Pride and prejudice: Being a Muslim in Ireland
WHILE he speaks with a smile, Ali Selim is clearly fed up of reporters constantly saying the words “Muslim” and “radicals” in the same sentence.
“It is very unfortunate that when people talk about radicalism they always think about Muslims and even worse when they talk about integration they also think of Muslims,” said Mr Selim, a senior figure in the Muslim community in Ireland.
“We tend to use the word “we” and “they” and it is a very divisive term, but it is commonly used. What about the Muslims that have been born and brought up in this country? Under which category would you include them?”
And with that he cuts to the heart of issues discussed at two recent high-profile international gatherings, both of which took place in Dublin within days of each other.
They are also issues that have been highlighted in the wake of the horrific events in Norway, perpetrated by a man who advocated war on Islam and Muslim immigration.
This is against the background of a significant expansion, albeit from a small base, in the Muslim population in Ireland — now standing at roughly 50,000, some 15,000 of whom are Irish citizens.
Later this year, construction will begin in Cork on a massive mosque, capable of holding 1,000 worshippers. It will be second in size only to the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in Clonskeagh, Dublin.
At a glitzy three-day international conference sponsored by internet giant Google, there were warnings about the need to integrate Muslims into society to avoid the experience in other European countries, including Britain.
A British Muslim cleric and academic told the Summit Against Violent Extremism that a controversial Muslim leader was due in Dublin to address a separate five-day gathering of Muslim scholars and clerics at the Clonskeagh centre.
Usama Hasan said this leader — Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi — had attracted considerable controversy, mostly due to his views on suicide bombings, homosexuality and other issues including rape and domestic violence.
He said the Egyptian cleric was “massively influential” and was the head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, an Islamic theological body based in Dublin.
The conferences were held against a dramatic international backdrop, including the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the ban on full-face veils in France and similar moves in other EU countries, the acquittal of Dutch politician Geert Wilders for hate crimes against Muslims and calls from the British prime minister David Cameron for Muslims to embrace British values.
Since the conferences, there has been the massacre in Norway of 77 people by far-right Christian fanatic Anders Behring Breivik.
The twin attacks, initially blamed on Islamic terrorists by some newspapers abroad, were part of Breivik’s revolution against “multiculturalism” and what he saw as the growing threat of radical Islam.
In a 1,500 page manifesto, he outlined plans for a “pre-emptive war waged to repel, defeat or weaken an ongoing Islamic invasion/colonisation”.
In his manifesto, Breivik praised Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party, whose aggressive anti-Muslim policies have made it the third largest party in the Netherlands and a partner in government.
Speaking on BBC’s Newsnight last week, the leader of the English Defence League — with whom Breivik had been in contact — spoke of the “threat” from Islam.
Stephen Lennon said the Norway massacres were a “wake-up call” and chillingly warned the same could happen in Britain in five to 10 years.
All these issues were discussed at length at the conferences in Ireland. Speaking at the extreme violence summit, the head of a counter-terrorism think-tank in London and a former Islamic militant said Ireland should actively integrate Muslims into society and learn the lessons from Britain.
Maajid Nawaz, executive director of the Quilliam Foundation and an ex-member of the Islamic revolutionary party Hizb ut-Tahir, said a central issue for Ireland to grapple with was identity.
“One of the key issues is to do with identity. For example, is being Irish an ethnicity or nationality? If we can’t fix these questions what we are going to end up with is having people we don’t believe belonging to our group. Therefore, of course they will develop a sub-culture.”
Mr Nawaz said if you live in the US you’re an American: “In Germany, they [Muslims] called themselves Turks, not Germans, and the Germans call them Turks, so, on both sides, there’s almost a willing intellectual and community ghettoisation.
“If I was born in Ireland and said I was Irish, how would that be perceived?”
Mr Nawaz said Irish society should also address the grievances of Muslims, “real or perceived”. He said: “Some are not real, but perceived, but are real enough to cause anger.”
Mr Nawaz said the propaganda of Islamic extremists “needs to be countered”.
He said: “Counter-narratives, as I would call it, need to be developed. It’s not propaganda but debunking the myths from extremists”.
He said Muslim groups were “not doing enough” in this regard.
Lastly, Mr Nawaz said the influence of charismatic individuals had to be targeted, including by recruiting rival charismatic people.
“Human contact at the end of the day is what it comes down to. You can hear all the propaganda you want, but unless you are impressed by a leader or individual in the community or on the net that you’ve seen that’s what tips someone over to violence. We need to develop those leaders for counter narratives.”
