Australian Muslims Given the Real Face Via Social Media Campaign
The aim is to give everyday Aussie Muslims a voice whilst simultaneously lending some insight into this all too often ‘othered’ group.
What is Australian Muslim Faces?
Australian Muslim Faces is a Facebook page that gives the wider Australian community (and beyond for that matter) a window in on members of our own community. It is a chance for us to have a voice when no one else is willing to let us. We show Australian Muslims from all walks of life, Sunni or Shia, all ethnicities and from the least practicing to the most practicing and everything in between.
The point is that we are all different and not just one, homogenous lump – just like anyone else in this country.
The moment we can stop Muslims appearing as this media spawned binary (moderate/exteme Muslim), the sooner Islamophobia loses its power. Islam is not a race, yet we are treated with all the bile that racists can throw at us as if we were. Australia Muslim faces is about showing us off for who we are, not what other people think we are.
Who is behind it and why did you start it?
It was started by my wife, Rafa, though of late, we both put in the hard yards to keep it afloat. Rafa saw another Australian ‘faces’ page, and, tracking through it, she didn’t find a single person of colour. Not one. So she started her own page to fill that gap.
And then the notorious terror raids happened late last year. The media latched on to AMF because it was felt that we were ‘moderates’ and we were splashed across the Daily Telegraph and various other tv and print outlets. However, rather than the binary simply being perpetuated, visitors to our page began to grasp the fact that the Australian Muslim community was almost as diverse as the mainstream. We were in pictures that showed us on our terms and saying things that were on our terms.
The timing was right. The terror raids didn’t come from nowhere, and a strongly anti-Muslim sentiment had been building for some time. The comments on the wall of the police as the raids were going on illustrated this perfectly. It wasn’t the vile, horrible comments that made my wife feel ill. It wasn’t the fact that the police left most of them up, unhindered. It was the fact that these people felt comfortable enough to openly leave such hatred on the wall of the institution that was there to protect all of us.
The irony of the raids was that a ground swell of solidarity from the wider community manifested under the pictures of our Australian Muslim Faces and is still there today.
What has the response been like from Muslims and Non Muslims? (The good, bad and ugly)
There have of course been trolls. But we had a zero-tolerance policy to those sorts of comments! We’ve had some trolls come around however. When the person in the picture is able to respond, and the troll is effectively face to face with their own ignorance – we’ve seen some genuine change.
That said, there’s been plenty of non-Muslims who have absolutely loved the page from the start and are commenting at every opportunity. There are some lovely folk who have become our friends in real life thanks to this page, again, both Muslim and non-Muslim. It has been a great chance to destroy misconceptions without diluting the genuine differences.
A second and unforeseen role for AMF came from the comments left by non-Muslims. When the media and politicians and the loud voices of Islamophobes are going off, it’s easy for us to feel isolated and that the whole world is against you. But these messages gave us a chance to see that the quiet, ordinary voices of real Australians ALSO needed represented. It was so heartening to see the wonderful messages of support and understanding.
Muslims too have been really supportive. The diversity in our community has come as a surprise even to us.
What are the three most memorable profiles and why? (Tell me the most popular, most interesting and one you guys personally found most memorable).
The most popular picture was Kon from Melbourne. It was shared about 550 times and got almost 5,300 likes. It got shared on some pretty anti-Muslim spaces too, sparking lots of very interesting conversations.
The most interesting for me would probably have been some of the insights what it must be like for a niqaabi. Sara from NSW was our first and whilst some of the comments initially posted under her picture were themselves confronting, for many non-Muslims and Muslims alike, this was the first time they had ever heard the words of a niqaabi through anything other than a newspaper.
The most memorable for me would have to be the sister who was raising her child Muslim despite not being Muslim herself. She originally posted up her daughter who wanted to have her picture on Facebook. The messages of support and of respect for this woman were so inspirational to her that shortly after the New Year, Camille became Muslim herself, alhamdulilah. To have played even a small part in her journey was humbling and very moving.
Source: Muslim Village
