The Phenomenology of Community Activism: Muslim Civil Society Organisations in Australia

Author Amath, Nora

Published 2014

Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate)

School School of Humanities

DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1953

Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367694

Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au

The Phenomenology of Community Activism: Muslim Civil Society Organisations in Australia

Nora Amath MA (Bond) BHSc (Honours) IIUM

School of Humanities Arts, Education and Law Griffith University

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

July 2014

Abstract

Muslim communities are among the least well understood in Australia. This thesis examines the emerging phenomenon of Muslim civil society organisations (MCSOs). In contrast to much publicised jihadist and radical groups, MCSOs are far more representative of Muslim communities and integral to the long-term position of Islam in Australia. Using descriptive phenomenology, this study presents the experiences of Australian Muslim civil society actors and the organisations they represent. Through 30 unstructured, in-depth interviews with 15 Australian MCSOs actors, their stories are told for the first time based on their lived experience and in their own words. In particular, this thesis explores how MCSOs have responded to the challenges of the Australian socio-political context, the perceived impact of these experiences, and how Islam is manifested within the contexts of these experiences.

The key themes which emerged from these interviews include: community building, social inclusion, the impact of 9/11 and the negotiation of identity. Importantly, based on these four major themes, the phenomenological analysis delineated that the universal essence of Australian MCSOs clearly revealed that Islam does not exist in Australia in isolation from the wider socio-political context. There is a constant, albeit under-recognised, process of negotiated exchange with Australian cultural norms, values, systems and institutions. Moreover, the findings also demonstrated that external events have brought Australian MCSOs full circle in their community building.

The findings from this research help to better inform researchers, community developers and policy makers in their understanding of community building, engagement and agency at the local level. Moreover, utilising phenomenology as the methodology provides a unique, yet comprehensive and holistic approach to studying Muslim communities in Australia, allowing Muslims to articulate for themselves their rich experiences, through their own narratives. This is an important area of research which has not been sufficiently investigated nor discussed in the literature related to Islam and Muslims, particularly as minorities in the West. The lack of study in this field does not match the importance nor reflect the major implications the findings will have on inter-community relations in Australia.

Statement of Originality

This thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.

______

Nora Amath 14 July 2014

Published and Unpublished Papers included in this Thesis

Included in this thesis is a paper in Chapter 5 for which I am the sole author.

Appropriate acknowledgements of those who contributed to the research but did not qualify as authors are included in the paper.

The bibliographic details for this paper are:

Amath, N. (2013). The impact of 9/11 on Australian Muslim civil society organisations.

Communications, Politics and Culture, 46, 116-135.

(Signed) ______(Date)______

Nora Amath

(Countersigned) ______(Date)______

Supervisor: Susanna Chamberlain

(Countersigned) ______(Date)______

Supervisor: Ann Ingamells

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v

List of Tables and Figures vii

Lists of Acronyms viii

Glossary of Arabic terms x

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: 13 Background and Context: Conceptualising Civil Society, the Intersection of Religion and Muslim Presence in Australia

Chapter 2: 56 Researching through Phenomenological Inquiry

Chapter 3: 94 The Muslim Community in Australia: Past and Present Community Building

Chapter 4: 135 Engaging in Active Citizenship: Social Capital, Social Exclusion and Social Inclusion

Chapter 5: 179 Visible and Vocal Voices of Islam: The Impact of 9/11 on Australian Muslim Civil Society Organisations

Chapter 6: 219 “Bringing the two worlds together:” Negotiating Minority Identity in a Multicultural Western Context

Conclusion 266

Appendix A: Muslim Civil Society Organisations in Australia 283

Appendix B: Information and Consent Form for Participants 308

Appendix C: Sample of Field Notes: A Summary of TC’s Interview 311

Appendix D: Meaning Units Derived from Phenomenological Interviews with Australian MCSOs 313

References 316

Acknowledgements

What a journey this has been– from my days of wanting to do my PhD, but struggling to find the ‘right’ topic, to serendipitously meeting someone at a book launch who simply asked me: “What are you passionate about?” With over 15 years of community work under my belt and volunteering in five community organisations (and chairing two of them), I immediately responded: community building and engagement. That conversation sparked more ideas and that person later became one of my supervisors. A few years later, with a completed thesis on the topic, I am even more passionate about community building and engagement.

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the Australian Muslim civil society actors who generously made the time and effort to accommodate my research in their busy lives. I am immensely grateful that they have allowed me space to enter their world and hear their stories, sharing so openly and honestly the complexities as well as the nuances of what it means to be a Muslim political actor in a Western socio-political context. Most importantly, I am appreciative that they have given me permission to share their stories with others.

I would also like to thank my supervisors, Dr Susanna Chamberlain and Dr Ann Ingamells who have guided, supported and provided valuable advice throughout my candidature. Since our very first meeting to outline my research plan, to the monthly coffee catch-ups, to these difficult last few months of putting it all together, their professional and moral support gave me the guidance, inspiration and motivation I needed to complete this. I am especially thankful for their tough questions which, ultimately, took this thesis to another level; I could not have done this without both of them.

I would also like to thank Dr Nezar Faris who took the time to help me navigate the NVivo System. His valuable assistance made my life that much easier. I am grateful for all of his help. Additionally in my first year of candidature, my confirmation examiner, Dr Jacqui Ewart (whose book launch was where I met Dr Susanna Chamberlain)

v provided valuable direction for the rest of the thesis, and I thank her greatly for her input. I am also indebted to my good friend Ramila Chanisheff who graciously and generously opened her home to me while I conducted my field research in Melbourne.

Over the years I have had to ‘disappear’ for periods of time to research and write- a huge thank you to my friends for their understanding and, most importantly, for being my cheerleaders when I needed it most. There are too many of them to list, but they know who they are. I am blessed to have wonderful people like them in my life.

I would, especially, like to acknowledge my parents, Asseary and Khoticha Amath, who as newly arrived refugees sacrificed the little money they had to join me up to a book club so that I could receive a new book every month; who over the years continued to sacrifice so much so that their kids never went without; who painfully allowed me to leave home to study overseas so that I could have the freedom and space to follow my own dreams; and who continue to believe in me. I am also indebted to my in-laws, Jemal and Zorah Rane, whose love, generosity, care, support and guidance have been vital, not only during my years of candidature but from the very beginning of our relationship.

I would also like to thank my 3 beautiful children, my heart: Usama, Amira and Humza who have been patient with me all of these years. Kids- I know there were many times when I have been overwhelmed and too tired to fully “be there” for you- thanks for understanding and for encouraging me to keep going. You can now stop asking, “Are you finished yet, Mum?”

Finally, but most importantly, I wish to deeply acknowledge and thank my husband, Halim Rane. We started this journey together as undergraduate students, navigating the wonderful world of knowledge. 20 years later, you remain my inspiration. Thank you for your encouragement, your support, your advice, your insights and your valuable input. Thank you for being my rock. Words cannot fully convey how I feel about you.

List of Tables and Figures

Tables:

Table 1.5.1: Birthplace of Australian Muslims 36 Table 1.5.2: Geographic Distribution of Australian Muslims 37 Table 1.5.3: Age and Gender Distribution 38 Table 1.6.6: Number of Muslims in Australia from 1911-2011 51 Table 2.6.2: Participant Details 68 Table 2.11.1: Examples of Open Coding of Verbatim Transcript 80 Table 2.11.2: Examples of Major Themes, Meaning Units and Significant Statements 81 Table 2.14.1 Adaptation of Sparre and Petersen (2007) Model for Analysis of Civil Society Organisations 89 Table 3.2: Distribution of Mosques in Australia in 2014 97

Table 3.2.1 Distribution of Australian MCSOs among States 101

Table 3.2.2: Type and Distribution of Australian MCSOs 102

Table 3.3: Overview of Muslim Civil Society Organisations Interviewed 104

Figures:

Figure 2.15.1 Summary of Literature Concepts with Derived Phenomenological Key Themes 90

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List of Acronyms

ABC Australian Broadcast Association ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACT Australian Capital Territory AFIC Australian Federation of Islamic Council AFIS Australian Federation of Islamic Societies AIOT Australian Indian Ocean Territory AIS Australian Intercultural Society AM Analytical Memos AMARAH Australian Muslim Advocates for the Rights of All Humanity AMF Australian Multicultural Foundation AMWCH Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights ASIA Australian Social Islamic Association CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations CCN Crescents Community News CoB Crescents of Brisbane CSOs Civil Society Organisations CWACP Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation DIAC Department of Immigration and Citizenship DIMIA Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs FAIR Forum on Australia’s Islamic Relations FAMSY Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth FBO Faith-based Organisations IDA Issues Deliberation Australia IFEW Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare ISOC Islamic Society of UNSW IWAQ Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland LSEECCS London School of Economics Centre for Civil Society MAB Muslim Association of Britain MADE Muslim Adolescent Development & Education MB Muslim Brotherhood

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MCBHOs Muslim Community-Based Health Organisations MCSOs Muslim Civil Society Organisations MEFF Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair MoH Mission of Hope MN Methodological Notes MSAs Muslim Student Associations MWA United Muslim Women’s Association MWNNA Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia MWSC Muslim Women Support Centre NAA National Archives of Australia NCVO National Council of Voluntary Organisations NGOs Non-governmental Organisations NSW New South Wales NT Northern Territory ON Observational Notes PCYC Police Citizens Youth Club PPP Positive Parenting Program QLD Queensland QPS Queensland Police Services RCSOs Religious Civil Society Organisations RNGOs Religious Non-Government Organisations SA South Australia TAS Tasmania TN Theoretical Notes VIC Victoria UN United Nations UNSW University of New South Wales USHCD United States Department of Housing and Community Development VoP Voices of Peace WA Western Australia YANQ Youth Affairs Network Queensland

Glossary of Arabic Terms

Asabiyah: Social Capital, group feeling, solidarity Ayan: Urban Notables Dawah: Proselytising Dawlah: State Diwaniyaah: Informal Gatherings Hayat: Life Iftar: Breaking of the fast Jame’ah al-madani: Civil Society in Persian Jummah: Compulsory Friday prayers Madaris: (singula – madrassa): Traditional Muslim school (here in Australia, it refers to after school or weekend Islamic education). Masyarakat madani: Civil Society in Bahasa Melayu Minbar/Menbar: Pulpit Milla: Religious Community or Sect Mujtama al-Ahli: Traditional Civil Society in Arabic Mujtama al-Madani: Modern Civil Society in Arabic Mussalli: (singular: musalla): a place of worship; usually smaller than a mosque and not permanent Nas: People, humankind Niqabat: Professional Organisations Qabila: Tribe Qur’an: Holy Book of Islam. Muslims believe it is the literal word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel between 610 AD and 632 AD. Sadaqah: charity; voluntary alms Ta’ifa: Intimate Group Dedicated to a Cause Ulama/Ulema: (singular– alim) Learned scholars/networks Ummah: people, community or nation Waqf: Endowment Institutions Zakat: Compulsory almsgiving

Introduction

Muslim communities are among the least well understood in Australia, and yet they form a vibrant element of the multicultural society that Australia aspires to have.

Constituting 2.2 percent of the population, Muslims are Australia’s second largest non-

Christian religious group and are forecast to increase by 80 percent by 2030 (Pew,

2012). As a result, there is great interest on issues related to Muslims and Islam; however, a large concentration of the scholarly literature as well as media and political discourses focus particularly on political issues and actors related to fundamentalism, radicalisation, militancy and terrorism. The dominance of these issues in the discourses does not provide a holistic understanding of Muslims, particularly their role, place and identity as minorities in a Western society. Moreover, whilst a small contingency of

Muslim militants and jihadist groups gain much attention and focus, we know relatively little about the larger number of Muslim political actors engaged in civil society. Indeed, in contrast to the much publicised jihadist and radical groups, Muslim civil society organisations (MCSOs) are far more representative of Muslim communities and integral to the long-term position of Islam in Australia. Accordingly, this thesis examines the much neglected scholarship and discourse about the emerging phenomenon of Australian MCSOs by firstly, identifying and mapping all possible

MCSOs in Australia and secondly, by collating, delineating and explicating comprehensively their narratives and experiences.

Aims and Objectives of the Study

The central aim of this study is to present the experiences and narratives of Muslim civil society actors in Australia from their own lived experience and in their own words.

This was accomplished through the use of phenomenology as the methodology underpinning the 30 in-depth interviews on which this study is based. In particular, this study seeks to explore how Muslim civil society actors have responded to the challenges of the Australian socio-political context and the perceived impact these experiences had on them. Another concern of this study is how Islam is manifested within these contexts based on these experiences. To explore these issues, the objective is to map and identity all possible Australian MCSOs and to obtain phenomenological, in-depth participants’ reflective accounts.

Research Questions

The central research question of this study essentially is: what are the experiences of

Muslim civil society actors in responding to the Australian socio-political context? In order to gain a comprehensive, detailed, yet nuanced understanding of Australian

MCSOs, this study examines: 1) the nature, focus, goals, aims, and activities of MCSOs;

2) how Muslim civil society actors have responded to the challenges of the Australian socio-political context and the perceived impact these experiences have on them; 3) how Islam is manifested in this milieu, in terms of what aspects of the faith are emphasised and de-emphasised, how sacred texts are interpreted and applied and how the religion engages with the wider society; and 4) the implications for future inter-community relations and Islam in Australia.

Significance of the Research

This dissertation is a result of my own extensive activism and founding of MCSOs in the last 15 years as well as my connections with the other MCSOs in Australia throughout that time. I have observed that while their political counterparts gain considerable public attention, the work of Muslim civil society actors gets largely unrecognised in the public sphere as well as in the scholarly research. These MCSOs in the West engage in a broad spectrum of activities, including charity work, women’s empowerment, youth advocacy, education, mental health, civil and human rights advocacy, environmental sustainability, interfaith understanding and dialogue, as well was providing for the social, recreational and cultural needs of Muslims in the West.

In order to provide a richer understanding of Muslims, a shift of attention needs to be towards those who do not necessarily play “an explicitly political role” (Jung in Sparre

& Petersen, 2007, p. 7). As Jung (2007) argues, “although they may be less conspicuous, these Muslim civil society organisations represent a much broader and possibly more important dimension of public religious engagement … than their

(in)famous political counterparts” (Sparre & Petersen 2007, p. 7). Significantly, the continuing challenge and response from this dissertation is to present the MCSOs’ stories and counter-narratives and highlight them in the public sphere.

In addition, an important contribution of this thesis is in respect to methodology. This thesis is unique in its application of phenomenology to Muslim issues; it has particularly demonstrated the utility of the descriptive phenomenological research approach and design for understanding the Muslim experience in the West. This is

3 significant as a central problem in respect to Islam in the West has been the prevalence of media commentators, politicians and so-called experts on Islam speaking on behalf of Muslims, presuming to understanding their reality and Islam. Ultimately,

Islam is what Muslims understand it to be subject to their interpretations and based on their experiences (Rane, 2010), and this thesis has provided space for those narratives to be articulated.

Chapter Structure

This thesis does not adhere to conventional structures in respect to its incorporation and presentation of the foundational scholarly literature. The structure of this thesis follows the argument as expounded by ethnographer Harry Wolcott. Wolcott (1994) argues that there should not be a chapter such as the “literature review” which remains unconnected to the rest of the study; rather we should draw upon the literature selectively and appropriately as needed in the telling of the story. As such, I intend to “nest” the relevant literature in the early chapters, first placing the broad issues into context by introducing key concepts, definitions and relevant literature.

Following that, I extend the discussion to literature investigating the history of Muslims in Australia and their development and establishment of civil society organisations.

Moreover, in line with the chosen qualitative approach to data analysis (more correctly referred to as data organisation in this methodological context), reference to the literature will occur throughout the data chapters to critically engage, argue and discuss the points conveyed. Wolcott’s remarks encapsulate not only the research approach and paradigm I have chosen, but also the aims and objectives of this study.

In short, this thesis hopes to engage with relevant literatures throughout, and not just

4 in a single chapter. Correspondingly, there are six chapters, preceded with an introduction and followed by a final chapter detailing the summary, implications and future research directions.

This first chapter lays the foundation for the rest of the study. It provides the background and context, introducing key concepts, contending definitions and approaches related to civil society. In particular, it broadly explores the literature concerning the intersection of religion and civil society. Chapter 1 also provides an overview of the relationship between Islam and civil society and discusses the differing views associated with this relationship, especially with respect to the problematic

Eurocentric view of civil society as outlined by the literature. Furthermore, it progresses the concept from a political focus to one based on community building, which underpins this present investigation. Following from this discussion, an introduction to the research context is outlined, highlighting the past and present context of Muslim presence in Australia. With this, the research gap was identified, and thereby providing the main aims and significance of this current study.

Chapter 2 discusses and provides justification for the use of phenomenology as the epistemological and methodological underpinning of this dissertation. It also argues specifically for descriptive phenomenology as the basis for the research paradigm and design. Moreover, this chapter discusses how, in order to achieve the study’s aims and objectives, the research design is divided into two parts and is multi-layered to encapsulate a richer understanding of this phenomenon. The first part involves identifying and mapping MCSOs in Australia in a Microsoft Access database; this

5 provided a reference point to locate the participants for the purposeful sampling as well as gauge the diversity of services provided by all possible MCSOs in Australia. The second part focuses on interpretive, phenomenological in-depth interviews and outlines how participants were selected, how the interviews were structured and how the data was analysed and described. The ethical considerations concerning the role of the researcher are also examined in this chapter. Additionally, pertinent issues related to trustworthiness (validity and reliability) are explored and concerns addressed.

Finally, Chapter 2 reveals that the phenomenological interviews with the Australian

MCSO actors indicate that there are four main themes which they are concerned about and which impact on them. The delineated themes are community building, issues of social inclusion, the events of 11 September 2001, and the negotiation of identity and place as a minority group.

Extending this discussion, Chapter 3 presents findings from the first part of the research design in addition to one of the related major themes which emerged from the second part of the research design. Firstly, one of the aims of this study is to gain a detailed and holistic understanding of the experience of Muslim civil society actors in

Australia. In attempting to answer the first specific research question, which is, “what is/are the nature, focus, goals, aims, and activities of MCSOs” as well as to ascertain a general overview of the phenomenon, the first part of the research framework involved empirical research by identifying and mapping MCSOs in Australia in an

Access database from internet searches, contacts in all states and territories and

Muslim media (newspapers, magazines, newsletters, social media, online databases and listings). This chapter then presents the distribution of the organisations according

6 to their geography and categories; it also provides an overview of the MCSOs interviewed: their background and context, their vision and the key services they offer.

Secondly, one of the major themes which emerged from the phenomenological interviews was that the Australian MCSO actors were keen to discuss the theme of establishing and building community as part of their lived experience. In particular, the actors spoke about the establishment of their own organisation, independent from the mosque and mosque societies in order to fill a much-needed void in the community as well as to assist the community in accessing important resources, including government grants. Before the empirical data from the first part of the research design and the description of the themes were presented and discussed, this section of the chapter begins by providing a brief overview of the Muslim community building process, including the formation of religious associations and societies, community organisations and educational institutions.

Chapter 4 explores the issue of social inclusion and the Muslim community in Australia, another major theme derived from the phenomenological interviews with the MCSO actors. Before any discussion on social inclusion can occur, it is essential to outline a key concept which underpins it, that is social capital.1 While the notion of social capital is discussed also in Chapter 1, it is important to locate it within this chapter’s discussion of how MCSOs have generated and utilised it for social inclusion purposes.

Furthermore, as noted by a number of scholars and social policy experts, the theory of

1 The majority of scholars agree that any worthwhile discussion on social inclusion should also include a discussion about social capital (see for example Lou Wilson, 2006).

7 social inclusion alone is inadequate and ineffective in creating participation, equity and cohesion. Thus, Bollard (2009) and others argue that it needs to be combined with the theory of social capital; otherwise, social inclusion would risk following “a path of ideology, rather than one based on empirical evaluation” (Bollard, 2009, p. 16). It is also suggested that the combination of these two theories provide a deeper understanding of what is needed for a more inclusive society. Accordingly, Chapter 4 attempts to define what social capital means in the context of actors involved in

MCSOs in Australia and how this extends into and creates opportunities for social inclusion.

As articulated by the actors, Australian MCSOs are extensively involved and proactive in generating high levels of all forms of social capital allowing for a more inclusive and cohesive society (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001). This is especially beneficial for Australian

Muslims who feel socially excluded or marginalised from mainstream Australian society. Moreover, when Australian MCSOs are able to provide the bonding, bridging and linking forms of social capital, they are then able to facilitate pathways to social inclusion. Extending this, Chapter 4 then discusses issues related to social inclusion, its definition, theory and its relation to social exclusion. Additionally, it delineates the sub- themes of social inclusion as presented by the actors in this study, particularly demonstrating that Australian MCSOs are full agents in the social inclusion process, providing the vital education, training, employment, voluntary, networking and advocacy opportunities and initiatives for their clients, members and others in the community.

Finally, this chapter also expounds that while many reports and studies provide pragmatic suggestions on how to work towards the social inclusion of Australian

Muslims, the concentration on these suggestions tend to focus on how the government can provide these solutions. What is lacking in the literature is the recognition of the Australian Muslim community’s role and agency in initiating and executing the programs needed to address such issues of social inclusion. In fact, as

Chapter 4 reveals Australian MCSOs are proactively engaging with their communities to ensure that they are responding appropriately to these issues.

One of the main clustered themes, based on the 30 in-depth phenomenological interviews with MCSO actors in Australia, relates to the impact the tragic events of 11

September 2001 had on them. Chapter 5 begins with an outline of how studies focusing on the responses of Muslim organisations and individuals to 9/11 revealed that many MCSOs were ‘obligated’ to participate and engage in three main activities- interfaith dialogue, media engagement and consultation with all levels of government.

The interviews from this study, however, reveal that what is lacking in the literature is the impact these engagements have had on the organisations, even a decade after

9/11. This chapter proceeds to present the related sub-themes which emerged from these interviews about the impact 9/11 had on MCSOs; they were: a shift in focus, feeling ill-equipped to deal with the frenzy; mistrust and criticism from within the

Muslim community; exhaustion; resilience; creating a more transparent, open community; and emphasising pluralism. These findings have also revealed how Islam is manifested within these contexts. In particular, the events of September 11 have forced Australian MCSOs to become introspective about their own faith and how it

9 informs their organisation’s ethos, vision and goals. The actors revealed that during this process they acknowledged and committed their organisation to the emphasis of higher objectives and principles in Islam (maqasid), including the importance of religious pluralism, inclusivity, diversity and openness.

The final chapter presents the clustered sub-themes related to the negotiation of identity and place in multicultural Australia. Chapter 6 begins by providing a definition of identity, along with the relevant literature discussing the associated constructs.

Next, using detailed quotes from the interviews as encouraged by the descriptive phenomenological approach, this chapter then describes the five clustered sub-themes related to the major theme of identity as revealed by the Australian MCSO actors. They were: asserting the Australian Muslim identity; adaptation; integration not assimilation; contributing to the wider society; and an emphasis on universalism. This chapter is then followed by an explication and discussion of these sub-themes with the relevant literature. Finally, Chapter 6 demonstrates that the phenomenological interviews with Australian MCSO actors have demonstrated that the intersection of

Islam and civil society, played out in the wider Australian context, results in the emergence and development of religiously grounded cosmopolitan ideas.

In summary, this thesis makes a unique contribution to the literature by comprehensively mapping and identifying for the first time all possible MCSOs in

Australia. In doing so, it presents the diverse work of Muslim civil society actors and the broad spectrum of their activities that get largely unrecognised in the public sphere as well as in scholarly research. Additionally, four key themes emerged from

10 the phenomenological interviews about the lived experiences of the Australian MCSOs.

They were key themes related to community building, social inclusion, the impact of

9/11 and the negotiation of identity. Importantly, based on these four major themes, the phenomenological analysis demonstrates that one of the universal essences of

Australian MCSOs clearly reveal that Islam does not exist in Australia in isolation from the wider socio-political context. Indeed, there is a constant, albeit under-recognised, process of negotiated exchange with Australian cultural norms and values.

Secondly, the other universal essence which emerged from this study indicates that external events have brought Australian MCSOs full circle in their building of community. When they first began establishing permanent communities throughout

Australia, the emphasis was particularly inward-looking; they needed to lay permanent roots in their new country and, thus, concentrated on the internal needs of their communities. However, the impact of the events of 9/11 and other domestic and global political events meant that so much focus and resources were spent on the external needs that the Australian MCSOs found themselves neglecting the internal needs of the communities in which they were established to serve originally. A number of recent issues related to troubled Australian Muslim youth have confirmed the urgency for MCSOs in Australia to re-shift their focus, concentrating particularly on youth capacity building and issues related to youth identity negotiation. The actors argued that the inward focus will allow them to create a more harmonious relationship externally.

Muslim communities in Australia, allowing Muslims to articulate for themselves their rich experiences, through their own narratives. Thus, the robust, interpretive phenomenological narratives provide an experientially-based understanding of MCSO actors’ experiences in adapting to the Australian socio-political context. The findings also explore how Islam is manifested in this milieu, in terms of what aspects of the faith are emphasised and de-emphasised. In particular, the actors’ narratives elucidate how the sacred texts are interpreted and applied and how Islam engages with the wider society. This is an important area of research which has not been sufficiently investigated nor discussed in the literature related to Islam and Muslims, particularly as minorities in the West. The lack of study in this field does not match the importance nor reflect the major implications the findings will have on inter-community relations in Australia.

Chapter 1 Background and Context: Conceptualising Civil Society, the Intersection of Religion and Muslim Presence in Australia

1.1 Introduction

This first chapter lays the foundation for the rest of the study. It provides the background and context, firstly introducing concepts, contending definitions and diverse approaches related to civil society, which forms part of the theoretical framework for the first part of this thesis research design. It also explores literature concerning the intersection of religion and civil society. Additionally, it presents an overview of the relationship between Islam and civil society and discusses the differing views associated with this relationship. This chapter then progresses the concept from a political focus to one based on community building, which underpins this present investigation. Following from this discussion, an introduction to the research context, that is the Australian Muslim community and their long history in Australia, is detailed.

1.2 Civil Society: Origins, Characteristics, Boundaries and Definitions

Any study of civil society must first begin with defining this term; however, this is no easy task as there is no consensus due to the varied nature of this field. There are many meanings and conceptualisations posited by the different disciplines (at times with contradictory meanings)2 that Post and Rosenblum (2002) have aptly referred to civil society as the “chicken soup of social sciences” (p. 23). Even within the same discipline, there is still a breadth of interpretations, and consensus as to what civil

2 For example, Carolyn Hendriks (2002) states that the two streams within deliberative democracy contradict one another regarding the role of civil society. Micro deliberative democrats encourage civil society to work and engage with state, while macro deliberative democrats believe that civil society should be completely independent, working outside, against and opposing the state. 13 society means and encompasses remain elusive. Accordingly, Obadare (2005) adds,

“For all this analytic intensity however, civil society continues to evade the critical gaze, and seemingly definitive statements about its meaning or origin have merely given rise to even knottier dilemmas” (para. 1). Because the concept is highly contested, scholars like Young (2000) and Edwards (2004) offer a solution and contend that civil society should not be understood as a one-sentence definition; rather, the understanding should encompass its inherent plurality, diversity and contexts.3 This view becomes clearer when we explore the genealogy of this term.

Many scholars observe that the concept of civil society became an en vogue term starting from the late 17th century, continuing on in the 18th and 19th 4 centuries in

Western societies with the writings of Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) and Thomas Paine

(1737-1809) for example, and thus, start their discussion on this topic from that milieu

(Keane, 1988a; Kumar, 1993; Spurk, 2010). It is worth noting, however, that the term, like most relating to political discourse, can be traced back to ancient Greece, with

Socrates, Plato (The Republic) and Aristotle (Politics) discussing the concept of an ideal society. The ideal society, that is the polis, 5 is one in which the society and state are merged into one entity. For these philosophers, an ideal polis evolved into a good society (societas civilis) where a person’s sense of personal, family and religious identity “became subordinate to the role of a free citizen and the needs of the polis”

3 Comaroff and Comaroff (1999) contend that these myriad dimensions, definitions and approaches to civil society make it even more appealing as “social ideology”, not “social analysis” (cited in Eliot, 2003, p. 4). 4 Elliot (2003) states that although the concept of civil society was greatly discussed by “liberals during the transformation of eighteenth-century Europe, the phrase had fallen into disuse during the nineteenth-century’s fascination with the state” (p. 1). 5 In fact, the tem polis cannot be translated as either “state” or “society” as it actually refers to both. See The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, edited by Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan (2009), Oxford University Press. 14

(Blackburn, 2008, p. 281). To ensure this, rules were needed to maintain order, peace and civility. Roman philosophers, such as Cicero (106-46 BCE), held similar views and

European intellectuals, such as Rousseau (1712-1778) and Kant (1724-1804), held that civil society was synonymous with the state. Edwards (2004) notes that these thinkers, like the early philosophers, did not necessarily distinguish between the state and society because for them the state propagated and maintained the ‘civil’ part of society; thus, the end goal of civil society was a ‘civilised’ society.

The main characteristic of civil society in early history, that is aligning civil society with the state as discussed by these philosophers, started to be questioned by many writers in the 18th century such as Thomas Paine and John Locke (1632-1704). These thinkers began conceptualising civil society in its own entity, not necessarily independent from the state, but, rather, one which provides the counterbalance or prevents the state from assuming all power. In particular, Locke was one of the first thinkers in modern times to impress on this point. For him, the foremost responsibility of civil society is to protect the individual, their rights and their property from the imposing arbitrary powers of the state (Spurk, 2010).

In the late 19th century, George Wilhem Freidrich Hegel (1770-1831) developed the discussion further in his Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Pelczynski (1984) remarks that “the conceptual separation of the state and civil society is one of the most original features of Hegel’s political and social philosophy” (p. 1). For Hegel, civil society

(buergerliche gesellschaft) represents the stage or position on the dialectical relationship of perceived opposites- the macro-community of the community and the

15 micro-community of the family. In this understanding of the civil society sphere, the social interactions relate to one’s economic needs. It needs to be noted that these interactions may not always be harmonious and can be diverse and even divisive.

Accordingly, Hegel was not against the state or its strong powers; rather, he believed that civil society is dependent on the state and recognised that the state can and should unify and reconcile these divergent interactions. This trichotomy of relationships is often referenced to be behind the contemporary ‘third way’ or the

‘third sector’ understanding of civil society (Pelczynski, 1984). Hegel’s contemporaries and supporters pursued this split into the political left and right. For Karl Marx (1818-

1883), the split to the political left became the foundation for his economic visions and all non-state aspects of society. For others on the right, such as the neo-Tocquevillians, it became the source for a deeper understanding of the third sector, comprising of voluntary associations and institutions between the market and the state.

While Hegel’s discussion on civil society contributed to an important evolution in the understanding of this concept, that is the distinction between state, civil society and family, it is Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859),6 a French political philosopher, who is credited to be one of the first scholars to study, discuss and extend the concept of civil society extensively (Van Broekhoven, 2009; Woldring, 1998) with his influential work,

Democracy in America (1835 [volume 1]; 1840 [volume 2]). On his nine-month visit to the United States in the early 19th century, Tocqueville concluded that the free voluntary associations he witnessed provided the true role of civil society, that is, they are positioned well between the citizens and the state. He also contended that

6 Montesquieu, de Tocqueville’s teacher, also wanted to limit the state in its power, but instead of viewing voluntary associations as the answer, he saw the towns and estates as holding the balance of power. 16 through civil society, democratic ideals and civic virtues can be learned and better realised. Tocqueville’s thoughts on civil society continue to be influential in this field, especially his early ideas about ‘social capital’ which will be explored further in the subsequent sections.7

In contemporary times, the works of the late social anthropologist Ernest Gellner

(1925-1995) also provide much reflection on these issues. For Gellner (1994) civil society is a natural state of human freedom and consists of diverse non-government associations powerful enough to act as a set of checks and balances against the state,

“while not preventing the state from fulfilling its role of keeper of the peace and arbitrator between major interests” (p. 4). While this distinction appears straightforward, the London School of Economics Centre for Civil Society (LSECCS) remarks that the boundaries are not always so clear and stated that:

In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and

market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family

and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly

embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their

degree of formality, autonomy and power. (para 2)

7 Tocqueville’s study of civil society is deemed so important that civil society conferences all over the United States, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia in the 1990s were dedicated to his ideas. Isaac Kramnick (2003) in his introduction to Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, states that “in Eastern Europe, then, Tocqueville, has replaced Marx as the best nineteenth-century expert on how to run a twenty-first century society” (p. xivi).

Noting these varied discussions, Hendriks (2002) observes that it is useful to provide an understanding of the two main conceptualisations of civil society (see also Ferguson,

2008 and Foley & Edwards, 1996) in contemporary debates. The first usage derives from Eastern Europe and Latin America, where anti-communist sentiments over the last 30 years, has led to civil society as a force of state opposition; here, the emphasis is on the conflictual aspect of civil society. In this context, civil society was seen as the means to achieve egalitarian, participatory democratic mobilisation.

The second conceptualisation comes from North America, notably as a criticism of liberal individualism; here, civil society refers to the collective communal and associational public spheres for the benefit of society. Neo-Tocquevillians, such as

Putnam, are strong advocates of this conception. In Putnam’s often-quoted works,

Bowling Alone (2000) and Making Democracy Work (1993), he argues that civil society associations are vital in a vibrant, functioning society. The main role of these organisations is to socialise people, by building networks, reciprocity and trust.

Correspondingly, this produces social capital8 (social connections; social networks) and

“should be positively associated with good government” (Putnam et al., 1994, p. 175).

This concept of civil society is similar to theorist Jeffrey Alexander’s (1997) emphasis on “we-ness” (p. 115), which is the sphere of social solidarity and collectivism.

8 There are three agreed forms of social capital: bonding (ties among people who are similar); bridging (ties among people who are diverse); and linking (ties among people in power). See also Alison Gilchrist (2009). 18

It becomes fairly obvious that the two distinct conceptions above reflect their historical and socio-political settings and agendas.9 Moreover, as noted, attempts to provide precise and definitive characteristics, boundaries, usages and meanings for civil society can be contentious and yield more questions than they answer. For the purpose of this study and to localise this heterogeneous, global, and complex concept,

I will be using the definition put forth by the Australian Centre for Civil Society (2007) which states that civil society “refers to the relationships and associations that make up our life at grass-roots levels of society, in families, neighbourhoods and voluntary associations, independent of both government and the commercial world” (para. 2).

With respect to this definition, civil society organisations include non-government organisations, non-profit and professional associations, trade unions and community, neighbourhood groups, registered charities, men’s and women’s groups, educational and religious organisations. The United Nations (UN) also includes private sector associations as part of civil society, an inclusion heavily critiqued by some practitioners in the field (Committee of the Experts on Public Administration, 2006). With this understanding, I will now review literature investigating how religion has intersected civil society and the impact of this interaction.

1.3 Religion and Civil Society

It has been observed by some theorists that the earliest forms of civil society are religious institutions. Some further argue that these religious-based institutions may have even pre-dated the governmental and state institutions we know of today

9 Elliot (2003) notes that although there are different usages for the concept of civil society, the “dominant discourses are enamoured with civil society” and that “it has assumed mythic proportions as a tool of the social imagination, an ideological construct for a good society” (p. 3). 19

(Berger, 2003; Howarth, 2007). Henningham (1999), for example, states that “the oldest continuing institution in the world is the Catholic Church” (p. 11). Despite the rich history, it has only been in recent times that greater attention, recognition and scholarship have been given to the relationship between religious institutions and civil society.10

The definition advanced for religious civil society organisations (RCSOs), like many concepts within the social sciences, can be ambiguous. Referring to the definition of civil society as highlighted in the previous section as well as drawing inspiration from

Anhelm’s (1999) and Berger’s (2003) conceptions, this thesis defines RCSOs as independent, non-governmental, and non-profit associations whose identity, vision and aims are derived from one or more religious or spiritual traditions.

Putnam (2000) concludes in Bowling Alone that in the 20th century the rapid disappearance of civil society organisations (especially community-based organisations) is linked to the decrease in religious practice. As a result, scholars like

Antonin Wagner (2008) encourage the study of the interplay between religion and civil society and suggests two models for analysing the relationship: the contractualist model of deliberate democracy and the communitarian model of associational democracy.

The contractualist model is inspired by Rawls’ (1999) and Habermas’ (1999) views of public reason and civic engagement respectively. This model also borrows heavily from

10 Scholars such as Berger (2003) believe this may be a result of the post-Enlightenment period when concerted efforts were made to keep religion out of the public realm, especially with regards to the involvement of religion in government. 20

Rousseau’s (1762) Social Contract which emphasises the equality of all citizens, not by voluntary activism or associational membership, but by their engagement in deliberative democracy, for example by voting. On the other hand, the communitarian model is theoretically based on Tocqueville and Putnam. Expanding on the communitarian model and focusing specifically on Putnam’s research, a few scholars such as Lukka and Locke (2003), Locke (2007) and Ivereigh (2011) argue that while one does not have to be religious to engage in selfless acts of service, faith groups and organisations are better equipped to generate engagement and participation, thereby providing the necessary social connections or ‘social capital’ as espoused by Putnam.

Ivereigh (2011) expounds:

Social capital is always important to everyone, but it is disproportionately

important to the poor, because they lack other forms of capital – financial and

human (education). That is why churches and mosques play an especially

important role among the less well-off, not just in meeting material needs and

wants but, more significantly, in generating civic and political participation

which in turn builds human and financial capital. (para. 7)

Jochum, Pratten and Wilding (2007) agree and observe that faith-based organisations can provide the impetus and renewal for civic engagement. They also note that these organisations can play a vital role in promoting community cohesion and social integration. In Australia, an extensive report investigating the intersection of faith and social capital by the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF) and funded by the then

Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (Cahill, Bouma,

Dellal & Leahy, 2004) notes that more than any other institutions, faith-based groups emphasise care with the notion of “good works” (p. 73) . The authors contend that a decrease in religiosity would lessen the good works, especially the commitment to caring for the most marginalised and disadvantaged in society. They also conclude that the contribution of faith-based organisations to social capital nationally is “substantial”

(p. 70). Accordingly, Berger (2003), in her detailed study of global religious civil society organisations, argues that social capital is not only a means, but an end for these organisations.

In addition to providing social capital, community cohesion and social integration, the literature demonstrates that faith-based organisations can provide access or be gateways to hard-to-reach communities (Berger, 2003; Chile & Simpson, 2004; Jochum et al., 2007). Commenting on this former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, at the launch of the Tony Blair Foundation Faith and Development Seminar in 2009, remarked that

“faith organisations have a unique reach because they represent, and are respected by, their faith community, giving extra credibility with local religious communities on the ground which can facilitate their work” (Blair, 2009).

Other scholars also note that RCSOs engender strong moral and social values (Hope &

Timmel, 2003; Jochum et al., 2007; Thomas, 2004). Kilby (2004) contends that these faith-based organisations are able to provide a moral approach which governments sometimes lacks and stresses that “the whole concept of service and altruism is a fundamental precept of most religious traditions; private aid for addressing injustice and alleviating poverty at home and in foreign lands occurred well head of any

22 thoughts by government to do the same” (p. 72). As a result of what Berger (2003) and others term ‘cultural power’, RCSOs are able to effect great change. Interestingly, governments also acknowledge this point. The Department of Communities and Local

Government in the UK, for example, concludes that faith-based organisations are able to “bring values, commitment, neighbourliness and a rich religious and cultural heritage to the unpopular areas which no amount of security and management systems can compete with” (cited in Jochum et al., 2007).

Proponents also note that faith-based civil society organisations provide both much needed human and material resources, including paid staff, membership funds, donations, links to community and volunteers (Furbey, 2007; Howarth, 2007; Locke,

2007). With respect to donating to charity, research by ICM (2013) found religious people are more generous than those with a no-faith background. In particular, the survey of over 4,000 Britons found that Muslims gave an average of $567, Jews an average of $412, Christians an average of $272 and atheists an average of $171

(Grundy, 2013). Moreover, Crowe (2007) suggests that many times governments

“recognise that RNGOs (religious non-government organisations) can often be a quicker, less costly and less complicated alternative to state run activities” (p. 10). It must be noted here that not all theorists or those involved in the community sector appreciate this instrumentalist approach strategy by the government (Jochum et al.,

2007) and feel that the government may be exploiting the generosity of people involved in faith-based organisations.

A few scholars, however, dispute that the ability to participate in selfless service is only in the hands of those who adhere to a religious tradition (see for example Copson,

2011). In 2007, The Faith and Voluntary Action survey from the National Council of

Voluntary Organisations (NCVOs) found that belonging to a religious tradition is not necessarily an indicator of altruism or volunteerism. Similarly, The Citizenship Survey

(2011) produced by the Department of Communities and Local Government in the UK echoed this finding. In particular, it demonstrated that with regard to volunteering and civic engagement, there was no significant difference between those who belong to a religion and those who do not (with 57% and 56% respectively). Others extend the argument and posit that religious-based civil society organisations may conversely play a negative role in society.

Literature reflecting this argument demonstrates that there are a number of scholars, agencies and policy makers who are sceptical about the true nature of the RCSOs’ agenda- whether it is purely altruistic or simply another proselytising exercise, masked under the guise of altruism (Candland, 2000; Crowe, 2007; Thomas, 2001). Manji and

O’Coille (2002) clarify that “with the rise of the anti-colonial movement colonial missionary societies and charitable organisations were clearly tainted in the eyes of the majority by their association with racial colonial repression” (p. 572).

Moreover, George Thomas (2001) argues that religious-based organisations prey on the vulnerability of the poor, marginalised and disadvantaged. Thomas contends that these people convert, not because of religious or conscious conviction, but, rather, for

“material exigencies” (p. 9). Yeoman (2002) highlights similar situations occurring in

Somalia. He cites Robert MacPherson, a security director for an aid group, who informed him that religious-based organisations appeared at sites for food distribution

“handing out Christian literature, giving the impression that food aid was contingent on conversion to Christianity” (p. 27).

Theorists, such as Candland (2000) and Thomas (2001) also heavily criticise faith-based organisations for being heavily influenced by their own religious beliefs, leading to exclusive, narrow and intolerant views of other people and their beliefs. Because of this, Crowe (2007) notes that religious-based organisations “can be accused of being manipulative and coercive and religion potentially becomes the basis for cultural supremacy” (p. 9). She further cautions that “religious imposition can also result in religious conflict” (Crowe, 2007, p. 9). Accordingly, a number of non-Western nations distrust the “imported and imposed” (Crowe, 2007, p. 9) Western and Christian values associated with RCSOs; some nations like Eritrea went as far as shutting down health clinics which were operated by the Presbyterian churches (Berger, 2003).

It is important to note, however, that both proponents and critics of the role of religion in the context of civil society admit that not enough research has been done in this area to offer any conclusive arguments. Locke (2007) observes that the interplay of civil society and religion is quite complex and more research is needed to offer a better understanding, especially the “connection between the helper, the helped and the act of helping” (p. 33). Indeed, as Kennedy and Nowland (2004) state that there is an

omission of faith from contemporary conversations around intersectionality

…Other forms of identity, for example gender, race and/or ethnicity and class

are acknowledged and ever present in the scholarship on intersectionality. We

believe it is important to place some of the issues surrounding faith ‘on the

table’, in order to provoke further reflection and deepen the debate and

understanding around these issues. (p. 127)

Similarly, Berger (2003) concludes that because RCSOs are connected to an extensive network and represent an abundance of capital- social, cultural, spiritual and financial, it is imperative to actively engage with religious civil society actors in order to source and develop meaningful solutions for the major problems in society today.

1.4 Islam and Civil Society

While there needs to be more research on the intersection of religion and civil society in general, my literature search reveals that there is an even more noticeable absence of literature on Muslim-based organisations in the studies on civil society than is the case with some other religions. The scant literature available focuses on the importance of community in Islam (see for example, Hanafi, 2002), rather than the participation of MCSOs in society. Those who focus specifically on the relationship between Islam and civil society provide a general overview of the relationship (Kelsay,

2002). Perhaps, the lack of literature is due to the fact that there are differing views associated with this relationship. According to Kazemi (2002), a number of scholars argue that because the concept of civil society has its development within modern society and since Islam has pre-modern roots, the two are not compatible. In

26 particular, he notes scholars like Serif Mardin (1995) who suggest that civil society is a

“Western dream” and “does not translate into Islamic terms” (pp. 278-279). Similarly,

American social anthropologist Ernest Gellner (1994) concurs and provides justification for such a view. He insists that Islam “exemplifies a social order which seems to lack much capacity to provide countervailing institutions or associations, which is atomised without much individualism, and operates effectively without intellectual pluralism”

(p. 92). Kramer (2001) adds to this and concludes that civil society and Islam do not mix because of the tendency for authoritative regimes in many Muslim societies. However,

Hassan (2008) argues that there are a number of flaws with this argument; notwithstanding the prevailing impact of colonialism and neo-colonialism as well as the rich diversity in the Muslim world in this instance, the reality and evidence clearly reveal that the majority of Muslims favour robust democratic governments, including a vibrant and healthy civil society (see also the Pew Research Center’s Report on the

World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society, 2013).

Some scholars acknowledge that views like Mardin’s and Gellner’s are insightful; however, they are very limited. Rather, these scholars contend that civil society can be applied to Islamic culture, albeit, overcoming some barriers which relate to some of the pre-modern aspects of Islam (Hassan, 2008; Kelsay, 2002; Norton, 1993; Sajoo,

2002). For instance, Sajoo (2002) rejects the claim that Islamic values and teachings are not compatible with civil society, regarding it as theoretically and empirically

“grounded in dubious assumptions” (pp. 7-8). He adds that Islamic scriptures and philosophy have “resources rich in their expressions of social solidarity, pluralism and ethics” (pp. 7-8).

Mohammed Bamyeh (2005) in Civil Society and the Islamic Experience extends this discussion and states that the problem lies not in the issue of Islam and civil society, but, instead, in the concept itself. He points out the fact that because the term civil society is rooted in European social and political history, it needs to be “adjusted somewhat when applied to other parts of the world to allow for local and regional histories and experiences” (p. 40).11 In order to allow for this, Bamyeh suggests surveying the subject in question, rather than the concept itself.12 Thus, applying the general understanding of civil society as ‘society organised outside of the state’, as discussed earlier, and then applying it to the Muslim experience, one can find corresponding categories and social organisations and associations such as qabila

(tribe), ayan (urban notables), or the ulama (learned networks of scholars) (Bamyeh,

2005, p. 40). Hassan (2008) agrees and includes the niqabat13 (professional associations) and the waqf (endowment institutions) to the list of corresponding categories. Furthermore, Hanafi (2002, p. 58) adds to the list and offers other corresponding terms such as ta’ifa (intimate group dedicated to a cause) and milla

(religious community or sect). He succinctly argues:

Islamic culture historically has shared concern for limiting the power of political

authorities by diffusing it among a number of formal and informal institutions.

However, indigenous concepts of civil society from within Islamic cultures are

11 Many other scholars both in the West and outside of the West share Bamyeh’s observations, most notably Elliot (2003), Howell and Peace (2001), Obadare (2005) and Keane (2009). Howell and Peace term it an “alternative genealogy” of civil society. 12Mohammed Arkoun (2002) concurs and warns against the limiting comparison and contrast analysis (or projection of) of Western conceptions of civil society and Muslim understandings of such terms. Specifically he cautions that doing so would “cut them from their existential, cultural, historical and intellectual contexts of emergence, genesis and metamorphosis” (p. 35). 13 Hassan (2008) notes that the niqabat are indeed politically active in most Muslim countries. 28

more innocent, value free and without a hidden agenda. They are more

consistent and less opposed than the ingredients of civil society projected from

Western culture onto Islamic societies in a misguided attempt to replicate the

Western model. The key Islamic ingredients for civil society require less

oppositional tension between institutions because in Islam there are no kings

or popes, no kingdoms and no churches. (Hanafi, 2002, p. 58)

Generally, these terms, as mentioned above, can be categorised under some broader concepts, respectively in Arabic as mujtama al-madani (used in the modern context) or mujtama al-ahli (used more in traditional discourse),14 in Persian as jame’ah al-madani or in Bahasa Melayu as masyarakat madani.15 Specifically, these concepts refer to associations, institutions, and other communal groups along civic lines and civic engagement and which are autonomous or at times resistant to the state power

(Goldberg, 1993). In other words, these are equivalent to the concept we understand as civil society.

The broad term of civil society and the specific interrelated concept of social capital, as previously discussed, can also be traced back to discussions by 14th century Muslim sociologist, Abdul Rahman Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), who is considered by many scholars, including Ritzer (2008) to be the father of sociology. Ibn Khaldun devoted much thought and discussion to the concept of asabiyah (a term he coined), which has

14 See Sajoo, A. (2002) for a detailed discussion of these concepts. 15 A number of terms had been used in Indonesia before masyarakat madani was favoured. Local terms included masyarakat kewargaan and masyarakat sipil . However, masyarakat madani was introduced by Anwar Ibrahim, the present opposition leader in Malaysia at a conference in Indonesia; since then it was been promoted by local scholars such Nurcholis Madjid, Dawam Rahardjo, and Azyumardi Azra. It was received favourably in Indonesia as the concept had an Islamic history and context to it. See Chirzin, M.H (2000)The Development of Civil Society in Indonesia and the Role of Voluntary Organisations for a detailed examination on this topic. 29 been translated by Rosenthal (2005, p. xv) as “a group feeling”; by Talbi (1973) as “at one and the same time the cohesive force of the group, the conscience that it has of its own specificity and collective aspirations, and the tension that animates” (p. 44) and by Anderson (1984) as “a concept of relation by sameness opposed both to the state

(dawlah) based on relations of difference or complementarity, and to religion, which alone supersedes it” (p. 120). Lawrence (2005), commenting on Anderson’s definition, states that religion supersedes, not by negating it or denying it, but by simply

“redefining it” (p. xv). These definitions combined together provide a similar concept to what we know as social capital- that is, asabiyah refers to the essence of solidarity, a bond, a sense of cohesion and collective identity, autonomous from the state as well as religion. Ibn Khaldun also argues that civilisation has a cyclical period; a strong society is based on strong asabiyah and a weak one leads to its downfall. Thus, asabiyah, specifically denoting social capital was expounded upon much earlier than previously thought, and asabiyah referring broadly to civil society was discussed during

Islamic civilisation, by one of the greatest Islamic scholars and theorists.

With these contending views, the heavy focus is on civil society organisations in the political arena (Hassan, 2008; Kazemi, 2002; Kelsay, 2002), particularly its relationship with democracy and its associated terms such as human rights, freedom and equality.

This can be problematic and limited as Herbert (2003) observes and notes that the role of civil society in mobilising and maintaining democracy is increasingly questioned.

Similarly, building on the works of Keane (1998b; 2003), Howell and Pearce (2001), and

Abdulrahman (2004), Haren (2008) states that there are three reasons why this relationship should be criticised. Firstly, not all organisations (even voluntary-based

30 ones) are democratic in their vision, goals and activities; examples include Adolf

Hitler’s Nazi Party, the Klu Klux Klan and Al-Qaeda. Secondly, not all CSOs are fully independent from the state and/or market. Thirdly, Haren finds that CSOs do not necessarily promote human rights, especially in respect to economic justice; indeed, wealthier and more powerful organisations and associations hold more political, economic and social power than those less privileged. Thus, it is important that the relationship between democracy and civil society be de-emphasised or even re- focused. Accordingly, more attention should be given to the other roles MCSOs play in the public sphere.

