This article originally appeared in Comparative Islamic Studies, Vol. 12 (2016). A PDF of the article can be found here.
Within the increasing literature on Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ engagement with Islam there has been significant analysis of the historical, sociological, and anthropological aspects of these engagements. Without dismissing the strengths of the available material, it is suggested that it overlooks an important aspect informing Indigenous peoples’ engagement with Islam, namely philosophical and spiritual convergence. In order to make a case for philosophical and spiritual convergence, this paper will survey some of the dominant themes in Indigenous engagement with Islam and highlight how these suggested convergences are, at best, implicit, or, at worst, absent or overlooked. It is important to hold in mind throughout this paper that there is no suggestion to dismiss current findings. Concerns have been raised that “Aboriginal inmates had renounced their Aboriginality for Islam,” though it is important to recognise that faith “is only one identity among several that a person may claim.”[1] Similarly, while it is important to recognise philosophical and spiritual reasons for Indigenous engagement with Islam, it cannot be considered at the expense of historical, sociological, and anthropological aspects of these engagements and they are not mutually exclusive. This paper will make a case for philosophical and spiritual convergences by showing that some of the identity adaptations evident in the existing literature would not be possible if there was a significant rift between an individual’s or peoples’ Aboriginality and Islamic identity. Following from this, some possible philosophical and spiritual convergences will be tentatively identified to further substantiate the existence of philosophical and spiritual convergence. Finally, the paper will conclude with some of the possible challenges of examining philosophical and spiritual convergences between the belief structures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Islam. Stephenson notes “recent evidence suggests that a growing proportion of Aboriginal people are turning to Islam”[2] and this paper suggests that understanding philosophical and spiritual convergences between Indigenous belief structures and Islam can shed light on both the historical engagements as well as deeper understandings of contemporary trends.
Before a case can be made for philosophical and spiritual convergences, it is necessary to understand what they are and how these differ from other types of convergence. Convergence can be understood as a) two or more things moving closer together or inclining towards each other and b) two or more things having a similarity of form or structure without a shared heredity or evidence of historical contact. While it could be possible to develop a greater degree of differentiation between these two senses of convergence, it can be seen to have a functional benefit. Without making too general a claim, many Indigenous cultures with in Australia are additive with regard to external influences. Evidence of this is in claims such as “while the Missionaries were thinking they had incorporated the Aborigines into their church, the Aborigines had incorporated the church into their world”[3] and that the Yolngu “have successfully incorporated Christianity into their cosmology.”[4] Stephenson’s view is that “their culture was not destroyed,” preferring to see this as “its infrastructure was extended.”[5] These can be seen as examples of syncretism, with the inclusion of different or even opposing principles and practices, reflecting the first sense of convergence. Stephenson describes what is here called this type of convergence as involving “an active, syncretic and open-ended process of identity formation” which is “inextricably linked to renegotiating differing and sometimes irreconcilable religious and cultural affiliations.”[6] Along with this additive approach to external influences, there are examples of this inclusive approach being a result of acknowledged commonalities arising in distinct contexts, reflecting the second sense of convergence. It is suggested through this paper that both senses of convergence are active. In distinguishing philosophical and spiritual convergences from historical, sociological, and anthropological convergences it is suggested that the former relate to belief structures and the motivations for action which they provide, whereas, at least as has been documented with regard to convergence of Indigenous beliefs with Islam, the latter primarily document the actions brought forth from such motivations.
Historical Engagements
It has been well documented that there have been significant historical engagements between Australia’s Indigenous peoples and Islam dating back several hundred years. Ganter notices “when we think today of Indigenous cultural heartlands our thoughts are drawn to the Red Centre, to Arnhem Land, the Kimberley, and the Torres Strait” which “are precisely the areas where Indigenous contact with Muslims was at its most intensive.”[7] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner add that this historical evidence “demonstrates a well-established connection between Islam and Aboriginal communities.”[8] The most prominent historical contact occurred in waves and these were primarily the Makassans, the Afghan cameleers, and the Malay pearl divers. Yet, despite these significant historical engagements, Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner assert “Aboriginal Muslims in Australia today do not draw upon a long historical exposure to Islamic life, practices and identity.”[9] While the full extent of these engagements can only be glimpsed by the available evidence, the evidence that is available is substantial enough to suggest that the “historical exposure to Islamic life, practices and identity” of Aboriginal peoples, while not uniform and encompassing, was recurrent and frequent enough for inclusion into some Indigenous belief structures. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the Aboriginal peoples’ historical exposure to Islamic belief structures is often more than many non-Aboriginal communities within Australia that has members embracing Islam.
The results of the historical contacts between Australia’s Indigenous peoples and Islam have had a diverse impact on Aboriginal cultures. For example, Ganter identifies that the Makassans “left profound imprints on the cultures and languages of the far north shores” with the “impact of this contact as a result of which Aborigines creatively adapted aspects of Islam.”[10] Yet, it should not be thought that this cross-cultural engagement was one sided, as Russell points out, “some Makassans interacted culturally with the Aboriginal residents in feasts, ceremonies and liaisons, and a mixed language evolved in some places,”[11] indicating that cultural trade went both ways. That mutual participation occurred indicates further study is warranted to examine if there is a degree of philosophical and spiritual convergence allowing for such participation without a sense of contravening their traditions. Yet, as will be seen through this paper, existing literature tends to overlook this in preference for highlighting primarily material aspects of these cross-cultural engagements. This is evident in statements such as Lawson’s assertion that “the alliances [between the Afghans and Indigenous peoples]
have been pragmatic and cooperative.”[12] Without precluding the evidence of material trade, the focus on pragmatic engagements overlooks the possibility of deeper cross-cultural exchanges.
