lT is Monday 1 August at 6am.and I am on my way lo the Perth domestic aimort to slart my eight days on site roster in Newman some 'l400km lrom Perth. The 7am flightlroni Perth to Newman is filled only with tly-in f lyout.workers (commonly refened to FIFO workers) to start their shift at the iron ore mine at Mi Whaleback in Newman, owned by BHP Billiton. lt is the biggest single open-cut iron ore mine in the world. People outside Australia often ask me why companies employ people on a fly-in lly-out basis. Thc reason for this is most ol the mining towns are in the remote parts ol the .Australian Desert. lt is not easy to get local labour. Companies fo* out a huge amount to atlrac{ FIFO workers. A cleaner working on the mine can eam up to 170 000 dollars (iust over a R1 million) per annum. Some companies provide employees with a house where they do their own cooking. ln this case a tax lree Living Away from Home allowance is paid. BHP and other mining companies have their own camp style village lor their employees. Working a FIFO roster is a lifestyle choice. Villages 4re ol a high standardlo ensure employebs enjoy a quality lifestyle while
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they are away from home. Villages typically have a swimming pool, sporting courts (used lor tennis, soccer, volleyball, lawn bowls and olher sports) and a wet mess. Employees have their own airronditioned accommodation units, with ensuite bathrooms, television, phone and internet connection. Employees' units are cleaned twice a week. Meals are provided in mess facilities main meals include a selection ol hot and cold dishes, and healthy low-fat options are always available. lanive at Newman airport at about gam
leave work al 4,30pm. The first day which is known as your fly in day is ihe most . thing. Maghrieb salah is performed at home as the few olher Muslims woddng on the mine only gel hoine at 6.30pm. Magrieb salaah is al 5.35pm. I share the house wilh two other workers. Mohammed is from Lebanon and Baji is lrom Duban. Mohammed Bagdadi has been on site lor eight days and flies out he next moming. lt is 7.30pm and we head to lhe local maslid for the first tanweeh. We are seven people in total {orlhe first
and picked up by a shff member. I head straightto the three bedroom company house to pac* my fiozen cooked meals into lhe. fieezer and then head to wo* lor a handover from the Finance and Admin manager who will be llying out the same evening. We are lwo finance and admin managers wo*ing back to back on an eight days on 6 days ofi roster. 2 August is lhe first of Hamadaan, so I
Three from South Afiica, two fiom Lebanon, one from Pakistan and one fron Sudan. Among the seven ol us we hdve a brolher lrom Lebanon who is Hafiz and leads lhe taraweeh. He is only on site lor three days as he came down for a shut down, Typically il,re mine has a shut down every six weeks. As fre days pass the number of people at the
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taraweeh.
'l went for jummah, but I was the only person there.'
masjid tor lardweeh varies from six to just three. This is dueto people flying out on
difiereni days. Our Hafiz is gone and we now lake lurns io pedorm the luli 20 rakats. For some reason the small congregation decided 1 0 monihs ago that I lead the Esha prayers each evening, as well as lhe {irst eight rakaats of laraweeh. Short suras (chaplers) are recited and we complele our 20 rakats within 30 minutes. On 5 August we are blessed with a visit t by the Tabligh Jamaal and our numbers {or taraweeh. increase to 12. This jamaal came lrom Malaysia and were visiling all the little mining towns in Western Australia. They slay for four days and ask me ii I could accompafi y them visiting' local Muslims- lexplain to them that the only Muslims -we know were the ones presenl al laraweeh.
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It was also difflcult lor them to understand why we all working the entire weekend, Again, we explain to lhem thal when you are on your eight days shifl you work every day inespeclive if it is a weekend or public holiday. Getting up lor suhur (sehri) ir1 the early.morning is a very diflerent experi- , ence. I ge! up alone and have a small breakfast. Perlorm Fajr and have a short nap to be up and ready lor work at 6.30am. Mine workers usually work a 12 hours shift from 6.30am to 6.30pm. ltlar alone'is noi something that I am used to. This is my first year away from my lamily during Hamadan. As soon as I leave work I start preparing to warm the frozen food my wife packs for me each week. It is Ramadan so she has packed in more than just the usual. Some savouries are included. l{lyoul from Newman on the Monday and spend six days with,my family. Now it feels like Ramadaan to me. Taraweeh with more than just six people, Jumaah al the local mosque in Beechboro where we live in Perih. I am back on site on 15 August {or another eight days. On Friday I head to lhe masjid lor Jumaah prayers and there is no one elsd there. All the other Musiims Jlew back to Perth. I am all alone and perform zuhr salah. Now I canhot wait to fly home dgain and as I am . taking three weeks leave I only return to work on 12 September. Last year I was on site on the day of Eid ul Adha. No Eid prayers
and only llew home lhe same evening. Why no Eid salah you might ask. Mine workers siart at 6.30am and most of these people are trade people so cannot leave just at any time.
