Encyclopedia of Islam

New Zealand

  

527  J

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of British colonial settlements in the early decades 

of the 19th century led to conflict with the Maori 

natives, which was settled in 1840 with the sign-

ing of the Treaty of Waitangi that established the 

island nation. Over the next century immigrants 

from Great Britain came to be the single largest 

element of New Zealand’s population and they 

brought the different forms of Christianity then 

dominant in their homeland with them.

A few Muslims arrived in New Zealand through 

the first half of the 20th century, but most lived 

there as alien residents rather than seeking citizen-

ship. They have since immigrated to the country 

from across the Muslim world. By 1979, when 

an initial national organization, the Federation 

of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) 

was formed, there were only some 1,700 Muslims, 

but the community experienced a relatively rapid 

growth in the latter part of the 20th and early 21st 

centuries. By 1986 there were more than 2,500 per-

manent residents with increasing numbers coming 

from Fiji and South Asia. By the end of the century 

the community had grown to more than 14,000, 

and in the first decade of the 21st century the Mus-

lim population reached an estimated 20,000.

Interestingly, of the Muslim residents, less 

than half were born in New Zealand, with about 

one-third of the community arriving from Asia 

and about one-fourth from various Pacific islands, 

especially Fiji. Within the country, the largest con-

centration of Muslims is to be found in Auckland. 

Because of the nature of the community, mosques 

tend to be multiethnic.

FIANZ emerged out of earlier local associa-

tions, the first formed in Auckland in the 1950s. 

It provides guidance on matters such as dating of 

religious observances and providing religious edu-

cation to Muslim children, as well as speaking to 

the wider public on national issues. FIANZ seeks 

to build a positive image of Islam in New Zealand 

and prints basic literature for those inquiring 

about the faith.

See also a

Ustralia

.

J. Gordon Melton