Hello/Salams, and Neat work about Austin Texas,
We had a few in Islam arrive on the first fleet, but never were enabled to settle into Muslim communities, although I believe the Mosque in Adelaide has longer been there than others. The Afgan camel traders were the first to build Mosques here. These days Australian exports camels to the middle east for racing, and everybody frowns upon it because children are used as jockeys. I reckon we should all get into eating camel and drinking camel milk because they certainly have caused far less harm to the environment than many other introduced species.
However, I came into this thread with an answer about the question: are things looking up in Islam in other places?
Here? YES AND NO! That is what is important about this time.
No it ain't looking up in communities with only few believers, and yes, among the devout believers it is all alive in praise of Allah. This Christmas, using the Orthodox Church dates, a significant convergence occured in respect of Jesus prophesy, and which will be connecting substantially with all ahadith.
I guess that we ought to anticipate that at some time there will be a large degree of uncertainty in respect of who the real tradition is being best kept by. This sort of difficulty is certainly amply present in the Australian Muslim community, but sure enough those whom speak out will not be able to speak out without being condemned by somebody, so none of us should either Judge any person by what aspect of Islam and the teaching of Mohammed the blessed, they are promoting in any specific moment.
What is a realised blessing for believers will always be extremely frightening for non-believers, and therefore it is all the more important, that believers are silent in receiving blessing.
The patterns of modern Islam, and the labels such as "progressive" and "moderate" might gradually change, but that will not change the internal belief of any person, just as the introduction of any new forms of presentation of Islam, so long as we are truly in belief, have never changed what it means to be a Muslim. We each adopt only that exterior presentation which is enabling of our self to both sustain internal belief and also to be in the world, that is, we each are portraying ourselves in Islam, in any moment, only in the only possible way. We all need to remember this so as to be able to realise that change is reality as much as tradition is stablity.
My people tell it like everything is nothing unless it is changing, all old ways reform constantly and everything is always being made new again, so as Australia was invaded, our Indigenous worth is in making the signs of that invasion become also Australian, and also a part of our world. Yet in all that, one thing never changes. Law. True Law which is God's/Allah's word and promise to Humanity, is the only reality which any body can rely upon.
I think this is a time in which these are the only possible realisations to be making, and that sort of makes this time special.
The scientists in Australia have told that the drought we are in is in a pattern of being likely a thousand year drought cycle. If that is proven to be the case, then the whole world is begun to change. But change within that pattern we Human beings have established over the past two hundred odd years. The Prophesies thereby are more able than ever to be perceived as totally inevitable, and in many circumstances, now already, the only actual positive future resolution left.
Thats all, and Salam
