Faith and Loyalty A Short History of the Muslims of Colonial New Zealand
Main Article Content
Keywords
Colonial New Zealand, Muslim diaspora, South Asian migration
Abstract
The popular association of Muslim immigration to New Zealand with recent Asian and African arrivals obscures a longer trajectory of settlement dating to the mid-19th century. From the 1850s onward, Muslim individuals and families have migrated, lived, and worked across various regions of the country, contributing in diverse yet often unacknowledged ways to New Zealand’s historical tapestry. This paper examines the first century of Muslim presence, mapping key phases of migration and the gradual emergence of Islamic institutions. It also interrogates the archival silence surrounding these communities, arguing that their marginalisation in dominant historical narratives belies a rich and instructive legacy. The evidence recovered not only illuminates the lived experiences of early Muslim settlers but also offers insight into the broader dynamics of religious adaptation and social integration in colonial and postcolonial contexts.
References
Bishop, Martin. “A History of the Muslim Community in New Zealand to 1980.” MA
thesis, University of Waikato, 1997.
Buckingham, Louise. “Salaman, Abraham Walley Mahomed.” In The Dictionary of New
Zealand Biography, vol. 4, 1921–1940, 447–48. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books,
1998.
Budhia, Santo. “A History of the Indian Settlement in Christchurch.” Extended essay,
University of Canterbury, 1978–79.
Drury, Abdullah. A History of Christchurch Muslims: Integration and Harmony. London:
Routledge, 2024.
———. Demarcation: A Short Biography of Sheikh Khalid Kamal Abdul Hafiz (1938–1999).
Mubarakpur: Qazi Academy, 2024.
———. Islam in New Zealand: The First Mosque. Christchurch: Xpress, 2006.
———. “Mahometans on the Edge of Colonial Empire: Antipodean Experiences.” Islam
and Christian–Muslim Relations 29, no. 1 (2018): 71–87.
Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ). Annual Report 2012.
Wellington, 2012.
Greenaway, Richard. Rich Man, Poor Man, Environmentalist, Thief. Christchurch:
Christchurch City Libraries, 2000.
Holmes, David. “S M Din – 25 Years Storekeeper on the Chatham Islands.” Chatham
Islands News & Views, August 1987.
Johnson, Te Miria Kate Wills. The People of the Chathams: True Tales of the Islanders’
Early Days. GWJ Publications, 1994.
King, Michael. The Penguin History of New Zealand. Auckland: Penguin, 2003.
Kolig, Erich. New Zealand’s Muslims and Multiculturalism. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
———. “An Accord of Cautious Distance: Muslims in New Zealand, Ethnic Relations, and
Image Management.” New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 5, no. 2 (June 2003):
24–50.
———. “A Gordian Knot of Rights and Duties: New Zealand’s Muslims and Multiculturalism.”
New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 8, no. 2 (December 2006): 45–68.
———. “Deconstructing the Waitangi Treaty Narrative: Democracy, Cultural Pluralism,
and Political Myth Making in New Zealand.” Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology
and Cultural Studies n.s. 1, no. 2 (May 2004): 84–118.
———. “Interfacing with the West: Muslims, Multiculturalism and Radicalism in New
Zealand.” New Zealand Sociology 21, no. 2 (2006): 215–46.
Kolig, Erich, and Nahid Kabir. “Not Friend, Not Foe: The Rocky Road to Enfranchisement
into Multicultural Nationhood in Australia and New Zealand.” Immigrants and
Minorities 26, no. 3 (2008): 266–300.
Lay, Graeme. “Salaman’s Tomb.” In Epitaph II, 200–207. Auckland: Random House, 2001.
Leckie, Jacqueline Valerie. “They Sleep Standing Up: Gujeratis in New Zealand to 1945.”
PhD diss., University of Otago, 1981.
McLeod, William Hewatt. Punjabis in New Zealand. Amritsar: n.p., 1986.
Moon, Paul. Colonising New Zealand: A Reappraisal. New York: Routledge, 2022.
———. This Horrid Practice. Auckland: Penguin, 2008.
New Zealand Official Yearbook, 2010. Auckland: David Bateman, 2010.
