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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 06 DUBLIN 000798 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2014 
TAGS: PINR PTER SCUL KTFN AU PINS KPAO BE FI FR
GM, GR, IT, LU, NL, NO, PO, SP, SW, SZ, UK 
SUBJECT: IRELAND: ISLAM IN EUROPE (C-DI5-01478) 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 51923 
     ¶B. 05 DUBLIN 1216 
     ¶C. 05 DUBLIN 1264 
 
DUBLIN 00000798  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
Classified By: DCM JONATHAN S. BENTON, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B), (D) 
 
Summary 
-------------- 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  Embassy Dublin salutes the initiative of 
Washington analysts (ref A.) to look at the role of Islamic 
thinkers across Europe.  In 2004, we launched a new outreach 
program to Muslims in Ireland, a group that has grown rapidly 
in recent years from a population of less than 4,000 
according to a 1991 census to a population the GOI estimates 
to be more than 30,000.  To build dialogue with this 
community, the Ambassador, DCM, POL/ECON Chief, and emboffs 
have met with Sunni and Shi'a leaders, hosted events, and 
nominated Muslims for the International Visitors program. In 
this outreach we have heard three main voices of Islam in 
Ireland:  conservatives with potential radical elements (to 
include Muslim Brotherhood, led by adherents of Yusuf Al 
Qaradawi), integrationists, and the pro-U.S. minority Shi'a 
community.  Our comments reflect our work with the community 
in Dublin, where the majority of Muslims in Ireland live. 
Sunni Muslims tend to worship primarily at the Islamic 
Cultural Center of Ireland (ICCI).  According to a mosque 
spokesman, approximately 1,000 Muslims from numerous Islamic 
countries regularly attend Friday services and around 
3,000-4,000 Muslims attend special events at the center. 
Other smaller Sunni Mosques, with attendance likely in the 
low hundreds, include South Circular Road Mosque (AKA Islamic 
Foundation of Ireland), and Black Pitts (300-500 regular 
attenders) and Clonee (100-200) Mosques, the latter two home 
primarily to Pakistani worshippers.  Most of the Shi'a 
Muslims in Dublin, approximately 250 Iraqi immigrants, 
worship at the Ahlul Bait, or Milltown Mosque.  There are 
small communities of Muslims in other large cities, such as 
Cork, Limerick and Galway.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Please see below answers to reftel questions: 
 
¶A.  How, and with what success, are groups such as the 
Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), 
seeking greater recognition for Islamic law in Europe? 
 
¶3.  (C) The Dublin-based ECFR is chaired by an Egyptian born, 
Qatar-based highly influential cleric and leading member of 
Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.  His ECFR 
presidency establishes a certain amount of notoriety in 
Ireland for the ECFR, which is housed at the Islamic Cultural 
Center of Ireland (ICCI), commonly referred to as "the 
Clonskeagh Mosque."  In conversations with emboffs, key 
integrationist Muslims and at least one journalist charge 
that ICCI answers to Al Qaradawi.  ECFR's influence is likely 
to be significant considering that its members, all prominent 
clerics, hail from France, UK, Spain, Norway, Germany, 
Belgium, Bosnia, Switzerland, as well as the Middle East. 
The infrequency of the formal meetings complicates our 
ability to gauge the effectiveness of the ECFR; the ECFR 
holds two formal meetings annually, one in Ireland, the other 
to rotate among European cities (though Istanbul hosted the 
conference in June 2005 and June 2006).  ECFR-Dublin has no 
full-time staff members, but three of ICCI's officials, 
including the mosque's Imam as General Secretary carry out 
ECFR responsibilities.  ECFR-Dublin's mission statement does 
not claim to seek greater recognition for Islamic law in 
Europe; but rather describes its goal as providing spiritual, 
social and legal guidance to Muslims living here.  According 
to an ECFR staff member, it is not a proselytizing body that 
counts converts but a body that provides clarity of Islamic 
law (Shariah) and its application to European Muslims. 
 
