The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) was set up in April 1979 by

Mazhar Krasniqi 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 Federati ...

and other

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

community leaders to draw together the regional

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

organisations of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

into one centralised

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-wide body.

History

Origins

Following the creation of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, local Muslims in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

initiated correspondence with other Muslim organisations in

and

, with an eye towards creating a national Muslim organisation and helping to develop the

Halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with ''haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification kno ...

meat trade. On 18 November 1978 the first preparatory meeting was held in

: Hajji Abbas Ali and Robert "Abdul Salam" Drake (architect of the Ponsonby mosque) came representing

; whilst Hajji Salamat Khan, Dr Hajji Khalid Rashid Sandhu and Abdul Rahman Khan came from

;

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

was represented by Ali Taal, a postgraduate student from

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. Following two meetings in

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.

resident

(an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

SS Goya refugee from

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

) was the inaugural president, Dr Hajji Hanif Quazi was the first Secretary-General, and Haji Hussain Sahib was made the first FIANZ treasurer.

1980s

In 1981, Sheikh Khalid Hafiz was appointed

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

, 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 The New Zealand Meat Board is a statutory body which provides quota management on behalf of the Crown for meat exports to the United States, European Union and United Kingdom. To protect their own livestock industry these countries give limited ac ...

(later the Meat Industry Association) to provide

certification services in exchange for a remuneration. The first contract was for $169,000 in 1984. Currently the figure is over one million dollars and helps subsidise much of the Islamic activities across

. In April 1988, FIANZ held its first ever South Island AGM at the

mosque and

resident Dr Saleh Al Samahy from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

was elected president. A second South Island AGM was held at the mosque (in

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

) 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.

Into the 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 Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

), the inaugural president

, and a former president Dr Hajji Muhammed

Ashraf Choudhary Ashraf Choudhary (born 15 February 1949; Sialkot, Punjab) is a Pakistani-New Zealand scientist in agricultural engineering and formerly a member of the Parliament in New Zealand. He is a member of the Labour Party, and was New Zealand's first ...

. 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 speaker was the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

Dr Mustapha Farouk from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

(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

and the theme was "Building Strong Muslim Families". This was attended by approximately 300 local Muslims. The most important speaker was Dr Mustapha Farouk and FIANZ Assistant Secretary Brent "Abdul Lateef" Smith (a Major in the

army). In response to the Canadian

alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...

activists

Lauren Southern Lauren Cherie Southern (born 16 June 1995) is a Canadian alt-right YouTuber, political activist and commentator. In 2015, Southern ran as a Libertarian Party candidate in the Canadian federal election. Southern worked for Rebel Media until M ...

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 The Human Rights Commission (Māori: ''Te Kāhui Tika Tangata'') is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet. Legislation and func ...

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 The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland Region in New Zealand, which it controls as a unitary authority. The position exists since October 2010 after the amalga ...

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 No ...

announced that the

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

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.

Former FIANZ presidents

* 15 April 1979 – Hajji

, Q.S.M. * 15 September 1979 – Hajji Abdul Rahim Rasheed, Q.S.O. * 6 April 1980 – Rahim Ghouri * 18 April 1981 – Hajji Abdul Rahim Rasheed, Q.S.O. * 10 April 1982 – Hajji Abdul Rahim Rasheed, Q.S.O. * 2 April 1983 – Mohammad Hanif Quazi * 23 April 1984 – Hajji Muhammed

, Q.S.O. * 14 April 1985 – Hajji Muhammed

, Q.S.O. * 10–11 May 1986 – Hajji Khalid Rashid Sandhu, Q.S.O. * 2 May 1987 – Hajji Khalid Rashid Sandhu, Q.S.O. * 21–22 May 1988 – Hajji Saleh Al Samahy * 24–25 June 1989 – Hajji Khalid Rashid Sandhu, Q.S.O. * 8–9 September 1990 – Abdur Rahman Khan * 1991 – Muhammed Azim Khan * 30–31 May 1992 – Hajji Abdul Hafeez Rasheed * 19–20 June 1993 – Imam Ali * 6–7 July 1996 – Imam Ali * 13–14 June 1997 – Hajji Anwar-ul Ghani * 12–13 June 1999 – Hajji Anwar-ul Ghani * 26–27 May 2001 – Hajji Anwar-ul Ghani * 28–29 June 2003 – Muhammed Javed (Zaved) Iqbal Khan * 18 July 2009 – Hajji Anwar-ul Ghani * 26–27 May 2015 – Hazim Arafeh * * NB. Over the past 25 years the FIANZ constitution has been amended on several occasions. Some presidents served terms of one year whilst others served two. To simply the information here, the dates and names presented are confirmed Annual General Meetings AND elections. Strictly speaking the elections are supposed to be held every "second quarter".