O’Connor, Tom. Our Darkest Day: The Terrorist Attack on Two Mosques, Christchurch, New
Zealand, March 15, 2019. Timaru: Kirsten Wilson Publishing, 2021.
Ogilvie, Gordon. The Port Hills of Christchurch. Christchurch: Phillips & King Publishers,
2009.
Pratt, Douglas. Religion: A First Encounter. Auckland: Longman, 1993.
———. The Challenge of Islam: Encounters in Interfaith Dialogue. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005.
———. “Antipodean Angst: Encountering Islam in New Zealand.” Islam and Christian–
Muslim Relations 21, no. 4 (October 2010): 397–407.
Rizvanović, Šefik. Okus šandude. Stolac: Udruženje Bregava, 2017.
———. “Priča o dedi Mustafi.” Oslobođenje, June 18, 2016, 30–31.
Scott, Stuart C. The Travesty of Waitangi: Towards Anarchy. Dunedin: Campbell Press,
1995.
Shepard, William. “New Zealand’s Muslims and Their Organisations.” New Zealand
Journal of Asian Studies 8, no. 2 (December 2006): 8–44.
———. “The Islamic Contribution: Muslims in New Zealand.” In Religion in New Zealand
Society, 2nd ed., edited by Brian Colless and Peter Donovan. Palmerston North:
Dunmore Press, 1985.
———. “The Muslim Community in New Zealand.” In Indians in New Zealand, edited by
K. N. Tiwari. Wellington: Price-Milburn, 1980.
Statistics of New Zealand for 1861, Including the Results of a Census of the Colony, Taken
on the 16th of December in That Year. No. 13. Auckland, 1861.
Endnotes
1 Jennifer Khan-Janif and Mohamud Mohamed, “Islam in New Zealand,” in Tom
O’Connor, Our Darkest Day – the terrorist attack on two mosques, Christchurch, New
Zealand, March 15, 2019 (Timaru: Kirsten Wilson Publishing, 2021), 92–103.
2 For an excellent introduction to the establishment of modern New Zealand, see: Paul
Moon, This Horrid Practice (Auckland: Penguin, 2008); Stuart C. Scott, The Travesty
of Waitangi: Towards Anarchy (Dunedin: Campbell Press, 1995); Erich Kolig,
“Deconstructing the Waitangi Treaty Narrative: Democracy, Cultural Pluralism,
and Political Myth Making in New Zealand,” Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology
and Cultural Studies, n.s. 1, no. 2 (May 2004): 84–118.
3 Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand (Auckland: Penguin, 2003).
4 Paul Moon, Colonising New Zealand: A Reappraisal (New York: Routledge, 2022).
5 Jacqueline Valerie Leckie, “They Sleep Standing Up: Gujaratis in New Zealand to
1945,” Unpublished PhD Thesis (University of Otago, 1981), 102.
6 Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand Taken for the Night of the 1st
of March, 1874 (Wellington: Government Printer, 1875), 56–57; William Shepard,
“The Islamic Contribution: Muslims in New Zealand,” in Religion in New Zealand
Society, 2nd ed., ed. Brian Colless and Peter Donovan (Palmerston North: Dunmore
Press, 1985), 182.
7 Abdullah Drury, A History of Christchurch Muslims: Integration and Harmony,
(London: Routledge, 2024), 11-21.
8 “Supreme Court Lyttelton,” Lyttelton Times, 13 March 1858, 4.
9 “Indian Relief Fund,” Lyttelton Times, 8 May 1858, 5.
10 Statistics of New Zealand for 1861, Including the Results of a Census of the Colony
Taken on the 16th of December in That Year (Auckland: Government Printer, 1861),
no. 13.
11 “The Metropolitan Show,” Press, 11 November 1893, 9; “Advertisements,” Otago Daily
Times, 24 November 1893, 4.
12 “Supreme Court,” Lyttelton Times, 3 September 1859, 4; “Town and Country News,”
Lyttelton Times, 5 November 1862, 4; “Political Meeting,” Star, 21 October 1873, 2;
“Canterbury Recognizance of the Peace File – Wuzeera [Wuzeerah],” R7898978,
CAHX, Series 20324, CH251, Box 3 / Bundle J, Archives New Zealand; “This Day,”
Star, 24 June 1874, 2; Gordon Ogilvie, The Port Hills of Christchurch (Christchurch:
Phillips & King Publishers, 2009), 238; “Magisterial,” Star, 9 December 1886, 3;
“Magisterial,” Press, 11 December 1886, 1.
