Among the first muslim in Otago region were the Chinese immigrant in the late 1800. In the 1874 government census reported 15 Chinese gold diggers working in the Dunstan gold fields of Otago in the 1870s. By 1995, the number of Muslim families permanently residing in Dunedin and the number of overseas students had grown rapidly and there was a need to establish a mosque in Dunedin. The Otago Muslim Association Incorporated (OMA) was thus established in that year with the aim of catering for the needs of Muslims in the city of Dunedin and the provincial regions of Otago and Southland.