The limited available literature which does explore the other roles MCSOs play in society generally focuses on organisations in Muslim countries. For example, Sullivan

(1994) investigates the role of private voluntary organisations in fulfilling basic education and welfare needs of Egyptian society. Yilmaz (2005) locates the study of civil society organisations in Turkey looking specifically at the two major social and political movements- Milli Gorus and Fethullah Gulen. Wardak, Zaman and Nawabi

(2007) use two regions in Afghanistan, Sayedabad in the Wardak province and Kunduz city in the Kunduz province, as case studies and explore the context and issues affecting the flourishing civil society organisations in recent times. The authors conclude that it is vital for the new Afghan government to engage specifically with religious actors and leaders as they yield considerable influence.

Additionally, Sparre and Petersen (2007) investigate the role Islam played in civil society organisations in two Middle Eastern countries: Jordan and Egypt. In Jordan,

31 they focused on traditional social welfare organisations, and in Egypt they studied the newer youth organisations. Their study found that Islam did play a major role in these organisations. Their participants highlighted numerous verses of the Qur’an and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad to emphasis their points. One of the participants explained, “In general, human kind tends to do good work, but in Islam this is highlighted; giving and doing good are just as important as praying…This is what Islam is all about- doing good deeds” (p. 30). Significantly, Sparre and Petersen (2007) found that Muslim women were key actors and participants in both types of organisations as these organisations allowed them space for participation, empowerment and overall social mobilisation16. Their finding is in contrast to Wiktorowicz (2001) who states that he encountered very few female staff and volunteers when he visited MCSOs in some of the Muslim countries (p. 88).

Using his study of Muslim religiosity, Hassan (2008) provides detailed discussion on civil society in seven contemporary Muslim countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan,

Egypt, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia. For example, he cites the efforts of trade and professional unions coming together, creating an alliance and providing stability to

Lebanon during its civil war from 1975-1990; of Kuwaiti civil society pressuring the government to ensure that the press is relatively free and of new formations of gatherings known as diwaniyaah to discuss pertinent societal issues; and even of Iran where there is a robust and flourishing civil society, including professional, human rights, women, and other reformist civil society organisations. Hassan (2008)

16 Sparre and Petersen (2007) found that in some of the Egyptian youth organisations they investigated, 90% of the board members were women. One of their participants stated: “The religious women that I know say that religion gives them more power, their mind becomes more open, and they become more effective” (p. 40). 32 concludes that “at the theoretical level, ideas, institutions and structures grounded in

Islamic ideology (such as ulema, waqf, and menbar), whose functioning creates avenues for resistance against state authorities, have been instrumental in creating and expanding the space for civil society” (p. 264).

Unlike discussions of civil society in Muslim countries, only a few have investigated

MCSOs and their role in a Western society (Coburn, 2008; Laird & Cadge 2010;

Liebhart, 2011; Lo, 2004), although it is an emerging field of study since the events of

11 September 2001 and the subsequent “War on Terror”. Phillips (2009), using the context of the “War on Terror”, locates his study in the UK and explores how the

Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) was able to build bridges with others of different faith or no faith backgrounds and emerged as a strong key player and voice, specifically in the anti-war movements and more broadly against a resurfacing orientalism.

However, Phillips contends that this bridge, while effective in some respect, is very limiting if it remains at just that; instead, he suggests that these initial connections be transformed into more substantial and long-lasting relationships, where no actor involved has to resign their own identity in this process, yet realises that their identity may transform as a result of this. Phillips (2009) notes that this view is congruent with

Hardt and Negri’s (2005) argument and writes that:

Progressive forms of global democracy depend upon the production of

networks comprising disparate communities, which need not surrender their

identities or melt into masses, but collectively form a politicised ‘multitude’.

Both the multitude and the groups or nodes that comprise it are necessarily

ephemeral and dynamic, dissolving and being replaced with new solidarities

and relationships according to changing political challenges. Though they do

not leave their identities at the door, they do not remain unchanged either. (p.

517)

Hussain (2012) also explores Muslim actors in the UK and argues that because a large focus has been on counter-terrorism measures and building relationships with non-

Muslims and so forth, MCSOs have not been able to effectively respond to some of the more pressing public policy issues affecting not just the Muslim community, but British society as a whole, such as socio-economic, education, and health challenges as well as issues relating to gender, including domestic violence, honour-based crimes and forced marriages. Hussain notes, however, that there are indicators that Muslim-based organisations are slowly responding to this need and instructs the British Government to respond in kind, rather than just engaging with Muslims on issues related to terrorism, security and counter-terrorism.

Laird and Cadge (2010) investigate how first generation Muslim migrants involved as founders, leaders, staff and volunteers of nine Muslim community-based health organisations (MCBHOs) use these organisations as pathways into American society.

They argue that MCBHOs offer (1) a way for Muslims to express their Islamic piety and charitable values with the American values of voluntarism; (2) an allowance for the normalisation of middle-class Muslim values in American civil society; and (3) an ability for the actors involved to have a sense of American citizenship and belonging by initiating the social and cultural capital of these faith-based organisations. The authors

34 conclude Muslims, particularly those of migrant backgrounds, “strategically deploy positively valued faith-based charitable and professional group identities through these NGOs to counteract their publicly stigmatised religious group identities” (p. 225).

1.5 Muslims in Australia: An Overview of the Research Context and Setting

According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census in 2011, there are

476, 291 Muslims in Australia. While this is a marked increase of 69 percent since

2001,17 the latest census shows that Muslims only account for 2.2 percent of the population, making Muslims the fourth largest religious group in Australia.18 Many observers, however, note that this number is not precise as many Muslims may not indicate their religion on the Census form. Bedar and El Matrah (2005) in their report entitled Media Guide: Islam and Muslims in Australia cite three reasons why this may be the case: “fear of persecution, a lack of understanding of the Australian Bureau of

Statistics data collection procedure or because they do not identify with mainstream

Islam” (p. 43).19

Australian Muslims are commonly viewed as one huge homogenous group due largely to their representation in the mass media in ways that too often fail to portray the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and ideological diversity of Muslim communities. However, the reality is that Muslims make up one of Australia’s most diverse cultural, ethnic,

17 Demographers note that the increase in population is due to recent increased immigration patterns and high birth rates. Historically, ABS indicates that in 1991, Muslims constituted 0.9% of the population; in 1996 Muslims were 1.1%; in 2001 Muslims constituted 1.5%; and in 2006 Muslims made up 1.7% of the Australian population. 18 The largest religious group is Christianity (61.1%) followed by no religion (22.3%) and then Buddhism (2.5%). 19 See also report on the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC). ‘Guarded Muslims “halve census figures’ 18 July 2011. Visited 14 August 2012 on http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-18/muslim- population-census-fears/2798462 35 linguistic groups. Table 1.5.1 shows that of the Australian Muslim population, 294,824

(61.9 %) were born overseas and over thirty-two percent (32.3%) were born in

Australia. The four places of birth after Australia for Australian Muslims are Lebanon,

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, which are the countries from which the early immigrants of Muslims migrated, from the 1800s; this will be discussed in the subsequent sections. About 24,000 (5%) of Muslims did not indicate where they were born. 1,145 Aborigines identified themselves as Muslim in the 2011 Census.

Table 1.5.1 Birthplace of Australian Muslims

Birthplace Percentage

Australia 32.3

Lebanon 7

Pakistan 5.5

Afghanistan 5.5

Turkey 5.3

Bangladesh 4.9

Iraq 3.2

Iran 2.7

Indonesia 2.6

India 2.1

Saudi Arabia 1.8

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011

1.5.2 Geographic Distribution

The geographic distribution from the 2011 Census, as shown in Table 1.5.2 below, reveals that the majority of Australian Muslims live in New South Wales (46.5 %) and

Victoria (32.1 %). This is followed by Western Australia (8.2 %), Queensland (7.1%),

South Australia (4.1 %) and the ACT (1.9 %). The least percentage of Muslims live in

Tasmania (.4%), followed by the Northern Territory (0.1 %).This settlement pattern, with almost half of the Australian Muslims living in New South Wales and a third residing in Victoria impact on community dynamics, especially with regard to establishing community. This point will be discussed further in Chapter 3 when we explore Australian Muslim community building in Australia.

Table 1.5.2 Geographic Distribution of Australian Muslims

Number Percentage

New South Wales 219,374 46.1

Victoria 152,776 32.1

Western Australia 39,118 8.2

Queensland 34,046 7.1

South Australia 19 511 4.1

Australian Capital Territory 8895 1.9

Northern Territory 868 0.1

Tasmania 1704 0.4

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011

1.5.3 Age and Gender Distribution

Table 1.5.3 shows that the majority of Australian Muslims are young with over 67 per cent 34 years and younger, compared to 46 per cent of the total Australian population aged 34 years and under. The gender distribution is 52 per cent Muslim males, 48 per cent Muslim females in Australia. The implications of having such a youthful community in a country with an aging population does play a role in how these

Australian Muslims see and identify themselves. This discussion will be further examined in Chapter 6, which explicates, analyses and describes the negotiation of minority identity.

Table 1.5.3 Age and Gender Distribution

Age group Males Females

0-14 years 71,427 67,489

15-24 years 43,080 39, 330

25-44 years 87,698 80, 416

45-64 years 37, 911 32, 893

65 + years 8, 905 7,141

Total 249,021 227,269

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011

1.6 Historical Presence of Australian Muslims

1.6.1 Early 17th Century: Macassan Fishermen and Traders

Contrary to popular belief, a number of scholars observe that the presence of Muslims in Australia is not a new or even recent phenomenon and that it predates European settlement. Citing evidence from Aboriginal cave drawings, artefacts, oral traditions

38 and dreamtime stories,20 anthropologists and historians reason that Muslims had contact with Australia with the arrival of the Macassan visitors in the 16th and 17th century. Although it is difficult to offer a precise date for this initial contact, Macknight

(1976) contends that based on documentation, he locates it most likely between 1751 and1754.21 Regina Ganter (2008) disputes this and argues that the voyages started much earlier around 1640, based on notes made by a Sulawesi historian and echoed by

John Darling’s 1994 ABC documentary Below the Wind. Further, relying on archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic evidence, Ganter agrees with Berndt and

Berndt’s earlier observation that for substantial influence to impact on culture, a ‘long history’ view of contact was needed; thus, the Macassan-Aboriginal relationship “must predate the British arrival by at least 200 years, and a 400- year history is often cited as a ‘more or less’ reliable estimate” (p. 3).

Aboriginal oral traditions from Arnhem Land also revealed that the Macassan practised their Islamic rituals during their three to four month stay22 (Isaacs, 1980). These fishermen and traders from the Macassar region of Indonesia arrived on the northern coasts of Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory and made contact and engaged with the local indigenous people. Cahill et al. (2004) and Stephenson

(2009) remark that this engagement may have been the first interfaith contact in

Australia. By 1907 with an increasing European settlement in Australia, the annual

20 Also, Peta Stephenson (2011) notes that the mortuary ceremonies in the communities of Galiwinku refer to Dreaming figure WaliItha’ walitha, adapted from the Arabic phrase- Allah wa Ta’ala (God, the exalted). In “The Conversation: Long History with Islam Gives Indigenous Australians Pride from http://theconversation.edu.au/long-history-with-islam-gives-indigenous-australians-pride-3521 21Ethnographers Berndt and Berndt (1947) suggest that there had been contacts between the Maregeans (people of the northern shores of Arnhem land), the Macassans, and the Aborigines from the early 16th century, based on evidence of “the depth of influence” (cited in Cleland, 2002, p. 6). Macknight, however, rejects this and asserts that this is not conclusive evidence; instead, he asserts that letters from 1751-1754 provide the most reliable evidence to substantiate the contact. 22 They arrived to Australia in December and returned to Macassar in May. 39

Macassan visits for sea slugs (trepan) and trading came to an end. Cleland (2002) cites

“oppressive imposition of the customs dues…, growing racism in Australia after the introduction of the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act and jealousy over Macassan success” (p. 7) as reasons for the discontinued Macassan expeditions.

Many scholars observe that the relationship between the indigenous communities and the Macassan traders and fishermen was a good one, built on mutual respect and trust; in fact, the Arnhem Land Aborigines still refer to that period in history as the

Golden Age (Cleland, 2002; Worsley, 1955).23 This amicable relationship contrasts with that of the indigenous peoples’ relationship with European settlers. Worsley (1955) explains "the contrast is plainly between the generosity and democracy of the

Macassan and the parsimony and colour bar of the Whites" (p. 8). These observations led many scholars to conclude that despite many years later, there remains a positive feeling regarding those contacts between the Macassan and the indigenous population. Accordingly, in 1997 for the anniversary of the City of Gowa (in Sulawesi,

Indonesia) the Arnhem Land Aborigines performed an opera showcasing the historical and harmonious connection between the Yolngu and Macassan peoples (Cleland,

2002).

This period of mutual and respectful coexistence between Muslim fishermen and traders and the Indigenous communities significantly demonstrates that despite the

23 There are scholars, like Ganter (2014), however, who state that the meetings were not always peaceful. She states: “I'm a historian and I know that the Macassans, when they came to Arnhem Land, they had cannons, they were armed, there were violent incidents.” Rogers (2014) elaborates that “when she (Ganter) mentioned the Macassans' cannons to one elder in the tribe, he dismissed it.” Ganter elaborates, "He really wanted to tell this story as a story of successful cultural contact, which is so different to people coming and taking your land and taking your women and establishing themselves as superior" (cited in Rogers, 2014, para. 14). 40 modern rhetoric, intolerance is not inherent in Islam. While it is beyond the scope of this thesis to discuss this point in-depth, indeed, it is important to highlight that intolerance is something certain groups of Muslims have espoused, albeit in the name of Islam, in response to particular socio-political contexts.

1.6.2 Late 18th Century: The First Fleet and Settlement

Historians also found record of Muslim sailors and prisoners aboard the convict ships bound for Australia. The Muslim sailors were classified as Lascars –Indians and

Ceylonese (Cleland, 2002). Hanifa Deen, researcher for the Uncommon Lives National

Australia Archives project, documents that “a group of stranded Muslim seaman were forced to make new lives on Norfolk Island” (2014, para. 4) in 1795-1800. It was also noted that the stranded sailors were not provided with a passage home and, thus, had to make Australia their home. In 1807, British officials closed Norfolk Island and transferred everyone to Hobart. A number of Muslims were part of the transfer, including Antonio Bucknall (Bukhari), Bastian Suez, Muhammad Abdilla, Muhammad

Coosoms, Said (Jacob) Sultan, Ram John Conn (Khan) and John Hassan (Parkar).

However, with very only a few references to their names not much else is known about these sailors and prisoners as they left no known Muslim families nor did they build any mosque or Islamic institutions.24 Cleland (2002) observes that life as both

Muslims and lowly subjects would have been difficult for them; the intolerance,

24 Bilal Cleland (2002) in his The History of Muslims in Australia chronicles the life of Said Sultan, a Muslim, came to Australia on the Lady Nelson. He initially resided on eleven and half acres on Norfolk Island, but in 1809 he set sail for Tasmania with his wife. The records indicate that he changed his name to Jacob and by 1819, he owned 28 acres of pasture and another 2 acres of wheat. 41 perhaps, forced them to assimilate as much as possible into the more mainstream25,

Christian community.

1.6.3 Mid-19th Century: Afghan Cameleers

Although Muslim presence in Australia was felt since the early 17th century, as discussed earlier, it was minimal, fleeting and transitory. It was only in the 1860s that the first real settlement of Muslims began, with the arrival of ‘Afghan’26 cameleers.27

In order to open up the harsh, dry interior of Australia, 124 camels were brought over from India and 31 Afghan drivers and handlers28 were recruited. Every expedition across the vast interior was accompanied by the Afghan Muslims drivers, although

“they were scarcely recognised for their contribution” (Cleland, 2001, p. 16). The estimated 2000 cameleers also contributed to the development of the rail link between Port Augusta and Alice Springs, later known as The Ghan. Moreover, Afghan

Muslims participated in the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in 1870-72 including the surveying, constructing and carrying of materials into the harsh interior.

By the 1920s with the introduction of the T Ford utility truck and the railway, the cameleering industry came to a halt (Jones & Kenny, 2007).

With little prospect of further employment and no prospect of gaining citizenship in

Australia, the majority of the cameleers returned to their homelands to reunite with

25 In spite of the fact that Muslims have actively protected their religious identity over 1500 years, in the absence of a functioning community and community institutions, their religious identity has dissolved into more dominant cultural milieu. 26 The label ‘Afghans’ refers to people from“ Beluchistan, the Punjab, Kashmir and the Sindh province, areas that now straddle north India, Pakistan and Afghanistan” (Ganter, 2008, p. 9). 27 Cahill, Bouma, Dellal and Leahy (2004) argue in Religion, Cultural Diversity and Safeguarding Australia that these cameleers “are the real founders of Islam in Australia” (p. 38). 28 Doast Mahomet and Esan Khan were the two first cameleers to arrive in Australia. Other well-known Afghan cameleers were Abdul Wade, Faiz, the Taj Brothers, Alam Khan and Basher Gool. 42 their families.29 However, despite the xenophobic legislation30 and attitudes in

Australia, a small number of Afghans decided to settle permanently in Australia; of those, many married local Aboriginal women and laid roots in the camel routes, known as ‘Ghan’ towns. These included Marree, Broken Hill, Alice Springs, Farina, Cloncurry and Oodnatta. As a result of these intercultural marriages, there are Aboriginal families still today with the surnames of Khan, Akbar, Mahomed and Sultan (Stephenson,

2011). The relationships also resulted in artefacts such as boomerangs carved with turbaned cameleers and indigenous ceremonial items with attached camel hair.

Like the Maccassan fishermen and traders, many of Afghan cameleers attempted to maintain their Islamic practice in their new non-Muslim homeland. They erected mud mosques with tin roofs, prayed, fasted, gave their compulsory charity, read the Qur’an, and refrained from pork, alcohol and other non-permissible food products (Deen,

2003). However, many scholars note that the Afghan camelmen found it very difficult to maintain not only the Islamic practice, but their Islamic identity as well in the majority white Anglo-Celtic, Christian society. Consequently, Johns and Saeed (2002) state that for many of the Afghan camelmen this resulted in the loss of their Islamic faith. It is a result of these early Muslim historical experiences in Australia that

Australia MCSO actors deemed it imperative to establish community organisations and institutions for the preservation of identity in order to avoid such losses. This point will be expounded further in Chapter 4 on Australian Muslim community building.

29 Australian authorities did not allow them to bring their wives over from their homelands. 30Legislation included the Imported Labour Registry Act of 1897, where “coloured aliens’ were not allowed to import other workers and the Immigration Act of 1901 (commonly referred to as the White Australia Policy). 43

1.6.4 Late 19th Century: Malay Pearl Divers

In the late 19th century, after securing a contract with the Dutch, Australia recruited

‘Malays’31 from Southeast Asia to work as indentured labourers in the pearling industry in areas of and surrounding Darwin, Broome, Christmas Island as well as along the Queensland coast. Although it was a very dangerous job with a high death toll, the main employment for Malays in Australia remained in the pearling industry until the

1960s. Eventually some were lured to work in the South Australian mines or on the cane fields and sugar estates in Queensland. Like other Muslims who had arrived in

Australia previously, many of these Malay workers returned home after their services were no longer needed in Australia. Moreover, like the Afghan cameleers, those

Malays who remained stayed and married the local women.32 Today, there are 30 families, about 100 people, in Broome and the surrounding areas with ancestry linked to the Malay pearl divers.

With the settlement of the Malays and Afghans, the small Australian Muslim community began establishing more permanent places of worship around Australia.

Evidence suggests that the first permanent Muslim settlement and mosque was established in the Flinders Ranges in the Betlana Station33 (Stevens, 1989). The first mosque was built in Marree in northern South Australia in 1861 with the first large mosque built in Adelaide in 1888.34 Another mosque was built in Broken Hill (New

South Wales) in 1891. Muslims in Western Australia completed their first mosque,

31 Malays is placed in inverted commas as, like other historical cultural and ethnic phenomena in Australia, the label was used for all, including Malays, Timorese and Javanese. 32 Stephenson (2011) remarks that a significant number of the Muslim Malay men married the local Indigenous women; their Aboriginal-Malay descendants can be found in the top end of Australia. http://theconversation.edu.au/long-history-with-islam-gives-indigenous-australians-pride-3521 33 Nothing remains of the settlement or the mosque, except six Afghan graves. 34 Some records indicate it was 1890, but the majority, including the State Library of South Australia, puts the original completion at 1888, with the minarets added in 1903. 44 known as the Perth Mosque, in 1905. The first mosque in Queensland in Holland Park was built in 1908, while Albanians built the first mosque in Victoria in Shepparton in the 1956.35 It is worth noting that not while some of these earlier communities, such as the ones in Marree and Broken Hill, did not themselves endure, their role in establishing mosques served as an important foundation for the establishment of the more permanent Muslim communities that succeeded them.

1.6.5 Post-World War I: Albanian Migrants

The implementation of the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901 created difficulties not only for Muslims already residing in Australia, but for further Muslim migration to

Australia. It was at this time Albanian Muslims started to consider Australia36 as a place to achieve economic success. As Albanians were European, they were not excluded under the Immigration Restriction Act or otherwise known as the ‘White Australia

Policy’. However, as their numbers increased, legislation was sought in 192437 to limit the number of visas granted to them; as a result, in 1929 only 24 visas per month were granted to Albanians.38 There were fears that Albanians (as well as Greeks and

Yugoslavs) would place an economic strain by competing with Australians for jobs as well as upset the British-Australian character of the society by not being able to integrate successfully into society.

35 It is interesting to note that the first mosque in Victoria was built 50 years after the ones in the other States. I have asked a number of key community leaders in Victoria as well as scholars on the history of Muslims in Australia why this is the case and no one seems to know. This fascinating question needs further research. 36 Before that Albanians were migrating to the US; however, the US started limiting their immigration intake from Southern Europe (see Uncommon Lives: Muslim Journeys. National Archives of Australia (NAA). Retrieved from http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/muslim-journeys/arrivals/albanians.aspx) 37 Influx of Southern Europeans to Australia', letter from the Secretary, Home and Territories Department, to the Secretary, Prime Minister's Department, 31 December 1924. NAA. Retrieved from http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/muslim-journeys/enlargement/european-migration-1920s.aspx 38 Instructions issued by the Passports Control Office at the British Foreign Office, 30 January 1929. NAA. Retrieved from http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/muslim-journeys/enlargement/british-foreign-office- 1929.aspx 45

Although many of the Albanian migrants were single, strong and adventurous young men, they found it very difficult to get jobs due to their lack of English language proficiency. Gradually, they moved away from the cities and into rural areas of

Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria where they eventually found back- breaking jobs clearing land and cutting the canes. However, according to Cleland

(2002), during the Great Depression of the 1930s even these types of jobs were

“subjected to racial tests…(the) British Preference Leagues demanded that all sugar industry employees should be Anglo-Celtic Australians” (p. 59).

Upon hearing the distressed plight of their countrymen in Australia, the Albanian

Government provided discounted fares back home.39 Some Albanians accepted the offer, but many decided to stay and make a fresh start elsewhere in Australia.

Consequently, a number of the men left the cane fields and settled in Western

Australia where they became wheat or sheep famers in the areas of York and

Northam. Many others finally settled in areas around Shepparton, in countryside

Victoria, where they became prosperous orchardists and market-gardeners.

It must be noted, however, that even during some of those prosperous economic times, life was still difficult for many Albanians, particularly during World War II. In

1943, when Albania came under Italian occupation, 1086 Albanian Australians were

39 Press release, issued 24 December 1931. NAA. Retrieved from http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/muslim-journeys/enlargement/press-release-issued-24-december- 1931.aspx 46 considered ‘alien enemies’.40 As a result, their names and other personal details were registered and their movements monitored and recorded by the Australian

Government. Although they did not pose a direct threat to Australian national interest, in 1942 at a time of heightened fear of invasion, 84 Albanians were sent to internment camps in Enoggera and Cowra, Queensland.41 They were eventually released seven to eight months later.

Because of their treatment during the war as well as earlier years of social and economic hardships, some Albanians left Australia and returned home after the war.

The vast majority, however, stayed, settled down (most sent for their fiancé or wives they left behind in Albania) and had families, and established vibrant communities in which they lived. In 1956, the Albanian Mosque in Shepparton was the first mosque to be erected in Victoria. Similar to the experiences of Australian Muslims in the other major cities in Australia, mosque building for the Albanian community in Shepparton was central for all of the community’s activities but also fundamental to the preservation of the community identity, a point I explore further in Chapter 4.

1.6.6 Post-World War II: Increase in Muslim Population in Australia

Following the Second World War, with the relaxation and eventual demise of the

Immigration Restriction Act, the population of Muslims in Australia increased dramatically from 2704 in 1947 to 22,313 in 1971 (see Table 1.6.6). Muslim migrants

40 Interim report of the Aliens Classification and Advisory Committee, March 1943. NAA Retrieved from http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/muslim-journeys/enlargement/aliens-classification-1943.aspx 41 Memorandum concerning the status of Albanian nationals from the Director of the Security Service to the Director of Military Operations and Intelligence, Army Headquarters, 7 July 1941. NAA Retrieved from http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/muslim-journeys/enlargement/status-of-albanian- nationals.aspx 47 from mainly Turkey and Yugoslavia took advantage of Australia’s growing employment needs. In particular Turkey, with its own high unemployment and overcrowding issues, was the first non-Western European country to sign the Assisted Passage Agreement with Australia in 1967. As a result, the Turkish community in Australia increased dramatically from 1544 in 1966 to 11,589 in 1971 (Department of Immigration and

Citizenship, 2012). The Turkish migrants were the first large group of Muslims to migrate to Australia as well as the largest group of ‘non-Whites’ since 1901. Like

Muslim migrants before them, they faced great hardships because of their lack of educational and professional qualifications as well their minimal English language proficiency.42 Consequently, many of these migrants were restricted to jobs as unskilled labourers and process workers. The Turks migrating to Australia for better employment opportunities declined in the early 1980s and slowly resumed in the late

1980s due to inflation and high unemployment in Turkey. More recently, large groups of Turkish migrants have come to Australia to be reunited with their families or under the general skilled migration scheme. According to the Department of Immigration and

Citizenship (2012), over 75 percent of Turkish migrants arrived in Australia before

1996. Half of Turkish-born Australians reside in Victoria, primarily in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne.

Although migrants from Lebanon have resided in Australia since the 1880s,43 it was only in the post-World War II era which saw a huge increase in the numbers. In 1947, there were 1,886 migrants from Lebanon, many of whom were Christians of Maronite,

Antioch Orthodox or Melkite denominations. The numbers grew steadily and in 1971

42 The migration intake had aimed for a 30% skilled and 70% unskilled Turkish migrant population; however, the intake the first year of the program resulted mainly in unskilled migrants. 43 They were generally Christian Lebanese migrants at this time. 48 there were 24, 218 Lebanese-born Australians (Humphrey, 2004). However, following the civil war in Lebanon in 1975, over 20,000 Lebanese arrived in Australia seeking safe shelter. By 1981, there was a population of 49,617 Lebanese-born Australians.

According to the latest census figures, there are now 76,450 Lebanese-born residing in

Australia, with the majority of them living in Sydney, New South Wales.

The influx of Lebanese refugees migrating after 1975 greatly altered the social and religious landscape of the Lebanese community in Australia (Humphrey, 2004); many of these refugees were extremely poor and over half of those migrating were Muslim.

As a result of this migration, by 1996 over 38.6 percent of the Lebanese population in

Australia were Muslim (Convy & Monsour, 2008). The once predominately and mostly communal Christian Lebanese community had to now contend with new Muslim

Lebanese migrants in the midst of a sectarian war occurring in their home country

(Humphrey, 2004). While some scholars, such as Saeed and Akbarzadeh (2001) and

Bouma, Daw and Munawar (2001) suggest that the Australian multiculturalist context may aid in managing and bringing the diverse ethnic Muslim groups together,

Humphrey (2004) posits that multiculturalism was actually an instrument used to further polarise the Lebanese Australian community and writes:

Externally the new communities introduced the concerns of the war and

internally competition between sect communities was intensified in the context

of the new politics of multiculturalism. The social expression of this new

identity politics was the proliferation of Lebanese community associations to

the peak of around 250 largely based on village community associations. The

provision of welfare services and government grants became the focus of intra-

Lebanese ethnic competition. Multiculturalism opened up a new arena for

party politics and petty patronage which the Lebanese were quick to learn and

exploit. (p. 47)

Sociologist Abe Ata (1987) also adds that some of the main Lebanese community organisations and media did not assist in moderating tensions and conflict; rather, they intentionally promoted segregation between the various Lebanese religious groups.

Overall, Tabar, Noble and Poynting (2003, 2010) among others observe that Lebanese

Muslims unlike Lebanese Christians continue to face social disadvantage in Australia.

Betts and Healy (2006) suggest that one of the initial reasons for this may be that unlike the Lebanese Christian refugees in the post-1975 migration wave, the Muslims

“lacked the pre-existing ethnic institutions of church and community networks that had been established by earlier waves of Christians” (p. 25). In more recent times, reasons may be due to a sense of disconnect, alienation, marginalisation and even a sense of victimhood (Akbarzadeh, 2006; Betts & Healy, 2006; Wakim, 2006).

In the late 1990s and until now, there was a marked increase in the number of professional and skilled migrants during this period, including “teacher and engineers from Egypt, doctors from the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent, a tertiary students from

Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan” (Ahmad, 1994, p. 318, cited in

Wise, A. & Ali, J., 2008). Moreover, this same period also saw many Muslims who have sought asylum and migrated to Australia under refugee or humanitarian grounds, fleeing from war torn countries in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Europe. As a

50 result, Australian Muslims constitute a diverse group in terms of ethnic, linguistic, economic, political, educational and economic backgrounds.

Table 1.6.6 Number of Muslims in Australia from 1911-2011

Year Number Percentage of the

Population

1911 3908 0.09

1933 1,877 0.03

1947 2,704 0.04

1961 N/A N/A

1971 22,311 0.17

1976 45,205 0.33

1981 76,792 0.53

1986 109,523 0.70

1991 147,507 0.88

1996 200,885 1.13

2001 281,578 1.5

2006 340,387 1.71

2011 476,291 2.2

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011

As discussed above and based on historical Census figures, from 1911 to 2011 there was a steady increase of Muslim presence in Australia over the years. Table 1.6.6 indicates that there was a drop in the number of Muslims in Australia from 1911 to

1933 as a result of the Immigration Restriction Act (1901). However, as discussed earlier, once the Act was repealed and changes were made to the immigration policies, the number of Muslims in Australia increased dramatically; it continues to increase steadily today.

1.7 Civil Society, Islam and Australia

Despite a long historical presence in Australia as discussed in the previous sections, an extensive literature search reveals that only a limited number of studies have focused on Australian MCSOs (see Chowdhury, 2006; McCue, 2008; Tabar et al., 2003). Nayeefa

Chowdhury’s (2006) research is one of the few and explores the role of Australia-based

Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) in promoting interfaith dialogue and dawah

(proselytising) activities. More specifically, Tabar, Noble and Poyting (2003) investigate how the Lebanese ethnic leadership have attempted to navigate the ethnic and symbolic capitals as recognised by the Australian Government, yet have not been able to reify and legitimise their positions due to external socio-political factors such as incidents relating to the ‘Lebanese youth gangs’ as well as a shift in the multiculturalism policy. McCue’s (2008) report for the then Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) looks at the civil and social participation of Australian Muslim women in the community (with a focus on Muslim women’s organisations) and identifies various drivers as well as barriers to Australian Muslim women’s participation. While these studies are insightful, they do not provide a comprehensive understanding of MCSOs in Australia. This dissertation attempts to fill this gap and, thereby, provide a more holistic, yet nuanced understanding of Muslims in Australia. In particular, it hopes, for the first time, to present the lived experiences of Australian

Muslim civil society actors and the organisations they represent- their narratives in their own words. Finally, this thesis explores how MCSOs have responded to the challenges of the Australian socio-political context, the perceived impact of these experiences, and how Islam is manifested within the contexts of these experiences.

1.8 Conclusion

This first chapter discussed the background, conceptualisations, and context for this thesis. It began by introducing the origin, definitions and contending views on the concept of civil society, particularly highlighting that an agreed single definition is not feasible due to the inherent plurality, diversity and contexts. This became especially apparent when we surveyed the genealogy of the concept, from the Greek understanding of civil society to denote a state imposed legislation to ensure a civilised

(good) society to

Hegel’s balanced understanding of the term to the neo-Tocqueville’s emphasis on a complete separation of state, the economy and the civil society sphere, otherwise known as the third sector. It was also observed that the understanding of civil society can become even more problematic and contentious when the concept is applied outside of the Western world.

With this context, this introductory chapter then examined the literature exploring the relationship between Islam and civil society. It noted that while certain views which hold that Islam and civil society are not compatible can be insightful, many contending scholars stress that these observations are very limited. Rather, they believe that the

53 concept of civil society can indeed be applied to Islamic culture, albeit, overcoming some barriers which relate to some of the pre-modern aspects of Islam. Furthermore, it was argued that Islamic scriptures, philosophy and history have resource as well as references to concepts associated with civil society, such as waqf, menbar, ulama, qabila ayan, niqabat, ta’ifa, milla and asabiyah.

This chapter also noted that the majority of works on MCSOs tends to focus on the political roles, rather than on community building. Also, unlike discussions on civil society in Muslim countries, only a few have investigated MCSOs and their role in a

Western society. There are even fewer studies investigating MCSOs in Australia and none which is comprehensive. As a result of this, the research gap was identified and the aims, objectives and significance of this current study were thereby outlined.

In addition to providing the relevant literature relating to the broad concepts of this dissertation, this foundational chapter also detailed the research context and setting, by highlighting the present and past context of Muslim presence in Australia. It was shown that although Muslims have a long association with Australia since the

Maccassan fisherman and traders in the 16th-17th century, the establishment of permanent communities is a relatively recent phenomenon. It is also worth noting that not while some of these earlier communities, such as the ones in Marree and Broken

Hill, did not themselves endure, their role in establishing mosques served as an important foundation for the establishment of the more permanent Muslim communities that succeeded them. These communities are experiencing a rapid growth rate as the recent data demonstrates and are becoming quite a visible

54 presence in the public sphere, yet they are very little understood or studied comprehensive; this is a major concern of this present study. The next chapter will discuss how this concern is addressed by detailing the research methodology by which the Australian MCSOs’ experiences were collated and analysed, arguing that the descriptive phenomenological approach provides the best method for understanding and describing the lived experiences of Australian MCSOs.

Chapter 2 Researching through Phenomenological Inquiry

2.1 Introduction

This chapter examines the interpretive research approach and methodology which underpins this current research design. It discusses and argues for the use of phenomenology as the epistemology, specifically looking at descriptive phenomenology as the basis for the research paradigm and design. It then introduces the participants and provides an overview of the MCSOs involved in this study. Chapter

2 also outlines how the significant statements, sub-themes, key themes as well as the universal ‘essences’ or epochs were delineated from the transcribed interviews.

Additionally, this chapter establishes the theoretical approach of this study, namely civil society models as espoused by Sparre and Petersen (2007). Finally, it summarises the main themes derived from the phenomenological interviews and outlines how these themes will structure the subsequent chapters in this dissertation.

2.2 Phenomenology as the Epistemology

Phenomenology, from the Greek phainómenon (an ‘appearance’) and logos (‘reason’ or ‘word’), is interested in understanding experiences as they appear in the consciousness; it is a rich and complex philosophy with diverse thinkers, orientations and movements. While the term phenomenology can be traced back to Kant (1724-

1804) and Hegel (1770-1831), it is the German philosophers Franz Brentano (1839-

1017) and Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), who are considered to be the founders of the

56 modern phenomenology movement. The movement was further developed by

Husserl’s successor, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976).

At the time of this philosophical development, Europe was rebuilding after World War

I. Eagleton (1983) notes the milieu:

The social order of European capitalism had been shaken to its roots by the

carnage of war and its turbulent aftermath. The ideologies on which that order

had customarily depended, the cultural values by which it ruled, were also in

deep turmoil. Science seemed to have dwindled to a sterile positivism, a

myopic obsession with the categorisation of facts; philosophy appeared torn

between such a positivism on the one hand, and an indefensible subjectivism

on the other; forms of relativism and irrationalism were rampant, and art

reflected this bewildering loss of bearings. (p. 54)

Husserl (1965), reflecting particularly on this heavy reliance on positivism (that is, the scientific method), “sought to develop a new philosophical method which would lend absolute certainty to a disintegrating civilisation” (Eagleton, 1983, p. 54). In particular, he rejected the scientism duality of objective ‘reality’ and subjective ‘appearance’ as espoused by the scientific revolution of the 17th century (Husserl, 1965). For phenomenologists like Husserl, consciousness and matter, reality and appearance are not to be divided or compartmentalised into categories as they are intrinsically linked; moreover, it is through phenomenology that the essence of consciousness, which they argue is the foundation of all human experience, can be scientifically investigated.

Further expounding this, Husserl (1970a) re-introduced and further developed the concept of intentionality of consciousness,44 that is, “the description of experience shows it always to be the experience of something” (Cope, 2003, p. 4). Moran (2000) uses the term “aboutness” to describe this and explains that “every act of loving is a loving of something, every act of seeing is a seeing of something” (p. 16). Hence, one cannot separate the experience from what it is that is being experienced. Another major theme of phenomenology is Husserl’s (1980) idea that all presuppositions, including scientific, philosophical, cultural and historical, concerning the phenomenon should not only be questioned but be suspended until they can be further substantiated. Husserl argues that these prior assumptions were “inherently biased, influenced more by what it ‘should’ be like than by what it was actually like” (Cope,

2003, p. 5).

In order to achieve this philosophical absence of presuppositions, one has to move from a ‘natural attitude’ to a ‘philosophical attitude’, otherwise known as the phenomenological attitude or the transcendental attitude. Husserl (1980) states that this can be achieved by ‘phenomenological reduction’ or ‘bracketing’. Hycner (1999) disagrees with Husserl’s use of the term ‘reduction’ for this process as he feels that it is not unlike the reductionist process of the natural science methodology and may even

“reduce the phenomena to cause and effect” (Groenewald, 2004, p. 18). Thus, most phenomenologists prefer the term ‘bracketing’ (Creswell, 2007; Frouche, 1993;

Groenewald, 2004; Hycner, 1994). The process of bracketing involves: 1) separating

4444 Intentional nature of consciousness was first introduced by Husserl’s teacher, Franz Brentano, who described it as the “internal experience of being conscious of something” (cited in Holloway, 1997, p. 117). 58 the phenomenon from the world and inspecting it; 2) dissecting the phenomenon to unravel the structure, define it and analyse it; and 3) suspending all preconceptions regarding the phenomenon. A number of Husserl’s successors including Heidegger,

Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Sarte (1908-1980), and Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) have modified, critiqued and further developed and deepened Husserl’s approach resulting in a phenomenology that is a rich, diverse and complex discipline.

The phenomenological traditions also influenced ideas and works within the field of sociology, as espoused by Alfred Schutz (1899-1959) in his publication Der Sinnhafte

Aufbau der Sozialen Welt (translated in English to The Phenomenology of the Social

World, 1967). Thereafter, Schutz frequently met up with Husserl, resulting in the expansion and further development of his ideas for a philosophical foundation for the social sciences and, in particular, a basis for interpretive sociology. A slight departure from general phenomenology, phenomenological sociology is interested in analysing the meaningful life-world (lebenswelt) of everyday life through the formal structures of concrete social existence (see also Gubrium & Holstein, 2000). The life-world, according to Schutz (1967), restricts people who must then constantly attempt to control and alter it. In other words, the study of phenomenological sociology involves a focus on two aspects: how actors attempt to construct the life-world and how the life-world impacts on the actors.

2.3 Phenomenological Perspectives

The Encyclopedia of Phenomenology (Embree, 1997) identifies seven distinct phenomenological perspectives: 1) descriptive phenomenology concerns the

59 phenomenon in its pure, transcendental consciousness, separated from its context; 2) naturalistic, constitutive phenomenology studies how consciousness constitutes part of nature; 3) existential phenomenology concerns matters related to human existence, including the experience of free choice; 4) generative historicist phenomenology studies how meaning is created by the historical context of human experience; 5) genetic phenomenology concerns with the genesis of meaning of objects within people’s individual experience; 6) hermeneutic phenomenology concerns with how individual’s understand and interpret their experience of the phenomenon, in context, and by those who study them; 7) realistic phenomenology studies the structures related to consciousness and intentionality.

Drawing inspiration from Groenewald’s (2004) own study, the epistemological stance for this thesis is as follows: data are contained within the perspectives of people involved in Muslim civil society organisations, either as founders, coordinators, representatives or leaders; therefore, I need to engage with these participants

(informants) to collect the data. I view these participants as representatives of the world in which he/she lives and, accordingly, I am interested in emphasising similar patterns and universal features of the phenomenon, that is, the essences of an experience. Thus, I utilised descriptive phenomenology (sometimes referred to as transcendental phenomenology as in Moustakas, 1994) as the underpinning for my research paradigm.

2.4 Research Paradigm: Applied Descriptive Phenomenology

At the core of phenomenology lies the attempt to explore and understand the nature and meaning of the phenomena. Unlike the positivist research paradigm which

“reduces the study of the human world to something that can be measured” and thus,

“precludes researchers from focusing on the complexity and ambiguity of the world of human beings” (Gibson & Hanes, 2003, pp. 183-184), applied phenomenology is a research approach which directly aims to explore and gain that in-depth understanding of the complexities of human experience. This is an important characteristic as research approaches to the study of civil society organisations and their actors need to be able to respond to the rapid and complex changes occurring in the field. Gibson and Hanes (2003) argue that because the phenomenological approach “has complexity as one of its foundational attributes…it is not constrained by limitations of traditional methods that tend to ignore the complex, evolutionary and systemic attributes of organisational context” (p. 183).

Furthermore, Michael Harmon (1990) notes that phenomenology allows for a more effective understanding of organisations and, accordingly, makes two observations.

Firstly, through phenomenology one is able to understand what has been done as a result of the action being completed. Secondly, as actors involved in the organisations may differ as to what should or what is actually going on, phenomenology allows for a constant, cooperative collaboration. Thus, Harmon (1990) concludes that the study of organisations with a phenomenological attitude “is a process of collective sense- making about what people have been doing, what they might want to do in the future, including (but not limited to) how they might want to do it” (p. 11).

Using phenomenology as the epistemology and descriptive phenomenology inquiry as the research approach, this study aims to gain a detailed and holistic understanding of the experiences of MCSO actors in Australia. In order to achieve this, the design for the study is divided into two parts and is multi-layered to encapsulate the nuanced understanding of this phenomenon.

2.5 Research Design Stage One: Identifying and Mapping of MCSOs in Australia

In attempting to answer the first specific research question and to ascertain a general overview of the phenomenon, the first stage of my research framework involved empirical research and includes two steps. The first process comprised of identifying and mapping all possible MCSOs in Australia into an ACCESS database from these sources: internet searches, contacts in all states and territory, Muslim newspapers, newsletters and other media outlets, including social media. There results were then compiled into a manageable spreadsheet (see Appendix A). This was useful as it not only identified and located all MCSOs in Australia, but it also provided a reference point for me to locate the participants for the purposeful sampling.

The second step required the distribution of all the inputted Australian MCSOs among these categories below:45

a. Religious institutions (includes mosques and mosque associations)

45 Lukka and Locke (2003) only identify 4 categories of volunteering activities of faith-based organisations: 1) routine activities (e.g. preparing food for gudwara, washing body for Islamic burial rites, visiting the sick, informal assistance and care for the aged and invalid, formal religious instruction, etc.); 2) welfare services (as part of the faith or separately such as youth groups, refugee services, etc.); 3) festivals (organising, preparations, etc); and 4) disasters and causes. I felt this list was too narrow and did not account for other activities and services faith-based civil society organisations participate in and deliver. Hence, I preferred to use the organisations as per the civil society definition. 62

b. Social welfare organisations

c. Cultural/Ethnic associations

d. Advocacy organisations (human rights, civil rights, environmental rights,

and so forth)

e. Women’s organisations

f. Youth associations

g. Professional associations

h. Research centres/think tanks

i. Education institutions

j. Sports and Recreational associations

k. Charities

l. Interfaith understanding46

This important step allowed me to gauge the diversity of services provided by all possible MCSOs in Australia. It also provided a quantifiable aspect to this research, namely the category of MCSOs most frequently established by Australian Muslims.

2.6 Research Design Stage Two: In-depth Phenomenological Interviews

The central aim of this thesis is to investigate how MCSOs have responded to the socio-political contexts in Australia. One of the primary ways in which a researcher studies organisations or institutions is through the people involved, the actors

(Ferrarotti, 1981; Seidman, 2006). The complexities involved in capturing the actor’s

46 This category is not included in the definition of civil society organisations, but I felt it was important to include it as quite a number of organisations, such as Affinity, the Australian Intercultural Society, Bluestar Intercultural Centre, Queensland Intercultural Society, and so forth are founded by Muslims on the Islamic principle of building better relations.

63 lived experience of the phenomena can only be revealed through one-to-one interactions, between the researcher and the participant. It must not be a simple conversation, but rather a deep, reflective dialogue which, according to Husserl

(1970b), must involve attentive listening, interaction and observation by the researcher. Therefore, the second part of the research design focused on interpretive, phenomenological in-depth interviews, outlining how participants were selected, how the interviews were structured and how the data was analysed and described.

2.6.1 Locating Research Participants: Purposive Sampling

Unlike quantitative or experimental research where hypotheses are being tested or situations controlled, applied descriptive phenomenological research involves obtaining deep, reflective lived experiences from the participants and uncovering the

‘essences’, that is, the thematic patterns, of those experiences. Because the research approaches are quite different, selecting participants to sample had to be approached differently. While it was necessary for this research to select participants whose experience “would not be easily dismissed as idiosyncratic to them and irrelevant to a larger population” (Seidman, 2006, p. 51), it could not employ random sampling or stratified random-sampling. These sampling techniques involve a very large number of participants which is prohibitive and a-near impossibility with research employing in- depth interviews. Moreover, as Seidman (2006) rightly points out, potential participants must agree to participate; thus, this element of “self-selection and randomness are not compatible” (p. 51).

In order to overcome these sampling considerations, qualitative researchers reason that potential participants need to be purposefully sampled. It is especially important for a phenomenological approach that potential participants were selected from those who have experienced the phenomena under investigation and whose qualities and experiences were relevant to the project. In other words, it is essential to ask: ‘Has the potential participant experienced the phenomenon I am interested in investigating?’

After ascertaining this, it is worthwhile to consider several different approaches as suggested by Patton (1989), which are typical case, extreme or deviant case, critical case, sensitive case, convenience, and maximum variation. Because this research aims to discover patterns in the lived experiences of MCSOs, thereby generalising the essences into a theory, it was important that the purposeful sampling technique allowed for as much generalisation and connection to the population as possible. Thus, the maximum variation sampling technique was employed to locate potential participants for this study.

After identifying and mapping all possible MCSOs in Australia, I then established clear criteria to assist in locating the research participants who would best serve the aims and objectives of the research. As there are 12 different categories in which Australian

MCSOs fall under, the first criteria for the purposeful sampling involved determining which categories were most relevant to the aims and objectives of this study. After informal conversations with a number of Australian MCSOs actors about the research I was conducting, I found that the MCSOs involved in grass-roots community development would be most relevant to achieving the study’s purpose. Consequently,

I excluded MCSOs which fell under the categories of religious institutions (such as

65 mosques or mosque associations); professional organisations (such as business or commerce organisations, medical professional groups, and so forth); education institutions (such as Islamic schools or madaris); and cultural and ethnic organisations

(such as the Sri Lankan Muslim Association, or the Bosnian Association, and so forth).

Secondly, for practical exigencies related to time, money and resources, I limited my study geographically to the three cities on the east coast of Australia: Brisbane,

Melbourne and Sydney.47 Thirdly, I then determined the number of Australian MCSOs I needed to establish a sufficient sample and reach saturation. Phenomenological researchers suggest different preferred number of individuals to interviews. Some, like

Englander (2012) and Giorgi (2008), argue that it should be at least three; however, most concur with Polkinghorne’s (1989) recommendation of 5-25 interviewees. I chose to interview 15 participants, with each participant being interviewed twice. There were three participants from Brisbane, six from Melbourne, and another six from

Sydney. In total, I conducted 30 face-to-face, in-depth interviews across the three cities. The empirical component of this study was conducted according to the National standards for Ethical Conduct in Human Research.48

2.6.2 Making Contact

Although I received recommendations for potential participants from third party sources, I ensured that I made the contact myself. I felt that it was important for potential participants to receive explanations about the project directly from me, the

47 At the time of conducting the interviews, these three cities, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, had the highest number of Australian Muslim residents respectively. 48 Approved ethics reference: (GU Ref No: HUM/02/11/HREC). 66 investigator.49 Making the initial contact myself also allowed me to answer any questions or reservations they may have about participating. Moreover, I also felt that the interviewing relationship begins at that first point of contact, that is, the exchange of information about this research.

After selecting the organisations, based on the purposeful sampling criteria as outlined in the previous section, I contacted each informant by telephone. I explained briefly the project and sought their involvement in it as prospective participants. I immediately followed up with an email where I clearly introduced the project, stated the aims and objectives, and expounded on what was involved and required from them. I also attached the ethics approved information sheet as well as the consent form for their perusal (see Appendix B). I followed up two weeks later with emails and phone calls seeking dates, times and venues most suitable to the participants; at all times I stressed that I was more than willing to work around their available schedule. I also impressed that I would meet them at whichever place of their choosing.

After dates, times and venues were decided, I made a point to attend as many of the

Muslim community events in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney as possible before the interviews commenced. This gave me a chance to personally meet many of the participants in the context of their community work before the actual interview. I was able to again answer any questions they may have had about the research. I felt this was a necessary and effective component to building a successful interviewing relationship. Seidman (2006) also encourages making a contact visit in person before the actual interview. He remarks that “by taking the time to make a separate contact

49 This approach is also consistent with the university’s ethical research standards and requirements. 67 visit to introduce him-or herself and the study, an interviewer is saying implicitly to the potential participants. ‘You are important. I take you seriously. I respect my work and you enough to want to make a separate trip to meet with you to explain the project’”

(Seidman, 2006, p. 47).

Table 2.6.2 Participant Details Participant Name Title Organisation Mustafa Ally Founder and President Crescents of Brisbane (CoB) Galila Abdel-Salam Founder and Manager Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland (IWAQ) Salam El-Merebi Founder and President Al-Nisa Youth Group Saara Sabbagh Founder and President Benevolence Australia Tasneem Chopra Chairperson Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights (AMWCH) Sabah Hakim Founder and President Australian MADE Omer Atilla Executive Advisor Australian Intercultural Association (AIS) Kerim Buday President Australian Social Islamic Association (ASIA) Youth Zeynep Sertel Founder and President Sareera Zia Ahmed President Islamic Foundation for Education and Welfare (IFEW) Hanan Dover Founder and President Mission of Hope (MoH) Zubeda Raihman Treasurer Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia (MWNNA) Maha Abdo Executive Officer United Muslim Women’s Association (MWA) Kuranda Seyit Founder and Director Forum on Australia’s Islamic Relations (FAIR) Elias Attia Public Officer Islamic Society of UNSW (ISOC)

Table 2.6.2 above details the 15 Australian MCSO actors, their position title and the organisations they represent in the three cities: Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

2.7 Ethical Considerations: Role of the Researcher

I am a Muslim who is very active in the Muslim community in Brisbane, having founded and chaired several Muslim civil society organisations in the last decade. Having sat on several Muslim reference groups, I also have an extensive contact base with other key

Muslim leaders throughout Australia which assisted in soliciting participants for the study. I believe that my identity as ‘one of them’, that is as a Muslim and an Australian

MCSO actor, facilitated and provided a smooth dialogue with my participants. My reflexivity, in this case, proved beneficial and effective. Wittner (1998) also notes this and states that “contributors who were members of the group they studied…were able to offer more information than we would know otherwise” (p. 380). Furthermore, unlike other researchers who encountered suspicion, mistrust or hostility, I was, instead, embraced, supported and provided with very deep, personal reflections. A few of the participants opened up their homes, and offered me tea, coffee, biscuits and even dinner.