13 “Personal,” Star, 1 May 1902, 3; “Canterbury,” Otago Witness, 7 May 1902, 30;
“Accidents and Fatalities,” Wanganui Herald, 2 May 1902, 2; “A Venerable Indian,”
Auckland Star, 2 May 1902, 5; (untitled), Poverty Bay Herald, 6 May 1902, 4; “Our Letter Home,” New Zealand Herald, 16 May 1902, 1.
14 Press, 24 October 1927, 15.
15 Press, 26 September 1928, 17.
16 “Wazero Robert - Christchurch - Retired Farm Lab”, R20190161, CAHX, Series 2989, CH17, Box 387, Number CH1235/1941, Archives New Zealand.
17 “Statistical,” Otago Daily Times, 13 May 1877, 7.
18 “Transfer of interest in water race and claim - Mahomet Khan to Samuel Davidson – Kyeburn,” R24695973, DADO, 25368, D589, 111/232, No.4701.; “To Be Sold,” Mount Ida Chronicle, 16 April 1869, 2.; “West Coast Times,” West Coast Times, 26 November 1870, 2.
19 Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand taken for the Night of the 1st of March, 1874 (Wellington, 1875), 56-57.
20 Leckie, “They Sleep Standing Up.”
21 “Resident Magistrate’s Court,” Otago Daily Times, 24 June 1875, 3; see also “The Otago Daily Times,” Otago Daily Times, 24 June 1875, 2
22 “Poor Ali Baba,” Auckland Star, 12 April 1875, 2; see also “Police Court—This Day,” Auckland Star, 9 March 1875, 2; “Police Court,” New Zealand Herald, 10 March 1875, 3; “Police Court—This Day,” Auckland Star, 10 April 1875, 2; “Police Court,” Daily Southern Cross, 13 April 1875, 3.
23 “Police Court – This Day,” Auckland Star, 8 January 1876, 2; see also “Police Court—This Day,” Auckland Star, 10 January 1876, 2; “Untitled,” New Zealand Herald, 10 January 1876, 2.
24 “Untitled,” New Zealand Herald, 11 January 1876, 2.
25 “The Old Men’s Refuge,” Auckland Star, 23 November 1876,2.
26 “The Old Men’s Refuge,” Auckland Star, 23 November 1876, 2.
27 “Law and Police,” New Zealand Herald, 1 October 1887, 3.
28 “Housebreaking, Stealing from the Person and from Dwellings,” New Zealand Police Gazette, 16 January 1889, 9.
29 “Law and Police,” New Zealand Herald, 21 September 1889, 3.
30 “Fast Living,” New Zealand Herald, 16 January 1891, 6.; A charming article, Alli’s lawyer insists “the girls in the house of Mary Bowen did not have to arouse Greenway from a drunken stupor” at the time of the transactions. Henry Albert Holmes Hitchens, a “compounder of medicines,” deposed that he witnessed the hawker “distributing the goods ad libitum to the girls” and saying that Greenway would pay for them. Two testimonies in defence of the defendant assert Greenway was perpetually inebriated, on the verge of delirium tremens, and in no position to
avoid being plundered by the brothel staff. Overall, the text presents a pretty picture
of colonial Auckland that deserves more attention.
31 “Law and Police,” New Zealand Herald, 27 February 1891, 3.
32 “Local and General News,”, New Zealand Herald, 4 April 1894, 5; “The Tyranny of
Arithmetic,” Auckland Star, 4 April 1894, 4.
33 “Wanted An Interpreter,” Auckland Star, 13 April 1894, 3.
34 “Persian Lollie Dealers in Trouble,” New Zealand Herald, 18 April 1894, 5.
35 Historically, there is a small problem here inasmuch as some Muslims may well have
been descended from Persian immigrants and sometimes did indeed identify themselves
as “Persian” to distinguish themselves as Muslims from the Hindu masses
or followers of the Sikh faith. Their trade and family networks survived the shifts
in regime and reached across both the Indian subcontinent and the Indian Ocean.
