New course:
For more details and to make a booking visit:
Australian Centre for Islamic Finance website
auscif.com

Islamic finance encourages mutual cooperation, generosity and risk sharing. Instead of charging interest, Islamic banks derive their profit by trading, investment or leasing. Since money is meant to be a medium of exchange and standard of value for other goods, all profit from interest payments are prohibited.

The wisdom behind prohibition of interest (usury), amongst other things, is to encourage enterprise and real economic activities that contribute to the welfare of society and reduce the possibility for injustice and exploitation. Other prohibitions include excessive uncertainty, unethical, immoral, and speculative activities some of which were the root cause of the GFC.

Since Islamic financial products must be linked with tangible assets and real economic activities, Australia’s resource related economy and infrastructure developments create superb opportunities. Moreover, its geographic position and close proximity to the 972.5 million Muslims in the Asia Pacific region are among the core reasons for Australia to become an Islamic financial hub for the region.

I invite to join my new FACEBOOK page on Islamic finance in Australia and learn more about this exciting developments.

Join: Islamic Finance Australia

Almir Colan
Lecturer (Islamic Finance)
La Trobe University (School of Economics and Finance)

Islamic finance in Australia

Before British Colonization.
Growing up in Australia, the school curriculum teaches us that the Englishman Captain James Cook discovered Australia in 1770 (or at least it was the eastern side). Likewise one may hear a brief mention of the Dutch who made contact with the western and northern sides of Australia in the 17th Century. In any case when it came to history, national or international, we only heard of a selected Eurocentric version. Sad is the case when the rich history between the Indonesians and the Indigenous Australians is not given any mention in our school curriculum.

[A replica of Captain Cooks ship (The Endeavour) can usually be found docked beside the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Ironically, inside the Museum, one can find a nice description of the Indonesian fishermen who visited Australia over one hundred years before Captain Cook. On display is an array of artefacts which the Indonesians left behind as proof of their frequent contact.]

Muslim fishermen from Sulawesi Island in the Indonesian archipelago began collecting trepang (sea slug or sea cucumber) from Australias north as early as the mid 1600s. It was not until the 1700s and throughout the 1800s that the trepang trade was in full swing.

Macassan sailboat

Preparing trepang (sea-slugs)

The two major tribes of Sulawesi where the Makassar and Bugis tribes. The trepeng gatherers are commonly referred to as Makassans. Yet, there were considerable numbers of Buginese fisherman who frequented Australia.

The Makassans used to refer to Australia as the land of Marege. Every year they would travel to the land of Marege using the monsoon winds. In many cases Aboriginals would be hired by the Indonesian fisherman to assist in gathering trepang (sea slug or sea cucumber) in return for provisions. With the exception of a few isolated incidents, the ongoing contact was peaceful and positive. The native Aboriginals and their visitors from Sulawesi built a strong bond that lasted centuries. There were many cases of Aboriginals riding on the Praus (boats) to return with the Indonesians to Sulawesi Island. Additionally, many Makassan words were absorbed into the Aboriginal languages.

Places where trepang was prepared are visible til this day. These fishermen mostly remained on the coast. It is in these areas where they left behind many artefacts such as pots and crockery. The abundance of tamarind trees on Australias northern coast resulted from the seeds left behind by the Indonesians. Tamarind seeds would normally be used to flavour their rice. Amongst the tamarind trees are the wooden posts which mark the graves of Indonesians who past away on this land. After all of that, the indigenous Australians drew detailed cave and bark paintings giving descriptions of the of a significant history more Australians should be aware of.

After spending four months at a time they would gather tonnes of trepang. A good season could draw in 20 tonnes. Trepang would be gutted, dried out and smoked in temporary smoke houses on Australias coast. Chinese Junks would dock at the Port of Makassar on Sulewesi Island and purchase many tonnes of trepang from the Indonesians. Therefore, as Charles Campbell Mcknight put it, Australias first modern industry was trepang. It was conducted by brown-skinned MuslimsThe present pattern of Australian development has obscured these facts, so that many are surprised by the diversity of the continents history (Journey to Marege).

Australia eventually was colonised by the British in 1788. It was not until the late 1800s that the new colonial power sought to profit from the annual visitors to the north. Taxes were introduced and enforced along with licence restrictions for the praus. These restrictions had a significant effect, however, they did not put an end to the industry. By these measures both sides continued to benefit from the trepang industry. After a couple more setbacks, the final decision was made to halt the visits indefinitely on the 26th of July 1906. A letter was thus sent to Sulawesi to inform them that they will no longer be allowed to fish for trepang in Australian waters.