Given my activism and visibility in the Muslim community, an ethical concern raised was the potential for a participant to say something that might reflect poorly on them and the organisation they represent in the eyes of their peers, or what may be termed as ‘losing face’. I was keenly aware and sensitive to this issue, and I took extra care to ensure that I minimised their vulnerability. One important step I took was to initially strike the appropriate balance of rapport with the participant. While they may be

69 considered my peers, I needed to err on the side of formality, rather than familiarity.

Before the interview began, I made certain that they were aware of their rights as a participant by reviewing the information sheet and consent form with them. I asked them to sign the form, while I proceeded to set up the recorder. I sought their permission to start the recording and I reminded them that they could stop the interview at any time. All of these steps allowed for a friendly and engaged atmosphere of professionalism. Moreover, I consciously attempted to maintain that respect, dignity and courtesy toward the participant were extended and expressed at all times. During the interview process I proceeded to nurture and maintain the trust. I met with the participants twice, for 90 minutes each time; this ensured that they were able to clarify or amend data at any stage. After the interview, I reminded participants that they have the right to review the data and even withdraw data with which they are not comfortable.

Another ethical concern revolved around my role as an ‘insider’ in the community I was investigating. In other words, could I remain truly impartial? Like other researchers who are part of the community they research, it is imperative to remain as a partial outsider and adopt a critical distance. I approached this by respectfully talking about the research itself and what was required from them as participants; this provided for a professional purpose for our meeting. Nevertheless, it needs to be noted that I also positioned myself as a “knowledgeable and sympathetic ally”

(Wittner, 1998, p. 381) and implemented what Burawoy (1991) refers to as “I-Thou”

(p. 4). This allowed for a more equitable research relationship. Part of this process involved allowing the participant to have full access to the data I was collecting; thus, I

70 was accountable to the participant for the information I had collected. Moreover, the descriptive phenomenological approach anticipates such concerns and demands that researchers bracket their biases, presumptions, impartialities and pre-conclusions, not just before the interviewing stage, but also during and whilst analysing the data. This process will be further discussed in the next section.

2.8 In-depth Phenomenological Interviewing

The unstructured interviews were in-depth, conducted at a place of the participant’s choosing. Two separate interviews were conducted with each participant, consisting of at least one and a half hour each, over a series of two to three weeks. The interviews were conducted during the period of end of August 2011 until mid-May 2012.

Researchers employing the phenomenological approach differ on the amount of time required with each participant. Many do not stipulate the amount of interviews needed (such as Englander, 2012; Giorgi, 2008; Lester, 1999), while others like

Schuman (1982) and Seidman (2006) outline a three-interview model: interview one focuses on the life history of the participant; interview two investigates the details of the experience; and interview three concentrates on the reflection of the meaning. I saw value in applying the three-interview model to my own research in order to obtain rich, nuanced and in-depth reflections; however, after making the initial contact visits and follow up emails and phone conversations with the prospective participants, it became obvious that no participant was willing to invest that much time in this project.

Thus, I compromised and adapted Seidman’s (2006) three-interview model to a two-

71 interview model to suit the prospective participants; all agreed to participate in two interviews, at 90 minutes each.

There are a number of different procedures in approaching a descriptive phenomenological inquiry; however, most researchers agree on some essentials: 1) bracketing; 2) analysing; 3) intuiting; and 4) describing (Giorgi, 1997; Moustakas 1994; van Manen 1990; Wojnar & Swanson, 2007). It is also important to note that while these steps are distinct, hierarchal components of the inquiry, the overall investigation will require the researcher to blend all four steps at each moment of the study. This allows the investigation to “produce a true understanding of the phenomenon of the study” (Wojnar & Swanson, 2007, p. 175).

2.9 Bracketing

Descriptive phenomenologists acknowledge that individual researchers “hold explicit beliefs” (Mouton & Marais, 1990, p. 12); indeed, they cannot be fully detached from their own presuppositions and that they should not pretend otherwise. However, a major tenet of this research approach involves what Husserl (1970b, 1980, 2001) calls

‘transcendental subjectivity’ or the ‘epoch’ wherein the researcher “holds in abeyance any preconceived ideas while he or she is listening to, interacting with, and analysing the stories of the participants” (Wojnar & Swanson, 2007, p. 173). Because it is important that bracketing is required from the researcher at all steps of the investigation: before one starts, and during the interviewing, analysing and describing processes, researchers are advised to keep reflective journals or field notes (see

Appendix C for a sample) and write one’s assumptions, confusion and observations

72 down. This also allows for a more valid and reliable investigation which will be discussed later.

Writing reflective field notes or memoing, as summarised by Groenewald (2004) is useful for this component of the investigation. There are four types of field notes: 1) observational notes (ON) which detail researcher’s observations on what occurred during the interview process as well as what he/she deemed important; 2) theoretical notes (TN) allow researchers to reflect further on their experience; 3) methodological notes (MN) are concerned with researchers’ own comments, critiques and reminders on the process itself; and 4) analytical memos (AM) provide summary and/or progress notes.

These notes allow the researcher to account for their ongoing pre-conclusions and any biases they may hold during the investigative process. These notes also play a crucial role in the description process of the research, whereby the interviewer is able to reflect and expound further on not only the individual’s lived experiences but the overall essences of the phenomena.

2.10 Analysing

The second component of the descriptive phenomenological inquiry involves analysing the interviews which have been transcribed verbatim; this process is also referred to by many as the process of explication. There are a number of methods which can be used. A detailed guide for this process is offered by Colaizzi (1978) and modified by

Moustakas (1994) which many phenomenological researchers still employ. The process involves:

1. Reading and rereading the participants’ descriptions of the phenomenon to

acquire a feeling for their experience and make sense of their account.

2. Extracting significant statements that pertain to the phenomenon.

3. Formulating meanings for these significant statements. The formulations must

discover and illuminate meanings hidden in the various contexts of the

investigated phenomenon.

4. Categorising the formulated meanings into clusters of themes that are

common to all participants; referring these clusters to the original

transcriptions for validation and confirming consistency between the

investigator’s emerging conclusions and the participants’ original stories; not

giving into the temptation to ignore data which do not fit or prematurely

generating a theory which conceptually eliminates the discordance in findings

thus far.

5. Integrating the findings into exhaustive description of the phenomenon being

studied. Employing a self-imposed discipline and structure to bridge the gaps

between data collection, intuition and description of concepts. Describing

includes coding segments of text for topics, comparing topics for consistent

themes, and bridging themes for their conceptual meanings. Based on this

description a theoretical model about the phenomenon under investigation is

formulated.

6. Validating the findings by returning to some participants to ask how it

compares with their experiences.

7. Incorporating any changes offered by the participants into the final

description of the essence of the phenomenon. (Colaizzi, 1978, pp. 41-78)

2.10.1 Expansion of Colaizzi’s model

While Colaizzi’s (1978) procedure is quite exhaustive, I have modified it slightly by including a step prior to the first step. After each interview, I would listen to the interview again the same day, or at the latest the next day, in order to acquire an

‘overall feeling’ for the participant’s experience. I also noted emerging significant statements and phrases. This additional component to Colaizzi’s method is influenced by Husserl’s emphasis regarding transcendental consciousness, that is, dismissing prior assumptions and remaining open to another’s experience. The investigator is required to ‘live in the participants’ skin’; this involves attentive listening and deep reflection on the experiences offered by all the participants. I felt this ‘intuition’ balanced the process of bracketing, in order to ensure that no premature conclusions about the phenomenon were being made.

Another step I have added to the list is the actual categorisation (referred to also as coding or classification) process itself. Unfortunately, like many other novice phenomenological researchers, I felt that the process of analysing (or explication) outlined by many phenomenological researchers, including Colaizzi, neglected to advise how to decode and encode the vast amount of data as well as detail the process of capturing the essences, collected from the interviews to facilitate the development of cluster themes. I grasped the core principles of phenomenology, that is the

75 theoretical and philosophical aspects of the approach, but I could not ascertain how one went about locating the “essences” of an experience.

Devenish (2002) remarks that he faced a similar hurdle in his first attempt at conducting phenomenological research and laments:

No universality has been achieved in locating a procedural method by which

(phenomenological) studies have analysed their data and arrived at their final

explications of the phenomena. Few of them describe fully the steps they took

in undertaking their analyses, and one quickly realises the scarcity of material

available to act as a guide for undertaking a practical piece of research of one’s

own. (p. 150)

For his own dissertation, Devenish conceived of a systematic, detailed and pragmatic method to approaching analysing the transcript. He divided the method into three distinct stages: preliminary approach (involves seven steps); idiographic mode

(contains eleven steps); and the nomothetic mode (involves nine steps). His method is meticulous and thorough and one in which I initially wanted to implement in my own study. However, while I acknowledge the great potential in the ‘research key’ for sorting out and managing the voluminous amount of data accrued from the 30 interviews I had, I found it problematic that he developed the keys in the very early stages of the research, which were developed from his primary research question and from his pilot explication. I was firmly interested in allowing the participants’ own robust experiences to define themselves, rather than have presupposed conclusions

(based on literature and other research or reflections) impact on the interviewing and analysing process. I believe this is truer to the applied phenomenology method.

Like Devenish (2012), however, I began by reading widely in the field in my attempt to find a practical method for the applied phenomenological approach. Van Manen’s

(1990) Researching Lived Experience was a starting point and provided methodological considerations for one’s approach in this field. I then surveyed Moustakas (1994)

Phenomenological Research Methods and found that his approach to the analysis of the data to be of immense assistance.

2.11 Categorising

Classifying (Dey, 1993; Seidman, 2006) or categorising (consistent with phenomenological language) is one of the key processes in analysing as one has to make key decisions as how best to approach the overwhelming amount of data presented. The data was approached inductively rather than deductively, with no biases, pre-conclusions or a priori codes; it was important to let the text reveal itself.

For this research, the code labels emerged from three sources: 1) in vivo (labels drawn from the participants’ own words); 2) terminology or concepts from the social science; and 3) concepts constructed by me, as the researcher, to best describe the information. As the subsequent chapters will show, the heading of each sub-theme also consists of all three sources.

While there are a number of sophisticated and dedicated computer programmes used nowadays to assist in the process of analysing data, I preferred to begin the process of

77 data analysis by reading off a hard, paper copy before proceeding to a computer screen. I believe that this step allowed me to internalise the data on a deeper level and also allowed for a more intense reading which helped me avoid missing out on crucial elements. Seidman (2006) also notes this important step and aptly remarks that

“something in the mediums of screen and paper affects the message the viewer retrieves” (p. 126).

While reading intently, I marked passages which I thought were interesting and wrote tentative labels beside them. This process, termed ‘winowing’ is difficult as one is required to subjectively make judgment calls over what part of a text is important and what is not. Marshall (1981) encourages researchers to not let this process cause undue anxiety; indeed, he states that the judgement, based on experience and having worked and internalised the data, a researcher makes during the semantic analysis may be the most important element of the study. Researchers have also termed this intuitive stage ‘dialectical’ (Rowan, 1981) as the researcher has thoughtfully interacted with and responded to what the participant has said.

It is important to note that this process did not involve me reading the transcripts with pre-set categories. It was imperative for me to bracket the predispositions I previously may have held and allow the categories to arise from the data itself. These categories contained the significant statements which were then clustered into formulated meaning units. In this study, I termed these meaning units ‘sub-themes’. From the

78 sub-themes, the major themes that are common50 to most or all of the interviews were then identified.

2.11.1 The Coding Process

Part Two of the research design involved 30 phenomenological interviews with 15

Australian MCSO actors. These interviews at 90 minutes each generated a huge amount of data; thus, a general inductive coding scheme was employed to efficiently condense the extensive amount of varied, raw data into manageable, more structured data.

Coding was done both manually and with NVivo version 9.2. Using NVivo allowed me to manage and merge the huge amount of data into one file, allowing for easy access.

While I still had to manually code the data, the process of coding and generating themes became a more efficient process with the NVivo program.

After listening to the interviews twice and reading each verbatim transcript at least three times, I began with the initial coding process which allowed me to derive ‘first impressions’ of the data as mentioned earlier. While the interview questions were unstructured and after a first reading to gain the ‘first impressions’ it was helpful for me to organise the huge amount of data in a structured way.

50 While uncommon themes are important, this research was based on descriptive applied phenomenology which focuses on revealing common essences of the lived experiences. 79

Table 2.11.1 Examples of Open Coding of Verbatim Transcript

Transcript Example: Galila Abdel-Salam, Open Coding (meaning units) Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland ‘hey we are Australians. We are a part of the Asserting Australian identity; Queensland society. Why do we have to be questioning discrimination discriminated against?’ ‘what is available for Muslim women and Providing access to services, getting back to the Muslim community so that Muslim women can be informed about it’ ‘hundreds of Muslim women working with us to Gaining experience, building self- get experience, to get the confidence to be able confidence to move to other organisations’ ‘so we moved from two people working part Creating employment opportunities time to a hundred people working, 90% of them are Muslim; so we create opportunity’ ‘trying to stop any barriers for Muslim women Removing barriers to move on’ ‘this is where we start to experience Experiencing discrimination, abuse discrimination in the street and other places, abused in the street, abused in the shopping centre’ ‘In the mean time I worked in the emergency No support, no access to services, need service and I found there are lots of Muslim to fill a void, available services not women who go to the shelter and then back to cultural/religious sensitive the situation because the shelter is not suitable for Muslim women…’ ‘A good citizen is a person who respects the Good citizens; impact post 9/11 land which they live in, respect the law of the country they live in, even if they don’t agree with some of this law’ ‘It’s a service for men and women, as a whole Community services provided for all family. We employ men and women; we have faiths and cultures, Pluralistic, inclusive two here and in the community. We have more services, religious and cultural than 10 services and we have non-Muslims, sensitivities Christians, Jews, Sikhs from all cultures at our respite centre. We have everyone, we have two Aboriginals coming from respite so we cover everyone.’ ‘This is where a group of women meet Social place to gather and meet together; women bring food, sitting together Social needs of community, sharing chatting together having lunch, share lunch’ ‘We have training opportunity. We get training Providing training opportunities organisations to provide certificate III in aged care and child care and we receive funds from all level of government, local, Queensland state and federal.’

Although there are quite a number of different phenomenological analysis models, I found inspiration from grounded theory (Strauss, 1987) in determining the meaning units. This process in grounded theory refers to the unrestricted coding or ‘open coding’ as proposed by Strauss where the verbatim transcripts are read line by line for emergent themes. The table below provides an example of the open coding process for one of the MCSOs, which provided the sub-themes and key themes for the subsequent chapters in this thesis.

Finally, axial coding was employed for a deeper analysis of each theme. For this, I utilised Colaizza’s (1978) framework, concentrating on the third and fourth stage for further phenomenological analysis51, namely the clustering of themes and providing an exhaustive description of the phenomenon. Table 2.11.2 below shows examples of significant statements, the meaning units I derived from them, and the four clustered themes based on the meaning units.

Table 2.11.2 Examples of Major Themes, Meaning Units and Significant Statements

Major Themes Meaning Units Significant Statements Establishing Community Filling a much-needed void ‘…they see Muslims in the community participating in the Assisting the community in community.’ accessing vital services ‘…we’ve done a pretty good Establishing community job with the Muslim organisations separate community but I think we from mosque and mosque can do a bit more outreach societies with the non-Muslim community groups; it is slowly happening.’ ‘…given access to the

51 According to Colaizza’s phenomenological analysis, the analysis of the data involved 1) identifying significant statements; 2) creating meaning units of statements; 3) clustering themes; and 4) providing an exhaustive description of the phenomenon. 81

Muslim community in the sense of working with the wider community…’ ‘It’s a question of interacting with the wider community.’ ‘We have to give a sense of self-worth to the community, self-confidence and a kind of feeling of belonging that they are part and parcel of it.’ ‘It’s nice to lean on each other and get support.’ Pathways to Social Capital Participation in education ‘we have given and Social Inclusion and training opportunities to youngsters Facilitating participation in by getting them involved in employment and in this sort of community in voluntary work the world- it has helped Connecting community them get jobs.’ with other people and ‘…we have that window of resources opportunity where we are Assisting with advocacy showcasing Muslims working with politicians, working with government, going for the awards.’ ‘…we go out there and get it for the people who need it; they don’t have that voice, they don’t have the skills; we have that ability to organize things and it’s our job to draw others in and have them give a shot at this thing.’ ‘We use different strategies and approaches and now there are people approaching us to get the services.’ ‘…network with the government, network with the other organisations…’ ‘…having people educate people…’ Impact of September 11 Resilience ‘Then I think after 2001 Exhaustion September 11, what Shift in Focus happened was the

Internal Mistrust and community was getting Criticism marginalised…we want to Ill-equipped to deal with do something to get the frenzy everybody together.’ Creating a more open, ‘…there are sections of the transparent community community that do need Emphasis on pluralism and help but we can get that universal values help if we go out there on equal footing.’ ‘Why do we have to be discriminated against?’ ‘September 11 opened our eyes and we have to go back to Islamic values…our relation with our neighbor, treat this land, treat the animals.’ Negotiating minority Asserting the Australian ‘The fundamentals of Islam identity in a Multicultural Muslim identity are firmly buried, …may be Australian context Adaptation in terms of how practices of Integration Islam starts to adapt to the Contributing to the wider different way of thinking, a society more ‘modernistic’ way or a Emphasis on universalism more liberal attitude.’ ‘We are not isolated, who feel a sense of identity’ ‘We are Australian. We are part of the Queensland community.’ ‘Islam opens our mind and eyes to be good citizens.

Using my own terminology based on my experience in the field, as well as concepts, definitions and terminologies used in the literature, the significant statements were then transformed into meaning units or sub-themes. These were then clustered into four major themes, namely community building, issues of social inclusion, impact of 11

September 2001, and the negotiation of minority identity in the multicultural

Australian context. These major themes form the next four chapters of this dissertation.

2.12 Describing

This final process in phenomenological research inquiry involved me identifying the themes common to most or all of the interviews. Here, a ’textual description’ of the experiences of the participants is provided along with the ‘structural description‘ which details how they experienced the phenomena according to the situation, conditions and contexts (Creswell, 2007; Moustakas, 1994). Describing also involved researchers taking note of the individual variations. While this step appears straightforward, it was the most difficult process for me. It demanded that I reflect on and ask what meaning I have derived from my investigation. As Seidman (2006) insists:

Researchers must ask themselves what they have learned from doing the

interviews, studying the transcripts, marking and labelling them, crafting

profiles and organising categories of excerpts. What connective threads are

there among the experiences of the participants they interviewed? How do the

understand and explain these connections?...What confirmations of previous

instincts? (pp. 128-129)

Although assumptions, theoretical concepts and relevant literature were bracketed throughout the earlier stages, they played a major role in this stage of the investigation. Moustakas (1994) stresses on including one’s reflexivity in the descriptive stage of the investigation. Accordingly at this time, I drew heavily on my field notes and memos to offer my reflections on the whole experience as well as my insights about the thematic connections which were revealed through the in-depth interviews.

Moreover, in line with academic inquiry, the describing process also demands that researcher now ask how consistent their interviews were with the literature and with established theoretical concepts. Phenomenological researchers must also ask how the interviews were inconsistent, and, indeed, if the interviews went beyond any established literature (Seidman, 2006). Finally, it is essential to obtain the generalisation of the phenomenological data, through the eidetic reduction (looking at the universal essences). As Coffey and Atkinson (1996) emphasise, “good research is not generated by rigorous data alone…(but) ‘going beyond’ the data to develop ideas”

(p. 138). The development of these ideas requires the researcher to produce initial theories, an essential principle of the Husserlian descriptive phenomenological research inquiry.

2.13 Trustworthiness (in preference of validity and reliability)

Many involved in naturalistic research or qualitative approaches are usually confronted with the notions of reliability and validity, often posed by positivists. How does one really know that what the participant is telling you is true? What if the interview was done at a different time or place, or with a different interviewer? How do we know that what the interviewer has interpreted is true from what the participant told them?

Whose meaning is actually brought forth- the interviewers or the participants?

While qualitative researchers are also concerned with these notions, they disagree with the epistemological assumptions underpinning these notions as expounded by positivists. They argue that these concepts cannot be addressed in the same manner in

85 naturalistic research; rather, there needs to be a new vocabulary and rhetoric to discuss the concepts of validity and reliability (Seidman, 2006). There are a number of alternative notions proposed, but four which finds favour with many researchers involved in naturalistic research are the constructs as proposed by Lincoln and Guba

(1985). Using the positivist paradigm as a starting point, they posit these four constructs: 1) credibility (internal validity); 2) transferability (external validity/generalisability); 3) dependability (reliability); and 4) confirmability

(objectivity).

Addressing these concerns, I employed a two-interview structure, over a period of two-three weeks to allow for issues related to idiosyncrasies; the spacing of the interviews also provides the interviewer opportunities to check for the participant’s internal consistency. Moreover, using an adequate sample, 15 different MCSOs actors were interviewed, accounts for issues like transferability. In the end, it is important to recognise that the core purpose of the phenomenological interviewing is to understand a participant’s lived experience of the phenomena from their personal point of view and, thus, it was imperative for the researcher to bracket previous held ideas, biases or conclusions. Nevertheless, it is the researcher’s responsibility, though, to make those connections, confirm these essences with those of other participants and finally with what the literature has said.

Moreover to achieve further methodological rigour, it was necessary to create an audit trail; hence, field notes were kept, interviews were voiced recorded and transcribed verbatim, and coding was systematically processed in NVivo. Seidman (2006) states

86 that while there are criticisms underlying the concepts of reliability and validity, he argues that “if the interview structure works to allow them to make sense to themselves as well as to the interviewer, then it has gone a long way toward validity”

(p. 24).

2.14 Theoretical Approaches

Most literature relating to phenomenology discourages the presupposition of any theories or preconceived knowledge of the phenomenon; this allows the investigation to transcend the subjectivity as well as prevents any biases or premature conclusions the researcher may hold. Methodologists (like Englander, 2012; Giorgi, 2008) who employ this research paradigm also argue that it results in more scientifically-sound research.

I approached this from an intermediate position. Consistent with this principle, no specific hypotheses or theories were developed prior to or during the engagement with the participants. However, in accordance with academic inquiry and for the specific purposes of this dissertation process, it was necessary to initially explore the literature specifically relevant to MCSOs and actors, as well as the wider literature related to faith and civil society, Islam and the West and Muslims in Australia. This enabled the current investigation to be ‘grounded’ in a field (s) of knowledge, allowing for broad and specific research questions to be generated. Moreover, as Seidman

(2006) asserts it is imperative to “read enough to be thoughtful and intelligent about the context and history of the topic” (p. 38). As a result, I do not believe that

‘grounding’ my research in current theories negate Husserl’s idea of transcendental subjectivity; rather, I argue that it contributed to the extant knowledge.

With this consideration, this study is grounded in current theoretical debates from a number of different disciplines, namely sociology, political science and religious studies, specifically Islamic studies. In particular, this investigation will explore the heterogeneous aspect of civil society and the various models used as a basis of analysis.

2.14.1 Civil Society Models

There are a number of models used to analyse civil society such as the ones developed by the United Nations or by Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CWACP).

The one which will be used for this study has been developed by Sparre and Petersen

(2007) which they used to analyse MCSOs in Jordan and Egypt. The modified analytical framework below utilises both civil society models and social movement perspectives

(namely resource mobilisation theory, organisation theory, framing analysis and new social movement theory) to map, identify, discuss and analyse generally MCSOs in

Australia.52

Sparre and Petersen’s framework is multi-dimensional and includes questions of who they are, where and when they work, why they work, how do they work and with

52 Sparre and Petersen (2007) note that some scholars caution combing these two bodies of research; however, they find that the synergy of the two fields allows for a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of civil society organisations. Hannigan (1991) was one of the first to bring these two fields together. 88 whom do they work. They also include the question of what role Islam might play as shown in Table 2.14.1 below.

Table 2.14.1 Adaptation of Sparre and Petersen (2007) Model for Analysis of Civil Society Organisations Who are they? Where and when do Why do they How do they work? they work? work?

Participants Context Vision Activities Members History Goals Strategies Target groups Motivation Structures Financing

What role do socio-political contexts in Australia play in the emergence and development of MCSOs?

I am extending this analytical framework to include the role the socio-political context in Australia play in impacting on the emergence, development, identity and work of

MCSOs. As minority civil society actors in a Western country, this is an important and highly relevant concern to investigate. A review of the literature has revealed that most studies (such as Gendera, Pe-Pua & Katz 2012; Giles, 2010, McCue, 2012) on migrant and minority organisations focus on their contributing role in the integration process into mainstream society; this study acknowledges that point, but recognises that it is necessary to also investigate the institutional changes according to the socio- political context. More importantly, this is the central question of the investigation.

2.15 Summary of Findings

The phenomenological interviews with the Australian MCSO actors reveal that there are four major themes which emerged from their lived experiences. They are

89 community building, issues of social inclusion, the events of 11 September 2001, and the questions related to the minority identity. Figure 2.15.1 below illustrates the key broad concepts in the review of the literature with the phenomenological key themes.

At the bottom of the figure is the delineated epoch from the four key themes.

Figure 2.15.1 Summary of Literature Concepts with Derived Phenomenological Key Themes

The Phenomenology of Muslim Civil Society Organisations (MCSOs) in Australia

Core Concepts in Civil Society (CS) Literature

Religion and CS Islam and CS MCSOs in Australia

Delineated Phenomenological Key Themes

Establishing Issues of Social Negotiating Impact of 9/11 Community Inclusion Minority Identity

Epoch: Derived from the four themes, the universal essences of Australian MCSOs reveals: 1) that Islam does not exist in Australia in isolation from the wider socio- political context. There is a constant, albeit under-recognised, process of negotiated exchange with Australian cultural norms and values; 2) that external events have brought Australian MCSOs full circle in their building of community.

As Figure 2.15.1 shows, the Australian MCSO actors were keen to discuss the theme of establishing and building community as the origins of their experience. They spoke about the history of community building, the establishment of mosque and mosque associations and the establishment of their own organisation, independent from the mosque as a way to fill a much needed void in the community. The next chapter will analyse and provide an exhaustive description of this theme as presented by the participants.

The second derived theme relates to pathways to social inclusion and describes the type of work and the services the interviewed MCSOs provide. Although only three

MCSO actors specifically used the term ‘social inclusion’, the other participants made reference to it or provided examples of services and programs related to social inclusion as used in the literature in the field. Such examples include: helping community access relevant services, advocating to government agencies on member’s behalf, providing network opportunities for their members, leadership building and capacity development, providing mentoring and upskilling services as well as providing education and training. This theme is analysed and discussed in Chapter 4.

The third major theme revolves around the impact of 9/11 on Australian MCSOs and reveals the experience of MCSO actors in responding to external contexts. Although other contexts such as the Bali Bombing, the Gulf Wars, and the London Bombing were mentioned a few times, it was the tragic events of September 11 which was spoken about most often by the MCSO actors. The contextual impact of 9/11 demonstrated both positive and negative experiences for the MCSOs involved. Chapter 5 provides an

91 exhaustive explication of this theme as experienced by the MCSO actors with a discussion of the relevant literature.

The final derived theme from this phenomenological study is the negotiation of minority identity in multicultural Australia. This theme is related to the positioning of

MCSOs’ work and identity within a multicultural Australian society. In particular, all 15

MCSO representative actors expounded on the importance of an Islamic identity as well as an Australian identity; the importance of the identity to be fluid and flexible; and the need to integrate yet not assimilate. In addition, MCSO actors discussed how their organisation helps Australian Muslims foster their multicultural identity.

Significant statements by the actors as well as the meaning units under this theme will be outlined in Chapter 6.

2.16 Conclusion

This chapter has discussed and provided justification for the use of phenomenology as the epistemological underpinning of this dissertation. It has argued specifically for descriptive phenomenology as the basis for the research paradigm and design. In order to achieve the study’s aims and objectives, the research design is divided into two parts and is multi-layered to encapsulate the nuanced understanding of this phenomenon. The first part involved identifying and mapping MCSOs in Australia in an

Access database; this provided a reference point to locate the participants for the purposeful sampling and gauge the diversity of services provided by all possible MCSOs in Australia. The second part of the research design focused on interpretive, phenomenological in-depth interviews and outlined how participants were selected,

92 how the interviews were structured and how the data was analysed, coded and described. The ethical considerations concerning the role of the researcher were also examined in this chapter and pertinent issues related to trustworthiness (validity and reliability) were explored and concerns were addressed.

Finally, this chapter revealed that four main themes emerged from the lived experiences of Australian MCSOs; they were aspects related to community building, issues of social inclusion, the impact of the events of 11 September 2001, and questions and issues related to the Australian identity. Each of these themes will be individually delineated, analysed, described and discussed in the subsequent chapters respectively. The next chapter will discuss the history and context of Muslims in

Australia as well as present the findings from the first part of the research design. It will also expound on the theme of community building as revealed by the Australian

MCSO actors’ phenomenological interviews.

Chapter 3 The Muslim Community in Australia: Past and Present Community Building

3.1 Introduction

This chapter, firstly, presents findings from the first part of the research design and, secondly, explicates the sub-themes related to community building as revealed by the

Australian MCSO actors. One of the aims of this study is to gain a detailed and holistic understanding of the experiences of Muslim civil society actors in Australia. In attempting to answer the first specific research question, which is, ‘what is/are the nature, focus, goals, aims, and activities of MCSOs’ as well as to ascertain a general overview of the phenomenon, the first part of the research framework involved empirical research by identifying and mapping all possible MCSOs in Australia in an

Access database from internet searches, contacts in all states and territories, and

Muslim media (newspapers, magazines and newsletters) social media, online databases and listings. Chapter 3 also presents the distribution of the organisations according to their geography and categories; it will also provide an overview of the

MCSOs interviewed: their background and context, their vision and the key services they offer.

One of the major themes which emerged from the phenomenological interviews was that the Australian MCSO actors were keen to discuss the theme of establishing and building community as part of their lived experience. In particular, the actors spoke about the establishment of their own organisation, independent from the mosque and mosque associations in order to fill a much needed void in the community as well as to

94 assist the community in accessing resources and government grants. Before the empirical data from the first part of the research design and the description of the themes are presented and discussed, this chapter begins by providing a brief overview of the Muslim community building process, including the formation of religious institutions and societies, community organisations and educational institutions.

3.2 Establishing Communities: An Overview of MCSOs in Australia

With the growth of the Australian Muslim community in the 1950s due to increased migration, Muslims began formulating ideas to establish MCSOs to serve the needs of the growing community. They recognised that the informal gatherings were not sufficient to meet their needs or give them a strong sense of community identity, and thus, sought ways to establish more structured organisations. Initially this was not an easy task as they had very little resources with which to start. As Johns and Saeed

(2002) remark, “the effort to establish themselves, and define their own identity, often had to be carried out in the face of open hostility on the part of other Australians” (p.

202). The experience is similar for Muslim migrants in Western Europe who established what Pedersen (1999) refers to as ‘new Islamic movements’.

Concentrating on the internal needs of the community, Australian Muslims began establishing mosques, extending beyond the ‘Ghan’ structures built by the cameleers in the interior of Australia and moving to the coastal cities. It is important to note that

Islamic rituals do not necessarily need to be carried out or performed in a ‘sacred’ place of worship. Muslims can offer obligatory prayers and other forms of worship anywhere. Therefore, for many Muslims, the building of a mosque extends beyond a

95 need for a sacred place; it conveys a deeper sense of community and establishes their permanency in a land. Bouma (1994) in his important work, Mosques and Muslim

Settlement in Australia, similarly concludes that for Muslim migrants to be able to

“settle religiously” (p. 98), the establishment of a mosque was necessary. He further argues:

Far from retarding settlement or participation in Australian society, this study

concludes that the practice of Islam in Australia can facilitate settling into a

new life here…With the establishment of Islamic societies, mosques and other

community infrastructures has come a greater commitment to Australia and

greater satisfaction with life here. (p. 100)

The historical development of the Australian Muslim community building process is similar to the American experience, described by M.A. Muqtedar Khan (2002) as a transition from internal to external focus. In other words, Muslims first concentrated on their internal needs to maintain religious practice in a non-Muslim environment by building an internal community with the establishment of ethnic-based organisations, mosques, Islamic centres and religious educational programs or Sunday schools known as madaris. For example, in 1957, concerned Australian Muslim parents got together to establish one of the earliest Sunday madaris in Melbourne with 15 children (Jones,

1993). Humphrey (2001) refers to these ethnic-based organisations as “village associations” which served the religious and communal needs. When the Muslim population increased in any one area, the “community houses” were redeveloped into

96 a public mosque, so as to continually meet the religious as well as the social and communal needs (Humphrey, 2001, p. 38).

In 1994 when Bouma surveyed mosque establishment in Australia, he identified 57 mosques. In 2002, John and Saeed estimated that there were 80 mosques. With a growing Australian Muslim population due to migration, conversion and birth rates, this current study found that there are 150 established mosques53 in Australia in 2014 as indicated by Table 3.2 below.

Table 3.2 Distribution of Mosques in Australia in 2014

States Number Percentage (%)

ACT 2 1

New South Wales 49 34

Northern Territory 3 3

Queensland 23 16

South Australia 8 6

Tasmania 2 1

Victoria 45 31

Western Australia 18 7

Total 150 100

53 This number does not reflect the large number of prayer rooms (musalli) located in convenient places (such as universities, hired out office spaces, schools and so forth) throughout Australia. These musalli allow Muslims who are not home or near a mosque to perform their 5 obligatory prayers as well as their obligatory Friday congregational prayer (jummah). 97

As expected, the majority of mosques are in New South Wales (NSW) with 49 and

Victoria with 45, followed by Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA). It is interesting to note that Queensland has a disproportionately high number of mosques in relation to its proportion of the Australian Muslim population. NSW is disproportionately lower in this respect. This could be a consequence of geographical dispersion of Muslims in QLD versus a greater geographical concentration of Muslims in NSW. This appears to be a similar case for Western Australia.

There are a number of Islamic societies in Australia still collecting money for the establishment of a mosque such as the Islamic Association of Bunbury in Western

Australia. Furthermore, there are a also a number of mosque applications in various councils around Australia waiting to be constructed to meet the growing needs of the

Australian Muslim community, such as the Brisbane-based Islamic Council in

Queensland. The majority of mosques in Australia are non-sectarian as they do not belong to one religious legal school of thought or theological inclination. Although there may be mosques with a high concentration of a single ethnic or cultural group, a

Muslim, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background or theological inclination, can attend any mosque they so wish.

The mosques serve as vehicles to preserve the community’s religious identity (see

Johns and Saeed, 2002), to help build and empower the community as well as develop outreach and welfare programs to serve the wider community. Bouma (1994), in his study of Muslim settlement in Australia, also contends that the establishment of mosques allows for a two-way communication between Australian Muslims and the

Australian government bodies and agencies. He observes that “mosques and Islamic societies have helped to interpret Australian events and policies to Australian Muslims and to interpret Islamic events and policies occurring both here and overseas to departments and agencies of Australian governments” (Bouma, 1994, p. 90).

With the an increasing number of mosques and Islamic centres being established throughout Australia, a peak Islamic body, the Australian Federation of Islamic

Societies (AFIS), emerged in 1963. In 1975 it changed its name to the Australian

Federation of Islamic Council (AFIC) and in 2010, it formally became Muslims Australia.

However, in many Muslim circles, it is still referred to as AFIC54 and thus will be referred to AFIC in this dissertation. In its early years, AFIC was mainly concerned with halal meat certification (Humphrey 2001; Kabir 2005), and the coordination of mosque societies at the local, state and national levels occurred in later years of its establishment. Now AFIC’s main role, as stated on its website, is to advocate on behalf of all Australian Muslims on issues and concerns which affect the community’s

“settlement and integration within Australian society” (Muslims Australia, 2013).

Moreover, AFIC is also credited with being instrumental in developing and establishing many Islamic educational institutions throughout Australia (Jones, 1993).

As membership in AFIC is optional, it currently has 94 member societies. As such,

Saeed (2004) stresses that although it is a peak organisation, it cannot be said that

AFIC represents “all Muslims or even the majority of Muslims in Australia” (p. 55).

Other peak state and national organisations include the Islamic Council of ACT, Muslim

54 In fact, on its website, the name AFIC is still used throughout. For instance, “AFIC coordinates”… and “The main role of AFIC”. http://www.muslimsaustralia.com.au/ 99

Women's National Network Australia (MWNNA), Islamic Council of NSW, Muslim

Council of NSW, Supreme Islamic Council of NSW, Islamic Council of Queensland (ICQ),

Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth (FAMSY), Islamic Council of

Tasmania, Islamic Council of Victoria, Islamic Council of SA, the Islamic Council of WA and the Islamic Council of NT.

Over the years the establishment of other MCSOs,55 aside from mosques, became easier due to the shift in policy from assimilation to integration to multiculturalism; financial support from overseas; as well as funding from all three levels of the

Australian Government (Johns and Saeed, 2002). Humphrey (2001) further expounds:

It is pluralising through the migration process that has generated local, ethnic

community-based Islamic religious institutions which, in turn, helped decentre

and localise the religious authority of tradition. It is homogenising through a

multicultural politics of ‘re-traditionalisation’ – the essentialisation of culture as

a defensive, as well as representational, strategy that tends to place ethnic

culture in compartmentalised social space. (p. 35)

This study’s mapping exercise indicates that, currently, there are 486 MCSOs in

Australia with additional organisations being established regularly (see Appendix A).

Although there are a number of older organisations (mostly mosque or mosque-based

55 See also Bouma (1997, p.75) where he outlines four processes involved in religious settlement:1)”getting there”; 2)“forming an identity”; 3)”building a religious community”; and 4) “establishing new religious intergroup relations.” The 2nd and 3rd processes are “intertwined”. The building of MCSOs, including mosques and Islamic schools, is part of the 3rd process of religious settlement where once they discovered who they were and what their roots were, albeit, in a new space, they quickly went about establishing their communities. 100 institutions), the majority are fairly new, established particularly after September

2001.

As Table 3.2.1 below shows, the majority of established MCSOs are in New South Wales with 182 organisations, while Victoria comes in second with just under 140 organisations (at 138). Although Queensland has a similar population of Muslims to Western Australia, interestingly it has established 60 percent more MCSOs than WA. South Australia is placed fourth with 22 organisations, followed by the ACT with nine, Northern Territory with four and Tasmania with two. There are two organisations in the Australian Indian Ocean Territory (AIOT) which come under Australian MCSOs as they are members of the peak body organisation the Australian Federation of Islamic Council (Muslims Australia).

Table 3.2.1 Distribution of Australian MCSOs among States

States Number Percentage (%)

ACT 9 2 New South Wales 182 37 Northern Territory 4 1 Queensland 76 16 South Australia 22 5 Tasmania 2 .1 Victoria 138 28 Western Australia 47 10 Australian Indian Ocean 3 .1 Territory (and one peak) Total 486 100

The 486 Australian MCSOs, in all the states and territories, represent the diverse

Muslim communities’ engagement in the public sphere. Moreover, these organisations

101 have made contributions in almost every area of civil society endeavour. They have formed religious institutions (includes mosques and mosque societies), social welfare organisations, cultural/ethnic associations, advocacy organisations (human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, environmental rights, and so forth), youth organisations, professional associations, research centres/think tanks, educational institutions, sports and recreational associations, charities, and interfaith understanding and dialogue associations.56

Table 3.2.2 Type and Distribution of Australian MCSOs Type Number Percentage (%) Religious 265 54 Education 59 12 Cultural 43 9 Youth 22 4 Women 21 4 Student 17 3 Charity 14 3 Umbrella 12 2 Advocacy 11 2 Miscellaneous 10 2 Social/recreational 8 2 Interfaith 4 1 Total 486 100

This study has also found that the majority of MCSOs are mosque-based as indicated by Table 3.2.2, with 266 religious organisations (including mosque administrations), followed by 59 education institutions and associations. The third largest category of

56 This is not Muslim per se as the membership is obviously open to all; however, many are founded by Muslims on the Islamic principle of building better relations. 102

MCSOs is cultural/ethnic associations with 43. The Muslim youth and women’s associations make up the fourth and fifth groups with 22 and 21 organisations respectively throughout Australia. Student organisations make up the sixth largest with

17, followed by charity with 14 organisations. There are 12 umbrella organisations and

11 advocacy association. Miscellaneous organisations such as professional, funeral, convert support services as well as support for the aged make up the next largest group. Finally, there are four dedicated interfaith groups among MCSOs in Australia.

We will now explore the empirical data collected from the first part of the research design, which provides an overview of the current Muslim civil society organisations operating in Australia, who they are, where and when they work, why they work, how do they work and with whom do they work.

3.3 Biographical Profiles of Australian MCSO participants

This next section will provide a profile of the Australian MCSOs which participated in this study. The Table 3.3 below presents who the organisations are, their background, their vision and their key services as per the adapted civil society model by Sparre and

Petersen (2007). Included organisations are the United Muslim Women Association

(MWA), Benevolence Australia, Mission of Hope (MoH), Muslim Women’s National

Network of Australia (MWNNA), Crescents of Brisbane (CoB), Australian MADE, the Al-

Nisa Youth Group, Australian Islamic Social Association (AISA) Youth, Forum on

Australia’s Islamic Relations (FAIR), Australian Intercultural Society (AIS), the Islamic

Women’s Association of Queensland (IWAQ), Sareera, Australian Muslim Women’s

Centre for Human Rights (AMWCH) and the Islamic Society of UNSW (ISOC).

103

Table 3.3 Overview of Muslim Civil Society Organisations Interviewed

Organisation Background Vision Key Services and Context Crescents of Officially formed in CoB aims to bring Ad hoc social and Brisbane (CoB) 2004, CoB formed different recreational to bring different communities activities from ideological Muslim together by fundraisers for groups together. fostering a healthy various causes, to lifestyle through fun runs/walks, sport, friendship meetings entertainment and with other cultural culture. and religious groups and health workshops Islamic Women’s Established in 1991, To provide a wide Settlement Grants Association of IWAQ formed to range of Program, Home and Queensland bring Muslim community, Community Care, (IWAQ) women together to development and centred-base Day serve the needs of support services to Respite, Community Muslim women and all communities, Aged Care, their families. Muslim and non- Extended Aged Care Muslim. at Home, Salam Respite Cottage and Disability Services Al-Nisa Youth The Al-Nisa Youth Under the Advocacy, Group Group was mentorship of more Representation, established in June senior advisors, it Education, 2005 with a focus evolved in 2006 Leadership training, on getting young into an Social and Queensland Muslim incorporated recreational women together to organisation, activities engage in social and advocating on recreational behalf of young activities. Muslim women in Queensland. Benevolence Established in 2009 Benevolence Holistic education, Australia Benevolence was Australia aims to convert care, youth created to provide create supportive programs, monthly a safe, supportive and creative spaces community dinners and compassionate for spiritual with guest space for those knowledge, growth speakers, interfaith who felt isolated and development. and from the Muslim Their mantra is intercommunity community. “seeking the activities and health Creator through and well-being

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conscious living." seminars and retreats.

Australian Muslim AMWCH was Their main vision is Advocacy, Women’s Centre established in 1991 to unequivocally consultancy, for Human Rights by Muslim women advance the outreach, (AMWCH) in Melbourne to equality of Muslim leadership advocate for and women development, advance the rights capacity building, and status of policy development, Muslim women in research, training Australia. and publications. Australian MADE Australian MADE The many aims of Education, was established to Australian MADE leadership cater for the are focused on development, development and providing support confidence building, educational needs for marginalised cross cultural of Australian youth and disadvantaged training, youth (Muslims and non- young Australians camps, anger Muslims). and helping them management harness their courses, mentoring talents and skills for and work the betterment of experience and society. violence prevention projects. Australian Officially AIS’s vision is to Interfaith programs Intercultural established in 2000 help build a diverse, and events include Society (AIS) to cultivate but inclusive, the annual Noah’s respectful and harmonious, just ark interfaith dinner harmonious and peaceful on a boat, Ramadan relations between Australian society, iftars (breaking fast the different where everyone is meals), luncheon religious and equally important. forums, morning cultural conversations, communities in whirling dervishes Australia. programs, intercultural study tours to Turkey, festivals, conferences and sporting events. Australian Social ASIA Youth ASIA Youth aims to Programs include Islamic Association provides space for unite the diverse weekly Friday night (ASIA) Youth young Muslim men group of young educational and to come together in Muslim men and social sessions, a supportive provide them with youth camps, spiritual and social opportunities to religious talks, space to harness contribute to their community dinners,

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ways in which they communities, to leadership capacity can better live out become good, building, their faith in a model citizens. environmental Western context. responsibility events Sareera Established in 2008 Sareera aims to Programs include by a group of serve the religious, religious education, young, diverse, educational, health, workshops and professional social and seminars on topics Australian Muslim recreational needs of relevance for women who of young Muslim members and the wanted to women in Australia, community, contribute their as well as provide interfaith projects, time and skills to opportunities for media training, benefit the the young women leadership capacity Australian to contribute fully development, social community. to the Australian and recreational community. events and community dinners and iftars. Islamic Foundation Founded in 1987 in IFEW aims to Programs include for Education and Sydney to provide address relevant religious schools, Welfare (IFEW) for the needs of the religious, the MEFF growing Muslim educational and (Multicultural Eid community. social needs of the Festival and Fair), Australian Muslim interfaith activities, community. youth programs, research, publications and media consultancy. Mission of Hope Unofficially MoH aims to cater Community established in for the unique and development and 2001/2, MoH culturally-sensitive health projects, concentrates on health and celebrating Muslim community community needs achievements, development, of the Muslim networking dinners specifically related community. for professionals. to health projects. Many of the projects evolve according to the needs of the community Muslim Women’s MWNNA is a peak MWNNA aims to Advocacy, National Network body representing advocate for and on consultancy, of Australia Muslim women’s behalf of Australian education, seminars (MWNNA) organisations and Muslim women as and workshops, interested well as provide annual conferences, individuals in them with research,

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Australia. opportunities to publications, improve their leadership leadership capacity. development and capacity building.

United Muslim Established in 1983, The organisation Crisis Women’s it consists of a focuses on accommodation Association (MWA) number of facilitating and (MWSC), administrative delivering greater employment and offices and access for Muslim training, refugee women’s refuges in woman and their settlement, policy key regions in families to services, development, and Sydney, New South facilities and planning, Wales. institutions in counselling, Australia information and referral Services, social and recreational activities, youth activities, religious education, cross- cultural and interfaith awareness

Forum on Originally FAIR aims to Programs include Australia’s Islamic established in 2003 provide leadership and Relations (FAIR) as an advocacy- opportunities for capacity building, based community Australian Muslims creative arts organisation, FAIR (especially youth) projects, cross- has now evolved to to build leadership, cultural programs, become an advocacy and and interfaith independent think capacity building dialogue, media tank delivering skills. training, discussion papers, publications, hosting seminars consultancy and and conferences, education. and lobbying government of issues of importance for Australian Muslims. Islamic Society of ISOC is an ISOC aims to Programs include UNSW (ISOC) advocacy-based provide for the religious education, organisation religious, social, advocacy, interfaith serving the needs recreational and and bridge-building of Muslim students well-being needs of events, community

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and staff members. Muslim students iftars, community and staff and social gatherings, advocates on their sporting and behalf. recreational activities

After these Australian MCSOs were officially formed, the organisations sought incorporation. When probed further on this issue, the MCSO actors explained that it allowed for more transparency, access to vital government funding and provided a strong sense of legitimacy. The Al-Nisa Youth Group, however, recently decided to cease their incorporation status as they were not receiving any grants and it was costing them too much financially to maintain their incorporation. Nevertheless, they are still fully functional and provide the same services to young Muslim women in

Queensland with funds raised from community fundraising events.

All but three of the organisations interviewed are fully staffed by volunteers. The three

Muslim women’s organisations: IWAQ, MWA and AMWCH are staffed and funded by the various levels of government. The Australian MCSO actors discussed the positive and negative aspects to both situations. A few of the actors who work in volunteer- staffed organisations mainly cite lack of time and exhaustion as limiting their capacity and ability to carry out all the activities and initiatives they would like to for the community as negative aspects to not being paid workers; volunteers have to study or work full time jobs and are then expected to find time to manage and run the organisation as well as develop and implement policies and programs. As El-Merebi stated, ‘We can’t do everything. We are all volunteers.’ Dover, on the other hand, proudly stated the MoH ‘is run by professional volunteers’ which for their organisation is ‘intentional’ and positive; it allows the organisation to be managed by people who

108 are passionate about MoH, reducing chances of major negative issues such as ‘power politics’ and ‘nepotism’ arising . Moreover, it has been noted by researchers that when a community-based organisation becomes fully funded with paid staff, the character of the organisation changes- mainly one that becomes more business-like (Andrews,

2007; Westoby & Dowling, 2009). In other words, there is an increasing trend of professionalisation of community organisations. Andrews (2007) notes a few reasons for this trend: 1) a deeper sense of responsibility to ensure the work is being carried out well; 2) a sense of desperation and territorial claim in the areas where the work is being carried out so that no outsiders may encroach on those territories; and 3) a need for prestige, power, recognition and respect for the work done. While these explanations may be viewed as positive attributes many scholars (since Wilenksky in

1964) have observed this increasing professionalisation trend with trepidation and concern (see also Andrews 2007, 2008; Johnson, 1994; McKnight, 1978; Padgett,

2008). In fact, when professionalisation started gaining great momentum in the 1970s,

McKnight (1978) strongly argued that community service in this manner actually disables the communities seeking the help.57

The interviews with the Australian MCSOs with paid staff members do not indicate that this is the case for these organisations. Perhaps it is because the Managing

Directors, Executive Directors or Managers were all previous long-time volunteers of the organisation they now work for. This allows them to not only have full knowledge

57 McKnight (1978) argues that professionalisation in community service allows for a few propositions: 1) that the client community is deficient; 2) that the client community is the problem itself; 3) that the client community not only has one problem, but a set of problems; 4) that the professional community workers are the solution to their problems; 5) that the professionals know their situation and thus knows best; 6) that the client community cannot understand the problem or solution better than the professional; and 7) that only professionals can assess whether the solution has solved the problem (see also Andrews, 2007). 109 of the organisation, but it also appears that there is something very personal about their passion and love for their work. Abdel-Salam poignantly reflected on IWAQ: ‘I can talk until next year about IWAQ. I will never stop. I sleep and wake up with it. It’s my life.’

All of the organisations interviewed indicated that they are managed by a board of trustees which oversees the overall vision, goals and objectives of the organisation and to ensure that funds are managed appropriately. These board members are elected democratically as per the constitutional requirement of each individual organisation.

The number of board members and the years they serve on the board vary according to the individual organisation’s constitution. Some of the organisations allow different categories of membership, such as IWAQ where every paying member is allowed a vote, while others do not have a membership base such as IFEW. Most of the organisations interviewed insist that while they have distinct roles such as chairperson, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer, decisions are reached through shura (mutual consultation). For example, Ally stated that ‘everyone is involved in every meeting’ and that decisions are made ‘collectively’.

These findings indicate that Australian MCSOs are not unlike other CSOs in Australia. A question, then, which arises from these findings, is whether or not the Australian socio-political context has allowed for these MCSOs to become more democratic, due to mechanisms such as voting in a board of trustees and having a constitution which outlines relevant parties’ rights and responsibilities. In other words, are Australian

MCSOs different from MCSOs in Muslim countries? Interestingly, research (Ozdalga &

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Persson, 1997; Sparre & Petersen, 2007; Wiktorowicz, 2004) shows that MCSOs in

Muslim countries are some of the most vibrant in global civil society and are not that different from other CSOs. In fact, Singerman (2004) contends that “the organisational structures, repertoires of contention, collective identity, and so forth of the Islamic movements are similar to those of other movements throughout the world” (p. 143).

