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Part of a series on Islam by continent |
The documented history of Islam in Ireland dates to the 1950s. The number of Muslims in the Republic of Ireland has increased since the 1990s.[1] although most of those are not Irish nationals.
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The organisational history of Islam in Ireland is complex, not least because of the immense variety of ethnic backgrounds of Irish Muslims.[2] 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).[3] 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 story building at 7 Harrington Street, Dublin 8. Among those who contributed to the project 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.
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.
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.[4]
In 1992 Moosajee Bhamjee became the first (and to date only) Muslim Teachta Dála (Member of Irish Parliament).[5]
According to the 2006 Irish census, there are 32,539 Muslims living in the Republic of Ireland.[6] representing a 69% increase over the figures for the 2002 census (19.147). In 1991, the number of Muslims was below 4000 (3.873).[7] 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 Church of Ireland, including Protestants.[8] 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 who claimed to have 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.[9]
The Muslim community in Ireland is not just small but diverse 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.[8] 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 Muslim immigration in the end of the 90s was caused by the Irish economic boom and asylum seekers from diverse Muslim countries, But because of the economic situation in Ireland many Muslims are returning to Muslim countries and the Islamic population is decreasing rapidly with many mosques closing.[10]
The mosques and Islamic cultural centres in Ireland are:
In 2003, the Islamic Cultural Centre and Foras na Gaeilge joined forces to translate the Koran into Irish for the first time.[13]
In September 2006 an umbrella organization, 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.
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, DIT, IT Tralee, IT Tallaght, IT Blanchardstown, DBS.[14]
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 [9], is an umbrella organisation was established in the early millennium (~2000) whose vision is to unite, serve and represent Muslim students.[14] 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.[14]
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