The Deen Show – Sinad O’Connor’s family embraces her Muslim identity and lets her get buried as a Muslim Woman
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Assalamualaikum greetings of Peace recently we were reporting on sinead o'connor Lilla
I started reading the scriptures when I was very young child. And then I started studying scriptures from different religions trying to find you know the truth about God as I left Islam on two laughed because I never thought I would join a religion I left Islam to last because I had so much prejudice about Islam, you know? And then when I started reading I read just Chapter Two alone of the crown I realized oh my god, I'm home I've been me all my life and I didn't realize her death that we do begin with that breaking news from the music world. ABC News is learning that Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has died at the age of 56 and the important question Would she be getting a proper Islamic
burial a Janaza Eddie is taking this Amana of the people very seriously. He was just sharing the story with me that they had some benches inside that needed to be moved in Edie together father and son were lifting these benches join us in this project inshallah so we can establish beautiful things, because the media was reporting that she most likely wasn't. And to help us answer that question. We have the man himself who gave her her shahada when she first accepted Islam. Let's have a look I should handle
and
what I should handle
well, how am I then who?
I testify that there is no God except Allah. And I testify
that Muhammad is His servant. And His messenger. I announced that I have embraced Islam and I have embraced I have accepted Islam and accept as my religion as with my free will.
I will continue to respect all other religions, including Christianity, but my way of life My religion is Islam hamdulillah no reservations, reservations
with us, Dr. Omar As Salam aleikum.
May
Allah Allah
and His final messengers, Muhammad peace be upon him? This is our religion, Islam, Islam, this is the dijo
was ready to talk about
how much respect I have for the faith of Islam Show. Welcome to the deen show. The Deen show
how are you che
hamdulillah
so let's take us back to this day. This is the
the time when sinead o'connor actually when she first embraced Islam and you are the person who helped her along her way to the point where she actually took her Shahada. How was it seeing this again for it's been several years now?
Absolutely, especially after her demise, and after having just performed her Janaza prayer a few days ago. I think it's a very moving moment. And, you know, I am reminded of the verse of the Quran, Allah who you had him on your show with some of the Muslim, Allah guides whoever He wants on the straight path. Our sister shahada, Sinead contacted me in 2018. She contacted the Islamic center by email and specifically asked to meet me. We scheduled a meeting, as it is the case when somebody would like to have more information about Islam. They would like to have a discussion, they would like to share some concerns. They're always welcome to meet the Imam. Welcome to the Islamic center.
And we are happy to answer the questions. So this was an email we received from Sister Sinead and I met her. It was the first meeting which took approximately two hours. In this meeting. It was very clear to me that the sister has actually done her research. She knows a lot about Christianity. She knows about a lot about other faiths, and in fact she has done some in depth research about the Quran. So her questions were more specific two verses of the Quran. There were specific to theology specific to certain questions, certain topics that may be ambiguous for some or
confusing for some, for example, the question of arts in Islam, music and Islam, etc. And after the meeting, she asked me not to contact the media, and let them know that I met her. And I was surprised by this request and was surprised by this because until that moment, I had absolutely no idea who this person was. For me, it was just one of the Irish sisters, one of the sisters in Ireland that wanted to know about Islam. So she asked me then that night to go Google, my name. I'd like you to google my name, Chef. So I did that that evening. And then it became very apparent to me that the person that I met in Islamic center was a worldly renowned, a very famous artist, musician,
singer. So we met after a few days, and hamdullah, we had dinner. And we had a discussion about Islam first, and she said, she's ready for the Shahada. So Hamdulillah, she accepted Islam, she proclaimed the shahada in the Islamic Center of Ireland. And then Hamdulillah, then also became very vocal, very public about her embrace embracing of Islam, acceptance of Islam. So may Allah subhanaw, taala, you know, grant her genital furloughs. It's been 2018, five years, in the five years, I've obviously been in contact with her in terms of religious guidance, spiritual guidance. And it is, of course, you know, a reality that couldn't have since autoload. Every person living person has to
take that. And sometimes we do not realize how fast the you know, modes, and that will knock on the door. And for our sister, the same thing happened, like, out of the blue, I was in Pakistan. When the day she passed away, I received a message on my phone. And it happened so that I was with the family in northern Pakistan. And we were stuck there because of the landslide. And we were stuck there for three days. And we couldn't return back to islam about so once I arrived in Islamabad SubhanAllah. Within a few minutes, you know, as soon as my phone received the signal, I got a message. And she had literally passed away just a few hours before that. And, you know, it was very,
