Encyclopedia of Islam

Australia

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national census and today includes some esti-

mated 315,000 residents. It constitutes about 1.5 

percent of Australia’s 21 million citizens.

The Muslim community has an extremely 

diverse ethnic makeup, its members deriving from 

more than 50 countries, including those in west-

ern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. 

The largest group of Australian Muslims comes 

from Lebanon and t

Urkey

. Its members have 

concentrated in the major urban centers in the 

southeastern part of the continent. Through the 

last decades of the 20th century, regional councils 

of Muslims were formed, leading to the creation 

of the Australian Federation of Muslim Councils, 

the primary national Islamic organization. The 

growth of the community has allowed a variety of 

regional and national organizations, such as the 

United Muslim Women Association, to emerge.

The Australian Federation appoints a titular 

spiritual head of the Islamic community who 

bears the title 

mUFti

 of Australia and New Zea-

land. The current mufti, Egyptian-born Taj Al-

Din Hamid Abd Allah Al-Hilali (b. 1941), has 

become well known for his outspokenness, espe-

cially in his defense of the Muslim community 

in the wake of recent bombings in the United 

States, Bali, and London, the commitment of 

Australian troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, and 

government efforts to suppress possible terrorist 

acts in Australia.

Nationally, Muslims have concentrated on the 

education of the next generation and where pos-

sible have opened Islamic schools for youths at 

the primary and secondary levels. Leaders have 

expressed concern about the secular atmosphere 

in the country and laws promoting the liberation 

of youths in their mid-teens.

Today there are more than 100 

mosqUe

s and 

prayer

 halls in Australia. Most are Sunni in 

orientation, with no one legal school or ethnic 

membership dominating. The largest number of 

mosques and Islamic schools are found in the Syd-

ney and Melbourne urban areas. Al Zahra College, 

the first Islamic institution of higher learning, is 

located in Sydney.

See also e

Urope

; U

nited

 s

tates

; W

est

 a

Frica

.

J. Gordon Melton