Despite its traditionally hidden nature, the history of Sufism in Australia is a rich field of study that is slowly coming to light. To date, most examinations into the history of Islam in Australia have hinted at the existence of Australia’s Sufi heritage without providing a detailed analysis. The three areas this article will focus on are Sufism amongst the Makassan fishermen of Indonesia, amongst the Cameleers, and throughout the 20th Century and beyond in Australia.
In what proceeds, little more than an overview will be provided. Though, in doing so, it is hoped that the reader will be provided with a) a taste of the historical and contemporary flourishing of Sufism within Australia and b) sufficient tools for undertaking further research for those who may be inspired to delve into this fascinating, if neglected, area of Australia’s history.
The Makassans
The engagement between the Makassan fishermen of Indonesia and the Indigenous peoples of Northern Australia is one of the earliest, sustained engagements between Muslims and Australia. The forays into Australian waters, involving Macassar fishermen in search of trepang (beche de mer), occurred from as early as the sixteenth century and continued until South Australian customs effectively outlawed their visits in 1906.1,2 These annual visits to north-east Arnhem Land, spanning from December to April, “left profound imprints on the cultures and languages of the far north shores.”3 During these visits cultural exchange occurred, with some Makassans participating in Aboriginal feasts, ceremonies, and liaisons4 and some Aboriginal peoples creatively adapting aspects of Islam.5 As a result, it is interesting to examine what type of Islam was being introduced into Northern Australia.
To gain insight into the Islam that was brought to Northern Australia by the Makassans, it is useful to examine the prevalent and popular trends involved in the spread and development of Islam in Indonesia. The local kingdoms of South Sulawesi, from where many of the Makassan fishermen hailed, embraced Islam early in the 17th century,6 with its spread throughout Indonesia coming in large part at the hands of the Sufis.7 The influence of Sufism in the uptake of Islam in Indonesia is seen by some to have a continuing influence.8 Given the period during which Islam spread through Indonesia, and the earliest estimates of the arrival of Makassans in Australia, it is possible that Indigenous Australians were witness to these religious developments through the visiting fishermen. It is plausible that these early and sustained engagements of Muslims with Australia were either directly connected with, or at least influenced by, Sufism.
The extent to which Sufism was practiced amongst the Makassan fishermen requires further investigation. While scholars have emphasised that certain Indigenous peoples, such as the Yolngu, never embraced Islam, it is interesting to note they did incorporate linguistic, cultural, and religious elements into their own cosmology.9 Aboriginal ceremonial words, such as ‘Oooo-a-hal-la’ and ‘A-ha-la’, are reported to contain appeals to the God in the heavens, having phonetic similarity to Allah. Furthermore, there is phonetic similarity between the Indigenous ceremonial phrase ‘si-li-la-mo-ha-mo, ha-mo-sil-li-li’ and sallallahu alai Muhammad (peace be upon Muhammad) and ‘ra-bin-a-la la-ha-ma-hama’ and rabbana lakal hamd (Our Lord, to You be all praise).10 While such phonetic similarities could have come from daily interactions with the Makassans and observation of their prayer, it is also possible, given the strong influence of Sufism on the Indonesian archipelago, that some of these phonetic similarities arose after observation of gatherings for the remembrance of Allah (dhikr) on Australia’s northern shores. It would be interesting if future studies into the life-worlds of the Indigenous peoples of North Australia included an awareness of Islamic cosmology and the nuances of Sufism in order to better determine what, if any, elements of Sufism travelled with the Makassans to Australian shores.
The Cameleers
Another early, sustained engagement between Muslims and Australia involved a culturally diverse group that has come to be known as the Cameleers. Approximately 2000-4000 Cameleers arrived in Australia between 1860 and 1920,11,12 initially to tend the camels that were being imported. Most drivers hailed from different provinces of what later became Pakistan, such as Baluchistan, Punjab, the Sindh, the Northwest Frontier Province and the protectorate Kingdom of Afghanistan,13 as well as other parts of India and what was to later become Bangladesh. All these areas have rich heritages of Sufism. Most scholars researching the Cameleers hint at a connection between the Cameleers and Sufism, though they lack explicit evidence of such a connection. As the colonial powers of the time were more interested in the camels than those that tended them, much that would provide valuable insight into the practice of Sufism amongst them has been lost.