In the documented historical engagements it is possible to see evidence of philosophical and spiritual convergence. In northeast Arnhem Land, McIntosh observed that “the religion of the visitors, that of Islam, became the vehicle for an Aboriginal Dreaming in which there are visions of a return to inter-racial harmony.” [13] This raises two interrelated points which highlight the dual sense of convergence used here. It posits evidence of Indigenous spirituality incorporating Islam into itself. This, in turn, posits evidence of possible spiritual convergence. Without a degree of philosophical and spiritual convergence it would be unthinkable that Indigenous spiritual practices would incorporate any aspects of Islam. To write off such occurrences as a historical artefact of cross-cultural contact, and in doing so precluding the possibility of philosophical and spiritual convergence, is, at best, short sighted. Further study would be required to establish the extent of this convergence and whether it is as result of syncretic additions or recognition of mutually existent belief structures.
Mutual Displacement
As reliance on the Afghan cameleers lessened, those Muslims that remained within Australia were pushed to the side, living on the fringes of society. Contained amongst themselves, these groups often found themselves in close contact with Indigenous peoples as the cameleers built “common places of worship, namely Muslim mosques … [which] in a predominantly white colonial context, these mosques could only be erected on the fringes of society already occupied by Aboriginal people,”[14] “Both groups had been pushed to the geographical and social fringes of society”[15] and this forced contact has been cited as one of the causes for Indigenous peoples historically embracing Islam. Given the history of mutual displacement, Lawson suggests “Indigenous people and Muslims find collective solidarity because of enduring and collective histories of discrimination.”[16] While “both Indigenous Australian and Muslims in Australia have legitimate claims against the state and Australian society for the removal of discrimination and inequality and improved socioeconomic conditions,”[17] mutual displacement does not ensure or guarantee transference of philosophical or spiritual traditions. That there is evidence of the transference of the Islamic tradition to the Indigenous peoples in these circumstances suggests something more than contact took place. Living in close proximity, it is highly likely that shared practices were observed and that cultural convergence occurred as a result. Yet, this makes it more likely that more than external practices were shared. While it would be premature to state that philosophical and spiritual convergence took place, there is sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation.
One possibility is that mutual displacement engendered recognition by Aboriginal people of the maintenance of Islamic beliefs despite the systematic destruction of their own traditional belief structures. Despite being kept to the fringes of society, it is possible that Indigenous people acknowledged that Islamic practice did not yield to the Christian displacers. As “traditional knowledge and spirituality were destroyed for some as a consequence of the evangelizing activates of Christian missionaries,” Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner assert that the “response by some is to seek the restoration of the spirituality through a source which is assumed to be in opposition to Christianity.”[18] Without denying this possibility, it is necessary to see that restoration of traditional knowledge and spirituality cannot come about through an equal opposition to the movement which caused the initial displacement. The vehicle of restoration, if it is to be meaningful and lasting, requires a degree of philosophical and spiritual congruence to that which is displaced and lost, such that “an alliance with Islam might constitute an attempt to fill a void that this spiritual loss has created and that no other Christian sub-groups might be able to sufficiently address.”[19] This view would be stronger if there were no prior examples of Indigenous peoples engaging with and accepting Islam. However, as Ganter highlights, the Yolngu were “a society that was in a process of conversation with Islam,” prior to Christian missionaries, and there is evidence that they “opened themselves up to the spiritual enrichment and the material advantages to be gained from entering into a conversation.”[20] This shows that prior to more recent mutual displacement theories of conversion, there were domains of engagement. This, in turn, opens up the likelihood of there being philosophical and spiritual convergences between Indigenous belief structures and Islam, weakening the idea that mutual displacement is alone sufficient for conversion behaviour.
Resistance Strategies
Alongside the mutual displacement theory of Aboriginal conversion to Islam is what can be called resistance conversion. The displacement of Indigenous peoples from their land and culture coincided with an attempted Christianisation of these peoples. As has been noted by Stephenson, “in Indigenous Australia any decision to embrace Islam is also inextricably bound up with colonisation and Christianisation.”[21] To this Paget adds that many “Aboriginal converts often express the view that Islam is not tainted with racism or colonialism, as is Christianity.”[22] It has been repeatedly stated that resistance to Christianity is a contributing factor in Aboriginal people embracing Islam. Some, such as Stephenson, suggest “they are perhaps also positively disposed towards Islam because, in the Australian context at least, it represents an alternative faith and ideology to the religious beliefs of their subjugators.”[23] Others, including Ganter, go further to suggest that it involves an active resistance “for Indigenous people becoming Muslim can be an expression of protest against their histories of institutionalisation on Christian missions, removal from their families, and separation of families.”[24] There may be aspects of Islam that made it possible to reconcile mutual displacement and resist an attempted Christianisation. In order to better understand a) how this is possible within the framework of Islam and b) why Indigenous peoples would take on the belief system of another group that is displaced, marginalised, and under pressure to assimilate into Christianity, it will be necessary to delve deeper than current analysis does into the belief structures of Islam. This would involve examining the cross-cultural philosophical and spiritual convergences that are here being suggested to be a necessary, but missing, aspect of current studies.