This is a regional phenomenon however, preferred in some states of India and less
so in others. For instance, it is unlikely that a Muslim from the Punjab or Gujarat
territories would call himself a Persian in such circumstances but, conversely, it is
entirely conceivable that a relatively upper-class Indian of Persian heritage resident
of the lands we today call Uttar Pradesh in central India might prefer to identify
himself thus to the authorities in New Zealand in order to distinguish himself as a
monotheist and not part of the wider Indian-Hindu or Sikh population.
36 “Resident Magistrate’s Court,” Otago Daily Times, 4 November 1893, 3.
37 “Ice Cream Vendors,” Press, 29 January 1902, 4.
38 “The Ice-Cream Vendor,” Star, 7 April 1902, 3.
39 “Resident Magistrate’s Court,” Otago Daily Times, 4 November 1893, 3.
40 Abdullah Drury, A History of Christchurch Muslims: Integration and Harmony,
(London: n.p., 2024).
41 “Magistrate’s Court,” Cromwell Argus, 11 February 1918, 4.
42 “A Sudden Death,” Lake County Press, 22 August 1918, 5.
43 “W T Glasgow, Secretary and Inspector, Customs Department, Wellington - Sheik
Mahomet” R16232895, BBAO, Series 5544, A78, Box 215 / a, Number 1904 / 1242,
Archives New Zealand.
44 See: “Wedding,” Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 16 September 1904, 2;
“Marriage,” Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 20 September 1904, 2.
45 “Stipendiary Magistrate’s Court,” Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 3
March 1905, 2.
46 See: “Din, Mohamad v Din, Gertie Esther,” R20357627, CAHX, Series 3007, CH208,
Box 19, Number D353 / 1908, Archives New Zealand; and ‘Din, Mohamad v Din,
Gertie Esther’ R20357678, CAHX, Series 3007, CH208, Box 21, Number D405 / 1909,
Archives New Zealand.
47 “Ready to Sail,” Auckland Star, 1 October 1935, 9; “Din Trial,” Auckland Star, 24 October 1935, 8; Births, Deaths & Marriages, Central Registry, District of Chatham Islands, folio no. 1945/3711, ref. no. 5-0123752.
48 “Mixed Marriage Muddle,” New Zealand Tablet, 28 July 1923, 5.
49 “DIN Sheikh Mohammad,” R23140348, AAOM, Series 6030, Box 183, 17231, Archives New Zealand.
50 Te Miria Kate Wills Johnson, The People of the Chathams: True Tales of the Islanders Early Days (GWJ Publications, 1994).
51 David Holmes, “S M Din - 25 Years Storekeeper on the Chatham Islands,” Chatham Islands News & Views (August 1987).
52 Leckie, “They Sleep Standing Up,” 102.
53 Santo Budhia, “A History of the Indian Settlement in Christchurch” (extended essay, University of Canterbury, 1978–79), 20.
54 Passenger Lists, 1839–1973, entry for Sali Mohamed, 1896, Archives New Zealand, National Archives, 59.
55 “Casualties,” Press, 16 December 1905, 11; see also “Casualties,” Otago Daily Times, 18 December 1905, 5. Newspapers further south of Christchurch referred to him as “an Indian hawker.”.
56 “Marriages,” Star, 6 January 1906, 5.
57 Richard Greenaway, “Sali Mahomet,” in Rich Man, Poor Man, Environmentalist, Thief (Christchurch: Christchurch City Libraries, 2000), 41.
58 Greenaway, 43.
59 Greenaway, 43.
60 Passenger Lists, 1839–1973, entry for S. Hagjiahmetovic, 1904, Archives New Zealand, National Archives, Wellington, 19.
61 Austro-Hungarian Consul, Auckland, “That Hercegovinians of Mohamedan Religion Be Allowed to Appear in Court in Dress Prescribed by Their Religion,” 1 October 1907, R24623370, ACGS, Series 16211, J1, 768/ax, no. 1907/926, Archives New Zealand.
62 Archives New Zealand, ZAAP A473/66/268, nos. 234, 235, 236, 238, 239, 241, 242, and 357, 53, 54, 106.
63 Archives New Zealand, ZAAP A473/66/269, nos. 326, 327, 328, and 329, 10; ZAAP A473/66/269, nos. 176 and 177, 18.
64 Passenger Lists, 1839–1973, entries for O. Hudzametwovich and Z. Budalica, 1909, Archives New Zealand, National Archives, Wellington, 10, 70.