Thus, it appears that the Australian MCSOs are similar to the MCSOs in Muslim countries in these respects, regardless of the socio-political contexts.

However, a major difference lies in government control and monitoring. It has been acknowledged by some of the Australian MCSO actors that they sometimes feel constrained by what they can advocate for or on behalf of because of government funding. For instance, El-Merebi commented that the Al-Nisa Youth Group felt inhibited by the fact that they could not be as open or as vocal on some foreign affairs issues, such as the issue of Palestine, ‘War on Terror’ and so forth, due to government funding.58 She shared one incident where she was representing the organisation at the

Australian Muslim Reference Group at the federal level. She explained that the former

Foreign Minister was briefing them on the Anti-Terror Law and insisting that the law was not targeted at Muslims in Australia; rather it was to ensure the safety and security of all Australians. Frustrated, El-Merebi said that she asked him specific questions about Australia’s presence in Iraq and in Afghanistan and the killing of innocent people there. El-Merebi stated that she was removed from the proceedings and was told bluntly by one of the Minister’s advisors to never ask questions like those

58 As a human rights advocate for a local MCSO in Brisbane called Australian Muslim Advocates for the Rights of All Humanity (AMARAH), I have in the past approached a number of other local MCSOs to support, partner, or promote certain human rights issues. Quite a number of times, my advances have been rejected; the reason often given is that the local MCSOs did not want to be too ‘political’ on human rights issue due to funding received from the government. 111 again or she and her organisation would not be invited back.59 She contended, ‘I was never invited again.’ While sentiments like El-Merebi’s are not unique among CSO actors in Australia (see also Gray, 2013 on recent state governments attempt to funded CSOs from engaging in certain advocacy and lobbying activities), it is perhaps not as bleak as those which affect MCSOs in some Muslim countries (Elbayar, 2005;

Sparre & Petersen, 2007).

In their comprehensive study of MCSOs in Jordan and Egypt, Sparre and Petersen

(2007) note that the application to become a CSO can be outright rejected, without any appeal process in place. Furthermore, existing CSOs are very closely monitored, with activities restricted and even controlled and meetings and elections observed by the ministry. Additionally, CSO boards can be dissolved or members replaced if they are deemed problematic by the ministry; the official reasons given by the ministry for such action are corruption, failure to hold general board elections, or not meeting the reporting requirements. Sparre and Petersen (2007) observe that these are not the actual reasons and maintain that “when one looks more closely at the cases of dissolution or replacement, however, it seems that the reason for the regime’s dissatisfaction might have more to do with the kinds of activities carried out in the organisation being deemed too critical of the regime, too political or otherwise crossing the red lines of acceptable behaviour” (p. 22). As a result of the severe de- politicisation of CSOs in some Muslim countries, many of the political organisations are not as robust and as strong as their counterparts in other countries, including the

MCSOs in Australia.

59 El-Merebi also stated that another Muslim member of the Federal Australian Muslim Reference Group noticed her writing down her question and pleaded with her not to ask them as he did not want any difficult or political questions to be raised. 112

The findings from the first part of the research design demonstrate that Australian

MCSOs are structurally and organisationally similar to other CSOs, not just here in

Australia but in other parts of the world, including those in Muslim countries.

However, while it is acknowledged that funding requirements in Australia can pose certain restrictions in terms of advocacy on certain issues, the consequences of the advocacy are not as severe as those imposed in Muslim countries; in fact, the

Australian MCSOs interviewed all stated a positive relationship with all levels of government. This issue will be further discussed in Chapter 5. The next section will delineate the sub-themes related to community building as presented by the MCSO actors.

3.4 Key Sub-themes in Community Building

The phenomenological interviews revealed that the Australian MCSO actors were keen to discuss the theme of establishing community as part of their lived experiences. They spoke about the history of community building, the establishment of mosque and mosque societies and the establishment of their own organisation. In particular, they highlighted a number of key sub-themes as part of that process of building the community: filling a much-needed void and assisting the community to access essential services. A final sub-theme which emerged related to the establishment of community was that the organisations were keen to operate separate from the mosque establishments. As per the phenomenological research approach, the next section will analyse and provide an exhaustive description of this theme as presented by the participants by using verbatim quotes from the interviews.

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3.4.1 Sub-theme 1– ‘there is a great need…which had never been addressed’: Filling a Much-needed Void

One of the main sub-themes revealed by MCSO actors related to the establishment of community was to fill a much-needed void. Mustafa Ally from Crescents of Brisbane articulated clearly: ‘there was a gap and…there was a need for something like this.’ In particular, he elaborated that CoB ‘is not a religious organisation. There is enough people out there doing that work, but there’s this gap’ which their organisation wanted to fill.

The manager of the Islamic Women’s Association Queensland (IWAQ), Galila Abdel-

Salam, concurred and stated that

there was a great need in the Logan area which had never been addressed

when they put the first application to have what they call… map at that time,

from the government organisation to map the need for the multicultural

community in Logan. One section was to research the need for Muslim people.

From there we highlighted the need for Muslim women as there was nothing

there.

She continued to discuss that ‘the vision was to provide services for the community,

(provide the) first home and community care.’ Abdel-Salam said that before that time, there was no organisation to holistically cater for Muslim women and their families.

Specifically, IWAQ set about ensuring that Muslim women’s needs were met. For instance, she spoke about some of their health awareness workshops and said:

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(We would) get the speaker to talk about different issues….breast cancer, other

types of cancer and they get someone who speaks the language and interprets

it…. some of the sessions we would get someone to give them some light

exercise and some diet and nutrition information. Other topics have to follow

with different groups. This really opened the door to the whole community.

When she was working at the local women’s health centre in Logan Abdel-Salam noted, ‘I went to the hospital talking about the need for halal (permissible) food, the need for female doctors and other professionals and talking to midwives, talking to doctors, different opportunities to address the cross-culture issues and address what is important to many Muslim women.’

Hanan Dover, from Mission of Hope (MoH) echoed Abdel-Salam’s sentiments and stressed that while mainstream organisations do great work, ‘they don’t have programs on the ground that are really important for the Muslim community; yes we are helping our own because of the gaps. There is no point going mainstream when you have difficulties. We understand our problems, so we are trying to close those gaps first.’

Tasneem Chopra, chairperson of AMWCH, stated that they ‘felt this compelling need to do something to help the community.’ She also articulated that ‘it was a bit valiant at the time, but it was from a good place.’ In particular, Chopra said that the organisation was established to fill a much-needed void in the Muslim community: ‘it started off as

115 a group of women wanting to collaborate on how to assist women in need through domestic violence.’ Chopra continued, ‘The early days I guess the analysis and the thinking about supporting women was quite important and it was get them out of the house, get them somewhere safe, and getting them to a safe place, with provisions and for a while that was adequate.’ According to Chopra, unfortunately this vital need was not being met by other organisations, mainstream or other Muslim-based ones. When probed as to why the needs could not be met by other mainstream women’s organisations dealing with domestic violence, Chopra articulated:

I think obviously the core difference is we have Muslim staff of different

ethnicities so our client base by definition is attracted to coming to us because

they feel we are going to get where they are coming from, and when I say get I

mean, it’s beyond just having the linguistic comfort zone, it could be the cultural

comfort zone.

Maha Abdo from the United Muslim Women’s Association (MWA) also asserted that there were no organisations in Sydney which catered specifically for Muslim women and their families. In particular, Abdo said that MWA’s vision was to ‘create opportunities for the woman.’ She further explained that the organisation is constantly staying in touch with its members and the community so that it is aware of the needs.

She discussed:

So when we are looking at the organisation it’s very much thought after, sought

after for advice on policy issues relating to Muslim women, relating to sport and

recreational issues, relating to safety, public transport, public spaces issues of

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domestic violence, homelessness, further education, all of that. Now the

organisation is actually evolving with the needs and aspirations of Muslim

women that it comes in contact with… so the organisation today, while the

vision exists in principle the application evolves according to the needs of the

community.

Like the other Australian MCSO actors, Salam El-Merebi from the Al-Nisa Youth Group also discussed the need to provide cultural sensitive programs for Muslims, especially young females. She elaborated:

One of the reasons for that (the establishment of Al-Nisa) was because a lot of

Muslim families in Australia, especially in Brisbane, have this fear of allowing

their young girls out. Especially if it’s like a gathering and they are not really

sure who is there and what is happening. We thought so maybe if they find a

Muslim group, that is run by young Muslim women, who are from the

community, known by the community, they will be able to let them out more.

El-Merebi continued, ‘So it was more like a way where we could get the young Muslim girls out of their houses and getting them into something that is active and becoming more…part of the community.’ Kurander Seyit said that FAIR also wanted to engage with Muslim youth. In particular, the organisation saw a need for Muslim young people to contribute outside of the Muslim community. Seyit expounded,

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So based on that report60 we saw that Muslim youth had a tendency to only

volunteer in Muslim organisations and there was a high rate of Muslims girls,

volunteering; boys tended to focus on their studies. The aim was to introduce

them to organisations they may not have heard of before or they may have

heard of but had no idea what it was, so RSPCA, Red Cross, SES they were all

very successful presentations. People were amazed by what they heard, Vision

Australia, Amnesty International, Oxfam. It all culminated in a massive

symposium of 30 volunteer organisations and about 500 kids; it was brilliant.

That was just a one-year project. So that was funded by the Department of

Immigration and Citizenship. Two years ago we took five young Muslims to

spend five weeks at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. The year

before that, we took ten young Australian Muslims.

In Melbourne, Buday from ASIA Youth stated that one of the main reasons for the establishment of their organisation was to connect with the young Muslim males and provide for their needs. He explained, ‘I remember one of our mottos back in the day

ASIA Youth an end to disillusionment, because what we noticed is that a lot of the youth today are really disillusioned; they don’t know their place in society.’

Saara Sabbagh, founder of Benevolence Australia also spoke about the vital need to connect with those most disillusioned. She explained how their organisation catered

60 The 2007 report, entitled Supporting Volunteering Activities in Australian Muslim Communities, Particularly Youth was commissioned by the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF) and Volunteering Australia and was funded by the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. It can be retrieved here: http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp- content/files_mf/1377045799VASupportingVolunteeringActivitiesinAustralianMuslimCommunitiesPartic ularlyYouth.pdf 118 especially for these people and how that dictated their philosophy as well as their programs. She discussed at great length:

I wasn’t interested in format law, right and wrong. I just constantly saw a

yearning in people’s condition to connect with the Creator and I saw and I

responded to that throughout my years working with the community and every

group and organisation I worked with it didn’t fulfil that gap for me because I

still saw people falling aside.

Sabbagh spoke specifically about the people who were ‘falling aside’ who they wanted to reach out to and connect with through Benevolence Australia. She further explained:

They did not fit into that community ethos, or that community because once

you establish a ‘religious group’ of any kind, there are rules that come with that.

And the majority of the people in the community, and I say the majority, of

them didn’t fit into that. Benevolence in a nutshell is trying to create a safe

space, both physically and metaphorically for both born Muslims who want to

reconnect as well as converts that they can come and find a place where they

are not judged and accepted for who they are. The organisation that we work

with and respect highly in the United States called is Ta’leef; they have a motto

which we can’t use because they just won’t allow us to: it’s come as you are-

that’s it, that’s beautiful. That’s a philosophy that we would abide by, come as

you are, we will take steps side by side.

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Sabbagh stated numerous times that their organisation is simply there to serve the needs of the community, to fill that void because as she reflected: ‘at the end of the day that’s what we are doing, we’re serving the community. In whichever form it may be.’

Saba Hakim from Australian MADE acknowledged that there were so many great organisations out there providing vital community services; however, she discussed how their organisation wanted to especially reached those communities which were more difficult to access. She explained: ‘the idea was to access new and emerging communities, so the Iraqi and Afghani communities and within areas that haven’t been accessed by other organisations.’

Related to this discussion which emerged from the interviews was that the participating Australian MCSOs in this study were established to provide for the social needs of the community, a void many felt were not adequately met by other organisations. For example, Abdel-Salam noted after much research and consultation,

Muslim women in Queensland felt ‘isolated’. Hence, one of IWAQ’s main activities was intended to be ‘very socialising; this is where a group of women meet together; women bring in food, in a non-confronting way, sitting together chatting together, having lunch, sharing lunch.’ Buday noted a similar reason for establishing ASIA Youth and stated that the organisation allowed people to ‘really work together to prevent isolation of communities.’ El-Merebi reflected that activities of Al-Nisa Youth Group

120 were ‘… like a social gathering; people from every single community come, including non-Muslims, which was really great.’

Dover outlined some of the social activities they provided for the community. She elaborated: ‘we have social events like trivia nights… and we love hosting comedians; the community needs to laugh at themselves.’ Sertel also added that Sareera organised social events for the young Muslim girls. She discussed, ‘We have sleepovers with the girls; we contribute to Clean-Up Australia Day, Earth Hour, a tree planting day, (and) bike riding in the city.’

3.4.2 Sub-theme 2– ‘…this is your right’: Assisting the Community to Access Vital

Services

A second sub-theme related to the establishment of community as articulated by the

Australian MCSO actors was to assist the community access essential services. For instance, Abdel-Salam stated that one of the main functions of the Islamic Woman’s

Association of Queensland (IWAQ) is to inform the community of their rights to access certain services. To elucidate, she discussed how their organisation conducted field research into areas of need in the community: ‘the search highlighted that people are not aware of what service is available to them… the search saw that the woman is the carer and the woman is the one who pays the price. So after much research we conceived of the first aged care service.’

Moreover, Abdel-Salam stated that IWAQ wanted to ‘encourage people to get that this is (their) your right; what is available for Muslim women’. The organisation feels it is

121 their responsibility to advise the community ‘so that the Muslim women can be informed about it.’ She also reflected: ‘so we were still indirect of mainstream organisation, but we are a service provider that Muslim women can now access.’

Abdel- Salam also advised that IWAQ had difficulty initially in informing their members and their families about the services; she noted that she had to tell them: ‘this is a service which the government is giving you as a taxpayer’. She remembered that they had to use ‘different strategies and approaches’ to get the community to access these services. Now, however, she concluded that ‘they (are) happy (to) get the service and now there are people approaching us: can we get the service?’

Abdo also observed a similar occurrence with their clients and felt that the issue may have arisen due to the fact that they are working with vulnerable communities. She explained the process, ‘We do a lot of education, a lot of encouragement because we do a lot of work with women. With women it takes them a while: once, twice, five times. Some it takes ten times of accessing the service.’

El-Merebi also spoke about working with vulnerable communities and needing to ensure that they understood the services as well as the help available to them. She discussed:

There are a lot of refugees coming in with sensitive backgrounds and a lot of

child safety officers being called, to remove these children. It’s a big, big thing

and child safety is getting involved with the family and the reason for that is

because they come from a culture that is extremely different from Australian

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culture and two, they do have a traumatic background. They became refugees

not just within their own countries, but they became refugees moving from one

country to another to end up in Australia. So these are things that the Muslim

community is not really aware of, so we did bring a lot of awareness to the

Muslim community and a new way of thinking.

As a result of the knowledge, El-Merebi stated that they delivered sessions to assist the communities in dealing with these issues and where they can go for assistance. She further explained, ‘We delivered a session about child safety in the Muslim community.

It was really interesting because we know that as, human services workers and social workers, we know that Muslims in general in Australia don’t really have much to do with child safety and don’t understand that system.’

The Australian MCSO actors explained that many times one of their most important roles was to assist the community in being aware of these pertinent issues and vital services they can access. As Abdel-Salam highlighted: ‘it’s like when you are sending someone to school, it is funded from the government. When you go to the hospital you know it’s funded from government. So this is an opportunity to use these services, other people use it so what’s wrong with that?’

3.4.3 Sub-theme 3– ‘We leave the mosque for the worship and prayer’: Separate from Mosque Establishment

A final sub-theme related to community establishment was the fact that many of the

Australian MCSOs were intentional in wanting their organisation to be separate from

123 the mosque societies. In Queensland, for example, Abdel-Salam observed that ‘(they) we leave the mosque for the worship and prayer… imams cannot do everything and cannot have all the information; some of the imams don’t know what is available for any Australian citizen here.’ She cited an example:

We have to do things according to Islam, but sometimes the women come to us

and say I’m pregnant outside of the marriage. What are you going to do? If I

apply my principles of Islam, I’m not in a Muslim country I’m in an Australian

society which by law we have to look at what resources outside of Islam that

can support a woman who is pregnant outside of marriage. I’m not going to

refer her to (have an) abortion, I’m just talking about that support that is

outside (of) our resources.

El-Merebi also spoke about the problems associated with operating within mosque establishments. She expounded, “If we were part of a mosque, we would have been dictated by the mosque-what to do and we didn’t want that. We wanted to work solely from an Islamic perspective, an Islamic philosophy…not be dictated by some figure of authority, such as an Imam.’ She further commented that besides not wanting to be dictated to, Al-Nisa Youth Group also did not want to be restrictive in terms of their membership and that they ‘wanted to cater for everyone…don’t want to cater for one specific mosque.’

In particular, El-Merebi spoke about the organisation wanting to cater for the hard to reach young Muslim girls. She said, ‘I know these girls and I know that they swore to

124 never attend the mosque ever again. And they don’t; they never access it.’ She further explained that this is one of the reasons why it was important for Al-Nisa Youth Group to establish itself separate from the mosque. She elucidated:

I guess that’s why we wanted girls that we know (who) aren’t accessing the

mosque because the girls that do access the mosque, they are in safe hands.

They are in a mosque. People know them, but the girls who are not in a mosque

you never know where they are, or what they are doing. And we really wanted

to keep an eye on them and not in the sense of the big brother, but in the sense

of you’re still part of our community; you’re part of this community.

In Melbourne, Sabbagh articulated similar sentiments. She noted:

I saw those people that were on the side who would just look at us from afar

and say I wish I could connect but you are just too beyond me, too religious that

I cannot connect with you, but they are the people I wanted to connect with. So

Benevolence really evolved out of me separating from organised religion. We’re

really broad here…separating from organised religion.

She further elaborated on these people her organisation wanted to reach out to and serve, those who wanted to belong, but felt they could not for various reasons.

Specifically, she discussed how quite a number of Australian Muslim women felt about their place in a mosque. Sabbagh observed:

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They are predominately women who don’t fit into the mosque community; they

are unwelcomed in the mosque community. They are made to feel that they are

second class, they have to go through an alleyway, down the stairs, up the

gutter, whatever it might be, to find their little place to pray in the darkness,

those women who have become almost disenfranchised with Islam as a whole.

Discussing the same theme, Dover contended, ‘We build too many mosques not enough social services in our community, that’s the problem.’ She further commented:

A lot of people are turning away from Imams because they are too basic for us

now, because we are too educated and when they are too basic you can’t gain

from them. We are going to independent organisations to learn our Islam,

because we love our religion and we love our Islam but we also want to be

free…But we live economically and socially developed areas rather than just

religious.

Dover provided an example where it was important that certain Australian Muslim organisations provided services independent of mosque establishment. She elucidated:

There is no domestic violence allowed in Islam… and any Sheikh that says

otherwise is incorrect. We are quite an educated group… we also train service

providers, educating them, informing them that Sheikhs may have views of that

nature, but it clearly is not acceptable in Islam and we give them examples.

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You’re not allowed to harm a child, a plant or an animal so it doesn’t make

sense that you are allowed to harm your wife, or your family. You can’t break a

tree branch so how does that make it permissible to strike your wife. We use a

very rational, common sense theological, spiritual approach to it. The Prophet

never struck a woman and he is the best of our examples. So as Muslims that

makes sense.

3.5 A Description and Discussion of Muslim Community Building in Australia

The history of Muslim community building in Australia indicates that the first priority was mosque building, followed by educational programs, which were established through the mosque societies or through informal family settings. As the Muslim community grew in Australia from the 1970s, Muslims leaders recognised a dire need to meet not just the religious needs of the community, but also the social, recreational, cultural, education, economic, intellectual and health needs of the community. The findings from this study reinforce Schumann’s (2007) discussion on the establishment of Muslim organisations in the West. For instance, it was important for Muslims to build mosques in order to preserve the Muslim identity, which was perceived to be threatened in a hostile, Western environment. Thus, community building in this regard was one of “inward looking and identity-concerned orientation” (Schumann, 2007, p.

16).

However, soon that discourse changed for the Muslim communities. They began establishing schools and community institutions to accommodate the increasing

Muslim population which allowed them to become more outward-looking. The

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Australian MCSO actors engaged in a needs-analysis of their community, such as what

Abdel-Salam and her colleague did in the Logan area in Queensland, what Hakim and

Sabbagh did in Melbourne, and what Dover did in Sydney, among others. These actors and the organisations they represent recognised that the growing Muslim communities in Australia needed more than religious guidance; they needed assistance with settlement issues, domestic violence, mental health, child safety, social welfare, social ills and advocacy to name a few. Dover elaborated, ‘We are talking about drug and alcohol issues… Mainstream rehab centres are full and they are not even being resourced by Muslims, because Muslims want a culturally appropriate centre. It’s quite a sensitive issue’. Hence, based on consultations with the communities and various stakeholders (such as social workers, police officers, community developers) and based on their own experiences and expertise, these Australian MCSO actors realised that there was a dire need to fill those voids, which they felt could not be met by other mainstream organisations.

Williams (2011) in his study of American Muslims and the necessary establishment of community organisations there, notes similar observations. He contends that “the crux of this organisational form is the basic reality of… religious intuitions as locally organised and ultimately responsive to local members” (p. 132). Williams further explains that by building, incorporating, administering and financing their own civil society institutions, Muslims “were in control of their own religious lives” (p. 132).

Moreover, establishing these organisations allows them to assist Muslims access important services and resources. This is a common observation made by many

128 scholars studying Muslim community building in Western countries (see Bouma, 1997;

Ebaugh & Chafetz, 2000; Kurien, 2007; Min, 2010).

The intentional establishment of their organisation separate from the local mosques also emerged as a strong sub-theme of community building; this allows for control of the vision, goals, programs and initiatives of their own organisation. It needs to be pointed out that there is no clergy within Islam61 and while scholarly opinions from learned ulama (religious scholars) may hold weight with many Muslims, the ultimate reverence belongs to God alone. Thus, establishing separate institutions from the mosque is not considered sacrilegious. Williams (2011) also notes this and concludes that Islam is very much “a lay-driven religion” (p. 132) and can, accordingly, organise itself into other organisations to meet the needs of the Muslim community.

Another important aspect to consider in this separation is that many of the organisations feel that the mosque leadership does not necessarily represent them or cater for the needs of their membership. Many of the Imams in Australia are

‘imported’ from overseas, who do not necessarily understand the needs of the local community living in a secular, Western environment (Johns & Saeed, 2002). This fact is made even worse when we consider that quite a number of Imams do not even speak

English. As a result of this, many Australian-born Muslims, in particular, find it difficult to relate to the mosque leadership. John and Saeed (2004) also note this and write that “a continuing problem for the Muslim communities in Australia is that of the evolution of a professional religious leadership that is knowledgeable about both

61 There is a religious hierarchy system in Shiite Islam with the Ayatollahs, but it is not as pronounced as other religious traditions such as Catholicism. 129

Islamic and Australian culture” (p. 204). As of now, there are only a few Australian

‘home-grown’ Imams in leadership positions in Australian mosques, nowhere near the adequate numbers needed to fulfil the needs of over 150 mosques.

It is noteworthy that all but one of the Muslim women’s and young women’s organisations interviewed in the three states strongly articulated this sub-theme. The intention to establish separately allows for not only freedom from mosque authority but also provides Muslim women key leadership roles within an organisation as well as representation within their community. Having been very active in community work in the Brisbane Muslim community for the last 15 years, I know first-hand that one of the frustrations Australian Muslim women face is the exclusion from mosque leadership.

Scholars note that this is a common occurrence for other migrant religious congregations (Abusharaf, 1998; George, 1998; Hurh & Kim, 1990; Warner & Wittner,

1998). Due to a sense of loss and deprivation as a result of the migration experience, these places of worship may be the only spaces which allow men to reclaim their sense of self-worth, pride and honour. In doing so, they have excluded women from occupying the space and leadership roles. Accordingly, Australian Muslim women in particular have responded by seeking spaces which provides them autonomy and leadership through the establishment of their own MCSOs separate from mosque institutions.

Significantly in a little more than 40 years, Australian Muslims have established nearly

500 MCSOs to reify the needs of their diverse communities and to create a strong sense of permanency in Australia. Alongside the response to these needs, there was

130 also an urgent sense to engage more with the Australian society. These MCSOs and their leaders urged Australian Muslims to not have a separatist mentality in relation to the Australian society but rather to participate and contribute fully to the wider society. Finally, the Australian MCSO actors also discussed a sense of empowerment, a strong sense of identity and an emphasis of a “new universalism” (Schumann, 2007, p.

22-23.). These processes and aspects of community building will be discussed in the subsequent chapters of this thesis. The interviews with the MCSO actors reveal that the establishment of these Australian MCSOs has helped Muslims participate, contribute and be a visible part of the diverse social, cultural, economic and political mosaic of Australian society.

3.6 Conclusion

This chapter began by describing the process of Australian Muslim community building, including the formation of religious institutions and societies, community organisations and educational institutions. It highlighted that while Muslim presence in

Australia can be traced back to the Maccassan fisherman and traders in the 16th-17th centuries along with some mosque establishments with the Afghan cameleers in the mid-19th century, it was only in the 1970s that the Muslim communities began establishing CSOs to serve the social, recreational, welfare, educational as well as spiritual needs of their communities. Moreover, similar to other minority groups in the

West, the Australian Muslim community building experience began with an internal focus concentrating on preserving the Muslim identity, but then soon shifted focus outwardly to enable the establishment of firm and permanent roots in their new country. The shift of focus is important because it allowed them to go from simply

131 being Muslims in Australia to being Australian Muslims. This theme of identity will be further discussed in Chapter 6.

Additionally, in providing an overview of the organisations the findings indicated that

Australian MCSOs are not unlike other CSOs in Australia in terms of establishment, governance, decision-making processes and meeting the legal and financial incorporation requirements. Furthermore, it was also found that Australian MCSOs are structurally and organisationally similar to other CSOs in Muslim-majority countries; however, while it was observed that funding requirements in Australia can pose certain restrictions in terms of advocacy on certain issues, the consequences of the advocacy are not as severe as those imposed on CSOs in Muslim-majority countries; in fact, the Australian MCSOs interviewed all stated a positive relationship with all levels of government.

Chapter 3 also presented the empirical data collected from the first part of the research design, which is the mapping and identification of all possible MCSOs in

Australia. This exercise is not only a unique contribution to the existing literature in the field, it also comprehensively provides an overview of the current Muslim civil society organisations operating in Australia: who they are, where and when they work, why they work, how do they work and with whom do they work. The findings revealed that

Australian Muslims established almost 500 diverse MCSOs, with more being established every day, to serve not only the Muslim communities’ varied needs but also provide services to the wider community. It is important to note that these organisations have made contributions in almost every area of civil society endeavour

132 with the establishment of religious institutions (includes mosques and mosque societies), social welfare organisations, cultural associations, advocacy organisations

(human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, environmental rights, and so forth), youth associations, professional associations, research centres/think tanks, educational institutions, sports and recreational associations, charities, and interfaith understanding and dialogue associations. The findings also demonstrated that the majority of the organisations established are religious institutions, followed by cultural associations, then educational centres. Following these are both youth and women’s associations and other miscellaneous institutions such as sporting and recreational organisations.

The phenomenological interviews, from the second part of the research design, revealed that the MCSO actors were keen to discuss the theme of establishing community as part of their lived experience. Specifically, the actors spoke about the history of community building, the establishment of mosque and mosque societies in addition to the establishment of their own organisation, independent from the mosque as a way to fill a much needed void in the community. By engaging in community building, Australian Muslim communities wanted to proactively take control and ownership of their own development. They also acknowledged that members of the Muslim communities required services beyond spiritual assistance and education; for instance, they needed help with substance and alcohol abuse, issues related to employment and education, protection from domestic violence or child abuse or simply a safe, religiously-sensitive space to belong, to name a few. The

Australian MCSOs also recognised that many of these needs would be better met

133 separately from the mosque and, hence, intentionally established their organisations as a separate, independent entity.

After reifying the community building needs of the Muslim communities, the

Australian MCSOs then responded to facilitating pathways for Muslims who felt marginalised and excluded in order for those affected to become full and participatory contributors to Australian society. The next chapter will present the sub-themes related to issues of social inclusion as revealed by the phenomenological interviews.

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Chapter 4 Engaging in Active Citizenship: Social Capital, Social Exclusion and Social Inclusion

4.1 Introduction

This chapter explores the issue of social inclusion and the Muslim community in

Australia, a major theme delineated from the phenomenological interviews with the

MCSO actors. Before any discussion on social inclusion can occur, it is important to outline a key concept which underpins it, that is social capital.62 While the notion of social capital was discussed earlier in Chapter 1, it is important to locate it within this section’s discussion of how Australian MCSOs have generated and utilised it for social inclusion purposes. Furthermore, as noted by a number of scholars and social policy experts, the theory of social inclusion alone is inadequate and ineffective in creating participation, equality and cohesion. Bollard (2009) and others argue that it needs to be combined with the theory of social capital; otherwise, social inclusion would risk following “a path of ideology, rather than one based on empirical evaluation” (Bollard,

2009, p. 16). It is also suggested that the combination of these two theories provide a deeper understanding of what is needed for a more inclusive and cohesive society.

Accordingly, this chapter attempts to define what social capital means in the context of actors involved in Muslim civil society organisations in Australia and how this extends into and creates opportunities for social inclusion. This chapter then discusses issues related to social inclusion, its definition, theory and its relation to social exclusion.

Following this, it delineates the sub-themes of social inclusion as presented by the

62 The majority of scholars agree that any worthwhile discussion on social inclusion should also include a discussion about social capital (see for example Lou Wilson, 2006).

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Australian MCSO actors in this study and, finally, provides a detailed discussion and analysis of these sub-themes.

4.2 Understanding Social Capital

The notion of social capital has been around for decades.63 While there are numerous definitions and interpretations of social capital put forth by many social scientists as discussed in Chapter 1, there are three main theorists credited with developing a deeper understanding of this concept: Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman, and Robert

Putnam.

Bourdieu (1983) differentiates between economic, cultural and social capital; he specifically understands social capital within a Marxist framework as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalised relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition”

(p. 249). For him, it is important to understand the processes involved in resource allocation and class formation, and in doing so it allows one to understand how social capital is generally controlled by the powerful elites in society. This understanding of social capital appears to be cyclical, that is, the powerful have interactions with other powerful connections and are able to maintain their privilege and control society’s resources in this manner.

63Lyda Judson Hanifan (1916) is credited to be the first to use the actual term ‘social capital’ to discuss school community centres in rural areas. According to Smith (2009), “Hanifan was particularly concerned with the cultivation of good will, fellowship, sympathy and social intercourse among those that make up a social unit”. 136

Coleman (1994) approaches the notion of social capital from a rational choice theory and argues that social capital must be “defined by its function” and not as a “single entity” (p. 302). He further states that the different entities of social capital “all consist of some aspect of a social structure, and they facilitate certain actions of individuals who are within the structure” (1994, p. 302). In contrast to Bourdieu, Coleman contends that even the marginalised and disadvantaged are able to participate in this process and can possess social capital through different social structures and institutions. However, a number of critics, including Fields (2003) observe that

Coleman’s treatment of social capital is “naively optimistic” (p. 28).

With these insights and debates in the background, Harvard political scientist Robert

Putnam offers another view of social capital. Drawing on Tocqueville’s commentaries on civic engagement, Bourdieu’s emphasis on interaction and Coleman’s focus on trust and shared norms, Putnam situates social capital within the understanding of community and association. He conceptualises social capital in this manner, as

“connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them” (Putnam, 2000, p. 19). He also observes that it is aligned with what many would refer to as “civic virtue” (p. 19). He warns, however that “the difference is that ‘social capital’ calls attention to the fact that civic virtue is most powerful when embedded in a sense network of reciprocal social relations. A society of many virtuous but isolated individuals is not necessarily rich in social capital”

(p. 19).

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As demonstrated by the definition above, Putnam emphasises that trust and participation are the building blocks of social capital. Beem (1999) also explores the concept of trust and observes:

Trust between individuals thus becomes trust between strangers and trust of a

broad fabric of social institutions; ultimately, it becomes a shared set of values,

virtues, and expectations within society as a whole. Without this interaction, on

the other hand, trust decays; at a certain point, this decay begins to manifest

itself in serious social problems… The concept of social capital contends that

building or rebuilding community and trust requires face-to-face encounters.

(p. 20)

Thus, Putnam (1995, 2000, 2007) argues that when the social capital stock has been low, trust of and cooperation with each other has decreased. As a consequence, there has been a visible decline of altruism as well as social, political and civic engagements

(Putnam 2007)64. Conversely studies, besides those conducted by Putnam, have shown that when social capital stock is ‘high’, communities benefit with better economic growth, better health statistics, higher educational and lower crime levels (Halpern,

2009).

64 In Bowling Alone, Putnam (2000) provides evidence that there are fundamental shifts in three main areas: 1) political and civic engagement- there has been a dramatic decrease (by as much as 60%) in the local clubs, political associations and religious organisations. Americans are also less politically active- 30% are less likely to sign a petition and 40% are less likely to join a consumer boycott; 2) informal social ties- Putnam states that since 1975, Americans are less likely to entertain friends at home; the statics show that it has halved. Also recreational and leisure activities involving time with another person from playing sports to playing music together has decreased; and 3) Americans are also less trusting of one another. 138

In recent years, Putnam has turned his attention to understanding social capital and social diversity. In particular, he argues that social capital is dramatically reduced in ethnically diverse contexts and explains (Putnam, 2007, p. 150) that while diversity does not necessarily result in bad relations with one another, it does seem to lead to a greater distrust of one another as well as a withdrawal from society; hence, there is less social and civic engagement.

Despite various criticisms (see for example Portes, 1998; Skocpol, 1996), Putnam continues to research ways to re-establish social capital because, according to him, social capital matters for three reasons: 1) it allows people to resolve matters better and easier by cooperating with one another; 2) the repeated social interactions allow people to build more trust, thereby enabling better social and business interactions; and finally 3) these connections allow for greater awareness of the strength of one’s ideas. Accordingly, many scholars and commentators hold that social capital is vital; indeed, it is “not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society – it is the glue that holds them together” (The World Bank, 1999, para. 1).

4.3 Elements of Social Capital

A number of theorists concerned with social capital acknowledge that while there were a number of contributions made to provide definitions, characteristics as well as its role in society, not much effort has been made to differentiate between the different types of social capital before Putnam’s attempt (see for example Smith, 2009;

Woolcock, 2001). Putnam mainly distinguishes between two main elements of social capital: bonding and bridging.

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Similar to the Marxian/Weberian conception of bounded solidarity (see Lou Wilson,

2006) and the Durkheimian notion of mechanical solidarity, bonding social capital involves creating associations between homogenous people or groups. Putnam (2000) refers to this as “exclusive” and “inward looking” and states that this type of capital allows for harnessing trust, reciprocity and “mobilising solidarity” (p. 22). Examples of bonding social capital would be an ethnic or cultural group, a church-based playgroup, or a young women’s library reading group.

For Putnam (2000) bridging social capital is “inclusive” as well as “outward looking” and involves the linking of connections between heterogeneous groups. This is similar to organic solidarity as conceived by Durkheim. It is through this type of social capital that Putnam contends will create critical associations with external links and networks; in turn, these associations offer better opportunities for social inclusion as well as act

“as source(s) of social cohesion in the Durkeimian sense” (Wilson, 2006, p. 350).

While Putnam distinguishes only between bonding and bridging capital, other commentators (such as Woolcock, 2001) concerned with social capital include a third form– linking. Linking goes beyond bridging and provides opportunities for people or groups to make better connections and gain more leverage with institutions or systems outside of bonding or bridging capitals for their essential resources.

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4.4 MCSOs: Active Agents of Social Capital

The interviews with the Australian MCSO actors reveal that all three forms of social capital are at play in these organisations. Through MCSOs, Muslims are able to firstly build their bonding capital, by associating with like-minded individuals with shared interests, values, traditions, ethnicity, culture and religion. This may be through instructions or conversations in the members’ native language, through gender- specific activities, religious instructions and so forth. A shared consciousness lies within the intragroup and bonding capital is built. While remaining in this manner can lead to exclusivity as has been argued by a number of scholars concerned with social capital

(see Putnam, 2000; Woolcock, 2001), I believe that this is first needed to strengthen a person’s trust, purpose and identity, allowing for their confidence-building in a secure and supported environment. This then enables the MCSOs to provide pathways beyond bonding capital; accordingly, the MCSOs are able to introduce connections with other diverse social groups allowing for bridging capital to manifest. The

Australian MCSOs also fulfil the role of providing bridging social capital by allowing their members to reach out and access other people, connections and networks.

Similarly, Furbey (2007) observes that “many ‘public lives’ can be traced back to early years in a faith community” (p. 36). He notes, however, that faith-based organisations can also be obstacles of social capital and, in particular, cautions that emphasising bonding capital can result in faith-based organisations being exclusive and narrow.

In order for a community to flourish appropriately or what Gilchrist (2009) refers to as the “well-connected community”, all three types of social capital is necessary (see also

Furbey et al., 2006; Furbey, 2007; Jochum et al., 2005). Accordingly, Furbey (2007)

141 states that there are four broad fields which needs to be explored so that MCSOs are able to move away from bonding, which can be narrow and exclusive, to more inclusive and outward bridging and linking aspects of social capital. They are: 1) the use of faith buildings; 2) the creation of a diversity of ‘spaces’ that support interfaith and faith-secular associations; 3) involvement in local governance; and 4) engagement in wider civil society (Furbey, 2007, p. 36). Drawing on Furbey’s (2007) framework, I will now outline how Australian MCSOs are able to ensure all three types of social capital are realised.

4.4.1 The Use of Faith Buildings

While faith spaces constitute physical capital, Furbey (2007) contends that they can also be viewed as social capital. Additionally, while they may serve as a place of worship, many are simply community centres, renovated homes or office buildings which serve as a formal meeting place, a resource and information centre, classrooms and a social meeting place for people to meet, chat, mingle and network with one another. These physical spaces are vital for the generation of social capital as they allow people to engage and interact with people outside of their normal circle, that is their family and close friends. Perhaps more importantly these buildings provide the much needed capital associated with support, trust, and strengthened identity. This is particularly true for Muslim community organisations and institutions. As argued by an eminent Australian sociologist, Gary Bouma (1994) these physical spaces meant that

Muslims in Australia were able to “settle religiously” and symbolise a “greater commitment to Australia and greater satisfaction with life here” (pp. 98-100).

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In conducting an overview of MCSOs in Australia as part of the research design Part

One, I found a number of examples of physical buildings generating social capital. In

Queensland, for example, the Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland (IWAQ) generates this type of capital. Their main building houses the administration of their services, but it also provides spaces for their members and the wider community to network and link with other people, community organisations as well as local, state and federal government agencies. IWAQ also has space to cater for its members and the wider community to meet and socialise on a twice-weekly basis.

In New South Wales, the Muslim Women’s Association (MWA) has a number of renovated houses in local suburbs. Two houses cater for their main administration while another one provides a refuge for women and their children seeking shelter and safety from domestic violent situations. While the label attached to their organisation state Muslim, their clientele are from Islamic and non-Islamic backgrounds. The executive officer, Maha Abdo, insists that one of the most important values of the

MWA is that they do not discriminate against anyone and that their doors are open to everyone. This allows their Muslim and non-Muslim members to cross boundaries and engage with one another in a safe and supported environment. MWA’s generation of social capital allows for meaningful connections and effective bridge-building.

In Victoria, ASIA youth utilises the Meadow Heights Mosque to worship together, conduct their business meetings as well as gather to socialise. They welcome other

Muslim groups to work with them and invite non-Muslims to tour the mosque as well as have iftar (break the fast) with them during the month of Ramadan. The Meadow

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Heights Mosque is central to creating all three forms of social capital for these young

Muslim men in Victoria.

4.4.2 The Creation of a Diversity of Spaces

Quite a number of Australian MCSOs interviewed are involved in the creation of spaces which allow for the support of diversity, interfaith and other bridge-building activities.

These organisations act as “brokers in community affairs and can offer a supporting context for building trusting relationships between local groups, both faith and secular” (Furbey, 2007, p. 37). This has been more evident in the post-9/11 context.

Many Australian MCSOs have devoted a huge amount to time, effort and space to creating meaningful dialogue and connections with other faith and non-faith groups.

The Australian Intercultural Society (AIS) was established in 2000 for the purpose of creating shared space for diverse groups of people to cooperate towards peacebuilding. In particular, it seeks to “bring people together to help overcome misunderstanding and prejudice and increasing community harmony and social inclusion. (They) do this through numerous intercultural and interfaith activities” (AIS,

2014). The activities of AIS include information sessions, open mosque awareness days, interfaith trips to different places of worship, local and overseas, conferences as well as the Noah’s Ark interfaith dinner, a unique experience where adherents of the

Abrahamic faith: Islam, Judaism and Christianity, share a meal (including Noah’s pudding) together on a boat travelling the Yarra River in Melbourne. This is a much loved and anticipated annual event.65

65 I attended this event in 2011 and the feedback from those who attended was extremely positive. 144

One of the oldest MCSOs in Australia, the United Muslim Woman’s Association (MWA) was established in 1983 as a community-based organisation catering for the social welfare of Australian Muslim women. Since the mid-1990s, however, MWA has been active in interfaith dialogue and bridge-building initiatives. One such initiative is the

“Voices of Peace” (VoP) which was officially launched in the NSW Parliament House by the former Premier, the Honourable Kristina Keneally. Discussing the VoP initiative,

Abdo stated that the program aimed:

To bring…the voices of Muslim women out of the court room, out of being

judged out into the open and we talk about Islam, say on the surf…coast of New

South Wales (with) surfy women, older surfy women, who see that there is a lot

of wisdom on the beach. So we went up there and we engaged with them and

talked with them about Muslim women, not sitting in a lecture room but sitting

on the beach (who) were wearing hijabs. They are wearing surfy clothes and it

was so creative and so spiritual because people are like we have made great

friends. They want to know so much about Islam– that created a space. That’s

what we wanted, a space where we can sit with our Aboriginal brothers and

sisters and talk about their spirituality and find commonalties and say okay we

agree on certain thing. But (what) we disagree on is not the end of life for us. So

the VoP initiative is taking those voices and discussions out in a very innovative

way.

Interfaith engagement is very important in terms of the MWA’s priority that on their promotional folder, engagement is listed as second, only after counselling.

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4.4.3 Involvement in Local Governance

Within this context, faith-based organisations venture beyond their faith communities and reach out to connect with other faith-based and nonfaith-based local organisations and official agencies, such as local councils and governmental bodies.

The interviews I conducted with the Australian MCSOs along with the information presented on their websites, facebook pages and other promotional literature indicate that all of the organisations were involved in local governance to ensure that the social capital generated was inclusive and not exclusive. Examples of such MCSOs include the

Al-Nisa Youth Group and Crescents of Brisbane from Queensland.

As an advocacy and support body for young Muslim women in Queensland, Al-Nisa

Youth Group works very closely with all levels of government: local, state and federal.

In one of their first sporting and recreational activities for their members, the Girls Day

Out, they liaised and worked closely with the Parents, Citizen, Youth Club (PCYC) as well as the Queensland Police Services (QPS) to coordinate the successful event. They sustained their connections with the PCYC and QPS through a number of other events and ensured that the dialogue remained opened. Representatives of the organisation also sit on a number of local, state and federal multicultural reference groups. The Al-

Nisa Youth Group also reaches out to other civil society organisations and local schools in their surrounding areas to connect, engage, and stimulate partnerships.

Crescents of Brisbane (CoB) is a non-profit community organisation based in Brisbane,

Queensland which is interested in “fostering a healthy lifestyle through sport,

146 entertainment, education and culture, particularly amongst Muslims in Queensland”

(CoB, 2014). Through its many initiatives and activities, it encourages engagement with other community organisations and seeks to maintain good relations with the local government representatives. In fact, at many of their large events (including their annual Crestwalk), Crescents of Brisbane ensure that representatives of government

(from all levels), government agencies and other community organisations are present to facilitate better engagement. Moreover, their weekly newsletter, Crescent

Community News (CCN), goes out to a huge readership of over 4,000 people every

Sunday, advising not only the Muslim communities but the non-Muslim communities as to what events and major news are occurring in the community; this medium also provides opportunities for government representatives to convey information, pertinent advice or well wishes to the CCN’s readership.

4.4.4 Engagement in Wider Society

The fourth point outlined by Furbey (2007) to ensure that community organisations do not remain exclusive and narrow due to an emphasis on bonding capital relates to engagement in the wider society. There are a number of Australian MCSOs who concur with this suggestion. Since its establishment in 2008, Sareera aims to provide opportunities and encouragement to young Muslim females with the necessary skills, knowledge and capacity to become successful leaders. In particular, the organisation’s promotional brochure states that Sareera aims to “integrate academic, personal and religious skills and Australian values in order to nurture active, responsible and positive citizens to benefit the Australian community” as well as “establish a cooperative,

147 unified and positive working relationship with the broader Australian community”

(Sareera, n.d.).

Another Victorian organisation which engages widely with the broader community is

Benevolence Australia. The vision of Benevolence Australia is dedicated to the worship and service of God, while acknowledging the sacredness of everything and everyone.

In doing so, they wish to serve the whole of humanity. Moreover, according to their website their “aim is to create an environment where people can come together and work in partnership in creating a more respectful and compassionate Australian community”. Some of the programs serving the wider community include youth camps, educational forums and workshops, community dinners, health and well-being initiatives, counselling, kinesiology, book clubs, school programs and spiritual retreats.

As articulated by the actors, Australian MCSOs are highly involved and proactive in generating high levels of all forms of social capital allowing for a more inclusive and cohesive society (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001). This is especially beneficial for Australian

Muslims who feel socially excluded from mainstream Australian society. Moreover, when Australian MCSOs are able to provide the bonding, bridging and linking forms of social capital, they are then able to facilitate pathways to social inclusion.

4.5 Australian MCSOs: Facilitating Pathways to Social Inclusion

Before I present the sub-themes related to social inclusion as revealed by the

Australian MCSO actors, I think it is helpful to begin by exploring the key concepts and characteristics related to this theme. This will allow for a more robust discussion after

148 the findings are delineated. Like social capital, there are also many definitions posited for social inclusion. One such example is the United Nations’ (2014) working definition which defines social inclusion as

the process by which efforts are made to ensure equal opportunities - that

everyone, regardless of their background, can achieve their full potential in life.

Such efforts include policies and actions that promote equal access to (public)

services as well as enable citizen’s participation in the decision-making

processes that affect their lives. (para. 5)

The UN also highlights that social inclusion is closely aligned with other concepts such as social integration whereby all members of the society (which are not necessarily homogenous) are able to fully belong, participate and are included in all aspects of society.

The concept of social inclusion originates from France in the 1970s, but it only became public social policy when the European Union (EU) reified the robust discussions on how to combat poverty, disadvantage and marginalisation in the 1980s and 1990s. It gained traction in Australia, when the former Premier of South Australia, the

Honourable Mike Rann, created the Social Inclusion Initiative (Hayes et al., 2008) to address issues of social and economic deprivation and marginalisation. Other states and territories in Australia adopted similar social inclusion frameworks and policies in the subsequent years. A nationwide initiative was finally created by the Labor

Government, under the leadership of the former Prime Minister, the Honourable Kevin

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Rudd; indeed it was considered to be one of the major priorities for the country at the

2020 Summit.66 The national Social Inclusion Agenda was presided by the Deputy

Prime Minister at that time, the Honourable Julia Gillard, who stated that the aim was a long-term focus at “creating prosperity with fairness” (Gillard, 2008).

Another term parallel to social inclusion is social exclusion; in fact, a thorough literature search yields more discussions on social exclusion than social inclusion. It is often argued by many that it is imperative to understand the processes involved in exclusion, before we can address issues to facilitate the processes of social inclusion

(see Taket, Crisp, Nevill, Lamaro, Graham & Barter-Godfrey, 2009). The process of social exclusion is generally accepted to be multidimensional and such excluding factors may include poverty, education, age, gender, health/disabilities, location and housing issues. However, many scholars and social and public policy commentators contend that understanding social exclusion only from these factors is limiting (Fraser,

1997; Lister, 2002). At the beginning of the social inclusion movement globally, Nancy

Fraser (1997) argues that the “struggle for recognition is fast becoming the paradigmatic form of political conflict in the late twentieth century” (p. 11). Radical democracy proponents agree with Fraser and insist that besides socio-economic inequality there are other aspects of inequality which can have an exclusionary impact on people, such race, religion and sexuality (Lister, 2002).

66 As the Social Inclusion Agenda website has been dismantled by the present Liberal Government, a detailed discussion of this can be found in Hayes et al. (2008) Social Inclusion: Origins, Concepts and Key Themes, Canberra: Australian Government. The report can be retrieved here: http://homelessness.energetica.com.au/dmdocuments/aifssocialinclusionreportoct2009.pdf 150

There are three popular approaches to understanding social inclusion/social exclusion as proposed by Ruth Levitas (1998); they are: SID, which refers to the social integrationist discourse and is popular in the UK and the EU; MUD, which is the moralistic discourse referring to the underclass, individual behaviour and values; and, finally, RED which articulates a redistributive, egalitarian discourse with notions of citizenship, social rights and social justice. Whichever approaches a national, state or local agency utilises, a general way of understanding social inclusion is to understand it in very utopian terms, that is of processes whereby those who are marginalised, excluded or denied in society have opportunities to be fully participating, integrated and valued citizens (Gray, 2002; Mansouri & Lobo, 2011). In the context of the discussed definitions, characteristics and approaches, I will now delineate the sub- themes of issues related to social inclusion as articulated by the Australian MCSO actors.

4.5.1 Sub-theme 1– ‘empower…through education and capacity building’: Participation in Education and Training

One of the main sub-themes related to the social inclusion processes involved

Australian MCSOs creating pathways and facilitating participation in education and training. Representative of MWNNA, Zubeida Raihman, highlighted that the majority of their programs revolved around this function. She stated, ‘We have leadership building…empower woman through education and capacity building.’ Raihman elaborated further on such programs:

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We ask our grassroots organisations to send their representatives and it’s

mostly free because (they are) government grants and they come and attend

this sort of training program. It’s hands-on training; it’s very well run. It used to

be run by our sister organisation in Victoria and they have special offices and

are highly qualified in that area. (We teach them) how to budget, how to plan,

how to relate, how to do interfaith, how to communicate.

Abdo from the MWA outlined that their organisation was primarily established to assist Australian Muslim women better participate in education and training. She explained, ‘Our target group is Muslim women, because Muslim women don’t have those facilities or the space to go anywhere else.’ She further outlined:

We educate, we train, skill them up and now they (the clients) are working at

various government and non-government organisations at a local and state and

national level. We encourage further education. We have a lot of young women

who started off with us as young people at our spiritual retreats and we

mentored (them) throughout the years, and (the) mentoring programs have

been run throughout the organisation for 21 years.

Salam El-Merebi stated that through their programs, the Al-Nisa Youth Group is able to

‘provide the public with education, especially the young Muslim women on parenting skills, leadership skills.’ In particular, Al-Nisa wanted to build and enhance the leadership capacity of their young committee members. El-Merebi discussed:

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We want the girls to learn that process of chairing. I do remember one girl we

had at one stage– she was really shy doing that, even though we all knew each

other, she was just reluctant and that was a really good experience for her. She

was asking what to do, how do I do it, and I was like you don’t have to really

prepare. You just have to make sure the meeting is going to agenda and that

we’re not running out of time. So it was really good practice for girls to get to

know how it is, and you never know in the election they might become the

president and if they are, they have to have that chairing kind of responsibility.

