Dr Dzavid Haveric of Charles Sturt University is the leading historian in the story of Muslim-Australian experiences. He has also published about an Islamic leader, sometime ago, in Queensland history, who was a philosopher.
His work covers those experiences of soldiers during World War I (and more) who were of the Islamic faith or identified with “Muslim culture”, of which, correctly, there was/is several different cultures. His recent published book is called, “A History of Muslims in the Australian Military from 1885 to 1945: Loyalty, Patriotism, Contribution,” and was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The book reveals many unknown historical facts about Muslim involvement in the colonial forces, Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Australian Navy, and Merchant Navy.
The significance of this work is that it draws upon the revelations of Muslims and their descendants willingly accepted the call, were treated equally, and they took their roles proudly – and they ‘did their bit’. In Haveric’s words, Muslim families gave husbands, fathers, brothers and sisters to the Australian military forces. Dr Haveric said it took four to five years to complete his nation-wide research. It takes time and it takes funding. Such research has unearthed important facts, archival data, interesting stories and precious testimonies contradicting many stereotypes, and thus I have a strong affinity with friend and colleague, Dr. Dzavid Haveric.
Religions for Peace Australia organisation stated,
“Muslim loyalty is a love for the country, Australia. By migrating, living, and working in Australia, Muslims progressively built their attachment to Australia. The Australian military was an opportunity to build positive life experiences and prosperity in Australia, despite encounters with bias, denials, and discrimination in public life due to the impact of the White Australia Policy associated with the Immigration Restriction Act and with their quest for their naturalisation.”
However, the Queensland story is told significantly in Haveric’s other work. Haveric (2023) is a story of a little-known Australian sheikh, Ishak Imamovic, who became a Queenslander, and a forgotten-but-pioneering book, the Outlines of Islamic Doctrine, which was published in Australia. Ishak Imamovic, who arrived in Melbourne on the ship SS Skaugum on 30 July 1949 with a proposed destination in the North Queensland cane fields to work as a cane cutter. He was a qadi (Sharia judge) of Bosnian Muslim ethnic origin (Bosniak). Ishak studied at the madrasa and completed his scriptural requirements in the interpretation of the Qur’ān (tafsir), oral tradition (hadigth), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), philosophy, poetry and rhetoric among other subjects. He was a talented intellectual and, soon after graduation, he went to higher education to study Sharia (Islamic law) in Sarajevo.
Ishak settled in Brisbane, and he searched for a mosque. Distinguished Indian Muslim Fazal Deen took Ishak to a mosque and first introduced him to Abdul Rane, later an imam at Holland Park Mosque (also called Mount Gravatt Mosque). Ishak as a first qadi, and although he was offered the position of imam at Holland Park Mosque by the Muslims in Brisbane, he declined, pointing out, he was the qadi not an imam. He lived in Rochedale, Queensland.
Haveric’s article recommends reading Ishak’s 1971 magnum opus, the Outlines of Islamic Doctrine, against scholarly ignorance and oblivion. It is an important read for Australian Islamic scholars, and those who wish to have a more accurate understanding of Australian-Muslim intellectual history and beliefs.
Dr Dzavid Haveric is Adjunct Research Fellow at Charles Sturt University, Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and a leading expert on the history of Islam and Muslims in Australia. His book, ‘History of Muslims in the Australian Military from 1885 to 1945’, was the project that received the backing of the Department of Defence and Charles Sturt University. Dr Haveric immigrated from war-torn Bosnia in the mid-1990s. His love for Australia and its people from all walks of life and religions is evident.
Haveric, Dzavid. 2023. “Ishak Imamovic, a Qadi and a Book Author in Australia: Outlines of Islamic Doctrine”. Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 8 (3):77-99. https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v8i3.565.
Featured Image: Dr. Dzavid Haveric with his walking friend, on a visit during April 2023.
Neville Buch
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