Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
PROMINENT IRISH MUSLIM cleric Shaykh Dr Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri has called on the Islamic leadership here to denounce and condemn extremism.
Shaykh Umar earlier told Keelin Shanley on RTE’s Today with Seán O’Rourke that a member of his council was physically assaulted when trying to post anti-extremist flyers at a Dublin mosque.
He claimed that up to 100 of the 50,000 Muslims in Ireland are silent supporters of Islamic State with radical ideologies.
“These people have not been challenged or isolated. This does not mean they are violent extremists, but they are extremist in their ideology and thinking. We must stand against them,” he said.
On one occasion recently a member of our council was physically assaulted by another Irish Muslim when trying to post flyers for peace at a mosque in Dublin.
This mosque is silent and refuses our posters, yet it will allow protests against America, against Israel, and now one of our people has been assaulted.
Shaykh Umar would not identify the mosque in question, other than saying it had been negative towards his anti-extremist stance.
It is time for the Muslim leaders here to condemn the atrocities that are being committed in the name of Islam.
Otherwise it leaves space for ambiguity. The Irish Muslim community is very young, and many of them are ignorant of the teachings of the Koran.
The Koran says that if you kill one person it is the same as killing all of humanity, likewise if you save one person you are saving all of humanity.
He said that he has heard talk of Irish people leaving to fight for Isis in Iraq and Syria.
“One guy came to me, a teenager, born and raised in Ireland, and said that he wanted to go to Iraq to fight for Islam,” he said.
This is just a teenager, with a very limited world-view. I spoke to him for an hour and by the end he was fully satisfied that Isis is in no way an Islamic state.
Shaykh Umar said that he had also met a man in his 30s who similarly wanted to travel to fight, but that he was unaware if the man had done so or not.
No religion
“We need to engage with the Muslim youth. Many Imams here do not even speak English,” he said.
We have to condemn these atrocities committed in the name of Islam.
The media has a part to play too in taking responsibility. The phrase ‘Islamic Terrorism’ is incorrect. Terrorism has no religion.
Shaykh Umar, who was heavily involved in the march last weekend against extremism in Dublin, has previously set up an online guide to prevent radicalisation, called Jihad.info.
“The purpose of the guide is to prevent radicalisation of our Irish Muslims so that they do not go the way of so many extremists in the UK,” he said.
It is called jihad because the term ‘jihad’ has been distorted and hijacked by extremists. We should not acknowledge them. Jihad itself is a noble concept.
At present, we are leaving space for extremists to radicalise, recruit and brainwash vulnerable Irish Muslims.
At present Shaykh Umar does not believe that there is an imminent threat of extremism in Ireland.
“At present, no. The reason we launched the guide is we want to ensure that we do not have the problems of extremism that other countries in Europe are facing,” he said.
We have to take that responsibility. Work for peace, and say no to extremism in this country, in the name of our religion at least.
As many Irish know from their interactions with them, most Muslims are very friendly, very peaceful people, and not violent at all.
The health service isn’t “overlooked”. It’s just terribly ran and inefficient.
@Seán Ó hAnnracháin: Agree the Irish Health Service consumes 11% of our GDP v 9% average for other EU countries. Transparency needed on unit production. How many total manhours per procedure (direct and all indirect) v international benchmarks? Please publish.
- 2 Tier Irish Health System is obscene.
- Belfast buses from West Cork for cataract operations.
Tidal wave of health and mental issue s will follow.
The worse is yet to come.
‘Overlooked’ as in intentionally underfunded to scare people into the arrms of private health insurance companies.
“That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital” – Noam Chomsky
@The Risen: Funding has increased by 1/5 over the past 5 years, so the HSE is definitely not being “underunded”, but epically mis-managed. But don’t let facts get in the way of your little rants.
@The Risen: it’s a thought but I don’t really think so there are a lot off buffoons in charge
@The Risen: nothing underfunded about our health service… It’s run by a bunch of interest groups who are more concerned with their share rather than the health of the nation. Top heavy management that wasn’t thinned out in the move from Health Boards to the HSE maintains the lack of value and continuing inefficiency of any investment. Hospitals owned or managed by “patrons” despite being funded and developed by the state limit the mobility and efficiency of trained staff. Working practices designed to ensure as much staff as possible are paid at higher levels and a ridiculous consultant contract all contribute to ensure that any individual procedure actually costs more than the equivalent in a private setting, any of the double jobbing consultants will confirm this.
@The Risen: You say this because the HSE SHOULD BE a leftists’ wet dream – a big public sector (union dominated) organisation running our health system for the benefit of the public. But it’s a disaster. But that’s ok, because just blame the mean Gov or those evil capitalists. Hate to burst your bubble, but the HSE is the way it is because it is dominated by public sector vested interests (i.e Unions). There is no real accountability. There is no desire from within for change and any significant change is fought tooth nail because the status quo suits the special interests (i.e PS unions)- they’ve carved it out this way. At least if you’re paying for a service, the provider has an interest in providing you a good service. The HSE bureaucrat has no such interest, they are paid regardless.
All future governments will tie up the banking crisis borrowings with loans from Covid and will blame “Covid” for everything for years to come.
What health service as its near impossible to even see a GP these days
have your say