Possible glimpses of Sufism amongst the Cameleers can be found in newspaper reports, provided such reports are read with an understanding of Islamic and Sufic orthopraxy. For instance, a 1902 newspaper report on the conditions within Afghan camps documented, aside from a generally unhygienic location “owing to the camels which are kept about,” a “new terror in the shape of corroborrees or what ever [sic] the Afghans call their ear splitting evening concerts,” which are distinguished by “the howls and wails of the men with bandage pants who work themselves up into a voice far exceeding concert pitch.”14 Read with an understanding of Sufi practice, it is possible that this is one of the earliest, if not the first, documented recording of a Sufi congregational gathering (dhikr) in Australia.
Going back through available Cameleer documents is another way to unearth evidence of Sufism amongst them, though caution and nuance is required. For instance, Stevens asserts that “only one Afghan in Australia is documented to have a claim to Sufism,” citing “one ‘Soofi [sic] Abdul Karam’ [who] worked with camels in north of WA,”15 though there have been some discrepancies on the reported content of the documents relied on.16 Another instance involves the Adelaide herbalist Mohamet Allum (d. 1964). Stevens states that “from the evidence of Mohamet Allum’s background and life’s work in Australia, he appears to have been at least orientated towards Sufism.”17 While a formal association between Allum and a Sufi order (tariqa) is possible, further evidence is required to substantiate this claim.
Perhaps the best evidence to date of Sufism amongst the Cameleers is a short, handwritten manuscript found amongst the Cameleer artifacts at the historic Broken Hill Mosque.18 Written in 1322AH/1901CE by Ahmed al-Qadiri to Ahmed Akbar Khān al-Afghānī, this manuscript contains the author’s genealogy (nasab) and spiritual chain (silsila), both of which trace back through Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī and indicating membership of the Qadiriyya Sufi order. Along with the genealogy (nasab) and spiritual chain (Silsila), this manuscript also contains a hadith Qudsi with two chains of transmission (sanad), a licence (ijaza), spiritual work (wird), some honorific titles of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, and a list of some of the children of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī. As the existing documents of the Cameleers are revisited with an understanding of Islamic and Sufi orthopraxy, it is highly likely that a better understanding of the prevalence of Sufism amongst the Cameleers will come to light.
20th Century Australia and Beyond
Leading into the 20th century, Australian newspapers showed a relative familiarity with some key terms relating to Sufism. Australia’s numerous newspapers have, since the 1820’s, used dervish and, since the 1860’s, Sufi or Sufism. For instance, an 1833 newspaper article describes the Quakers as resembling “the howling dervishes of the Moslems, whom they far surpass in fanaticism”19 and an 1865 newspaper article mentions “the utter denial and renunciation of everything almost but the Spirit and its visitations which make the sort of Christian Sufism of the Quaker.”20 Later, in 1903, a newspaper reports “Babism is essentially one of the innumerable schools of Sufism.”21 While we may take issue with the accuracy of these reports, such passages indicate that some understanding of Sufism existed amongst the literate public of Australia during the 19th and early 20th centuries, or at least a greater degree of familiarity with Sufism than these other religious movements.
From about 1915, and for a substantial portion of the 20th century, there was a shift in the manner Sufism was mentioned in Australian newspapers. This can, in large part, be seen as a response to the introduction of Inayat Khan (d. 1927) into North America and Europe. An Australian newspaper reported in 1915 that “Inayat Khan has come to the western world to expound the tenets of the Sufi system of philosophy” and subtly intrudes his brand of philosophy as “Sufism is based on the broad principle of the universal brotherhood of man,”22 emphasising the “universal” principles at the expense of a de-Islamised practice. It is unclear if the interest at the time was in Sufism generally or Inayat Khan’s philosophy specifically.
