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New Zealand Muslim Association (NZMA) established in 1950 is the oldest Islamic institution in New Zealand. The New Zealand Muslim Association (NZMA) was formed in the year 1950, with the objective to serve all Muslims brothers and sisters within New Zealand. The first chairman of NZMA was Marhum Suilman Ismail Bhikoo. He was instrumental in establishing a Muslim burial ground at Waikumete Cemetery in Glen Eden, West Auckland in 1966. Former presidents of the NZMA include Kosovo-born Mazhar Krasniqi (1975 and 1987–88) and Nazmi Mehmeti from North Macedonia (1963). The longest serving Executive Committee member between 1956 and 1981 was Hajji Avdo Musovich (1919–2001), originally from Montenegro. NZMA is responsible for the five branches; Ponsonby mosque, Ranui mosque, Avondale Islamic Centre, Birkenhead Islamic Centre and Kelston Islamic Centre. More information can be found on the NZMA website: www.nzma.kiwi.nz
On 30 March 1979 the foundation for the Ponsonby Mosque was laid. [1] The Ponsonby Mosque was the first in New Zealand. [1] [2] The Mosque was extended in 1986, creating a ladies' praying area, accommodation for the Imam, kitchen facilities, Janaza washing room and additional prayer hall for Jumma prayers. [1] The Ponsonby Mosque was re-named to Al-Masjid Al-Jamie to give the mosque an Islamic name in the late 20th century. [1] Today the Al-Masjid Al-Jamie has a total capacity of 700 people. [1]
Avondale Islamic Centre (AIC), in Avondale, Auckland, New Zealand was first opened in 1988, and closed temporarily in 2014-2015. [3] Primarily serves as a mosque, providing a place to conduct the five daily prayers and extra devotional prayers such as Ramadan night prayers (tarawih) for males and females. [4] However, the Centre also offers a number of wide ranging services, including event hosting facilities, teaching and a multi-purpose area with a car park for over 40 vehicles. [5]
West Auckland Mosque & Islamic Centre is the 3rd Mosque in New Zealand built in June 1995. West Auckland Mosque provides 5 daily prayers with Jamat, Juma, Full Quran Tarawih prayers, Youth programs, ladies programs and Daily madrasah classes and now Adult Quran classes. Today approx.2,500 Muslims live in West Auckland and over +500 households. The mosque can accommodate up to 400 people with up to 30 car parks.
Birkenhead Islamic Center a branch of NZMA, was formed on 4 June 2006 but opened for regular prayers in 2010 for residents of North Shore of Auckland, which comprises many suburbs, such as Birkenhead, Birkdale, Beach Haven, Glenfield, Wairau Park, Hilcrest, Foresthill, Takapuna, Bayswater, Devonport, Cambles Bay, Mairangi Bay, Browns Bay, Long Bay, Upper Harbour, and Albany. That was the starting point, Alhamdulillah, due to the steadfast effort of the regular attendees of daily prayers and motivated Muslim brothers.
Kelston Masjid, previously under Abu Huraira Trust came into existence in August 2003. Prior to this, a group of local residents began congregating for Salah, Jummah & Tarawih prayers at Brother Azeem’s resident, which developed into the idea of establishing a local place of worship. As such, Abu Huraira Trust was formed and a property, previously mechanical workshop, was purchased. And so, began the journey of Kelston Masjid. On 16 August 2018, Abu Huraira Trust transferred the property to New Zealand Muslim Association (NZMA) Incorporated. Led by Brother Mohammed Fazal (administrator), NZMA-Kelston Branch was established and an interim committee appointed. The interim committee, with assistance from local worshippers, successfully continued all prayers and Islamic programmes, until a new committee was elected in February 2020. In 1959 it purchased a house in Ponsonby, central Auckland, and converted it into the first Islamic Centre in the country. In 1960 the NZMA invited Ahmed Said Musa Patel from the Gujarat to become New Zealand's first Imam. In 1967 this house was sold and another bought; in 1972 this too was sold and another acquired at 17 Vermont Street, Ponsonby. In 1979 the house on this site was removed and construction work began to build New Zealand's first real mosque. Also in 1979 the NZMA was a founding constituent member of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ), the national Muslim organisation.
The Quba Mosque is a mosque located in Medina, in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia, built in the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century C.E. It is thought to be the first mosque in the world, built on the first day of Muhammad's emigration to Medina. Its first stone is said to have been laid by the prophet, and the structure completed by his companions.