Hanan Dover spoke specifically about the Hayat Program, one of MoH’s initiatives to assist those vulnerable youth on the street. In particular, she discussed how important it was to ensure that the volunteers who engaged in this type of work were fully educated and trained appropriately so that they would be able to respond effectively.

It is interesting to note that a number of the Australian MCSO actors interviewed, especially the Muslim women’s organisations, referred to their religion, Islam, as being a source of social inclusion demands, especially in regards to education. For example,

Abdel-Salam stated:

… the interpretation of women and men in society in the Muslim community is

different than what is Islam, and the interpretation of equality is taken wrongly.

While they are all the same… their role is different. If we’re not educating

woman we have a bad society, unfortunately. And I am taking this all from

Islam. When we look at the history, Muslim women rule in Islam. What they are

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doing and the role they play is not only in the kitchen and cooking and cleaning;

it’s never been. They are leading women and look at Aisha67- we take our view

of Islam (from her). And he (the Prophet) never said that about any other

calipha (successor/ruler) but he said that about her. She was there and she

listened. She gave him advice and she taught the community…Muslims could

learn from this Islamic basis.

4.5.2 Sub-theme 2– ‘they have skilled up and furthered their education but they are still in senior positions in the organisations’: Facilitating Participation in Employment and in Voluntary Work

Another sub-theme related to the social inclusion process involves Australian MCSOs facilitating client, members and community participation in employment and voluntary work. Abdo commented about some of their past clients and stated, ‘They have skilled up and furthered their education but they are still in senior positions in the organisations and we have young women that will continue to come and we do a lot of volunteering, we provide volunteering programs.’ She further explained about one of their social enterprise projects to assist in obtaining paid employment and said,

We have a program where older women, utilising their sewing skills that they

learnt through the organisation, to make handbags out of recycled material.

67 Aisha binti Abu Bakr was the Prophet’s wife and is considered one of the most learned and active women in Islamic history. She was an outspoken and articulate scholar, a strong leader, a judge and a mufti (one who pronounces religious decrees). Francois-Cerrah (2012) writes, “She was known for her assertive temperament and mischievous sense of humour – with Muhammad sometimes bearing the brunt of the jokes. During his lifetime, he established her authority by telling Muslims to consult her in his absence; after his death, she went to become one of the most prolific and distinguished scholars of her time” (para. 13). http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/sep/17/muhammad- aisha-truth See also Bewley, A. (2004). Muslim Women: A Biographical Dictionary. London: Taha Publishers and Sa’d, M. (1995). The Women of Medina. London: Taha Publishers. 154

And then we set them up in a social enterprise, and hopefully that will take

them up; they are actually selling the handbags in markets.

Abdo revealed that one of the reasons why they established the MWA was to provide

Muslim women with employment opportunities. She stated:

I think in a nutshell the Muslim Women’s Association is to cater for Muslim

women in Australia, by Muslim women in Australia with the aim of creating a

safe, secure, trusted space to practise and implement our Islamic-Australian

identity, which involves every aspect of education, training, employment, social

issues of concern as new arrivals come to the country.

Abdel-Salam also discussed this aspect of social inclusion and impressed that that they wanted an organisation ‘which can be run by Muslim women to identify a woman’s need and create opportunity for Muslim women to work.’ Abdel-Salam clarified the reason for this:

Regardless of whether she is wearing the hijab or not, Muslim women can or

are able to do what other women are doing. Sometimes the language can be a

barrier, but it shouldn’t stop the person, the woman, who is intelligent and

coming from a country with some qualifications and experience that Australian

woman not have (to be able to get a job). So why not address this? So that’s

one of the major things which we thought of because we were discriminated

against. Why not…create opportunities for Muslims who want to work? So we

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(IWAQ) moved from two people working part-time to a hundred people working

now. 90% of them are Muslim; so we create opportunity.

Moreover, another important factor in the social inclusion process Abdel-Salam discussed was providing flexible working hours for people, especially Muslim women with children. IWAQ recognised that it was vital to meet this need so that people can still participate and integrate fully in society. Besides providing flexible working hours, the organisation is keen to provide onsite childcare, not only for its workers but for the community. She elucidated:

We need to provide assistance for this team and those in the office before and

after school. We are Muslim women, but we can be a mother, a wife, a widow.

They have kids- what will they do? They say, ‘I have kids and can only work from

9-3.’ This is an issue we need to help with so we said, ‘What about after and

before school care?’ This is one of our visions.

Beyond providing internal employment for just the organisation alone, one of their major goals is to help the community get the necessary education, training and skills to ensure that they are readily able to enter other areas of the work force. Abdel-Salam highlighted that

the major issue was to recruit workers, train them and get them a job with a

client…we have training opportunities. We have that team of people who need

training from literacy issue and English to Certificate III because some of them

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are interested in working but have no qualification at all. So we have to put

them in a level of domestic assistance, because it doesn’t need much training

but whenever (an) opportunity comes up this organisation is providing. We get

training organisations to provide Certificate III in Aged Care and Child Care.

Abdel-Salam also contended that, at times, people were reluctant to engage in some types of jobs because of the stigma involved. She explained,

They feel like, in the beginning people feel like ashamed working as a cleaner in

other people’s house, while they can do that as a volunteer. They do that in the

community. If it needs that support they go and do it but when it comes to paid

work, it’s not for us. I don’t want to be a cleaner. And I keep encouraging and

talking to them that it’s not a job as a cleaner, this is a job as a support worker.

Abdel-Salam concluded that IWAQ has been a stepping stone for many Muslim women in the community to be able to confidently gain employment in mainstream organisations. She stated:

Through the years I can easily say hundreds of Muslim women who worked with

us to get experience, to get the confidence, were able to move to other

organisations. So we are still an indirect way to mainstream organisations and

other service providers that Muslim woman cannot only access, but work for.

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El-Merebi discussed how the Al-Nisa Youth Group trained their volunteers and linked with other organisations to be able to deliver the services:

We ran a leadership workshop and we worked with Volunteer Queensland, and

we also did another program that dealt with child safety so we went to PPP

(Positive Parenting Program) and four of our board members got the training to

be able to run that for the Muslim community.

4.5.3 Sub-theme 3– ‘we bring in our expertise from outside’: Connecting Community with Other People and Resources

A third sub-theme related to social inclusion involves Australian MCSOs assisting the community in connecting with other people, groups and resources. For example,

Abdel-Salam stated that one of IWAQ’s main goals was to connect the community with much-needed resources. In particular, one of the major needs in the community was to provide appropriate aged care and respite facilities. With this knowledge, IWAQ applied for government funding to meet the community’s needs and set up the first

Muslim aged and respite care in Queensland. She elaborated that it was not necessarily an easy process:

The other side is to approach a client to tell them how to get the service

because the Muslim community in the beginning resisted the services. To get

the service, it’s very difficult- people would say: ‘oh how will the community

look at me? I’m not looking after my parent; I am getting someone from

outside to come to my place and help. They will go out and talk about me.’ So

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confidentiality was a big issue, how the community would talk about them was

an issue.

Abdel-Salam explained how IWAQ was able to assuage the community’s concerns:

(We) kept telling them that this is a service which the government is giving you

as a taxpayer. And also it will never take away your role, it will never. The

carer’s role is 24/7 and we are only providing four hours per week. That’s

nothing if we give you that support to continue and the government pays us to

do that. So (we) use different strategies and approaches. Now there are many

people approaching us- how can we get the service?

Through MoH, Dover discussed how they were able to connect local Muslim women to essential resources. She stated, ‘We used to have for about six years, swimming programs, teaching women how to swim. That support is given now to the Department of Sports and Recreation.’ She stressed that MoH encouraged obtaining training and expertise from outside to enable for more effective delivery. She articulated:

We get our awareness, understandings, education and information, knowledge

from outside Mission of Hope and we bring it into Mission of Hope. So that’s

how we do our things, we don’t just rely on our own knowledge. It’s not as if we

have a strict framework from which we operate from, so we are bringing in our

expertise from outside into Mission of Hope.

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Abdo observed that MWA also responded to the community’s needs to connect with necessary resources so that they could become more socially integrated. She stated,

A lot of women have said they want to learn how to drive, so that is something

that we are now putting together with the local council and providing them

with an instructor. And we have someone here who can help them with the

process, and these are women who have mainly been in isolation or don’t have

any other support in the community.

Abdo also spoke about the importance of connecting with other people in the community. One of their key initiatives to facilitate better social inclusion for the community involves mentoring. She elaborated on the concept:

Mentoring is part of the Islamic tradition and we did that (through MWA),

because when I was growing up I didn’t have a mentor. And so we began with

the question- how do you provide mentoring to young women? You don’t just

go let’s be, I will be your mentor you become my mentee. But Islamic traditions

provide that in a very relaxed non-invasive way where you don’t dictate to the

other person what they should and shouldn’t do.

In addition to connecting the community to much needed resources and services,

Abdel-Salam discussed the importance of connecting people to each other. She noted:

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…we find what the issues are for them and they want to enter some religious

class and we managed to get the school to give us room over in Bardon Street in

Woodridge. At one of the schools, we get the imam to come and give classes.

Everything was established also at the Mt Gravatt School, and then at

Macgregor School. Anytime we get an issue we tried to address it or get people

who support that issue.

Salam El-Merebi spoke about the same need for young Muslim women in Brisbane and commented:

We wanted young Muslim girls out of their houses and getting them into

something that is active and becoming more active and part of the community.

We thought so maybe if they find a Muslim group, that is run by young Muslim

women, who are from the community, known by the community, they (the

parents/guardians) will be able to let them out more. And amazingly, it worked

out that way.

El-Merebi elaborated on the types of activities they implemented to make those necessary connections:

At the beginning, we had a couple of Girls Days Out, which mainly focused on

sports. So we would have on a weekend, we would hire out the PCYC, and then

we would get girls to come along and play sports. It was really interesting

because that was the first time, where we found young Muslim girls that you

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don’t really see much in the community coming out, such as Lebanese young

Muslim girls, who don’t really integrate much in the community, they did come.

We also had reverts, Muslim reverts, come which was also great.

Moreover, El-Merebi stressed that it was important that Al-Nisa provided the necessary training and expertise to their volunteers, including obtaining that training from outside of their organisation. She stated, ‘So we do go out and work with non-

Muslim organisations to get ourselves also educated and trained before we deliver it to the community.’ She expounded on some of the connections and networks they have linked the community with on previous projects:

We worked with the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland (YANQ) on a report

about Muslim women and sports, and that was pretty interesting. It was a

research done by them and they got Al-Nisa involved because we were doing

the sporting events at that time, so it was a really interesting report. When we

had the youth workers they used to deliver a lot of Islamic awareness training to

non-Muslim organisations, even corporate organisations. Rio Tinto also got

them to go and talk to their clients because they were getting just one Muslim

worker; they got us to come and speak to the entire organisation about it.

El-Merebi then explained that this relationship with the other organisations, especially non-Muslim organisations, translated into creating links and connections with their own members, clients and the wider community and observed: ‘so we did get a lot of contacts and with the youth workers (of al-Nisa) at the time part of their job was to go

162 out and get themselves known by non-Muslim organisations and present themselves to non-Muslim organisations to be able to work with them on youth issues.’

Similarly, Buday from ASIA Youth discussed how their organisation worked with the local mosque and local community centre to assist their members and others in the community. He elaborated:

We have got an alliance with the Meadow Heights Learning Shop which is right

across Meadow Heights Mosque. It’s really like a community centre open to the

wider community there, and we have been to their open day and presented and

formed a few alliances there. If there is anything that the mosque can do to

contribute or assist with the local community we have got bonds there. What

we have encouraged is members from our community who might be facing

things such as language difficulties to go to their learning centre and attend

their courses.

Buday fondly shared a story from one of the connections and related: ‘one thing that we had out of that was the ex-Sheik or imam of Meadow Heights mosque who passed away this year, was learning English at their learning centre at 65, and that was something that was amazing at that age- you had the Imam go across the road to learn English.’

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4.5.4 Sub-theme 4– ‘to have a voice, a voice within the community’: Assisting with Advocacy

A final sub-theme related to the social inclusion process revolves around Australian

MCSOs assisting their clients, members and the community with advocacy. Zubeida

Raihman discussed the MWNNA’s role in providing advocacy and training women to be their own advocates. She explained that “it’s about empowering women, Muslim women and it’s about educating them.” She also stated that their organisation wanted to assist “Muslim women (in) making a difference in the community. And how are they are making a difference? They are making a difference by using knowledge- so knowledge is power. That’s our main area of emphasis.” Raihman further stressed that

part of the women’s network was advising them(their members and clients) on

what the government has in store and representing the women to the

government.…the organisation is a voice for women. We have one project we

called it “Shout” and you can see it on our webpage. It’s a voice for women. We

are trying to educate and mentor women, young women. It’s a project for

young women to have a voice, a voice within the community, to fight the

negatives.

Abdel-Salam also explained that one of her roles as manager of IWAQ involved advocating on behalf of Muslim women. She contended:

I have to go and talk to other workers and other organisations about Muslim

women especially when they go to the refuge. And I was like Muslim women

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have strict food issues, religious issues, cultural issues. They (Muslim women)

feel discriminated there; they are abused by other women in the refuge. A

woman who is a victim can be a bully, especially by other woman Australian

woman. They look at her and ask why you wearing this rubbish? You are from

Australia.

She further elaborated about the pertinent need to advocate on issues of religious and cultural sensitivities, particularly for Muslim women. She contended:

It’s not proper accommodation, and the privacy has been a huge issue and

that’s why they move out back to their situation (domestic violence)…. the

shelter is not suitable for Muslim women and no one talks about it because it is

a taboo issue and domestic violence is shame…The part that I enjoy is going to

talk to workers in shelters in other organisations about Muslims and about our

religion.

Dover from MoH discusses how the Justice and Arts Network (JAAN), a branch of MoH, is a safe place ‘where young people can get together creatively and discuss social justice issues and creative expression.’ According to the JAAN website, that ‘based on the premise that given a voice, the youth must and will feel empowered and confident in their ability be part of the solution, all towards benefiting them as individuals and towards the community as a whole. JAAN also aims ‘to develop, establish and promote a wide range of essential and innovative grassroots activities and services to address the needs, rights and entitlements that are designed to get people involved in creating

165 a community that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable’ (JAAN,

2014).

A major issue facing the Australian Muslim community relates to terrorism and counter-terrorism. As a result of this, the Australian MCSOs felt that some Australian

Muslim youth may feel socially excluded. Buday discussed this phenomenon and explained how ASIA Youth can assist the Muslim community in advocating on these pertinent issues. He stated:

I have spoken to people in Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police

where they talk about the anti-terrorism unit. (It) is basically the counter-Islamic

terrorism unit. That’s what it has basically been made for, but there is not

enough people of Islamic background at grassroots level who have a voice, who

can actually influence what is happening in those units or when there is

legislation passed. I found out there is an independent reviewer but there is only

three part-time staffers on this independent review of terrorism laws.

Buday further discussed how vital it is to ensure that the Australian Muslim community advocate effectively on these issues. He insisted:

How do you prevent these laws being inappropriate, being invasive, being

inadequate in general if you don’t have that Muslim input? It really comes back

down to being more aware and very alert. Again it’s probably very broad and

general but the aim is to help the youth growing up to become more aware of

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events affecting Muslims. Not only will it help them personally but if they can

voice their opinions it will help the Muslim community at large go forward

because the only way you stop this from happening is by making people aware

of the facts or the truth or maybe some of the background information to help

rectify some of the erroneous information.

The phenomenological interviews with the Australian MCSOs reveal that there are four sub-themes related to the processes of social inclusion; they are: participating in education and training, facilitating participation in employment and in voluntary work, connecting to other people and resources, and assisting members and the community in advocacy. The next section will elucidate on these four sub-themes and discuss and analyse it with relevant literature.

4.6 A Description and Discussion of Facilitating Pathways to Social Inclusion

It is interesting to note that the Australian Government defines a socially inclusive society as “one in which all Australians feel valued and have the opportunity to participate fully in our society” (Australian Government, 2011). Accordingly,

achieving this vision means that all Australians will have the resources,

opportunities and capability to learn by participating in education and training

work by participating in employment, in voluntary work and in family and

caring; engage by connecting with people and using their local community’s

resources; and have a voice so they can influence decisions that affect them.

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(cited in Hayes et al. as the website has been closed by the present

government)

The findings above indicate that Australian MCSOs are providing these exact services for their clients, members and the community as a whole. When I mentioned this to one of the MCSO actors involved in this study her response was that the organisation she represents and manages, the MWA, had been engaging in facilitating pathways for the social inclusion of Australian Muslims from the start of the organisation’s establishment. Abdo further explained:

Well nothing changed. They (the Australian Government) brought it (Social

Inclusion Agenda) out in 2007, but we didn’t initiate it. We have been doing it

since day one. We did not engage in getting any of the funding for social

inclusion because we said we have already been doing that.

Interestingly, Abdo articulated that the motivation for developing and implementing programs to address social inclusion issues derives from a faith basis, rather than a secular one. She argued:

Islam is for social inclusion, this is an actual fact. For the Government, it’s a new

thing- it’s great. But for us, it is not only great, it is something that we do every

day. That’s where we say you have called it social inclusion we have called it

partnership, collaboration. We have called it working with real people and

that’s what our organisation was set up for in the beginning, by and for the

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same people. It’s encouraging other people to be involved with you and to not

discriminate between this, that and the other.

This sentiment is echoed by the research and experiences of other Muslim civil society actors in other Western societies. For example, in Ali, Jamoul and Vali’s (2012) report,

A New Covenant of Virtue: Islam and Community Organising, these seasoned MCSO actors argue that “Muslim communities need to lead and participate in positive change in their societies. Muslim communities need to work together, deliberately and consistently finding allies and building relationships within its diverse communities and beyond” (p. 17). The authors particularly stress on the importance of harnessing social capital, that is relationship building, trust and network and contend that “no community is as strong individually as it is collective” (p. 17). Moreover, they base their argument on the Qu’ran, specifically chapter 5: verse 268 and chapter 13, verse 11.69

Beyond issues of social capital, Ali et al. (2012) also discuss that many of the social inclusion processes such as leadership capacity and training, volunteering and advocacy can be derived from an Islamic basis, as similarly argued by a number of

Australian MCSO actors interviewed in this study.

The literature on social inclusion and Muslims in the Australian milieu mainly appears to be contextualised within the discussions of multiculturalism and citizenship

(Akbarzadeh & Yasmeen, 2005; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008;70

68 Chapter 5: verse 2 in the Quran reads: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” 69 Chapter 13, verse 11 reads: “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” 70. http: www.dfat.gov.au/facts/engaging_with_muslim_community.html

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Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, 2010; Mansouri & Lobo, 2011).

One of the major reports on social inclusion and Australian Muslims is the report by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008) entitled, Engaging with Australia’s

Muslim Communities. It details the Government’s official stance on engaging with

Australian Muslims and on encouraging the dialogue between Muslims and non-

Muslims in Australia. The website also highlights the National Action Plan which aims to foster “social cohesion” and “harmony” as well as “addressing isolation and marginalisation.” In particular, the report recommends and emphasises an engagement with Australian Muslim youth through Muslim civil society organisations.

A number of other government reports and studies notably focus on issues related to

Australian Muslim youth and social inclusion. For instance, Noble and Poynting’s

(2010) study explore the “racial vilification” of young Arab and Australian Muslims in the context of social inclusion, belonging and citizenship. The authors interviewed 186 participants and found a significant number of respondents faced exclusion based on

"every-day racism” that is the smaller, often unnoticed, racism in Australian society.

They note that as a result of this, public use of space can be used to identify and mark who is included and excluded, such as the Cronulla riots.

It is noteworthy that the concentration of the literature is on government policies, discourses and rhetoric which may be seen as exclusionary, especially policies related to refugees and asylum seekers and issues related to security post-9/11 (Saeed &

Akbarzadeh, 2001; Humphrey, 2010; Vertigans, 2010.) This can be problematic and limiting as Muslims “are constantly made aware of the conditionality of their citizenship” (Humphrey, 2010, p. 56). Thus, the social exclusion and inclusion of

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Muslims is not a simple nor straightforward process; rather, it is multidimensional, complex and intersects a number of different variables; it involves not only the social and economic processes, but also demands a refocus on the social and political policing and securitising measures by the state to ensure that socially excluded

Muslims are managed so that they do not disrupt or harm the state.

In the broader context of social inclusion, the literature demonstrates that Australian

Muslims are themselves concerned about issues of education, employment housing, participation and access to services; they are also very aware of the impact the external political events have had on their social exclusion and inclusion within the

Australian wider society (Hassan, 2010; Mansouri et al., 2011; Johnston, Vasey &

Markovic, 2009). Yasmeen’s (2008) study, Understanding Muslim Identities: From

Perceived Relative Exclusion to Inclusion, reports that since 9/11 and the bombings in both London and Bali, many Australian Muslims feel excluded from mainstream society as a consequence of the rhetoric used about Islam and Muslims, discussions on

Australian values and the media coverage related to Islam and Muslim. Hassan (2010,

2011) in his recent investigation of Muslims in Australia also confirms that Muslims are socially and economically disadvantaged and excluded. Using results from the 2006

ABS Census, Hassan observes that despite high education levels, Australian Muslims are more likely to be underrepresented in high paying jobs, have lower incomes, lower home ownership and high unemployment; additionally, a significant percentage of

Australian Muslim children live in poverty.

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Hence, recognising that Islam or external manifestations of it such as dress or even one’s name can be elements of exclusion, one of the major reasons for the establishment of some Australian MCSOs, particularly the Muslim women’s organisations, was to facilitate and create employment opportunities especially for

Muslim women. Abdel-Salam from IWAQ made this point very clear in her interview when she stated that this was one of the reasons for their establishment, due to the fact that unfortunately, Muslim women who visibly adhere to the Islamic attire of modesty in the public sphere were often discriminated against in the employment arena. In fact, there are quite a number of Muslim women who find it difficult to obtain jobs (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2004; Poynting &

Mason, 2008; Yasmeen, 2010). Nahid Kabir (2008) also reached a similar conclusion in her study of Muslims in Sydney. She contends that “some…who wore the hijab found their Australian identity was questioned and they felt less connected to Australia because they felt rejected in the labour market” (p. 23).

Furthermore, some Muslims may face not only exclusion from the wider society, but also from within their Muslim community; Yasmeen (2008) terms it the experience as

“double exclusion.” Her study suggests several ways to bridge the divide between exclusion and inclusion, including changed government rhetoric about Muslims and

Islam; a more holistic government-Muslim engagement beyond issues related to youth and women in hijabs; awareness that the social exclusion is also a racial issue, not just religious; and finally a raised-awareness regarding the diversity of Australian Muslims.

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It must important to note that while these reports and studies provide pragmatic suggestions on how to work towards the social inclusion of Australian Muslims, the focus of these suggestions tend to be on how the government can provide these solutions. What is lacking in the literature is the recognition of the Australian Muslim community’s role in initiating and executing the programs needed to address complex issues of social inclusion and exclusion. In other words, there is a lack of focus on the agency of the Australian MCSOs in proactively responding to the needs of their own communities as well as the broader community and endeavouring to change the circumstances. Notably, Australian MCSOs, as the findings in this chapter clearly show, are creating pathways and access for Australian Muslims to better participate, engage in and contribute to the wider society. They are able to assist Australian Muslims not only feel included but exercise a right to belong in Australia. This sense of belonging and issues of identity is further explored in Chapter 6.

The findings also revealed that there is a targeted approach to the social inclusion processes by the Australian MCSOs. It is not governments, policy makers or well- intentioned bureaucrats taking a top-down approach, dictating what types of programs or initiatives are needed to assist people feel socially included; rather the

Australian MCSOs are in touch and regularly meet with their clients, members and the community to gauge what is needed. For instance, as a result of consultation with the

Muslim community in Sydney, it was revealed that quite a number of Muslim women felt isolated and socially excluded because they were not able to drive. MWA immediately approached the local council; soon the necessary linguistically and culturally sensitive arrangements were made to assist the Muslim women in their

173 learner drivers’ instruction. All of the organisations included in this study advised that they all have regular consultations with the community in order to better meet the needs of the community. Similarily, Cobigo, Ouelette-Kuntz, Lysaght and Martin (2012) in wanting to better comprehend the shift in understanding of the social inclusion process conducted a literature review on these issues and conclude that community- based civil society organisations have a major role to play in this process (see also

Mansouri & Lobo, 2011l Mansouri, Lobo & Latrache, 2011). They contend that “a growing body of evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of community-based supports and services that are person-centered and help people assume meaningful roles and relationships in society” (p. 78).

Another issue which became apparent after consultations with not only the Australian

Muslim communities but with various governmental bodies, including the New South

Wales Police department was the issue of troubled youth. As a result of this targeted approach, Mission of Hope and the Lebanese Muslim Association in Sydney launched the Hayat (Arabic word meaning life) House, to rehabilitate those addicted to drugs and alcohol in a “culturally appropriate community-based” manner. Managed by a professional psychologist, Hayat House has its own “Millati Islami” 12-Step Program, which is a “fellowship of men and women, joined together on the ‘Path of Peace’”

(MoH, 2014).

An additional issue affecting youth is education. Buday from ASIA Youth stressed that this was one area which his organisation along with other MCSOs need to help the youth with in terms of the social inclusion process. He explained:

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I think a massive issue with the Muslim circle in general is education, a real lack

of knowledge. So a lot of what we do is encouraging the younger generation to

educate and as long as it’s the same principles Islam teaches, revelations, that

is the Prophet was encouraged to read so that is definitely a philosophy that we

take in what we do. One of the advantages for our organisations is that ASIA is

actually the proprietor of the college so we have a strong link with them so a lot

of our students at the college actually come to our events and functions as well

so we have developed a bond there. We really pushed the educational front and

hopefully bring that to the forefront and encourage them to be as

knowledgeable as possible and help them with their religion which will help

them with their career aspirations and just help them become more refined,

well rounded individuals in general.

It is important to also note that Australian MCSOs feel that their role is to not only create a safe environment for Muslims to be socially included in society, but additionally to give a sense of ownership to those participants. The interviews revealed that this is especially true for young Muslims. For instance, El-Merebi of the Al-Nisa

Youth Group explained that it was important for all the members of their management board to take turns chairing where she stated, ‘We want the girls to learn that process of chairing.’ El-Merebi added that the experience has helped that particular committee member overcome her shyness in a safe space, allowing her to strengthen her self- esteem and boost her self-confidence which helped suitably prepare her for her future job or her roles in other organisations.

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4.7 Conclusion

After highlighting the concepts and key terms associated with issues of social capital, social exclusion and social inclusion, this chapter focussed on how this is addressed within the context of the Australian Muslim communities. In particular, it then elucidated the concept of social capital from the perspectives of Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam and understood it to be the interaction and connection of individuals leading to trust, shared norms and reciprocity. Although it was observed by some scholars that faith-based organisations can be obstacles of social capital if they only emphasis bonding capital, the findings clearly show that the Australian MCSOs are able to provide positive social capital in all three forms: bonding, bridging and linking for their members through the use of faith buildings, the creation of a diversity of spaces that support interfaith and secular associations, involvement in local governance and engagement in the wider society as recommended by Furbey, 2007). Moreover, as a result of these connections, MCSOS are able to facilitate pathways to social inclusion for ordinary Muslims.

This chapter also expounded that while many reports and studies provide pragmatic suggestions on how to work towards the social inclusion of Australian Muslims, the concentration on these suggestions tend to focus on how the government can provide these solutions. What is lacking in the literature is the recognition of the Australian

Muslim community’s role in initiating and executing the programs needed to address such issues of social exclusion. Indeed, as this chapter reveals Australian MCSOs are

176 proactively engaging with their communities to ensure that they are responding to these issues.

Moreover, it is widely acknowledged that external variables such as political or terrorist events and internal factors such as focused policing and securitising measures in addition to the debates on Australian values and sense of belonging have engendered challenges for Australian Muslims in the social exclusion and social inclusion processes. However, despite all these challenges, it appears that MCSOs are focused on providing pathways for Australian Muslims to be fully included in society, to not only improve their own lives, but to locate organised and legitimate avenues to contribute to the building and empowerment of the community in which they live.

Accordingly, the phenomenological interviews with the actors in this study clearly demonstrate that Australian MCSOs are full agents in the social inclusion process, providing the vital education, training, employment, voluntary, networking and advocacy opportunities and initiatives for their clients, members and others in the community.

Additionally, as discussed earlier in this chapter, these organisations can also help facilitate a better understanding of a model of citizenship which is more inclusive. As

Lister (2002) urges “an inclusive model will also be internationalist and multilayered, taking on board notions of global citizenship and its associated responsibilities” (p. 45).

This comment will be further explored in subsequent chapters as Australian MCSOs navigate the impacts of the events of 11 September, as well as assist Australian

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Muslims negotiate their identity in the multicultural, religiously pluralistic Australian public sphere.

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Chapter 5 Visible and Vocal Voices of Islam: The Impact of 9/11 on Australian Muslim Civil Society Organisations

5.1 Introduction

One of the main clustered themes that arose from the 30 in-depth phenomenological interviews with MCSO actors in Australia was the impact the tragic events of 9/11 had on them. This chapter begins with an outline of how studies focussing on the responses of Muslim organisations and individuals to 9/11 revealed that many MCSOs were ‘obligated’ to participate and engage in three main activities: interfaith dialogue, media engagement and consultation with all levels of government. The findings from this study, however, reveal that what is lacking in the literature is the impact these engagements have had on the organisations. Accordingly, this chapter proceeds to present the key sub-themes which emerged from these interviews about the impact

9/11 had on Australian MCSOs, which were a shift in focus; feeling ill-equipped to deal with the frenzy; mistrust and criticism from within the Muslim communities; exhaustion; resilience; creating more transparent, open communities; and emphasising pluralism. These findings have also revealed how Islam is manifested within these contexts.

5.2 The Impact of 9/11 on Muslim Civil Society Organisations in Australia

As a consequence of 9/11, Muslims living in Western countries faced complex and major challenges. In Australia, research showed that many Australian Muslims

179 struggled with prejudice, discrimination and vilification in the post-9/11 context.71 As a result, many did not feel accepted as Australians and frequently had to prove their loyalty to Australia (Deen, 2003; Mason, 2004; Poynting, 2002). Others retreated from society as they felt unwanted, insecure and fearful about their safety (HREOC, 2003;

Mason 2004). Hanifa Deen (2003) poignantly observes this in her interviews with other

Australian Muslims:

I found my Muslim and Arab comrades acknowledging 2001 as a defining

moment in their existence in Australia. I discovered them reeling from events,

near and far, which had impacted on all our lives. They were stunned, that,

almost overnight, people were repulsed by them and doubted their

commitment to Australia. (p. 9)

Deen (2003) further adds that “in turn, many Muslims began to feel that Australia was no longer a safe place for them” (p. 386). As a result of the backlash faced by Muslims in Australia, Australian MCSOs found themselves having to provide urgent, yet strategic responses to assist both the Muslim community and the wider community to build better relations. The scholarly literature on MCSOs’ responses to 9/11 identifies three main forms of interaction with the wider society: interfaith dialogue with other religious groups, media engagement, and consultation with government.

One of the most common responses to 9/11 was the need for MCSOs to engage in interfaith dialogue (Bullock, 2005; Huda, 2007; Khan, 2002; McGinty, 2012; Muedini,

71In NSW, there were 400 reports made, alleging physical and verbal assaults on Australian Muslims (Legge, 2002). Vilification post 9/11 was reported as twenty times higher in Victoria than in 2000 (Jabbour, 2002). 180

2009). As Salem (2010) asserts: “the iftar open house became as regular an affair as religious observance” (p. 254). Increased interfaith activities around the world have also been reported by Barkdull et al. (2011) in a study investigating the experiences of

Muslims in four Western countries post-9/11. The participants in their study “stressed that it is critical that Muslims and non-Muslims reach out to each other at the grassroots level to improve understanding while developing relationships that are built on trust and mutual respect” (p. 149). The Muslim students in Muedini’s (2009) investigation similarly emphasised the necessity of interfaith engagement.

Several scholars, however, note that this has not always been the case. Eyadat (2012) observes that for over a thousand years dialogue has been relatively absent from

Muslim practice. If there was any type of Muslim dialogue with non-Muslims, Takim

(2004) states it was more about preaching and converting or debating and refuting the belief of the other. However, in recent times, and particularly after 9/11, interfaith dialogue has become a necessary intellectual interaction and engagement to facilitate better inter-community relationships.

MCSOs not only participated in interfaith dialogue, they were also instrumental in establishing a number of interfaith initiatives globally post-9/11. Some of the better known initiatives include The Amman Message, A Common Word between Us and You,

Better Understanding for a Better World (BUWB), and the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC).

The latter two stressed not only interfaith knowledge and dialogue, but interfaith service and action. Eyadat (2012) contends that that these initiatives and dialogues will

181 allow for the “mitigation and eventual deconstruction of the many binaries existent between Muslims and non-Muslims” (p. 515).

Although a small number of Australian Muslim initiatives and organisations were dedicated to interfaith activities prior to 9/11, such as Affinity and the Australian

Intercultural Society (AIS), the tragedy provided the much needed impetus for more

Australian MCSOs leaders and activists to become engaged in interfaith activities. Zia

Ahmed, president of Islamic Forum on Education and Welfare (IFEW) notes that their organisation starting engaging in interfaith activities ‘the time after 9/11’ with an increase in interfaith activities ‘happening maybe 5 years ago.’ Zubeda Raihman concurred and stated: ‘we had… interfaith going before, but it became stronger after

9/11, because we are actively saying the things we need to say.’

MCSOs across Australia, including mosques, participated in interfaith exchanges and forums, organised open-mosque days, as well as visits to each other’s places of worship (Abdalla, 2010; Yasmeen, 2007). Deen (2003) observes:

Almost overnight Muslims had become the most unpopular group in Australian

society and they were coming to an understanding that they needed to

emphasise to fellow citizens a sense of shared values. They needed deeper and

more regular dialogue instead of the occasional fending off of criticism. (p. 387)

Galila Abdel-Salam, Manager of the Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland

(IWAQ) expounded:

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We had a few events immediately after September 11, in I think October. We

have women get together to talk about this and it was well attended by

different non-Muslim women’s organisations. We have held fashion-show

nights and other women’s only nights, sports days and other events where we

bring other women from Australia and other cultures.

In particular, Abdel Salam spoke about how the interfaith dialogues after 9/11 impacted on their organisation. She reflected on one of the events, the Abrahamic

Faith Conference and Concert:

The event was held last year, and the process was important for me. When I

was involved there was a young woman who was a Jew. Through the process of

working together, we built good relations. For me truly I have that brick wall

which I grew up with. I never talked to a Jewish man or Jewish woman before

that event and I was really, you can see yourself holding yourself back. Then I

relaxed and thought to myself, this is a human being, he’s not my enemy. My

enemy is the Israeli Government, who is taking that land from Palestinians, but

this person beside me is not to blame. So I start to relax, having that

relationship more of how to… I don’t know how to express it, to break all this

war between human beings. There is nothing wrong with us to provide this and

you receive it from someone else.

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Like other Muslims living as minorities in the post-9/11 context, Australian Muslims engaged in interfaith initiatives as an intellectual way to dispel misconceptions about

Muslims and Islam, supported by like-minded people. As Salam El-Merebi, co-founder and president of the Al-Nisa Youth Group, explained, the interfaith conversations assist in ‘breaking stereotypes and building more bridges between community groups and the wider community as well.’ Moreover, because these dialogues create bridges of understanding for better religious co-existence, they provide increased visibility for

Muslims in the Australian pluralistic religious milieu.

Another disruption to MCSOs’ normal activities was the constant need for media engagement. MCSOs leaders have had to be available for interviews not only about the basics of Islam, but issues such as human rights, gender relations, politics, the economy and other social issues. MCSO leaders have had to be confident, charismatic and articulate voices for Islam, a role for which they did not necessarily train. They have had to publicly and repeatedly distance themselves from the ‘ubiquitous’ extremist, terrorist, jihadist, fundamentalist and militant Muslim.

In America, Muslim public relations campaigns, specifically related to 9/11, appeared nationally on television, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards declaring Muslim patriotism and loyalty to America (Alsultany, 2007). For example, the Council of

American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights advocacy group, ran the billboard campaigns ‘I am an American Muslim’ immediately after 9/11; more recently, it showcased an American Muslim NYPD sergeant, human rights activist, an athlete, an academic, as well as an attorney. These 15 second, ‘I am an American. I am

184 a Muslim’ ads were played every hour for 18 hours a day for three weeks. CAIR-NY director Faizia Ali stated in a press release:

This public service advertisement features ordinary American Muslims whose

everyday lives are dedicated to building community and serving country. This

initiative is part of our ongoing effort to ensure that a fair and accurate

portrayal of Islam and Muslims is presented to the American public. (CAIR,

2009)

While there is ample research on Muslims and media engagement in other Western countries, the Australian experience is largely an unexplored area (Rane, Ewart &

Abdalla, 2010). Dreher’s work (2010), however, is one of the few investigating this phenomenon. She outlines the Muslim community media interventions, developed post-9/11 which include ‘media monitoring and complaints’, ‘media-skills training’,

‘media advocacy’, ‘training journalists’, ‘building relationships’, ‘comedy’ and ‘media production’. Moreover, Dreher (2010) states that the active participation and engagement of Australian Muslims in the media has resulted in “an expanded media agenda and shifting representations of Muslim Australians and Muslim communities” as well as “considerable changes and improvements in news media reporting since

2001” (p. 196). Nevertheless, she cautions that these media interventions are not sufficient to dramatically change media conventions and agenda and remarks that there are still many challenges which need to be addressed.

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Literature on Muslims in the West post-9/11 also concentrates on Muslim consultation and engagement with the different levels of government (Choudhury 2011; Huda,

2006; Spalek & Imatoul, 2007; Yousif, 2005). Much of the scholarship observes that because of the challenges faced by Western Muslims post-9/11, many MCSOs were keen to engage with the government. Huda (2006) argues that in America “greater surveillance... (and) discriminatory statements against Islam have created instant challenges for American Muslims to develop coalitions, and partnerships with law enforcement agencies, politicians, and other organisations” (p. 189). The British

Government was no different with regard to its outreach with the Muslim community.

In particular, Birt (2006) highlights that unlike the French experience, the British

Government did not prefer to “make direct interventions” (p. 700) but rather allowed for the Muslim community to regulate their own affairs, with funding assistance from government grants. Commenting on the Canadian experience, Yousif (2005) adds that

Muslim engagement with all levels of government is positive as it has allowed for greater networking and lobbying on issues of importance for Muslims; it has also encouraged Muslims to enter the political scene themselves as candidates.

In the Australian context, one of the first major political engagements was the dialogue between members of the Muslim Community Reference Group (MCRG) and the

Federal Australian Government (Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

(DIMA), 2006).72 Following this, each state and territory government established

7272 The MCRG formed for a year and recommended 40 projects making up a number of focus areas for government, MCSOs and imams to concentrate on. The areas of focus include: 1) addressing marginalisation; 2) employment; 3) education and training; 4) community engagement; and 5) leadership. For full details see the Building on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security: An Action Plan by the Muslim Community Reference Group (DIAC, September 2006). http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/19710/2006_Muslim_Community_Reference_ Group_Report.pdf 186 engagements with their own Muslim Reference Group. It is worth noting that many of these engagements were specifically related to counter-terrorism strategies; this is problematic on many levels, particularly since the agenda, terms of reference and even participants were set and chosen by the government (Spalek & Imtoual, 2007).

Aside from these broad engagements, individual MCSOs also increased their political engagement in the post-9/11 context. Yasmeen (2007) observes that quite a number of Muslim women’s organisations in Australia expanded their agenda and began to engage in ‘political activism and advocacy.’ In particular, she cites one of the peak

Muslim women’s organisations, where after 9/11, Sydney-based Muslim Women’s

National Network of Australia (MWNNA) had “representing the views of Muslim women to the federal, state and local government and to government agencies throughout Australia” as their second most important agenda, after networking. Buday from ASIA Youth also stated in the interviews, ‘Since then (11 September 2001), I think, there has been a real attempt to form closer alliances with government bodies, local councils. For example we keep in contact with the AFP, Australian Federal Police.’ He further elaborated:

The actual work that went in there was the ICV (Islamic Council of Victoria) and

the Australian Federal Police and the Cabinet Departments, Multicultural Affairs

and Citizenship (DIAC). So things like this weren’t happening a decade ago. But

what has happened is actually, it’s actually had the opposite effect. It’s funny,

from a negative a positive has been born and that’s us really working or

attempting to work more closely with government bodies. Out of a negative,

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which is September 11, obviously a huge tragedy, it has forced the hand of

NGOs and government bodies to really work together to prevent isolation of

communities. There are obviously things that can still be worked on but there

have been massive leaps and bounds in that area.

Since September 11, there have also been a number of Muslims entering Australian politics. In local governance, Australian Muslim mayors include Bill Baarini, Pinar Yesil and Ned Manoon among others. The first Muslim federal member of the Australian

Parliament is Chiefly Member Ed Husic. Additionally, Adem Somyeruk has served as

Labor State MP in Victoria since 2002 and recently Dr Mehreen Faruqi became a

Greens party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2013. A number of other Australian Muslims have run for political office, but were unsuccessful such as

Irfan Yusuf, Rebecca Kay, Emad Soliman and Yasmin Khan among others.

While there is a significant body of scholarly literature exploring the discursive engagement of Muslims with the wider society post-9/11, interfaith dialogue with other religious groups, media engagement, and consultation with government, there is a notable absence in the literature investigating the impact these engagements have had on the organisations as revealed by the phenomenological interviews with

Australian MCSO actors. The lack of study in this area does not match the importance nor reflect the major implications the findings will have on inter-community relations in Australia nor will it reveal how Islam has manifested a decade after 9/11. It will also provide a more nuanced, comprehensive and holistic approach to studying Muslim communities in Australia as well as an understanding of the longer-term impact of

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9/11. The key sub-themes which emerged about the impact 9/11 had on Australian

MCSOs, even a decade later, can be divided into negative and positive impacts. The negative impacts include shift in focus, mistrust and criticism from within the Muslim community, feeling ill-equipped to deal with the frenzy and exhaustion. The positive impacts which emerged are resilience, an opportunity to create a more open, transparent community, and emphasising pluralism.

5.3 Negative Impacts

5.3.1 Sub-theme 1– ‘We are always in damage control’: Shift in Focus

Responding to the backlash of 9/11 meant that many Australian MCSOs had to shift their focus from a mainly internal focus to an external one. Maha Abdo, executive director of the United Muslim Women’s Association (MWA) in Sydney stated, ‘the dynamics changed for us and how we were applying our resources’. In particular, Abdo spoke in detail about having to focus on security for their events post-9/11 and how it is still a focus even a decade later. She explained:

When we do an annual leadership camp for girls, we would be very concerned

about their safety and security for them, but before then it wasn’t really on our

radar…every year we have to be concerned about where we would go with

them- that it’s safe and it’s not open. It (9/11) created that awareness that

wasn’t there before.

Another long-time Australian MCSO actor, Tasneem Chopra, chairperson of the

Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights (AMWCH) in Melbourne, spoke

189 about how the shift in focus meant that they could not devote all of their energy into doing what they were originally set up to do- serve the needs of Muslim women and their families. As a result of 9/11, they have had to extend their services to now providing appropriate and strategic responses. She stated that they ‘had to invest so much energy into damage control that [they] were not able to actively put [their] energies into positive stories and promote the success of the community.’ Chopra described the main shift from their normal activities as having to constantly be in

‘damage control.’ Similarly, Abdel-Salam stated that post-9/11 a major focus of their work revolved around dealing with the ‘discrimination faced by Muslim women’ so that their organisation had to ‘get the police to come, Federal Police coming to give us support.’ She discussed how IWAQ would get ‘threatening calls…on the answering machine every year on September 11 memorial day- we get those awful calls.’

Moreover as a consequence of these threatening phone calls, the organisation never provides the physical address of their office; instead Abdel-Salam stated: ‘we only give our physical address to people we know are coming.’

Other Australian MCSO actors interviewed voiced the same pervading concern. For example, Abdo insisted that they wanted to implement a number of projects but were unable to do so because ‘we were always on the reactionary side.’ She continued stating:

We haven’t had time to take a breath and just sit back and plan, but whilst

everything else is going on in this organisation we need to do that. It’s been

hard. The last five years have been very difficult because certain things come up

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in the media and you feel that urge to respond because you have that social

responsibility to get up there and respond.

A number of them, like Salam El-Merebi, talked about how difficult and burdensome the shift of focus was for their organisation in respect to time and resources the organisation had to reallocate because ‘literally, committee members are all volunteers.’

5.3.2 Sub-theme 2– ‘Creating the other within the community’: Mistrust and Criticism from within the Muslim Communities

In this sub-theme, the Australian MCSO actors spoke about the deep sense of mistrust they received from their clients and the Muslim community after 9/11. In particular, the concerns focussed on whether the organisations which were government-funded or which consulted and engaged heavily with the government post-9/11 were working for the government, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) or the

Australian Federal Police (AFP); or whether these organisations were ‘spies’, ‘moles’ or even ‘sell-outs’. This mistrust seemed to be aimed specifically at Muslim women’s organisations. Chopra described the situation:

After September 11 came there was the mistrust towards the Muslim

community in general, but suddenly there was a perception that our

organisation was part of a policing apparatus… They (the Muslim community)

would presume we were part of the police, not even the government but the

police. If you have money from the government you have money from the

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police, you are spying- some rudimentary discrimination we were subjected to

by the community because of their lack of knowledge.

Chopra said they first noticed it when ‘there was a decrease in women’s participation in projects, programs’ where ‘numbers would go from being full house to base.’ She stated that they had to then bring their programs and activities to their clients rather than wait for their clients to come to them. After 9/11, it has taken them five to six years to ‘rebuild that trust and rapport with their clients.’ The ramifications from that mistrust meant that ‘it undermined a lot of work (they) did.’

Abdo talked about the pain the division and internal mistrust created for the MWA:

…it has changed us, a lot more then we actually think on the surface, really it

has changed the social make up of our community, it has created a lot of them

and us… we are becoming so quick to judge and I think that’s coming from

being victimised.

The Australian MCSO actors said that at times they, too, were criticised for their interfaith engagement post-9/11. They were called ‘sell-outs’ or were told they ‘were comprising [their] faith’ or ‘watering down’ Islam as their engagements were not proselytisation exercises or debates to prove that Islam was the one and only truth for all humankind. Moreover, the actors said that they were seen as being too conciliatory by willing to work with the all levels of the Australian government as well as those deemed to be against Islam and Muslims. In response to such accusations, Saara

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Sabbagh, founder and president of Benevolence Australia, stated unreservedly, ‘many

Muslims have said to us that we’re selling out and I am happy with that.’

5.3.3 Sub-theme 3– ‘Like chooks with our head cut off’: Ill-equipped to Deal with the Frenzy

Another significant sub-theme focused on the feeling of being ill-equipped to deal with the frenzy post-9/11. Kuranda Seyit, founder and director of Forum on Australian-

Islamic Relations (FAIR), explained that the organisation was established to deal specifically with the backlash of 9/11. He discussed:

There were a lot of issues arising and it was very evident that the Muslim

community was not ready for it. They weren’t prepared; they didn’t envisage

the type of backlash that was going to come out of September 11. I don’t think

anybody did really, but if you compare it with the way America dealt with it or

maybe the UK, Australia was really unprepared and really didn’t have the

personnel, the expertise, or the resources to deal with it, because they hadn’t

been preparing for it, they hadn’t been building institutions or cultivating a

spokesperson, media strategies and so forth.

Abdo echoed the above sentiments and said:

I see the weakness was in our community’s response to the events because we

were being put in a place of defending ourselves and I didn’t feel that we should

be defending. Why, if I have not committed a crime? Why should I be defending

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something I had not done? We would go around like chooks with our heads cut

off. In the end I would come back home and think: is it that bad? These events-

are they actually as bad as they are saying. These events have actually brought

us out more, where we are now so exposed, but we weren’t ready.

More than a decade later, MCSOs actors still feel like they are not equipped to deal fully with the aftermath of 9/11. Seyit explained that FAIR had to move on, away from engaging with the media because they still ‘don’t have the manpower to deal with it all.’

5.3.4 Sub-theme 4– ‘The 6 am phone calls’: Exhaustion

For Australian MCSOs, the engagements proved to be exhausting as they now had to do more than what their organisation was resourced to do or what were beyond the set aims and objectives of the organisations. Abdo spoke about the exhaustion post-

9/11 and stated:

It was hard…It was very difficult and we felt like we were the meat in the

sandwich…We were continuously having to justify the actions of Muslims and

Islam and identify the difference between culture and religious practices…With

the Muslim community we had to bear the brunt of women who couldn’t bear

to leave the home out of fear and anxiety.

Chopra explained the reasons for the exhaustion: ‘I think it exhausts us because we end up diverting so much attention to remedial representation and not enough to

194 proactive. I think we will get to do more proactive when the world calms down a bit, and we can actually use our energy on being positive.’ However, Chopra and other

Australian MCSO actors conceded that although the countless interfaith dialogues, media engagements and consultations and engagement with government bodies were

‘exhausting’, they were ‘necessary.’ Salam El-Merebi spoke honestly about wanting to walk away from her position a few times. She explained, ‘We are all volunteers, we had to deal with everything and it shouldn’t be like that.’ El-Merebi further elaborated that the exhaustion ‘impacted on us in every way, not just physically, emotionally, psychologically (too); we’re affected in every way possible.’

Chopra, in particular, stated that even a decade after 9/11 she still gets calls from the media soliciting her opinion about issues solely related to terrorism, militancy, fundamentalism, or the oppression of women in Islam. She hoped that in a few years she would ‘not get any 6 am calls from the media’ and that if she did it would be on issues celebrating the success of the Muslim community in Australia or on issues of concern for everyone, such as poverty, health and so forth, and not just on issues specifically on Islam.

5.4 Positive Impacts

5.4.1 Sub-theme 5– ‘Just see them as challenges’: Resilience

All of the Australian MCSO actors interviewed spoke about the challenges faced by their organisation after 9/11. Abdo remembered, ‘If you were walking, you were spat at; it was a really intense time. Mothers were saying it’s not safe because they all felt there was [a] negative vibe in the air and people were picking on Muslims.’ However,

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Abdo explained that even a decade after 9/11, with the challenges still facing her organisation, they simply ‘don’t give up.’ She expounded, ‘You have all those incidents…we call them timeslots that remind you of certain things that happened.

There is good and not so good, and I am an optimist- I see that we learn from everything that comes our way. We are very strong; we are very resilient.’

Mustafa Ally, founder and president of Crescents of Brisbane (CoB), also spoke about meeting the challenges post-9/11 with a resilient spirit:

I just see them as challenges…the more challenges there are the more

stimulating life becomes and we shouldn’t ignore these things and get

depressed about it. What we should be doing is say well look…we could

organise workshops and engage in discussions; we can go on online forums and

talk it through… Take them on as [a] challenge, as a way of making us better

human beings…You know the stuff that goes on television and it’s totally a lie

and you know it beats you up, …it shouldn’t…you should do something about it.

Galila Abdel-Salam, manager of the Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland

(IWAQ), stated that although the events of 9/11 still impacts on their organisation and

‘it’s never been easy’, IWAQ has always responded and met those the challenges with a

‘resilient spirit and a will to overcome’ them.

