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Muslim Australians: Their Beliefs, Practices and Institutions Muslim THEIRAustralians BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS A Partnership under the Australian Government’s Living In Harmony initiative by Professor Abdullah Saeed DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS and AUSTRALIAN MULTICULTURAL FOUNDATION in association with THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE (c) Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2004 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth available from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Intellectual Property Branch, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, GPO Box 2154, Canberra ACT 2601 or at http:www.dcita.gov.au Design and layout Done...ByFriday Printed by National Capital Printing ISBN: 0-9756064-1-7 Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS 3 CONTENTS Introduction . 4 Muslim Community in Australia: A View from the 2001 Census . 5 Muslims in Australia . 7 Beginning of Islam . 12 Key Beliefs of a Muslim . 17 The Five Pillars of Islam . 21 Commonalities and Differences . 26 Muslim Family Life . 30 The Milestones in a Muslim’s Life . 32 Muslim Women . 35 Holidays and Holy Days . 42 Sacred Places . 43 Sacred Texts . 45 Determining Right and Wrong . 48 Food and Drinks . 52 Mosques and Religious Leaders . 53 Community Organisations . 55 Islamic Schools: Weekend and Regular . 56 Islamic Banking . 58 Islam and Violence . 59 Islam and Other Religions . 62 Stereotypes and Misconceptions . 66 Islam, State and Australian Citizenship . 73 Contact Details Mosques in Australia . 75 Muslim Organisations . 78 Muslim Schools . 79 Useful References . 80 Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS 3 Introduction Muslims often tends to imply that In a simple and easily Muslims are a homogenous group, this book shows their diversity. Readers of this book will find understandable way, this book some similarity between topics covered in this book and another presents key aspects of Islam book I published earlier, Islam in Australia (Allen & Unwin, 2003). However, the audience envisaged and Muslim life and shows the for the present book is high school students. The two books therefore variety of voices within Islam on differ in detail, format, choice of topic and voice. Certain topics covered briefly in the present book a number of issues of concern to can be found in some detail in Islam in Australia. the average Australian. I would like to thank Rachel Butson for her contribution in refining the original manuscript and identifying and providing me with some of the his book was commissioned and Muslims in Australia, including ‘stories’ in the book as well as for her as part of a major project in the category of high school research assistance. Similarly, I would which looked into the role textbooks. In the current climate of T like to thank Professor Des Cahill of of religion in Australian society: anxiety about Islam in Australia, and RMIT University and Professor Gary ‘Religion, Cultural Diversity and as a result of the events of September Bouma of Monash University as well Social Cohesion in Contemporary 11, 2001, the Bali bombing in 2002 as Mr Hass Dellal of the Australian Australia’, a project that was funded and the ‘war on terror’, it was felt that Multicultural Foundation, the by the Department of Immigration such a book was greatly needed. three chief investigators of the project and Multicultural and Indigenous Muslim Australians are not very large that commissioned this book, for Affairs. As part of this project, I was in number. In fact they represent less their reading of the manuscript and asked to write a brief introductory than two percent of the Australian their comments. text that was primarily for high population. However, the recent school students but at the same time I hope this book will be helpful in media coverage of Islam and Muslim could be used by the general reader explaining something about the related issues has led to significant with no prior knowledge of Islam. religion of a growing number of interest in Australia in knowing more The book is thus an overview of the Australians and will contribute to a about the religion and its adherents. fundamental beliefs, practices and better understanding of Islam today. In a simple and easily understandable institutions of Islam. In addition, way, this book presents key aspects it contains some basic information of Islam and Muslim life and shows about Muslims in Australia and the variety of voices within Islam on how they interact with the wider a number of issues of concern to the Australian society. Relatively little has average Australian. While the media been written that sheds light on Islam Abdullah Saeed representation of Islam and 4 Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS 5 Muslim