A Brief History of NZ Muslims – 2016

A Brief History of NZ Muslims

The first Muslims settlers arrived in New Zealand in 1854 when Wuzerah and Mindia from India and their sons took up residence in Cashmere, Canterbury. Wuzerah was employed by a retired Anglo-Indian civil servant and also worked later in transporting stone for the famous Christchurch cathedral. He died in 1902.

A more interesting and recent historical discovery is the 1769 visit to New Zealand by two Indian sailors – lascars – employed and reported by the French ship Saint Jean-Baptiste. This vessel was led by Captain Jean François Marie de Surville who was pursuing trade opportunities from the French colony in India, Pondicherry. Surville left Pondicherry on 2 June 1769 and arrived off the coast of Hokianga, Northland, in December 1769. He stopped for two weeks in Doubtless Bay over 18-31 December. In addition to the European crew there were initially 53 lascars aboard the Saint Jean-Baptiste but only two survived the journey to New Zealand. The first is listed on the crew Muster Roll as “Mamouth Cassem” – presumably Mahmud Qāsim – and was born in Pondicherry around 1755. The second is recorded as a 16 year old Bengali named “Nasrin” – presumably Nasreen.
Evidence suggests all the crew, including the two Muslim lascars, disembarked at some point or another during the trip and this would make Qāsim and Nasreen the first identifiable Muslims to set foot in New Zealand. Both men died in Peru the following year and have been largely forgotten

In the 1790s the British navy arranged several “timber runs” between New Zealand, India and the British colony at New South Wales and many lascars served on these ships obtaining wood for ships.
Occasionally some lascars jumped ship and settled with Maori tribes but their exact religious affiliation is unknown at this stage. The important point is that Indian sailors, some Muslim, were here at the start of the British and European exploration and exploitation of New Zealand, and are thus
entitled to assert a place in the early history of the exploration and colonisation of New Zealand.

The oldest Islamic organisation, the New Zealand Muslim Association, was set up in 1950 and built the Ponsonby mosque on Vermont Road in 1979. That same year the national body, the Federation of Islamic Association of New Zealand, was established with Mazhar Krasniqi from Kosova as the initial president. In 1992 the Islamic Education and Dawah Trust was created and now operates the Muslim school in Mangere, Auckland.

The important lesson here is that groups of devout Muslim men have been praying here and practising Islam for longer than most New Zealand Muslims would fully appreciate. In the final analysis one can hope that contemporary Islamic community structures built on these historic foundations will be substantive rather than decorative.

ENDS.
By Hajji Abdullah Drury, author of “Islam in New Zealand”

REFERENCES: Todd Nachowitz, “Towards a framework of Deep Diversity: identity and invisibility in the Indian diaspora in New Zealand” (Thesis, University of Waikato, 2015).

Published in 7th Edition – 2016 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS : A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2015 – 6th E

A Brief History of NZ Muslims – 2016 – 7th E

BELIEVERS TO THE BRIGHT COAST: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2017 – 8th E

GOD’S TRUTH: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2018 – 9th E

THE TABLE SPREAD: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2019 – 10th E

THE HEIGHTS: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2020 – 11th E

COUNTRY MATTERS: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2021 – 12th E

MATCHINGS SCARS: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2022 – 13th E

SOMETHING ELSE: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSLIMS OF NEW ZEALAND – 2023 – 14th E