A new mosque in northern Tasmania is helping attract young professionals to the region

Israa Abdalla was hoping to kick start her career when she left Brisbane for regional Tasmania. But when she arrived, the 23-year-old healthcare worker found little reason to stay. “It always felt like there was something missing,” Ms Abdalla said.

“I used to go out to look for people who kind of looked like me.”

Australia’s Muslim population has almost doubled in a decade, with 813,392 devotees across the country, according to the latest census. But mosques are few and far between in regional areas like Launceston in northern Tasmania, where Ms Abdalla arrived in 2021.

“It was a very quiet life for me. I didn’t really have much to do on the weekends,” she said. “I’d go back to Brisbane a lot as well, just trying to not feel too homesick.”

Finding faith outside the big smoke

Regional areas have long struggled to attract and retain professionals, especially those with culturally diverse backgrounds. Businesses and governments have thrown money, perks and policy at the problem, but medical specialist Mostafa Saleem believes the solution may require an act of faith. Dr Saleem and his wife Mariam Eissa, an electrical engineer, love the serenity of country living but were “devastated” to discover Launceston had no mosque.

 

The burgeoning Muslim population was squeezing into a small prayer room at the University of Tasmania so Dr Saleem and other Muslims decided to do something about it. Community members spent years fundraising for their own mosque, a dream that came true when “Masjid” officially opened in March.

“It felt like there was no place, ‘no you don’t belong anywhere’ to suddenly finding home, finding a place that you belong to.

“That’s how big of a step that was,” Dr Saleem said. “And it’s providing a brilliant service to the local Muslim community, not just in Launceston but throughout the island.” Dr Saleem said “a large number of people” had packed up and left the region before the mosque opened.

“In fact, at some stage, we were contemplating something like that. “But now we’re very committed and I know a lot of people who are also changed their minds.”

Reasons to stay in the region

The mosque also gave Ms Abdalla a reason to lay down roots in the regions: it’s where she met her husband. “I didn’t think I’d stay more than two years. I’m hoping to stay for a long time now,” she said. “We spend the weekend pretty much at the mosque Friday, Saturday, Sunday, teaching children, learning ourselves and having prayers together.”

 

While the mosque is helping to stop the “brain drain” from regional areas, it is also attracting a new generation of migrants. It is one of the reasons why education student Nur Athirah felt comfortable leaving the bustling streets of Melbourne to live in Launceston with her husband.

“That gave me peace of mind knowing that I was coming here and there was already a Muslim community,” Ms Athirah said. “When you share the same religion as someone, you can do prayers together, you can have events together, such as Eid. That’s a really important event for us.”

 

And for her husband Muhammad, the mosque has been good for faith and friendship. “I’m an introvert, rather than my wife who is an extrovert,” he said. “But the Muslim community is very open and very gentle and welcoming in that sense.”