Introduction
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to one of the world’s smaller but fastest-growing Muslim communities — 75,144 people according to the 2023 census, representing 1.5% of the national population. Islam grew by 22% between 2018 and 2023 in New Zealand, faster than any other major religion in the country over that period, driven by immigration from South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa alongside steady natural growth within established communities.
This guide provides a complete, factual overview of the Muslim community in New Zealand in 2026 — its history, demographics, institutions, educational provision, and the distinctive challenges it faces as a minority community in one of the world’s most secular yet multicultural countries.
A Brief History of Islam in New Zealand
The earliest recorded Muslim presence in New Zealand dates to the nineteenth century. Chinese Muslim gold diggers appear in the government census of 1874, working the Dunstan goldfields of Otago. The first Muslim to be buried in New Zealand was a Javanese sailor named Mohamed Dan, who died in Dunedin in 1888.
Organised Muslim community life began with the founding of the New Zealand Muslim Association in Auckland in 1950. The first imam — Maulana Said Musa Patel from Gujarat, India — arrived in 1960. The first Islamic centre opened in 1959.
Large-scale Muslim immigration came in two major waves. The 1970s brought significant numbers of Indian Fijians — Muslims of South Asian heritage who had lived in Fiji for generations and brought with them a well-formed community culture, strong halal food practice, and an established religious tradition. The 1990s brought refugees from Bosnia, Somalia, Afghanistan, and other conflict zones, adding a substantially different demographic profile: newer arrivals, more recently displaced, from different cultural backgrounds.
Both waves, and the continuing immigration of the 2000s and 2010s from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Lebanon, Syria, and various African countries, produced what is today one of the most ethnically diverse Muslim communities in any Western country. No single ethnic group makes up more than half of New Zealand’s Muslim population.
Demographics: The 2023 Picture
The 2023 New Zealand census recorded 75,144 Muslims — 1.5% of the total population of approximately 5 million. This represents a 22% increase from the 2018 census figure, making Islam one of the fastest-growing religions in New Zealand. The Muslim population of New Zealand is third-largest by religion after Christianity (32.3%) and Hinduism (2.9%).
Geographic concentration: The Muslim community is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in Auckland. Approximately 65% of New Zealand Muslims live in the Auckland region, compared to only 32% of the general population. Wellington contains approximately 10%, Canterbury (Christchurch) approximately 7%, and the Waikato (Hamilton) approximately 5%. Six cities — Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington, Palmerston North, and Dunedin — each have Muslim populations of at least 1,000.
Age profile: The Muslim population is significantly younger than the New Zealand general population. Approximately 19% of the Muslim population falls in the 1–10 years age bracket, compared to 15% of the total population. About 76% of New Zealand Muslims are aged 40 or under, compared to 58% nationally. This demographic profile is critical for Islamic education planning: there are proportionally more Muslim children relative to community size than in the general population, making effective youth education provision an urgent community priority.
Ethnic diversity: New Zealand Muslims come from an extraordinarily broad range of backgrounds. Key origin groups include South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq), Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia), East Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea), and the Pacific (Fiji). European-background New Zealanders who have converted to Islam form a smaller but visible group. A Maori Muslim community also exists, with the Aotearoa Maori Muslim Association active in connecting Islamic practice with Maori identity and Te Ao Maori. The Ahmadiyya Community has translated the Quran into Te Reo Maori.
Sunni majority: Most New Zealand Muslims are Sunni, with significant Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities.
FIANZ: The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) is the apex national body representing New Zealand Muslims. Founded in April 1979 by Mazhar Krasniqi — a Kosovar Albanian community leader and businessman who received a Queen’s Service Medal in 2002 — FIANZ brought together the Canterbury Muslim Association, the Wellington Islamic Centre, and the New Zealand Muslim Association in Auckland into a single national federation.
FIANZ is affiliated with seven regional associations and most mosques and Islamic centres across the country. Its governing Council comprises 18 voting members drawn from the regional associations, with a President and 6-member Executive leadership team elected every two years. Its stated mandate covers religious guidance, social welfare, education, halal affairs, and interfaith relations.
