A little known fact is that the first Muslims in New Zealand were from China and worked primarily as miners. They arrived in 1868. They worked as gold diggers in the Dunstan gold fields. It is likely that they were fleeing China as a result of the Hui minorities war. It was also around this time that many Chinese Muslims migrated to Central Asia and Burma.
Hmm, that is interesting. Now I wonder if any Chinese Muslims came over to the US to work on the railroads out west in the 1860s and 70s. Any knowledge of this?
Ya Haqq!
Brother Irving. That is a very very interesting point. I had not thought about it before and I do not know about it myself but it would be interesting to check.