This change in reporting is evident in Australia in 1933 with Friedrich von Frankenberg (d. 1950) establishing his appointment as “representative of the Sufi movement, and authorised to confer upon approved candidates the first degree of initiation in the Sufi Order in Australia.”23 A 1934 newspaper article stated that Frankenberg was “a keen follower of Sufism,”24 and, after him, his successor Francis Brabazon (d. 1984) is reported in 1950 as being one who “promulgated and administered Sufism in Australia.”25
The reports of associates of Inayat Khan’s movement represent some of the earliest specific and explicit references to a particular form of Sufism in Australia by Australian newspapers. The somewhat reactionary response to this by traditionally oriented proponents of Sufism was to coin the tautological term “Islamic Sufism.” This reply aimed to highlight an Islamic framework underpinning Sufi praxis and thought, though at the expense of implicitly acknowledging a non-Islamic Sufism.26 The publication of reviews in Australian newspapers in 1934 of Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah’s Islamic Sufism can be seen as a response to the development and spread of Universal Sufism.27
The second half of the 20th century, particularly from the late 1970s onwards, saw an influx of traditional Sufi orders make connections with Australia. Today almost all major Sufi orders are to be found in various parts of Australia. Some orders have established formal Sufi centres for the propagation of the teachings while other Sufi orders, particularly those whose Shaykhs live outside Australia, organise gatherings when senior members of their orders visit Australia. The diversification of teaching methods, along with the maintenance of the traditional message, highlights how Sufism has adapted within a predominantly Eurocentric society without compromising the elements of the path. Some of the representatives of these Sufi orders are more well known than others, having more of a public presence, though their connection to Sufism is not public knowledge. Other significant Sufis who have lived in Australia are completely unknown to all but a select few.
An attempt to document the modern flourishing of Sufism in Australia would be a monumental, and ultimately incomplete, task as each of the major Sufi orders have their own arrival and development histories on Australian shores. In order to give a taste of the flourishing of Sufism in Australia, a glimpse of two prominent Sufi Shaykhs will be given.
Shaykh Abdullah Sirr Dan al-Jamal
Shaykh Abdullah Sirr Dan al-Jamal (d. 2000) was born into an aristocratic Scottish family and received the best of English educations.28 From an early age he showed a remarkable adeptness in a range of areas. After showing a mastery of the worldly domain, Shaykh Abdullah extended his naturally spiritual disposition with the sincere and concerned study of Sufism. He was initiated into the Naqshbandi in Turkey in 1964 and later become a Shaykh of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order.
Being raised and educated in the West, Shaykh Abdullah had a unique insight into how Sufism could touch the hearts of those who have been conditioned to develop a Western mind. He said that the goal of the Sufi Shaykh is to awaken humanity “to experience and appreciate the inner reality of life pulsating at one and the same time at the heart and throughout the essence of all creation.”29 He taught publicly in London, giving weekly lectures for much of the 1970s and half of the 1980s, before moving to Northern Tasmania, Australia, and teaching privately.30 His talks and guidance were often to Westerners and in this way he has made significant contributions to the flourishing of Sufism in both the UK and Australia.
Shaykh Abdullah also contributed significantly to his local community. Aside from the teaching of Sufism, Shaykh Abdullah was one of the founders of the School of Fine Furniture in Launceston, where he designed and manufactured fine furniture, and was founder and managing director of the Waverley Murray Grey Stud, which exhibited and sold quality cattle throughout Australia, amongst other activities. Shaykh Abdullah also had a great love of the Mevlevi Sufi Order, founded by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Under the guidance of Sheikh Abdullah, in 1983 Sheikh Abdul Aziz entered Mevlevi Sufi Order and, with the permission of the hereditary leader of the Mevlevis Hz. Jelaluddin M. Baqir Chelebi, the 21st generation direct descendant of Hazreti Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, was authorised to form the Mevlevi Order of Australia in Melbourne in 1986.31 Sheikh Abdullah was living in Australia when he was reunited with his Creator in September 2000 and is buried in Northern Tasmania.