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5.4.2 Sub-theme 6– ‘We are here but we are not against anyone’: Creating More Open, Transparent Communities

Another theme from the interviews revealed that their MCSOs’ involvement in the post-9/11 engagements created more open, transparent communities. Ally expounded on this and said that it was necessary

to try and get the (Muslim) community to be more open, to be more

transparent, to open doors at mosque and not just ourselves when we’re talking

to people so that the impression of us as a closed community, that we’re

fermenting some sort of plot to change the world, take over the world, isn’t

real.

In particular, Ally outlined why this was important:

That impression needed to be brought to the wider community, I mean the

media was creating the image that Muslims are all terrorists, bad people, evil

people who hurt little children, fear them; you don’t know anything about them.

So now just the fact that we have the Campbell Newman thing73, I think there is

a whole bunch of people who know that these Muslims are just like everyone

else and they can have a bit of a laugh or mix around. They can have a table

and women can mix not just stay at home. So I think these need to be moving

towards. And we have to be very careful that there is a stream and how

powerful it might be. I don’t know how powerful that stream may be of people

73 This was a political fundraising dinner for Queensland Premier Campbell Newman. 197

who reject that idea. But the important thing, I think, it’s about getting in there

and joining in the things they do, take part, participate. Also it will break down

the barriers too.

Kerim Buday, president of Australian Social Islamic Association (ASIA) Youth, also said his organisation’s engagements with the wider Australian community have ‘let the wider community understand that we are here… it’s not like we have these walls that can’t be breached; we are not against anyone. We are Australian Muslims and what we do is this, there is no harm behind it.’ Buday revealed that this was a consequence of the events of September 11. He elaborated:

I think that’s one of the major adaptations that have come through in the last

decade or so. And that is the work that is going into opening up really, before

that there wasn’t a real need for it; it was something that was born out of

necessity. It was as if we existed, we do what we do, and there were no issues.

But all of a sudden due to September 11, what was previously being done

started to become an issue, and so again lots happened as a result of that.

Muslim NGOs and mosques have been forced to become more transparent in

the community and that’s happened with us as well.

When asked what he meant by being a more transparent community, he explained:

I mean in terms of being more open and inviting, not to say that wasn’t the case

previously; it’s not like the mosque doors were closed, but it’s definitely more

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emphasised now. I come back to that event we had, the street iftars, that’s

something we probably wouldn’t have thought of fifteen years ago- this Garden

of Paradise event grant received by the government to help prepare the mosaics

outside the mosque. I struggle to think of things like this happening back in the

nineties, but a lot of Muslim organisations are starting to receive government

grants to organise these events and it’s actually a great thing because it has

formed closer ties.

He also provided an example of such a mosque open-door policy after 11 September, commenting: ‘…it was really successful. We had non-Muslims come along and we had a few speeches about what Ramadan is and giving the wider community an insight into why Muslims fast. In terms of a socio-political context I think what that did was just really help consolidate its place in the community here.’ Like Buday, Zubeda Raihman, treasurer and spokesperson for the Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia

(MWNNA), agreed and stated that it was imperative for the Muslim community to be more inviting and open the doors of the mosque for all to attend. She said:

I think people [non-Muslims] reacted the way they are reacting because they

don’t have the knowledge. We invite non-Muslims, the mainstream community

to come and see the mosque so they can see what goes on in there. You know

they thought the mosque was the place that people do political activities. When

they come to the mosque they see it’s so spiritual, so peaceful.

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Saara Sabbagh noted that ‘with all Muslim communities it was really about how we need to do outreach. 9/11 really made me realise we are really an insular community and we have to take responsibility for that.’ Sabbagh responded to this need in a creative manner. She explained, ‘Just after 9/11, the intention behind My Dress, My image was to bring women from the wider community together with Muslim women, have a fashion show, have a meal and discuss Islam, hijab, terrorism, in a comfortable non-threatening environment.’ The My Dress, My Image initiative continued for 10 years and was showcased all around Australia, including regional Victoria; the very successful project recently concluded.

Throughout the interviews, Seyit discussed many projects FAIR had organised over the years to help create a more open society. He reflected extensively on one project in particular and stated:

All things that when I think about them I think about them in an endearing way

because of the impact they had on the community at the time. And it was just

thinking outside the square. But this one was called Faithways and we had a

grant for this as well. We brought together Muslims and Christians at a mosque

which happened to be the Gallipoli mosque at Auburn and then we walked from

there to a Catholic Church which was about 2.5km away and it was a beautiful

day- sunscreens, sunhats.

Seyit explained that he was no longer involved in interfaith dialogue as he felt that they achieved nothing more than a talk-fest; however, he reflected on why events like

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Faithways were different from the norm and, thus, were successful in his opinion. He elaborated:

We partnered up a Muslim and a Christian and (had them together) walked for

about an hour to the church but before they walked they did a tour of the

mosque and we got a few ministers to launch it actually. Then we did a tour and

walked to the church and at the church we had a big sausage sizzle and it was

such a great example of people working with each other. They had never met

before, but it was just grassroots people. So it wasn’t the key activists of a

community sitting together around a table talking about Islam or making

decisions about the community; it was real people getting together and getting

to know one another. I think they all broke down misconceptions about each

other.

Salam El-Merebi explained that creating that open, transparent environment with outreach initiatives helped in ‘breaking stereotypes and building more bridges between community groups and the wider community as well.’ Zeynep Sertel, founder and president of Sareera, also insisted that her organisation’s involvement in post-9/11 engagements has helped create a more open community. She reflected about one of the events they held recently:

Well thinking about it, I guess it has broken the barriers. I think people feel

more comfortable walking into the mosque because they have seen the

attitudes of Muslims. It’s not always people shouting and yelling; we are well

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presented and well-mannered and this was one of the comments that the

Jewish ladies made, ‘We weren’t expecting this. We weren’t expecting ladies

with smiling faces to welcome us and we felt really welcome,’ and this is what

they said.

El-Merebi discussed the effect of engagements like these and provided an Islamic point of reference. She stated:

So I guess it has created this comfort within the community that they can come

in and talk with us and have a chat…(The) Prophet has encouraged and leaders

have encouraged; therefore, we want this place to be more open to society. It’s

essential that Muslims don’t remain within their own circle, and they have to

build a relationship with other organisations and other communities.

Like the other Australian MCSO actors interviewed, Sertel insisted that creating more open, transparent communities is still as relevant now as it was then. Moreover, she added that the openness needs to not just be at mosques, Islamic events or even homes but also ‘through manners and behaviours and dealings with people on a daily basis.’

5.4.3 Sub-theme 7– ‘God’s plan is diversity’: Emphasis on Pluralism

The participants interviewed stated that in the post-9/11 milieu, their organisations heavily stressed aspects of pluralism- an Islamic element they considered to be

202 completely compatible with Western values. In particular, a number of participants cited verses in the Qur’an to justify the emphasis. Abdo asserted:

And Allah talks to all humankind in that verse, not ‘Oh you Muslims’ but ‘you

human kind, we have created you from a male and a female, made you into

nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’ 74 Early generations of

Muslims in Australia survived and it’s because that has been their application.

Ally remarked that after 9/11 things dramatically changed. He stated that before 9/11:

‘there was an almost sort of arrogance and haughtiness about who we were as

Muslims and suddenly it was like, “oh hang on we do need to talk to other people and they do need to be respected; they also have religious beliefs we should respect.”’ Abdo also cited diversity and equality as major themes to emphasise noting that, ‘…if you look at all the religions, you will find that we are so similar…all the divine messages have a central theme and the theme is humanity…God’s plan is diversity.’

Hanan Dover, founder and president of Mission of Hope (MoH), spoke about the need for pluralism in terms of ‘collective self’. She elaborated about the importance of

‘looking after one another, not judging one another.’ As evidence, she used the

Qur’anic verse, ‘If you save a life it’s as if you save the whole of humanity.’ 75 She continued stating that ‘it’s not about preaching Islam, it’s about preaching universal

74 Qur’an, Chapter 49, verse 13 fully reads: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).” 75 Qur’an, Chapter 5, verse 32 fully reads: “For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.” 203 values across all systems….the principle of love for your brother, is love for yourself, that’s not just an Islamic principle, it’s a universal one.’ She also noted that ‘the concept of justice is really important’ in MoH’s work. This sentiment was echoed and emphasised by all of the Australian MCSO actors interviewed in this study.

5.5 A Description and Discussion of the Impact of 9/11 on Australian Muslim Civil Society Organisations Leaders of MCSOs in Australia were forced to take more visible and vocal roles as voices and ambassadors of Australian Islam in the post-9/11 era; they had to engaged in interfaith dialogue, represent Muslims in the media and consult and work with all levels of government. The key themes which emerged from this investigation revealed that these engagements had both negative and positive impacts on MCSOs, even a decade after 9/11. It must be noted, however, that the bulk of the phenomenological interviews, which was guided by the participants, focused on the positive impacts of these engagements. Indeed, as evident by the findings, there were not too many significant statements under the negative impacts sub-key themes.

One of the negative impacts from this study which finds agreement with other findings is the sub-theme of exhaustion. A huge multi-layered and multi-method study by the

Issues Deliberation Australia (IDA) research team in 2007 on Australia Deliberates

Muslims and Non-Muslims in Australia,76 also found that Australian Muslims leaders were indeed exhausted from having to defend themselves, their communities and

76 The two-year research included: Extensive consultations with over 100 religious, political, academic and community leaders involved in Muslim non-Muslim relations; a national random survey of 1,401 Australian voters; 21 focus groups with over 200 Australian Muslims in major cities in Australia; a national survey of 160 Australian Muslims; and a national Deliberative Poll where a subset of 329 of the national random sampling of 1,401 and 47 Australian Muslims from the focus groups attended a three- day deliberative poll of intense discussions and panel sessions (March 2-4, 2007). 204 their faith after September 11. Some of their participants’ comments include (IDA,

2007):

After September 11, I was physically, mentally and emotionally drained just

trying to tell the whole world the act of September 11 horrified me as much as

you. So I find that very draining (comment from Melbourne). (p. 58)

Similar to Chopra’s comment about not wanting to get the ‘6am phone calls’ from the media, participants in the IDA (2007) study echoed similar sentiments: “I wake up every morning and think; okay I am going to have to deal with defending my religion again today, every day…” (p. 59).

However, one surprising negative impact was that for a number of these Australian

MCSOs, they had to not only deal with mistrust from outside the Muslim community, but also from within it. In listening to the participants discuss this, it was obvious that this was a very painful experience and one in which they were themselves did not anticipate. The MCSO actors not only dealt with the ‘double whammy’ impact of 9/11 as discussed by Nagra (2011) and Barkull et al. (2011), that is dealing with a tragic and traumatic event as well as dealing with the backlash from non-Muslims, but they also had to deal with the extra backlash from within the Muslim communities– their own clients and others from the community. This resulted in a ‘triple whammy’ experience, which was greatly distressing for the actors. This finding has not been reflected elsewhere in the literature to yield a comparative discussion and needs further research to understand the implications.

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Yet, despite all the negativity, exhaustion, mistrust from within their own communities, limited capacity and resources available to deal with the backlash and increasing Islamophobia post-9/11, this current study found that, overall, there was an energised sense of positiveness and optimism. Australian Muslim participants from the

IDA study (2007) responded similarity. For instance, one of their participants from

Melbourne stated: “rather than holding someone as a criminal, they persecute you on the basis of the religion. Every day I feel that it wears you out, and wears you down.

But the next day, you pick yourself up again and you go for another day” (IDA, 2007, p.

59).

Indeed, many of the interviewees referred to the post-9/11 milieu as not just a challenge, but an opportunity to reframe the negative. Downey (2009) notes similar trends in his study of institutional activism in Orange County in California post

September 11. In particular, he refers to it as a “watershed event” (p. 111) where the threats were turned into opportunities. In particular, one of his participants stated:

When people are fearful…they lash out and they do all kinds of reactionary

things. That’s a really important time to see if you can channel or harness that

energy. That energy, fear, that motivation…properly channelled can, actually,

build understanding and respect. It can actually be the foundation for increased

organising around human relations issues…You’re obligated to take advantage

of that moment. You either give it up, and you let the voice of rage and bigotry

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reign, or you jump in and you harness that… So you have to organise and take

that opportunity that brings new people to the table. (Downey, 2009, p. 104)

Bearing the brunt of discrimination, fear and sometimes even hatred, the Australian

MCSO actors further reported having a resilient spirit; they continued reaching out to the wider community as reflected in this study’s findings. This is congruent with other studies on Australian Muslims post-9/11. For example, the Australian Muslim leaders in the IDA (2007) study were also cognizant of their responsibility and, in fact, urged

Australian Muslims to engage in: proactively facilitating multi-faith, multi-cultural education; engaging more positively in social interactions with wider Australian society; understanding and responding to the sources of the wider community’s tensions and fears; becoming less defensive and not adopting a victim mentality; and finally, sourcing and training spokesperson to represent Australian Muslims by countering the negative media and political rhetoric.

Whilst engagements with the wider community were occurring regularly, Australian

MCSOs, at the same time, were also becoming more introspective about their own faith and how it informed their organisation’s ethos, vision and practice. In particular, they questioned how their faith informed the services and programs they provided, whether it was inclusive enough and whether the Islamic identity of their organisation excluded or included people. If it excluded others, how can they rectify that?

Additionally, the Australian MCSOs reflected on whether they were predominately focusing on the smaller, minute details of their faith, or whether their organisation espoused the main principles and objectives of Islam. In other words, were their

207 programs about rules and regulations of Islamic practices or were they about compassion, mercy, love? Finally, were their events, functions and spaces safe and non-judgmental for everyone? These types of reflections are consistent with Barkdull et al.’s (2011) research investigating the experiences of Muslims post-9/11 in four

Western countries. They report that their participants all echoed stories of resilience, which were expressed through acts such as finding solace through their faith; having a visible, public Muslim identity; resisting oppression; as well as actively engaging in community and bridge-building.

Nagra (2011), in her study of Canadian Muslim youth post-September 11, makes similar observations and states that her young respondents employed what she termed “reactive identity formation”, whereby they demonstrated a stronger affirmation of their resilience and religious identity. She notes three reasons for this: firstly, as a coping mechanism for the discrimination and prejudice they faced post-

9/11; secondly, as a resistance and resilience strategy whereby they “reclaim their religion” (p. 438) from those who abuse it; and thirdly, in the process of learning more about Islam (for advocacy and/or personal reasons) they became “more appreciative of it” (p. 438).

Yousif (2005, p. 62) also observes comparable findings from his own research and notes that MCSOs have had to “continue educational outreach to both Muslims and non-Muslims.” He explains that Muslims had to be actually be taught and/or reminded about the essentials of their own faith, that indeed to be a Muslim means to be in peace with others and not to be at war. With this understanding, the negatives allow

208 for positive transformation. Moreover, even when the negativity originates from within the Muslim community, there is still space to frame it positively as revealed by the findings in this study. For instance, although a number of Australian MCSOs experienced backlash from within their own communities they did not retreat or distant themselves from the communities or from the government agencies. Instead, some MCSOs like AISA Youth, decided to change the community’s views on this matter. Buday explained in the interview:

The AFP and the Victoria police, for example, would know what we are doing

because we keep them informed, keep in touch but at the same time what it

also assists with is the community, (let the community know that) these guys

aren’t out to get us. There is a plaque outside the mosque which has the AFP

symbol there and it might be a small thing but in the medium to long term it is

huge. When we think about the way Muslims see themselves in the country

there has been a break in the barrier where they might think that certain

agencies or what not are out to get them or targeting them specifically and it

might not actually be the case.

Amath (2007) in a study exploring ways to build positive relations between the

Queensland Muslim communities and the Queensland Police Services (QPS) cautions attempts to improve the relationship in order to combat terrorism or to facilitate better reporting of hate crimes. Rather, she (2007) contends that it should be

“concerned with ways to improving dialogue…so that both the Queensland Muslim communities and QPS can help each other protect and serve the community as a whole, building a safer community” (Amath, 2007, p. 4).

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It seems that the Australian MCSO actors are not too distressed about detractors in the communities who criticise their organisation’s close relationships with government departments and agencies. As Buday articulated: “We are doing the right thing. It doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is going to appreciate it but when you think about the wider goal you just keep going. There might be a few detractors, but it’s definitely not a bad thing.” Like the Australian MCSOs, Australian Muslim leaders who participated in the MCRG suggested in their final report that there needed to be “more positive interaction between police and young Australian Muslims through organised meetings, social, sporting or cultural events” (DIAC, 2006, p. 38).

The findings from this current study also revealed that the sub-theme of pluralism was a major impact on MCSOs after 9/11. While this concept is certainly not unknown before 9/11, scholars (Malik 2004; Smith, 2011) observe that this event propelled a deeper and richer discussion. Salem (2010) writes that pluralism must go beyond

“chronicling or mapping diversity” but rather it needs to develop into its own “culture, a state of mind that evolves as communities realise their conceptions of ethnicity refine their responses to diversity” (p. 247). Discussions on pluralism have been initiated by Muslims scholars, leaders and activists living in the West, including

Australia. The interviews from this study echo findings and conclusions made by many others, including Jackson (2003), Rane (2010), Sachedina (2009), Saeed (2007) and Safi

(2003). Commenting specifically on religious pluralism and providing references from the sacred source, the Qur’an, Rane (2010) stresses that the

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Qur’an does not endorse a posture of adversity towards non-Muslims.

Submission to the will of God is regarded as a preferable way of life for human

beings but is regarded as a matter of conviction that some human beings will

embrace, while others remain free to reject. The maqasid (higher

principles/objectives) of these verses are the preservation of the conditions

under which human beings are free to choose their religious convictions. (p.

117)

Like Rane (2010), Abou El-Fadl (2005), Afsaruddin (2009) and Asani (2003) also rely on

Qur’anic exegesis to argue that embracing and celebrating pluralism is part of God’s plan and mandate for humanity. This sentiment was also articulated by a number of

Australian MCSO actors when they quoted verses from the Qur’an and narrated sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and stories from Islamic history to impress on this point.

Along with the religious pluralism discussions, internal challenges, such as issues related to race and gender, were also discussed by some of the Australian MCSO actors. These issues have also come to the forefront of discussions on pluralism in other Western societies, as highlighted by Muslim scholars including Jackson (2003)

Simmons (2003) and Wadud (2006). In particular, Ahmed (2011) in her investigation of

Muslim women in the United States suggests two models for understanding Muslim women’s leadership post-9/11, enabling voice and agency. The first leadership model rests on practising, spiritual Muslim women who through ijtihad (independent reasoning) seek an understanding of their faith through their own interpretations. The

211 second model is the public bridge-builder who strives to create meaningful engagement and solidarity with Muslims (both practising and non-practising) and non-

Muslims. Furthermore, McGinty’s (2012) study of Muslim women’s organisations post-

September 11 finds that Muslim women in the West are not only taking a participatory role in the discussion on pluralism, but are also demanding a leadership role in this regard; indeed, it can be said that these reflections reify Ahmed’s two models of

Muslim women’s leadership. It also appears that the post-9/11 context has created more opportunities and space for Muslim women in the West to assert their own agency. The Australian Muslim women’s organisations in this study are a case in point.

Scholars working and providing commentary on this issue acknowledge that there is a lot of work to still be done; however, the discussions have started and for many of the

MCSO actors, Australian Muslims will be fully engaged participants in and contributors to this process. This is consistent with Malik’s (2004) observations when he contends that in the post 9/11 era, “pluralism would perhaps be the most striking feature of

Western Islam. The increasing pluralist texture of Western societies, to which Muslims are contributing significantly, distinguishes these societies from their earlier versions”

(p. 81).

More than a decade after 9/11, MCSOs have not only remained resilient, but are also more sophisticated, strategic and selective in how they engage. Dreher in her research on community media interventions found that many Muslims became frustrated because they did not see a shift in the news framing of Muslims and Islam despite all their efforts to train and educate journalists on pertinent issues related to Islam and

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Muslims. Many involved in the process felt that they had to “merely respond to journalist predetermined questions and storylines” (Dreher, 2010, p. 202). That is not necessarily the case anymore. In April 2012 a popular Australian current affairs programme on SBS, Insight, had invited representatives from the Muslim community to participate on a program to discuss polygamy. A few participants from this current study stated that immediately after 9/11 they would have participated because they felt like they had to get their voices across and respond to everything. Ten years later, however, the majority of organisations that were approached refused to participate on a program discussing such a sensational topic. Dover explained that leaders have become ‘smarter’ and more strategic about dealing with non-issues: ‘A lot of media savvy people in our community…put together a letter to say [to the producer of Insight] that it’s [polygamy] not an important topic, so we don’t understand why you are doing it….Why is it given national focus?’

While Dreher (2010) has noted that Muslim media advocates have found it difficult to set or influence the media agenda, the Australian Muslim leaders are optimistic.

Mariam Veiszadeh of Australian Islamic Voice (AIV) and one of the signatories of the protest letter to SBS wrote in Sultana Dreams: “We are trying desperately as a community to influence how we are portrayed in mainstream media” (para. 17).

However, Seyit, also one of the signatories, cautioned on claiming this victory as indicative of exerting influence on media agenda. He stated:

To be quite honest, while actions like this have an impact, they are not enough

to influence programming or the airing of certain content. The Insight boycott

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was only a one off and such approaches will only hamper relations. However, in

this case, it was necessary because of the consistently negative manipulation of

Islam the show had done over the past several years.

Seyit continued, arguing that ‘the most effective way has been to become firstly, relevant and active, by continuously engaging with the media to change attitudes and to make the media more accountable.’ Nevertheless, Seyit echoed Veiszadeh and other

Australian MCSO leaders and believed that future successful outcomes, including the ability to influence and set agenda, can only be achieved if Australian Muslims ‘stand together’ and provide a united voice. Australian leaders from the Federal MCRG concur and propose a number of engagements and projects focusing on Muslims and the media. Specifically, they include increased training of Muslims who can work in and engage with the media; production of documentaries on Australian Muslims; awards for those in the media who are balanced and constructive in their reporting of Islam and Muslims; an advocacy and monitoring body to report on Islamophobia in the media; and campaigns in the media demonstrating the impact of racial discrimination and vilification on Australian Muslims.

Ten years after 9/11 a number of the organisations interviewed stated that after a decade of ‘forced’ external engagement, they were ‘getting on with business’ and turning their attention back to their main priority– serving the internal needs of their community. Abdo explained that so much emphasis went to dealing with the external backlash that they had lost sight of the needs of the community. She stated:

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We need to say we are not going to go there. We are not going to react to a

certain particular aspect that the media dictates. We are going to dictate our

agenda now. We have been very selective in how we react in the media because

we want to stay focused on being proactive and planning and execute our plans

accordingly. And it hasn’t been easy, but we are getting there and we are

moving in the right direction. We are not letting that obstacle in any way or

shape, trip us over or stop us.

Seyit agreed and argued that FAIR, like many of the other MCSOs interviewed, was now refocusing their energy and resources internally, particularly on youth issues.

Dover also stated that there needed to be more outreach to the youth. She explained that after ‘September 11, they (Muslim youth)…feel like they are victimised as being the trouble makers, the rapists. The rape issue – gang rape crisis, September 11, that has done a lot to the young men in the community, in western Sydney.’

The report from the Federal Muslim Community Reference Group (MCRG) resonates with these actors’ comments. In particular, the MCRG focused many of its proposed projects on helping Australian Muslim youth deal with social isolation, marginalisation, discrimination and social exclusion (MCRG, 2006). Specifically the proposed projects included mentoring, volunteering and sports programs, and initiatives to tackle education and employment issues. In addition to these proposals, the Australian

MCSOs from this study wanted to be able to provide space for youth to speak their minds, be creative, hang out, as well as learn about Islam under proper guidance with programs such as the Justice and Arts Network (JAAN), an initiative of MoH.

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Additionally, as proposed by the MCRG report, there are mentoring programs along with youth leadership capacity building iniatives conducted by a number of the

Australian MCSOs interviewed such as FAIR, MoH, MWA, Al-Nisa Youth Group, ASIA

Youth, Sareera, MWNNA among others.

It is interesting to note that the tragic events of 9/11 have brought Australian MCSOs full circle in their building of community. When they first began establishing permanent communities throughout Australia, their emphasis was particularly inward- looking; they needed to lay permanent roots in their new country and, thus, concentrated on the internal needs of their communities. With the rise of multiculturalism and with more sizeable Australian Muslim communities due to increased migration in the 1980s and 1990s, their concentration soon shifted to an external focus. However, the impact of the events of 9/11 meant that so much focus and resources were spent on the external needs that the Australian MCSOs found themselves neglecting the internal needs of the communities in which they were established to serve originally. A number of recent issues related to troubled

Australian Muslim youth have confirmed the need for MCSOs in Australia to re-shift its focus. Seyit argued that the inward focus will allow them to create a more harmonious relationship externally. He reasoned:

Well it applies to Muslims only (the refocusing of activities) but its endgame is

really creating harmony; so it’s really about engagement and dialogue and

inclusivity and I suppose really integration. Its process involves working with

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Muslims and giving them the capacity and skills to engage and be effective in

the wider community.

The participants reflected on this issue and many suggested that perhaps it was the events of 9/11 which prompted Australian Muslims to become more engaged in all areas of the public sphere, thus encouraging them to be more assertive about their

Australian identity. Their stories echo research conducted by the IDA (2007), Cainkar

(2009) and Bilici (2011). Other scholars like Williams (2011) note that it is this particular social and physical space, that is the intersection of civil society and identity, which allows Muslims to “express their fidelity to their religious tradition as well as work out the interpretations of that faith that allow them to live smoothly” (p. 135) in their society.

5.6 Conclusion

Studies focusing on Muslims in the West after 9/11 demonstrate that MCSOs were engaged in three forms of interaction with the wider society: interfaith dialogue with other faith and non-faith groups, media engagement and consultation with all levels of government. While there is a significant body of research exploring these engagements, there is an absence in the literature exploring the impact these engagements have had on the organisations as discussed in-depth by the Australian

MCSOs in this study. In particular, the MCSO actors revealed that the post-9/11 engagements have had both positive and negative impacts, namely shift in focus, being ill-equipped to deal with the frenzy, internal mistrust and criticism, exhaustion as well as resilience, the establishment of more open communities and an emphasis on

217 pluralism. The events of September 11 have forced Australian MCSOs to become more introspective about their own faith and how it informs their organisation’s ethos, vision and goals. During this process they acknowledged and committed their organisation to the emphasis of higher objectives and principles in Islam (maqasid), including the importance of religious pluralism, inclusivity, diversity and openness. The findings also revealed that after a decade of concentrating on the external needs of the wider society, the Australian MCSOs are shifting their focus back on the internal needs of their communities. In particular, the MCSOs recognise that they have a major role in assisting Australian Muslims, especially the youth, negotiate their place and identity in the Australian public space. Indeed, it was emphasised by the MCSO actors that the Australia Muslim identity is one of fluidity and adaptation in accordance to the socio-political landscape. The issue of place and identity and how they are negotiated in the Australian trajectory is further explored in the next chapter.

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Chapter 6 ‘Bringing the two worlds together’: Negotiating Minority Identity in a Multicultural Western Context

6.1 Introduction

This final chapter presents the clustered sub-themes related to the negotiation of identity and place in multicultural Australia as revealed by the MCSO participants involved in this study. The phenomenological interviews revealed nearly 200 significant statements associated with the concept and constructs of identity (see Appendix D).

These significant statements were then grouped into five sub-themes which are: 1) asserting the Australian Muslim identity; 2) adaptation; 3) integration not assimilation;

4) contributing to the wider society; and 5) universalism. Using detailed quotes from the interviews as encouraged by the descriptive phenomenological approach, this chapter presents a detailed description and discussion of these themes with relevant literature. Finally, Chapter 6 demonstrates that the phenomenological interviews with the Australian MCSO actors have revealed that the intersection of Islam and civil society, played out in the wider Australian context, results in the emergence and development of religiously grounded cosmopolitan ideas. Before the description, delineation and explication of the themes are discussed, it is helpful to begin with an understanding of the different definitions and approaches to the concept of identity underpinning this study.

6.2 The Concept of Identity

The debates and scholarly research on the study of identity is not new, going back to as early as 1690 when English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) wrote an essay

219 entitled “Identity and Diversity”, with a specific focus on personal identity77

(Woodward, 2002). However, it has been reinvigorated only recently in the 19th and

20th centuries mainly due to the works of psychologists and social and cultural theorists. The renewed interest is fundamentally linked to the social movements’ agenda, particularly on issues of race, gender and sexuality and intersects with many disciplines and perspectives (Côté, 2006; Cross, Gore & Morriss, 2006). As a result of these diverse disciplines and involved intersections, there are many definitions of identity offered with the acknowledgement that the dictionary definition is considered by many scholars to be inadequate. One of the most recognised conceptions comes from Erikson (1970) where he defines identity as “a subjective sense as well as an observable quality of personal sameness and continuity, paired with some belief in the sameness and continuity of some shared world image” (p. 18).

More recent definitions disagree with Erikson’s notion of a continuous, static identity.

Roseneil and Seymour (1999) argue that identity is subject to a number of factors and is “open for negotiation” (p. 1). Woodward (2002) extends this definition and suggests that the “sameness” quality stressed by Erikson is limiting and notes that “identity offers a way of thinking about the links between the personal and the social; of the meeting place of the psychological and the social” (p. vii) and is “constructed through relations of differences…and is fluid, contingent and changing over time” (p. xii). This study draws heavily on Woodward’s definition of identity. Moreover, there are also many different dimensions, approaches, theories, constructs and categories advanced;

77 Locke’s ideas about identity were quite influential especially in the Western concept of the “sovereign individual”; he argued that a person’s identity remained constant and never changed. Commenting on this, Woodward (2002) writes, “It is consciousness (rather than the body) that unites all the different actions an individual has performed and makes a personal self who is the same person today as 40 years ago- as yesterday” (p. 5). 220 each one may be different depending on the source of its theory, discipline or field.

Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this study to investigate each one; however, I will highlight two of the approaches which are considered to be the most dominant: personal identity and cultural identity (Schwartz, Zamboanga & Weisskirch, 2008).

The construct of personal identity is grounded in Erikson’s work in Childhood and

Society (1950) where he argues that the individual-focused goals, values and beliefs constitute a coherent and consistent sense of one’s self. Schwartz et al. (2008) note that in a Western cultural context, this translates to an internal consistency whereby an individual is more or less the same whether they are at home, at work or with family and friends; this coherency then allows for a positive experience in adulthood.

The second approach, cultural identity,78 focuses on the cultural practices and values, a person’s view of the ethnic/cultural group to which they belong and an individual’s relationship to a certain group(s) (Schwartz et al., 2008). Cultural identity also involves a number of different constructs such as communalism, collectivism, familism, as well as acculturation and ethnic identity (Berry, Phinney, Sam & Vedder, 2006; Kao & Travis,

2005; Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeier, 2002). Accordingly, theorists outline that these constructs allow an individual to view their relationship as well as their boundaries with others, including with the groups to which they belong. Woodward

(2002) stresses the setting of boundaries in the formation of identity and impresses that “these boundaries locate the parameters of difference and of sameness” and notes that whether positive or negative, “identity gives us a sense of who we are and to some extent satisfies a demand for some degree of stability and of security” (p. ix).

78 Also commonly referred to as social identity. 221

A number of scholars and commentators (see for example Dalton & Virji-Babul, 2006 and Moosa-Mitha, 2009) view personal identity as the overarching construct which allows an individual to answer the broad question: “Who am I?” and cultural identity to answer, “Who am I as a member of my group, in relation to other groups” (Schwartz et al., 2008, p. 2). Furthermore, robust scholarly debates have arisen regarding the relationship between personal identity and cultural identity. Some theorists have described this relationship as a “binary opposition” as noted by Woodward (2002).

However, other scholars caution that it is too simplistic and limiting to view these approaches to identity as an either/or dichotomy. Rather, it is important to view these two approaches alongside one another, investigating the ways in which they do intersect and interpolate. As such, commentators such as Reid and Deaux (1996) and

Schwartz (2001) suggest that cultural identity is actually an aspect or a development of personal identity. A more balanced articulation of the debate will provide a better understanding of the interconnectedness, interdependence and interrelationship between these two dimensions of identity. Accordingly, this paradigm shift will allow for a more holistic understanding of identity, especially in regard to the establishing and negotiation of minority group identity in a majority group context79.

An important aspect of identity formation and related to the constructions of the personal and cultural identities is the process of identity negotiation. According to

Swann (2005), “Identity negotiation refers to the processes through which perceivers

79 Schwartz et al. (2008) argue that one of the reasons for the binary opposition is due to the diverse research interests and subjects. They note that majority of the personal identity studies in Western nations, based on an Eriksonian theoretical framework, were conducted with White, non-immigrant participants, while the cultural identity studies mainly sampled non-White, immigrant, ethnic populations. (See also Sneed, Schwartz & Cross, 2006 as well as Trung Lam, 2005). 222 and targets come to agreements regarding the identities that targets are to assume in the interaction” (p. 69). There are two main dimensions to this process: the target and the perceiver. Swann’s (2005) research argues that the negotiation of identity is a dynamic and “interactive process in which both the perceivers and the targets shape the minds of one another” and is indeed, “a two-way street” (p. 79). Furthermore, as

Meer (2008) Moosa-Mithra (2009) also add, identity is a not a simple concept, with multiple facets at play, but in the case of Muslims in the West, it may be even be more complex. Gary Younge (2005) shares this view and interestingly observes:

We have a choice about which identities to give the floor to; but at specific

moments they choose us. Where Muslim identity in the west is concerned, that

moment is now…singled out for particular interrogation in the West. Muslims

have been asked to commit to patriotism, peace at home, war abroad,

modernity, secularism, integration, anti-sexism, anti-homophobia, tolerance

and monogamy. Muslims are not being asked to sign up to them because they

are good or bad in themselves, but as pre-condition for belonging in the West

at all. (para. 5)

In other words, Muslims in the West may not necessarily be in full control or are full agents of their own identity, however much they would like to be as Younge (2005) highlights. Indeed, the Muslim identity in the West is complex- fluid and dynamic at the same time, and “shaped by circumstances and sharpened by crisis” (Younge, 2005, para. 3).

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6.3 Explicated Sub-themes from Negotiating Minority Identity

The next section will extend this discussion on the negotiation of minority identity in the West, which is the fourth major sub-theme from the phenomenological interviews as revealed by Australian MCSO actors. In particular, it will explore the question as to whether this is also the case for Muslims in Australia and what role, if any, do

Australian MCSOs play in this process. In accordance with this thesis’ research approach, the emphasis is on the participants’ description of their lived experiences, in their own words; hence, there are lengthy quotes presented.

6.3.1 Sub-theme 1– ‘We don’t want identity confusion’: Asserting the Australian

Muslim Identity

One of the pervading clustered sub-themes from the lived experiences of Australian

MCSO actors was the positioning of themselves as Australian Muslims.80 For many of them, there was not even a question as to what and who they were, and how they identified their organisation. Elias Attia, public officer for the Islamic Society of UNSW stated very clearly: ‘We are a community of Australians who also identify as belonging to the Muslim community.’ Galila Abdel-Salam impressed upon this point also and insisted that the Islamic Women’s Association of Queensland and its members: ‘are

Australian; (they) are a part of Queensland society.’

80 I have used the term Australian Muslim(s) throughout this thesis, rather than Muslim Australian as all 15 Australian MCSO actors interviewed used this term. Not once, did they refer to themselves or their organisation as Muslim Australian. 224

Sabbagh deeply reflected about this in her role as a MCSO actor:

… (I had to) dig deep down inside of me and question, well, who am I and what

is my work in the context of an Australian Muslim. I don’t think I had questioned

myself as an Australian Muslim before that. Before that, I was just working in

the Muslim community.

Sabbagh continued to explain what the Australian Muslim identity entailed. She stated,

I am talking about the cultural misunderstanding. I am not sitting here debating

if the hijab is compulsory or not compulsory; I am not sitting here deciding

whether it’s prayer five times a day or three. I am talking about the nuances,

the cultural implications of a Western identity. Islam in Australia is different to

Islam in the States. It’s different to Islam in Indonesia, and it’s different to Islam

in Japan. What we are trying to create is that idea, of don’t make Islam a

Pakistani Islam, or a Bangladeshi Islam, or an Arab Islam. Traditionally, Islam

has come to a country and kept the culture of the country; unfortunately, what

we have seen now in the West is that we have imported the Afghani

interpretation or Arab interpretation…

In short, for Sabbagh and Benevolence Australia an Australian Islam involves ‘bringing the two worlds together; it’s bringing the ancient and the modern together in a way that can work for Australian Muslims.’ She further remarked, ‘What we wanted, what we are trying to create with Benevolence is an Australian Islam.’ Moreover, in doing so,

225 according to Sabbagh, Australian Muslims can ‘be real.’ She urged, ‘Let’s not mask it.

Let’s not be this schizophrenic community that we are. Let’s be honest.’

For other MCSO actors like Dover, there should be no confusion about identity. She stated in very strong terms, ‘We are from Australia. There is no confusion; we don’t want identity confusion.’ Like others, she explained that this meant that Australian

Muslims ‘don’t go against the core values, concepts and the regulations that are stipulated in the Qur’an and the practices of the Prophet, so bearing in mind contextually for Australia.’

Seyit agreed that there is no question when it comes to identity. He contended:

It’s not something we differentiate; it’s just a given. We live in Australia. Anyone

born here or growing up here, it’s a part of their life. They are Australian

Muslims. They don’t know what it’s like to live in other nations. They don’t have

another identity, so it’s sort of taken for granted that FAIR in Australia will look

at this as a natural part of the community, and so we work in this context. We

don’t work in a traditional context or a migrant mindset; it’s a very home grown

mindset.

He also discussed how FAIR desired to disseminate information about Islam to cater for the specific needs of Australian Muslims. He elaborated, ‘This is going to be aimed at Muslims in Australia…this website is called Islamate.org.au and it’s basically the history of Muslims in Australia and talking about Muslim Issues, a lot of videos, games.’

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Again he emphasised, ‘We want young kids to go online and research Islam but in an

Australian context.’ Chopra, throughout the interview viewed the organisation she chairs, AMWCH, as being part of the ‘Australian Islam’ landscape. When asked to elaborate on what this meant, she explained, ‘it’s the Muslim who identifies as

Australian and Muslim without compromising.’

Buday and the AISA Youth organisation also professed identities as Australian Muslims.

Under his leadership, he advised members to be cognizant of the fact that they ‘were living in one of the greatest countries in the world.’ Buday further explained,

We remind them how lucky we are that we live in a liberal, free society, and it’s

democratic so we can practice our religion freely. So a lot of the time, we might

actually speak about countries where Muslims are being persecuted, where

they can’t actually practise their religion freely. So AISA Youth continues to

remind our members that it’s about appreciating the laws of the land.

In asserting their Australianness, Buday argued that AISA Youth members do ‘live an ethnic background that they shouldn’t lose and should be proud of, or lose hold of or forget about’ and they should not have ‘to hide in terms of bringing the Islamic identity to the forefront because it’s not like one is mutually exclusive of the other; both can work together.’ Sertel agreed and remarked that Sareera aims to build the ‘ideal

Muslim’ in Australia. She explained, ‘The ideal Muslim or ideal Muslimah in Australia would be people who know their religion, who understand the values of their religion and the land that they live in, so values both.’

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One of the reasons why the MWA was originally established, according to Abdo, was

‘to create a safe secure, trusted space to practise and implement our Islamic Australian identity.’ She also stressed that everything they do at MWA for their members is

‘Australian-based.’ Like Sabbagh, Abdo spoke about how historically Islam has been able to adapt to the cultures it finds itself in. She explained,

Islam went to China- it didn’t strip the Chinese of their identity. It went to

Malaysia, you have a Malay Islam, but here I think the danger is, if we stuck to

our ethnic Islam then there is this whole division that is being created. If you

look at it in Australia we have this great abundance of beautiful diversity within

our community. It’s the great impact that we could have as Australian Muslims

who come from diverse backgrounds because we’re so rich, because we need to

acknowledge each other’s backgrounds and we need to continuously insist that

Islam is not just for the Arabs or (not just) for the Turks. Islam can take the

shape of Australia. I would love to see an Australian mosque. It doesn’t mean

that all the mosques aren’t beautiful, but it could be something different.

Similar to other Australian MCSO actors, Abdo also contended that there are various manifestations of Australian Islam. She shared that ‘Australian Islam is that purity, the desert, the traditional. It depends, if you go to Tweed Heads, it’s the beach. If you go to the outback it’s the desert. Again it’s not just one concept of Australian Islam.’ Chopra acknowledged that there will be different facets of the Australian Muslim identity as it continues to evolve. She explained, ‘nobody knows what it will be like exactly… it’s a

228 mindset thing and it’s going to take some development. We are young and we have to give ourselves a break.’ Expounding upon the formation of the Australian Muslim identity, Chopra articulated that:

Australian Islam is developing a new face; there is no doubt about it. We’re still

a young country, increasingly young with more of use born here. Two

generations from now we’re going to be a hybrid of so many different

nationalities.

In short, she envisioned optimistically that ‘the authenticity of their race is no longer a bad thing or a good thing. It’s just who they are and they become Australian, and that’s their identity.’ When asked further what that meant, Chopra explained, ‘I think we are going to be Australian first, Muslim yes but Australian before.’

6.3.2 Sub-theme 2 – ‘Marry our Islamic understanding’: Adaptation

Alongside the concept of the Australian Muslim identity, another distinct sub-theme in the negotiation of identity and place is the concept of adaptation. Dover expressed,

“We haven’t been exposed to anything else, so what we are doing is trying to marry our Islamic understanding of lifestyle, trying to adapt to living in Australia.” Omer Atilla from the Australian Intercultural Society concurred, “You never forget your previous culture but you have to adapt.”

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Seyit also spoke about this process in terms of the context of modernity. He explained:

So modernity is really an important part, and I think that as the leader of the

group (FAIR), the philosophy is that Islam has to change with modernity. It has

to adapt with modernity, and it doesn’t mean it has to compromise any of its

religious values or teachings that the prophets gave to us. That would never

ever cross our mind, but we need to be able to, at times, make reasoned

decisions about how modernity affects us.

Seyit continued to elaborate that adaptation involved:

To live Islam in that manner is more important than to sit in your room reciting

the names of Allah or reading a book about hadith. We need a balance, and

knowledge is key to any faith, but Muslims promote knowledge as a worthy

cause. But it needs a balance and you need to assess your predicament as to

whether you are in Somalia or whether you are in Bosnia or Australia. You need

to adapt to the situation and you adapt to the customs of the area.

Buday articulated the same views and stated, ‘It’s generally best practice to continue to adapt and evolve; that definitely has happened.’ He explained: ‘It’s about knowing your role as a Muslim with an ethnic background and being able to adapt that to Australian conditions. What a lot of that comes down to is just being a modern Muslim.’ For this youth leader, a modern Muslim ‘is someone who lives by Islamic ethics and Islamic

230 character’ which goes hand in hand with being a ‘model citizen’; accordingly, ASIA

Youth encourages young men to model this behaviour. Buday reflected further:

What the religion of Islam preaches in terms of being a Muslim falls in line with

being a model citizen; not only are they going to be doing their religion and

their culture proud, but they will also be doing Australia proud…If we did have

model Muslims in our society it would make society in general a better place to

live.

Ally, from Crescents of Brisbane (CoB), also discussed the concept of adaptation:

The fundamentals of Islam are firmly buried, because all of them (members of

Crescents) are practising Islam. Unless Islam’s fundamental values change then

I don’t think ours are going to change, and that’s not going to happen. Where

the changes may be is in terms of how the practices of Islam start to adapt to

the different ways of thinking- a more ‘modernistic’ way of thinking or a more

liberal attitude, and what impact that will have on us.

In particular, he explained that there may not be a choice in the matter and that adaptation was a natural process. He elucidated:

That’s not something we would be steering to try and change, but we might be

the victims of that. I don’t want to use the word victims, it could be victims or

beneficiaries of it. Fundamentally I think the principles of it are firmly

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embedded in the Islamic principles, charity and living the basics of Islamic

principles, that’s not going to change.

6.5 Sub-theme 3– ‘Islam is like the water stream’: Integration not Assimilation

Alongside the discussion on adaptation, Australian MCSO actors spoke in-depth and at length about the distinct concept of integration. Dover stated, ‘…so we integrate…as long as it’s not a contradiction to the religion.’ Seyit from FAIR agreed and expounded,

‘It’s basically balancing modernity with Islam. It’s not coming in saying (we want)

Shariah law, but it means we integrate.’

Like Dover and Seyit, quite a number of other Australian MCSO actors used the term

‘integrate’ or ‘integration’. For instance, El-Merebi contended that while she did not believe assimilation is needed, it was important to integrate. She argued, ‘We are a part of Australian society and we should be integrating with others… it’s part of being a

Muslim.’ Speaking on behalf of AIS, Atilla reflected that integration is not necessarily a simple process for everyone. He stated, ‘It’s very hard because (they) are very cultural and (they) are very strong but they do integrate pretty quickly into the new communities.’

Abdo asserted that the MWA also did not encourage total assimilation. She visually described the integration of Islam into Australia and explained that ‘Islam can take the shape of Australia…we are all integrating of course. If we haven’t, then we wouldn’t be where we are. I don’t want to assimilate. I don’t want to melt.’ She provided an Islamic reference to the concept of integration:

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Islam has always blended into society. We know that Islam is like the water

stream -it takes the shape of the vessel that it gets put into. It doesn’t change

the taste or the principle of it, just like the water it will always be water. In a

blue cup, a green cup, a glass cup it will always be water. Even in a bottle, it’s

still the same as in a cup- that’s the essence of Islam.

Buday admitted that ‘it’s pretty difficult for second or third generation young Muslims to really know their place in society because it’s a bit of a catch-22.’ He added that ‘if you integrate too much you lose your actual roots, so you lose connection with your family, but if you go the other way it’s kind of like what are you doing living in

Australia? You might as well be living overseas.’

Accordingly, Buday stated that his organisation was not interested in facilitating assimilation but rather ‘something between integration and assimilation.’ Like Buday,

Otilla explained that ‘it’s good to blend and integrate into the community that you are living in, as long as you don’t sway away from the main fundamental principles of

Islam. If it’s permitted, why not?’ Otilla explained that AIS encouraged its members to

‘balance this culture,’ and advised that ‘there is nothing to be afraid of in the Australian culture.’ In fact, Atilla highlighted throughout the interview that one of the goals of AIS

‘is to integrate Muslims into our Australian community and mix our values into the

Australian values as well.’

All of the Australian MCSO actors interviewed stressed that it was important for their organisations to assist Australian Muslims in positioning, identifying and, therefore, integrating themselves in the Australian society. It must be noted, however, that they

233 did not feel that Muslims needed to ‘assimilate’ or ‘compromise their Islamic values’ to be an Australian Muslim. A number of the MCSO actors also defined the Australian

Muslim identity as ‘fluid’. As Sabbagh explained, ‘we are still creating it. I think it will be quite nuanced and I don’t know what that will look like.’ However, the MCSO actors argued that at the heart of an Australian Muslim identity are the necessary values of good citizenry.

6.3.4 Sub-theme 4– ‘And the Australian public is part of community. It is part of the Ummah’: Contributing to the Wider Society One of the sub-themes from the interviews is located in the discussion on contributing to the wider society as a process of identity formation and negotiation. The MCSO actors all discussed how important it was for their organisation to assist Australian

Muslims in this respect. For instance, El-Merebi stated, ‘You have to work with your community, your Ummah [nation or community] and the Australian public is part of community. It is part of the Ummah.’ Buday also contended that ‘Islam doesn’t prevent

Muslims from living in this country and contributing.’ He specifically stated: ‘We are open to everyone to do good things and just help the mosque contribute to the wider community. Not only will it help with integration but the wider community will get an appreciation for what Islam truly is. This is what Islam teaches us to do.’ Similarly,

Attila remarked that AIS was established to encourage community members to

‘become educated people who are beneficial to the society they are living in too.’

In the same vein, Sertel stipulated that Sareera focused on encouraging and training their young Muslim female members to ‘be better citizens who help the development

234 of their wider community…help the community grow, and become active citizens in

Australia, not passive.’ Sareera achieves this by emphasising love. Sertel explained,

‘The theme is love, love for community, love for the Prophet, love for country, love for this world.’ She discussed that through their programs, Sareera aimed to train their members to

provide that harmony to their community. So just educating youth in religious

manners is not going to be enough. There needs to be good seeds that you will

be sowing for the future, so you equip them with the skills that they will need to

have to contribute to society. So educating them in Islamic matters, when I say

Islamic manners they are Western manners as well, because the manners we

have in Islam are exactly the same in Western cultures as well- respecting the

elderly, helping others. So when I say Australian values they already exist within

the religion, but they recognise that Western culture also upholds these values.

So if they understand these values they basically have a guide, a middle road

that guides them on to the right path in terms of their manners, responsibilities,

accountabilities for their community. They know what they need to do. Islam

reinforces this.

Galila Abdel-Salam also stipulated that IWAQ focused on ‘good citizenship.’ According to Abdel-Salam, this entailed, ‘A good citizen is a person who respects the land which they live in, respect the law of the country they live in, even if they don’t agree with some of these laws.’

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Ally stated that Australian Muslim organisations, like the one he runs, acknowledge how important it is to reach out and contribute to the wider society. He admitted, however, that they ‘could do a bit more outreach with the non-Muslim community groups.’ Ally also believed that it is essential for the relationship between Muslims and the wider Australian society to be reciprocal. He repeatedly used the term ‘equal footing’ to emphasise how he felt Muslims should be received in the wider Australian community. Furthermore, Ally stated that it was important for Crescents of Brisbane to help

give a sense of self-worth to the community, self-confidence and a kind of

feeling of belonging to the society that they are part and parcel of it, not here

for the hand out. We’re not asking the government to give us things we don’t

deserve. We’re getting on doing things, we run schools…and taking the load off

the government by doing some of the stuff we do.

6.3.5 Sub-theme 5– ‘…there is a thing called universal human values ‘: Emphasis on Universalism The final sub-theme which emerged in relation to the negotiation of minority identity was the emphasis on universalism. Indeed, the majority of Australian MCSO actors interviewed spoke at length about this. For instance, Atilla stressed about universal values and explained how important it was for their organisation:

There is a thing called universal human values, and no matter what part of the

world you go, they do not change. Do not steal, like in the Ten Commandments.

Do not kill. Be good to your neighbour. You will see these in Christianity,

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Judaism, any religion, any community you go to. These are basically Islamic

values and also fundamental values, which you find in all human values as well.

Atilla further stated there are ‘additional things, finer details that encompass Islamic values’, but in the end he argued that these ‘Islamic values’ only help ‘improve

Australian values and it will add to them.’ Furthermore, there was much discussion about the compatibility of Australian and Islamic values by the Australian MCSOs interviewed. For Abdel-Salam, Islamic values do not contradict Australian values; indeed they are all encompassing. She stated, ‘It’s in every aspect, from human rights, animal rights, how to live in society, how to be as your friend, neighbour, colleague, every aspect of our lives. So I cannot take one value and say; it’s everything.’

Without hesitation, like other Australian MCSO actors, Abdo emphatically stated that these ‘Australian values are very much in line with Islamic values.’ She explained that the MWA aims to promote the values of ‘equality, integrity, honesty, trust, acknowledging others, and understanding…to all humankind.’ Abdo also noted that

MWA desired to

provide a space where we are not discriminating in any shape or form and we

don’t just say that, we apply it. We have that compassion, and the mercy is part

of our policy. So Islam is ingrained in our policies not just in the name we have.

Abdo stressed that the essence of what their organisation practised is one based on inclusivity and universalism. She contended that their ‘vision statement, applications,

237 aims and objectives are completely based on an inclusive way of providing services as well as encouraging women to come into that space.’ Moreover, she insisted that it was her faith that inspired such ideas: ‘Allah talks to all humankind in that verse not oh you Muslims.’