of course, emotional because I remember my discussions with her. I remembered her journey to Islam, but also, very importantly, her journey within Islam. So we pray for our sister, may Allah subhanaw taala grant me not granted Rama and granted Jonathan for those. I mean, so you had no idea you were sitting with what they called the daughter of Ireland at that time, she called you and you were just thinking, Okay, this is just another Irish person. You get a lot of Irish people who are inquisitive, they want to know who are accepting Islam. And then you just thought this was one of those people and you're going about your day, and you're giving her some Dawa, educating her and
next thing you know, she accepts Islam, Sinead O'Connor
Yes, Alhamdulillah I have been in Ireland for 20 years. And in those 20 years, more than 500 people have 100 and I embrace some Irish people from all walks of life. And, you know, students, journalists, IT professionals, even some lawyers, but it was the first time that somebody of you know, such great, I think fame and renowned personality had embraced Islam through me. And I'm just thankful to Allah subhanaw taala that he has given this to faith, and he's provided this the opportunity to give Dawa and and people have accepted and I think this is perhaps one of these, you know, great blessings of Allah subhanaw taala that when you do the hour, sometimes, you know, and
the Dawa hits the right spot in the heart. And then people embrace Islam, but it's only the trophy of Allah diamond. Yes, so I had absolutely no idea who this lady was back, she was the daughter of Ireland. So obviously, once she embraced Islam, and we, I mean, we tweeted that, straightaway, I received phone calls from America, from Indonesia, from Philippines, emails, of Muslims being so, you know, subhanAllah excited and also very emotional, that you know, the person that they they had, you know, witness going through a very difficult journey in her life, where she remained faithful in the Divine, but would oppose, you know, the Catholic Church opposes religious institutions, and
became very vocal and world renowned of that, that that person then eventually comes and embraces Islam. For many it will it made sense, you know, people that knew her. When I speak to them, they say it all makes sense to us, you know, that was inevitable. She was going to embrace Islam anyway, as soon as you would have found out about it, and she did.
She did along the way. I like what you said. And you also saw the same thing that I saw, you know,
As I was honored to have the first interview, she was saying that she was going to go ahead and wait for some time. And then when she came out to go more into details of her story, Hamidullah, we were able to have her on the program. And I saw that she was very, very intelligent. She was asking, you know, she was the way she was articulating her story and whatnot, it would kind of, you know, it was totally different from what the media and others were trying to portray. And that's my next question. You hear this, like, Oh, she had mental health issues. And that's why she accepted Islam. You know, how would you go ahead, you know, from you, who sat with her, and she's asking specific
questions. She was somebody who was very well versed in the Bible, and she knew what she was talking about. She was a very intelligent woman. What what do you say to people like that? You probably heard this.
Absolutely. I think people fail to understand when when we associate someone with mental illness, that mental illness has many different levels, and has many different you can say, shades and colors, and to put everybody and fit everybody in one box, in the box of insanity is very wrong. There are people that suffer with mental health illness, but are extremely intelligent, very reasonable, but at the same time they go through struggles in life. They have faced certain tribulations, certain travails, certain challenges, and because of these challenges, they go through mental health issues. That doesn't mean that they are insane. In fact, most of these people are very
intelligent. I mean, Subhan Allah, when you look at this era of Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we find the Prophet sallallahu Sallam very concerned, very worried about what was happening around him in his surroundings in Makkah, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would go to the mountain and, and there was a cave cave Hara, where he would isolate himself from everybody for days and days. And sometimes people of course, we would think that, why would the person do that? It doesn't make sense, is He? Is he well, is he mentally right? You know, but of course, we all know Subhan, Allah, the Prophet Rasna, was absolutely mentally, right, that the prophets, Allah Islam was
worried and concerned about the society he was living in, he saw all these the injustice, he saw the oppression, and he saw how women were treated. And this all made him really, really upset. And because of that, he used to isolate himself in order to contemplate in order to reflect more and to think more about, you know, his purpose of life and the meaning of life. And I think it is wrong for us to associate anybody and put anybody who faces mental health difficulties and trials in the life and put them into the box of insanity that would be very wrong. So sister Sinead showed that she needs acceptance of Islam has nothing to do with her with her, you know, mental health issues. It
has something to do with her journey of life, in which she became a priest. She studied Christian theology. She studied other faiths, other religions, but could not really accept them as the truth. Because there was always something that didn't make sense to her. She had seen the abuse in the Catholic Church, she had seen the beliefs of the Catholic Church, some of them that did not make sense to her. And then when she eventually came to Islam, and she said that she studied Islam really, and left it for the last because there were so many misconceptions, so many misunderstandings about Islam that she had, you know, that she had this prejudice about this faith.
