Australian Muslims get a wake-up call
Australian Muslims get a wake-up call
Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne
"How do you feel when each time something bad happens, you seem to cop the blame?" asked Kayser Trad, vice president of the Lebanese Muslim Association of New South Wales.
Trad was referring to incidents where Muslim communities in Australia became victims of harassment, verbal and even physical abuse by some irresponsible elements of mainstream Australian society.
What made the sore point even sorer is that they are usually blamed for acts that they themselves find repulsive. The most recent example was the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
In reality, as soon as news about the attacks came out, Islamic councils from all Australian states put out releases condemning them and pointing out that many of the victims were indeed Muslims. Sadly, the segments of the Australian population who are inclined to vent their anger at those who are not white Anglo-Celtic, do not read the newspapers that published these statements.
"They are a minority," said Trad. "They are also ignorant. They even firebombed a Roman Catholic church, which apparently to them looks like a mosque!"
A minority they may be, but this minority has the capacity to effect considerable damage, in the physical, as well as in the psychological and sociological sense. After the terrorist attacks, Muslim communities throughout Australia have consistently been victimized in various forms.
In Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, mosques have been firebombed and pelted with rocks, Muslims, especially women verbally and physically abused, while families have received anonymous letters and phone calls with death threats, and Muslim- associated buildings defaced with unsightly graffiti.
In New South Wales, where the largest and most multi-ethnic Muslim community lives, this series of unpleasant incidents has served as a wake-up call.
Syech Khalil Chami, who manages the Islamic Welfare Center in Lakemba, a south-western suburb of Sydney, where the Ali ben Abi Taleb, the biggest mosque in Australia is situated, believes that the community will be a lot more proactive in future.
"Until recently, we weren't very good at planning for the future," he said. "We've seen the evidence of this negligence in some of our young people, who are lost between Islamic identity and the generally Western values. We have now begun to open up and reach out.
"There have been efforts to explain to mainstream society what Islam is and what it stands for. And we now have people in professions with a capacity to educate and inform, such as in teaching and journalism. In 10 years time, we hope to participate further in the process of nation-building. We shouldn't remain in a defensive position."
Sydney alone has over 130,000 Muslims, mostly from Lebanon, a fair number from Turkey, Somalia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and a few from Indonesia. They are fairly represented in small to medium businesses and the building trade.
Sheikh Khalil Chami OAM (Member of the Order of Australia), an authorized marriage celebrant who has lived in Australia for 58 years, recounted that Muslims migrating to the country some 75 years ago established very good relations with mainstream society.
Despite being a minority, he did not recall any significant tension for the immigrants, especially tension caused by religious differences.
"We were respected as we were and never had difficulty obtaining suitable employment," he said.
The first turnaround, he recalled, was during 1976 to 1978, when large numbers came from the war-torn Lebanon.
"Seventeen to eighteen thousand of them. And we, mainstream society included, just didn't have the capacity to absorb them," he continued.
The sudden swelling in the numbers to be educated and employed was stretching society's tolerance beyond limits. Resentment grew among some in the mainstream population, making the newcomers feel unwelcome and defensive.
"We should have learned our lesson when the community's anger was turned against us during the 1991 Gulf War," Sheikh Chami conceded, "but instead, when things settled, we forgot. Our community grew, the potential for tension also grew, and we were not prepared."
The Muslim community did grow. The Ali Ben Abi Taleb Mosque in Wangee Street, Lakemba, for instance, is the place of worship for over 6,000 Muslims every Friday, and on Idul Fitri and Idul Adha festivals some 40,000 go to pray there.
Kayser Trad who, among his numerous community tasks, looks after those who looks after those who wish become Muslims, said that people approached him for induction purposes every day. This may be the result of his tireless endeavors, including networking with the media, translating Friday services in the mosque into English for non-Arabic speakers and, above all, his positive attitude in general.
While exasperated by the noisy, hostile and action-happy minority within mainstream society, Trad believes that there is a counter minority who actively defends the Muslims' interests in Australia.
"Most Australians are not racist or hostile," he said emphatically. "We have had non-Muslim women coming to us offering to accompany our Muslim women in the streets so that they wouldn't be harassed or abused. And we've had people calling to say that they sympathize with our current plight and offer to protect us in any way they can."
Trad's story was reinforced by Syeikh Chami's accounts of church and community leaders having made joint-statements with him condemning the attacks. They have also marched together in peace rallies.
"Why do they think we'd support the Taliban?" asked Syekh Chami. "If the Taliban were allowed a free hand, Islam would be reduced to nothing in no time."