65 Šefik Rizvanović, “Priča o dedi Mustafi,” Oslobođenje, 18 June 2016, 30–31; Šefik Rizvanović, Okus šandude (Stolac: Udruženje Bregava, 2017).
thesis, University of Waikato, 1997.
Buckingham, Louise. “Salaman, Abraham Walley Mahomed.” In The Dictionary of New
Zealand Biography, vol. 4, 1921–1940, 447–48. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books,
1998.
Budhia, Santo. “A History of the Indian Settlement in Christchurch.” Extended essay,
University of Canterbury, 1978–79.
Drury, Abdullah. A History of Christchurch Muslims: Integration and Harmony. London:
Routledge, 2024.
———. Demarcation: A Short Biography of Sheikh Khalid Kamal Abdul Hafiz (1938–1999).
Mubarakpur: Qazi Academy, 2024.
———. Islam in New Zealand: The First Mosque. Christchurch: Xpress, 2006.
———. “Mahometans on the Edge of Colonial Empire: Antipodean Experiences.” Islam
and Christian–Muslim Relations 29, no. 1 (2018): 71–87.
Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ). Annual Report 2012.
Wellington, 2012.
Greenaway, Richard. Rich Man, Poor Man, Environmentalist, Thief. Christchurch:
Christchurch City Libraries, 2000.
Holmes, David. “S M Din – 25 Years Storekeeper on the Chatham Islands.” Chatham
Islands News & Views, August 1987.
Johnson, Te Miria Kate Wills. The People of the Chathams: True Tales of the Islanders’
Early Days. GWJ Publications, 1994.
King, Michael. The Penguin History of New Zealand. Auckland: Penguin, 2003.
Kolig, Erich. New Zealand’s Muslims and Multiculturalism. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
———. “An Accord of Cautious Distance: Muslims in New Zealand, Ethnic Relations, and
Image Management.” New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 5, no. 2 (June 2003):
24–50.
———. “A Gordian Knot of Rights and Duties: New Zealand’s Muslims and Multiculturalism.”
New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 8, no. 2 (December 2006): 45–68.
———. “Deconstructing the Waitangi Treaty Narrative: Democracy, Cultural Pluralism,
and Political Myth Making in New Zealand.” Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology
and Cultural Studies n.s. 1, no. 2 (May 2004): 84–118.
———. “Interfacing with the West: Muslims, Multiculturalism and Radicalism in New
Zealand.” New Zealand Sociology 21, no. 2 (2006): 215–46.
Kolig, Erich, and Nahid Kabir. “Not Friend, Not Foe: The Rocky Road to Enfranchisement
into Multicultural Nationhood in Australia and New Zealand.” Immigrants and
Minorities 26, no. 3 (2008): 266–300.
Lay, Graeme. “Salaman’s Tomb.” In Epitaph II, 200–207. Auckland: Random House, 2001.
Leckie, Jacqueline Valerie. “They Sleep Standing Up: Gujeratis in New Zealand to 1945.”
PhD diss., University of Otago, 1981.
McLeod, William Hewatt. Punjabis in New Zealand. Amritsar: n.p., 1986.
Moon, Paul. Colonising New Zealand: A Reappraisal. New York: Routledge, 2022.
———. This Horrid Practice. Auckland: Penguin, 2008.
New Zealand Official Yearbook, 2010. Auckland: David Bateman, 2010.
O’Connor, Tom. Our Darkest Day: The Terrorist Attack on Two Mosques, Christchurch, New
Zealand, March 15, 2019. Timaru: Kirsten Wilson Publishing, 2021.
Ogilvie, Gordon. The Port Hills of Christchurch. Christchurch: Phillips & King Publishers,
2009.
Pratt, Douglas. Religion: A First Encounter. Auckland: Longman, 1993.
———. The Challenge of Islam: Encounters in Interfaith Dialogue. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005.
———. “Antipodean Angst: Encountering Islam in New Zealand.” Islam and Christian–
Muslim Relations 21, no. 4 (October 2010): 397–407.
Rizvanović, Šefik. Okus šandude. Stolac: Udruženje Bregava, 2017.
