-born Muslims claimed Lebanese or Turkish ancestry.

The distribution by state of the nation's Islamic followers has New South Wales with 50% of the total number of Muslims, 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). Of all persons affiliating with Islam in 2006 almost 9% were born in Lebanon and 7% were born in Turkey.

Areas

At the 2011 census, people who were affiliated with Islam as a percentage of the total population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area

At the 2011 census, people who were affiliated with Islam as a percentage of the total population in Sydney divided geographically by postal area

According to the 2016 census, the Muslim population numbered 604,235 individuals, of whom 42% live in Greater Sydney, 31% in Greater Melbourne, and 8% in Greater Perth. The states and territories with the highest proportion of Muslims are New South Wales (3.58%) and Victoria (3.32%), whereas those with the lowest are Queensland (0.95%) and Tasmania (0.49%).

4.2% of people in Greater Melbourne are Muslim. Many Muslims living there are Bosnian and Turkish. Melbourne's Australian Muslims live primarily in the northern suburbs surrounding Broadmeadows, (mostly Turkish), Coburg, Brunswick, Epping (mostly Lebanese) and Truganina, Tarneit (mostly Indian). They also form communities in outer south-eastern suburbs such as Dandenong and Hallam (mostly Afghan and Pakistani).

Very few Muslims live in rural areas with the exceptions of the sizeable Albanian and Turkish communities in Shepparton, which has Victoria's oldest mosque, and Malays in Katanning, Western Australia. A community of Iraqis have settled in Cobram on the Murray River in Victoria. An Albanian Muslim community resides in Mareeba who established Queensland's second oldest mosque.

Perth also has a Muslim community focussed in and around the suburb of Thornlie, where there is a mosque. Perth's Australian Islamic School has around 2,000 students on three campuses.

Mirrabooka and Beechboro contain predominantly Bosnian communities. 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 communities of Muslims from Turkey, the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) and South-East Asia, in Sydney and Melbourne, the Turkish communities around Auburn, New South Wales and Meadow Heights and Roxburgh Park and the South Asian communities around Parramatta. Indonesian Muslims, are more widely distributed in Darwin.

Communities

Muslim population by country of origin

  Australia (36%)

  Lebanon (10%)

  Turkey (8%)

  Bosnia-Herzegovina (3.6%)

  Afghanistan (3.5%)

  Pakistan (3.2%)

  Indonesia (2.9%)

  Iraq (2.8%)

  Bangladesh (2.7%)

  Iran (2.3%)

  Fiji (2%)

  Other (23%)

It is estimated that Australian Muslims come from 63 different backgrounds, with "loose associations" between them.

Aboriginal Muslims

See also: Aboriginal Australians

According to Australia's 2011 census, 1,140 people identify as Aboriginal Muslims, almost double the number of Aboriginal Muslims recorded in the 2001 census. Many are converts and some are descendants of Afghan cameleers or, as in the Arnhem Land people, have Macassan ancestry as a result of the historical Makassan contact with Australia. In north east Arnhem Land, there is some Islamic influence on the songs, paintings, dances, prayers with certain hymns to Allah and funeral rituals like facing west during prayers, roughly the direction of Mecca, and ritual prostration reminiscent of the Muslim sujud. As a result of Malay indentured laborers, plenty of families in Northern Australia have names like Doolah, Hassan and Khan. Notable Aboriginal Muslims include the boxer Anthony Mundine and Rugby League footballer Aidan Sezer. Many indigenous converts are attracted to Islam because they see a compatibility between Aboriginal and Islamic beliefs, while others see it as a fresh start and an aid against common social ills afflicting indigenous Australians, such as alcohol and drug abuse.

Some academics who have studied these issues have come to less positive conclusions regarding the relationship between the Aboriginal people and the visiting trepangers.

Albanian Muslims

See also: Albanian Australians

In the late twentieth century, 80% of Albanian speakers in Australia followed Islam. In the twenty first century, the largest Albanian communities in Australia, Shepparton and Melbourne's suburb of Dandenong in Victoria are mostly Muslims. Muslim Albanian communities exist in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

As Islam is the dominant religion among Albanian Australians, it has given the community a sense of unity and the capacity and resources to construct their own mosques. They have symbolised the Albanian community's permanent settlement in Australia. Mosques serve as important centres for community activities and are pivotal toward retaining the religious identity of Albanian Australians. Albanian representatives serve in most federal Islamic organisations, with some in senior positions. In the few areas of concentrated Albanian settlement, their small numbers shaped local areas through the construction of their first mosques or becoming a sizable proportion of the school Muslim population. The foundations created by Albanian Australians have attracted future Muslim migrants to areas which have an existing mosque or services assisting with settlement.