Aside from the imposition of Christianity, there is another aspect of displacement from land and culture that Indigenous peoples are seeking to resist, the homogenization of diverse and distinct tribes. Islam, and the Qur’anic acknowledgement of the diversification of peoples, is, according to Stephenson, “one reason Indigenous Muslims are attracted to Islam [is] that it does not preach the kind of monoculturalism the missionaries imposed on Aboriginal people”[25] and that Islam “eschews the kind of monoculturalism the missionaries imposed on Aboriginal people.”[26] Rather than homogenising the other, the Qur’anic allusion to diversified peoples, in the statement “We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another” (Qur’an 49: 13), reinforces the view of diverse and distinct tribes as can be found amongst Australia’s Indigenous peoples. The belief structures of Islam can be understood as explicitly acknowledging a plurality of peoples and cultures. Following on from the acknowledgement of plurality, it is plausible for Indigenous Muslims to see within Islam an absence of the monoculturalism imposed by Christianity. An acknowledgment of plurality, and an absence of imposed monoculturalism, allows Indigenous Muslims to maintain Indigenous belief structures and cultural practices in as far as these are not antithetical to Islam’s soteriological aim. The degree to which Indigenous belief structures and cultural practices are not antithetical to Islam requires a study of philosophical and spiritual convergence, as suggested here.
While the displacement from culture and land, along with the Christianisation of Indigenous peoples, are predominantly historical occurrences, there are some that identify equivalent forms of control of Aboriginal peoples within contemporary society. Resistance to these contemporary forms of control have also been suggested as motivating factors for Indigenous people embracing Islam. Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner suggest “it may well be the case that Aboriginal people turning to Islam are experiencing feelings of failure over the liberal discourses of recent decades, and as a result aligning themselves with another movement that has publically expressed anger against the failure of secular liberalism.”[27] Lawson’s view is that “the provisional hypothesis is that Indigenous Australians do convert to Islam as a means to assert resistance strategies against the historical effects of colonialism, Christian dominance, and the exercise of contemporary political forms of control.”[28] While these “feelings of failure” may find resolution in Islam, alignment of Aboriginal political activism with some aspects of Islam does not necessitate conversion. This is not to down play the role that Aboriginal political activism has played, and continues to play, in conversion behaviour.
That conversion occurs is likely to mean that there is more than just a response to “feelings of failure” that Islam offers. Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner view that “the Aboriginal Muslim needs to be understood both in terms of the historical context of colonial Australia and the Aboriginal experience of social and political marginalization,”[29] which acknowledges a plurality of causes for Indigenous conversion. While acknowledging the variegated points of contact between Aboriginal peoples and Muslims since the time that Australia was a colony, this focuses on reversion from a strictly sociological perspective. This is noted in Stephenson’s statement that “the common desire of Indigenous and Muslim migrant communities to avoid the control of white police and other officials resulted in a cultural convergence that was based on shared strategies of resistance.” [30] Without denying that such factors had, and have, an important impact on Aboriginal peoples embracing Islam, it leaves aside other possible motives, namely philosophical and spiritual convergence. The possibility of philosophical and spiritual convergence as a contributing factor for Aboriginal Muslims is an important consideration due to the lengths to which culture and Indigenous spirituality was maintained in the face of foreign impositions. It seems improbable that a worldview would have been, and continues to be, abandoned for an outside and entirely other system solely for a social or political resistance against another alien system. Furthermore, while these are likely contributing factors, it imposes a somewhat passive function to Indigenous Muslims in their uptake of Islam, one that places them as a result of historical events rather than active agents within their own history.
Kinversion
In the preceding, convergence has been spoken of in the sense of two distinct belief structures sharing traits from unrelated lineages. This type of convergence is important in understanding cross-cultural convergences because it can provide mutual recognition of various traits between traditions without privileging one over the other. In terms of the present topic, these types of convergences are important for understanding the multifaceted factors involved in both the historical and contemporary instances of Indigenous people embracing Islam. Yet, there is another aspect of convergence which involves distinct belief structures becoming more alike as a relationship progresses. With regard to Indigenous belief structures and Islam, there is an important element of convergence of this second type which Stephenson has identified and termed “kinversion.” Stephenson states that “’kinversion’ is a term I have coined to describe an Indigenous connection to Islam that is culturally – usually family or kin – based” which “does not involve active acceptance of, or even any great acquaintance with Islamic doctrine”[31] and is “based on cultural affiliation rather than a dramatic spiritual transformation, kinversion represents a form of identification that sociological studies of conversion rarely recognise.” [32] That it is “consistent with the emphasis on family and kin in Aboriginal culture”[33] means that kinversion can be seen to blend historical, sociological, and anthropological types of convergence. Kinversion, especially when it is explicitly acknowledged, can be seen to have an important role in the first sense of convergence.
The process that led to kinversion, as well as the degree to which it plays a part in identity formation, is by degrees. For some it comes about through a historical connection, as Stephenson noted “many ‘kinverts’ absorbed Islamic religo-cultural beliefs and practices as a natural part of their upbringing in a Muslim household” while “others were given more formal religious instruction.”[34] This indicates that Islam, at a time, played an active role within the household. While for others kinversion touches on a historical ancestral connection, as Ganter attests, “they might try to reconnect with the lifeworlds and convictions of their ancestors.”[35] Stephenson suggests that “Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders with Muslim forbearers have a connection to Islam that tends to be culturally rather than scripturally based.”[36] This raises two points. Firstly, Stephenson views kinversion as a sociological occurrence. This is done so without examining the philosophical and spiritual elements or how these impact on the kinvert’s belief structures. Secondly, kinversion postdates conversion, in the sense that a kinvert requires an ancestral connection to Islam. Even if a kinvert does not identify as a Muslim, there are active elements of conversion evident in kinversion, giving an indication that Islam is not considered antithetical to Aboriginal belief structures if certain practices are maintained.
