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Islam in Australia
1/29/2005
Australia is one of the world's most successful multicultural societies, built on parliamentary democracy, rule of law and a market economy. It comprises peoples from more than 200 different nations and encompasses all of the world's major languages, cultures, traditions and religions.
Today, Muslims form an increasingly important part of Australia's diverse modern society. The most recent Australian Census in 2001 revealed a remarkable rate of growth in Australia's Muslim population. The Census listed 281,576 Australian Muslims, an increase of some 40 per cent in five years, while the Australian population as a whole only grew by 5.7 per cent in the same period. And these figures may be very conservative. Some recent estimates suggest Australian Muslims now number more than 300,000.
Significantly, more than one-third of Australian Muslims are born in Australia. These second- and third-generation Australian Muslims are playing an important role in bringing newly arrived Muslims from diverse cultural, sect, national and linguistic backgrounds into the family of Islam in Australia.
Australia's Muslim community, drawn from more than 70 different countries including Bangladesh, is a well-established and integral part of Australia's broader society. The community has a range of regional and national organisations as well as its own Islamic schools and mosques. Muslims have made contributions in a wide range of endeavours, including social, economic, cultural, religious and educational advancement.
The Muslim community is an integral part of Australia's broader society - a message which has been reaffirmed by the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard. Speaking in November 2001 on an ethnic community radio station in Sydney.
Mr Howard said:We are first and foremost all of us Australians and I want to say on this program in particular that it's very important for Australians of the Islamic faith and Australians of Arab descent to hear from me, their Prime Minister, that you are as much part of the Australian community as I am. We reach out to all our fellow Australians irrespective of their religion or their race or the country in which they were born.
The community's organisational base includes well over 100 groups representing the interests of Muslims at the local or regional level. Additionally, Islamic councils representing the broader Muslim community have been established in all Australian States and Territories. They come together in a peak national body, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.
There are ten Islamic primary schools in Australia and a further 11 primary and secondary combined schools. At the tertiary level, Muslim Student Associations cater for Muslim students at universities and colleges and provide a familiar setting for newly arrived international Muslim students. Today there are approximately 100 mosques in Australia, mainly in New South Wales and Victoria. There are now Muslim communities in all Australian States and Territories (Table 1).
Table 1: Australian Muslims population by State/Territory
Source: 2001 Census
Australia and Islam: A long history: Muslims in Australia have a long history. Some of Australia's earliest visitors, pre-dating European settlement, were Muslims from the east Indonesian archipelago. It is thought fishermen and traders from the island of Macassar had been visiting Australia's north from as early as the 16th century. However, the first significant semi-permanent Muslim population came in the form of Afghan camel drivers in the 1800s. These camel drivers played a significant role in opening up Australia's vast arid inland areas, carrying explorers, developers and even the telegraph to places barely accessible by horse or on foot.
Small numbers of Muslims were also recruited from Dutch and British colonies in Southeast Asia to work in the Australian pearling industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Australia's first mosque was built at Marree in northern South Australia in 1861. The first major mosque was built in Adelaide in 1890. Another was built in Broken Hill (New South Wales) in 1891. The real basis for Australia's modern day Muslim population came in the wake of World War Two. Between 1947 and 1971 the Muslim population increased from 2,704 to 22,311, as European Muslims, mainly Cypriot Turks, sought a new life in Australia.
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