Albanians perform certain Muslim practices. Muslim head coverings are worn mainly by a few older women, Ramadan fasts are adhered to by some people and in Shepparton, Islam is influenced by Sufi Bektashism from Albania.

Bangladeshi Muslims

See also: Bangladeshis in Australia

According to the 2016 Australian Census, Bangladeshi origin population were around 55,000; among them about 33,000 were living in NSW. Bangladeshi Muslims are located primarily in Rockdale, Lakemba, Bankstown and many suburbs in Western Sydney region with a mosque in Sefton and in the south-east of Melbourne, with a mosque at Huntingdale. The Sefton Mosque has been linked to the Tablighi Jamaat School of Islam and has hosted Hizb ut-Tahrir. For Bangladeshi Muslims attending the Huntingdale Mosque, all Islamic lunar months, such as Ramadan are observed using local moon-sightings, rather than being based on Middle-Eastern, or other, timings. According to the 2016 Australian census, 81.2% of the Bangladesh-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Bosnian Muslims

See also: Bosnian Australian

Rochedale Mosque in Brisbane Australia

Bosnian Muslims have predominantly arrived in Australia after 1992, with most of the community living in the south east of Melbourne and in the south west of Sydney. There are Bosnian run mosques in Deer Park, Noble Park, Penshurst and Smithfield. According to the 2016 Australian census, 23.2% of the Bosnia and Herzegovina-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Egyptian Muslims

See also: Egyptian Australians

Egyptian Muslims in Sydney are represented by The Islamic Egyptian Society. The Society has managed the Arkana College in Kingsgrove since 1986. It is reported that enrolments for its 203 co-educational places are booked out until 2020. According to the 2016 Australian census, 15.6% of the Egypt-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Indonesian Australians

See also: Indonesian Australians

Though Islam is the majority religion in Indonesia, Muslims are the minority among Indonesians in Australia. In the 2006 Australian Census, only 8,656 out of 50,975 Indonesians in Australia, or 17%, identified as Muslim. However, in the 2011 census, that figure rose to 12,241 or 19.4%, 18.9% in 2016, and 19.3% in 2021.

Iraqi Australians

See also: Iraqi Australians

Iraqi Muslims mainly came to the country as a refugees after the Iran–Iraq War, failed 1991 uprisings in Iraq, and then post-2003. They predominately settled in the western suburbs of Sydney, such as Fairfield and Auburn. According to the 2016 Australian census, 31.4% of the Iraqi-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Kurdish Muslims

Kurdish Muslims have predominantly arrived in Australia since the second half of the 1980s, with most of the community settling in Melbourne and Sydney. Although the large majority of the Kurdish Australians are Muslims, there are no registered Kurdish run mosques in Australia.

Lebanese Muslims

See also: Lebanese Australians

Lebanese Muslims form the core of Australia's Muslim Arab population, particularly in Sydney where most Arabs in Australia live. Approximately 3.4% of Sydney's population are Muslim. Approximately 4.2% of residents in Greater Melbourne are Muslim, and Sydney Road in Brunswick and Coburg is sometimes called 'Little Lebanon'.

In November 2016, Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton said that it was a mistake of a previous administration to have brought out Lebanese Muslim immigrants. Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop said Dutton was making a specific point about those charged with terrorism offences. "He made it quite clear that he respects and appreciates the contribution that the Lebanese community make in Australia".

According to the 2016 Australian census, 43.5% of the Lebanon-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Somali Muslims

See also: Somali Australians

Although the first Somali community in Victoria was established in 1988, most Somalis began to settle in the country in the early 1990s following the civil war in Somalia. Somalis are active in the wider Australian Muslim community, and have also contributed significantly to local business. According to the 2016 Australian census, 93.4% of the Somalia-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Turkish Muslims

See also: Turkish Australians

Turkish Muslims are a significant segment of the Australian Muslim community. Melbourne has the largest Turkish community in Australia, with the majority of Turkish Muslims living around Broadmeadows and other northern suburbs. The majority of Turkish Muslims in Sydney are from Auburn, Eastlakes and Prestons. Despite still having a large Turkish population in Auburn and Eastlakes, According to the 2016 Australian census, 64.0% of the Turkey-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Malay Muslims

See also: Cocos Malays

According to the 2016 Australian census, only 5.2% of the Malaysia-born population in Australia was Muslim by faith.

Discrimination

See also: Islamophobia in Australia

According to some scholars, a particular trend of anti-Muslim prejudice has developed in Australia since the late 1980s Since the 2001 World Trade Center attacks in New York, and the 2005 Bali bombings, Islam and its place in Australian society has been the subject of much public debate.

A report published in 2004 by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission pointed to many Muslim Australians who felt the Australian media was unfairly critical of, and often vilified their community due to generalisations of terrorism and the emphasis on crime. The use of ethnic or religious labels in news reports about crime was thought to stir up racial tensions.