Dover also spoke about the importance of inclusivity as the basis for Mission of Hope:

the acceptance of diversity is important and I have to admit I have helped shape

Mission of Hope to be where it is today- to be inclusive and that’s really

important to Mission of Hope to be able to survive and grow successfully,

because the more educated we become the less, the less ethnic we become.

Mission of Hope is made that way; it is inclusive of difference.

Dover specifically highlighted that MoH aspire to be to be able to serve all. She stressed,

The vision was always like that to be a Muslim equivalent of the Salvation Army

where we can actually serve everyone. Because the gap is the Muslim

community we want to be able to decrease the gap, so most of the donations

come from Muslims to serve Muslims. We want to start helping other people, a

more universal helping, but at the moment we are restricted by funding… it’s

not about preaching Islam, it’s about preaching universal values across all

systems.

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Sabbagh revealed that it was important that the name of their organisation,

Benevolence Australia, reflected both Islamic and Western values. Similar to the other participants, she did not see these two values as binary oppositions. In particular, she noted that ‘Islam is benevolent; the Creator is benevolent. We wanted something that reflects us, and we are in service to the people, to all people.’

Similarly, Sertel stated that Sareera emphasised that ‘one of the principles in Islam is that you are part of the community, then Islamic values forces me to do something about it.’ Chopra also spoke about inclusivity, but added the value of justice is important to both Islamic and Western values. El-Merebi agreed and also stressed that

Al-Nisa

emphasised the helping of others, of course, and the being so at peace with

environment that you are in. Instead of throwing food away, give it to other

people. If you don’t want to give it away, make a compost, your plants will live

off that if you don’t want too. Try to sustain yourself as much as possible,

because that’s how the Prophet was.

Like Chopra and El-Merebi, Raihman also stated that that the value of ‘justice’ was significant for the MWNNA. Also important were the values of ‘non-destruction and the peace aspect of Islam.’ She argued that ‘it’s supposed to be a peaceful religion. It’s supposed to build up communities, not divide them. And it’s supposed to be friendly with your neighbours.’ Accordingly, Raihman stressed that the universalism of Islam meant ‘living in a community side by side as brothers and sisters, not fighting the whole

239 world.’

6.4 A Description and Discussion of Negotiating Minority Identity in Multicultural Australia While Muslim presence in Australia is not a new phenomenon (as Chapters 1 and 3 outlined), the scholarly literature indicates that despite their active presence and citizenry in all aspects of society, and like their coreligionists in other Western contexts, their identity is often still viewed as the “other” (Aly & Green, 2010; Bouma,

2011; Dunn, 2003; Hage, 2002; Humphrey, 2010; Jakubowicz, 2007; Yasmeen 2010).

This view has a number of implications. According to Bouma (2011) this “’negative- othering’ discourse… aims to discredit Muslims, and in Australia specifically, to instil fear in Australians about their neighbours, fellow Australians who in fact are well known not to promote or engage in violence” (p. 438). In earlier research, Bouma et al.

(2007) note that the negative discourse on Muslims is quite recent and is a consequence of the impact of events overseas as well as targeted Islamophobic campaigns by evangelical Christian groups. Compounded with that, a number of scholars argue that Muslims are also viewed through the lens of orientalism as well as colonialism. For example, using De Bois’ theory of double consciousness, Hatem Bazian

(2013), co-editor and founder of the Islamophobia Studies Journal and director of the

Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project argues that

the double consciousness effectively creates a Muslim identity that is

constantly at odds with the ‘true’ self that has to be suppressed because the

world it belonged to no longer exists, and only traces of negations are allowed

to persist. In this sense, the identities of the colonised Muslims are constructed

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similar to other colonised subjects as a series of negations, inadequacies and

incapacities. The imprint on the mind and the double consciousness of the

Muslim thus revolves around two separate and conflicting sides that can't be

reconciled and are at odds, for each reminds the other of that which he/she is

not and what can't be attained. (para. 12)

While Bazian (2013) makes a valid point here, the narratives from the Australian MCSO actors in this study present a different story. In fact, they reveal that they are consciously aware of the cultural, socio-political and intellectual discourses as highlighted above; however, regardless of these issues, they are clearly working on assisting Muslims in Australia forge their identity not as the ‘other’, but unmistakeably as part and parcel of the Australian society. In fact, some of the participants stipulated that there was no other identity for them– they were Australian Muslims. As Seyit articulated, ‘It’s not something we differentiate; it’s just a given.’ Moreover, contrary to what Bazian cautions above, the Australian MCSO actors in this study did not view the Australian Muslim identity in conflict or in negation of the society in which they lived. Indeed, it was perhaps the reverse. In addition, the phenomenological interviews did not demonstrate that Australian MCSO actors felt that their identity nor the identity of their fellow Australian Muslims were “suppressed” or “constantly at odds with their true self” as Bazian (2013) suggests; rather as Dover insisted in her interview, there should be no ‘identity confusion’ and as Buday articulated a number of times ‘it’s not like one is mutually exclusive of the other; both can work together.’

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The Australian MCSOs actors in this study emphatically articulated their Australian

Muslim identity and emphasised that Islam as they practised and espoused through the ethos, values and practices of their organisations is an Australian Islam, distinct from other versions of Islam practised around the world. The question which naturally arises from this assertion is- what is Australian Islam? How is it distinct from Islam practised in other Muslim countries or from other Western nations such as the United

States of America or different countries in Europe? The Australian MCSO actors were not able to clearly articulate what an Australian Islam meant as they felt that it was still in progress. As Chopra observed: ‘Nobody knows what it will be like exactly… it’s a mindset thing and it’s going to take some development. We are young and we have to give ourselves a break’. From this simple statement, however, one is able to unwittingly discern some important characteristics– that Australian Islam is not rigid and narrow, but rather fluid, responsive and adaptable to change; young, like Australia herself (in fact, the majority of Muslims in Australia are under the age of 35 as discussed in Chapter 2); able to weather the hard and rough conditions and circumstances; and relaxed and not completely serious. Indeed, on the popular Q&A panel on the ABC channel a few years ago, the topic of defining Australian values was debated and discussed. The panellists proffered a few different values, such as mateship, fair go, acceptance, but the overwhelming majority agreed that not taking themselves seriously and having a sense of humour were indeed the quintessential

Australian values (ABC, 2007).

In emphasising the formation of the Australian Muslim identity, the narratives from this study also demonstrated that Australian MCSO actors wanted to assist Muslims

242 forge an identity that was indigenous to Australia. Abdo from the MWA visualised

Australian Islam as one of ‘purity, the desert, the traditional…the beach.’ Ozalp (2013) also notes from his own research that there is a strong sense of an emerging Australian

Muslim identity which is distinct and unique to Australia. Ozalp states that this is due to the five stages of migration:81 1) survival- meeting the basic needs and retaining ethnic identity; 2)settlement- realisation of permanence and the need to establish institutions such as schools to actualise this; 3) relationship-building (this occurred in post 2000 era)- where it was necessary to open to the wider society; 4) independent existence – here the emergence of a new identity which is indigenous in nature and form whereby the leadership of the community resides in actors born and raised in

Australia; and 5) socio-religious interdependence- once the Muslim communities achieve a sense of independence, they are able to be influential and co-exist interdependently with the others in society. Ozlap contends that the Australian

Muslim communities are at stage 4 and are keen to actualise and assert their indigenous form of Islam. Similarly, in my interviews with Australian MCSO actors, this theme was echoed by all of the actors.

Furthermore, in the negotiation and formation of the Australian Muslim identity, it also became apparent that the Australian MCSO actors recognised the importance of

Muslims constructing their identity on their own terms, independent of external influences however well-meaning they may be. Accordingly, all of the Australian MCSO actors stressed that Islam would still be a very important aspect of their identity. For instance, Sertel explained that the ‘ideal Muslim in Australia would be people who

81 Ozlap (2013) in his presentation on the “Islamic Identity Threshold: Emerging Australian Muslim Identity” at the Australasian Conference on Islam (2013) in Sydney, Australia. 243 know their religion, who understand the values of their religion and the land that they live in, so values both.’ This sentiment is echoed by renowned sociologist Riaz Hassan

(2013), for example, who states that it is integral that Muslims themselves are able to imagine, construct and express themselves as being Muslims in the West. Similarly,

Oladosu (2013) discourages what he terms the “outside-in construction” whereby the constructs of the Muslim identity are classified and labelled from outside. He insists on the “inside-out” approach which allows for “the subjective, intersubjective and communal-historical.” 82 With this stream, the negotiation and construction of identity allows for the dynamic diversity of the contemporary Muslim. This is significant as

Hassan (2013) notes that in popular discourse, Islam and Muslims are often portrayed in “tendentious and schematized form- a kind of block, similar in context and form”83 when empirical evidence presents a very heterogeneous identity.

Additionally, the findings of this study also reflects Ozlap’s (2013) theory for an indigenous form of Australian Islam that takes into account the nuances, diversity and complexity which makes up the heterogeneous Muslim community in Australia. For example, Abdo reflected on the ‘great abundance of beautiful diversity within our (the

Muslim) community’ and Chopra suggested that the Australian Muslim identity in ‘two generations’ will ‘be a hybrid of so many different nationalities’ and will form ‘an

Australian flavour.’ Remarking on the diversity among Australian Muslims, Saeed and

Akbarzadeh (2001) conclude that Islam is not necessarily the only source of identity for

Muslims; for many the local cultural context, to a certain extent, also plays a role in

82This quote is from Oladasu’s presentation at the Australasian Conference on Islam (2013) in Sydney, Australia. 83 This quote is from Hassan’s keynote address at the Australasian Conference on Islam (203) in Sydney, Australia. 244

“naturalising” aspects of Islam. This view is also articulated by scholars such as Lapidus

(2002) and Marshallsay (2007). Furthermore, Williams (2011) explains that like

American Islam or British Islam, Australian Islam “evokes a religiously authentic and culturally legitimate faith that exists relatively unproblematically within its societal context, …as part of the established religious mosaic”(p. 128). Importantly, Williams observes that it is not just about Muslims negotiating and understanding their identity in their Western society; rather, it involves Muslims firmly laying their foundations in their society, making claims and demanding respect as equal citizens, as voiced by a number of participants in this study. Moreover, as a number of the interviewed

Australian MCSO actors stated, the diverse, cultural identifications of Islam in its host societies are not new. Because Islam is not bound by a clergy or a centralised mosque association, it has “both influenced and been influenced by the place to which (it was) subsequently taken” (Leonard 2003, p. 148). This is particularly evident in the West. As

Patel (2007) reflects, the identities of Muslims within Western nations are indeed

“mutually enriching, rather than mutually exclusive” (p. 8). These exact words were used by one of the Australian MCSO actors interviewed in this study, Buday from AISA

Youth, when he articulated his views on the Australian Muslim identity.

Additionally, it appears that the Australian MCSO actors’ narratives in this study are also congruent with Roose’s (2012) descriptive characteristics of an Australian Islam. In his doctoral thesis investigating three case studies of Australian-born Muslim male political actors, Roose states that Australian Islam is:

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Positive(ly) influence(d) by, respect for and comfort with women as

independent, educated wage earners; familiarity with and comfort fusing

Australian and Western cultures and Islamic practice in areas including music,

literature, clothing and physical appearance; confidence and assertiveness

interacting with government as Muslims in a professional capacity; the

promotion of pluralism and willingness to critique Muslims seeking to impose

their perspectives on others; an entrepreneurial approach to locating space and

opportunities for expression; displaying high levels of social resilience to take

the risk of rejection in order to achieve goals; and a positive belief in and sense

of service to Australian society. (p. 242)

In the assertion of their Australian Muslim identity, the MCSO actors also discussed the relevant sub-themes of adaptation. As discussed, the Australian Muslim identity for many is not static and perhaps even quite complex- it is constantly shifting and even adapting to the socio-political environment as stressed by the Australian MCSO actors from this study. Indeed, all of the actors spoke about the need to adapt. Dover articulated a need to ‘marry’ the ‘Islamic understanding of lifestyle, trying to adapt to living in Australia.’ Others refer to adapting specifically to the ‘situations and customs of the area.’ Moreover, according to some of the Australian MCSO actors interviewed the process of adaptation is an absolute necessity to living a modern life.

This process of identity adaptation or more often referred to as selective adaptation draws inspiration from an unlikely field, biology. Admittedly, Darwin’s concept of adaptation does not sit well with some social scientists as it conjures ideas of racism or

246 intense nationalism; however, according to Hodgson (2008) that should not be the case as “it endorses neither inequality nor strife” (p. 399). Hodgson (2008) studied how

Thorstein Veblen generalised Darwinism and adapted it to explain individuals and social institutions. He quotes Veblen:

The life of man in society, just like the life of other species, is a struggle for

existence, and therefore is a process of selective adaptation…The progress

which has been made and is being made in human institutions…may be set

down, broadly, to a natural selection of the fittest habits of thought and to a

process of enforced adaptation of individuals to an environment which has

progressively changed with the growth of the community and with the

changing institutions under which men have lived. (cited in Hodgson 2008, pp.

402-403)

Historically, a number of thinkers have borrowed and expanded Darwinism to explain the evolution of societies, cultures and ideas. Such thinkers include Walter Bagehot

(1872) when he applied the concept of selection in the political sphere; additionally,

Samuel Alexander (1892) and Benjamin Kidd (1894) explained the natural selection of ethical principles.

The concept of adaptation in more modern times, according to Richmond (1974) is

“the mutual interaction of individuals and collectivities and their responses to particular social and physical environments” (p. 194). Abusharaf (1998) uses this definition and framework in her study of immigrant Muslim congregations in New York

247 to provide an understanding of how religious beliefs can generate and reflect change, according to its socio-political context. Though her participants had selectively adapted to their surroundings, she emphasises that “the Mission (the participant group in her study) has adapted Islam to its North American environment, but it has not been assimilated into it” (1998, p. 250). The distinction is important and will be further discussed in the next section. She concludes from her study that the adaptive strategies are effective and necessary mechanisms to adjust as well as gain legitimacy in the host society. The participants from this current study articulated similar sentiments.

Although Irfan Ahmad (2009) does not use the term “adaptation” itself in his study of the social movement, the Jaamat e Islami in India, his extensive ethnographic study of the group demonstrates that the Islamist organisation espoused the selective adaptation mechanisms, gradually shifting from an intolerant ideology to one which embraced religious pluralism and tolerance. Ahmad (2009) argues that the organisation was able to transform its ideas and adapt to the host society as a consequence of the host society responding to the needs, traditions and aspirations of its Muslim citizens. This was also the case with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egypt.

Investigating the MB, Weber (2013) notes that it was “interaction with society at large

(which) forced the Brotherhood to accept compromise and mediation” (p. 522).

The Australian MCSO actors also discussed this sub-theme at length; in particular, a number of the actors, such as Abdo, explained that their organisations were able to assist the Muslim community adapt better because of the government’s positive

248 response to their need of vital resources and programs through necessary funding.

Consequently, according to the MCSO actors, this allowed for better integration into mainstream society. It needs to be acknowledged, however, that it may not be as clear cut as this. Poynting and Mason (2008) agree and have noted this in their analysis of the politics of Australia’s new integrationism policies. The authors assert that through funding, the Australian Government has more or less been able to control the affairs of ethnic communities in Australia, including the Muslim community. They explain that

“this was largely obtained by consent rather than coercion, and this consent was often purchased with various forms of state resourcing for community needs, with a measure of coercion attached to the threat, where necessary, of funding withdrawals”

(Poynting & Mason, 2008, p. 230). Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this study to analyse this point further; however, it is important to note that while Australian

MCSO actors demonstrated very positive attitudes about government funding, a number of scholars are cautious about the real intent of the funding.

While stressing the need to adapt as well as integrate into the wider Australian society, a number of the Australian MCSO actors articulated clear boundaries. For instance, the actors such as Dover, Seyit, Abdo and Buday especially stipulated that integration could not occur at the expense of the fundamentals of the religion (Islam). On the other hand, the Australian MCSOs stated that it was their part of their religious convictions to integrate as El-Merebi, asserted: ‘it’s part of being a Muslim.’

These articulations are also found by Rane, Nathie, Isakhan and Abdalla (2011) in their study investigating the views and attitudes of Queensland Muslims on a variety of

249 issues. In particular, the authors report that 71 percent of the 428 surveyed agreed that "Muslims should integrate by learning English and by other social, economic and political means, but should retain their religious identity" (p. 10). The study also found that another 13 percent agreed that "Muslims should become completely integrated into Australian society" (p. 10), while only 14 per cent felt they "should integrate by learning English, but retain all other parts of their identity and mix with their own community as much as possible" (p. 10); only one per cent stated "Muslims should not integrate at all" (p. 10). Significantly, Rane et al., (2011) conclude that 83% of the respondents favour and support integration of Muslims into Australian society.

Similarly, these narratives are discussed by renowned Muslim intellectuals such as

Tariq Ramadan. Ramadan is a prolific speaker and scholar on issues related to Muslims in the West. In his book, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Ramadan (2004) observes that unlike the representation of the majority of Muslims found in many discourses as anti-West extremists, he argues that the opposite is actually happening.

He notes that Western Muslims are actively reforming and seeking ways in which to be an integral part of Western society– intellectually, socially, politically and economically; without doubt, Ramadan argues, they are integrating. Moreover, while remaining faithful to their Islamic principles, Western Muslims are shedding their cultural baggage and adopting Western cultures as their own. As Sabbagh stated also in the interviews, her organisation did not encourage a ‘Pakistani Islam’ or an ‘Arab

Islam’ but, rather, an ‘Australian Islam’. In agreement with narratives like this,

Ramadan (2004) contends that this dynamic intersection of identities and culture will be the future of Islam in the West.

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Ronald Inglehart and Pipa Norris’ (2009) investigation into Muslim integration into

Western cultures also reinforce the findings of this study. Overall, the authors conclude that unlike previous studies which indicate that Muslims have difficulty integrating into their host Western society, their findings suggest otherwise and that

“Muslim migrants do not come to Western countries with rigidly fixed attitudes; instead, they gradually absorb the values prevalent in their host society” (Inglehart &

Norris, 2009, p. 4). Moreover, the strong articulation of integration by the Australian

MCSOs is also confirmed by Ingelhart and Norris’ (2009) research when they conclude that faith alone does not shape an individual’s beliefs and value systems, rather where they live geographically has a greater impact, especially for the younger generation.

As Chopra asserted in the interviews, ‘Two generations from now we’re going to be a hybrid of so many different nationalities; I think we are going to be Australian first,

Muslim yes but Australian before.’

One of the major emphases made by the Australian MCSO actors on the concept of integration was that while their organisations encouraged Australian Muslims to integrate, they discouraged assimilation. Abdo succinctly stated that the MWA was interested in helping its members ‘blend’ into Australia, not ‘melt’. Other actors also discussed this sub-theme at length and stated that it was simply a matter of getting the ‘balance’ right. While there is a strong focus on integration as discussed by the

Australian MCSO actors, it needs to be stated that not all Australian Muslims want to integrate or feel like they want to integrate. For instance, Duderija (2010) highlights that it is not simply the Australian wider society “othering” or excluding Australian

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Muslims; in fact, Australian Muslims themselves are active in the inclusion and exclusion process. He cites occurrences of these exclusionary discourses in both formal and informal settings such as Friday sermons (khutba)], religious instructions or talks

(bayaans) and learning circles (halaqas) where listeners may be encouraged to isolate or separate themselves from the mainstream society in order to ‘protect’ their religious identity. In order to counter this narrative, Duderija (2010) maintains that there needs to be a strong framework in which one is able to construct a religious identity based on ‘normative’ Islam and concludes that “it is important to understand the increased importance of normative Islam and its various interpretations with respect to which type of religious identity among Western Muslims is being constructed and, in turn, its effect on the Western Muslims’ social orientation vis-à-vis the broader society” (p. 112).

However, other scholars such as renowned race relations expert Kundnani (2007) argue that it is too simplistic to view the process of integration and non-integration in this manner. Rather, he contends that it is more to do with the evident racism or

Islamophobia. In other words, some Muslims in the West may isolate or self-exclude themselves as a consequence of the Islamophobia they encounter. Writing on

European racism against Muslims (though he states that Australian racism is the same)

Kundnani (2007) observes from history:

The anti-Semites of twentieth-century Europe hated Jews, not because of their

lack of Christian religious beliefs, but because they were, like Muslims today,

regarded as an alien intrusion into the national homogeneity that modern

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Europeans sought. No matter how much they integrated themselves into

gentile society, they were still perceived as a threat to a cohesive national

identity because their affiliation to a trans-national religious identity had

become the marker of a racial difference. (p. 30)

Thus, the Australian MCSO actors also highlighted in this study that there needs to be an emphasis on integration not as a one-way street, but rather as a two-way street.

Accordingly, the actors insist on the need for reciprocity. For example, Ally stated very clearly that Australian Muslims need to be on ‘equal footing’ with the rest of the

Australian society, rather than be subjected to what Ghassan Hage (1998) refers to as

“White Australian supervised integration” (p. 239). If this does not occur, then the sense of belonging is diminished as noted by Jakubowicz, Chafic and Collins (2012) in their research on young Australian Muslims as well as by many other scholars such as

Kundnani (2007), Mansouri (2010), Mansouri and Marotta (2012) and Rane et al.,

(2011). Indeed as Kundnani (2007) warns, “what is being produced is the opposite of an integrated society as young Muslims, and others whose values are deemed ‘alien’, become disenchanted with national institutions that are all to mixed up with a culture of supremacy” (pp. 41-42).

A strong sense of the Australian Muslim hybrid identity was clearly articulated by the

Australian MCSO actors interviewed. Alongside this discussion, the MCSO representatives highlighted the need to not only adapt but also integrate into

Australian society. In order to do this successfully, the participants expounded upon the importance of contributing to the wider society. For instance, Sertel stated that

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Sareera, the organisation she chairs, focuses on helping their members ‘help with the development of their community...to become active citizens.’ A number of actors echoed this view as shown earlier; in particular, words articulated to qualify a citizen included an ‘active’, a ‘good’ or a ‘better’ citizen.

Scholars have noted that there has been a proliferation of Muslims around the world engaging in community activism (Laird & Cadge, 2010; Malik, 2004; Moosa-Mhitra,

2009); Australian Muslims are no exception. While some may link the activism to

Western influence, others like Malik (2004) asserts that the motivation may actually be

“a renewal of traditional Islamic norms” (p. 80) or as Laird and Cadge (2010) note an

“expression and enactment of personal piety and self-fulfilment” (p. 233). For instance,

Muslims generally refer to Islamic concepts of thawab (divine rewards for good deeds) sadaqah (voluntary charity) and zakat (compulsory almsgiving) as highlighted in number of Qur’anic verses; they also narrate numerous sayings of the Prophet

Muhammad or relate stories about the companions of the Prophet. One of the participants in Sparre and Petersen’s (2007) study stated:

In general, humankind tends to do good work, but in Islam this is high-lighted:

giving and doing good are just as important as praying. The word “volunteer” is

mentioned in the Qur’an. In Islam, it is not that hard to do good work. The

Prophet Muhammad says that, if you see something harmful in the street and

you remove it, you have done something good, you will receive points. So

charity is good, whether it is small or big. Another good example is that it is

considered a good deed if you smile to your brother's face. And this really

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doesn't cost you anything. This saying has two important aspects: that it is good

to do charity, and that the relation between people should be good. A peaceful,

loving relationship between people is what Islam wants. This is what Islam is all

about & doing good deeds. (p. 30)

It is important to note, however, that the Australian MCSO actors did not necessarily use the term volunteering to denote civic engagement; rather they used phrases and concepts such as ‘becoming a better citizen,’ ‘getting more involved in the community’

‘helping develop the community’ and so forth. The reason for such concepts may be attributed to the fact that many Muslims feel this is part of their religious duty, rather than something they can opt to do or not to do. This is consistent with one of the findings of the Cultural and Indigenous Research Centre Australia’s (2010) report.84 The authors note that “community service is one of the pillars of Islam,85 so a Muslim person serves the community as an expression of their faith and may not view this as

‘volunteering’” (p. 6). Thus it is not surprising that the Australian MCSO actors, such as

El-Merebi for instance, stated that the basis of civic engagement is Islam.

Moreover, in discussing this further El-Merebi stressed that the activism needs to extend beyond the Muslim communities, declaring that the ‘Australian public is part of community. It is part of the Ummah (nation or community).’ As well, Buday remarked that ‘Islam doesn’t prevent Muslims from living in this country and contributing.’ These

84 This report, funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, investigated the range of services available to young Muslim men. It also assessed the effectiveness of these services and looked at the participation barriers and enablers. The report can be found here: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/pdf_doc/social-participation-muslim- men.pdf 85 In fact, it is not a pillar of Islam per se; there are only 5 pillars- testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, charity and pilgrimage to Mecca. It is more correct to say that ‘volunteering’ is considered by many Muslims to be an Islamic duty. 255 remarks are consistent with sentiments of Muslims living in other countries. For instance, in Laird and Cadge’s (2010) study on Muslim community-based health organisations (MCBHOs) in America, they observe that their participants stated that it is important that their services were available not only to the Muslim communities, but to all who need their services, regardless of their ethnicity, creed or religion. As one of their participants explained, “part of our Islamic teaching is to help humanity”

(p. 234).

A significant impact of contributing to the wider community as revealed by the

Australian MCSO actors is that it helps mobilise a strong sense of Australian citizenship, identity and belonging. This was clearly articulated by Ally when he stated that one of the intentions of Crescents of Brisbane was to ‘give a sense of self-worth to the

(Muslim) community, self-confidence, and a kind of feeling of the society that they are part and parcel of it, not here for a hand out.’ Consistent with this finding, Laird and

Cadge (2010) explain that the MCBHOs they studied also “strategically deploy positively valued faith-based charitable and professional group identities to counteract a publicly stigmatised religious group identity” (p. 236).

An extension of this discussion on contributing to the wider Australian is the revealed sub-theme of universalism. In particular, the Australian MCSO actors reified this concept by using the term ‘ummah’ to refer to not only the Muslim community, but to the community of all humankind. Some of the MCSO actors also stressed on Qur’anic verses which use ummah to connote this specific point. For instance, Chapter 10, verse

19 in the Qur’an states that, “Mankind was but one nation (ummah), but differed

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(later).” Also, Chapter 10, verse 47 reads, “And for every nation (ummah) there is a messenger.” Hasan (2011) argues that as a result of globalisation, Islamists have referred to ummah as exclusively referring to the community of Muslims. However, he contends that this not necessarily the theological position and, instead, insists that it

“is not an exclusive concept, rather it includes the whole humankind” (p. 145) as discussed by a number of the Australian MCSO actors in this study.

In addition to the universal understanding of community, the Australian MCSO actors spoke specifically about their organisations having to engage in deep reflections on specifically how Islam informs their ethos, vision and practice in the public sphere. As many of the Australian MCSO actors were ‘forced’ regularly to respond to issues on the compatibility of Western values and Islamic values, this was a crucial process. During the interview process, the actors reported, without hesitation, that their organisation emphasise the universal values of ‘justice, fairness, equality, love and compassion’ as espoused in the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions. Interestingly, when asked how they approach their understanding of the Qur’an and Prophetic Traditions, no MCSO actor interviewed stated that their organisation approached their understanding from a literalist perspective. Some stated that their understanding of the Qur’an was contextualist while a few discussed the maqasid (higher objectives) or universal approach.86 For instance, Atilla stated that the interpretation of the Qur’an is not approached ‘literally, take it literally there are two types of verses, some verses are

86 The maqasid or higher objective approach has also been observed by many Islamic organisations in Muslim countries. See, for instance, Rane, H (2010), Islam and contemporary civilisation, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

257 direct and then there are verses that need to be interpreted, there is a different meaning behind it.’ Dover explained,

(We) make sure that we don’t go against the core values, concepts and the

regulations that are stipulated in the Qur’an and the practices of the Prophet,

so bearing in mind contextually for Australia. We don’t take a literal position we

take a contextual position and we do consult scholars when necessary.

These findings are consistent with Hakan Yavuz’s (2004) observation that Muslims in the West are indeed “putting the universal principles of Islam to work in terms of building institutions ideas, practices and arts…imply religio-social models of reasoning that are conditioned by time and space in a given society” (p. 218).

Ramadan fiercely advocates Muslims in Western countries to return to the essence and objectives of Islam, based on the universal principles and stresses:

While our fellow-citizens speak of this ‘integration’ of Muslims ‘among us’ the

question for Muslims presents itself differently: their universal principles teach

them that wherever the law respects their integrity and their freedom of

conscience and worship, they are at home (emphasis mine) and must consider

the attainments of these societies as their own and must involve themselves,

with their fellow-citizens, in making it good and better. No withdrawal, no

obsession with identity- on the contrary, it is a question of entering into an

authentic dialogue, as between equals, with all our fellow-citizens with respect

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for the identical universality of our respective values, willingly open to mutual

enrichment and eventually to become true partners in action. (p. 5)

It is worth nothing that Ramadan is not the first scholar to make such observations. At the beginning of the 20th century Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) in his work, The

Elementary Forms of Religious Life (2012) posited that universalism is emphasised more when societies and people are in greater contact with one another.

In other Western contexts, Muslims in the United States are also demanding that their co-religionists emphasise universalism as a part of their faith. In his study of the

American Muslim diaspora, Schumann (2007) concludes that Muslims are very vocal about asserting the universals of their faith and also insist that the American constitution is consistent with Islamic principles. Furthermore, Schumann (2007) cites a prominent American Muslim leader, Dr Robert Crane who reasons that “to be the best Muslim is to be a good American, and to be the best American is to be Islamic”

(cited in Schumann, 2007, p. 23). Well-known Medina-educated scholar, Shaykh Yasir

Qadhi, spoke at the Islamic Council of North America (ICNA) conference in 2011 and emphatically states that he is a proud, patriotic American Muslim and encourages the audience members and all American Muslims to be proud and embrace that fact

(Qadhi, 2011). These thoughts resonate with the narratives articulated by a number of the Australia MCSO actors who participated in this study.

Importantly, the Australian MCSO actors also stated like the process of integration, the emphasis on universal principles needs to be a two-way street. Kundnani (2007)

259 concurs and argues that many countries, including Australia, have violated many of these values, especially human rights. He believes “that the effect of this (violation of human rights) is not only to trample over the rights of vulnerable communities, but also to undermine the very process by which communities can come together with shared values enshrined in law and democracy” (Kundnani, 2007, p. 41).

At this point of the discussion, there are a few questions which need to be asked, namely, what does this all mean? How does this impact on the future of inter- community relations in Australia? How does it fit in with the global as well as local debates on multiculturalism? The next section will expound upon these questions and provide a working framework, based on the data and discussions, on how Australia

MCSOs can better negotiate and form their identity in multicultural Australia.

6.5 Beyond Multiculturalism: Developing a Cosmopolitan Identity

Western countries and their policy makers around the world, including Australia, have questioned the future of multiculturalism87 ( see also Jakubowicz, 2006, 2007). The eminent Australian cultural theorist Graeme Turner (2003) remarks that “most worryingly, the erasure of multiculturalism as a set of policy principles to guide the inclusive management of citizenship leaves an enormous vacuum both at the level of social policy and of public debate” (p. 416). However, the Australian MCSOs in this study demonstrate that perhaps there is no need for great concern as they are actively

87 A number of European leaders including the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, have publicly declared that multiculturalism has been unsuccessful in their respective countries. Of course, arguments have ensued as to whether Germany or England actually had firm multicultural policies in the first place; however, it is beyond the scope of the paper to debate these issues. For a robust discussion on these issues refer to Lentin A. and Gavan, T. (2011). The crises of multiculturalism: Racism in a neo-liberal age. London: Zed Books. 260 participating in and contributing to shaping an Australian identity based on values beyond that of multiculturalism, to ones based on cosmopolitanism.

In its very general sense, cosmopolitanism refers to a sense of ethical or moral duty towards others based on one’s shared humanity, regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, state citizenship or other differences. Beck (2007) provides an apt summary of the distinction between cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism88 and states:

multiculturalism… means that various ethnic groups live side by side within a

single state. While tolerance means acceptance, even when it goes against the

grain, putting up with difference as an unavoidable burden. Cosmopolitan

tolerance, on the other hand, is more than that. It is neither defensive nor

passive, but instead active: it means opening oneself up to the world of the

Other, perceiving difference as an enrichment, regarding and treating the

Other as fundamentally equal. Expressed theoretically: either-or logic is

replaced by both-and logic (emphasis original). (para. 24)

The Australian MCSO actors’ cosmopolitan views, as demonstrated earlier, are congruent with Beck’s definition of cosmopolitanism. This is particularly evident when the actors discussed the sub-themes of universal principles such as human rights, justice for all, inclusivity, compassion, as well as the acceptance and celebration of

88 This distinctive debate also played out in Australian public policy debate in the late 1980s when former ambassador to China, Stephen Fitzgerald, recommended that multiculturalism should be replaced with cosmopolitanism policies (Jakubowicz, 2009).

261 diversity. Interestingly, it is the Islamic concept of ummah, as articulated by a number of the Australian MCSO actors, which allows for their understanding of universality, transcending cultural, ethnic, and national boundaries. Thus, they are not referring to the ummah as a community of Muslim believers, but rather a community of humankind. This universal understanding of this concept has also enabled Muslims in

Australia to easily locate themselves, not in simply a multicultural society, but beyond that– a society which “engagement with the other” is of paramount importance and what many would argue is the essence of cosmopolitanism (Hannerz, 1996, p. 103).

Furthermore, the Australian MCSO actors also affirm Bazian’s (2013) suggestions for

Muslims in the West to use their political agency to be more “transformative” and

“espouse an inclusive and human-centric political structure and cultural production, celebrating and honouring the diversity of humanity” (para. 17).

It is also apparent from the phenomenological interviews with the Australian MCSO actors that they are not only interested in engagement and universal principles, they are also interested in helping Australian Muslims espouse a strong identity, one which locates them nationally and beyond whilst incorporating their strong sense of religion.

For them, having layered and/or hybrid identities is not viewed negatively, as similarly observed by Marshallsay (2007). Thus, the cosmopolitan framework enabling

Australian MCSOs to engage meaningfully in the multiculturalism debate is not a

Kantian idea of universalism, but rather what Mandaville (2003) refers to as a

“universality based on plurality of particulars” (p. 220). In other words, it is not the classical cosmopolitan emphasis on a monolithic hegemony of similar attitudes, but rather on a universal acceptance of heterogeneity. Beck (2007) concurs and

262 metaphorically describes this process as breaking down the walls and, instead, replacing them with bridges.

While one may argue that many religious traditions, including Islam, cannot be sources of cosmopolitanism because of the strong emphasis on their religion being the ‘truth’, the Australian MCSO representatives disagree. The findings in this study demonstrate that they discussed and were concerned about ideals and principles of human rights, inclusivity, and engagement with the other at all levels. Additionally, they provided verses from the Qur’an and sayings from the Prophetic Traditions to justify their strong cosmopolitan views. Similarly, Patrick Eisenlohr (2012) argues that “counteracting a secular bias, such a rethinking also demonstrates that religious traditions and networks can be important sources of cosmopolitan projects” (p. 11).

The Australian MCSOs, as represented by the actors interviewed in this study, demonstrate that they are all too aware of the complexity of their position and context in which they operate. They do not want a superficial engagement with mainstream

Australian society, nor do they want a loss of religious identity for their organisation and for the people they work for and represent. Rather they subscribe to an approach balancing the two, one where belonging is not just about similarities but also about the acceptance of differences. For these Australian MCSO actors, this is the cosmopolitanism they hope to bring to the Australian national identity table. It also appears that they desire to be full participatory and contributory partners in this nation-building process. Finally, these Australian MCSO leaders are not alone; they are joining a global “new generation of cosmopolitan and progressive Muslim thinkers who

263 are now beginning to make their own influence felt” (Kersten, 2011, p. xvi). Like the other processes related to identity formation, it is important to stress that the development of the cosmopolitan ideals cannot be a one-way street. Rather it needs to be fostered by public policy. Accordingly, Fethi Mansouri (2012) who has researched and written extensively on the issue of Muslims in Australia notes that that it is necessary to focus on “a normative construction of citizenship and belonging but also a more strengthened focus on grassroots approaches to moral universalism and cosmopolitanism” (p. 29).

6.6 Conclusion

The findings reveal that the MCSOs have helped Australian Muslims in the formation, participation and contribution of a hybrid Australian identity, from one of homogeneity to one of meaningful vibrancy, diversity and multiculturalism and beyond. In particular, the actors discussed five sub-themes related to this process, which are: 1) asserting the Australian Muslim Identity; 2) the concept of adaptation; 3) integration not assimilation; 4) contributing to the wider society; and 5) universalism.

The Australian MCSOs actors strongly asserted their Australian Muslim identity and emphasised that the Islam they practised and espoused through the ethos, values and practices of their organisations is one based on an Australian Islam, distinct from other versions of Islam practised around the world. When asked what that meant, no MCSO actor was able to articulate a simple answer; rather they articulated a number of characteristics which they felt were distinct from other forms of Islam practised around the world. For some MCSO actors, Australian Islam is not rigid and narrow, but

264 rather fluid, responsive and adaptable to change; young, like Australia herself; and relaxed, not completely serious with a great sense of humour. For others, Australian

Islam focuses on embracing diversity of people and acceptance of others by giving everyone a ‘fair go’. Most importantly, the MCSO actors also stressed that an

Australian Islam is based on maqasid or universal principles, rather than narrow, religious dogma based on rules and regulations. Specifically, the actors discussed the universal concepts of benevolence, mercy, compassion, inclusivity, assisting others, environmental responsibility, justice, and peaceful co-existence.

The phenomenological interviews have also demonstrated that the intersection of

Islam and civil society, played out in the wider Australian context, results in the emergence and development of religiously grounded cosmopolitan ideas. It is worth nothing that the process of negotiating, defining and redefining their identity in

Australia is not a static process; moreover, the actors’ narratives also revealed that they do not necessarily want one identity to define them. In fact, the Australian MCSO actors viewed multiple and hybrid identities as a positive feature of a modern, globalised society. Finally, the actors impressed that the shared universal values and a deep sense of community, in accordance with cosmopolitanism, will allow for meaningful and harmonious inter-community relations.

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Conclusion

In line with the descriptive phenomenological research approach, this concluding chapter begins by providing a summary of this thesis’ explication, analysis and discussions on the emerged themes. Following this, the implications of the derived themes which culminated in the epochs are expounded. Finally, future research directions are suggested for further understanding of this phenomenon along with a few final remarks.

Summary

Literature pertaining to Muslims and Islam largely focus on political issues and actors related to fundamentalism, radicalisation, militancy and terrorism. There is a noticeable absence of scholarly research on the other political actors, particularly

Muslims involved in civil society, who are a vibrant presence and contributor to the

Western public sphere. In particular, the magnitude of community building and the establishment and administration of the rich, diverse and multidimensional civil society organisations by Muslim actors in Western countries, including Australia, are rarely acknowledged. Moreover and all too often, we hear political and media discourses, questioning: where are the ‘moderate’89 Muslim voices? Where is the ‘real’

Islam? Why can’t Muslims integrate in Western countries? This thesis’ methodological approach and findings provide substantial answers to these questions as well as

89 For an insightful discussion, see Nathan Lean’s (2014) commentary “Stop Saying ‘Moderate Muslims.’ You’re only Empowering Islamophobes’ in New Republic. Full article can be found here: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118391/troubling-phrase-moderate-muslims-only-empowers- islamophobes 266 insights into other complex issues which have been debated in the various discourses on Muslims and Islam in the West.

Utilising the descriptive phenomenological research approach, this thesis aimed to comprehensively and uniquely present the experiences of the Australian Muslim civil society actors and the organisations they represent, allowing them to define their own experiences, in their own narratives and not let others, from the media, politicians, so- called experts or Islamophobes speak on their behalf with their already established paradigm. Essentially, this thesis sought to answer this central question: what are the experiences of Muslim civil society actors in responding to the Australian socio-political context? In order to gain a comprehensive, detailed, yet nuanced understanding of the

Australian MCSOs, this study also explored the nature, focus, goals, aims and activities of MCSOs; how Muslim civil society actors have responded to the challenges of the

Australian socio-political context and the perceived impact these experiences have on them; how Islam is manifested in this milieu, in terms of what aspects of the faith are emphasised and de-emphasised, how sacred texts are interpreted and applied and how the religion engages with the wider society; and finally, the implications for future inter-community relations in Australia.

This study’s mapping exercise indicated that there are 486 Australian MCSOs with new organisations being established regularly. Although there are a number of older organisations (mostly mosque or mosque-based institutions), the majority are fairly new, established particularly after September 2001. The Australian MCSOs, in all the states and territories, represent the Muslim communities’ diverse engagement in the

267 public sphere. Moreover, these organisations have made meaningful contributions in almost every area of civil society. They have formed religious institutions (including mosques and mosque societies), social welfare organisations, cultural associations, advocacy organisations (human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, environmental rights, and so forth), youth organisations, professional associations, research centres and think tanks, education institutions, sports and recreational associations, charities, and organisations dedicated to interfaith understanding and dialogue. The majority of

Australian MCSOs are mosque-based (including mosque administrations), followed by education institutions. The third largest category of MCSOs is the cultural and ethnic association. The Muslim youth and women’s associations make up the fourth and fifth groups respectively.

The large number of established mosques is due to the fact that the mosque has historically been at the centre of Muslim communities globally since the 7th century.

This continues to be the case today and, based on the statistics on established mosques as indicated in this study, appears to also be a priority for the Muslims who migrated to Australia. Muslims are able to offer their prayers anywhere; hence, the purpose of the community mosque extends beyond simply a spiritual and physical place to pray. For Muslims, especially those living in Western countries, a mosque is the anchor of the community. It is a place to congregate and socialise, to share a meal, to hold community meetings and workshops; to educate; celebrate births, weddings and religious holidays; to mourn those who passed on; and for some, a place to find refuge and solace. To build a mosque in a community signifies an increasing Muslim

268 population in a certain area, but it also demonstrates a strong desire to establish permanent roots on the land.

In terms of the formation of formal Islamic schools, the establishment of these institutions was not a consequence of Muslims facing discrimination in the context of education or that existing Australian schools were inadequate; rather, Australian

Muslims desired an educational environment for their children in which their children’s Muslim identity could be nurtured and maintained. This also appears to be a similar explanation for the emergence of some of the other Muslim institutions and organisations, particularly the youth-based ones. Moreover, it is worth noting that the changing global, national as well as internal community dynamics contributed to the development of the other institutions and organisations, such as FAIR, Australia MADE and Benevolence Australia which were established after the events of 9/11 in response to the specific needs of both Muslims and the wider Australian society.

The findings from the first part of the research design also demonstrated that

Australian MCSOs are structurally and organisationally similar to other CSOs, not just here in Australia but in other parts of the world, including those in Muslim countries.

However, while it is acknowledged that funding requirements can pose certain restrictions in terms of advocacy on certain issues, the consequences of the advocacy are not as severe as those imposed in Muslim countries. In fact, the Australian MCSOs interviewed all stated a positive relationship with all levels of government.

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The history of Muslim community building in Australia indicated that it was initially an

“inward-looking” initiative and that the first priority was mosque building as discussed above, followed by educational programs and institutions, which were established through the mosque societies. As the Muslim community grew rapidly in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s, Australian Muslim leaders recognised a dire need to meet not only the religious needs of the community, but also the social, recreational, cultural, education, economic, intellectual and health needs.90 In particular, they recognised that the informal gatherings were not sufficient to meet those needs or give them a strong sense of community and religious identity, and thus, sought ways to establish more structured organisations. Accordingly, they began establishing schools and community institutions to accommodate the increasing Muslim population which then allowed them to become more outward-looking.

The Australian MCSO actors engaged in a needs-analysis of their community, such as what Abdel-Salam and her colleagues did in the Logan area of Queensland, what

Hakim and Sabbagh did in Melbourne, and what Dover among others did in Sydney.

These actors and the organisations they represent recognised that the growing Muslim communities in Australia needed more than just religious guidance; they required assistance with settlement issues, housing, employment, domestic violence, mental health, child safety, social welfare, social ills and advocacy to name a few. Essentially, they needed professional Muslims and specialised organisations to respond to internal challenges and external relations. Hence, based on consultations with the members of the communities and various stakeholders (such as social workers, police officers,

90 As mentioned earlier, these were met to some extent by the mosque; however, the community needed more formal responses and structures to meet those needs. 270 community developers and so forth) and based on their own experiences and expertise, these Australian MCSO actors realised that there was a dire need to fill those voids, which they felt could not necessarily and adequately be met by other mainstream organisations.

Importantly, the outward-looking phase of the community building process also involved many Australian MCSOs establishing themselves separate from the mosque institutions. This was significant for three reasons. Firstly, the separate establishment allowed for the MCSOs to have full autonomy and control of their organisation’s ethos, visions and goals. Secondly, these organisations did not feel that the religious leadership necessarily represented them or were truly aware of the needs of the community. Thirdly, and quite significantly, the intentional separation provided

Australian Muslim women key leadership roles within an organisation as well as representation within their community, from which they were frequently excluded.

It is noteworthy that in a little more than 40 years, Australian Muslims have established nearly 500 MCSOs to reify the needs of their diverse communities and to create a strong sense of permanency in Australia. Moreover, by building, incorporating and administering their own MCSOs, Australian Muslims were taking control and ownership of their own religious identity. Alongside the response to these needs, there was also an urgent sense to take into account the Australian socio-political context in which they operated from, especially their position as minorities negotiating their sense of place in a Western context.

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Once the community organisations were established, Australian MCSOs then focused on issues of social inclusion and social capital. Through MCSOs, Australian Muslims are able to firstly build their bonding capital, by associating with like-minded individuals with shared interests, values, traditions, ethnicity, culture and religion. This may be through instructions or conversations in the members’ native language, through gender-specific activities, religious instructions and so forth. A shared consciousness lies within the intragroup and bonding capital is built. While remaining in this manner can lead to exclusivity, this process was first needed to strengthen a person’s trust, purpose and identity, allowing for their confidence-building in a secure and supported environment. This, then, enabled the Australian MCSOs to provide pathways beyond bonding capital; accordingly, they were able to introduce connections with other diverse social groups, facilitating the linking and bridging capitals to manifest.

In particular, the MCSOs also support Australian Muslims with participating in education and training; facilitate participation in employment and in voluntary work; connect community with other people and resources; and assist with advocacy.

Although these aspects and processes are clearly in line with the Australian

Government’s 2007 Social Inclusion Agenda, it became evident that it was not the government which set the MCSOs’ agenda necessarily; rather it was motivated by the

MCSOs’ own faith.91 Significantly, they stressed the importance of charity (both compulsory with zakat and voluntary with sadaqa) and assisting those less fortunate as mandated in Islam. In fact, for many of the actors, engagement in community is not

91 The language of social inclusion was present in the very early beginnings of most of these Australian MCSOs, well before the Government’s 2007 Social Inclusion Agenda as demonstrated in Chapter 4. 272 voluntary in Islam, it is considered obligatory. This was substantiated by other studies investigating Muslim civic engagement in the West.

It is also important to note that there are many reports and studies which provide pragmatic suggestions on how to work towards the social inclusion of Australian

Muslims; however, the concentration on these suggestions tends to focus on how the government can provide these solutions. What was found lacking in the literature is the recognition of the Australian Muslim community’s role and agency in initiating and executing the programs needed to address such issues of social exclusion and inclusion. Yet, it is clearly evident that the Australian MCSOs are proactively engaging with their communities to ensure that they are successfully responding to these issues.

Furthermore, what the narratives of the Australian MCSOs significantly demonstrate and what is collaborated by other studies is that the social exclusion and inclusion of

Muslims is not a simple or straightforward process; rather, it is multidimensional, complex and intersects a number of different variables. It involves not only the social and economic processes, but also demands a refocus on the social and political policing and securitising measures by the state. Thus, it is imperative for the Australian

Government, especially policy-makers concerned with issues of social inclusion, to recognise that any attempts to facilitate successful pathways to social inclusion for

Muslims in Australian society must involve a concerted and involved partnership with those Australian MCSOs on the ground, who are already meaningfully engaged in such activities. In other words, there is presently a targeted approach to the social inclusion processes by the Australian MCSOs. It is not governments, policy makers or well-

273 intentioned bureaucrats taking a top-down approach, dictating what types of programs or initiatives are needed to assist people feel socially included; rather the

Australian MCSOs are in touch and regularly meet with their clients, members and the community to gauge what is needed and how best to deliver these programs for successful implementation.

After 9/11, many studies showed that Australian MCSOs were ‘obligated’ to participate and engage in three main activities: interfaith dialogue, media engagement and consultation with all levels of government. What was found lacking in the literature and what was revealed by the Australian MCSOs was the impact these engagements had on their organisations. In particular, the MCSO actors revealed that the post-9/11 engagements have had both positive and negative impacts, namely a shift in focus, being ill-equipped to deal with the frenzy, internal mistrust and criticism, exhaustion as well as resilience, the establishment of more open communities and an emphasis on pluralism. Significantly, the events of 9/11 have forced Australian MCSOs to become introspective about their own faith and how it informs their organisation’s ethos, vision and goals. During this process they acknowledged and committed their organisation to the emphasis of higher objectives and principles in Islam (maqasid), expressing, in particular, the importance of respect for religious freedom, acceptance of human diversity, pluralism, compassion, benevolence and service in addition to the promotion of diversity and intercultural understanding. Moreover, as a result of these reflections, it was especially important for those Australian MCSOs who engaged in interfaith activities post-9/11 to emphasise those maqasid aspects of their faith and to be able to provide that counter-narrative to that which was being discussed in certain

274 media and political discourses. A decade after 9/11, MCSOs have continued to assist

Australian Muslims negotiate their place and identity in the Australian public space.

There was a clear demonstration of their Australian identity as shown in Chapter 6, with MCSO actor Dover stating emphatically: ‘We are from Australia. There is no confusion; we don’t want identity confusion.’ The actors do emphasise that the

Australian Muslim identity is a work in process, one of fluidity and adaptation in accordance with the socio-political landscape. The other sub-themes revealed by the

Australian MCSO actors in the negotiation of identity relate to adaptation, integration and not assimilation, contributing to the wider society and an emphasis on universalism.

While the actors stressed the need for Muslims to adapt and integrate into the wider

Australian society, a number of the Australian MCSO actors articulated clear boundaries for this and stipulated that adaptation and integration should not occur at the expense of the fundamentals of Islam. Additionally, the actors do not encourage full assimilation; as one of the actors stated their organisation was interested in helping its members ‘blend’ into Australia, not ‘melt’ and that it was a matter of getting the ‘balance’ right. It is also essential that this process be a two-way street, where the integration agenda is not fully dictated by the dominant culture and that

Australian Muslims do not constantly have to defend their identity and place in their home country. Indeed, it has been shown that the consistent questioning and deeming of the Muslim as the ‘other’ results in further marginalisation, isolation and exclusion.

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In negotiating identity, the narratives have noticeably revealed that the intersection of

Islam and civil society, played out in the wider Australian context, results in the emergence and development of religiously grounded cosmopolitan ideas. It is noteworthy that the identity of Australian Muslims has not remained static but has been negotiated, defined and redefined vis-à-vis community, national and global events and dynamics. Moreover, the narratives also revealed that Australia’s Muslims do not necessarily want one identity to define them. In other words, they do not need to just be Muslim or just be Australian. In fact, the Australian MCSO actors viewed hybrid identities as a positive feature of a modern, globalised society.