It is Allah who subjected to you the sea so that ships may sail upon it by His command and that you may seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful.
(The Quran. Al-Jaathiyah. 45:12)

During the eighth and ninth centuries, Muslim trade routes by sea were well established. Busy sea ports could be found from Spain to China. However, sea navigation did not stop at trade. It was also a time of exploration beyond the common shores. The names of many Muslim sailors and explorers have been lost throughout history along with their works. That is why when it comes to old Maps of Australia -or the world- we are limited to a small quantity of those maps and literature today.

Eric Whitehouse in his book (Australia in Old Maps) presents a ninth century Map from Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khuwarizmi. Thought to be the Sea of Java, Whitehouse argues that this map is depicting the north coast of Australia (as opposed to the Sea of Java). Al-Khuwarizmi was instructed by the Caliph (Mamoon) at the time to work with a team of geographers from Dar Al-Hikmah (the House of Wisdom) in Baghdad. Their job was to produce an updated map of the known world. This particular map is one of Al-Khuwarizmis maps which are in the library of Strasbourg University in France. One could not draw a conclusion of what this map really is depicting until the original work is viewed in detail or translated.

Another map of interest presented by Whitehouse is the tenth century map from Abu Is-haq A-Farisi Istakhari. The copy of Istakharis map (page 66) in Whitehouses book looks plausible initially. Deeper investigation into the much clearer and all-inclusive map unearths a possible misinterpretation. The pictures depicting Australia and Japan appear to only be where the paint has come off when the map was folded in half and over time stuck together at certain places (consequently where Australia and Japan are located). Likewise, in the clearer copy, it is obvious that the same particular paint used to depict land mass for other countries on the map is not consistent with what was thought to be illustrations of Australia and Japan.

This does not rule out that Australia was not known of in the ninth or tenth centuries by Muslim navigators. However, if it was known, there definitely was minimal interest at that time for obvious reasons. For example, Sayed Sulaiman Nadwi in his research (The Arab Navigation) makes reference to a sailor known as Abhara of Kirman. This sailor visited China from the Persian Gulf frequently. One account describes Abhara as guiding other ships through the Archipelago safely until they reached a desolate land. From that desolate land they would continue on to China. Nadwi mentions that the desolate land referred to here was probably Australia.

I will never forget it. It was election day and the last day of Howard’s government in office. We held the premiere screening of our documentary film “Muslims in Australia since the 1600s”. All the viewers were ready to be proud of Muslim’s rich contribution to
Australia.

Thinking about it now still sends shivers down my spine. That was a particularly hard time for Muslims as we were challenged on the very basis of our beliefs and values. Debate was depleting our sense of identity as well as our right to live in Australia. Many felt psychologically affected and did not know enough about Islam or Australian history to construct a meaningful response.

This is hardly surprising considering the fact that before this film most of us never even realised that Islam and Muslims were part of
Australia long before Europeans were. At the end of the screening, the audience was overwhelmed by the newly discovered sense of empowerment that can only come from confidence that is linked with history and the contributions that helped build this country.

One of the attendees summed it up when he said ‘hey, this is our country, I feel so proud”. Unfortunately, one would think that such a positive film would be appreciated by the media too, but, old habits die hard. After watching the documentary, reporters from ‘The Age’ and ‘Herald Sun’ advised us that they doubt their editors would allow them to publish their stories. They were right. I guess positive stories don’t sell newspapers. Negative responses were also received from ABC and SBS who came up with their own excuses as to why they can not air it. We have to understand: if we don’t promote ourselves, no one will. We have to start our own ‘education revolution’ by sharing this knowledge with family members and everyone we know. After all, it is only with knowledge that one can turn stereotypes and misconceptions around.

DVD cover

Audience reaction (official screening)

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by iMuslim

I’m not sure if I am alone in this mentality, but I am always amazed to hear about just how far Islam has reached. I know it has been around for over fourteen hundred years, but somehow the fact that Islam has been in Australia since the 1600s just blows my mind, especially when you consider how little the Australian general public presently know about this great deen.

Having seen the trailer, it didn’t take me long to send off an e-mail to Sahwa Productions, cheekily asking for a copy of the film using my “journalist” status. Brother Amir Colan, the director and producer, graciously responded, and within a few days I had the good fortune to possibly be one of the first UK citizens to watch this amazing production. I was thoroughly impressed with its vibrant presentation of Australia’s Islamic roots, and the current status of the Muslim community residing there. Thus I was compelled to contact brother Amir once again to ask some pertinent questions, which he kindly responded to in the form of an interview, which you can listen to at the following link:

An interview with Almir Colan, director of Muslims in Australia *

Discussion topics include:

• The inspiration behind the film.
• The history and present status of Muslims in Australia.
• Details about the film-making process.
• Future plans for Sahwa Productions.

You can now purchase DVD copies of ‘Muslims in Australia’ direct from the film’s website. I pray that you find it as beneficial and enjoyable as I did, and that Allah rewards Sahwa Productions and its sponspors for their tremendous efforts to share Islam and its history with the world.