¶4.  (C) In the book, "Fatwas of European Council for Fatwa 
and Research", distributed by ICCI, Al Qaradawi claims that 
due to economic migration, there are now 50 million European 
Muslims.  The growing number of Muslims in Europe, Al 
Qaradawi claims, produced the current European Islamic 
resurgence that requires Islamic organizations such as ECFR 
to maintain religious connections with groups in the Middle 
East and to serve as regional centers for instructions and 
guidance.  According to Al Qaradawi, the ECFR's objective is 
 
DUBLIN 00000798  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
"to promote a uniform Fatwa (religious edict) in Europe and 
to prevent controversy and intellectual conflicts regarding 
the respective issues wherever possible."  He also claims 
that ECFR is designed to become an approved religious 
authority for local governments and private establishments. 
(Comment:  ECFR is little more than a paper tiger.  Though it 
aspires to play a larger role regarding Islam in Europe, it 
has no enforcement ability for its fatwas and does little to 
implement the decrees it issues.  End comment). 
 
¶5.  (C) Al Qaradawi also claims in the ECFR Fatwa book that 
prior to such proper Islamic organizations as ECFR, European 
Muslims were misguided and acted disgracefully, "similarly to 
the Jews." 
 
ICCI-The Largest Islamic Center in Ireland 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (C) ICCI, which is collocated with the ECFR, is the 
largest mosque in Ireland and its building was financed by 
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Maktoum 
Foundation of the UAE.  In spite of the impressive size of 
the mosque, it is not the most significant Maktoum family 
operation in Ireland.  The family also operates a huge and 
successful horse racing, breeding, and training operation in 
Ireland, based in Kildare's Kildangen Stud Farm.  Mosque 
leaders tell us that, although Maktoum funding flows 
steadily, the family pays little to no attention to the 
operations of the mosque or the ECFR.  According to a mosque 
spokesman, approximately 1,000 Muslims from numerous Islamic 
countries regularly attend Friday services and around 
3,000-4,000 Muslims attend special events at the center.  The 
ECFR Secretary General and Imam of the center is Egyptian 
Shaykh Hussein Muhammad Halawa.  When journalists want an 
"Islamic point of view," or the GOI wants to include a Muslim 
in a public event, such as the recent presidential 
inauguration, they tend to go to ICCI first.  In March 2005, 
ICCI sought greater recognition for Islam here by hosting an 
"Islam in Ireland" conference and invited GOI officials to 
witness Irish Muslim efforts to integrate.  However, the 
conference devolved into a session on how the GOI and Irish 
public can best accommodate the needs of the Irish Muslims in 
terms of healthcare and funeral services, providing prayers 
rooms in public schools, and making dietary allowances for 
Muslims students during Ramadan.  Nur al-Hoda school is also 
located at ICCI, and is one of two Muslim schools accredited 
by the GOI and eligible to receive government funding. 
Though not affiliated with the mosque, Nur al-Hoda is 
associated with the mosque by virtue of its locale. 
 
¶B.  Which Muslim clerics and intellectuals have the most 
influence among Muslims in Europe?  Do any of them have broad 
influence extending across ethnic and linguistic groups among 
Europe's Muslim populations?  Do any of the European-based 
thinkers have significant influence elsewhere in the Muslim 
World? 
 
Muslim visitors to Ireland 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) One indication of who influences Irish Muslims is who 
comes here. Visitors in recent months are listed below. 
 
--In December, ICCI hosted a series of talks on integration 
by moderate Egyptian cleric and Islamic televangelist Amr 
Khaled, who recently rose to fame in Europe for countering 
the ideas of Al-Qaradawi in dealing with the West.  In 
addition, since early 2005 ICCI has hosted several programs 
on various topics such as women's issues in Islam, 
multiculturalism, Arabic language instruction, Palestinian 
solidarity, and Muslim-Christian-Jewish dialogue.  Of note 
was the March 2-5, 2006 visit of Egyptian Shaykh Wajdi 
Ghunaim who delivered lectures on "the behavior of Muslim 
youth in a foreign land" and "sickness of living in a foreign 
land."  Also, on January 29, 2006 ICCI hosted American Shaykh 
Yusuf Estes, a Muslim convert and former Christian preacher, 
who spoke on "building bridges between Muslims, Christians 
and Jews." 
 
--On March 2, Anjem Choudhry, radical British leader of 
Al-Muhajiroun, and Ali Saleem, an Egyptian/Irish national and 
ICCI employee, participated in a public debate on Islam, 
 
DUBLIN 00000798  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
where Choudhry promoted the Muslim right to self-defense for 
all Western infractions against Islam since the fall of the 
Ottoman Empire.  He argued, with Saleem's tacit complicity, 
that victims of 9/11, Madrid, and 7/7 are collateral damage 
and justifiable losses in an ongoing struggle to regain a 
global Islamic state.  This was Choudhry's second visit to 
Ireland since November, when he appeared at a Trinity College 
Philosophical Society debate on terrorism.  According to 
press reports then, he claimed in the debate that Ireland was 
a "legitimate target" for terrorism for its allowing U.S. 
military planes to refuel at Shannon Airport. 
 
