These are formative times for Australian Muslims, particularly the young. To pursue their spiritual beliefs, many feel they must go against society and prevailing attitudes. And the events of September 11 and Bali have led many to reinforce the level of their devotion. Diana Bagnall speaks to members of the community to find out what it is to be Australian and Muslim.
The cost of belief in Allah and his prophet Mohammed rose exponentially when the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, introduced Islamic fundamentalism to a much broader public. And now, Bali. There have been commemorative services in mosques and letters to the editor from imams expressing sorrow and solidarity. But young Australians such as Daniel Baladjam, 22, and Roshana Sultan, 21, know the cost of being Muslim has just taken another leap. “The t-word,” murmurs Baladjam under his breath. “I hate it.” Sultan’s reaction when she first heard about the nightclub bombing at Kuta was instinctive: “Oh please don’t let it be us again.” She has friends who played football against young men who died.
This is not a good time to be a Muslim in Australia. Correction. This is not an easy time to be a Muslim in Australia. It may well prove to be a good time. For as high school maths teacher Adel Ahmed, 33, puts it: “I have to be moving in a direction that is different to the direction society is moving, in order to benefit spiritually. In a way, it is like the stockmarket, for want of a better metaphor, where one makes money when one is selling when everyone else is buying.” Religion and the market have more in common than is usually acknowledged.
In the past several years, as Islam’s profile has grown sharper and darker both internationally and inside Australia’s borders, Australian-born Muslims have been reassessing their level of commitment to the faith that comes with their cultural package. In many cases, they have chosen to ramp up that commitment and accentuate their Muslim identity. Some are setting up Muslim web sites and bookshops, editing Muslim newspapers, volunteering to teach scripture classes in public schools, setting up serious Islamic doctrinal courses. Many more are changing the way they live: putting on looser, non-revealing clothing (and, in the case of women, the hijab or headscarf), avoiding banks (citing the Koran as forbidding believers to have anything to do with interest