Perceived loss of Aboriginality
Lurking beneath the surface of much of the concern around Aboriginal conversion is the idea that embracing Islam involves a loss of Aboriginality. It could be suggested that the concerns regarding the perceived loss of Aboriginality stem from concerns about conversion undermining the intended goals of colonisation and Christianisation. Onnudottir et al. suggests
“the current debate about Aboriginal conversion is coloured by a colonial legacy concerning Aboriginal identity in relation to secular Australian society. Adhering to a timeless notion of the Dreaming, public discourse regards the conversion of an Aboriginal person to (what is assumed to be) a radically different type of religion such as Islam as not only a break with a traditional subjectivity, but a rejection of basic Australian values.” [37]
This captures much, if not most, of the current bias, a bias that views a fundamental incompatibility between Aboriginal spirituality and Islam. Onnudottir et al., in capturing this bias, implicitly reinforces it through phrases such as “basic Australian values” and “secular Australian society,” without acknowledging that such phrases are highly weighted and underpinned by the same Judeo-Christian values that are attempting to be resisted. In countering the view that “Aboriginal inmates had renounced their Aboriginality for Islam,” Paget acknowledges that it is important to recognise faith as “only one identity among several that a person may claim”[38] and “faith acceptance, a sense of belonging and social responsibility do not entail the foregoing of Aboriginality.”[39] For Stephenson, “the idea of returning to a former state also has special significance for Indigenous people without Muslim heritage because it is consistent with their interest in reconnecting with their Indigenous ancestry” with a “neat cultural fit between their traditional Indigenous beliefs and the teachings of Islam,” such that “far from forgoing their Indigenous heritage, Indigenous Muslims believe that their identification with Islam helps strengthen it.”[40] While Stephenson affirms that Indigenous Muslims themselves identify that there are spiritual convergences and lists some “cultural parallels in the shared practices,”[41] there is no explicit exploration of philosophical or spiritual convergences, seemingly satisfied with cultural parallels. For Islam to affirm Aboriginality there needs to be more than external parallels for identity reaffirmation, unless Indigenous belief structures are reduced to cultural practices in the most limiting sense. For those wanting to avoid a reductionist view of Indigenous belief structures, there must be an acknowledgement of philosophical and spiritual convergences between Aboriginal spirituality and Islam.
There is a further complication that plays off both senses of convergence and this involves the shared notions of identity. Historically, Stephenson observes that Indigenous women marrying Muslim men took on a “kind of identity change … best described as one of ‘alternation’,” which, “unlike conversion, refers to a less radical form of religious and ideological change which is much more inclusive of former commitments”[42] and “there is evidence to suggest that Aboriginal wives [of Afghan Muslims] embraced aspects of Islam while maintaining a connection not only to their Indigenous spiritual beliefs but also to Christianity.”[43] Without further substantiating evidence involving a study of philosophical and spiritual convergences, it cannot be stated conclusively and remains a possibility that some “former commitments,” including some Aboriginal spiritual practices, were not in conflict with their new faith and may even have been affirmed by it. Though, that there is evidence of identity alternation that involved participation in multiple traditions, gives weight to the view that there are aspects of philosophical and spiritual convergence. The existence of such convergence would go some way for deepening our understanding of how these Indigenous women partake of these traditions in a manner that does not to contravene the intrinsic values of these Aboriginal wives.
Prior to the Afghan Muslims, there is evidence of identity alternation amongst Aboriginal peoples’ engagement with the Makassar Muslims. “McIntosh emphasises that Yolngu never embraced Islam as a faith, rather, they incorporated elements of what they observed from their Indonesian visitors into their own cosmology,”[44] as Ganter acknowledges, and that “aspects of Islam have been creatively adapted by the Yolngu.”[45] While not a case of conversion, this demonstrates that the degree of convergence was sufficient enough for incorporation and was not limited to external practices. It is an unlikely occurrence for such incorporation of external worldviews if there was no identifiable common ground, as Ganter states “it is tempting to speculate where this development might have led theologically.”[46] The mutual reciprocity of these engagements opens the likelihood that these incorporated elements were based on philosophical and spiritual convergences rather than forced impositions. In terms of the first type of convergence, this highlights that Aboriginal spirituality adapts and absorbs other traditions that it comes into contact with and grows closer as a result of this adaptation. In terms of contemporary Indigenous Muslims, it is tempting to speculate that Aboriginal people have a different engagement with Islam. While other cultural backgrounds are filtered through Islam, with only those aspects that conflict being discarded, do those with strong connections to Indigenous culture filter Islam through their Dreaming? While there is currently insufficient evidence to provide an answer to this, it is possible to see that any answer would require an examination of the types of philosophical and spiritual convergences that this paper suggests require more attention.
Shared Notions of Identity
The shared notion of identity has been seen to have a continuing impact within contemporary society. Stephenson notes “Indigenous Muslims see their traditional Indigenous belief systems not only validated and mirrored in Islam, but also expressed in forms that give them a place in the contemporary world”[47] and that the “perceived crosscultural convergences fostered attitudes of mutual tolerance and accommodation.”[48] Yet, it has not sufficiently been acknowledged that for this type of conversation to take place historically, and continue currently, there must be more than “mutual tolerance and accommodation” and perhaps more than a “perceived” convergence. This gives rise to the possibility of an implicit acknowledgement of philosophical and spiritual convergence by those that mutually partake in both traditions. Though, this is not to say that all agree that a shared notion of identity is one that is partaken in equally. Wood suggests that “the vast majority of settlers belonging to the ruling classes … should have recognised Indigenous spirituality, by identifying the significant commonalities that are present between the traditions”[49] and that “while Australia is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an, the allusion to ‘all peoples’ must clearly include Indigenous people in Australia, and again [the ‘Afghans’]
should have recognised Indigenous culture and spirituality as having the same origins as their own.”[50] This argument by “should” requires further substantiation to be given credence. Wood’s position presupposes that a) historically the “the ruling classes” identified and agreed that there were significant commonalities between traditions and b) that the various Muslim populations that engaged with Australia’s Indigenous peoples did not recognise Aboriginal spirituality. While the evidence does not support Wood’s position, it does raise an important point that could be suggested to be long overdue to be addressed: the perceived differences that in the past gave rise to a legitimisation of unequal power dynamics can be redressed through substantial examinations of philosophical and spiritual convergences. This deeper level analysis has the ability to increase “mutual tolerance and accommodation” while dispelling some of the legacy of unequal power dynamics through a heightened appreciation of shared commonalities between belief structures.
