The new government included two Muslim ministers for the first time.. The story of Islam's entry into Australia

The new Australian government included two ministers from the Muslim minority for the first time in the country's history, and they took an oath on the Holy Qur'an after their inauguration a few days ago.

Idham Nuruddin Husik, Minister of Industry and Science, of Bosnian origin, and Anne Azza Ali, Minister of Childhood, Education and Youth of Egyptian origin;

They represent a chapter of a long novel that tells the story of the entry of Islam to Australia.

Indonesia fishermen

Since the early 18th century AD, Muslim fishermen from Indonesia have made annual trips to the north and northwestern coasts of Australia in search of marine mollusks of high medicinal and nutritional value called “sea cucumbers.” The trade developed to include goods in kind, but Muslim visitors also left a religious and cultural legacy that remained In songs and cartoons.

Some confirmed voyages from the Indonesian coast to the Australian coast date back to at least the mid-17th century, a date close to the Dutch discovery of the coasts of the continent (the first Europeans to reach its distant coasts) before the British later established the first colony in 1788.

Recent research - including the Australian study by Ian S.

Macintosh of Indiana University - The presence of Islamic motifs in some Aboriginal myths and rituals in northern Australia.

- In the funeral rites of Aboriginal communities in Australia there is a reference to "alithawaltha", a phrase similar to the Islamic expression "God Almighty".

Afghan camels

1849: The first arrival of Islam to Australia was when the authorities brought 12 camels and 120 camels from Afghanistan.

- He continued to bring in camels and camels from Afghanistan, and one of the Muslims - named Abd al-Wadud - was able to bring in 500 camels and a large number of camels at once.

The number of Muslims is increasing in Australia, and in addition to their scouting mission, they work in trade, and for their honesty, they have been trusted and appreciated by Australians.

1861: The first mosque in Australia was built in Mary (southern Australia) by Muslims of Afghan origin.

In 1882: the number of Muslims reached 5003, and in 1901 their number reached 6599.

The early Muslims built many chapels on the caravan route that they took within a number of Australian cities, such as Adelaide.

Many Muslims resided in Perth, and built a mosque there in 1905, and they did the same in Broome and Collgardy.

3 Australian explorers accompanied a number of Muslim caravan men on a journey from Alice in the east to Perth in the west, in order to lay the first telegraph line that crosses Australia from east to west, as well as from south to north.

1896: Muslim caravan men contributed to laying the first railway across the Australian continent, between Adelaide and Alice Syring, and it was called (Gan), an abbreviation of the word Afghan in memory of Muslim caravans.

- When he left the use of camels and advanced means of transportation, Muslims worked in other trades, such as trade and mining, and assimilated into Australian society or returned to their country.

tributary of immigration

The second stream of Islam in Australia is represented by the immigration of Muslims from many countries, especially from nearby areas such as New Guinea, Papuans, Indonesia, Pakistan and India, as well as immigration from Turkey, Lebanon, Cyprus, Egypt, Albania and Yugoslavia.

Early twentieth century non-European Muslims experienced difficulties in immigrating to Australia due to the government's policy that was limited to immigration of British and Irish citizens only, and it was called the White Australia Policy, claiming that immigration of non-whites would cause social dissonance.

1916: These migrations began and continued until the beginning of World War II (1939-1945), then stopped, and then returned, and the immigrant Muslim elements had a high degree of professional qualification.

- Some Muslims were able to come to Australia in the twenties and thirties by the Muslims of Albania and Bosnia who conform to the government's policy.

1954: More recent migrations began when a number of Turkish, Albanian, Yugoslav and other Arab and Islamic peoples from Southeast Asia were allowed, and a large number of Asian students came to it, and the number of Muslims increased as a result of migration.

Bosnian Muslims established several different ethnic communities in Melbourne, especially between 1957 and 1961.

1957: The Multi-Ethnic Islamic Society was established in Victoria, and the first mosque was built by the Albanians in Shepparton, Victoria, in 1960.

1961: The Islamic Society of Carleton was established.

1963: The first mosque was built in Melbourne, and currently there are about 50 mosques in Australia, distributed between the cities of Darwin, Alice, Newcastle, Melbourne and Tasmania. There are two Islamic schools in Sydney and Melbourne.

In the 1960s, many Muslim camel herders, mostly from Afghanistan, settled and developed relationships with the local indigenous people, and many marriages took place that resulted in Aboriginal families with names such as Khan and Akbar, says Peta Stephenson, a fellow at the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute.

- Starting in 1975, a large emigration of Muslims from Lebanon began due to the civil war, and the Muslims of Lebanon are still the largest Muslim ethnic group in Australia, but the Christians of Lebanon remain more numerous than them.

In the eighties of the last century, many Malay Muslims migrated to northern Australia as professional workers in the marine pearl industry, and also married indigenous women, and this resulted in mixed families living in northern Australia until now.

There are also Somali immigrants who left their country after the outbreak of the civil war in 1991, and they are spread all over Australia.

In the Australian national census in 2001, 641 indigenous Muslims were counted, and by 2011 the number had risen to 1140 Muslims.

According to the statistics of 2021, the Muslim population reached about 800,000 people, representing about 3% of the total population of about 26 million people.

close culture

In her book "Islam of the Dream", Peta Stevenson examines the long history of Islam among the indigenous people of Australia, and her study includes a wide range of indigenous Muslims from those who have Afghani or Malawian ancestors, but do not practice Islam, and who do not have Muslim ancestors but follow the Islamic religion strictly.

Stephenson says she has noticed that many indigenous Muslims consider converting to Islam as a return to their original roots, and that Muslims and indigenous peoples have similar views of different issues, including the environment, for example.

She adds that indigenous Muslims told her that converting to Islam did not involve practices similar to the forced religious proselytizing that was imposed on the indigenous population.

Indigenous Muslim women also found a pattern in Islam that does not portray them as "sexually available", and wearing the veil provides them protection from sexual assault, according to the Australian researcher.

The study says that Islam provided the indigenous people with an alternative system that included a code of conduct and strict moral rules related to their traditional heritage. For some indigenous peoples whom the researcher interviewed, avoiding alcohol, drugs and gambling - according to Islamic belief - played a positive role in their lives.