Speaking at the same conference, Usama Hasan, an Imam and senior lecturer at Middlesex University, called on the Irish state to enter into dialogue with “all the various possible Muslim communities”.
Also a former militant, Mr Hasan said contact should be made with more than just the established leaders. “They should also empower Muslim women, one of the least empowered sections of society, and that’s not right. They are Irish citizens as well,” he said.
During his address, Mr Hasan noted the impending presence in Ireland of Sheikh al-Qaradawi, who he described as a “fundamentalist”, albeit a “progressive fundamentalist”.
He said the sheikh was “massively influential and probably the number one scholar in the Arab world” and that the European Council for Fatwa and Research was a “very influential body”.
Mr Hasan said the sheikh was banned from several countries, including the US and Britain, because of his views on suicide bombings in Israel and homosexuality.
The sheikh, aged 84, has been quoted as saying that Israeli women, including pregnant women, are legitimate targets for suicide bombings in Palestine and Israel.
“He came to London and the [then] mayor Ken Livingston welcomed him to city hall,” said Mr Hasan.
“I was there and the sheikh repeated his fatwa about killing women and children and he said ‘Israeli women are not like our women. Israel is a militarised society, all young people do military service, therefore they are legitimate targets’.”
He said Sheikh al-Qaradawi was also very anti-gay and that led to him being banned in Britain. The sheikh has publicly said that homosexuality should be punishable by death. He has also made controversial remarks about rape and domestic violence.
Mr Hasan said the sheikh was progressive on aspects of human rights, including the education and employment of women, dialogue with the West and promoting democracy. Sheikh al-Qaradawi also criticised the September 11 attacks.
“It’s very complex [to assess him],” said Mr Hasan. “He’s a traditionalist, very conservative background, also very clever. Within his circle he’s very progressive, — that’s within his circle. I would still say he’s a fundamentalist, but a progressive fundamentalist, better than some.”
The European Council for Fatwa and Research was in the spotlight last April after diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Dublin to the White House were leaked by WikiLeaks. The cables cited unnamed sources as claiming that the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland was answerable to Sheikh al-Qaradawi, which it rejected.
When the Irish Examiner sought an interview with Sheikh al-Qaradawi, we were told he hadn’t been able to travel due to ill health. In an interview, Ali Selim, a senior staff member at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, quickly dealt with comments about the sheikh.
“People always bring to attention these couple of issues, but in fact they forget he was the first Muslim scholar to condemn the 11 September attacks. To be honest I am not defending him, but I have seen a lot from this man. He is against all kinds of terrorism.”
As Mr Selim talks about the sheikh’s intolerant views on homosexuality, a woman is seen protesting at the centre’s gates, holding a placard saying “homosexuals are not criminals”.
Responding, Mr Selim said: “Regardless of the Islamic attitude to homosexuality, this country allows homosexuality. People who practice it here are not criminalised. So what’s the point of the question”.
What about Irish Muslims who are gay? “If I don’t pray, what can they do, exclude me from the community? They cannot do that. We have no excommunication. They can’t stop me from going to the mosque.”
In weighing up Sheikh al-Qaradawi, Mr Selim said people should look at the totality of his views: “When Ireland allowed the use of Shannon Airport [by the US military], the media were saying the Muslims might do this or do that. I said the use of Shannon Airport is something I cannot agree with, I think it is a big mistake.
“However, if you look at the Irish policy, you cannot judge it from the use of Shannon Airport, you have to look at the whole hair of an ox, you can’t just say there is one black hair. Sheikh al-Qaradawi, yes, he has these views. On the other hand he has these excellent views no one talks about.”
The imam at the mosque, Sheikh Hussein Muhammad Halawa, is secretary general of the European Council for Fatwa and Research and was busy when we visited during the conference.With little English, he spoke through an interpreter.
He said the council discussed many issues, including the co-existence of Muslims in Europe.
“There are so many issues that affect Muslims in Europe: educational, economic, religious and also some issues of integration,” he said. “Ireland could be the best European place where Muslims can exist.
“In Ireland, Muslims can integrate without loosing their Muslim identity. You can see in other countries, for Muslims to integrate, for Muslim ladies they have to take off their hijab and for Muslim boys to integrate they have to assimilate into society and adopt the lifestyle of having a girlfriend, which is not accepted in Islam.”
Resplendent in religious attire and sitting at an imposing desk, covered with mounds of folders and in front of a massive floor-to-ceiling book cabinet, the sheikh cuts a serious figure.
