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Aloha!
This week's issue features Islam and Muslim societies in Oceania. The region is called Oceania because, unlike a continental land mass, it is the Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas that link the lands together. It includes some 25,000 islands sometimes referred to as Australasia.
By current estimates, there are half a million Muslims in Oceania. More than two-thirds or 340,000 of them reside in Australia. The rest of the Muslim population in this region live in Fiji (62,500), New Zealand (62,500), New Caledonia (6,350), Papua New Guinea (2,000), Solomon islands (350), Vanuatu (200), Tonga (100), and tiny numbers in Kiribati and Samoa.
We hope you enjoy glimpses of Muslim societies in this region. Plus we bring you our regular features of online resources, call for papers, job opportunities, fellowships, events and other announcements.
Mahalo,
Program Coordinators
Muslim Societies in Asia and the Pacific
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Muslim Societies in Oceania New Zealand 
"New Zealand Muslims are fortunate to be able to observe their faith in peace and tranquility," remarks Mohammed Anwar Ali, secretary of the New Zealand Muslim Association. Although a minority (less than 1% of the total population), the Muslim population in New Zealand is young, energetic and growing. They represent a wide range of national origins that include Fiji, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia. The largest proportion of New Zealand's Muslims originally come from Fiji and are ethnically Fijian Indians. There is also a growing number of local New Zealanders who are converting to Islam. According to official census figures, the Muslim population has doubled every 5 years for the past 25 years. More info here. Fiji 
The Muslims of Fiji comprise around 7% of the population (62,534). The Islamic community is made up of people of Indian origin, who were brought to the islands in the late 19th century by the British colonial power. The majority of the Indian community is however, Hindu. Around 16% of the Fiji's Indian community is Muslim. There are also a few hundred indigenous Fijians, including the well-known politician Apisai Tora, who have converted to Islam.
Muslims are mostly Sunni followers Imam Abu Hanifa(59.7%t) or unspecified (36.7%), with an Ahmadiyya minority (3.6%). The Ahmadis run the Fazl-e-Umar Mosque in Samabula, which is the largest in the South Pacific.
Accordingly, there is a very active Muslim youth movement in Fij which traces its origins to the 1960s. Its executive leaders meet regularly and organize camps and other gatherings for young Muslims. It has a national outreach, with members from high schools as well as tertiary institutions and university graduates and professionals in the workforce. It has also organized a wing to attract young educated Muslim women. More info here.
Vanuatu
 Islam in Vanuatu is practised by about 200 members of the small island nation of Vanuatu in Oceania. The history of Islam in this country is not as recent as people might think. Mustapha Kaloas who is the Secretary General of the Vanuatu Islam Society submits that the Muslim community here is part and parcel of the Vanuatu society. They have evolved with the history of the country.
Islam has been in Vanuatu since 1978, with the founder, the late Henry Nabanga of Mele village. He was also the first converted Muslim in Vanuatu. By 1987, a number of other people outside Mele have embraced the faith and their first mosque was established in 1992 in Mele. Since then the number of Muslims in Mele has increased. More info here. Islam in Australia has a long and varied history that is thought to pre-date European settlement. Some of Australia's earliest visitors were Muslims from the east Indonesian archipelago. They made contact with mainland Australia as early as the 16th and 17th centuries. In the last three decades, many Muslims have migrated to Australia under refugee or humanitarian programs, and from African countries such as Somalia and Sudan. Australia's Muslim communities are now predominantly concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne. Since the 1970s, Muslim communities have established mosques and Islamic schools and made vibrant contributions to the multicultural fabric of Australian society. Sydney has more Muslims than any other city in Australia. From the 2000 census statistics of the total number of non-Christian religions in Sydney, Muslims represent nearly 40%. Almost 44% of Muslims are under 20 years of age and out of that number, the vast majority (85%) were born in Australia. Sydney has 20 major mosques and a growing number of minor mosques and Islamic Centres. These are in suburbs where Muslims constitute a considerable percentage of the population. Some of these suburbs have state schools with a majority of students from Muslim families. There are also seven Muslim private schools. More info here. |
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Events in Honolulu
Sufi Soul: The Mystic Music of Islam
For hundreds of millions of Sufi followers worldwide, music is at the heart of their tradition and a way to get closer to God. From the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey to the qawwali music of Pakistan, Sufism has produced some of the world's most spectacular music celebrated by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Traveling through Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco and Syria, TV documentary maker and music journalist Simon Broughton traces the shared roots of Christianity and Islam in the Middle East. He discovers Sufism to be a peaceful, tolerant, and pluralistic bastion against fundamentalism, and features the brilliance and diversity of Sufi music through performances by various Sufi musical artists.
