Hajji Abdullah Drury

Muslims in NZ mark 40th anniversary of FIANZ

Posted by Hajji Abdullah Drury | 29 Apr, 2019 | Sub Featured, Ummah |

The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) the representative body of Muslims in the country recently observed the 40th anniversary since its formation in 1979. The first Muslims to visit New Zealand were lascars – Indian sailors – on board a French ship named the Saint Jean-Baptiste captained by Jean François Marie de Surville pursuing trade opportunities from Pondicherry (the French colony in India). The ship toured Northland in December 1769. The first identifiable Muslim immigrant family came to New Zealand in 1854 from India. Wuzeerah, his wife and children, settled in the Canterbury Plains. In 1950,...

Eid Celebrations in NZ

Posted by Hajji Abdullah Drury | 21 Jun, 2018 | Community, Sub Featured |

Eid-al-Fitr was celebrated all together in New Zealand on Saturday, 16 June, this year. Over 40,000 local Muslims gathered at mosques and Islamic Centres across the country from the far north to the deep south. In Hamilton, around 1000 Muslims assembled at the public gardens for Eid prayers in the morning. After the morning breakfast celebrations, families in the Muslim community continued the festivities both with fellow Muslims and others from the wider community across the city and the entire Waikato region. During the first week of June the Muslim community hosted an Iftar dinner at their headquarters in...

Selahattin Kefali, NZ Muslim pioneer passed away

Posted by Hajji Abdullah Drury | 27 Feb, 2018 | Community |

Selahattin Kefali, a pioneer in amongst the Muslim community in New Zealand passed away on Sunday night 18 February 2018 at the age of 87. He was one of the Albanian Muslim refugees who arrived in NZ in 1951 on board the MS Goya Nicknamed “Sol”, Kefali was born in Tetovo, Macedonia, in 1930. An agricultural worker, Kefali married a Pakeha lady. By 1956 Sellahuttin Kefali was working in Mercer but later he moved to Auckland. Along with his friends, he was involved in the New Zealand Muslim Association and worked closely with the Indian Muslim immigrants in the 1950s and...

Early history of Muslims in New Zealand

Posted by Hajji Abdullah Drury | 28 Nov, 2016 | Education, Other News |

Abdullah Drury has completed a history thesis at Waikato University, New Zealand, that examines the historic spread of Muslims and Islam in New Zealand. Entitled “Once Were Mahometans: Muslims in the South Island of New Zealand, mid-19th to late 20th century, with special reference to Canterbury”, this research argues that Muslims arrived with the early waves of British colonisation and were intimately involved in the settlement and economic development processes. Over a hundred year period the Muslim presence changed from that of a handful of individuals conducting their affairs on the margins of a British colony in the South...

Author: hajji-abdullah-drury

Muslims in NZ mark 40th anniversary of FIANZ

Eid Celebrations in NZ

Selahattin Kefali, NZ Muslim pioneer passed away

Early history of Muslims in New Zealand

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