But eventually when she did study the Quran, all these prejudice, all the misconceptions, misunderstandings, she had, they were all gone, because it all made sense to her everything the Quran was message of the Quran was the message of reason. The message of Quran was the message of, you know, engaging in in the world, but most importantly thinking about the hereafter think about your connection with God, and the connection with the creation of a God of Allah subhanaw taala. And this is something that really made sense to her. One of the things she did she she mentioned to me was, when she asked me, How can she become a Muslim and I told her that you do not need to come to
me to become a Muslim, you do not need to go to anybody, you can proclaim the shahada anywhere and Subhanallah you are directly connected with Allah subhanho wa taala. Because Allah says in the Quran, nano acabo Allah he will have been worried Allah is closer to us than our jugular veins. Las Panatela says in the Quran, what is this Allah Kariba the only for anybody that I'm close to my servant and when you are my Muhammad salallahu Salam, when people ask you tell them, Allah is close to them, they can ask me and I will answer their prayers. So this was something that made sense to her. She didn't like the idea of having an intimate intermediation. So someone that has to be there
between you and God, know for her that effect that you can directly communicate with God You do not need any chef, you do not need any Imam you do not need any you know
At any person in between, and it's just you and Allah subhanaw taala. That made sense to her. And this is why I'm from the law, she embraced Islam. That was amazing. Yes, she actually said that in many interviews that she left Islam till the end that she had a prejudice that she had some things that she knows pretty much like most people, they're brainwashed by the media. And they have many of these negative images. And she was affected by that. So she wasn't even considering the beginning. But then later, she said an interview, she left Islam to the end. And she ended up looking into it. And then you know, also you've probably seen that where she's just opened up chapter two of the
Quran. And from there, she was like, I've been a Muslim this whole time.
Amazing, no more conditioning. Like, look like what you say, I'm glad you know, I'm thankful brother that she, she engaged and interacted with the Quran with the teachings of Islam before she engaged and interacted with Muslims. That's a very, you know, it's a true reality. It's a better reality. But unfortunately, we live in times when people interact with Muslims and then the experience is, is not compliant. In accordance to Quran and Sunnah. We find the experience of engaging with Muslims a lot in contrast, unfortunately, so I'm really glad Alhamdulillah that she studied the Quran before she met Muslims. She studied, you know, the Quran and read the Quran, and interacted with the
teachings of Islam before actually she started engaging in interacting with Muslims. And this is how a lot of people nowadays and hamdulillah they embrace Islam, not because they are impressed by the pride by the flock of Muslims, they are impressed by the teachings of Islam. And this is something that when we look at this era of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam in the early centuries of Islam, it was completely the opposite. In the early centuries of Islam, people that became Muslim, they didn't become Muslim because of the teachings. The teachings were secondary. That was the secondary experience. For them. The primary and foremost experience, the first experience we had was the
experience with engaging with Muslims, even the Sahaba with one Allahu taala, who much mind they met and engage with Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam first, they were impressed by his love, they were impressed by his behavior. And this is why, when the Prophet sallallaahu, Salam in Makkah, first announced that there is only one God and he invited people he gave Dawa, publicly, he was asked by the Quraysh give us a delille give us an evidence that you are a messenger of God and God exists. Rasulillah Salam could have at that time shown a miracle. He didn't show any miracle. He in fact, responded with the way he responded with the revelation of the Quran. Takata LaVista. Come on,
when I'm in public here for that afternoon, I spent a lifetime among you. I spent 40 years of my life among you, is that not sufficient evidence that I'm speaking the truth. So this is the reason why Sahaba many of them became Muslim, because they knew this solderless person is Al Amin, he saw them. So whatever he said, they accepted it straightaway. So today, in this day and age, the experiences is different. So people accept Islam, mostly the five more than 500 people that I mentioned, majority of them became Muslim, because they had studied Islam, they had actually done the research about Islam. And then they needed more clarification, they needed more, you know, light