———. “Priča o dedi Mustafi.” Oslobođenje, June 18, 2016, 30–31.
Scott, Stuart C. The Travesty of Waitangi: Towards Anarchy. Dunedin: Campbell Press,
1995.
Shepard, William. “New Zealand’s Muslims and Their Organisations.” New Zealand
Journal of Asian Studies 8, no. 2 (December 2006): 8–44.
———. “The Islamic Contribution: Muslims in New Zealand.” In Religion in New Zealand
Society, 2nd ed., edited by Brian Colless and Peter Donovan. Palmerston North:
Dunmore Press, 1985.
———. “The Muslim Community in New Zealand.” In Indians in New Zealand, edited by
K. N. Tiwari. Wellington: Price-Milburn, 1980.
Statistics of New Zealand for 1861, Including the Results of a Census of the Colony, Taken
on the 16th of December in That Year. No. 13. Auckland, 1861.
Endnotes
1 Jennifer Khan-Janif and Mohamud Mohamed, “Islam in New Zealand,” in Tom
O’Connor, Our Darkest Day – the terrorist attack on two mosques, Christchurch, New
Zealand, March 15, 2019 (Timaru: Kirsten Wilson Publishing, 2021), 92–103.
2 For an excellent introduction to the establishment of modern New Zealand, see: Paul
Moon, This Horrid Practice (Auckland: Penguin, 2008); Stuart C. Scott, The Travesty
of Waitangi: Towards Anarchy (Dunedin: Campbell Press, 1995); Erich Kolig,
“Deconstructing the Waitangi Treaty Narrative: Democracy, Cultural Pluralism,
and Political Myth Making in New Zealand,” Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology
and Cultural Studies, n.s. 1, no. 2 (May 2004): 84–118.
3 Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand (Auckland: Penguin, 2003).
4 Paul Moon, Colonising New Zealand: A Reappraisal (New York: Routledge, 2022).
5 Jacqueline Valerie Leckie, “They Sleep Standing Up: Gujaratis in New Zealand to
1945,” Unpublished PhD Thesis (University of Otago, 1981), 102.
6 Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand Taken for the Night of the 1st
of March, 1874 (Wellington: Government Printer, 1875), 56–57; William Shepard,
“The Islamic Contribution: Muslims in New Zealand,” in Religion in New Zealand
Society, 2nd ed., ed. Brian Colless and Peter Donovan (Palmerston North: Dunmore
Press, 1985), 182.
7 Abdullah Drury, A History of Christchurch Muslims: Integration and Harmony,
(London: Routledge, 2024), 11-21.
8 “Supreme Court Lyttelton,” Lyttelton Times, 13 March 1858, 4.
9 “Indian Relief Fund,” Lyttelton Times, 8 May 1858, 5.
10 Statistics of New Zealand for 1861, Including the Results of a Census of the Colony
Taken on the 16th of December in That Year (Auckland: Government Printer, 1861),
no. 13.
11 “The Metropolitan Show,” Press, 11 November 1893, 9; “Advertisements,” Otago Daily
Times, 24 November 1893, 4.
12 “Supreme Court,” Lyttelton Times, 3 September 1859, 4; “Town and Country News,”
Lyttelton Times, 5 November 1862, 4; “Political Meeting,” Star, 21 October 1873, 2;
“Canterbury Recognizance of the Peace File – Wuzeera [Wuzeerah],” R7898978,
CAHX, Series 20324, CH251, Box 3 / Bundle J, Archives New Zealand; “This Day,”
Star, 24 June 1874, 2; Gordon Ogilvie, The Port Hills of Christchurch (Christchurch:
Phillips & King Publishers, 2009), 238; “Magisterial,” Star, 9 December 1886, 3;
“Magisterial,” Press, 11 December 1886, 1.
13 “Personal,” Star, 1 May 1902, 3; “Canterbury,” Otago Witness, 7 May 1902, 30;
“Accidents and Fatalities,” Wanganui Herald, 2 May 1902, 2; “A Venerable Indian,”
Auckland Star, 2 May 1902, 5; (untitled), Poverty Bay Herald, 6 May 1902, 4; “Our Letter Home,” New Zealand Herald, 16 May 1902, 1.
