History
Origins
Following the creation of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, local Muslims in Christchurch initiated correspondence with other Muslim organisations in Auckland and Wellington, with an eye towards creating a national Muslim organisation and helping to develop the Halal meat trade. On 18 November 1978 the first preparatory meeting was held in Christchurch : Hajji Abbas Ali and Robert "Abdul Salam" Drake (architect of the Ponsonby mosque) came representing Auckland; whilst Hajji Salamat Khan, Dr Hajji Khalid Rashid Sandhu and Abdul Rahman Khan came from Wellington ; Palmerston North was represented by Ali Taal, a postgraduate student from Gambia. Following two meetings in Palmerston North on 6 February 1979 and Auckland on 15 April 1989, a consensus was reached and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) was formally established. Auckland resident Mazhar Krasniqi (an Albanian SS Goya refugee from Kosovo) was the inaugural president, Dr Hajji Hanif Quazi was the first Secretary-General, and Haji Hussain Sahib was made the first FIANZ treasurer. [1] [2]
1980s
In 1981, Sheikh Khalid Hafiz was appointed Imam of Wellington, a post he held until his death in 1999, and employed as such by the International Muslim Association of New Zealand. Soon after his arrival, he was appointed senior religious adviser to the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand.
In June 1984, the Federation signed the first annual contract with the New Zealand Meat Producers Board (later the Meat Industry Association) to provide Halal certification services in exchange for a remuneration. The first contract was for $169,000 in 1984. Currently the figure is over one million dollars [3] and helps subsidise much of the Islamic activities across New Zealand. [4]
In April 1988, FIANZ held its first ever South Island AGM at the Canterbury mosque and Christchurch resident Dr Saleh Al Samahy from Saudi Arabia was elected president. A second South Island AGM was held at the mosque (in Riccarton) over 24–25 June 1989 where Dr Sandhu of Wellington was elected president and Dr Al Samahy was made vice-president. The following year a local convert to Islam, Soraiya Gilmour, was appointed FIANZ Treasurer.
21st century
In November 2005, the Federation celebrated its 25th anniversary (a year late) and Eid al Fitr in Parliament House, Wellington. The event was attended by the then FIANZ president Muhammed Javed (Zaved) Iqbal Khan (originally from Fiji), the inaugural president Mazhar Krasniqi, and a former president Dr Hajji Muhammed Ashraf Choudhary. [5]
In June 2008, the "FIANZ First Stakeholders Forum" was organised by New Zealand government civil servants at the parliament in Wellington. The theme was "To Build Strong New Zealand Muslim Families" but only a few Muslims were actually invited. Ultimately the only respected and interesting[ according to whom? ] speaker was the Nigerian Dr Mustapha Farouk from Hamilton (whose name remains consistently misspelt in the FIANZ website). The following year, FIANZ organised the "FIANZ National Muslim Convention" over 24–25 October 2009 in Auckland and the theme was "Building Strong Muslim Families". This was attended by approximately 300 local Muslims. The most important[ according to whom? ] speaker was Dr Mustapha Farouk and FIANZ Assistant Secretary Brent "Abdul Lateef" Smith (a Major in the New Zealand army).
In response to the Canadian alt-right activists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux's planned tour of Auckland in early August 2018, the FIANZ's president Hazim Arafeh sent letters to the Immigration Minister, Ethnic Community Affairs Minister, and the New Zealand Human Rights Commission urging them to bar Southern entry on the grounds that she was abusing her free speech by promoting hatred against Muslims. On 6 July 2018, the Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff announced that the Auckland Council would not allows its venues to be used to promote "ethnic or religious tensions" and divisive speech. This forced the cancellation of Southern and Molyneux's tour due to the lack of other venues. [6]
Following the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019, FIANZ organised police and media briefings, facilitated meetings with central and local government agencies including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Christchurch City Council, organised meetings between affected families and the authorities, facilitated the return and burial of the deceased, provided victim support to survivors and their relatives, and memorial events. [7] In late March 2024, FIANZ's chairman Mustafa Farouk disavowed comments made by Mt. Roskill Masjid E Umar mosque chairman Ahmed Bhamji claiming that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad was behind the Christchurch mosque shootings, stating that his remarks did not represent the views of New Zealand Muslims. [8]
Following the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war in October 2023, FIANZ called on political leaders to expel Israeli Ambassador Ran Yaakoby and to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza in mid November 2023. [9] In January 2024, FIANZ organised a Muslim-Jewish interfaith forum to mark the 100th day of the Israel–Hamas war, which was attended by several Muslim and Jewish community leaders including Sh'ma Koleinu Alternative Jewish Voices NZ co-founder Marilyn Garson. [10] In late March 2024, FIANZ sent food supplies to refugees in Gaza and sent volunteers to support an international humanitarian team distributing food, medial and sanitary products to Gazans. [11]
In early April 2024, FIANZ criticised the Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith's decision to abandon the previous Sixth Labour Government's efforts to introduce hate speech legislation addressing incitement on the basis of religious belief. FIANZ said that New Zealand "had a range of laws which prevented hateful speech about colour, race and national origins - but not religious belief." FIANZ chairperson Abdur Razzaq said that the Royal Commission into the Christchurch mosque shootings had concluded that religion was a "protected characteristic" and argued there was a clear link between hate speech and hate crimes. [12] FIANZ has also expressed cautious support for the creation of a national intelligence and security agency to coordinate government agencies' responses to terror attacks. [13] In late June 2024, FIANZ chairperson Razzaq said the submission process for the Government's proposed amendment to part 6 of the Arms Act was "non-democratic and would only benefit the gun lobby." [14]
