The number of Muslims living in New Zealand reached 46,194 as at March 5, 2013, accounting for a rise of 10,441 (28%) over the 2006 Census, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Census is taken every five years but the Government decided to postpone the headcount scheduled for 2011 in view of the earthquakes and aftershocks experienced in Christchurch. The country’s total population, placed at 4,242,048, showed an increase of 5.4% since 2006. Contrary to popular belief, there are only seven sheep per person in New Zealand.
The Muslim population includes ‘Sufis,’ subscribing to ‘Sufism,’ a branch of Islam defined by some as ‘the inner, mystical dimension’ of the religion. According to others, it is ‘a perennial philosophy of existence that pre-dates religion.’
Surging population
What is the reason for the rise in the number of Muslims? Do New Zealand Muslims have many children? Are New Zealanders converting to Islam in large numbers?
The rise is probably due mostly to migration. Since the late 1980s, Muslims have migrated to New Zealand (and other countries) to escape war zones and troubled countries such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
First migrant
Like all early settlers, the Muslim community initially comprised immigrants.
New Zealand’s first Muslim immigrants were 15 Chinese gold diggers working in Dunstan, in the South Island, recorded in the government census of April 1874.
In the 1890s, several Indian Muslim men migrated to the North Island and in the 1900s, three Muslim men arrived from Gujarat.
Gujaratis and Punjabis from India soon followed them.
By 1950, the Muslim population of New Zealand was about 150, which was complimented in the following year by the arrival of a boatload of European refugees including 60 Muslim men from Albania, Bulgaria and former Yugoslavia.
Most of these new migrants arrived in Auckland where the resident Indian Muslim population helped them settle into their new homeland.
By 1961, there were 260 Muslims, according to the government census.
The 1960s saw the arrival of the first Asian students, followed in the 1970s by an influx of Indo-Fijians (including a number of Muslims).
Growing numbers
A majority of them settled in Auckland.
From the 1970s, the number of people of Maori and European origin converting to Islam has been steady, augmented by the rise in the New Zealand born Muslim population.
The number of Muslims grew seven-fold over the following 20 years, with the numbers trebling in each of the succeeding decades.
A considerable number of Muslims of Indian origin came from Fiji to study, work and establish their businesses.
As with the earlier Indian arrivals and later immigrants, most maintain close contacts with their relatives back home and elsewhere.
Gujaratis in majority
About 40% of Indians in New Zealand would be of Gujarati origin.
A small number of professional and white-collar workers settled in New Zealand from several Muslim countries after the later part of the 1960s. They are largely present in Wellington.
In the 1990s, Somali refugees and Middle Eastern immigrants began settling in the main cities. The period also witnessed a large increase in overseas students and professionals in specialist courses.
They stayed in New Zealand for periods varying between two to six years.
Many of these students were active in their local Muslim communities back home.
But New Zealand Muslims ensured that while in this country, the stay and the experience of visiting students and professionals were pleasant and useful.
Auckland leads
Geographically New Zealand Muslims are predominantly urban, with the largest number in Auckland. They are also present in Wellington Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin, Hastings, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Hawera, Whangarei and Palmerston North. A majority of them are blue-collar workers, while the number of persons operating their own small and medium businesses is also growing.
Source: The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand
