20.02.2012
Doors to the New Ireland Must Remain Wide Open – Archbishop Tells Peace Conference
The various faiths witnessed in Ireland today form one community of affection and understanding, according to the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson. Speaking at the Al–Mustafa Peace Conference in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown, the Archbishop recognised that they were all on a journey together.
The conference was organised by the Al–Mustafa Islamic Educational and Cultural Centre. Opening the conference Sister Hafawa Omar, a teacher in the Al–Mustafa Islamic Educational and Cultural Centre, said they aimed to highlight the life and message of the Prophet Muhammad and his belief in peace, harmony, integration and acceptance. She added that in current times the true teaching of Islam was being distorted and was often portrayed as being associated with extremism and violence.
Archbishop Jackson spoke on ‘Opening the Doors of tomorrow’s Ireland today’. Observing that the location of the conference was just off the M3, he said this was symbolic as “we are all on a journey together” and said it was important to build on the community of tomorrow. He used the word ‘community’ in the singular because he said, “I am convinced that we are all one community together. We often speak of ‘the various communities’ in Ireland but we are of one community and it is a community of affection and understanding”.
Dr Jackson said it was important that there be a dialogue of ideas among those of different scriptures so that people of different faiths could learn from each other and understand each other. But he added that there was also the “dialogue of life” in which people go about their day to day lives together and women, children and men get to know each other.
He noted that there were wonderful things happening in Blanchardstown and that Ireland was now a wonderfully diverse and integrated place. “Ireland is small. It is an island off an island off a continent. So I thank the people who have come from outside Ireland and those who were born here for choosing to make Ireland their home,” he said. He concluded by urging that the doors to the new Ireland remain wide open.
Imam Yahya Al Hussain spoke to the large crowd about how Prophet Muhammad dealt with his opponents and enemies with patience. “He did not greet evil with evil,” he stated.
Sheikh Dr Muhammad Umar Al–Qadri founder and head Imam Al–Mustafa IECC spoke about the reality of Jihad which he said was widely misunderstood. He said the word referred to “struggling, striving to put extreme effort into doing something for the benefit of society”. He said that while there was a type of Jihad which was ‘Jihad with the sword’ it was never mentioned in the Holy Quran.
Sheikh Hussein Halawa, Imam of the Irish Council of Imams, spoke of the Prophet Muhammad as a family man and detailed the history of the Prophet.
The leader of the Shi’a community in Ireland, Dr Sayyed Ali Abdullah, praised the organisers of the conference and said Dublin had a good Muslim community. He said that the Prophet thought Muslims to respect those who were different but said “the message has been hijacked by those who do things in the name of the Prophet”.