FIANZ in 2025: Recent FIANZ activities reflect the breadth of its representative role. In June 2024, FIANZ chairman Mustafa Farouk publicly disavowed comments by a mosque chairman claiming Israeli intelligence was behind the 2019 Christchurch shootings, reaffirming that such views did not represent New Zealand Muslims. In September 2024, FIANZ closely monitored and responded publicly to threats made against Al-Madinah School and Zayed College in Mangere, with spokesperson Abdur Razzak drawing attention to the government’s reduction of national security frameworks. In July 2025, FIANZ signed a Peace and Harmony Accord with Jewish organisations including the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, witnessed by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, who described it as a landmark moment in interfaith relations. The accord was subsequently criticised by twenty Muslim organisations and eighteen imams and ulama for having been negotiated without adequate community consultation — illustrating the ongoing tension between FIANZ’s representative role and the internal diversity of New Zealand’s Muslim community.
The Islamic Council of New Zealand (ICONZ): A separate body representing New Zealand Shia Muslims. ICONZ President Dr Muhammad Sajjad Naqvi was among those who criticised the July 2025 Peace Accord, arguing it misframed the problem as being between religions rather than addressing specific political grievances.
Mosques and Islamic Centres
Auckland alone has approximately 15 Islamic centres, mosques, and trusts. The concentration in South Auckland — particularly in Mangere, Papatoetoe, and Otahuhu — reflects the geographic settlement of Auckland’s Muslim community, which is heavily concentrated in working and middle-class south and west Auckland suburbs.
Significant centres include the Auckland Airport Mosque adjacent to Zayed College for Girls in Mangere; Masjid At-Taqwa in Manukau City; the Avondale Islamic Centre; Madrasah Uthmaaniyah at the Auckland Islamic Trust; and Al-Madinah Mosque complex in Mangere.
In Wellington, the Kilbirnie Masjid (Wellington Islamic Centre) on Queens Drive serves as the primary mosque, with smaller musallahs and Islamic centres in Taita (Lower Hutt) and elsewhere in the Wellington region.
In Christchurch, Masjid An-Nur at 101 Deans Avenue and the Linwood Islamic Centre are the primary sites — both rebuilt and operational with enhanced security following the 15 March 2019 terrorist attacks in which 51 people were killed. These attacks remain the defining moment in New Zealand Muslim community history, reshaping the community’s relationship with the state, its sense of physical security, and its visibility in the national consciousness.
In Dunedin, the Al-Huda Mosque run by the Otago Muslim Association serves as the southernmost significant mosque, and the Invercargill Masjid serves as New Zealand’s southernmost mosque.
Key Challenges Facing the New Zealand Muslim Community
Islamic education provision: The most persistent structural challenge. Three full-time Islamic schools serve a fraction of the Muslim school-age population. The majority of Muslim children attend state schools and rely on mosque madrasah classes — varying enormously in quality, curriculum, and management standards — for their Islamic education. There is no national madrasah curriculum framework comparable to Singapore’s MUIS-developed aLIVE programme or the UK’s Wifaq ul Ulama syllabi.
Ethnic fragmentation: The extraordinary diversity that defines New Zealand’s Muslim community is also its greatest organisational challenge. No single ethnic group’s community institutions can serve the full community. Different ethnic groups tend to attend different mosques and community centres, making coordination difficult.
Post-Christchurch trauma and security: The 2019 attacks have left lasting impacts on community mental health and on how Muslim families in New Zealand navigate public space. The September 2024 threat against Islamic schools in Auckland reactivated this collective trauma.
Political representation: New Zealand Muslims are underrepresented in parliament relative to their population share, though Member of Parliament Ibrahim Omer (Labour, 2020–2023) represented a step toward greater visibility.
Community disconnection: Research suggests that two-thirds of Australia’s Muslim community are either Australian-born or converted — a pattern likely reflected in New Zealand too — and that this majority is often underrepresented in mosques and Islamic institutions. The New Zealand Muslim community faces a similar challenge of engaging second and third-generation New Zealand-born Muslims whose relationship to community institutions is different from that of their immigrant parents.
at 