Being a Kiwi and a Muslim
Published in The Dominion Post Newspaper, March 9 2006
The message on Laiq Syed's answerphone starts with "kia ora". He is a New
Zealander and he is a Muslim.
In fact, he calls himself a "Muslim Kiwi".
The Upper Hutt consultant arrived in Wellington 20 years ago, when just 50
people attended Friday prayers at his local masjid. Now the Muslim community
has 3000 members.
After the recent controversy over the publication of Danish cartoons
depicting the Prophet Mohammed, he wants his fellow Kiwis to know that Islam
teaches tolerance.
"My one message for New Zealanders, when they see people do not put them
down, do not think they are refugees or whatever, because we have a lot of
highly qualified people - doctors, PhDs, professors - who bring talent and
skills and are very quietly contributing."
Reproduced with permission of the Editor of The Dominion Post.
Copyright © The Dominion Post 2006.
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