--On April 19, the Irish Institute of European Affairs hosted 
a seminar on "Islam, Integration and Europe" which included a 
speech by Professor Tariq Ramadan, grandson of Hassan 
Al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Ramadan, a 
Swiss national, claimed before a small, mostly Irish 
audience, that Islam is now a European Religion and that 
Muslims and Europeans share responsibilities in overcoming 
current conflicting thoughts.  He charged that Muslims should 
integrate, learn to identify themselves as Europeans and 
become dutiful citizens.  Likewise, he called for European 
governments to stop Islamicizing the problems of immigration 
and start focusing on shared values. 
 
--On May 25, the Irish Equality Authority, National 
University of Ireland-Maynooth and the Royal Irish Academy 
hosted a "Meeting the Challenge of Islamophobia" conference. 
British/Indian celebrities Javed Aktar and Shabana Azmi told 
the audience of around 150 Irish academics and professionals 
that secularism in India has secured the freedom of religion 
for millions of Indian Muslims.  They also said that the 
West's view of Islam is formed by the actions and words of a 
small minority of extremists and pointed to the fact that 
most of the world's Muslims are not Arabs.  They told the 
audience of how Islam has proved its compatibility with 
democracy in Indonesia, Malaysia and India and emphasized 
that the terrorism is given root when groups are isolated 
from pluralistic society, such as in Saudi Arabia and 
Afghanistan.  Taking this notion further, however, Aktar 
accused the United States of Nazi-like crackdowns on the 
press and the limitation of free speech, actions which, he 
charged, also give birth to extremism. 
 
¶C.  Washington analysts are interested, in particular, in 
groups and individuals who promote a clearly pluralist, 
tolerant form of political Islam in Europe, as well as the 
activities of groups associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. 
 
Integrationists 
--------------- 
 
¶8. (C)  Only in recent years has Ireland witnessed a 
significant growth in the numbers of Muslim immigrants.  For 
that reason, discussions on pluralism are just beginning to 
take place.  The GOI has established programs such as the 
hiring of non-Irish police officers and creating the National 
Consultative Committee for Racism and Integration to help 
assimilate immigrants.  From within the Muslim community, 
however, only a few voices calling for integration can be 
heard.  The loudest of these voices are Shaheed Satardien, 
Allama Zille Umar Qadri and Mian Ghulam Bari and his son 
Mazhar Bari.  Both Satardien and Qadri have told emboffs that 
getting out a positive message on integration is difficult 
because the conservative Muslims, or as Satardien refers to 
the leaders at ICCI, the Wahhabis and Muslim Brotherhood, 
control Islam in Ireland.  He alleges that ICCI has the ear 
of the GOI and blocks efforts to initiate open dialogue 
within the religious community. 
 
¶9. (C)  Saudi-trained Sheikh Dr. Shaheed Satardien is one of 
the most quoted Muslim voices for pluralism in Ireland. 
Satardien, a South African refugee and Imam with no mosque, 
has a talent for seizing the microphone and is often quoted 
in the media.  He promotes a very positive image of Islam, 
co-organizing, for example, a February 10 peace rally 
thanking the Irish, British and U.S. press for not publishing 
the Mohammed cartoons.  He also organized an interfaith peace 
conference on June 10, with Post's DCM providing the keynote 
speeh.  Satardien does not have an organized following and 
thus cannot at this time be thought of as a leader of 
moderate Muslims.  Irish government sources describe him as a 
 
DUBLIN 00000798  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
man who likes the sound of his own voice.  He does, however, 
have the ambition to become a leader and, as noted, a talent 
for attracting media attention.  For these reasons, the 
embassy works with him. 
 