He said the behaviour of a young Muslim boy or girl should be established on the foundations of showing respect to others and freedom.
“I start with children at a very young age. I teach my children and bring them up according to our values. I don’t like others to impose their values on our children. I bring up my children, educating them that they should not drink alcohol, they should not take drugs.”
He said there are channels of communication with the Government and state agencies. He said they have dealt with schools individually regarding pupils who wear the hijab (which covers the head, but not the face).
“In cases [where] a girl has gone in with a hijab and in individual cases [that is] objected to — it happens if the first Muslim girl goes to school — the principal of the school does not understand the hijab. They might think it is a religious symbol. It is not, it is a religious obligation. When we explain that they understand and allowed it.”
Commenting on the ban in France in April on the niqab and burqa (which cover the face), the imam said: “The big difference between the hijab and the nicab is that covering the head is an Islamic obligation. We do not accept for anybody to prevent or ban it anywhere. If a woman chooses to wear it she is fulfilling the Islamic obligations, if she doesn’t want to wear it, she doesn’t wear it and she takes responsibility for that in front of god.
“The niqab falls within the individual freedom. If they choose to wear it they should be allowed to wear it.”
He said he would prefer dealing with schools on an individual basis rather than the Department of Education drawing up a policy on it for all schools.
On the threat posed by extremism in the community, Sheikh Halawa does not see any problem: “From an Islamic point of view, Islam condemns all forms of extremism. If the question is ‘are there radicalists’, radicalism you can see in members of all faiths and all philosophies, but for Muslims here in Ireland it is very limited to the extent that it cannot be mentioned.”
Mr Selim takes up the question with gusto: “If a Muslim perpetrates a crime, criticism is not directed at the person, but directed to all Muslims — 1.6 billion Muslims. How fair is it for you to stigmatise all of us because one Muslim commits a crime?
He said the alleged plot by a group of Muslims in Ireland to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who drew an offensive cartoon of the prophet Muhammad, was the only suspected terrorist incident to date involving Ireland.
Seven Muslim people were arrested in Waterford and Cork in March 2010 after a US-Irish operation. Two US citizens were extradited and pleaded guilty to terrorism offences. “Muslims came to Ireland in the early 50s, so we are talking about 60 years of Muslim residence here, only that event and that event has not been proved,” said Mr Selim.
“We don’t have to worry in Ireland. Ireland attitudes towards Muslim issues outside Ireland is very encouraging for positive relations between the Muslim community and Ireland.
“If somebody does something bad it will spread, everyone will know about it. People are very much worried, they don’t want to be stigmatised.”
While interaction and dialogue with the Muslim community are at a low level in Ireland, some efforts are being made.
In Cork last month, a Christian body, Cois Tine, held an inter-religious discussion with local Muslims, including the imam.
“In the past, Muslims were seen as outsiders,” said Gerry Forde of Cois Tine. “Now this has changed. Muslims are Irish citizens. Muslims are our neighbours, people we work with — a permanent part of our community.”
He added: “Interaction and communication between Muslims and Christians should be encouraged and facilitated on all levels,” including, he said, through forums, open days, social events and sport.
“Most important is the promotion of respect and understanding between Muslim and Christian neighbours in local streets and residential areas. Members of both faiths need to come to know each other personally.”
Mr Selim, who is doing a PhD in Trinity College entitled An Islamic Theory of Co-Existence, is concerned at developments across the EU, including the bans in France.
“What is happening in France is very serious. If it happens in one [EU] country it might move to another country.
“You can see it like this: if you are sitting in a swimming pool and you have a ball in your hand, if you keep pushing that ball into the water, you can push it for some time, but maybe at some stage that ball will escape your hands and if it escapes your hand, it will bang your face.
“But if you leave the ball floating on the surface the ball will never cause you any harm. The more people feel at home, the better it will be for the entire society.
“Why should you deprive Muslims of a religious practice? Is it dangerous, is it noisy? Then why do you take such a decision? This is a time-bomb you’ve created.”
Mr Selim makes a final plea: “Ireland, if it is not the home of all the Muslim people living in Ireland, I can tell you it is the home of Muslim children, who have been born and brought up here.
“There is only one layer of Irish citizenship and of creating a first-class citizen and a second- class citizen is a very serious thing to do. We are building for the future of your children and my children. What you are doing today will not affect you but affect your children, but my children as well. It is our duty to make the future of our children as beautiful as we can.”
