Nahid Kabir, Muslims in Australia. Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History (Studies in Anthropology, Economy and Society; London/New York/Bahrain: Kegan Paul, 2005)
Kabir’s book explores the settlement of Muslims in Australia as a religious group. Looking at the convict, colonial, “White Australia” and multicultural periods, she asks, “Did the Muslims encounter any discrimination due to their religion?” She sought to answer this question through research into limited Muslim literature, works on race relations, exploring archives, using ABS census data and conducting interviews from a wide range of ethnic and racial groups.
Her findings are as follows:
- Historically discrimination has not always been based on race or religion, with the overriding factor being national interest or security.
- Racial discrimination against minorities (Afghans, Chinese and other Asians, Melanesians, Aborigines) and religious discrimination, in the case of Irish Catholics, during the colonial and “White Australia” periods occurred when such minorities were viewed as a threat to national identity and security. Perceived threats included:
- Taking of jobs.
- Lowering the standard of living by contaminating Australia with diseases and bad habits, especially through intermarriage.
- Possible future rebellion.
- Discrimination against Afghans was economic and racial rather than religious during the colonial and “White Australia” periods. They were allowed to build mosques and their imams could enter Australia for short periods of time.
- During the period encompassing both world wars those considered to be enemy aliens or having sympathies with enemies, experienced discrimination. In addition to the Germans, Japanese and Communists, this included some Muslims, e.g. Ottoman Turks and Albanians considered to be Fascists. To the extent Muslims experienced discrimination during this period it was not on religious grounds.
- During the multicultural period Muslims from many ethnic backgrounds settled in Australia, especially Turks and Lebanese in the 1970s and 1980s. Discrimination against Muslims became an increasing problem during this period:
- It was illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity or religion. But some Muslims, particularly working class Muslims, believed they experienced discrimination in the work place or neighbourhood because of their religion, especially in heavily Muslim populated areas in Sydney and Melbourne.
- Initially, discrimination against Muslims was largely comparable with discrimination against Buddhists, with the latter being based on racial grounds.
- However, the rise of militant Islamic groups overseas aroused fears that Islamic fundamentalism (as expressed in the Iranian hostage crisis, hijackings and killings of the 1980s) might take root in Australia. The 1990-1991 Gulf crises led to the persecution of many Muslims in Australia, a situation exacerbated by the support many Muslims showed for Saddam Hussein.
- During the 1990s Muslims encountered discrimination as a religious entity. As the Western world watched militant Islamic groups acting against the Western world the perception began to develop that Islam itself was a threat.
- Muslims often blame the media for the negative portrayal of Islam, but this was rather the result of militant Islamic groups becoming the new enemies of the US and her allies.
- Some Muslims have been underprivileged in the Australian labour force for various reasons:
- Expression of Islamic identity in names and dress code.
- Inadequate English skills.
- A relatively short period of stay in Australia.
- Possibly, negative perceptions of Muslims due to global Islamic terrorism.
- Muslims experienced particularly strong religious discrimination during the 1990s for various reasons:
- A public perception, promoted by some politicians, that Lebanese Muslims in particular were responsible for crimes involving drugs, theft and gang rapes.
- The public perception, promoted by some politicians, that some Muslim refugees were associated with terrorist groups.
- Discrimination against Muslims as a religious entity is experienced when Muslims wish to build mosques and encounter opposition from the neighbourhood and certain local councils that often involves associating such Muslims with Islamic fundamentalism and militancy.
- Following September 11 and the Bali tragedy, discrimimation against Muslims as a religious entity seems sure to persist for the foreseeable future.
- Buddhists whose migration to Australia coincided with the Muslim migration of the 1970s and 1980s have experienced less discrimination as a religious group because of their integration into the wider community.
- Some in the Muslim community have started to contribute to wider Australian institutions, e.g. AFIC donating money to the Red Cross for the Bali tragedy and Sydney’s Lebanese Muslim Association contributing funds to bushfire disasters, Westmead Children’s hospital and various detention centres.
- Many Islamic organizations throughout Australia are not yet involved with the wider community.