to be shed on certain topics. And that's what then convinced them to embrace Islam. Let's get into the next part here, there was genuine concern, because the media was reporting that she probably wouldn't be getting an Islamic funeral prayer. And so there was some concern over that. But then the good news, it turned out much respect to the family and everybody else that she ended up having a janazah we call it a funeral bear a proper Islamic burial. And you had many, many figures. High ranking. Figures show up you had was is Michael, the President is the President of the country, Michael D. Higgins residence, Michael D. Higgins, he showed up you had also the YouTube from the
YouTube, some famous musicians, Bob, glade off YouTube frontman and many others. Can you can you talk about this?
Well, first of all, let me say that I really would like to express my gratitude to the family that have with very wisdom dealt with this very, you know, tragic, but very important, you know, farewell to her loved to the loved one sister, Sinead O'Connor. Our sister accepted Islam. She was She clearly identity
fight as a Muslim as an Irish Muslim woman, and the family accepted that the family acknowledged that, and this is why they contacted me. And I was in contact with them for some days to organize the whole, you know, the funeral, but particularly to ensure, which was my concern, as her, you know, brother in faith as her Imam, that she, as a Muslim should have a janazah prayer. So I engaged with the family. As I said, I was in Pakistan when she passed away, I traveled back to Ireland. I contacted the family. They responded very positively, we had meetings. And in these meetings, I explained to them exactly what an Islamic funeral was the rights of a Muslim person is the hukou the
rights they have when they pass away. And they accepted that and they facilitated that, to a great extent, I must say, and none of the family members are Muslim. Sister Sinead has one distant uncle, an Australian one who is an Irish Australian, who is in his 80s right now who is a Muslim. Mashallah, and who married the Bosnian woman, by the way, well, and who is the Muslim? Mashallah, but but that's about it. So in Ireland, none of the family members are of the Muslim faith, but they had great respect. And the family wanted the funeral to be private. And we you know, we respect that. You mentioned President, Michael D. Higgins, who was there, we had the Irish Prime Minister,
tee shot Leo Varadkar, we had some of the artists that you mentioned, no, I don't actually know these artists Believe it or not. I when I was when we were done with the janazah, some of the Muslim Brothers with me told me, Oh, this is, you know, Bono. And this is Bob Geldof. And they told me the names, because I'm not familiar with them. So they told me who they were. And but, you know, these people were colleagues of restriction aid. And they were great friends of her. And it means, you know, a lot for them to be there. And particularly, I think this is probably the first time the Irish president, the prime minister, these individuals had experienced an agenda as soon as a
prayer, I had heard, you know, the two hours that are being, you know, said at the time of the burial at the time of the janazah. So this was, you know, a moment of, I would say, it was, of course, a moment, that of grief. But for us a moment that where we were delighted that our sister who is now going to you know her next step, you know, destiny, and leaving this temporary worlds and going to the eternal abode, that we wanted to ensure that that journey is as appropriate as possible from the Islamic perspective, that we make dua of hermit Farah, we ask Allah subhanaw taala to forgive her gratitude for those and we pray according to the Sunnah of Rasulullah Salallahu Salam,
the janazah and and Hamdulillah. We were able to do that even at the burial. We were there. And at the burial, we were actually requested by the father of sister Sinead, will you please
do the Muslim prayers we did. So which was which was very, and all of them they came to me after that the family members, President Higgins and and others, and they all said that was very, that they were very moved by the way we conducted the prayers. And I think it's testimony to the fact that when we pray for our brother or sister in faith, we pray as if you're praying for our brother and sister, because these are our brothers and sisters in faith. For me, obviously, it was more kind of emotional, because in my mind, it was like, Sister shahada is, you know, the day she accepted Islam. I remember that. And the way she was so happy about it, you know, Alhamdulillah, I have
accepted Islam. And then she was so proudly wearing the hijab on every single, you know, time she came on television, she had an important appearance in the media, she would make sure she wore the hijab. And so it was important for her to do so. And then obviously, the communications I have had with Sister shahada as Sinead O'Connor, they were, you know, I was reminded of them. So I wrote this eulogy, by the way, and Alhamdulillah I shared it, and this has been widely you know, published in the in the international media, but most importantly, highly appreciated by the family highly appreciated by her fans, and by anybody who reads it, because these were words coming from the
heart, talking about her life, but also talking about the next journey. So she got a full on proper Islamic burials. Her body washed Islamic Lee she got shrouded everything.