¶10. (C) Another prominent figure in terms of moderate Islam 
is Mazhar Bari.  Bari, a college professor and local 
politician for the Progressive Democrats, networks 
effectively in both Sunni and Shi'a circles as well as with 
government officials. Bari is the integrationist voice most 
recognized by the GOI.  He and his father, Mian Ghulam Bari 
are leaders of the Pakistani community here in Ireland.  The 
Baris, who are wealthy and well-established in Ireland, are 
pious but espouse mainstream Islam and encourage assimilation 
of Muslims in Ireland.  The Black Pitts mosque, which they 
sponsor, is suspected of being a gathering place for some 
radical elements within the Pakistani community in Ireland, 
however. 
 
¶11. (C)  Another influential voice for integration is 
Dutch-raised Pakistani Sheikh Allama Zille Umar Qadri, who 
runs the 120-member Clonee Mosque attended primarily by 
Pakistanis.  He was the other organizer of the February peace 
rally and teaches English and integration to new immigrants. 
Qadri's group adheres to the religious doctrine of 
Minhaj-ul-Quran, a Pakistani organization that preaches 
Brelvi Islam which is a contextual vice literal 
interpretation of the Quran.  In July 2005, in a seminar that 
included Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Baha'is, he 
publicly called for increased Muslim cooperation to counter 
the threat of Islamic extremism, saying "those people who say 
we do not need to condemn terror do not know their religion." 
 
¶12. (C)  One of the most pro-democracy and pro-USG policy 
Islamic voices in Ireland is that of the Shi'a Mosque leader, 
Irish/Iraqi/Saudi Arabian national Dr. Ali Al Saleh and his 
approximately 250-member predominantly Iraqi congregation in 
the Dublin neighborhood known as "Milltown".  Al Saleh and 
the Irish Shi'as attempt to provide the Irish public with a 
balanced view of USG efforts in Iraq, but unfortunately, lack 
the media savvy to effectively communicate the balanced 
picture of activities in Iraq and are overshadowed in the 
Islamic community by the majority Sunnis, who have historical 
and political connections to the GOI.  With assistance from 
Post, however, Dr. Al Saleh's message is gradually being 
heard by an Irish audience, such as in a positive Op-Ed 
ghost-written for him in the Irish Times, the Irish newspaper 
of record, on the third anniversary of the U.S. led invasion 
of Iraq. 
 
Muslim Brotherhood in Ireland 
----------------------------- 
 
¶13. (S) In discussions with emboffs, the above-named 
pluralistic individuals and others have accused Halawa and 
other leaders at ICCI, and a smaller, more radical mosque, 
South Circular Road (SCR) Mosque and notably its Imam, 
Sudanese Yahya Al Hussein, of membership in the Muslim 
Brotherhood.  Despite the historical and political 
connections that ICCI has with the GOI, other prominent 
Muslims deem that its teaching is influenced by Wahhabism 
with a close link to the ultraconservative Deobandi school of 
Islam (espoused by the Taliban).  One journalist in town 
reported that other than in Qatar, the MB has its strongest 
base in Ireland, and charged that Al Qaradawi "runs Islam in 
Ireland."  SCR, aka the "Old Mosque" and referred to by local 
Muslims as the "Tora Bora" Mosque because of the high 
concentration of Afghan and Bosnian Jihadists who frequent 
it, has weaker ties to MB.  It is viewed as an extremist 
mosque by SIMO colleagues, but characterized by the GOI as 
one of the two official Mosques in Ireland (along with ICCI). 
 
¶14. (S) Some diplomatic community Muslims are instructed by 
their missions not to attend services at ICCI and other 
moderates have left the mosque's community due to alleged 
radical influences at the center.  For example, despite 
Halawa's public call after the 7/7 London attacks to arrest 
extremists, ICCI employed as a religious teacher Abderrahmane 
Katrani, an Afghanistan veteran and Moroccan national wanted 
by the GOM for the 2003 Casablanca bombings.  Also, terrorism 
financier and U.S. Executive Order 13224 designee Ibrahim 
Buisir is known to frequent the center. 
 
DUBLIN 00000798  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶15. (C) In public and with emboffs, Halawa, Saleem and other 
suspected MB members present a respectable face of Islam, and 
assert their desire for an end to all violence.  In recent 
months, Saleem has taken on a public relations role of 
promoting Islam to the Irish, in the form of debates, 
providing tours of ICCI, and meeting with guests of the 
center.  Though he espouses some of the rhetoric of Choudhry, 
as mentioned above, he appears mainly to support the revival 
of the pre-Ottoman "golden years" of the Islamic empire.  In 
the July 2005 edition of its newsletter Spectrum, the 
National Consultative Committee for Racism and Integration 
published two of Saleem's articles on the "Muslim Community 
in Ireland" and the "Integration of Muslims in Ireland," both 
presenting positive images of Muslim integration into Irish 
society.  Though he does not reach out to the embassy 
proactively, he is accessible to emboffs and is key to 
engaging with the ICCI leadership. He speaks excellent 
English. 
 