Current executive committee

The current (20 July 2021) Executive Committee includes: President – Ibrar Sheikh Vice-President – Mohammed Ridwan Secretary – Abdirizak Abdi Treasurer – Mohammed Fazal Assistant Secretary – Riaz Rehman FIANZ Head Office: Chief Executive Officer – Sultan Eusoff FIANZ Community Development Headquarters: Senior Community Development Executive - Rito Triumbarto Community Development Liaison Officer - George Shafi Lethbridge

Issues

Over the past thirty years, with growing numbers of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

in New Zealand, there have been a number of complaints directed at the Federation. The most serious issue centres around whether FIANZ is primarily a religious minority organisation or an ethnic minority cultural one: it has been suggested that the Federation conducts its affairs more like those found within the Developing Nations rather than a New Zealand organisation. As early as 1983 one

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

resident in

dismissed FIANZ as "a group of Fijian labourers". More recently FIANZ leadership was tagged "..as a conservative businessmen's club of relaxed Muslims, well integrated in New Zealand society and benignly sexist." Other lingering criticisms reflect cultural matters. Despite a concern with the "public" appearance of following the

Sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

, the Federation has sometimes created the impression of acting as a personal vehicle for certain office bearers. On occasion highly subjective evaluations appear to have decided some issues rather than any discernable long term goals. Questions have been raised in the past regarding appointments to posts within the Federation apparatus. There have also been criticisms directed at the close relationship between certain Federation leaders and the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

after it was disclosed that FIANZ had contributed over $10,000 to their failed 2008 election campaign.

, 1997). * "Growing Support For Queen St Protest March" in ''The Auckland Star'' (26 August 1968), p. 3. * "3000 stage city protest" in ''The Auckland Star'' (28 August 1968), p. 1. * Clarke, Ian, "ESSENTIALISING ISLAM: MULTICULTURALISM AND ISLAMIC POLITICS IN NEW ZEALAND" in ''New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies'' 8, 2 (December 2006) pages. 69–96. * “City Mosque For Muslims” in ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' (28 March 1979), p. 1. * Berryman, Warren, "Insensitivities created halal meat difficulties" in ''The National Business Review'' (19 December 1983), page.13. * De Graaf, Peter, "The Kiwi Kosovars" in ''Metro'' (June 2001), pp. 89–93. * Drury, Abdullah, "A Short History of the Ponsonby Mosque, New Zealand" in ''Al-Nahdah'' (Malaysia), Vol.19, No.3, pp. 36–38. * Drury, Abdullah, "A Short History: New Zealand’s First Mosque” in ''The

Muslim World League The Muslim World League (MWL; ar, رابطة العالم الاسلامي, Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami, ) is an International Islamic NGO based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate v ...

Journal'' (Dhul-Qa‘adah 1421 – February 2001), Vol.28, No.11, pp. 45–48. * Drury, Abdullah, "A Short History of the Ponsonby Mosque, Auckland" in ''Da’wah Highlights'' (Rabi-ul Awwal 1422 – June 2001), Vol.XII, Issue 6, pp. 43–50. * Drury, Abdullah, "A Tribute to the Illyrian Pioneers" in ''Al Mujaddid'' (March 2002 – Muharram 1423), Vol.1, No.16, p. 10. * Drury, Abdullah, ''Islam in New Zealand: The First Mosque'' (Christchurch, 2007) * Drury, Abdullah, "Islamic federation milestone a good time for soul-searching" in ''

'' (24 August 2009). * Drury, Abdullah, "Mazhar Krasniqi Now QSM" in ''Al Mujaddid'' (20 March 2003 – Muharram 1424), p. 16. * Drury, Abdullah, "Mazharbeg" in ''Al Mujaddid'' (21 June 2003 – Rabiul Thani 1424), Vol.1, p. 14. * Drury, Abdullah "Once Were Mahometans: Muslims in the South Island of New Zealand, mid-19th to late 20th century, with special reference to Canterbury" (University of Waikato, MPhil, 2016), Hamilton. * Drury, Abdullah "Mahometans on the Edge of Colonial Empire: Antipodean Experiences" in ''Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations'', Volume 29, Issue 1, pp. 71-87. * “Eastern Dome For Skyline” in ''

