There are people who speak about community, and then there are people who build it with their hands, their time and their steady presence.
For more than 50 years, Zia Ahmad has been one of those people. When the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours were announced and his name appeared among the recipients of the Order of Australia Medal (OAM), many in the community felt the recognition was well deserved. It reflected a lifetime of work carried out without fanfare or personal ambition.
A conversation with Ahmad for the Chai, Chat & Community podcast quickly revealed that this was not simply a story about achievement. It was the story of a man who has spent much of his life bringing people together.
His story begins in India, where his father, Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, was a respected professor of mechanical engineering. In 1971, father and son made the decision to migrate to Australia. Their departure was delayed by the India-Pakistan war, but the family eventually arrived in Sydney later that year, ready to begin again in a country that was still adapting to multiculturalism.
At the time, the Muslim community was small. There were few of the institutions and networks that many communities rely upon today. The Ahmad family set about building a life and, in doing so, helped build a community.
Within six months, they purchased a four-bedroom home with a granny flat. The purchase was made possible through the generosity of family friend Ted Jameson, who loaned them $5,000, alongside another $5,000 loan obtained through a credit union, with the Commonwealth Bank providing the balance of the $22,000 purchase price. That granny flat would later become the first office of the Australian Islamic Mission. A simple act of generosity became the starting point for something much larger.
To understand Zia Ahmad’s outlook, it is important to understand the influence of his father. Orphaned at a young age, raised by a grandfather who lived to 103, and driven by a belief that service is a duty rather than a choice, Dr Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad shaped his son’s worldview in ways that remain evident today.
Although an engineering professor by profession, he was also a self-taught scholar who studied religions, languages and philosophy in order to understand the world directly. His motto was simple: “Do or die.” If you accepted responsibility for something, you committed yourself fully to it.
He was involved in interfaith work long before it became commonplace, visiting churches, synagogues and community groups to build relationships grounded in respect and curiosity. He received his own OAM in 2020 and passed away in 2021 at the age of 93. His legacy continues through the work his son carries forward.
The family’s publishing journey began in 1973 when Zia Ahmad and his father started producing newsletters and magazines from their granny flat. What began as a modest publication gradually expanded into a much larger undertaking.
In 1984, the family invested in one of the first Macintosh computers in Australia, a decision that placed them at the forefront of a new era in publishing. The technology enabled them to produce work that would otherwise have required equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
During the first Gulf War in 1991, Ahmad launched the Australasian Muslim Times (AMUST). From its earliest editions, the publication reflected the diversity of the community it served, publishing in English, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Persian and Bosnian.
After retiring at 60, he relaunched AMUST as a full-colour publication in 2014. Over the past 12 years, it has not missed a single issue. For Ahmad, that consistency reflects a sense of responsibility as much as editorial discipline.
One of the most remarkable aspects of his story is the family study circle that has been running continuously since 1983. For more than four decades, between 45 and 50 family members have gathered each week in a purpose-built home to learn, discuss ideas, share meals and maintain family connections.
The gatherings include Quranic lessons, discussions on family, social and political issues, Sunday school programs for children, and presentations by younger generations. Visitors from overseas have often remarked that they have never seen anything comparable.
The tradition helped keep his parents mentally active into their nineties and laid the foundation for the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair (MEFF), first held in 1985 and now in its 41st year. The extended family has grown to around 80 members from various South Asian backgrounds, united by a shared commitment to service.
“Despite disagreements,” Ahmad says, “we always come back to the table.”
His approach to interfaith work is practical rather than theoretical. He regularly attends events across different faith communities, including synagogues, and speaks openly about both Islamophobia and antisemitism. While acknowledging the challenges, he is equally keen to highlight examples of solidarity and cooperation that often receive less attention.
He encourages new migrants to engage with the wider Australian community rather than remaining within familiar cultural circles. For him, multiculturalism is not an abstract idea but something practised through everyday interactions.
He often describes Australia as “the best multicultural success story in the world”, held together by the principle of giving people a fair go.
As Editor-in-Chief of AMUST, Ahmad sees the publication as a platform that serves a broad audience. It is read by people from many faiths and backgrounds. While he is willing to criticise political leaders who divide communities, he does so with a focus on solutions rather than grievances. His attention remains fixed on what can be built.
That steady approach has become one of his defining characteristics.
A conversation with Ahmad ultimately became less about achievements and more about commitment: commitment to family, community and a country that provided opportunities for a migrant family from India to create something enduring.
“Social harmony does not happen by accident,” he said. “As migrants, we come here and put our heads down, working hard to build this nation.”
He then added: “We should work for a multicultural Australia—a nation where diversity is celebrated, service is valued, and every person feels they belong.”
For more than 50 years, Zia Ahmad has sought to put those principles into practice. The OAM recognises that contribution, but the impact of his work is perhaps best measured in the communities, institutions and relationships he has helped build along the way.
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