¶D.  What is known about the personalities and leadership 
styles of key Muslim clerics and intellectuals?  What 
motivates them to take on a leadership role in the Muslim 
community?  What are their interpersonal and organizational 
skills and deficits?  How would one evaluate their capacity 
for strategic thought and action?  What are their key 
personal and professional relationships? 
 
Muslim Brotherhood Leaders 
-------------------------- 
 
¶16. (C) As implied before, the individuals associated with 
ICCI and other conservative Sunni Mosques, Halawa, Saleem, 
Hussein, and others, appear to maintain their key 
professional international relationships through the ECFR, or 
Muslim Brotherhood contacts.  Halawa, in particular, as head 
of the largest Mosque in Ireland is in a unique position as 
the main official Muslim contact of the GOI.  However, his 
deficit in this role is his lack of English speaking ability. 
 Satardien, Qadri and others charge that Halawa owes his 
position as Imam to ICCI's benefactors in Dubai, and serves 
at the pleasure of Al-Qaradawi.  It is doubtful that he, 
Saleem, or others suspected of MB involvement operate 
independently of some informal conservative Islamic or MB 
hierarchy.  When queried in a May 23 interview by emboffs 
about the European role of MB, Halawa and Saleem failed to 
clarify their position regarding the organization, but 
distanced themselves and other Muslims from any groups that 
espoused violence to achieve ends.  They also acknowledged 
that individual European MB members may be combining religion 
and politics, to the detriment of MB, but again, failed to 
provide details.  When pressed on Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, they 
demonstrated loyalty to him by claiming that he is a model of 
moderate Islam and said that disparaging remarks about him 
were taken out of context. 
 
Al-Saleh-Iraqi Shi'a community 
----------------------------- 
 
¶17. (C) Al-Saleh is a very intelligent and eloquent (in 
spoken English) leader of the Shi'a community in Ireland.  He 
appears motivated to lead his community by a genuine desire 
to promote democracy in the Muslim world.  At October's 
Iftar, he told emboffs and his Shi'a audience that prior to 
the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, he did not think that Islam 
and democracy were compatible.  Now he believes "you can't 
have Islam without democracy."  He is an effective 
communicator and capable of high levels of strategic thought 
and action.  He is willing to take a public platform to 
promote democracy in the Middle East and speak of the 
importance of Islamic coexistence the West.  His deficits are 
that he represents only a small minority here in Ireland and 
has little experience dealing with the media or the GOI. 
 
Satardien-Integrationist 
------------------------ 
 
¶18. (C) In a conversation with an emboff, Satardien explained 
that though normally attired in Western garb, for the 
February 10 Peace Rally, he wore a turban and robes.  He said 
that though he has no mosque, his credentials as an Imam, and 
more importantly, his attire as a cleric enabled him to have 
 
DUBLIN 00000798  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
military-like control (as witnessed by emboff) over the 
approximately 300 Muslim men protesting the publication of 
the Mohammed cartoons.  Effectively, he steered the crowd 
from chanting slogans about the cartoon to the focus of the 
gathering: thanking the Irish, British and American press for 
not publishing the offending images.  Satardien is fluent in 
English, appears to have high credentials as an Imam, and is 
well connected to media outlets willing to broadcast his 
message of pluralism.  He also is very active:  On June 10 he 
organized and hosted his second annual peace conference and 
is publishing a book in English; hosting a radio show; 
chairing "Interfaith Roundtable," a group that he founded; 
and participating in an October debate called, "Jesus or 
Mohammed: Who is the true exponent of peace?"  His deficits 
are that by associating with all religious groups, to include 
Christians, Wiccans, Moonies, Quakers, Baha'is, etc., in his 
own view, he is deemed as fringe by many Muslim groups as 
well as Christian groups in Ireland.  According to him, his 
motivation for assuming a leadership role in Ireland is to 
replace what he deems a very radical group (the MB leaders at 
ICCI and SCR) with his moderate, pluralistic message. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
Visit Dublin's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/dublin/index. cfm 
KENNY