Like the U.S., there is some anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia. The same caricatures of Muslim people exist here as much as in the U.S.
But in Marree in South Australia, a former railroad town at the southern end of the Oodnadatta Track, there exists something that highlights the tolerance of earlier years: the first known presence of a Muslim mosque. It was 1862. One often forgets that it was the white outback entrepreneurs and explorers that brought in the Muslim people in the first place– because they needed them.
Marree today is dependent on tourist revenue. The town center– all two blocks of it– showcases the railroad that used to pass through it. And there, among the dilapidated trains, is the remnant of the Muslim mosque, highlighted with prominence as a “tourist attraction.” It is a reminder of different times. Most see the thatched hut as an ancient curiosity; I see it as a place where Muslim people had strength.
The Afghan cameleers, as these men were called, were brought from the Middle East to handle the camels, animals that were also imported from the same area. The Outback traders and explorers learned that their horses were unable to go into the far reaches of the unknown desert because of that animal’s need for water. Thus camels were brought in– along with people who knew how to handle the camels. Thus the Afghan cameleers.
The Marree mosque is the first known instance of a mosque in Australia. As far as we know, there was no uproar when the Marree mosque appeared. By all indications, the Afghan men (they were from various Middle East locations, but were collectively known then as Afghans in Australia) were sorely needed, and so accommodations were made for these people. Some even had their families with them. In Marree, there was a whole section of town where the Afghans lived, separate from the white residents. Each kept their own lifestyle, but interacted with one another. The mood, as far as I can tell, was one of tolerance and acceptance. When circumstances make you dependent on each other, there tends to be tolerance.
In Marree, as in Oodnadatta, the Afghans have their own section in the Marree cemetery, where the cameleers and descendants are buried according to tradition– with their bodies pointed toward Mecca.
Tourists see “Afghans” as a neutral part of Australian outback history. But it is a reminder that Muslim people are dedicated people, and in fact, contributed to the inward expansion of the Australian continent. In fact, the inward reach could not have happened without them.