News and opinion
Source: Irish Examiner
A rapidly expanding community of Muslims wants to hire a new imam, or spiritual leader.
The highly specialised job, which has been advertised by the Cork Muslim Society, comes with a €2,500 monthly salary and an immediate start date. The position is open to men only.
Source: Irish Examiner
By Rita de Brun
There are good intentions behind calls to ban the veil: a commendable wish to halt the liberty-curtailing husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers and religious leaders who coerce women to conceal their faces in public. But there’s flawed thinking there as well, a naivety, as not all who wear veils are forced to do so, and a blanket ban denies Muslim women the basic human right to dress as they choose, and to express themselves, their beliefs and their religion as they see fit.
In some countries in which the veil has been banned, there has been a rise in hate crimes against Muslims. Figures released by the National Observatory of Islamophobia show that in 2011 the number of anti-Muslim attacks in France rose by 34% on 2010 — the year in which the ‘burqa ban’ was introduced.
Until recently, I’d have found it hard to believe that any woman would wear a burqa or niqab by choice, but that all changed when I donned the garb and took a stroll around Cork.
Source: Irish Examiner
By Eoin English
A spokesman for Cork City Council’s planning department confirmed last night that senior planning officers have conducted site visits to the Cork Dawah Centre at 72-73 Shandon St on foot of several complaints from local residents and local public representatives about how it is being run.
The spokesman said planners have opened an enforcement file and formed the opinion that the centre is operating in breach of two key conditions attached to the granting of planning permission for the centre in July.
The centre’s owner has now been given four weeks to comply with the conditions before further enforcement action is considered.
Ali Charaf Damache
Photo by Irish Independent
Ali Charaf Damache (47), an Algerian with Irish citizenship, has begun to sue several Irish institutions claiming that he was not permitted to practice his Muslim religion while being held in a Cork prison in 2011.
The Irish Independent reports that Damache, who is wanted in the US on terror-related charges, has since been moved from Cork Prison to Cloverhill Prison in Dublin. He will remain there pending the outcome of the extradition request from the US.
Damache has since brought proceedings against the governor of Cork Prison, the Irish Prison Services, the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General. He claims he was subjected to abuse and insults from both staff and inmates at Cork Prison and was prevented from practicing his religion.
Source: Irish Central
Muslim Ireland 