Dear Editor, I was very heartened to read in Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri’s article in last week’s paper (IC 31/03/2016) that the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council had held a ‘Not in our name’ protest in Dublin and has launched guidelines on preventing radicalism.
In the same issue David Quinn wrote that it was not enough for people to say ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ and that the Islamic community themselves must launch a campaign aimed at defeating the extremists in their midst. I have often voiced that opinion myself. I think the best placed people to prevent young Muslims from getting involved in fundamentalist violence, is other Muslims.
This can be extremely difficult, of course, especially as there is no central figure of authority in Islam, such as Pope Francis. There are so many rogue elements presenting themselves as religious leaders so they can promote violence and chaos. That is why it is so important to have vocal community leaders such as Shaykh Al-Qadri speaking out against the violence and getting media attention.
Yours etc.,
Helen Fahy,
Navan, Co. Meath.