Māori Muslims are a small minority community in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Growth

Islam was estimated to be the fastest growing religion among the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, however recently there is only a growth of 39 individuals in 12 years between 2006 and 2018. Census figures showing the number of Muslims of Māori ethnicity increasing from 99 to 708 from 1991 to 2001. The Māori Muslim population thereafter virtually stabilised from 1,077 in 2006 to 1,083 in 2013 to 1,116 in 2018. Despite this, the 2006 Māori Muslim community was no more than 0.19 percent of the Māori population (565,329). Traditional beliefs form the background of most Māori religious thought, with others belonging to one of several

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

churches, or

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...

churches such as

Rātana Rātana () is a Māori Christian church and movement, headquartered at Rātana Pā near Whanganui, New Zealand. The Rātana movement began in 1918, when Tahupōtiki Wiremu (T. W.) Ratana claimed to experience visions, and began a mission o ...

. The leader of the now-defunct Aotearoa Māori Muslim Association (AMMA), Te Amorangi Izhaq Kireka-Whaanga, was identified among ''

The 500 Most Influential Muslims ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...

''. They point out that Islam with its strict rules and self-discipline is a positive force in Māori development.Drury, Abdullah, Treaty compatible with Islamic philosophy in The Press (6 February 2009), page 6. In 1990 the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand organised the first official meeting between Māori and immigrant Muslims at a

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

. In 2003 the Muslim Association of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

arranged a "National Māori Muslim Day" event at both the Canterbury Mosque and the ''Ngā Hau e Whā'' National Marae in

Aranui Aranui is one of the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. It is a low socio-economic area. In its early years, Aranui grew along Pages Road, the suburb's main road. Aranui soon became a Working class, working-class suburb. There are also areas o ...

Māori Quran translation

Mr Shakil Ahmad Monir gave the first copy of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

that he translated into the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

Mirza Masroor Ahmad Mirza Masroor Ahmad (; born 15 September 1950) is the current and fifth leader of the Ahmadiyya, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His official title within the movement is Ahmadiyya Caliphate, Fifth Caliph of the Messiah (, ''khalīfatul masīh al- ...

(

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

of the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

) as a gift for the blessings of the Khilafat Centennial year in 2008. It took Mr Monir nearly twenty years to publish the first half of the Qur'an which is referred to as the ''Kuranu Tapu'' in the Māori language. Mr Monir spent a period of time in New Zealand and abroad doing this work. He established a team consisting of Mr Mohammed Iqbal VRD, JP and Mr Mohammed Shahid to assist him with the logistics of this project. Mr Monir travelled to New Zealand in 2010 for the launch of the ''Kuranu Tapu''. He was honoured to represent this event as the official representative of

, Khalifatul Masih V and as the author of the translation. He spent numerous hours to ensure that the translation work was a close as possible to the original Arabic text in which the Qur'an was revealed. A copy of this Qur'an was also presented to King Tūheitia at a ''

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

'' outside

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, which gave Mr Monir an opportunity to address a large group of Māori in their own language, he said. He said, ''It was so nice, the people cheered after I'd finished.'' The

is the first Muslim organisation to translate the first half of the Qur'an into the Māori language.

References

Literature

* Drury, Abdullah, ''Islam in New Zealand: The First Mosque'' (Christchurch, 2007) * Drury, Abdullah, ''Treaty compatible with Islamic philosophy'' in The Press (6 February 2009), page 6. * Yvonne Tahana, ''Koran's message of unity shared in te reo translation'' 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 in New Zealand, ...

(15 April 2010), page.A11.) * "The 500 Most Influential Muslims - 2010" by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (Amman, 2010)

External links

Maori Television: Young, Maori and Muslim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maori Muslims *

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

Islam in New Zealand

Growth

Māori Quran translation

See also

References

Literature

External links