Islam in Ireland

The documented history of Islam in Ireland dates to the 1950s. The number of Muslims in Ireland has increased since the 1990s,[1] mostly through immigration. The 2011 ROI census found 49,204 Muslims in the Republic of Ireland, constituting 1.07% of that state's population and at the time of the 2001 UK Census there were 1,943 living in Northern Ireland.[2]

History

The earliest mention of Ireland in Muslim sources originates in the works of Al-Idrisi in his famous Tabula Rogeriana mentioned Irlandah-al-Kabirah (Great Ireland).[3]

On 20 June 1631 a North African pirate ship captained by Jan Janszoon (Murad Reis) sailed into Roaring Water Bay in West Cork and raided coastal village of Baltimore. A crew of slave traders roused the villagers from their beds, slaughtered anyone who resisted, and herded 107 people into the hold of their waiting ship. Men, women and children were taken, even down to babies in the cradle. The villagers were sold into a life of slavery in the Ottoman Empire.[4]

In 1845 Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid declared his intention to send £1,000 along with three ships full of food to the Irish people. According to Abdullah Aymaz in an article in The Fountain magazine, the British administration tried to block the ships, but the food arrived secretly at Drogheda harbor and was left there by Ottoman sailors.[5][6] Shipping records relating to the port appear not to have survived. Newspaper reports suggest that ships from Thessaloniki in the Ottoman Empire sailed up the River Boyne in May 1847,[7] although it has also been claimed that the river was dry at the time. A letter in the Ottoman archives of Turkey, written by prominent Irishmen, explicitly thanks the Sultan for his help.[8]

The organisational history of Islam in Ireland is complex, not least because of the immense variety of ethnic backgrounds of Irish Muslims.[9] The first Islamic Society in Ireland was established in 1959. It was formed by students studying in Ireland and was called the Dublin Islamic Society (later called the Islamic Foundation of Ireland).[10] At that time there was no mosque in Dublin. The students used their homes and later rented halls for Jum'ah (Friday) and Eid (Muslim holiday) prayers. In 1976 the first mosque and Islamic Centre in Ireland was opened in a four-storey building at 7 Harrington Street, Dublin 8[citation needed]. Among those who contributed to the cost of the Mosque and Islamic Centre was the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. In 1981 the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs of Kuwait sponsored a full-time Imam for the Mosque.[citation needed]

In 1983, the present building of the Dublin Mosque and Islamic Centre was bought, renovated and the headquarters of the Society moved from Harrington Street to 163 South Circular Road, Dublin 8.[citation needed]

In Cork, prayer halls are located in housing estates. Cork's Muslim community operates out of an industrial estate, while hoping to raise money to build a new mosque.[11]

In 1992, Moosajee Bhamjee became the first (and to date only) Muslim Teachta Dála (Member of Irish Parliament).[12]

Demography and ethnic background

According to the 2011 Irish census, there are 49,204 Muslims living in the Republic of Ireland,[13] representing a 51% increase over the figures for the 2006 census. According to the 2006 Irish census, there were 32,539 Muslims living in the Republic of Ireland,[14] representing a 69% increase over the figures for the 2002 census (19,147). In 1991, the number of Muslims was below 4,000 (3,873).[15] Islam is a minority religion in Ireland, behind Roman Catholicism and members of the Church of Ireland (incl. Protestants. The 2006 census recorded the number of Roman Catholics at 3,644,965, with 118,948 Protestants.[16] In terms of numbers, Islam in Ireland is relatively insignificant, and although Muslims can claim to be the third largest faith group in Ireland[1] they also lagged significantly behind those with no religion, at 175,252, and those who did not state a religion, at 66,750.

According to the 2001 census, there are 1,943 Muslims (1,164 males 779 females) in Northern Ireland.[17]

The Muslim community in Ireland is diverse and growing rapidly, and its numbers are not determined by the country's history to the same extent as the UK and France, where the majority of Muslims are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from former colonies, or Germany and Austria, where the majority of Muslims are Turkish migrant workers and their descendants. Just over 55 per cent of Muslims were either Asian or African nationals with 30.7 per cent having Irish nationality.[16] The census also revealed that of the 31,779 Muslims resident in Ireland at the time of the census, 9,761 were Irish nationals, less than the number of Asians (10,649) although more than the 6,909 African nationals. The census of 2011 found there were 49,204 Muslims in Ireland, "a sharp rise on five years previously".[18] The Muslim immigration at the end of the 90s was caused by the Irish economic boom and asylum seekers from diverse Muslim countries, and in the 20-year period between 1991 and 2011 the Muslim population increased 1000%, from 0.1% to 1.1% of the population of the republic.[18]

Mosques and denominations

In 2003, the Islamic Cultural Centre and Foras na Gaeilge joined forces to plan translate the Koran into Irish for the first time.[19]

In September 2006 an umbrella organisation, the Irish Council of Imams, was established. It represents 14 imams in Ireland, of both the Sunni and Shia traditions. It is chaired by Imam Hussein Halawa (Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland) and its deputy chairman is Imam Yahya Al-Hussein (Islamic Foundation of Ireland). Imam Dr. Umar Al-Qadri (Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Dublin 15), Imam Salem (Cork Mosque), Imam Khaled (Galway Mosque) and Imam Ismael Khotwal (Blackpits Mosque) are among its founding members.

Sunni

• Belfast Islamic Centre [Established in 1977][20]
• Northern Ireland Muslim Family Association.[21]
• Bangladesh Islamic Community Centre (Corporation South, Belfast)[22][23]
• the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland [3] in Clonskeagh, Dublin. Imam: Hussein Halawa;
• the Dublin Mosque (run by the Islamic Foundation of Ireland [4]) on the South Circular Road. Imam: Yayha Al Hussein;
• Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre, Dublin 15 :Imam: Dr. Umar Al-Qadri
• Muslim Association Forum, Ireland, situated at the Islamic Foundation of Ireland [5]) in Dublin and established since 1999, and acquired Charity status in 2001, as a melting pot for Muslims from African background to teach and share Islamic knowledge.
• Muslim Association of Ireland [6] Executive Director: Dr. Khaled Suliman
• Turkish Irish Educational and Cultural Society Fethullah Gulen in Dublin, established in 2004[24]
• Ballyhaunis Mosque, Co. Mayo was built in 1987, making it the first purpose-built Mosque in Ireland. It is a small mosque, which accommodates about one hundred and fifty worshippers. It was built by a Muslim businessman called Sher Rafique who used to own a Halal meat factory there.[25]

Muslim students in universities

There are several student Islamic societies (ISOC) in universities all across Ireland especially in the major universities such as UCD, TCD, UCC, NUIG, ISSNI Queen's Belfast, RCSI, DCU, Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Tralee, IT Tallaght, IT Blanchardstown, DBS.[28]

Yearly events include regular (weekly halaqas & linguistic classes), social (Food festivals), cultural (Eid), Charity drives (Charity week), physical (sports), Academic (speakers tours, lectures, courses, conferences & seminars), Intellectual (debates) and campaigns (Islam awareness & justice)

The Federation of Students Islamic societies (FOSIS) Ireland [8], is an umbrella organisation established in the early millennium (~2000) whose mission is to unite, serve and represent Muslim students.[28] It also seeks to bring these students together, to share experiences and to offer help and advice where appropriate, uniting Muslim Students to positively contribute to Irish communities.[28]

• UCD ISOC [9] [10] was established in 1991
• TCD MSA [11] was established in 1998
• RCSI ISOC [12] was established in 1999
• Dublin Institute of Technology ISOC was established in 2004
• IT Tralee was established in 2008
• IT Blanchardstown was established in 2009