The Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI) at Clonskeagh in Dublin has accused a “radicalised” wing of the Muslim community of intimidating and trying to “silence” one of its leading members.
A bitter dispute over control of the centre deepened on Friday when the ICCI criticised attacks on social media against Dr Eid Zaher, who had pleaded during the week for a resolution.
In a letter circulated on Muslim-community WhatsApp groups last Wednesday, Dr Zaher, who is secretary to ICCI imam Sheikh Hussein Halawa, called on an unnamed “senior official” at the ICCI “to step down in favour of the public interest and to prevent further harm”.
He also appealed to “wise and thoughtful members of the Muslim community in Ireland to kindly encourage this senior official to step down”.
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The ICCI has been closed since an alleged physical altercation took place there at a meeting on April 19th, to which gardaí were called. An auditor has been appointed by the Al Maktoum Foundation, which built and funds the ICCI, to investigate alleged financial irregularities there.
In a statement following social media posts about Dr Zaher’s intervention this week, the ICCI said it was “deeply saddened by the radicalised behaviour of certain individuals within our community who have attacked, intimidated, harassed, insulted and defamed Dr Sheikh Eid [Dr Zaher]”.
He “is a member of the religious Dawah department of our mosque (which gives religious guidance),” it said. “Such actions to silence dissenting voices are unacceptable” and were “a cowardly attack and yet another example of the extremist tendencies of certain elements within the community”, it said.
“Freedom of expression is a deeply valued principle and an integral part of the shared norms that are firmly established in Irish society,” the ICCI statement said.
“We pray for the enlightenment and reform of these radical elements so that the mosque and centre can reopen in an atmosphere of peace and security for our employees, the children and the community,” it said.
However, as it “takes seriously the safety and security of our staff, employees and the public”, and “in an effort to maintain the sanctity and security of our beloved mosque, we had to take the difficult decision to close the mosque and centre until further notice”, it added.
Meanwhile, a group of Muslims pleaded at a press conference in Dublin on Friday for the reopening of the mosque at the ICCI, describing it as “the heartbeat of our community”.
The Muslim Community Ireland group described itself as “a grassroots, community-led initiative formed to peacefully advocate for the reopening of the Masjid [mosque] at the ICCI”. Its chair, Abdul Haseeb, insisted they had gathered “not in protest, but in pain, and in hope”.
