Australian Muslims still face discrimination although Islam is second largest religion in the country

SHAH ALAM - Despite Islam being the second largest religion in Australia, Muslims in the country are still facing challenges as a minority community.

University of South Australia Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) director Professor Mohamad Abdalla said this was due to Islamophobia.

He revealed that some of the young Muslims in Australia faced identity crisis between being Muslim and being Australian.

"This is what Muslims faced, sometimes it is due to Islamophobia, sometimes racism," he said during an interview on Sinar Daily’s Fireside Chat programme.

He said sometimes Muslims found it hard to look for a job because of their names.

He revealed that some studies showed that a person who has a Muslim name has a higher possibility of being rejected when applying for a job.

Islam is the second largest religion in Australia after Christianity.

Mohamad said there were about 820,000 or 3.2 per cent of Muslims in the country.

“Islam has been in Australia for a long time. Muslims first came to Australia around the 1650s from Sulawesi, Makassar, Indonesia. So, Islam has had a long-standing historical presence in Australia for almost 200 years,” he said.

He also said he was grateful to see people constantly converting in to Islam in Australia and the religion’s acceptance in the country.