14 Press, 24 October 1927, 15.
15 Press, 26 September 1928, 17.
16 “Wazero Robert - Christchurch - Retired Farm Lab”, R20190161, CAHX, Series 2989, CH17, Box 387, Number CH1235/1941, Archives New Zealand.
17 “Statistical,” Otago Daily Times, 13 May 1877, 7.
18 “Transfer of interest in water race and claim - Mahomet Khan to Samuel Davidson – Kyeburn,” R24695973, DADO, 25368, D589, 111/232, No.4701.; “To Be Sold,” Mount Ida Chronicle, 16 April 1869, 2.; “West Coast Times,” West Coast Times, 26 November 1870, 2.
19 Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand taken for the Night of the 1st of March, 1874 (Wellington, 1875), 56-57.
20 Leckie, “They Sleep Standing Up.”
21 “Resident Magistrate’s Court,” Otago Daily Times, 24 June 1875, 3; see also “The Otago Daily Times,” Otago Daily Times, 24 June 1875, 2
22 “Poor Ali Baba,” Auckland Star, 12 April 1875, 2; see also “Police Court—This Day,” Auckland Star, 9 March 1875, 2; “Police Court,” New Zealand Herald, 10 March 1875, 3; “Police Court—This Day,” Auckland Star, 10 April 1875, 2; “Police Court,” Daily Southern Cross, 13 April 1875, 3.
23 “Police Court – This Day,” Auckland Star, 8 January 1876, 2; see also “Police Court—This Day,” Auckland Star, 10 January 1876, 2; “Untitled,” New Zealand Herald, 10 January 1876, 2.
24 “Untitled,” New Zealand Herald, 11 January 1876, 2.
25 “The Old Men’s Refuge,” Auckland Star, 23 November 1876,2.
26 “The Old Men’s Refuge,” Auckland Star, 23 November 1876, 2.
27 “Law and Police,” New Zealand Herald, 1 October 1887, 3.
28 “Housebreaking, Stealing from the Person and from Dwellings,” New Zealand Police Gazette, 16 January 1889, 9.
29 “Law and Police,” New Zealand Herald, 21 September 1889, 3.
30 “Fast Living,” New Zealand Herald, 16 January 1891, 6.; A charming article, Alli’s lawyer insists “the girls in the house of Mary Bowen did not have to arouse Greenway from a drunken stupor” at the time of the transactions. Henry Albert Holmes Hitchens, a “compounder of medicines,” deposed that he witnessed the hawker “distributing the goods ad libitum to the girls” and saying that Greenway would pay for them. Two testimonies in defence of the defendant assert Greenway was perpetually inebriated, on the verge of delirium tremens, and in no position to
avoid being plundered by the brothel staff. Overall, the text presents a pretty picture
of colonial Auckland that deserves more attention.
31 “Law and Police,” New Zealand Herald, 27 February 1891, 3.
32 “Local and General News,”, New Zealand Herald, 4 April 1894, 5; “The Tyranny of
Arithmetic,” Auckland Star, 4 April 1894, 4.
33 “Wanted An Interpreter,” Auckland Star, 13 April 1894, 3.
34 “Persian Lollie Dealers in Trouble,” New Zealand Herald, 18 April 1894, 5.
35 Historically, there is a small problem here inasmuch as some Muslims may well have
been descended from Persian immigrants and sometimes did indeed identify themselves
as “Persian” to distinguish themselves as Muslims from the Hindu masses
or followers of the Sikh faith. Their trade and family networks survived the shifts
in regime and reached across both the Indian subcontinent and the Indian Ocean.
This is a regional phenomenon however, preferred in some states of India and less
so in others. For instance, it is unlikely that a Muslim from the Punjab or Gujarat
territories would call himself a Persian in such circumstances but, conversely, it is
entirely conceivable that a relatively upper-class Indian of Persian heritage resident
of the lands we today call Uttar Pradesh in central India might prefer to identify
himself thus to the authorities in New Zealand in order to distinguish himself as a
monotheist and not part of the wider Indian-Hindu or Sikh population.
36 “Resident Magistrate’s Court,” Otago Daily Times, 4 November 1893, 3.
37 “Ice Cream Vendors,” Press, 29 January 1902, 4.
