Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland hosted a welcome reception on Friday 13th January at 1pm for a group of Syrian refugees that have arrived recently in Ireland with the collaboration of Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council.

The purpose of the welcome reception was to promote integration and counter islamophobia.

Shaykh Dr. Umar Al-Qadri, Chair Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council & Head-Imam of Islamic Centre Ireland, said that the Irish nation is known for its generosity and warm welcome but this can change if the refugees do not integrate in the society. As Irish Muslims we must play our role in ensuring that integration takes place. As many Syrian refugees adhere to the Islamic faith, it will be crucial that they receive guidelines on the importance integration from the Muslim religious leaders also.

Shaykh Dr. Umar Al-Qadri also said that from an Islamic perspective even the Prophet Muhammad was a refugee. He had to flee his homeland of Makkah as he was faced religious persecution. He migrated to Madinah and was warmly welcomed by the locals. In return the Prophet Muhammad integrated in the Madinan life and remained loyal to Madinah. He also prayed to God to bless Madinah more than his homeland Makkah. This was a message to his followers to always return with more compassion, generosity, kindness and good will to the society that welcomes and accepts you.

The Syrian refugees will arrived at 1pm in the Islamic Centre and attended the Friday prayers. After the prayers were formally welcomed by the Shaykh and he spoke about the Importance of Integration from an Islamic perspective.

The guests were also welcomed by Pat Hynes from the Glancree Centre of Reconciliation, Father Joe Coyne from the St Ciarans Parish on behalf of the Irish people.

Maisa, Taqwa and Sara from the Al-Hariri family shared their feelings as Syrian refugees who have been welcomed and accepted by Ireland after having lived for almost a year in tents on a Greek Island.

Each Syrian refugee family was  also introduced to a host family who will support them in their resettlement and integration in Ireland.

The event was concluded with a meal.

Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council will organise a following up meeting with host families and Syrian guest families in the next few weeks. If anyone would like to become a host family, please contact info@islamiccentre.ie

Press Reports of the event :

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/syrian-mother-and-daughters-join-other-refugees-in-dublin-1.2936084

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/syrian-mother-and-daughters-join-other-refugees-in-dublin-1.2936084

https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0113/844855-syrian-family-dublin/

http://www.thejournal.ie/syrian-refugees-ireland-integration-3183439-Jan2017/

http://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/dublin-imam-urges-irish-families-host-refugees/

Shaykh Dr. Umar Al-Qadri visited the world renowned Al-Azhar University, an ancient seat of Islamic learning, on the special invitation of the Grand Shaykh of Al-Azhar,Shaykh Dr Ahmad Tayyab.

The visit of the University was followed by a meeting between both scholars of the Muslim world in which they discussed contemporary challenges facing the Muslims living in Europe.
They highlighted the importance of unity within the Muslim ranks to fight off these challenges. They agreed that Islamic principles of pluralism, moderation, tolerance and inclusiveness which are also the core themes advocated by Al-Azhar University and the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland were relevant to the present-day challenges of the World. The issue of setting up a representative body of Al-Azhar Graduates in Ireland also came under discussion as well as collaboration between Al-Azhar University and the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland.

Shaykh-ul-Azhar highlighted the the tasks the Al-Azhar University was carrying out for the solution of intellectual and scholarly problems facing the Muslim world so that people could benefit from Islam teachings and traditions of moderation and tolerance and bring about constructive changes in their collective and individual lives.

Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri thanked Shaykh-ul-Azhar for the invitation to visit the University and invited the Grand Shaykh to visit Ireland in 2018.

Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri was also given a tour of the Al-Azhar Observer by Dr. Kamal Abdel Assalamu Alaikum wrwb. Al-Azhar Observer is a department which consists of 70 scholars that monitor the internet for news and articles about Islam and Muslims in 8 different languages. The purpose of the Observer is to tackle the misconceptions about Islam particularly those misconceptions that are spread by extremists and radicals. It monitors activity of radicals and responds academically to their propaganda. The Observer responds academically to the propaganda spread by Daesh (Dabiq).

Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri also visited the Online Fatwa Department which consists of 100 Mufti’s that issue Fatwa’s online or through the Online Fatwa Helpline.

Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri also met with Shaykh Ahmed Fadeel Qausi, previous Minister of Religious Affairs in Egypt and currently the Chair of World Graduates of Al-Azhar Graduates. Both scholars discussed also challenges the Muslim world is facing particularly the challenge of extremism and islamophobia.

Christmas and New Year Message 

Assalamu Alaykum; Peace be with you !

During these joyful days I write to you to wish you all a peaceful Christmas Holiday Season commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, Peace be Upon Him.

I pray during these blessed days, which have coincided with the Mawlid , which commemorates the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), that the New Year may bring healing and peace to our suffering world.

Today, the world is facing multiple crises of grave nature. The scourges of terrorism and extremism seem to eat into vitals of our collective ethos and value system. Existence of unsolved international disputes is great danger for stability and global peace and leaves space for extremism and terrorism to grow. The current refugee crisis, of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War, is a test to our humanity.

The dream of global peace will never come true unless followers of both Islam and Christianity, which together make up well over half of the world’s population, come forward in a spirit of cooperation, respect and goodwill to play their due role to promote peaceful coexistence.

The hollow notion of ‘Clash of Civilizations’ needs to be replaced with ‘Dialogue among Civilizations’ . Enhanced engagement among different religions especially Islam and Christianity would serve to build bridges and demolish walls that separate us.

Islam and Christianity both stand for peace, harmony and human development.

The in-dept account of Jesus Christ (Peace be upon Him) and the Samaritan woman at the well highlights that Jesus Christ (Peace be upon Him) saw the stranger at the well first and foremost as a person and therefore engaged with her and reached out to her. This reflects the true spirit of reaching out and loving the neighbour espoused by Christianity.

The historic incident of Najran whereby the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) treated the Christian delegation as his personal guests, hosted them in His Mosque and allowed them to worship there reflects the true spirit of harmony and brotherhood espoused by Islam.

During this auspicious season , all of us, whatever religion and society we may belong to, must pledge to work for promotion of Peace and Harmony in the world. Love can heal the wounds of decades and we must dedicate ourselves to spread the message of Love of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Jesus Christ (Peace be upon Him).

We must also foil all conspiracies of blaming religions for actions of terrorism, for all religions promote love and discourage violence.

It is time to build bridges between our communities and start a result oriented dialogue that will prevent clash of civilisations and promote Peace and Integration in western society.

Shaykh Dr. Umar Al-Qadri
Chair Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council www.impic.ie
Head-Imam Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland www.islamiccentre.ie