Ahmadiyya in Australia

Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement in Australia, first formally founded in the country in the 1980s, during the era of the fourth caliph. However, the history of the Community dates back to the early 20th century, during the lifetime of the founder of the movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, with the first contacts arising as a consequence of Australians travelling to British India, and also as a consequence of early, "Afghan" camel drivers settling in Australia during the mid to late 19th century. Today there are at least four mosques, in four of the six Australian states, representing an estimated 3,000 Australian Ahmadi Muslims in the country.

The earliest history of Ahmadi Muslims in Australia dates back to the early 20th century, with the first contacts arising as a consequence of Australians travelling to British India, and also as a consequence of early, primarily Muslim, "Afghan" camel drivers settling in Australia during the mid to late 19th century.

Between the 1860s and the 1890s, a number of Central and South Asians came to Australia to work as camel drivers. Camels were first imported into Australia in 1840, initially for exploring the arid interior, and later for the camel trains that were uniquely suited to the demands of Australia's vast deserts. Among the cameleers was Hassan Musa Khan, a Tareen Pashtun businessman, from Sindh, British India, who arrived in Australia in 1894. After his arrival in Perth, he quickly rose to prominence, and became a spokesperson for Afghans settled in Western Australia, and at times for all Afghans in Australia. Khan was closely connected to prominent, and well educated Muslims overseas. In a meeting held in England, in 1895, by Abdullah Quilliam's Liverpool Muslim Institute, Khan was elected as one of several overseas honorary vice presidents of the institute, with Khan representing Afghan's of Australia. He constituted one of the two key figures in the international network launched but the Institute, the other being Joosub Moulvi Hamid Gool, from the South African Republic. Nevertheless, it was not until 1903 that Khan became acquainted with the claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad through two his brothers in India, who had by then become companions of Ahmad themselves. In September, whilst still in Australia, Khan finally wrote to Ahmad requesting him accept his desire to embrace Ahmadiyya.

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