of British colonial settlements in the early decades
of the 19th century led to conflict with the Maori
natives, which was settled in 1840 with the sign-
ing of the Treaty of Waitangi that established the
island nation. Over the next century immigrants
from Great Britain came to be the single largest
element of New Zealand’s population and they
brought the different forms of Christianity then
dominant in their homeland with them.
A few Muslims arrived in New Zealand through
the first half of the 20th century, but most lived
there as alien residents rather than seeking citizen-
ship. They have since immigrated to the country
from across the Muslim world. By 1979, when
an initial national organization, the Federation
of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ)
was formed, there were only some 1,700 Muslims,
but the community experienced a relatively rapid
growth in the latter part of the 20th and early 21st
centuries. By 1986 there were more than 2,500 per-
manent residents with increasing numbers coming
from Fiji and South Asia. By the end of the century
the community had grown to more than 14,000,
and in the first decade of the 21st century the Mus-
lim population reached an estimated 20,000.
Interestingly, of the Muslim residents, less
than half were born in New Zealand, with about
one-third of the community arriving from Asia
and about one-fourth from various Pacific islands,
especially Fiji. Within the country, the largest con-
centration of Muslims is to be found in Auckland.
Because of the nature of the community, mosques
tend to be multiethnic.
FIANZ emerged out of earlier local associa-
tions, the first formed in Auckland in the 1950s.
It provides guidance on matters such as dating of
religious observances and providing religious edu-
cation to Muslim children, as well as speaking to
the wider public on national issues. FIANZ seeks
to build a positive image of Islam in New Zealand
and prints basic literature for those inquiring
about the faith.
See also aUstralia.
J. Gordon Melton
Further reading: Christopher van der Krogt, “Islam.”
In Religions of New Zealanders, edited by Peter Dono-
van, 186–205 (Palmerston North, N.Z.: Dunmore
Press, 1990); William Shepard, “Muslims in New
Zealand.” In Muslim Minorities in the West, Visible
and Invisible, edited by Yvonne Haddad and Jane I.
Smith, 233–254 (Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press,
2002).Night Journey and Ascent (Arabic:
al-isra wal-miraj)
The story of mUhammad’s night journey (isra) to
JerUsalem and eventual meeting with God above
the seventh heaven is told throughout the Mus-
lim world in many venues: Egyptian street-side
illustrated pamphlets, Friday sermons, Persian
illuminated manuscripts, Pakistani pilgrimage
busses, Swahili and Hausa poetry. It is based on
events narrated in the hadith collections and
Ibn Ishaq’s eighth-century biography (sira) of
Muhammad. Muslims attribute the night jour-
ney to the qUran (Q 17:1): “Glory to the one
who took his servant on a night journey from
the sacred place of prayer to the furthest place
of prayer upon which we have sent down our
blessing, that we might show him some of our
signs. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Traditionally an earlier episode in Muhammad’s
life, the opening of his breast by gabriel, who
cleans his heart of all impurity in preparation for
his role as messenger of God, is appended to the
night journey story. Muslims consider as further
proof texts of the story Quran Sura 94, which
depicts the opening of Muhammad’s breast, and
Q 53:1–18, which contains visions associated
with the heavenly ascent.
According to the most widely known version
of the story, after being woken from sleep in the
mosque at mecca, Muhammad rides to Jeru-
salem on the back of the mythical steed called
bUraq, a creature depicted as a horse with the
head of a woman. In Jerusalem he prays at the
furthest (aqsa) mosqUe, sometimes understoodK 528 Night Journey and Ascent