After the White Australia immigration laws were replaced with multicultural policies the social disadvantage of Muslims was thought to have been alleviated. Some sources, however, note that Muslims now face some disadvantages on account of their religion. At times there has been opposition to the construction of new mosques in Australia. A 2014 report from the Islamic Sciences and Research Academy, University of Western Sydney, on mosques in New South Wales found that 44 percent of mosques in the state had "experienced resistance from the local community when the mosque was initially proposed". In around 20 percent of these cases opposition was from a small number of people.

According to Michael Humphrey, a professor of sociology at the University of Sydney, much of Islamic culture and organisation in Australia has been borne of the social marginalisation experiences of Muslim working class migrants. He states, "Islam in Australia is culturally and theologically plural by virtue of its diverse social and geographical origins which has brought together Muslims from very different cultural, sect, linguistic and national backgrounds".^p. 35 He states that despite the rhetoric of equity, Australian "multiculturalism differentiates and values cultures differently according to undeclared criteria".^p. 37 While the Australian migration policy assumes that migrants would succumb to the dominant individualising and secularising processes to leave their cultural identities behind, or confine them to private spheres at minimum; the host society treats Muslims as a force of "cultural resistance" toward the self perceived multicultural and secular nature of Australian culture.^p. 36 This narrative results in the "negotiation of ‘Muslimness’ in the multicultural societies of the West [Australia]"^p.35 Ultimately, "Muslim culture and identity [in Australia] is reduced, simplified and its diversity ignored".^p. 35 Muslim practices of praying, fasting and veiling appear in the Australian western lens as challenging the conformity within public spaces and the values of gender equality in social relationships and individual rights. The immigrant Muslims are often required to "negotiate their Muslimness" in the course of their daily encounters with Australian society, the governmental and other social institutions and bureaucracies.

A poll of nearly 600 Muslim residents of Sydney released in November 2015 found that the respondents were three to five times more likely to have experienced racism than the general Australian population. However, approximately 97 per cent of the Muslim respondents reported that they had friendly relations with non-Muslims and felt welcome in Australia.

In an Australia-wide survey published in November 2015, which was based on 1,573 interviews, which asked, "Are Muslims that live in Australia doing enough to integrate into the Australian community, or should they be doing more?", only 20% of respondents thought Muslims are currently "doing enough".

A poll conducted by the University of South Australia's International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding which was released in 2016 found that 10 per cent of Australians have hostile attitudes towards Muslims. The accompanying report concluded that "the great majority of Australians in all states and regions are comfortable to live alongside Australian Muslims".

A Council for the Prevention of Islamophobia Inc has been established. An Australian speaking tour by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, was proposed for April 2017. Because of her alleged Islamophobia, the Council for the Prevention of Islamophobia told organisers that there would be 5,000 protesters outside the Festival Hall in Melbourne if she was to speak at that venue. Her Australian tour was cancelled. It is likely that Australian Muslims are facing up to six times exclusion from the society.

Views on homosexuality

Main article: Islam and homosexuality

In line with the views of Judaism and Christianity, Islamic leaders in Australia generally believe that "the practice of homosexuality — is a forbidden action".

In August 2017, the National Imams Council issued a statement opposing the proposed introduction of same-sex marriage in Australia, and several individual religious leaders have also argued against same-sex marriage. However, some Australian Muslims support same-sex marriage, and the Muslims for Progressive Values and Muslims for Marriage Equality groups have campaigned in favour of such a reform. As of September 2017, there was no polling data on the Australian Islamic community's views on this issue.

Employment, education and crime

As of 2007, average wages of Muslims were much lower than those of the national average, with just 5% of Muslims earning over $1000 per week compared to the average of 11%. Unemployment rates amongst Muslims born overseas were higher than Muslims born in Australia. Muslims are over-represented in jails in New South Wales, at 9% to 10% of the prison population, compared to less than 3% within the NSW population.

In literature and film

There are a number of notable works in Australian literature that discuss the Muslims during the "Afghan period" (1860-1900).

• The Camel in Australia, by Tom L. McKnight
• Fear and Hatred, by Andrew Markus
• Afghans in Australia, by Michael Cigler
• Tin Mosques and Ghantowns, by Christine Stevens
• Ali Abdul v The King, by Hanifa Deen
• Australia's Muslim Cameleers: Pioneers of the inland, 1860s–1930s, by Dr Anna Kenny

Veiled Ambition is a documentary created by Rebel Films for the SBS independent network. A Lebanese-Australian woman named Frida, opens a shop selling fashionable clothing for Muslim women on Melbourne's Sydney Road. The documentary follows Frida as she develops her business in Melbourne also her journey in juggling a home in Sydney and a family life all while pregnant and expecting Veiled Ambition won the Palace Films Award for Short Film Promoting Human Rights at the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival.