Through the existing historical, sociological, and anthropological studies, it has already been shown that there are varying degrees of general cultural convergence between Australia’s Indigenous peoples and Islam. This has been acknowledged in statements from Stephenson such as “Indigenous Muslims discern cultural parallels in the shared practice of male circumcision, promised or arranged marriages, polygamy, and the fact that men are usually older than their wives in both Islamic and traditional Indigenous societies,”[51] “many, as discussed, believe that Allah’s teachings, including an emphasis on ‘caring and sharing’, were sent to Indigenous people at the beginning of time,”[52] and Wood’s view that “Indigenous spirituality shares many elements with the world’s other major faiths and spiritual traditions.”[53] One of Stephenson’s respondents went so far as to state “intrinsically in Aboriginal culture we have Islamic principles.”[54] While the currently available works make some inroads towards understanding the convergences between Aboriginal belief structures and Islam, there is more work that needs to occur to substantiate it. This is especially so if the existence of intrinsic convergences is to be accepted.
Possible Philosophical and Spiritual Convergences
Up to this point three points have been suggested repeatedly. Firstly, that there are philosophical and spiritual convergences between Aboriginal belief structures and Islam. Secondly, that the study of these convergences has been overlooked. Thirdly, that these convergences are important for understanding some of the motivations underpinning Australia’s Indigenous people choosing to embrace Islam. However, there has been no attempt to suggest what some of these possible philosophical and spiritual convergences may be. In the following there are some points of comparison that are suggested as being examples wherein there are possible philosophical and spiritual convergences. These are not intended to be fully substantiated cross-cultural comparisons and the authors acknowledge that they are currently ill equipped to make anything more than a passing mention of each of these examples. Further studies will be needed that are equally aware of Australia’s Indigenous traditions and Islamic studies to delve into such endeavours in order to determine the accuracy of the suggestions presented here, of which there does not currently seem to be any suitable candidates. With that in mind, these suggested points of philosophical and spiritual convergence are merely meant to substantiate a) that there are such points of convergence and b) that such points of convergence deserve equal amounts of attention as historical, sociological, and anthropological convergences.
There are many points at which possible philosophical and spiritual convergences can be made. Cox and Possamai noticed “commentators on Indigenous religions agree that religion is embedded in the social milieu within Indigenous societies,” however “what is less clear is exactly what it is that is embedded.”[55] Similarly, within Islam, what can be seen to be religiously embedded for the individual practitioner is not clear cut. As “the reward of deeds depends upon the intentions,”[56] “every good deed is charity,” even meeting another “with a smiling face.”[57] Thus, what can be considered religiously embedded, as opposed to that which is a muscle response, will depend largely upon an understanding of the motivations that gave rise to particular actions. There has been much documented on the soteriological function of travel (safar) and spiritual travelling (suluk) within Islam and there may be commonalities with the walkabout as a rite of passage within Indigenous Australia. There may be a further convergence with regard to travel as “medicine men are believed to be able to travel at a very fast pace” with “extraordinary feats of walking long distances”[58] which has some correspondence to the Sufi view of the “people of the step” (ahl al-khatwa) who are considered, due to their soteriological development, to be able to traverse substantial distances on foot.[59] With regard to Indigenous moieties and totems, interesting convergences could be made between the gathering of bush-tucker and the Islamic concept of sustenance (rizq).[60] Islam censures the pursuit of unlawful sustenance or lawful sustenance by unlawful means, which can be seen to act as a test of the individual’s spiritual development and awareness, and a convergence could be made to the totemic restrictions within various Indigenous practices.[61] With regard to bush-tucker, there is a further possible convergence between the Islamic concept of trust in Allah (tawakkul) that develops from the understanding of the provisions of sustenance (rizq) and the view that “Australian Indigenous people do not generally transport food or water with them on their nomadic travel but know and trust with great faith, knowledge of country and certainty that sustenance will be provided.” [62] Similarly, as an article of faith within Islam is the belief in all prophets and messengers, developing philosophical and spiritual convergences opens the possibility of their being a meaningful comparative prophetology study examining the development and function of Malo’s law of the Meriam people[63] and the development of Sharia law from the actions and statements of Muhammad. This is not to assert the validity of such convergences, and to do so here would take us too far afield, though it does indicate that there are various points where possible philosophical and spiritual convergences can be made.
Philosophical and spiritual convergences can be seen to differ from other sociological and anthropological convergences, though their respective content may not be mutually exclusive. Widely acknowledged is “the high esteem in which elders are held in both Islamic and traditional Indigenous societies”[64] which opens the possibility of a further parallel of a spiritual nature within the both Islamic and traditional Indigenous societies. The Indigenous distinction between older and Elder can be seen to share spiritual convergences with the Islamic distinction between elder and Shaykh, particularly in the Sufi sense of Shaykh. Both the Sufi Shaykh and the Indigenous Elder command respect in their respective societies irrespective of their age as it is an acknowledgement of soteriological stature rather than physical age. It would be interesting to see the degree of convergence between the Sufi Shaykh and the Indigenous Elder with regard to social status, process of development and recognition, and responsibility with regard to the transmission and maintenance of their respective traditions. A cross-cultural study on a subject such as this would need to cover both sociological and spiritual elements to develop a substantive understanding of the convergence. With regard to convergence in the sense of growing together, Stephenson states that “the beauty of Islam, many reverts claim, is that it recognises the importance of defined leadership roles for men in their families and communities, roles largely lost through racism and the ongoing legacy of colonization.”[65] This can be seen to represent a re-establishment of traditional values, values that tie to, and develop out of, some of the convergences between the Sufi Shaykh and the Indigenous Elder.
