About 4000 of New Zealand’s 37,000 Muslims have Pakeha or Maori heritage. TASHA BLACK talks to five Wellingtonians about converting to Islam:

URBAN PRAYER: Mousa Taher (left) and Matt Howell at prayer in Civic Square in Wellington.

WAYNE Thomson was in the bathtub reading Islam for Dummies when he decided to become a Muslim.

His life would never be the same again.

The Wellington 25-year-old would have to devote himself to Allah: pray five times a day, change his style of dress, grow a beard, abstain from alcohol and alter his diet.

His relationships with the opposite sex would also change.

To most people this sounds like a lot of hard work – no more boozy Saturday nights, no more sausages on the barbeque. But for Wayne and other young converts, the journey makes sense despite their Kiwi upbringing.

Born and bred in New Zealand, Wayne 25 – who now goes by the name Hamza (he says being called “Wayne” in the mosque is a bit funny) – was introduced to Islam at university by a Muslim girl.

If he wanted to have a relationship with her he would have to convert to Islam.

After reading Islam for Dummies he says he was shocked by how normal it seemed: “It felt like a correction of what I learned in Catholic school as a child.”

KIWI CONVERTS: From left: Mousa Taher, Matt Howell, Grant Morgan and his son Tareq John Morgan.

In the 2006 census, there were roughly 4000 New Zealand-born Muslims who identified as Pakeha or Maori, according to the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ.

Hamza and his friends, Michael Dickson, Mousa Taher, Grant Morgan and Matt Howell, are five Wellingtonians who all converted to Islam.

When you first meet them you’re not quite sure what to expect, especially when they’re dressed in traditional Muslim gear but they still bandy about “sweet as” and “choice bro”.

So why are they Muslims?

Like Wayne (Hamza), Michael Dickson was raised as a Catholic, but rejected it when he was a teenager: “I said to hell with all of it.”

Michael, who has just completed a diploma in animation and digital video, started binge drinking in his young adult years and soon became the biggest drinker in his circle of friends.

When he was 21 he met a Kiwi man who taught him about different religions, but it was Islam that made the most sense to him.

Mousa Taher, 22, felt the same way. He was also unfulfilled by binge drinking and convinced there must be a God he did some extensive research and soul searching and concluded Allah was it.

“Islam was the only religion that answered all my questions,” he says as he answers a text message. “I couldn’t get that from any other religion, or any other way of life, or any other drug.”

Mousa has been accepted on a scholarship to study Islamic Studies at a university in Saudi Arabia.

Matt Howell, 25 (pictured, left) is the most laidback of the Kiwi Muslim friends, but when asked why he chose to become a Muslim, he takes a deep breath in and lets out a long sigh.

Mousa jumps in and says it’s hard to convey a life story into a few condensed sentences.

Matt hunches over in his hoodie and tells his story.

Many factors contributed to his conversion, but a significant one was a Cambodian boy he became close friends with at intermediate school. Matt didn’t initially realise his friend was Muslim.

As their friendship grew, Matt would often stay the night at his friend’s house and the next morning go to the mosque with him. Months merged into years of listening and learning about Islam.

One afternoon at a barbeque with friends, when most Kiwis are concerned with burning the sausages, Matt had a feeling the time was right to embrace Islam. “I felt some kind of peace in the atmosphere,” he says.

Next day, Matt said the Shahadah, a declaration of his belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as the prophet.

Mousa says there are 10 places of Islamic worship in Wellington, including one official mosque in Kilbirnie. Those who attend can trace their origins to more than 40 countries and include Kiwi-born Muslims, refugees, immigrants and international students.

Three Kiwis converted to Islam at the Kilbirnie Mosque during Islam awareness week in August.

It took Grant Morgan five years to settle on Islam. He read about famous converts, including Malcolm X and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), as well as meeting other Muslims, who were the final catalyst to his conversion.

So what do mum and dad say when you tell them you’re going to be a Muslim?

Grant, who studies film, says his family are okay about it as long as he doesn’t talk about it too much.

“They unfortunately have a mindset of Muslims portrayed through media eyes. My friends have no problem. We don’t mix for drinks at the pub any more, but we are still tight.”

MODERN MOSQUE: Kilbirnie Mosque centre where Muslims and friends gather, eat, pray.

Wayne says his mum would go on and on about women wearing headscarves, while his dad was shocked and reserved, but ultimately they trusted in his judgement.

Matt says his family knows what they need to know and are not really interested in finding out more.

He says most people don’t find it a big deal, but often get caught up on the little things, like not being able to eat chicken nuggets, so miss the bigger picture.

Mousa says his family has been supportive and one relative has since become a Muslim.

He adds enthusiastically that Muslims make good citizens and ideal tenants: “We don’t drink, we don’t do drugs, we don’t have parties and we don’t wreck the carpet.”

Mousa: Islam is not hard, fast and strict. People can take their time converting. You don’t have to give up alcohol and pray five times a day, over-night.

Grant: Muslims are often misrepresented by the media. People need to look at Islam from its origins and not the current state media infested views.

Mousa: It’s a joke and the media is making money out of fear.

Michael agrees and says if it wasn’t so disappointing it would almost be laughable. He encourages people to check their facts when they read something in the newspaper about Muslims. “Try and cross reference it with Muslims you know or are in your area.”

Matt, who is between jobs, appears almost oblivious. He doesn’t follow the news and isn’t fazed by such things. “Once, 60 Minutes interviewed me, but they cut the whole thing. They just didn’t like what I had to say, I guess.”

Matt recalls an incident outside a pie shop in Kilbirnie when guys in a car shouted at him to “go back to where you came from!”

The others nod and describe similar experiences. But they agree New Zealand is a mostly tolerant country and they don’t let these incidents taint their views. The people who shout out are the kind of people who would harass anyone who was slightly different, says Matt.

Mousa appears the most concerned about how Muslims in Wellington are portrayed. He says  something about Islam being the truth, and then looks concerned: “Don’t make that the intro.”

Later, when they are all talking, he warns one of his friends against saying something. Mousa has studied journalism and knows how journalists latch on to juicy comments. He’s trying to avoid another article about headscarves, bombs and the oppression of women. As if to secure his point, he emphasises how his wife makes a lot of the decisions.

Mousa, for all his polite yet opinionated commentary, lets down his serious side and laughs: “We are not that different. We still love barbeques, we still love rugby and we still don’t like the Aussies. I thank God for being in New Zealand. It’s our home, we were born here.”