@ETFTi-'fTITf
HisNoly on
and
Huslims
hhm inAllsffalla
The Nexus between Muslims ahd Westem Australia begins with the lmperial Policy in the early 1800s when the European Muslims migrated from Albania, Greece, Kosovar and Bulgaria, among other places. However, the earliest Muslim conlact with Australia and WA in particular goes back to 850 CE when Arab navigators mapped the coast line ol Westem and Northern Australia. The first large scale migralion took place in 1BB7 when Afghan Camel handlers vrere inviied by the Colonial Secretary. The lirst group anived in Fremantle on SS Abergeldine on 28 September 1887. Muslim ventures such as Mirdosh Khan & Co established camel transport and carrying operation in the colony of WA. The early proneers were inslrumental in the opening up and development ol the Goldfields and other remote areas ol WA. Subsequently Muslims lrom other parts ol the world were aniving (Malay, Greek, lndian, Afghan) in
late l800s. lslam in Australia is growing up fast. There is an appreciable conversion rate generally. Islam is Australia's second biggest religion. Muslims are estimated to be over 300000. Government census 1996 shows 12583 Muslims in WA. However conservative Muslim estimate put
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the number over 15000 counting the fact that some do nol for various reasons declare their religion on government forms. Most of these Muslims anived post War, particularly in 1960s and 1970s. The main ones are Malays, Arabs, Turks, Yugoslavs, lndians, Pakistanis, Afghans, South Africans, Somalians, Burmese and Bosnians. ln 1975/6, The lslamic Council of Western Australia was formed to oo-ordinate the lslamic activity in the state. lslamic societies are generally affiliated with ICWA. Each state has an lslamic Council which jointly forms lhe Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) head office in Sydney. ln WA, four full time Muslim primary and one high school (in 2000) fultiil the Muslim's secular and religious heeds. All schools are recognized by the Australian Govemment and {ollow its cunicula, offering strong and supportive environment to learn the lslamic values. Muslims, like the followers ol other laiths, enjoy full religious freedom in . Australia. Tabligh Jamaats lrequenlly visit Perth and other towns to call people back to basics: Women groups are fairly and organise many uselul ' programmes for families and children. Classes for the new Muslims are held at various places. The Holy Quran and other lslamic books
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active i
are easily available in every masjid. Halal meaVfood and Muslim burial lacilities are also available. Hospitals in WA mustprovide Halal food whenever requesled.
A[out tlcxrman Newman has an arid climate with very hot summers and mild winters. The average summer high tem. peraiure is one the hottest ol any areas in Australia and approaches those of cities such as Riyadh and Baghdad. The temperature reaches or exceeds over 38 degrees almost everyday in the summer. On 15 Januarv 1998, the temperature reached an all-time recorded high of 47 deg. Newman has a population of about 8000 people and about 80% olthose are Fifo workers. There is a mosque in the area that can easily accommodate about 200 people. About 10 years ago there was a large muslim community mostly lrom Malaysia working on lhe iron ore mine in Newman. The masiid that was originally a workhop owned by BHP was gifted to the Muslirn community by BHP. The bottom part of the mosque has a kilchen and a sleeping area. The sleeping area was used by Muslims who came to work in Newman bul had no accommodalion provided. Demand for rental houses in Newman isvery high. The cunent weekly rent for a simple lhree bedroom house is'around 1500 dollars (Rl0500) per week. Most of the company's operating,in lhe area rent these houses to accommodate Fito workers.
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An inside view ol lhe Newman Masjid