Another point of convergence, one that plays off the previously mentioned sociological convergence of mutual marginalisation, can be seen to have philosophical and spiritual dimensions for Indigenous Muslims. Given the significant history of displacement and marginalisation suffered by Australia’s Indigenous peoples, it can be informative to see how this may converge with the history of marginalisation and worldly difficulty suffered by Muslims throughout the history of Islam. A key example of this was during the time of the Prophet Muhammad when the people of Mecca drove out the fledgling Muslim community and refused them trade. While there is no intention to draw an equivalent comparison between the systematic destruction of the belief structures of Indigenous peoples and the opposition faced by a fledgling religious community, it is interesting to note the potentially transformative value that difficulty can be seen to play within Islam. With regard to difficulty, a hadith states that “no calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn.”[66] Statements such as this have been taken up amongst Muslims to recontextualise events in order that they become religiously embedded and a means through which soteriological development may occur. This, to a degree, is acknowledged to occur, as “reinterpretation of the past among religious converts gives more meaning to the present.”[67] With an awareness of the sensitivities involved, it is possible to tentatively posit that a history of struggle and difficulty could be turned into a virtue on a personal level for Indigenous Muslims in recontextualising intergenerational trauma.
One of the most substantially developed philosophical and spiritual convergences between Indigenous belief structures and Islam is Walitha’walitha. Various studies have shown that “Muslim prayer references still survive in some secret/sacred incarnations on the northern Australian shores, alluding to ‘Allah’”[68] with the Warrimiri people giving “reference to Dreaming figure walitha’walitha, an adaptation on the Arabic Allah ta’ala.”[69] That there are “some unmistakable allusions to ‘Allah’ in the folklore of north-east Arnhem Land suggest that before British colonization the Yolngu were engaging with Muslim life-worlds at a much deeper level than has been presumed,”[70] hinting at significant philosophical and spiritual convergences. The existence of such convergence is made stronger by the observation that “while it is not correct to say that Yolngu were or are followers of Islam, there is much evidence of Islamic influence in Yolngu belief in walata’walata” which is a “reference to a Dreaming creation figure.”[71] Such convergences are seen to be stronger because, without embracing Islam, these Indigenous people utilised convergences between their belief structures and those of Islam without identifying a conflict or contradiction between the two expressions of spirituality. The Yolngu “utilised and transformed the teachings of Islamic missionaries and observations of their practices in the creation of an ancestral being which displays many of the characteristics of the Islamic god”[72] characteristics such as the responsibility to “restore harmony to the land.”[73] The extent of the internalisation of a seemingly external and foreign belief structure can be seen in statements that “Walitha’walitha is an ‘inside’ word for Allah”[74] and the Wurramu performed “a mortuary ritual associated with the Dreaming entity Walitha’walitha (Allah)” the meaning of which “on an ‘outside’ level they are about the new world introduced to Yolngu in pre-colonial times,” while “the ‘inside’ meaning of the ritual relates to the passage of the soul of the deceased to a heavenly paradise above, the abode of the God of Islam.”[75] That such a significant Islamic belief was not only taken up by Indigenous spirituality but became part of their inside belief indicates that there is a strong case for further examination of philosophical and spiritual convergences.
However, it should be noted that not everyone that has studied Walitha’walitha agrees that a) there is significant convergence or b) that it is an Islamic import. McIntosh, who has done the most substantial research on Walitha’walitha, states that “while there is some overlap in the meaning between the Aboriginal Allah and the Allah of the Islamic world, the two are seen to be quite separate.”[76] Further separating Walitha’walitha from Allah, McIntosh states “Walitha’walitha is an Aboriginal creational entity associated with particular territories on the Australian mainland, and has always been there.”[77] The existent material regarding Walitha’walitha and Allah highlight varying degrees of convergence and divergence. Further attention is required in order to detail the extent of convergence between Walitha’walitha and Allah, which would necessarily be from a philosophical and spiritual perspective.
Challenges to Examining Philosophical and Spiritual Convergence
As with any area of study, examining possible philosophical and spiritual convergences presents its own challenges. This is more so if one is attempting to examine convergences between two separate belief structures with an aim of understanding contemporary societal shifts, as with an increase of Indigenous Muslims. While not exhaustive, there are some challenges to the study of convergence that need to be kept at the forefront when comparing Indigenous spiritualty with Islam. While it might seem obvious for anyone studying Indigenous peoples, “it is essential to avoid the commonly held misconception that there is one homogenous Aboriginal population.”[78] This is further compounded by the acknowledgement that “through colonization, many Aboriginal people have experienced a significant loss of traditional knowledge and their links to the land and history.”[79] In order to avoid this, even if such homogenisation is only implicit, it is necessary to utilise a great degree of nuance so as to not bunch diverse Indigenous peoples together. This can be done with an explicit acknowledgement of tribe and/or country in order not to efface the differences between the Indigenous nations. Similarly, it is important to recognise that “’Islam’ will be different for each and every person”[80] and that, like Indigenous peoples, there is a degree of plurality amongst Muslims, which can be seen to be at the heart of claims to “authentic” or “orthodox” Islam. With regard to the plurality of Islam, it is an awareness of such diversity that allows for meaningful distinctions between Australian Islam and Indonesian Islam.