Kabir contends, “Australian Muslims are mostly moderate people and by a degree of reasonable integration, they can wipe out the wider society’s misconceptions about Islam” (329). She concludes: “…when it comes to consideration of race, religion and nationalism what overrides race and religion is national security. [A minority section of the mainstream population] will continue to discriminate against Muslims as an out- group, as long as the conflict with members of the Islamic world, such as Iraq or militant Islamic groups, persists” (330). This book is historical and as such does not really address the question, “Are real threats to the Australian national identity and national security posed by the growth of the Muslim community in Australia?” Given the first citation in the previous paragraph, it is not difficult to guess what Kabir’s answer would be.
Her chapter on stereotyping is disappointing because it fails to discriminate between Islam and Muslims. The citations are loaded. For example, the introductory citation is from a 2002 statement made by the NSW Supreme Islamic Council: “The whole world is looking at Muslims now as a threat… we are portrayed as terrorists.” This is immediately followed by a citation from The Australian which recognizes the problem Islam faces as being a religion “represented as a faith violent in nature, an enemy of social cohesion” (249).
Kabir constantly mixes together concerns about Islam and negativity expressed towards Muslims. One moment she is talking about how the West views Islam and then in the next breath how Muslims are viewed, as if this were one and the same thing. This is simply not correct. It is of crucial importance to recognize a distinction between perspectives concerning Islam and perspectives concerning Muslims.
It does not logically follow that viewing Islam as an inherently violent religion goes hand in hand with seeing Muslims as terrorists, or vice versa. This must be emphasized while recognizing that there are indeed those in society who do not make this kind of distinction.
There are those who will readily concede that most Muslims currently living in Australia do not pose a terrorist threat, notwithstanding media representations to the contrary. Yet, among such people there are also those who are concerned about Islam and do see Islamic ideology as dangerous or, at least, having dangerous tendencies.
Then again there are those who believe that the majority of Muslims living in Australia will continue to pose no terrorist threat provided that a cap is kept on Muslim migration and provided Muslims remain but a very small percentage of the total population. The concern here is that if the percentage grows to appreciable levels that the inherent nature of Islam, along with the pressure placed upon Muslims to conform to Islamic ideology and practice, would lead to inevitable tensions in society.
Kabir’s treatment of these matters is fatally flawed by her failure to draw any distinction between Islam and Muslims. However successful she may be in showing injustices committed against Muslims, she does not even begin to address the issue as to whether it is legitimate or illegitimate to view Islam itself as having inherent leanings towards violence.
Also, Kabir inadequately treats the issue concerning whether Muslims can be expected to contribute towards social cohesion or not. I recently attended a conference staged by the National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne. Some excellent papers were produced, including one by Nahid Kabir. The theme of the course was: “Challenges to Social Inclusion in Australia: The Muslim Experience.” A nagging question was left hanging by all attempts to deal with this matter: Will improving the social inclusion of Muslims necessarily enhance social cohesion OR will it actually undermine social cohesion?
Kabir looks at the problem of Muslim high unemployment rates. She noted that one reason many Muslim women find it difficult to get employment is because they wear the hijab. She clearly assumes this is unreasonable discrimination on the part of Australian employers. But she fails to address the basic question that is involved here. Is social cohesion really served when employers and the public bow to the demands of Muslims to be able to dress as they like, eat and drink the food they require (e.g. at office parties IF, and this is often not the case, the devout Muslim feels he or she can attend at all), have a place to pray, have generous allowances made to accommodate the Muslim calendar and all it implies (conduct during Ramadan, attendance at religious feasts, etc.?
The problem is one of determining where the line should be drawn. Imagine a time when the Muslim community becomes sizeable and has significant voting power – as it already has in some parts of Sydney and Melbourne. Imagine there are those in the Muslim community who, as in Britain, now agitate for even more concessions to be granted to Muslims, e.g. conducting family matters according to shariah law. The current situation in Britain illustrates that this is a very real scenario. At what point does social inclusion of Muslims really run at loggerheads with social cohesion?
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