The Australian MCSOs, as represented by the actors interviewed in this study, explicated that they are all too aware of the complexity of their position and context in which they operate. They do not want a superficial engagement with the wider

Australian society, nor do they want a loss of religious identity for their organisation or for the people they work for and represent. Rather they subscribe to an approach balancing the two, one where belonging is not just about similarities but also about the acceptance of differences.92 For these MCSO actors, this is the cosmopolitanism they hope to bring to the Australian national identity table. Furthermore, it clearly appears that they desire to be full participatory and proactive partners in this nation-building process.

92 See also Rane et al. (2011). Towards understanding what Australia’s Muslims really think. Journal of Sociology. vol. 47, pp. 123-143.

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Implications

In bringing this study to a close, I acknowledge that it has had both personal and professional implications for me. As someone who has been involved and who has founded and co-founded a number of Australian MCSOs for the last 15 years, the understanding and insights which have emerged as a result of this study have been tremendous. During the two years of interviewing the participants, I have had to bracket all of my pre-conceived assumptions and conclusions and simply allow the themes to emerge from the participants’ own narratives. In doing so, I found myself quite absorbed, fascinated and excited by the journeys and experiences of the

Australian MCSOs and the actors involved in them. After the interviewing process, I was honestly overwhelmed by the amount of data I had collected. After months of listening, reading and re-reading systematically, the four themes, as discussed above, began to emerge. However, I struggled to make sense of it all as they appeared to be disconnected. It was only in the analysing process when prioritising and honouring the participants’ voices, by sharing and describing their often lengthy quotes that the two universal essences or epochs emerged.

Firstly, based on the four major themes of community building, issues of social inclusion, impact of 9/11 and negotiation of identity, the phenomenological analysis delineated that the universal essence of Australian MCSOs clearly reveal that Islam does not exist in Australia in isolation from the wider socio-political context, not in their roles as community builders, or in facilitating pathways for social inclusion, or in dealing with the impact of 9/11 or finally, in the negotiation of minority identity in a multicultural, Western society. Indeed, there is a constant, albeit under-recognised,

277 process of negotiated exchange with Australian cultural norms and values. In particular, the intersection of these factors has seen Australian MCSO actors proudly asserting their Australian Muslim identity. They emphatically stressed that there is no dichotomy between these two aspects of their identity and even maintained that their practice of Islam which guides their organisation is one based on an Australian Islam.

As viewed through the prism of Australian MCSOs, Australian Islam is youthful, with a relaxed approach like Australia herself and is more or less free from rigid religious dogma; rather, Australian Islam emphasises a maqasid approach93 based on universal principles of engaging in service and community activism in all aspects of Australian society. These universalisms include values of inclusivity, equality, benevolence, mercy, compassion, justice, sustainability, and being at peace with others and the land in which one lives. Importantly, Australian Islam is fluid, dynamic, able to weather the harsh conditions and circumstances it finds itself in, and adaptable to its contexts. As

Maha Adbo, eloquently stated: ‘we know that Islam is like the water stream -it takes the shape of the vessel that it gets put into.’

While the statement regarding the strong sense of Australian identity amongst Muslim organisations in Australia appears straightforward, this narrative is not held by everyone, especially Muslim thinkers and leaders in the post-colonial era who contend that one cannot be Western and Muslim at the same time (see for example Fardid,

1940 and Al-e-Ahmed, 1978 who popularised the term westoxification94). To some

93 While the specific term maqasid may not be widely embraced, espoused or understood, the ideas that underlie the concept are gaining ground. 94 On westoxification, Al e-Ahmed writes, “I say that gharbzadegi (the Persian term used by Ahmed for Westoxification) is like cholera (or) frostbite. But no. It’s at least as bad as sawflies in the wheat fields. Have you ever seen how they infest wheat? From within. There’s a healthy skin in places, but it’s only a skin, just like the shell of a cicada on a tree.”(cited in Ali, 2010, para. 2). For a great discussion on their ideas ,see Farzan Vahdat, 2000. 278 extent, the anti-Western narratives still prevail today.95 Muhammad (2014) explains the discourse, “There are a lot of Muslims who consider the Crusades as a continual process, and then the whole idea of that disastrous thing called colonization or colonialism. Muslims have been batted around. Muslims continue to be batted around” (para. 24). However, it is important to note that an increasing number of

Western Muslim scholars are challenging views like these, including Abou El Fadl

(2005), Mattson (2003), Patel (2012), Ramadan (2010), Rauf (2012), among others. For them, there cannot be a choice. If you are a Muslim who lives in the West, you are a

Western Muslim.

Secondly, the epoch which emerged from this study indicate that external events have brought Australian MCSOs full circle in their building of community. When they first began establishing communities throughout Australia, the focus was particularly inward-looking; they needed to lay permanent roots in their new country and, thus, concentrated on the internal requirements of their communities. With the rise of multiculturalism and with the more sizeable Australian Muslim communities due to increased migration in the 1980s and 1990s, their emphasis soon shifted to an external focus. However, the impact of the events of 9/11 meant that so much focus and resources were spent on the external needs that the Australian MCSOs found themselves neglecting the internal needs of the communities in which they were established to serve originally. A number of recent issues related to troubled

Australian Muslim youth have confirmed the need for MCSOs in Australia to re-shift

95 In an interview on PBS’ “Frontline” sociologist Akbar Muhammad elaborates further: “I don't think the average Muslim is against the average Westerner. I think a lot of Muslims are against Western politics, Western governments, because of what they perceive that Western governments do and the influence they have in their countries -- pure and simple” (para. 103). 279 their focus, concentrating particularly on youth capacity building and youth identity negotiation issues. The actors argued that this inward-looking focus will allow them to create a more harmonious relationship externally.

Future Research Directions

The exploration of the lived experiences of Australian MCSOs allows for further research. These are five suggestive points for future investigation. Firstly, while this study has provided a holistic and in-depth exploration and description of the experiences of Australian MCSOs and made references to MCSOs in other Western countries in the discussion, a further study comparing MCSOs in Australia to those in another Western country(ies) will offer a more robust comparison, thus allowing for an even more comprehensive understanding of MCSOs in Western countries. Secondly and more specifically, research questions may centre on whether a specific Western country’s multiculturalism/assimilation/secularism policy impacts on MCSOs operating in their country, and if so, what are the specific impacts of the policy.

Beyond even that, another study may then compare and contrast MCSOs in Western countries and those in Islamic countries to see if the social, religious and political contexts have a different impact on the lived experiences of MCSOs. Fourthly, this present study only focused on the lived experiences of Australian MCSO actors. A potential study could investigate the Australian MCSOs’ relationship with its clients, stakeholders, funders as well as with other community organisations and government agencies. Finally, one of the implications from this study indicated that Australian

MCSOs are shifting their focus inwardly, particularly on youth issues. A potential study

280 can further investigate how successful this focus has been, whether young Australian

Muslims feel less marginalised, excluded or disenfranchised from mainstream

Australian society.

Final Remarks

These rich, interpretive narratives provided an experientially-based understanding of

MCSOs’ experience in proactively negotiating with and in adapting to the Australian socio-political context. This is an important area of research which has not been investigated nor discussed in the literature related to Islam and Muslims, particularly as minority socio-political actors in the West. Moreover, among the most important contributions of this thesis is in respect to methodology. This thesis is unique in its application of phenomenology to issues on Islam and Muslim. Significantly, it has demonstrated the utility of phenomenology for understanding the Muslim experience.

This is significant as a central problem in respect to Islam in the West has been the prevalence of so-called experts on Islam speaking on behalf of Muslims, presuming to understanding their reality and Islam. Ultimately, Islam is what Muslims understand it to be subject to their interpretations and based on their experiences (Rane, 2010).

In particular, this thesis has provided deep insights into how MCSOs have established and developed community, facilitated the social inclusion of those who felt socially excluded, helped Muslims navigate the post-9/11 era, while dealing with the impact of the events themselves and finally assisted Muslims negotiate their identity as a minority group. Phenomenology has allowed the Muslim experience to be conveyed on their own terms, which, it is hoped, will broaden public discourse and

281 understanding in the West. The lack of study in this field does not match the importance nor reflect the major implications the findings will have on inter- community relations in Australia.

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Appendix A Muslim Civil Society Organisations in Australia

No Organisation Website State Primary Service 1. Canberra Islamic Centre http://www.cic-anil.org.au/ ACT Religious 2. Islamic Society of Belconnen http://www.isb.org.au/ ACT Religious (Masjid Al-Taqwa) 3. Australian National University http://www.anuma.org/mambo ACT Student Muslim Association (ANUMA) / religious 4. University of Canberra Muslim ACT Student Students Association Religious 5. Canberra Muslim Youth (CMY) ACT Youth 6. Islamic Council of ACT ACT Umbrella 7. Islamic College of Canberra www.islamicschoolofcanberra.a ACT Education ct.edu.au 8. Bluestar Intercultural Centre http://www.bstar.org.au/ ACT Interfaith 9. Australian Muslim Voice http://www.amv.org.au/ ACT Miscellaneous (AMV) 10. Islamic Council of Christmas AIOT Umbrella Island 11. Islamic Council of Cocos AIOT Umbrella (Keeling) Island 12. Australian Federation of All Peak Islamic Councils (AFIC) – Muslims Australia 13. Muslim Home Education http://www.muslimhomeschool NSW Education Network Australia .net 14. Islamic Centre of Education http://www.iced.org.au/ NSW Education and Development 15. Broken Hill North Mosque NSW Religious 16. Dubbo- Kotku Mosque NSW Religious

17. Ermington Primrose Ave NSW Religious Mosque

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18. Greenacre - Sheikh Khaled NSW Religious Zeidan Prayer Centre 19. Punchbowl- AIDA mosque NSW Religious

20. Iqra Grammar College http://www.igc.nsw.edu.au/ NSW Education 21. Al-Ghazzali Centre http://alghazzali.org/ NSW Religious education 22. Affinity Intercultural http://www.affinity.org.au/ NSW Interfaith Foundation 23. Australian Muslim Civil Rights http://amcran.org/ NSW Advocacy Advocacy Network (AMCRAN) 24. Building Identity and Resisting http://www.birr.net.au/ NSW Advocacy Radicalisation (BIRR) 25. Forum on Australia's Islamic http://www.fair.org.au/new/ab NSW Advocacy / Relations (FAIR) out.php think tank 26. The Islamic Friendship http://www.speednet.com.au/~ NSW Social Association of Australia keysar/ 27. Islamic Women's Welfare www.iwwa.org.au NSW Women Association 28. Mercy Mission Australia www.mercymission.org.au NSW Charity 29. Mission of Hope NSW Miscellaneous/ Community health 30. Muslim Women's National http://www.mwnna.org.au/ NSW Women Network Australia 31. Afghan Community Support NSW Cultural Association 32. Islamic Malay Australian http://www.malay.org.au/abou NSW Cultural Association (NSW) tus.htm 33. Aged Muslim Association NSW Miscellaneous/ Aged 34. Islamic Science & Cultural http://www.haqq.com.au/~sala NSW Sufi Religious Association Wollongong m/cosan/contact.html 35. Ahl Al-Sunna Wal-Jamaah NSW Religious

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Association education 36. Al-Zahra Islamic Society NSW Religious administration 37. Auburn Turkish Islamic Society NSW Religious administration 38. Islamic Science Culture & Art http://www.haqq.com.au/~sala NSW Sufi Religious Association m/cosan/contact.html 39. Global Islamic Youth Centre http://www.giyc.com.au/ NSW Youth 40. Australian Islamic House www.islamichouse.org.au NSW Religious education 41. Australian Islamic Culture NSW Religious Centre 42. Australian Institute of Islamic NSW Religious Culture (AIIC) 43. Islamic Welfare Centre NSW Religious 44. ICRA http://www.icra.org.au/ NSW Youth 45. Quranic Society NSW Religious education 46. Islamic Development Centre NSW Religious education 47. Islamic Egyptian Society of NSW Cultural NSW Inc. 48. Sydney Turkish Islamic NSW Cultural Cultural Centre 49. Islamic Forum for Australian NSW Religious Muslims Inc (IFAM) 50. Islamic Foundation for http://www.ifew.com/ NSW Religious Education & Welfare (IFEW) education 51. Islamic Funeral Service NSW Miscellaneous 52. Suburban Islamic Association NSW Religious of Campbelltown 53. Somali Islamic Centre NSW Cultural/Religio us 54. United Muslim Women http://mwa.org.au/ NSW Women

285

Association 55. Afghan Australian Cultural and http://www.aacsa.org.au/ NSW Cultural Sporting Association 56. South Asian Muslim http://samaa.org.au/home/ho NSW Miscellaneous/ Association of Australia me/ Elderly and (SAMAA) disability support 57. Ceylon Moors Sports Club http://www.ceylonmoors.com.a NSW Recreational u/cmsc/index.php?option=com _frontpage&Itemid=1 58. Islamic Council of NSW http://www.icnsw.org.au/index. NSW umbrella body php?page=home of NSW mosques & societies 59. Bangladesh Islamic Centre Of http://www.bangla.com.au/site NSW Cultural NSW /retro/?page=news&op=readNe ws&id=12&title=Eid-Mubarak- Bangladesh-islamic-centre-of- NSW 60. Australian Islamic Ahl Al Batt NSW Religious Center 61. Australian MEFF Consortium http://www.ifew.com/meff/ma NSW Cultural Inc mbo / 62. Macquarie University Muslim NSW Student Students Association Religious 63. Minhaj UL Quran http://www.minhaj.net/ NSW Religious 64. Muslim League of NSW Inc NSW Religious 65. Illawara Islamic Association NSW Religious Inc. (Bilal Mosque) 66. Bonnyrigg Turkish Islamic NSW Cultural Cultural Assoc 67. Bosnian Islamic Society NSW Cultural 68. Islamic Society of The http://www.isoc-unsw.org.au/ NSW Student University of New South

286

Wales 69. Islamic Youth Association NSW Youth 70. Islamic Youth Movement NSW Youth 71. Islamic Education Consultancy http://www.islamiceducation.c NSW Religious om.au/wp/ education consultancy 72. Lebanese Muslim Association NSW Cultural 73. Al Zahra Muslim Women's NSW Women Association Inc 74. Al Zahra Muslim Association NSW Religious 75. Australian Islamic Voice (AIV) www.australianislamicvoice.org NSW Advocacy 76. Arabic Council Australia http://www.arabcouncil.org.au/ NSW Advocacy Default.aspx 77. Muslim Council of NSW NSW Umbrella 78. Islamic Council of NSW NSW Umbrella 79. Supreme Islamic Council of NSW Umbrella NSW 80. Sydney University Muslim NSW Youth Students' Association 81. University of Technology (UTS) NSW Student Muslim Society 82. UWS (Bkstown) Muslim NSW Student Students - Jama'at al- Muslimeen 83. Al-Faisal College http://www.alfaisalcollege.com NSW Education /home/ 84. Al Noori Islamic School http://www.alnoori.nsw.edu.au NSW Education / 85. Al Amanah College http://www.alamanah.nsw.edu. NSW Education au/ 86. Muslim Scouts http://www.musliMCSOuts.org. NSW Sports/recreatio au/ n 87. Al Sadiq College http://www.alsadiq.nsw.edu.au NSW Education /

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88. Al Zahrah College http://www.azc.nsw.edu.au/ NSW Education 89. Australian Islamic College of http://www.aics.nsw.edu.au/ NSW Education Sydney 90. Green Valley Islamic College http://www.gvic.com.au/defaul NSW Education t.aspx 91. Arkana www.arkana.nsw.edu.au NSW Education 92. Australian International http://www.aia.vic.edu.au/aia_ NSW Education Academy nsw/ 93. Malek Fahd Islamic School www.mfis.com.au NSW Education 94. Qibla College www.qiblacollege.nsw.edu.au NSW Education 95. Rissalah College www.rissalah.nsw.edu.au NSW Education 96. Unity Grammar College www.unitygrammar.com.au NSW Education 97. Sule College http://www.sulecollege.com/ NSW Education 98. Al Nahayan Islamic College Ltd NSW Education 99. Islamic Converts Australia NSW Convert support 100. Islamic Dawah Centre of http://idca.org.au/ NSW Religious Australia (IDCA) Auburn education Masjid Abu Bakr Al Siddeeq 101. Essence of Life Islamic Centre http://www.essenceoflife.org.a NSW Religious (Wollongong) u/index.html education 102. Sydney Muslim Youth https://www.facebook.com/pro NSW Youth file.php?id=100002098298371& sk=wall 103. Nahda- Muslim Youth https://www.facebook.com/gro NSW Youth Movement up.php?gid=368828962349 104. My Peace http://www.mypeace.com.au NSW Religious 105. World Orphanage Trust Inc http://www.wot.org.au NSW Charity 106. Nabi Akram Islamic Centre http://www.nabiakram.org.au/ NSW Religious 107. Human Appeal International http://www.humanapeal.org.au NSW Charity 108. Al Jihad Mosque NSW Religious 109. Al-Azhar Mosque NSW Religious 110. Al-Imam Ali Mosque NSW Religious 111. Arncliffe Mosque (Masjid http://www.icnsw.org.au/alzah NSW Religious Fatima Al Zahrah) ra2.html

288

112. Artarmon - Hampden Road NSW Religious Mosque

113. Auburn Gallipoli Mosque NSW Religious 114. Bonnyrigg Turkish Mosque NSW Religious 115. Bankstown Mosque NSW Religious (Saabaran) 116. Belmore Mosque NSW Religious 117. Blacktown Mosque (Afghan NSW Religious Osman Mosque) 118. Islamic Society of NSW Religious Campbelltown (Minto) 119. Cabramatta West Mosque NSW Religious (Uthman Bin Affan Masjid) 120. Al Mahdi NSW Religious 121. Rooty Hill Mosque http://www.rootyhillmosque.or NSW Religious g/ 122. Central Coast Mosque NSW Religious 123. Central West Islamic NSW Religious Association 124. Islamic Society of Manly (Dee http://ismw.org.au/ NSW Religious Why) 125. Darul IMAAN Mosque http://www.imaan.com.au/ NSW Religious 126. Erskineville Mosque NSW Religious 127. Glendenning - Al Tadhkeer http://al-tadhkeer.org.au/ NSW Religious Society

128. Fatima Al-Zahra Mosque NSW Religious 129. Green Valley Mosque NSW Religious 130. Granville - Spring Garden http://www.gya.org.au/ NSW Religious Street Masjid (GYA) 131. Granville South - Masjid Al http://www.masjidalbukhari.co NSW Religious Bukhari m.au 132. Gwynneville Mosque (Omar NSW Religious

289

Masjid Wollongong) 133. Guildford - Mountford Ave http://nswisca.com/ NSW Religious Masjid 134. Guildford - Old Guildford NSW Religious Railway St Masjid 135. House of Peace Mosque NSW Religious 136. Hornsby Asquith Islamic NSW Religious Centre (North Shore Islamic http://www.nsis.org.au/ Society) 137. Illawarra Mosque NSW Religious 138. Ingleburn Islamic Centre NSW Religious 139. Islamic Youth And Community NSW Religious Centre 140. Lakemba Mosque (Ali ibn Abu NSW Religious Taleb Mosque 141. Liverpool Islamic Centre (GIYC) http://www.giyc.com.au/ NSW Religious 142. Liverpool Mosque (Masjid http://www.masjidbilal.com.au/ NSW Religious Bilal) 143. Liverpool -Australian Islamic http://www.islamichouse.org.a NSW Religious House Masjid u/ 144. Lurnea Mosque NSW Religious 145. Matraville Mosque Eastern http://esiwsi.org.au/ NSW Religious Sydney Islamic Welfare Services Inc. 146. Mount Druitt Mosque- NSW Religious Nepean Masjid 147. Nabi Akram Islamic Centre NSW Religious 148. Newcastle Mosque (Elmore www.newcastlemosque.com NSW Religious Vale) 149. Newcastle (Mayfield) Mosque NSW Religious 150. Parramatta Marsden St http://www.parramattamosque NSW Religious Mosque .org.au/

151. Omer Mosque – Wollongong NSW Religious

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152. Omar Mosque – Auburn NSW Religious 153. Quakers Hill Masjid NSW Religious 154. Penshurst Mosque NSW Religious 155. Redfern Mosque NSW Religious 156. Rockdale Kogarah Frederick NSW Religious Street Masjid 157. Rydalmere Mosque NSW Religious 158. Ryde Islamic Centre NSW Religious 159. St Marys - Forrester Road IPDC http://www.ipdc.org.au/ NSW Religious Centre Islamic Practice and Dawa Centre 160. Smithfield Mosque (Bourke St) NSW Religious 161. Sultan Ahmet Mosque NSW Religious 162. Surry Hills Mosque- King Faisal NSW Religious 163. Tempe Mosque- Al Hijra NSW Religious Mosque 164. UNSW Islamic Centre NSW Religious 165. Wyong Islamic Centr in Central NSW Religious Coast 166. Zetland Islamic Centre NSW Religious 167. Crestwood HDMS Kellyville http://www.HDMS.org.au NSW Religious 168. Armidale New England NSW Religious Mosque 169. Auburn - Harrow Road Auburn NSW Religious Islamic Centre 170. Bankstown - Winspear Avenue NSW Religious Mosque 171. Newcastle Muslim NSW Religious Association 172. Bathurst - Al Sahabah Kelso NSW Religious Mosque 173. Arncliffe - Darul Imaan Wolli NSW Religious Creek Masjid

291

174. Belmore - Al Azhar Masjid NSW Religious 175. Islamic Society of Hurstville NSW Religious 176. Imam Hussein Islamic Centre NSW Religious 177. Islamic Centre Smithfield NSW Religious 178. Alkhair Islamic Society (Syd) NSW Religious 179. Young - Moppity Road Masjid NSW Religious

180. Australian Islamic Mission NSW Religious (AIM) 181. United Muslims of Australia http://www.uma.org.au/ NSW Religious 182. Muslim Aid http://www.muslimaid.org.au NSW Charity 183. Austra- Lanka Muslim http://www.alma.org.au/ NSW Cultural Association (AMAL) 184. Australian Afghan Hassanain http://www.aahya.org.au/ NSW Youth Youth Association 185. Afghan Al Fajar Association https://www.facebook.com/me NSW Cultural (AFAIC) dia/set/?set=a.3647350669687 27.1073741831.286880011420 900&type=3 186. SalamCare www.salamcare.org.au NSW Welfare

187. Australian Muslim Women’s http://www.australianmuslimw NSW Women Association omen.org.au/ 188. Al Fitra Association NSW Advocacy Disability 189. Australian Muslim Deaf NSW Advocacy Society Disability 190. Islamic Development NSW Charity Association 191. Somali Podcast NSW Cultural

192. Somali Development NSW Charity Organisation (SODA) 193. Islamic Relief Australia https://islamic-relief.com.au/ NSW Charity

194. Islamic Help Australia http://islamichelp.org.au/about NSW Charity

292

us 195. Islamic Council of Northern NT Umbrella Territory 196. Darwin Mosque NT Religious 197. Alice Springs Islamic Centre NT Religious 198. Islamic Soceity or Palmerstone NT Religious 199. Australian Muslim Advocates www.amarah.org QLD Advocacy for the Rights of All Humanity (AMARAH) 200. Muslim Charitable Foundation QLD Charity 201. Queensland Muslim Welfare QLD Charity Association 202. Muslim Business Network www.mbn.net.au QLD Professional (MBN) 203. Crescents of Brisbane www.crescentsofbrisbane.org QLD Social/recreatio nal 204. Islamic Women's Association www.iwaq.org.au QLD Women of Queensland (IWAQ) 205. Al-Nisa Youth Group www.alnisagroup.com.au QLD Youth 206. Icare QLD Welfare 207. Islamic Information Service QLD Religious (Independent Islamic education Sisterhood) 208. Muslim Youth Unity QLD Youth 209. Federation of Austrailan QLD Youth Muslim Students and Youth (FAMSY 210. Queensland Muslim Times QLD Media (not known as Australian Muslim Times) 211. Muslim Organisation of the QLD Religious Sunshine Coast education 212. Griffith Islamic Research Unit QLD Education 213. Islamic Council of Queensland QLD Umbrella

293

214. Queensland Muslim Historical QLD Historical Society 215. Sunnah Inspirations http://www.sunnahinspirations. QLD Religious org/ 216. Al-Kauthar QLD Religious 217. Australian Muslim Youth http://www.amynweb.com/ QLD Youth Network – AMYN 218. Brisbane Burial Muslim http://www.bmbs.org.au/ QLD Miscellaneous Services (BBMS) 219. Muslim Women's Convert http://mwcsg.org/ QLD Religious Suport Group (MWCSG) 220. EidFest http://www.eidfest.com.au/ind QLD Social/cultural ex.html 221. Queensland Intercultural http://www.qis.org.au/ QLD Interfaith Society 222. Islamic Medical Association of www.imaq.org.au QLD Professional Queensland (IMAQ) 223. Islamic College of Brisbane http://www.islamiccollegeofbris QLD Education bane.com.au 224. WisdomW College QLD Education 225. Australian International QLD Education Islamic College 226. GUMSA (Griffith University http://www.gumsa.org/ QLD Student Muslim Student Association) 227. United Muslims of Brisbane QLD Religious education 228. Al- Siraj (Kuraby Hussaini) QLD Religious Shia 229. Fatimah Zahra Islamic Centre www.fzic.org QLD Religious Shia 230. Hazara Community QLD Religious Shia 231. Hazara Association QLD Religious Shia 232. Mehre Hossein www.mehrehossein.com QLD Religious Shia 233. Islamic Society of Holland Park QLD Religious 234. Algester Mosque www.isoa.com.au QLD Religious 235. Masjid Taqwa (Bald Hills www.isbh.com.au QLD Religious

294

Mosque) 236. Darul Uloom (Buranda QLD Religious Mosque) 237. Capalaba Mosque QLD Religious 238. Jame Masjid Western Suburbs QLD Religious (Darra Mosque) 239. Eagleby Mosque QLD Religious 240. Ipswich Mosque QLD Religious 241. Masjid al Farooq (Kuraby QLD Religious Mosque) 242. Logan Mosque QLD Religious 243. Lutwyche Mosque QLD Religious 244. Rochedale Mosque QLD Religious 245. Brisbane Islamic Council QLD Religious (Underwood Road) 246. Masjid Al-Madinah (West End QLD Religious Mosque) 247. Islamic Society of the Gold http://www.goldcoastislam.co QLD Religious Coast m.au/ 248. Maroochydore Mosque QLD Religious 249. Turkish Islamic Association QLD Religious (Bundaberg) 250. Islamic Society of Cairns QLD Religious 251. Mareeba Mosque QLD Religious 252. Mackay Mosque QLD Religious 253. Islamic Society of Central QLD Religious Queensland Rockhampton 254. Islamic Society of Toowoomba QLD Religious 255. Muslim Student Ass QUT – QLD Student MSAQUT 256. Muslim Student Ass UQ - QLD Student MSAUQ - St Lucia 257. Townsville Mosque QLD Religious 258. Sakina Inc QLD Women

295

259. Algester Women’s Auxiliary QLD Women 260. Sisters Helping Sisters QLD Women 261. Islamic Sisters Association QLD Women 262. EMAN (Encouraging Muslims https://www.facebook.com/EM QLD Youth in Australian Network) Youth ANyouthgroup?fref=ts Group Brisbane 263. Iqraa Islamic Centre https://www.facebook.com/pag QLD Religious es/iQraa-Islamic- Center/254696054713341 264. Islamic Multicultural https://www.facebook.com/wo QLD Religious Association of Gold Coast rongarymosque 265. Brisbane Somali Community QLD Cultural 266. Somalian Women’s QLD Cultural Association of Queensland 267. IndonesianI Islamic Society of QLD Cultural Australia 268. Somali Sisters of Brisbane QLD Cultural 269. Pakistani Australian Cultural QLD Cultural Association 270. Revival QLD Religious 271. Brisbane Converts QLD Religious education 272. Ummah United QLD Religious

273. Muslim Family Welfare QLD Welfare Association of Australia 274. Minhaj Ul Quran Queensland QLD Religious 275. Islamic Council of South SA Umbrella Australia 276. Islamic College of South http://www.icosa.sa.edu.au/ SA Education Australia 277. Islamic Society of South SA Religious Australia Inc. administration 278. Muslim Women’s Association SA Women 279. Ayn Academy http://www.aynacademy.com/ SA Education

296

280. Islamic Awareness & SA Religious Development Inc education 281. Adelaide Mosque SA Religious 282. Elizabeth Mosque SA Religious 283. Marion Mosque SA Religious 284. Gilles Plains Mosque (Masjid SA Religious Abu Bakr Assiddiq) 285. Islamic Information Centre of http://www.iicsa.com.au/mains SA Religious SA (IICSA) ite/ 286. Whyalla Mosque (Morris SA Religious Crescent Masjid) 287. Murray Bridge Mosque SA Religious (Turkish Islamic Association) 288. Gepps Cross Dry Creek Turkish SA Religious Islamic and Cultural Centre 289. Renmark Turkish Islamic SA Religious Society of SA 290. Al-Khalil Mosque and Islamic SA Religious Arabic Centre 291. Royal Park Bosniak Masjid SA Religious 292. Islamic Dawa Centre SA Religious education 293. Parafield Gardens Mosque Religious (Adelaide Islamic Education Centre Mosque) 294. United Afghan Association of SA Cultural SA 295. UNISA Islamic Society SA Student 296. Flinders University MSA SA Student 297. The Islamic Students Society SA Student of the University of South Australia 298. Tasmania Muslim Association TAS Student 299. Hobart Islamic Centre TAS Religious

297

300. Ararat Welfare Islamic Centre VIC Welfare 301. Avalon - Cozens Road - IPDC http://ipdc.org.au/ VIC Religious Islamic Centre

302. Clayton South- Westall Masjid VIC Religious 303. Prahan Western Thrace VIC Religious Islamic Society

304. Australian Intercultural VIC Interfaith Society 305. Islamic Women's Welfare http://www.islamicwomenswelf VIC Women Council of Victoria are.org.au/ 306. The Islamic Association of http://www.irca.org.au/about/i VIC Religious Australia ndex.htm education 307. Islamic Cultural Women’s VIC Women Association of Australia 308. The Islamic Council of Victoria http://www.icv.org.au/index.ph VIC Umbrella (ICV) p 309. The Muslim Women’s Council http://www.mwcv.org/ VIC Women of Victoria Inc 310. Merhamet Muslim Welfare VIC Charity Association 311. Afghan Communities Council VIC Cultural of Victoria 312. Afghan Australian Welfare VIC Cultural Association 313. Al Ansaar Islamic Association VIC Cultural 314. Albanian Australian VIC Cultural Community Association Inc 315. Australian Bosnian Islamic VIC Cultural Centre 316. Australian Islamic Social VIC Social/recreatio Association Inc. nal 317. Australian Turkish Islamic www.atiff.org VIC Cultural

298

Federation and Foundation Inc. 318. Islamic Coordinating VIC Miscellaneous Committee 319. Islamic Information and VIC Religious Services Network of education AustralAsia 320. Islamic information and VIC Religious support centre of Australia education (IISCA) 321. African Australian Welfare VIC Cultural Council of Victoria 322. Australian Arabic Council http://www.aac.org.au/index.ht VIC Advocacy ml 323. Victorian Arabic Social VIC Cultural Services (VASS) 324. Muslim Legal Network (MLN) VIC Professional 325. United Sri Lankan Muslim http://www.usmaa.org.au/Hom VIC Cultural Association of Australia e.php (USMAA) 326. Darul Ulum Islamic College of http://www.dulum.vic.edu.au/i VIC Education Victoria ndex.aspx 327. East Preston Islamic College http://www.epic.vic.edu.au/ VIC Education 328. Illim College http://www.ilimcollege.vic.edu. VIC Education au/ 329. Isik College http://www.isikcollege.vic.edu. VIC Education au/ 330. Al Tawaq College (Islamic account suspended VIC Education Schools of Victoria Inc) 331. King Khalid Islamic College of http://www.aia.vic.edu.au:8080 VIC Education Victoria (Australian /aia_msc International Academy) 332. Minaret Colleg http://www.minaret.vic.edu.au VIC Education /

299

333. Mt Hira College VIC Education 334. Muslim Women of Australia VIC Women 335. Benevolence Australia VIC Religious Welfare 336. Islamic Social Association of VIC Social/recreatio Australia n 337. Social Islamic Trust of VIC Women Australia (SISTA) 338. Path to Jannah http://www.pathtojannah.com/ VIC Religious education 339. Young Muslims of Australia http://www.yma.org.au/?ui VIC Youth (YMA) 340. Australian Muslim Women's http://www.islamicwomenswelf VIC Women Centre for Human Rights are.org.au/about.htm 341. Sareera Islamic Youth http://sareera.org/ VIC Youth female Association (SIYA) 342. Australian Islamic Social http://www.aisamg.org/ VIC Youth social Association Youth 343. Al-Furqan Islamic Information www.islamicinformationcentre. VIC Religious Centre blogspot.com education 344. Hume Islamic Youth Centre http://hiyc.aswj.com.au/ VIC Religious (HIYC)- Roxburg Park education 345. Panjthan Society of Australia VIC Religious Shia 346. AISA Youth https://www.facebook.com/ais VIC Youth male ayouth?sk=info 347. Broadmeadows Mosque (King VIC Religious Street) 348. Al Taqwa Masjid VIC Religious 349. Brunswick Mosque (Michael VIC Religious St) Islamic Call Society 350. Brunswick Mosque (Sydney VIC Religious Road) 351. Chadstone Mosque VIC Religious 352. Campbellfield Mosque VIC Religious

300

353. Carlton Mosque (Drummond VIC Religious St) 354. Churchill Monash University VIC Religious (UMSA) 355. Coburg Mosque (Sydney VIC Religious Road) ISNA 356. Coburg Mosque (Nicholson http://www.cic.org.au/ VIC Religious Street) Faith Masjid 357. Dandenong Mosque (Dalgety VIC Religious St) 358. Emir Sultan Mosque VIC Religious (Dandenong South Mosque) 359. Deer Park Australian Bosnian VIC Religious Islamic Centre 360. Deer Park Mosque VIC Religious 361. Doncaster Mosque VIC Religious 362. Fiji Islamic Society VIC Religious 363. Doveton Mosque (Afghan) VIC Religious 364. Fawkner Great Prophet VIC Religious Islamic Centre 365. Darul Ulum College VIC Religious 366. Fitzroy Mosque (Brunswick St) VIC Religious 367. Fitzroy Mosque (Turkish VIC Religious Masjid) 368. Footscray VUT Islamic Society VIC Religious 369. Footscray Mosque- Pickett St VIC Religious 370. Islamic Guidance VIC Religious 371. Maidstone Society VIC Religious 372. Glenroy Mosque VIC Religious 373. Heidelberg Mosque- Elliot St VIC Religious 374. Horsham Islamic Welfare VIC Religious Association Inc 375. Mary Mother of Jesus Mosque VIC Religious 376. Huntingdale ABIC Masjid VIC Religious

301

377. Kensington Al-Ansaar Mosque VIC Religious 378. Keysborough Turkish Mosque VIC Religious 379. Lysterfield ISOMER Mosque VIC Religious 380. Maidstone Mosque (Essex St) VIC Religious 381. Maidstone Mosque (Studley VIC Religious St) 382. Manifold Heights Geelong VIC Religious Mosque 383. Meadow Heights Masjid VIC Religious 384. Geelong West Mosque VIC Religious 385. Mildura Mosque VIC Religious 386. Mooroopna Mosque- VIC Religious Goulburn Vale 387. Belgrave Hallam Road Masjid http://www.iewad.org.au/ VIC Religious (Islamic Education and Welfare Association of Dandenong Inc (IEWAD) 388. Newport Mosque VIC Religious 389. Noble Park Mosque VIC Religious 390. Plumpton - Al Mustafa Masjid http://www.almustafamosque. VIC Religious org/ 391. Reservoir Mosque VIC Religious 392. North Melbourne AMSSA http://www.amssa.org.au/ VIC Religious Centre - Boundary Rd Masjid (Australian Muslim Social Services Agency (AMSSA) 393. Shepparton Mosque VIC Religious 394. Springvale Garnsworthy St VIC Religious Masjid 395. Springvale South - Al-Furqan http://www.islamicinformation VIC Religious Islamic Information Centre centre.blogspot.com.au/ 396. Sunshine Masjid VIC Religious 397. Thomastown Mosque VIC Religious 398. Tottenham Mosque VIC Religious

302

399. Truganina Mosque (Al-Taqwa) VIC Religious 400. Warrnambool Islamic Society http://warrnamboolislamicsocie VIC Religious ty.com/ 401. Werribee (Virgin Mary VIC Religious Mosque) 402. West Melbourne, Jeffcott St VIC Religious 403. Windsor - Kent Street - VIC Religious Prahran Masjid 404. Islamic Society of Victoria, http://www.prestonmosque.or VIC Religious Preston Mosque Omar bin g/ Khattab 405. Afghan Islamic Society VIC Cultural 406. Arkan Toledo VIC Religious education 407. Australia Bangladesh Islamic VIC Cultural Council Inc. 408. Bosnian Islamic Centre Deer VIC Religious Park mosque 409. Australian Islamic Mission VIC Religious 410. Australian Muslim Media VIC Miscellaneous Media 411. Bendigo Islamic Association VIC Religious Inc. 412. Bilale Ethiopian Community VIC Cultural Association Victoria 413. Bosnia Hercegovina Islamic VIC Cultural Society 414. Care With Me VIC Welfare 415. Cyprus Turkish Islamic VIC Cultural Community Inc. 416. Dandenong Turkish Islamic VIC Cultural Cultural Society 417. EHSAN (Aust Islamic Affairs & VIC Welfare Human Capital Development Assoc) 418. El Sedeaq Islamic Society VIC Religious

303

419. End Homelessness VIC Welfare

420. Eritrean Islamic Society of VIC Cultural Australia 421. Goulburn Valley T VIC Cultural Turkish Islamic & Cultural Society

422. HIRA VIC Religious

423. IMAN VIC Religious

424. Indonesian Muslim VIC Cultural Community of Victoria (IMCV) 425. Islamic Association of Monash VIC Religious Mosque Inc. 426. Islamic Call Society of VIC Religious Australia 427. Islamic Guidance Society of VIC Religious Australia 428. Islamic Society of Albury- VIC Religious Wodonga

429. Islamic Society of Ballarat VIC Religious

430. Islamic Society of Geelong VIC Religious

431. ISOMER - Islamic Society of VIC Religious Melbourne Eastern Region 432. Islamic Weekend School VIC Religious

433. Maarefa Group VIC Religious

434. Mano River Association of VIC Religious Victoria 435. Minhaj Ul Quran Victoria VIC Religious

436. Newport Islamic Society VIC Religious

437. Oromo Islamic Resource VIC Religious Centre 438. United Muslim Migrant VIC Welfare Association 439. Karratha Muslim Community http://www.karrathamuslim.co WA Religious m/ 440. Islamic Council of Western WA Umbrella Australia 441. Jamiatul Ulama Western http://www.jamiat.com.au/ WA Religious Australia

304

442. Al-Imdaad Foundation http://www.alimdaad.com.au/ WA Charity 443. Langford Islamic College www.afic-lic.com.au WA Education 444. Al-Hidayah Islamic School http://www.islamicschool.com. WA Education au/ 445. Australian Islamic College WA Education 446. Aussie Muslims http://www.aussiemuslims.net/ WA Miscellaneous/ index.php?option=com_sobi2& network catid=44&Itemid=49 447. Muslim Youth WA (MYWA) http://muslimyouthwa.wordpre WA Youth ss.com/ 448. Islamic Education & Social WA Social/recreatio Association of WA n 449. Muslim Women's Support http://www.mwsc.com.au/ WA Women Centre WA 450. Bosnian & Hercegovnia WA Cultural Cultural & Recreation Centre (Bosnian Mosque) 451. Newman Mosque WA Religious 452. Canning Masjid & Islamic WA Religious Association 453. Perth William St Masjid WA Religious 454. St Mary’s Dianella Mosque WA Religious 455. Geraldton Masjid and Islamic WA Religious Association 456. High Wycombe Madrasa WA Religious Talimuddin (DARUL-IMAN) 457. Rivervale Masjid & Islamic WA Religious Council of IC WA 458. Katanning Masjid and Islamic WA Religious Association 459. Rockingham Masjid (Ar-Rukun WA Religious Mosque & Islamic Multifunctional Centre) 460. Thornlie Masjid WA Religious

305

461. Maylands Masjid & Islamic WA Religious Centre of WA 462. Masjid Al Taqwa / Noorul WA Religious Islam Society 463. Albany Musalah & Islamic WA Religious Centre 464. Masjid Al-Sunnah WA Religious 465. Port Hedland Mosque WA Religious 466. Al-Hidayah Masjid WA Religious 467. Islamic Association of Bunbury WA Religious 468. Gosnells - Masjid Al-Rahman & WA Religious Islamic Centre 469. High Wycombe - Sultana Road WA Religious West - Darul Iman Masjid 470. Morley - Beechboro Road - WA Religious Bosnian Masjid 471. Southern River Mosque WA Religious 472. Cannington Dawaah WA Religious Association of WA (DAWA) 473. Muslim Charity Community http://www.mccwa.net.au/inde WA Charity WA x.htm 474. Australian Muslim Public http://www.muslimaffairs.com. WA Advocacy Affairs Committee (AMPAC) au 475. ICMI-WA (Indonesian Muslim http://www.geocities.com/icmi WA Cultural Intellectual Society) wa 476. Australian Islamic Social WA Social Association Perth 477. Afghan Islamic Association WA WA Cultural 478. Muslim Theological Council www.jamiat.com.au WA Religious WA 479. Dar-Al- Shifah Inc WA Religious 480. Sri Lankan Muslim Society of WA Cultural Western Australia 481. Perth Muslim Association WA Religious

306

482. Muslim Burial Society WA Miscellaneous 483. University of Western http://www.uwamsa.org/ WA Student Australia MSA (UWAMSA) 484. Curtin University Muslim www.curtinmsa.org WA Student Student Association (CMSA) 485. Murdoch University Muslim www.murdoch.edu.au WA Student Student Association (MUMSA) 486. Edith Cowan University www.ecu.iswordpress.com WA Student ECU Islamic Society

Abbreviations: ACT- Australian Capital Territory AIOT- Australian Indian Ocean Territory NSW- New South Wales NT- Northern Territory QLD- Queensland SA- South Australia TAS- Tasmania WA- Western Australia

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Appendix B: Information and Consent Form for Participants

The Phenomenology of Community Activism: Muslim civil society organisations in Australia

Student Investigator

Nora Amath (Doctor of Philosophy Candidate) Griffith University School of Humanities and School of Human Services and Social Work [email protected] 0422 349 786

Supervisors:

Dr Ann Ingamells 07 33821238 [email protected]

Dr Susanna Chamberlain 07 38757111 ext 54002 [email protected]

Research project: The present research is being conducted by Nora Amath, a PhD candidate in the School of Humanities and School of Human Services and Social Work. The central aim of this study is to investigate the “lived” experiences of Muslim civil society actors (community workers) in Australia. In particular, it seeks to explore how you have responded to the challenges of the Australian socio-political context and the perceived impact these experiences had on you, both as MCSO actors and as individuals. Another concern of this study is how Islam has manifested within these contexts based on these experiences.

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Your involvement: This interview will seek your insights on the issues central to the lived experiences of Muslim civil society actors. You have been purposively sampled, based on your qualities, experience and relevance to this research. The semi-structured interviews will be in-depth, conducted at a place of your choosing. 2 interviews, consisting of 1.5 hours each, will be conducted with you over a series of two weeks.

The expected benefits of the research: The findings from this research will help to better inform researchers, community developers and policy makers in their understanding of social mobilisation and change at the local level; it will also provide a more nuanced, comprehensive and holistic approach to studying Muslim communities in Australia. Moreover, this research aims to create credible theoretical propositions that are “deeply grounded in the experiences of the participants rather than detached, analytical abstractions” (Cope 2003, p.13). The rich, interpretive narratives will provide an experientially based understanding of MCSO actors’ experience in adapting to the Australian socio-political context. This is an important area of research which has not been investigated nor discussed in the literature related to Islam and Muslims, particularly as minorities in the West. The lack of study in this field does not match the importance or reflect the major implications the findings will have on inter-community relations in Australia.

Expected benefits for you: Extensive research has shown that Muslims in Western countries, including Australia do not have sufficient opportunities to express their opinions about matters of importance to them. These in-depth interviews will provide the space for you to articulate those views while at the same time contributing greatly to a better and comprehensive understanding of Muslims in the West.

Risks to you: It is your insights and opinions that are being sought in your capacity as a Muslim civil society actor. There are no known risks to this research.

Your confidentiality: Participants will be identified by name as well as organisation they represent, unless otherwise requested. Should you request anonymity, the data from your interview is kept completely confidential. While your statements may be included in the published final report, no names or identities will be revealed at any stage of this research.

Voluntary participation: Your participation is voluntary. You do not need to answer every question unless you wish to do so; however, the answers you provide here will help us to gain a deeper and richer understanding of the “lived” experience of Muslim civil society actors here in Australia.

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Questions / further information: Further information about the research can be provided by this research’s academic supervisors, Dr Susanna Chamberlain ([email protected]) or Dr Ann Ingamells ([email protected]).

The ethical conduct of this research: This researcher conducts research in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans. If you have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project please contact Dr Susanna Chamberlain ([email protected]) or Dr Ann Ingamells ([email protected]). You may also wish to contact the Office for Research on (07) 3735 4106 or at ore- [email protected] .

Feedback to you: Upon request, you may obtain a transcript of the interview and review it before it is interpreted. You may also request a summary of the overall research once the written research is complete.

Privacy Statement The conduct of this research involves the collection, access and / or use of your identified personal information. The information collected is confidential and will not be disclosed to third parties without your consent, except to meet government, legal or other regulatory authority requirements. A de-identified copy of this data may be used for other research purposes. However, your anonymity will at all times be safeguarded.

Verbal consent given:

Signed ______Date______

Thank you for participating in this study.

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Appendix C:

Sample of Field Notes: A Summary of TC’s Interview

It was an interesting interview with TC today. As it was done at her house, I had to ensure that the interview was not too informal, in case she may hold back. Again I erred on the side of professionalism when possible so that she does not feel threatened or “lose face”.

She is quite an experienced CSO actor and it came across in her interview. She is obviously very passionate about what she does and the work she does for the organisation. She also seemed very excited about what the future may hold for the organisation.

I could sense a few themes emerging from this. Some have reinforced the interviews I have done in Brisbane but some others were quite surprising:

Common emergent themes:

 Community building- needed to establish org to fill a void in community (in her

MCSO’s case it was to respond to DV)

 Australian Islam/Australian Muslim identity- she really stressed on this. In fact,

20 minutes of the interview was dedicated to her talking about this. She did

admit , however, that the Australian Islam identity is a work in progress and

that it may take a few generations to fully realise it.

 She stated that by then, Muslims in Australia will identity as Australian first,

Muslim second.

 9/11 is another common issue. She talks about how difficult it has been for her

and the organisation she chairs. The organisation does not have the full

311

capacity or resource to deal with it all. They are exhausted and tired of having

to defend Muslims and Islam as well as break down the misconceptions about

women in Islam.

 At the same time, they are resilient and see it as an opportunity.

Surprising theme

One surprising theme which has not come up in the other interviews was the internal mistrust the organisation received after 9/11. TC spoke about how their clients, members and the community would not support or come to their events as the organisation was funded by the government. People thought they were part of ASIO or the Police and were suspicious of their activities- were they spies for these security and police agencies? Also, they were considered sell-outs, moles, spies, etc.

It was obvious this pained her. She said that it took them 5-6 years to rebuild that trust. 9/11 set them back not only in the wider community, but also within their community.

I would call this the “triple whammy” impact (perhaps).

When TC was speaking about this issue, as an MCSO actor myself, the organisations I am a part of has not faced this. Perhaps it is something about Melbourne organisations? The next interview with TC will be interesting, giving me a chance to probe this further. I wonder if other organisations also felt this triple whammy impact of 9/11- interesting indeed.

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Appendix D:

Meaning Units Derived from Phenomenological Interviews with Australian MCSOs

Name-Meaning Units Sources References social inclusion 22 22 Establishing Community 1 1 Multicultural Identity 3 3 Feel isolated 2 3 Not fitting in 1 1 Lack of awareness of services 1 4 Social Need 3 5 Create work opportunities 1 5 Availability of services for community 2 10 Settlement services 2 2 Linking with government departments 2 3 sporting and recreation 3 6 Training opportunity 6 16 experience discrimination 2 4 Linking with other organisations 3 5 Need for cultural sensitivities 1 1 Building self-confidence 3 5 support from local community to establish community 2 3 Access to funds 6 7 Provide services for community 10 32 Islamic interpretation of equality between men and women 5 9 referral to other organisations 1 1 Provide service for multi-cultural and multi-faith communities 4 5 Role of Islam 1 1 Islamic values 13 21 Muslim- Non-Muslim relations 1 1 Dismantle barriers for members 4 7 information sessions for community 2 2 providing religious needs for community 2 2 Impact of September 11 2001 5 9 security after September 11 1 1 Interfaith events post September 11 7 23 Australian identity post September 11 9 25 Good citizens post September 11 1 3 Challenges post September 11 1 1 seeking change from older established organisations 1 1 supportive environment 1 1 not being heard by older generation 1 1 Working with imams who know Australian culture 1 1 leadership capacity building 9 36 Given a voice 1 1 youth feel victimised post post-9-11 3 3 acceptance of diversity 4 8 Australian Islam 12 53

313

Future of organisation 2 4 boycott media post 9-11 1 1 setting media agenda 1 1 integration 8 21 universal values 9 32 service to others 6 15 Compassion 1 1 unite Muslim community 3 3 diversity in organisation 6 11 not having place in society 1 1 feeling disillusioned 1 2 giving community a voice 9 15 building bridges between generations 3 5 Mentoring 11 35 breaking down barriers 4 12 creating a more open, transparent society 8 38 integration 6 9 adaptation 4 9 mistrust from own community post 9-11 3 11 engaging in multiculturalism 6 17 engaging with local government 3 3 engaging with all tiers of government (Nodes) 7 10 engaging with wider community 14 58 not equipped for frenzy post 9-11 5 15 Media monitoring 1 1 Ad-hoc activities 1 1 interfaith new to community 1 1 needing to be introspective 1 1 Networking 3 7 Introducing Muslims to wider community services 1 1 Media training 4 6 youth focus 12 38 Volunteer 5 6 human rights 5 12 Inclusive 6 18 exhaustion post 9-11 10 30 providing a space, secure space 5 21 Employment 3 7 using community's resources 1 1 equality for women 1 1 being consulted by government 1 1 Resilience 10 28 discrimination post 9-11 5 18 concerned about safety 1 2 challenges (Nodes) 1 1 Pluralism 12 26 advocating on behalf of community 5 8 providing social support 4 10 Partnership 1 1 social enterprise 1 1 Empowerment 2 2

314 providing spiritual support 2 12 social responsibility 2 3 media engagement 3 6 bringing disparate groups together 2 4 Volunteers 3 3 approaches to the Quran 1 9 media agenda post 9-11 2 4 Future of Islam in Australia 1 2 Insecurity post 9-11 1 1 Maqasid 2 4 accountability 1 1 Ummah 3 3 acceptance from wider community, not from within Muslim 4 4 community getting Muslims to advocate for others 1 1 preference of Islam over culture 1 1 being shut down 1 1 being silenced 2 3 Islamic responsibility 3 3 inner peace 1 2 love of others 1 1 Honesty 1 1 non discriminatory 4 7 Kindness 1 1 non judgemental 4 5 Moderation 1 1 Education 6 19 given resources and support 1 2 providing skills 1 1 Professionalism 5 7 shift in focus 2 10 Global citizen 2 2 hearing from the Muslim community post 9-11 1 1 Active citizens 2 3 Breaking misconceptions 3 5 holistic approach 1 1 balancing community work with family 1 1 patriarchal society 1 1

315

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