As stated, philosophical and spiritual convergence is one type of convergence amongst many underpinning Aboriginal people’s motivation for embracing Islam. “The growth in the number of Aboriginal Muslims cannot be simply explained by reference to ‘purely’ religious motives for conversion”[81] and “in all studies of conversion behaviour it is impossible to separate out spiritual from social causes.”[82] Stephenson’s view is that “Indigenous Muslims engage in a dialectical process of comparing and contrasting Indigenous and Islamic perspectives” which “exploit points of resemblance between Aboriginal and Islamic spirituality that justify a radical simplification of faith,” simplified in the sense of being a “decontextualized Indigenous spirituality” and a “de-historicised notion of Islam.”[83] While this may be currently true, and true for some Indigenous Muslims, further study of the spiritual convergences is needed to evaluate the extent of this claim. That “Aboriginal religious practice allows for the exchange of ceremonies”[84] complicates this as does a loss of tradition. Both may increase the likelihood of decontextualisation, bringing to the foreground convergences in the first sense that have developed as a result of time rather than convergences in the second sense between the respective traditions. However, to reduce conversion behaviour to purely religious, philosophical, or spiritual motives simplifies a complex issue as does ignoring such motivations in an analysis of conversion behaviours. Yet, to date, there has been a greater focus on possible social causes rather than spiritual convergences. To overlook religious, philosophical, or spiritual motives, however mixed they may be with social or political factors, is folly if conversion behaviour is to be better understood.
A further possible challenge for the study of convergences relates to accessibility. Accessibility to lost knowledge is only part of this challenge. Another aspect of the challenge of accessibility relates to inside knowledge. This is knowledge that is not given freely, or at all, to outsiders, those outside of the tradition altogether or even those outside the initiatic process of acquiring such knowledge. McIntosh foregrounds this in acknowledging “the words of the songs are a complex mix … and are not accessible” as “they are composed of an ‘inside’ language.”[85] While this statement was made with regard to the Yolngu, it is likely true of more than just the Yolngu and makes the study of cross-cultural convergence especially challenging. This is so if the focus is of a philosophical and spiritual nature, as it is not always readily observable in external actions and is more likely to have a specialist, initiatic “inside” language.
With the history of colonisation and displacement, there is the possible challenge of continuing this with a more refined scholarly nuance. As “the archaeological and anthropological study approaches when examining cross-cultural interaction often places Indigenous people as passive receivers” it “overlooks the significant and sustained Indigenous agency.”[86] Awareness of this is important because the active uptake of Islam, or the incorporation of elements, by Indigenous peoples is often discussed as being a result of circumstance and situation, rather than as an active, conscious decision, a decision that could be based on mutual compatibility or, more strongly, convergence of a psycho-spiritual order. In doing so, there is an implied and subtle form of colonisation and displacement being maintained. By positioning Indigenous peoples as passive receivers of circumstance and situation there is a continuation of “emphasise [on] conflict and disempowerment – as white-authored histories of ethnic minorities have tended to.”[87]
As can be seen with the disagreements about the degree of convergence between Walitha’walitha and Allah, shared references can result in diversified understandings and applications. It is important to note that “shared references do not automatically translate into shared understandings.”[88] This is what allows McIntosh to differentiate between the “Aboriginal Allah and the Allah of the Islamic world.”[89] Though, equally important, this does not negate the philosophical and spiritual convergences that come from the diverse understandings of shared references. It may be that there are latent convergences between traditions that only become apparent when one tradition is understood through a mindset that is foreign or external to it. [90] Awareness of this makes it possible to highlight a different understanding of a shared reference that allows for a deeper understanding of both respective traditions.
Conclusion
To
date, studies of Indigenous Australians’ engagement with, and conversion to,
Islam have been predominantly historical, sociological, and anthropological.
Despite an increased interest in, and scholarly papers on, this topic, there
remains a degree of surprise, concern, and confusion regarding the motivational
factors for Aboriginal people embracing Islam. There continues to be “very
limited knowledge of the extent of, and reasons behind, conversion to Islam
among the Aboriginal” peoples.[91] In
order to deepen our understanding of this occurrence, this paper has suggested
that more attention needs to be given to the philosophical and spiritual
convergences that occur between Aboriginal belief structures and Islam. This
suggestion in no way negates the historical, sociological, and anthropological
convergences that have been detailed in existing literature. If future studies
examined philosophical and spiritual convergences alongside of historical, sociological,
and anthropological convergences, it is suggested that further insight would be
provided into the conversion behaviours of Australia’s Indigenous peoples to
Islam.
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[1] John Paget, “Aboriginal Conversions to Islam in Prison: A Substantial Security Threat or Another Moral Panic?” in Muslim Identity Formation in Religiously Diverse Societies, eds. Derya Iner and Salih Yucel (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015), 296.
[2] Peta Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality: Islam in Indigenous Australia,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 24 (2013): 427.
[3] Peter Willis, “Riders in the chariot: Aboriginal conversion to Christianity at Kununurra,” in Aboriginal Australians and Christian Missions: Ethnographic and Historical Studies, eds. T. Swain and D.B. Rose (Bedford Park: Australian Association for the Study of Religions), 319.
[4] Ian S. McIntosh, Between Two Worlds (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2015), 86.
[5] Peta Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage to Islam,” Journal of Intercultural Studies 32 (2011): 270.
[6] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 437.
[7] Regina Ganter, “Muslim Australia: The Deep Histories of Contact,” Journal of Australian Studies 32 (2008): 488.
[8] Helena Onnudottir, Adam Possamai, and Bryan S. Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle for Aboriginal Self-Empowerment in Australia?,” International Journal for the Study of New Religions 1 (2010): 49.
[9] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 57.
[10] Ganter, “Muslim Australia,” 482.