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north–south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road.
Tarawih, also known as Taraweeh, are special Sunnah prayers involving reading long portions of the Quran, and performing many rakahs, which are performed only in the Islamic month of Ramadan. The entire Quran is recited in the Tarawih prayers at a mosque, typically at the rate of one Juz' per night.
Kelston is a residential suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand. Originally a ceramics manufacturing centre, the area is now mostly residential, including a number of schools. Kelston is located in, and its name has been given to, the Kelston parliamentary electorate.
Islam in New Zealand is a religious affiliation representing about 1.3% of the total population. Small numbers of Muslim immigrants from South Asia and eastern Europe settled in New Zealand from the early 1900s until the 1960s. Large-scale Muslim immigration began in the 1970s with the arrival of Fiji Indians, followed in the 1990s by refugees from various war-torn countries.
A congregational mosque or Friday mosque, or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque, is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as jumu'ah. It can also host the Eid prayers in situations when there is no musalla or eidgah available nearby to host the prayers. In early Islamic history, the number of congregational mosques in one city was strictly limited. As cities and populations grew over time, it became more common for many mosques to host Friday prayers in the same area.
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) was set up in April 1979 by Mazhar Krasniqi and other Muslim community leaders to draw together the regional Islam organisations of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury into one centralised New Zealand-wide body.
Mazhar Shukri Krasniqi (1931–2019) was a New Zealand Muslim and Albanian community leader of Kosovar Albanian descent, businessman and human rights activist. He was both the first president of the New Zealand Albanian Civic League and Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ).
A Sunnah prayer is an optional or supererogatory salah that can be performed in addition to the five daily salah, which are compulsory for all Muslims. Sunnah prayer have different characteristics: some are done at the same time as the five daily compulsory prayers, some are done only at certain times, or only for specific occasions ; some have their own name and some are identified by how they are performed. The length of Sunnah prayer also varies.
Nazmi Mehmeti (1918-1995), also recorded as “Mehmetovitch” on the SS Goya.
MS Goya was a Norwegian refugee ship that carried hundreds of Eastern European refugees to New Zealand in 1951. Most notably it carried several men who went on to play a significant role in the development of the New Zealand Muslim Association including Mazhar Krasniqi and Nazmi Mehmeti.
Māori Muslims are a small minority community in New Zealand.
Saʻad al-Ghāmidī is a Qāriʾ and a former imam of the great holy mosque Masjid an-Nabawi. Shaykh Sa'ad Al-Ghamdi has served as imam to Muslim communities across the globe.
Masjid al-Haram, also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is a mosque enclosing the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the pilgrimage sites associated with the Hajj, which every Muslim must perform at least once in their lives if able. It is also the main site for the performance of ʿUmrah, the lesser pilgrimage that can be undertaken any time of the year. The rites of both pilgrimages include circumambulating the Kaaba within the mosque. The Great Mosque includes other important significant sites, such as the Black Stone, the Zamzam Well, Maqam Ibrahim, and the hills of Safa and Marwa.
Abdul Rahim Rasheed was a Fijian-born Indian Muslim community leader and lawyer in New Zealand.
Kelston Girls’ College (KGC) is a single-sex girls state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High School became too large for the site on the corner of Archibald and Great North Roads. The boys moved to a new site further down Archibald Road and the original site became the home of Kelston Girls' High School.
Albanian New Zealanders are residents of New Zealand who are of Albanian heritage or descent, often from Kosovo, with smaller numbers from Albania and a few from North Macedonia. Albanian New Zealanders are mainly concentrated in the city of Auckland. The Albanian community has been present in New Zealand since the mid twentieth century and are an integrated part of its society.
The Al Noor Mosque is a Sunni mosque in the Christchurch suburb of Riccarton in New Zealand. It was built between 1983 and 1985 by the Muslim Association of Canterbury, an organisation founded in 1977 that also manages the mosque building. It was the primary target of the Christchurch mosque shootings of 15 March 2019.
The Linwood Islamic Centre was a Sunni Islamic mosque in Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand. The mosque opened in early 2018 on the grounds of the former Christchurch Bahai Centre and the building had most recently been the Linwood Community Centre. The building was formerly a Sunday School Hall in Highstead Road and was moved to Linwood in the late 1980s. It was the second mosque to open in Christchurch. It is owned by the Linwood Islamic Charitable Trust, which was founded in 2017.