Murshid F. A. Ali ElSenossi
Murishid F. A. Ali ElSenossi is a Shaykh of the Burhaniyya-Dasuqqiyya-Shadhiliyya Sufi Order and Spiritual Director of the Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre.32 After coming to Australia from Libya in the early 1970s, Murshid Ali established the Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre in 1983 in Perth. As well as being a location for seekers of knowledge to access the Sufi teaching, it was also the first Sufi bookshop in Australia. When Murshid Ali moved to southern Tasmania in 1990 the Centre and bookshop relocated too, initially opening at the Margate train and later in Hobart. In 2012 the bookshop relocated to Broken Hill, New South Wales, and has become the largest comparative spirituality bookshop in the southern hemisphere.
Australia’s first Sufi magazine, The Treasure, has been published under his guidance since 1998. Murshid Ali has delivered countless public talks across Australia to wide variety of audiences and has consistently provided teaching within the Sufi Centre in its various locations, with weekly meetings of the study group held on Friday afternoons as a means for members and visitors alike to gain further knowledge of the higher teachings of Tasawwuf. Some of the public talks are available on YouTube and many of the Friday sermons are available on Soundcloud. As part of the goals of the Centre are “to introduce Islam in its totality to the community”33 the Centre has hosted numerous researchers, school groups, and university groups over the years to open various aspects of the teaching to interested audiences.34
Murshid Ali has representatives across the globe, in countries such as Canada, Indonesia, and Mauritania, amongst others, following the pan-Islamic, transnational model that saw a great expansion of the Burhaniyya Sufi order under the guidance of Shaykh Muhammad Uthman ‘Abd al-Burhani,35 as well as representatives across most of the major cities in Australia, making the Burhaniyya-Dasuqqiyya-Shadhiliyya Sufi Order at once both a global and a very Australian Sufi Order.
Conclusion
Research into the history of Sufism in Australia is a fledgling discipline. While there is some truth to the view that developing “a traditional narrative history of Sufism in Australia [is] a somewhat challenging task,”36 it is not a completely frivolous or fruitless endeavour. More research is needed in this area, and this is becoming easier as researchers bring new documents to light and reassess previously held assumptions regarding the available documents.37 Research such as this combines a number of challenges, such as accessing the materials and understanding the multiple languages they are available in (including both written and oral histories). However, to date, perhaps the greatest challenge has been to see such source materials through an Islamic lens in an attempt to peel back colonial attitudes and misunderstandings and ascertain what possible traces remain of the history of Sufism in Australia. As this overview has intended to show, there are multiple entry points for those wanting to delve into this rich area of study that has both historical and contemporary areas waiting to be uncovered.
For more on this topic, listen to a podcast episode with Dr Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook and Dr Rami Dawood on Islam in Australia.
Podcast Ep: Islam in Australia: Makassan Traders, Afghan Cameleers & a Sufi Qadiri Connection
Footnotes
1 Regina Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories of Australia,” The La Trobe Journal 89 (2012): 55.
2 Anthony H. Johns and Abdullah Saeed, “Muslims in Australia: The Building of a Community” in Muslim Minorities in the West, eds. Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Jane I. Smith (Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2002):197.
3 Regina Ganter, “Muslim Australia: The Deep Histories of Contact,” Journal of Australian Studies 32 (2008): 482.
4 Denise Russell, “Aboriginal-Makassan Interactions in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries in Northern Australia and Contemporary Sea Rights Claims,” Australian Aboriginal Studies 1 (2004): 5.