happened, how it should have had is amazing to hear this is some really good news, the Janaza prayer took place. And when it comes to the hosel I think it's important for people to understand that in Islam and Islamic jurisprudence, in fact, the hosel is given as part of the cream, as part of honoring the person that has passed away, when a person passes away, and there are post mortems that have to take place and do take place. Then, as part of that process, there is cleansing that takes place in the hospitals, by the medical professionals. This kind of cleansing, according to fit also substitutes as a person. So it is not necessarily that a Muslim woman gives the hosel and only then
the hosel is accepted. Even if the medical professionals, practitioners give the hosel and cleanse, clean the body after the autopsy. And again, autopsies are not recommended in Islam. But sometimes they are required. And sometimes they are required and they are needed, they have to be done. In that case, Islam allows for it to happen. And then Islam gifts, this flexibility, Islamic jurisprudence that that cleansing of the body takes place in the hospital by medical experts, is a substitute to the whole set. When we talk about the Janaza prayer Alhamdulillah as I said, the Janaza prayer was performed the burial at the time of burial also she was buried Alhamdulillah she
was not cremated, she was buried, and also we made to our for her. So the family took these things into consideration, despite the fact that they have their own faith. And I think people have to understand that in situations like this, when you have a Muslim revert, there are some challenges. The first challenge is, of course, is if the person doesn't have a will, that is very clearly explicitly mentioning how they want to be married, it becomes a very big challenge. So I mean, this is just a general advice. I'm not talking specifically about sexualidad sinead o'connor situation, I'm talking about general some of the advice I would have for as an imam of someone as I said, who
converted more than 500 people 500 people to accept Islam, make sure you have a well you know, an Islamic will unveil that explicitly defines in detail what you want that takes place at the at you know, when you pass away, that means that you have to mention categorically the hosel the coffin part you have to cut here categorically mentioned the janazah. And the third theme, the burial all of that mentioned that in detail. In the absence of this. I think I'm reminded of the fact that Islam is a religion of humanity's religion of compassion is a religion that emphasis on emphasizes on the cream. We all know about the Hadith sutra sola sola cinema he was sitting with the sahaba.
