The Albanian Mosque
The Albanian mosque was the first mosque built in Victoria. The first stone was laid in 1956 by Myrteza Adem and R. Sherif Islam, with the building opening in 1960. The mosque remains one of Shepparton’s most important buildings. It is an integral part of our migrant and social heritage and is frequently visited by Muslims of all cultural backgrounds.
2015 has seen some substantial upgrades to the mosque, including new front and back fencing, new garden beds, exterior painting, and installation of an automatic sprinkler system. These upgrades were made possible thanks to generous donations from their community members.
The local Albanian Community has well integrated with the wider community and there are no significant issues.
History and Use of the Shepparton Mosque
The Acacia Street mosque remains an important part of the cityscape of Shepparton and an integral element in the heritage of the region. It holds considerable importance to the history of Victoria as the oldest purpose built mosque in the state.
Although the mosque is historically linked to the Albanian community, and to the present is managed by the Shepparton Albanian Moslem Society, the congregation come from many different national and cultural backgrounds. The multicultural nature of the mosque along with its spirit of unity and harmony, reflect the wider Shepparton community with its history of successful integration of different migrant groups.
Although the present structure dates to the 1950s, the Albanian community had been worshipping in Shepparton, mostly on rented premises, since at least the 1930s.
Albanians began arriving in the Goulburn Valley in the late 1920s and were attracted to the opportunities for work offered in the orchards along the irrigation canals. Almost all of these migrants were from the Korçë district in Southern Albanian, and to this day the community maintains a strong connection with their region of origin.
While the first Albanian migrants were mostly Muslim, they initially saw no purpose in building a mosque of their own since they saw their time in Australia as temporary. These migrants were participating in an Albanian practice called kurbet, a type of migration where a man would travel abroad for a few years, work and save money, before returning permanently to his home village in Albania.
However, the Second World War and the Communist takeover of Albania after the war made returning home too dangerous. For this reason, after the end of the war, the community decided to build a mosque of their own, reflecting their decision to make Shepparton their permanent home.
The Albanian community had been strengthened by new blood as Albanian refugees from the war arrived in Australia. In 1955, the community formed the Shepparton Albanian Moslem Society and in 1956, the foundation stone for the mosque was laid by Myrteza Adem and R. Sherif Islam. At the time, the Acacia Street site consisted of paddocks well beyond the residential limits of the city of Shepparton.
The mosque was built by the community mostly through donated labour, equipment and financial resources, and officially opened in 1960. The consecration ceremony for the mosque was attended by several dignitaries, including the Ambassador of Indonesia, who drove down from Canberra especially to attend.
In addition to fulfilling a religious function, the mosque operated as a community centre for the Albanian community during the post-war period as a location for culture and language transmission. The mosque also represented the community’s integration into Australia while maintaining pride in their Albanian cultural heritage. Finally, as Albania and Australia found themselves on ideologically opposite sides during the Cold War, the mosque also symbolically represented the community’s rejection of communism and support for Australia’s values of pluralism and democracy.
The majority of Albanians in Shepparton were Muslim and the mosque is aligned with Sunni Islam.
However, many of the first migrants adhered to the minority Bektashi sect, meaning that the mosque has always been accepting of religious diversity since its early history. This continues to the present where the mosque’s congregation come from a range of different traditions within the Islamic faith.
The religious duties of the mosque were mostly fulfilled by community members until 1982, when Eljam Bardi arrived as the imam of the mosque. An Albanian native of Kosovo, Imam Bardi received his religious training at the esteemed and ancient Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.
In the early 1980s, when Imam Bardi arrived, the congregation was small and mostly made up of Albanian migrants. Over the years, the congregation has grown exponentially. By 2019, the attendance at Friday prayers is so great that the congregation fills the mosque to the point where many are forced to prayer outside.
The sermons are preached in both English and Arabic to maintain the religious traditions while also making the service accessible to people of different backgrounds.
Shepparton has always been a multicultural community, and in recent years, arrivals from several different countries have joined the congregation at the Shepparton mosque. Today, the majority of the congregation come from non-Albanian backgrounds, and at present, it is estimated that 70% of those who attend Friday prayers are from non-Albanian backgrounds. Although three other mosques exist in the city, the Albanian mosque remains the most popular, signifying its historical and contemporary importance to Shepparton.
Structurally, the mosque has undergone several changes over the years, again through donations by community members. This has included new front and back fencing, new garden beds, exterior painting, and the installation of an automatic sprinkler system. These upgrades were made possible thanks to generous donations from our community members. In the future the community hopes to develop the site to include a BBQ area, a larger car park to match the growth in the congregation, the rendering of the walls of the most and potentially an extension.
The mosque continues to function as a place of worship as well as place for members of the community to seek consultation, guidance and friendship. The mosque community is built on the principles of unity and respect for one another, and it is these positive values that they wish to maintain for the future.
Author: James Barry, PhD
Research Fellow Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation Deakin University
Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC 3220 +61 3 92443922 http://www.deakin.edu.au/james-barry