5 Ganter, “Muslim Australia,” 482.
6 Mattulada, “South Sulawesi, Its Ethnicity and Way of Life,” Southeast Asian Studies 20 (1982): 11.
7 Zulkifli, “SUFISM IN JAVA: The Role of the Pesantren in the Maintenance of Sufism in Java,” (Masters diss., Australian national University, 1994): 10.
8 Ridhwan, “Development of Tasawuf in South Sulawesi,” Qudus International Journal of Islamic Studies 5(2017): 36-37.
9 Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories,” 58.
10 Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, “Tasawwuf ‘Usturaliya: Prolegomena to a History of Sufism in Australia,” Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 3(3) (2019): 64.
11 Hanifa Deen, “Excavating the Past: Australian Muslims,” The La Trobe Journal 89 (2012): 63 – 64.
12 Johns and Saeed, “Muslims in Australia,” 197.
13 Hanifa Deen, “Excavating the Past: Australian Muslims,” The La Trobe Journal 89 (2012): 64.
14 In Ian Murray, Phil Bianchi, Maria Bloomfield, and Peter Bridge, “The Afghan Problem” and their Camels (Carlisle: Hesperian Press, 2008), 107.
15 Christine Stevens, Tin Mosques & Ghantowns (Alice Springs: Paul Fitzsimons, 2002), 198.
16 Cook, “Tasawwuf ‘Usturaliya,” 72.
17 Stevens, Tin Mosques, 198.
18 Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook and Rami Dawood, “On the History of Sufism in Australia: A Manuscript from the Broken Hill Mosque,” Journal of Sufi Studies 11(1) (2022): 115 – 135.
19 “Miscellanea,” Launceston Advertiser, January 24, 1833, 445.
20 “’A Friend’ in Rome,” Freeman’s Journal, February 8, 1865, 81.
21 “The Babis in Russia,” Morning Bulletin, October 9, 1903, 3.
22“Music and the Stage,” Advertiser, August 7, 1915, 6.
23 “Representative of Sufi Order,” Camden News, October 26, 1933, 6.
24 “Sufism’s Leader,” Sun, June 10, 1934, 7.
25 “Sufis has no use for £100,000,” The Daily Telegraph, October 22, 1950, 10.
26 For a further deliberation of the tautological aspects of “Islamic Sufism” and the decontextualised nature of “Universal Sufism,” see Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah, Muslim Sufi Saint and Gift of Heaven
(Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017): 13–33.
27 “Publications Received,” Age, January 20, 1934, 4; “The World of Books,” The Mercury, April 20, 1934, 3.
28 “Background,” Sheikh Abdullah, http://sheikhabdullah.net/background/
29 John Lindsay, The School of Celestial Fire (Oldham: Beacon Books, 2021): 2.
30 Lindsay, Celestial Fire: 4.
31 Lindsay, Celestial Fire: 289; “Australia’s Mevlevis,” Mevlevi Australia,
http://www.mevleviaustralia.org/australias-mevlevis.html
32 “About Us,” Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre, http://www.almirajsuficentre.org.au/about_us.php
33 “The Purpose of the Centre,” Almiraj Sufi and Islamic Study Centre,
http://www.almirajsuficentre.org.au/purpose.php
34 An example of such work can be seen in Paul Bennett, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, and Najeebullah Soomro, “Reinvigorating the Role of Spirituality in Patient-Centered Care: Islam as a Doorway to increased
understanding of patient spirituality,” MedEdPublish 9: 273 (2020).
35 Jason Sparkes, “Doctrines and Practices of the Burhaniya Sufi Order in the Arab World and in the West Between 1938 and 2012: A Decolonial and Transdisciplinary Analysis from an Insider Perspective (Master’s Dissertation, University of Montreal, 2013).
36 Milad Milani and Adam Possamai, “Sufism, Spirituality and Consumerism: the case study of the Nimatullahiya and Naqshbandiya Sufi orders in Australia,” Contemporary Islam 10 (2016): 69.
37 An example of this is Samia Khtun’s Australianama: The South Asian Odyssey in Australia (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2018).