And funeral pass by of a non believer of an enemy of Islam, and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stood up. And the Sahaba were shocked. They were surprised, Dr. Salah, but he was an enemy, he was one of our enemies of Islam, and why are you standing up for his funeral. And the prophets, Larson responds back by saying, But wasn't he isn't your human being, he deserves to be treated with respect at the cream. So this the cream is important. So when a person passes away, that is Muslim, but his family members are not Muslim. We need to be flexible. You know, when we when we emphasize and we are very stubborn and say, well, it has to happen this way, it may be possible that the
family members come back to you and respond by saying, You know what, we don't want any of that. And you cannot do anything about it. Because the next kin the next two can decide what happens if there is an absence of a will. So in this case, you have to approach this with Hikmah approach this with wisdom, and you have to do your best that you are very flexible, you understand the need of the family, but also you are able to convey to them that this aspect of the Janaza prayer is extremely important for the person that was passed away, because they had accepted this faith. They had accepted this way of life. And this is part of their choice, this is part of their will, even though
they may not have stipulated that and you have to convey that. And Alhamdulillah as I said we were able to communicate this and we were you know we're very thankful to the family of our system that they were understanding of this and we were able to allow them to have a Janaza prayer support system hamdulillah Al Hamdulillah Al Hamdulillah this is truly blessing that 100 Allah she ended up now this was something that did you notice at all I've I saw some of the and this is what I like about the Irish people there to have good hearts and they've always been people when you look at many of the suffering of the Palestinians you have them there's a history of deep history you know
about the with the potato famine back when the
When I saw Taiwan, you know sent the food there for the, for the Irish people and Irish people remember this and they still commemorate it and are really thankful to the Muslims. So there's been a good connection between Irish people in the in the Muslims, there are so many similarities between the Irish people and between the Muslim world needs to be seen the OMA and I think particularly in this day and age research and some of them that you have mentioned, I would just like to add to that, that I lived approximately 15 1415 years of my life, the first few years in the Netherlands. So I grew up in the Netherlands. I then traveled to Pakistan, studied there, and came to Ireland,
and I've been there for 20 years, I've traveled across Europe. And I must say, the most friendliest people in the whole of Europe are undoubtedly the Irish people. They are very helpful, very, very helpful, very, you know, welcoming, and the reason they support Palestine. Today, the most vocal supporters in the West are the Irish people for Palestine, is because the Palestine, the Irish people themselves were used to be victims, they were victims of colonialism, they were victims of oppression, victims of injustice, victims of authorization, victims of, you know, stereotyping, I still still meet a lot of people that say that, in the 70s, and 80s, when they used to live in, in
the UK, they every Irish person was, was was, you know, described as a terrorist, because of the IRA bombings. So they know how it is actually they their experience is very similar to the experience of the Muslims, where we are oppressed in many countries we have, we have injustice, we have inequality in our societies, and where we are being the, you know, we are being associated with acts of terror that we have actually nothing to do with. So they know how it is. And I think this is why they have a lot of understanding. They have a lot of appreciation. And also, as you mentioned, the famine, the the famine was one of the, you know, greatest injustice is done by the colonial powers to the
British people were 2 million, 3 million Irish people died and 2 million moved, as you know, migrated out of the country, some of them went to the States. And this is why even today, most Irish presidents, or sorry, most American presidents can trace back their lineage to Irish ancestors, whether it's the current, you know, President, Mr. Bush, President Bush, President Biden, sorry. And whether it's Bush, whether it's even even the previous president, not trump, the one that you had before Obama, the Obama even traced back his lineage to to a town in County Longford, because his maternal great grandfather was Irish, you know, which is amazing that most Americans can trace back
the lineage to Irish people. How is it because 2 million Irish people during the famine, were forced to leave their homeland, were forced to leave their country, forced to go to England first go to Australia, why? To have a better living. So this is why when the Irish people look at the migrants in the world, they can kind of understand where they're coming from. And this is why they're more accepting. When it comes to faith, the Irish people are very spiritual. They have had their issues, they've had their strong, you know, concerns and reservations, which are, I believe, are completely justified with the Catholic Church. Because the way the Catholic Church obviously treated them, and
they were treated as something that pushed them away from faith, and many of them have become atheists. And those even that are atheists, the reality is, they still are spiritual in the sense that they still have that, you know, elements of family, you know, elements of, of family life, elements of spirituality have believing in one God at least, even though they may say they are atheists, but they still do believe, you know, and I've had this in my conversations, a lot of Irish people, they may say, Oh, I'm an atheist, but what they're really saying is they're not Catholic. That's what they mean when they say I'm not saying they don't believe they don't say they don't
believe in divine power. They believe in divine power, they believe in God, but it's just their way of expressing their, you know, their their anger towards the church. And that's what we saw in sister Sinead as well as is to show that Sinead, when, in 1992, she had the picture of the papacy, she turned it in front of the, you know, whole world she did it because she had no issues with God. She was not upset with Allah with God. She was not upset with the divine she was upset by, by with the church, you know, with the Catholic Church in particular. And this is the thing that a lot of Irish people they may say that they are atheists, but in reality, they still believe in God. And
it's a very, I think, for Dawa. It's an amazing country because it's like, these people are waiting. These people are waiting
for them to find out about Islam and then realize, well, this is exactly how we want our way of life to be, are deemed to be, because it has nothing none of the issues that we had with the church, but it has all the positive things. It has all the things that we really love, the love of Jesus, you know, the believe in the virgin birth, the meaning of life that you know, we're not here. As a coincidence, we're here because we have a meaning to our life. And that is how do we live our life? So how do we have our hereafter? So all of this makes sense for Irish people? And this is why a lot of Irish people as I said, they embrace Islam wholeheartedly, but it's all about Dawa. It's all
about growing lesbian couple Hikmah well, more, or is it till Hasina to make sure that you do that our you know, I mean, Dawa in. I mean, I'm in Pakistan right now, as you know, mean. Dawa in Pakistan is completely different. And this, this Dawa doesn't work in Ireland, it would push people away from faith from Deen. And this is why you know, in every culture, every society, there has to be, you have to adopt yourself and you have to talk to people in the language they understand.