Community in Australia A view from the 2001 Census. Muslims in Australian cities Muslims in Australia and Country of Birth of Citizenship Australian Muslims Which suburbs do Muslims live in? » An overwhelming majority, » The most frequently cited country 79%, of Muslims in of birth for Australian Muslims Sydney - Auburn Australia have obtained is Australia (approximately (9,737 Muslims or 36% of the Australian citizenship 103,000). The next is Lebanon total population of Auburn) (221,856 out of a total of (29,321). Melbourne - Meadow Heights 281,578). » Turkey is third, with 23,479 (5,195 or 33% of the population) Muslim Australians being born Canberra - Belconnen Town Muslim Migration to Australia there. Centre » Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina (117 or 4% of the population) » Before 1981 approximately 41,000 Muslims had settled in Australia, and Pakistan are the countries Perth - Thornlie making up 2% of migrants. of origin of approximately (871 or 4% of the population) 27,000 Australian Muslims, with » The proportion of Muslims approximately 9,000 people Brisbane - Runcorn immigrating to Australia is having been born in each of those (388 or 3% of the population) increasing steadily. countries. Darwin - Karama Between 1996 and 2000 Languages Spoken by (82 or 2% of the population) approximately 47,000 Muslims migrated to Australia. Australian Muslims Adelaide - Para Hills They represented 9% of » The three main languages spoken (150 or 2% of the population) Australia’s total immigration at home by Australian Muslims Hobart - Sandy Bay intake throughout that period. are Arabic, Turkish and English. (97 or 1% of the population) » In 2001 a further 7,533 Muslims » Approximately 95,000 of Muslims migrated to Australia. in Australia use Arabic, 45,000 use Turkish, and 32,000 use English Suburb with the highest as their language at home. percentage of Muslims Dallas in Melbourne had the highest concentration of Muslims at 39% of the population. However, Dallas is a comparatively small suburb with only 6,346 residents. 4 Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS 5 English Language Proficiency » The overwhelming majority of Australian Muslims are proficient in English. » The age group that is most proficient in English is 21–39 (85% of the group), while the least proficient age group is aged 60+ (43% of the group). Marital Status in Australian Muslim Community » 41% of Australian Muslim women are married by the age of 24, while only 12% of their male counterparts are married by the same age. » 51% of Australian Muslim males are married by the age of 34, while another 26% are married before they are 50. » De facto relationships are uncommon. 3% of males in the age group 24–35 and 3% of females in the age group 21–24 are in de facto relationships. 6 Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS Muslim Australians:THEIR BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND INSTITUTIONS 7 MUSLIMS IN AUSTRALIA Origins of Islam in Australia Origins of Islam in Australia A Muslim settler ong before European Saib Sultan was a Muslim who came to Australia after sailing on the settlement, Muslims had Endeavour. He had eleven and a half acres on Norfolk Island but in 1809 he L contact with Australia and and his wife sailed as third-class passengers to Tasmania (or Van Dieman’s her peoples. Fishing for sea-slugs, the Land as it was known back then) on the Lady Nelson. His name was changed Macassans (an ethnic group from to Jacob and records show that by 1819 he had twenty-eight acres of pasture eastern Indonesia) began visiting the and two acres of wheat.1 northern shores of Australia in the seventeenth century. Evidence of their presence is found in cave drawings of the distinctive Macassan boats In the early twentieth century, From the 1970s onwards, there was a and in artefacts found in Aboriginal Muslims of non-European significant shift in the government’s settlements in the north. background must have found it very attitude towards immigration. difficult to come to Australia because Instead of trying to make new Some Muslim sailors and prisoners of a government policy which limited Australians ‘assimilate’ and forgo came to Australia on the convict ships immigration on the basis of race. their unique cultural identities, but very little is known about them Known as the White Australia Policy the government became more as they left no traces in the history it was used by the government of the accommodating and tolerant of books, except for a few scattered day put in place strict tests designed differences by adopting a policy of references to their names. to keep out people who had dark skin ‘multiculturalism’. By the beginning During the 1870s Muslim Malay or who were from non-European of the twenty-first century, Muslims divers were recruited through an backgrounds.
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