| Muslims
in the First Fleet
In 1788 the first
fleet sailed into Australian waters and British penal colonies were
established on the East coast of Australia. British imperial expansion
leads to a vast supply of labour. It was reported that Muslim sailors
were frequently employed. The Norfolk Island victualling Book one
of the earliest records of colonies asserts, in January 1796 Norfolk
Island received several of these Muslims at one time.
Bilal Cleland states, according to the victualling
book there were a few Muslims who sailed on the colonial built ship
Endeavour and were left at Norfolk Island due to a leak in the ship.
Among them was Saib Sultan who owned an eleven and a half acre land
on the island. Saib was later transferred to Hobart and was given
the name Jacob. In this new location he was granted a 27 acre land,
records dating 1819 report Saib Sultan was successful and owned
28 acres of pasture and 2 acres of wheat.
Muslims
in the Camel expeditions
The Afghan Camel Drivers
were first brought to Australia in the 1860s to pioneer a new type
of transport for the dry centre of Australia. The first of the Afghan
camel drivers was Dost Mahomet, who accompanied the Burke and Wills
expedition; the camels were brought in especially for the expedition.
Coming into a strange country can
be very hard for many people; they often face social isolation,
racial discrimination and intolerance. This was the case for the
Afghans, and so adjustment for them in Australia was not easy, the
Afghans were considered to be inferior to the Anglo Celtic society
and were always referred to as the 'Ghans. The Afghan Muslims followed
the code of Islam faithfully, they refused to drink any alcohol,
never lied or stole and they were always honest in their dealings
and they only ate halal meat.
The most difficult time the Afghans
were faced with was the 1890s. This was mainly because of the racial
intolerance they were exposed to as they were always seen as the
'foreigners'; and the fact that they were Muslims didn’t help
the situation.
Another problem they faced was the
refusal of their citizenship in Australia even though they contributed
a great deal to Australia’s development. Many of the Afghans
returned to their place of origin because of this extreme intolerance
the endured in Australia.
The Afghans were known to be reliable,
tolerant and honest characters. However there was no public recognition
given to the Afghans for their contribution to Australia’s
cultural and spiritual history.
1900-1940
Naturalisation, defined as the admission
of ‘aliens’, or immigrants, to the rights of citizenship,
entitling them to the same privileges as natural born subjects,
was refused for most non-Europeans through the 1903 Naturalisation
Act. By 1921 there were fewer then 3000 Muslims living in Australia.
At the same time, there were only 147 Afghans in Australia.
After the Second
World War
Between 1947 and 1971 the Muslim population
of Australia increased from 2,704 to 22,311. Immigrants including
Muslims were expected to assimilate; abandoning their culture and
traditions with a strong emphasis placed on blending in. The ‘White
Australia Policy’ was abolished in 1972 with the election
of the Whitlam government. The first intakes of Muslims were displaced
persons from Europe. Following the civil war in Lebanon in the 1970’s,
Lebanese Muslim migration increased dramatically. By 1981 there
were about 17 000 Lebanese Migrants here in Australia. The total
Muslim population grew by 92.1% between 1981 and 1991 consisting
of the largest ethnic groups, the Lebanese and Turks. According
to the 1991 Census 50% of Australian Muslims lived in Sydney and
32% in Melbourne. Overall, 93.21% live in State capitals.
The
future of Muslims in Australia
According to the ABS census 2001,
1.5% of the Australian population is Muslim, which is 281 578 in
number. Further statistics suggest that a large proportion of the
Muslim population are youth. Hence, youth today will play a significant
role in the future of Muslims in Australia. And it is important
to realise that youth have something valuable to offer. In order
to achieve a brighter future for Muslims and Australia, every single
Muslim has an active role to play.
by Samah
Hadid, Samar Kanj and Rowaida Kadri
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