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Showtimes:
Wednesday - Sept 21 01:00 & 7:30 PM
Friday Sept 23 01:00 & 7:30 PM
Location:
Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Academy of Arts
more info
Zubir Abdullah:
Music from Singapore
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17 September, 8-9:30pm
Imin Center, Jefferson Hall
Honolulu, Hawaii
more info Film Showing: Interrupters 
Directed by Steve James (Hoop Dreams) and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz, The Interrupters tells an unforgettable story of a journey from crime to trust to redemption. The intimate, surprisingly inspirational film follows three former gang members striving to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. The Interrupters is one of four films that we are screening in honor ofInternational Peace Day (Sept. 21).
16 September, 7:30pm
ONE SCREENING ONLY!
Doris Duke Theater, Honolulu, Hawaii
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Employment Opportunities
Academic Student Assistant Muslim Societies of Asia and the Pacific School of Pacific and Asian Studies University of Hawaii at Manoa
Closing date: 16 September 2011 Apply via UH Student Employment (SECE) more info Assistant/Full Professor (tenure-track)
Department of Sociology
Stanford University, California, USA
Closing date: 1 November 2011
Lecturer Contemporary Indian History and Politics Australian National University
Sydney, Australia Closing date: 3 October 2011 Teaching Fellow Chinese Studies (including Linguistics, Literature, History, Cultural Studies) Australian National University
Sydney, Australia Closing date: 31 October 2011
Community
On-call Field Research Assistants for Hawaii Middle Schools Research Study Contact persons:
Chris Ako, (808) 441-7707 Rebecca Knight (808)-441-8196 |
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Conferences
Hawaii Emerging Leaders Program
Model APEC Conference
(Climate Change in APEC Countries)
4 November 2011
Hawaii State Capitol
Email mchibana@hawaii.edu for info
11th Annual International Graduate Student Conference on the Asia Pacific Region
16 - 18 February 2012
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Abstract deadline: 7 October 2011
"On Cosmopolitanism and Southeast Asia: imaginings, mediation and movement"
Island Southeast Asia Centre
School of Culture, Language and History
Australian National University
Abstract deadline: 30 September 2011
2nd International Conference on Islamic Education 2011 (ICIEd2011)
12 to 14 December 2011
Bangi-Putrajaya, Malaysia
Full Paper Submission: 5 October 2011 Islamic Tourism Conference & Travel Mart
13 - 14 October 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
International Conference on Imam Shafi'i: Reformation of Islamic Thought
1 - 2 November 2011
Bandar Sri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
2nd International Conference On Islam and Higher Education
14 -15 November 2011
Pahang, Malaysia
Law and Religious Pluralism in
Contemporary Asia
17 - 18 November 2011
National University of Singapore, Singapore
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Fellowships
Truman-Kaufmann Fellowships Scholarships on economic development, revitalization and modernization in areas of the globe shattered by war and/or natural disasters. Deadline: 1 November 2011 Postdoctoral Fellowship for Transregional Research: Inter-Asian Contexts and Connections Social Science Research Council
Preliminary proposal deadline: 21 October 2011 Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program Harvard University Deadline: 3 October 2011
PhD Scholarship in History
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Deadline: 1 November 2011
Post doctoral fellowship in East Asian Studies
Princeton Society of Fellows
Princeton University
Deadline: 30 September 2011
Ford Foundation Pre-Doctororal Fellowships
Deadline: 14 November 2011
Ford Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Deadline: 17 November 2011
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