And there's gonna be a lot of Irish people probably watching this, and we invite them to look into Islam, and look into the way of life that sinead o'connor looked into and she accepted. And if they are wanting to, if they're in Ireland, if you're when you get back, where where can they visit, if they want to go and pick up a free copy of the Quran, they want to go ahead and learn more, what's the place the center there that they can come you're the head of the is it the largest Islamic center and Dublin it's just not it's not the largest Islamic Center is one of the Islamic Center, one of the Islamic centers, whatever, they can contact us by either our website Islamic center.ie
They can go to the website of the Irish Muslim peace and integration Council, which I am a chairperson of, they can get a free copy of the Quran, they can make an appointment to discuss we have a lot of visits from non Muslims coming to the Islamic center, even from schools and colleges, students from universities that are welcome. We will happily you know welcome them to the Islamic center and answer any of their questions they have about faith. And let me just also mention that you know, our experience as Muslims in Ireland is wonderful, because we celebrate our either and how prayer in the largest most iconic historical venue which is the which is called the Croke Park. So
Croke Park in Ireland has a history. The history is that about 100 years ago, when Ireland was under colonial power, the colonial you know, Army, the English army, they killed many spectators of games there and is a very big incident and that triggered the revolution basically, that became the reason for Ireland eventually due to become a free state. So people are very spiritually and deeply connected with Croke Park. We started celebrating and performing either other prayers during COVID 1920 20 in Croke Park. And then Hamdulillah. This year, we performed our Fourth International prayer. So even today, our either our prayer is in Croke Park and the ILA prayer is broadcasted live
on the Irish broadcasting state television, which is RTE, which is amazing and it's something that I think no other European Muslim community can say that they have been embraced and welcomed in a beautiful way and well integrated into the society. So we invite all diverse people listening to us here, if you're in Ireland, or if you're not, we'll get you at the end phone number you can go ahead and call if you have any questions or you can visit the one of the Islamic centers there. Come to an open house. I will say I would say to them to all the Irish people. Yes, hate mail a fortune 100 1000s Welcome to any Islamic center. How do you say that again? I'll say it again. What's the
term they use? Que tu Mila falesha KVM affaccia. It's 100 1000s. welcomes. Welcome Welcome, welcome. We welcome you to Islam come to Islam calm as the Muslims come and go ahead and enjoy some food with us. And last question I have for you ship is since you're in Pakistan, we heard the breaking news. I don't know if you can comment on it with Imam Khan. What's going on the latest and if you're able to talk about that for a second your feelings on it?
Well, I think like most people with Pakistani roots that live in the West, I had a lot of hopes when Pakistan had Imran Khan as its prime minister. The situation Pakistan was improving. After a long time. We had democracy. After a long time financial situation was becoming stable. People started investing in the country started having trust to invest in the country.
