Islam in Australia

Islam is the second-largest religion in Australia. The majority of Muslims in Australia are Sunni, with significant minorities belonging to the Shia denomination. There are also practitioners of other smaller denominations of Islam such as Ibadi Muslim Australians of Omani descent, and approximately 20,000 Druze Australians. Islam has been in Australia since the 1700s when Makassar traders were long-term visitors to Arnhem land (now Northern Territory) The Australian Muslim community has traditional sectarian divisions and is also extremely diverse racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically. Different Muslim groups also espouse parallel non-religious ethnic identities with related non-Muslim counterparts, either within Australia or abroad.Indonesian Muslims trepangers from the southwest corner of Sulawesi visited the coast of northern Australia, "from at least the eighteenth century" to collect and process trepang, a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary and medicinal values in Chinese markets. Remnants of their influence can be seen in the culture of some of the northern Aboriginal peoples. A dance among the Warramiri people refers to a dreamtime creational being given the name, Walitha walitha (God, the exalted)