'' (7 April 1980), p. 2. * * "Islamic Meat Trade" in ''The Otago Daily Times'' (12 March 1979), p. 1. * Kolig, Erich, ''New Zealand's Muslims and Multiculturalism'' (2010) . * Krasniqi, Mazhar, "Message" in ''Al Mujaddid'' (January 2000), p. 4. * MacIntyre, Dave, "$3m Being Sent To NZ For Building of Two Mosques" in ''The Evening Post'' (29 November 1978), p. 44. * Mannion, Robert, "Moslems Caught in Classic Dilemma" in ''The Dominion Sunday Times'' (26 February 1989), p. 11. * Middleton, Julie, "NZ Muslim leader honoured" in ''

'' (22 August 2005), p. 10. * "Mohammad Sharif Madhavi Hojatol Islam spends most of his time supervising halal killing in freezing works." in ''The Auckland Star'' (14 April 1980), p. 7. * Moore, Leanne, "Muslims and Catholics in single salute" in ''

'' (30 September 1995), p. 24. * "Moslem Group Form NZ Federation" in ''

'' (2 May 1979), p. 10. * "Muslims begin the holy month of Ramadan" in ''

'' (27 January 1996), p. 17. * "Muslims plan mosque for city" in ''The Auckland Star'' (4 January 1956), p. 5. * "Muslims Raising Funds for a Mosque" in ''

'' (4 January 1956), p. 8. * "Muslims Raising Meat Deal Snags" in ''The Evening Post'' (4 August 1979), p. 8. * "Musovich" in ''

'' (17–18 November 2001), D13. * "N.Z. Moslems Support Arab Cause" in ''

'' (12 June 1967), p. 1. * "Obituary Notice" in ''Al Mujaddid'' (December 2001 – Shawaal 1422), Vol.1, No.15, p. 9. * "Obituary" in ''RISEAP Newsletter'' (December 2001), p. 4. * Sheppard, William, "The Muslim Community in New Zealand", Chapter 5 in ''Indians in New Zealand'', ed. K.N. Tiwari (Wellington, N.Z.: Price-Milburn, 1980). urely historical interest; has no content that is not found in other articles.* * Sheppard, William, "The Islamic Contribution: Muslims in New Zealand", in ''Religion in New Zealand Society'', Second Edition, eds Brian Colless & Peter Donovan (Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press, 1985), pp. 181–213. * Sheppard, William, "Muslims in New Zealand", ''The Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs'' (Riyadh), 16/2 (1996): 211–232. pdates 1982 article to 1991.* Sheppard, William, "Australia and New Zealand", authored jointly with Michael Humphrey, in ''Islam Outside the Arab World'', eds. David Westerlund and Ingvar Svanberg, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1999, pp. 278–294. * Sheppard, William, "Muslims in New Zealand" in ''Muslim Minorities in the West: Visible and Invisible'', eds., Yvonne Y. Haddad and Jane I. Smith, Walnut Creek, etc.: Altamira Press, 2002, chapter 13. * Sheppard, William, “New Zealand’s Muslims And Their Organisations” ''New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies'' 8, 2 (December 2006): 8–44. (cf. “Introduction: Muslims In New Zealand” in the next section) * Sheppard, William, “Introduction: Muslims In New Zealand”, ''New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies'' 8, 2 (December 2006): 1–7. Co-authored with Erich Kolig. * Sheppard, William, "Australia and New Zealand", in ''The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Modern Islamic World'' (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), Vol. 1, pp. 154–5. * Thomson, Ainsley, “Mazhar Krasniqi” in ''

'' (31 December 2002), p.A6. * Trickett, Peter, "Minarets in Ponsonby" in ''The New Zealand Listener'' (21 April 1979), pp. 18–19. * Waja, Ismail, "50 Years Celebrations" in ''Al Mujaddid'' (July 2001), pp. 1–2, 7. * ''New Zealand Gazette'' (10 January 2003), Issue No.2., p. 83. * Zaman, Gul, "In Memory of Marhum Demal Hodzic" in ''FIANZ News'' (March 2006), p. 7.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federation Of Islamic Associations Of New Zealand Islamic organisations based in New Zealand 1979 establishments in New Zealand Islamic organizations established in 1979 Organisations based in Wellington