Three. But unfortunately, Imran Khan is not the Prime Minister anymore. And it's not just that, in fact, there is whole, I think particular movement going on that wants him to be completely eliminated from the political scene and political sphere. And that's what we're witnessing now. The irony is that Imran Khan represents democracy in Brande, Han was a democratically elected prime minister. His party is the largest political party in Pakistan, the way that democracy is being undermined right now, in Pakistan, the way democracy is being trampled upon by the various different stakeholders. And the way us in the West, our countries are this, you know, states are silent on
this is questionable. And it's very disappointing, because he was a democratically elected, you know, Prime Minister, and his government was a democratically elected government. His party is a Democratic Party, it's being completely blacklisted. You're not allowed to mention his name. And I find it obviously something that is very disappointing. I mean, I'm not a supporter of Imran Khan. Personally, I don't support any party. I, you know, I'm more involved in Irish politics, out then in Pakistani politics, but obviously, being a child of Pakistani citizens, parents, I am aware, I'm interested in what's happening in the country. As I said, I'm very disappointed in this in the
current situation. And I hope and I really pray that, you know, may Allah subhanaw taala bring justice and may, you know, justice prevail, and this country flourish, because it has such a great potential. I mean, it's an amazing country, it's a beautiful country, are these obviously trumped up charges that they're trying to stick with him? Is it something that's already the court has has happened? I think it was something like three years that he got in jail, is it something that's being what's going on with that? So he basically got centers for three years, and then five years, he is not allowed to contest in any or engage in political activities. But having said that, I think
that his his, you know, party, and his lawyers and legal team are are, you know, trying to override that by the Supreme Court. But they're trying, but I'm not aware of anything else. But we all know that at the moment, he is blacklisted he is in jail. But it's a very disappointing situation. Because at the end of the day, all these people don't realize is that they're all citizens of the same state citizens of the same country. And why are they not really thinking about the progress of the country and just thinking about their own? You know, you don't power, you know, struggles, and it's something that we witnessed, I think, you know, a lot in our societies, unfortunately, he was
also they tried to assassinate him a few times. A couple times, is that right? He survived. He survived a couple of assassination attempts I and you know, but again, you know, life and that is in the hands of Allah subhanaw taala. People like Imran Khan, and people that, you know, I mean, want to do something great for the country, for the Ummah, we always witness that these people are at the target list, you know, their names are on a particular target list, unfortunately.
Just a couple more on this. So what's the tempo? Now the feeling like in Pakistan, with him being in jail? Is What's it feel like in Pakistan? Are most people obviously seeing that this is this is a setup? Or what are they?
Well, how was the responsibility? Sure, people don't talk about it in public, because they know as soon as they mentioned something in support of Imran Khan, they can be taken away, they can be, you know, they can end up in jail and things like that. So obviously, they're not vocal about it. But in private gatherings. People are very upset when they mentioned what is happening. And even, I mean, 14th of August, which is the Independence Day is coming, which is happening on Monday. And I spoke to a lot of people and a lot of people that are Pakistan is, you know, when I mentioned our Independence Day is coming and they're like, wishing dependently what independence that we have, we
aren't really independent. It's been 76 years, but the country isn't really independent. We're still, you know, being ruled. So so it's it's something that people are talking about, but privately not publicly because of the consequences.
Oh, thank you. Thank you very much for spending some time with us. And helping to clear up some of the doubts that people had regarding the Janaza was Sinead O'Connor and bringing us up to speed
God Almighty Allah reward you bless you, and you got me think you got me thinking when I started to hear more of Ireland and how receptive the Irish people are to Muslims and Islam. We look forward to hosting you in Ireland. You got me thinking about maybe this
Sitting Ireland's we're gonna have we're gonna have to also have what's his name the Conor McGregor come over to the to your mosque you familiar with Conor McGregor? Yes, yes. We invite him to Islam also oh my god I'm gonna log guide him and they can visit.
Everybody thank you juggle how to sell on LinkedIn Flipkart Zack, look at Santa Monica.
I'm sure all of you know Eddie from the D show. And I'm sure that you've all heard about the Dean center. Now you don't want to miss on this opportunity. The brother has been around for a long time. When I became Muslim, that was a show that I used to watch. It was one of the shows that I actually was interviewed on. And since then, I've kept in touch with Eddie and we've cooperated and participate in many things together. hamdulillah by the blessing of Allah, now you guys have to do your part. This is for the ummah. There's so many people in this world who need the message of Islam, but the question is not what you're gonna do. What are you going to do with your money with
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