Irish Judge Claims that Islam Allows Men to Beat Wives

Judge Anthony Halpin

Source: Irish Times

A judge has caused outrage after saying he thinks “Muslims feel they can actually beat their wives” during the trial of a Somali man accused of burglary at his former wife’s house.

Judge Anthony Halpin’s comments made before a packed courtroom yesterday caused a government minister and the Immigrant Council of Ireland to say he needs to immediately clarify or withdraw the remark made during a criminal case.

The judge made the statement just days after telling Tallaght Court he was to be reassigned elsewhere, saying he “may have stepped on some toes”.

Leading Muslim cleric, Dr Taufiq Al Sattar – who lost his wife and three children in a house fire in the UK last year – rejected the judge’s comments.

Junior minister Joe Costello said “on the surface it sounds insulting and gratuitous and he should immediately clarify the remarks”.

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New Imam Sought for Cork Muslim Community

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.

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How Muslims Helped Ireland During the Great Famine

By Mehedi Islam

Source: http://archiveislam.com

160 years ago, during the Great Famine in Ireland, the Ottoman Empire sent £1,000 sterling (about $1,052,000 today) and 3 shiploads of food to Drogheda, Ireland.

Ireland was ridden with famine and disease between 1845 and 1849. Also known as the Great Hunger, this famine had lasting effects: at least one million people died due to famine-related diseases and more than one million Irish fled, mainly to the United States, England, Canada, and Australia.

The Islamic State (Ottoman) ruler at that time Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid declared his intention to send £10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only £1,000 sterling, because she had sent only £2,000 sterling herself. The Sultan sent the £1,000 sterling but also secretly sent 3 ships full of food. The British administration tried to block the ships, but the food arrived secretly at Drogheda harbour.

This generous charity from a Muslim ruler to a Christian nation is also important, particularly in our time when Muslims are often unfairly accused of human rights violations. Likewise, the appreciative plaque and overall reaction of the Irish society in return for this charity deserves to be applauded. We hope that the Turkish-Irish friendship sets a model for peace among different nations.

In commemoration of the Ottoman aid, Drogheda added the Ottoman crescent and star to its coat of arms. Their football club’s emblem retains this design until this day.

Islam to become Ireland’s second religion by 2043

Source: Irish Independent

The revelation came as construction work is expected to begin next year on Ireland’s largest mosque.

The Clongriffin centre, on Dublin’s northside, will be the largest Islamic religious complex in the State and will also boast a major cultural centre.

An Bord Pleanala earlier this year granted planning permission for the three-storey complex, which is earmarked for a six-acre site owned by developer Gerry Gannon.

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Cork’s reaction to the Muslim veil

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.

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Dispute over Cork city Islamic centre

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.

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2 Muslim women ordered to stop praying in Dublin park

Source: Irish Examiner

One of the women, whose first name is Sajida, said they felt threatened and humiliated when the driver of a security van drew up and shouted that there was “no praying in the park” as they knelt in Griffith Park, Drumcondra, for one of the five daily calls to prayer that Muslims must observe.

Sajida, who moved to Ireland from Britain 17 years ago, said the women had “never experienced anything like it before”.

Sajida said she and her friend had picked a quiet spot but had barely begun praying when she heard a loud honking.

A Manguard Plus van — Manguard is contracted by Dublin City Council to provide an out-of-hours park warden service — drew up a few metres away and, Sajida claims, the driver shouted at them there was no praying in the park.

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Plan to build massive new Islamic Centre in Dublin

Source: Irish Central

According to reports in the Irish Times, “a Dublin-based Muslim group with support from many parts of the world has agreed purchase terms for the six-acre site located close to the Gannon-funded Dart station.”

Previous reports in the Irish Times stated that the new development, “could put Ireland in a very favorable position in the Muslim world and lead to significant inward investment.”

The development will include the mosque and support facilities, including a 34-classroom school, conference centre, assembly hall, playground and swimming pool. It has been designed by Paula Gill of architects Conroy Crowe Kelly.

Moulana Ghulam Ahmed Rabbani Speech at Google in Dublin Protest

Dublin Muslims protest Innocence of Muslims at Google headquarters

Source: Irish Independent

The global backlash against an anti-Islam video spread to the streets of Dublin as hundreds of protesters marched toGoogle‘s European headquarters and demanded the offensive material be taken offline.

The Dublin protests, which passed off quietly to chants of “Islam is peace” and “We love Mohammed”, came days after a lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles calling on Google to take the video down from Google-owned YouTube.

The contentious video has already sparked a wave of protests across the globe; several have been violent, including one that saw the US ambassador to Libya killed.

Speaking outside Google’s Barrow Street HQ, Muslim cleric Alam Ghulam Rabbini of the Irish Sufi Foundation insisted that the protesters were not against freedom of speech but said the video should still be taken down.

“You should not allow these (filmmakers) to use freedom of expression to hurt the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world,” he said.

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