[11] Denise Russell, “Aboriginal-Makassan Interactions in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries in Northern Australia and Contemporary Sea Rights Claims,” Australian Aboriginal Studies 1 (2004): 5.
[12] David Edward Lawson, “Indigenous Australians and Islam: Spiritual, Cultural, and Political Alliances” (PhD Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2010), 5.
[13] Ian S. McIntosh, “Allah and the Spirit of the Dead,” Australian Folklore 11 (1996): 137.
[14] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 53.
[15] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 53.
[16] Lawson, “Indigenous Australians and Islam,” 239.
[17] Lawson, “Indigenous Australians and Islam,” 6 – 7.
[18] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 55.
[19] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 55.
[20] Regina Ganter, “Yolngu Conversations with Faith: The Outward Signs of Conversion to Christianity and Islam,” Australian Studies Journal 30 (2016): 38.
[21] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 268.
[22] Paget, “Aboriginal Conversions,” 294.
[23] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 434.
[24] Regina Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories of Australia,” The La Trobe Journal 89 (2012): 52.
[25] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 272.
[26] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 435.
[27] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 60.
[28] Lawson, “Indigenous Australians and Islam,” 18.
[29] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 49.
[30] Peta Stephenson, “Keeping it in the Family: Partnerships between Indigenous and Muslim Communities in Australia,” Aboriginal History 33 (2009): 102.
[31] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 432.
[32] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 263.
[33] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 263.
[34] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 432.
[35] Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories,” 52.
[36] Stephenson, “Keeping it in the Family,” 97.
[37] Helena Onnudottir et al., “Australian Aboriginal Muslims in Prison,” Journal of Intercultural Studies 34 (2013): 281 – 282. It should be noted that phrases such as “basic Australian values” is highly weighted and underpinned by Judeo-Christian values, which weakens the idea of a “secular Australian society.”
[38] Paget, “Aboriginal Conversions,” 296.
[39] Paget, “Aboriginal Conversions,” 297.
[40] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 434.
[41] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 434.
[42] Stephenson, “Keeping it in the Family,”112.
[43] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 431.
[44] Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories,” 59.
[45] McIntosh, Between Two Worlds, 150.
[46] Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories,” 59.
[47] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 440.
[48] Stephenson, “Keeping it in the Family,” 98.
[49] Asmi J. Wood, “Indigenous Spiritual Light: Reconsidering the Negative Stereotypes on Indigenous Spirituality,” in Muslim Identity Formation in Religiously Diverse Societies, eds. Derya Iner and Salih Yucel (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015), 266.
[50] Wood, “Indigenous Spiritual Light,” 272.
[51] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 265.
[52] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 270.
[53] Wood, “Indigenous Spiritual Light,” 266.
[54] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 268.
[55] James L. Cox and Adam Possamai, “Religion, ‘Non-Religion’ and Indigenous Peoples on the 2011 Australian National Census,” Diskus 16 (2014): 42.
[56] Muhammad bin Ismail al-Mughirah al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, trans. Muhammad M. Khan (Riyadh: Darussalam, 1997), # 1.
[57] Abu ‘Eisa Mohammad Ibn ‘Eisa al-Tirmidhi, Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, trans. Abu Khaliyl (Riyadh: Darussalam, 2007), # 1970.
[58] Adolphus Peter Elkin, Aboriginal Men of Higher Degree (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 1994), 57.
[59] ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad, Sufi Sage of Arabia (Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2005), 160.
[60] Wood, “Indigenous Spiritual Light,” 278 – 279.
[61] For a substantial treatment of the soteriological function of sustenance (rizq), see Abu Bakr Sirajuddin Cook, Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah, Muslim Sufi Saint and Gift of Heaven (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017).
[62] Wood, “Indigenous Spiritual Light,” 278 – 279.
[63] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 267 – 268.
[64] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 434.
[65] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 438.
[66] al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, # 5640.
[67] Paget, “Aboriginal Conversions,” 296.
[68] Ganter, “Muslim Australia,” 483.
[69] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 263.
[70] Ganter, “Yolngu Conversations,” 10.
[71] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 429.
[72] McIntosh, Between Two Worlds, 154.
[73] McIntosh, “Allah and the Spirit,” 135.
[74] McIntosh, “Allah and the Spirit,” 136.
[75] McIntosh, Between Two Worlds, 149. It should be noted that phrases such as “the abode of the God of Islam” would be considered contentious from an Islamic perspective for a) Allah is not conceived as being confined by space or locality, b) “Allah” is not seen by Muslim sources as an Islamic specific Deity, and c) the phrase also includes the implicit possibility of another, non-Islamic, god, which contravenes the central and foundational tenet of Islam, the Oneness of God (tawhid). It is unclear from McIntosh’s article if this has come from himself or his primary sources.
[76] McIntosh, “Allah and the Spirit,” 137.
[77] McIntosh, “Allah and the Spirit,” 137.
[78] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 56.
[79] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 55.
[80] Stephenson, “Syncretic Spirituality,” 428.
[81] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 51.
[82] Onnudottir, Possamai, and Turner, “Islam: A New Religious Vehicle,” 63.
[83] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 268.
[84] Stephenson, “Indigenous Australia’s Pilgrimage,” 269.
[85] McIntosh, Between Two Worlds, 161.
[86] Lawson, “Indigenous Australians and Islam,” 265.
[87] Ganter, “Remembering Muslim Histories,” 48.
[88] Wood, “Indigenous Spiritual Light,” 274.
[89] McIntosh, “Allah and the Spirit,” 137.
[90] Jay L. Garfield, “Why did Bodhidharma go to the East? Buddhism’s Struggle with the Mind in the World,” Sophia 45 (2006).
[91] Onnudottir et al., “Australian Aboriginal Muslims,” 287. ��g �䐉jI