38 “The Ice-Cream Vendor,” Star, 7 April 1902, 3.
39 “Resident Magistrate’s Court,” Otago Daily Times, 4 November 1893, 3.
40 Abdullah Drury, A History of Christchurch Muslims: Integration and Harmony,
(London: n.p., 2024).
41 “Magistrate’s Court,” Cromwell Argus, 11 February 1918, 4.
42 “A Sudden Death,” Lake County Press, 22 August 1918, 5.
43 “W T Glasgow, Secretary and Inspector, Customs Department, Wellington - Sheik
Mahomet” R16232895, BBAO, Series 5544, A78, Box 215 / a, Number 1904 / 1242,
Archives New Zealand.
44 See: “Wedding,” Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 16 September 1904, 2;
“Marriage,” Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 20 September 1904, 2.
45 “Stipendiary Magistrate’s Court,” Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, 3
March 1905, 2.
46 See: “Din, Mohamad v Din, Gertie Esther,” R20357627, CAHX, Series 3007, CH208,
Box 19, Number D353 / 1908, Archives New Zealand; and ‘Din, Mohamad v Din,
Gertie Esther’ R20357678, CAHX, Series 3007, CH208, Box 21, Number D405 / 1909,
Archives New Zealand.
47 “Ready to Sail,” Auckland Star, 1 October 1935, 9; “Din Trial,” Auckland Star, 24 October 1935, 8; Births, Deaths & Marriages, Central Registry, District of Chatham Islands, folio no. 1945/3711, ref. no. 5-0123752.
48 “Mixed Marriage Muddle,” New Zealand Tablet, 28 July 1923, 5.
49 “DIN Sheikh Mohammad,” R23140348, AAOM, Series 6030, Box 183, 17231, Archives New Zealand.
50 Te Miria Kate Wills Johnson, The People of the Chathams: True Tales of the Islanders Early Days (GWJ Publications, 1994).
51 David Holmes, “S M Din - 25 Years Storekeeper on the Chatham Islands,” Chatham Islands News & Views (August 1987).
52 Leckie, “They Sleep Standing Up,” 102.
53 Santo Budhia, “A History of the Indian Settlement in Christchurch” (extended essay, University of Canterbury, 1978–79), 20.
54 Passenger Lists, 1839–1973, entry for Sali Mohamed, 1896, Archives New Zealand, National Archives, 59.
55 “Casualties,” Press, 16 December 1905, 11; see also “Casualties,” Otago Daily Times, 18 December 1905, 5. Newspapers further south of Christchurch referred to him as “an Indian hawker.”.
56 “Marriages,” Star, 6 January 1906, 5.
57 Richard Greenaway, “Sali Mahomet,” in Rich Man, Poor Man, Environmentalist, Thief (Christchurch: Christchurch City Libraries, 2000), 41.
58 Greenaway, 43.
59 Greenaway, 43.
60 Passenger Lists, 1839–1973, entry for S. Hagjiahmetovic, 1904, Archives New Zealand, National Archives, Wellington, 19.
61 Austro-Hungarian Consul, Auckland, “That Hercegovinians of Mohamedan Religion Be Allowed to Appear in Court in Dress Prescribed by Their Religion,” 1 October 1907, R24623370, ACGS, Series 16211, J1, 768/ax, no. 1907/926, Archives New Zealand.
62 Archives New Zealand, ZAAP A473/66/268, nos. 234, 235, 236, 238, 239, 241, 242, and 357, 53, 54, 106.
63 Archives New Zealand, ZAAP A473/66/269, nos. 326, 327, 328, and 329, 10; ZAAP A473/66/269, nos. 176 and 177, 18.
64 Passenger Lists, 1839–1973, entries for O. Hudzametwovich and Z. Budalica, 1909, Archives New Zealand, National Archives, Wellington, 10, 70.
65 Šefik Rizvanović, “Priča o dedi Mustafi,” Oslobođenje, 18 June 2016, 30–31; Šefik Rizvanović, Okus šandude (Stolac: Udruženje Bregava, 2017).
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Mar 27, 2026
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Drury, A. (2026). Faith and Loyalty: A Short History of the Muslims of Colonial New Zealand. American Journal of Islam and Society, 43(1-2), 41–65. https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v43i1-2.3888
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