Ali's Wedding is an Australian film based on a true story of an Iraqi Shia immigrant family. It depicts some of the religious and social practices of the Shia community in Australia.

Slam is a 2018 Australian film about a Muslim Palestinian-Australian family's experience of Islamophobia in Australia.

Notable Australian Muslim figures

Main category: Australian Muslims

• Randa Abdel-Fattah, novelist
• Aziza Abdel-Halim, female political activist
• Yassmin Abdel-Magied, mechanical engineer
• Fawad Ahmed, cricket player
• Ameer Ali, academic and political activist
• Mahomet Allum (c. 1858–1964), Adelaide herbalist and healer, former Afghan cameleer
• Shady Alsuleiman, senior Muslim cleric
• Waleed Aly, radio and television presenter
• Susan Carland, author and academic, wife of Waleed Aly
• Ed Husic, trade unionist, politician
• Anne Aly, academic, politician
• Sam Dastyari, former politician
• Jihad Dib, politician
• Mehreen Faruqi, politician
• Wassim Doureihi, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir
• Ahmed Fahour, former CEO of Australia Post
• Mamdouh Habib, former Guantanamo Bay detainee, anti-war activist
• Abu Hamza, community activist
• Taj El-Din Hilaly, Sunni Imam and Mufti
• Bachar Houli, former Australian rules footballer
• Adem Yze, former Australian rules footballer
• Nazeem Hussain, comedian
• Rabiah Hutchinson, convert, wife of Mustafa Hamid
• Usman Khawaja, cricket player
• Mansour Leghaei, Shia sheikh
• Rashid Mahazi, soccer player
• Hazem El-Masri, rugby league player
• Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, Grand Mufti of Australia
• Feiz Mohammad, Muslim preacher
• Anthony Mundine, boxer and former professional rugby league footballer
• Fehmi Naji, Muslim Imam and Mufti
• Mohammed Omran, ASWJA Sheikh
• Aamer Rahman, comedian
• Jamal Rifi, General Practitioner and community leader
• Osamah Sami, actor
• Keysar Trad, community and political activist
• Mariam Veiszadeh, lawyer and community advocate
• Samina Yasmeen, academic
• Waqar Younis, former Pakistani fast bowler
• Irfan Yusuf, author
• Samier Dandan, president of Lebanese Muslim Association
• Jake Matthews (fighter), mixed martial artist currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Welterweight division
• Belal Assaad, Islamic scholar
• Ahmed Saad (Australian footballer), Australian rules footballer
• Billy Dib, professional boxer
• Youssef Dib, professional boxer, brother of Billy Dib
• Yahya El Hindi, footballer
• Adam Saad, Australian rules footballer
• Tina Rahimi, first Australian Muslim women boxer to compete in the Olympics in the 2024 Summer Olympics

See also

• Q Society of Australia
• Ahmadiyya in Australia
• Islam by country
• Islamic organisations in Australia
• Religion in Australia
• Shia–Sunni relations

References

• CIA Factbook
• US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2006

Further reading

• Ali, Jan A. Islam and Muslims in Australia: Settlement, Integration, Shariah, Education and Terrorism. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2020.
• Aslan, Alice. "Islamophobia In Australia"
• Al-Momani, Kais; Dados, Nour; Maddox, Marion; Wise, Amanda (2010). "Political Participation of Muslims in Australia" (PDF). Department of Social Security. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
• Boundless Plains: The Australian Muslim Connection, By Islamic Museum of Australia. Author: Moustafa Fahour
• Cook, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin; Yucel, Salih (2016). "Australia's Indigenous Peoples and Islam: Philosophical and Spiritual Convergences between Belief Structures". Comparative Islamic Studies. 12 (1–2): 165–185. doi:10.1558/cis.37033. ISSN 1743-1638.
• 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.
• Drew, Abdul Shaheed. Muslims in Australia since the 1600s
• 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. S2CID 144587003.
• 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.
• Stephenson, Peta. Islam Dreaming: Indigenous Muslims in Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2010.
• Stevens, Christine. Tin Mosques and Ghantowns.
• Woodlock, Rachel and John Arnold (eds). Isolation, Integration and Identity: The Muslim Experience in Australia. Special Issue of The La Trobe Journal. Melbourne, Victoria: State Library of Victoria Foundation, 2012.
• B Amin, Umar. Muslim Employemnet in Commonwealth Department and Agencies in context of Access and Equity. Tarbiya; Journal of Education in Muslim Society, Jun 2016.

External links

• Islam in Australia - at Oxford Bibliographies Online (2013; subscription only for full content)
• Islamic Museum of Australia
• Muslim Journeys – historical community biography produced by the National Archives of Australia
• Wotherspoon, Garry (2015). "Muslims in Sydney". Dictionary of Sydney. [CC-By-SA]