Dublin Mosque: A Community Essential

by Maria Giulia Lipparoni

Inthe 1970s Muslim students in Dublin contacted Islamic Foundations in the United Kingdom and other countries to start raising funds to establish the first Mosque in Dublin. This led to the purchasing of a four-storey home mainly funded by King Faisal Bin Abdul-Aziz, the late King of Saudi Arabia. When an increase in worshippers began to occur, the Islamic Foundation had to start a new fundraiser to expand the Mosque. Built in the 1860s the Presbyterian Church that had a 13th-century style on South Circular Road was converted into a Mosque.

But what is it that makes the Dublin Mosque an enjoyable place for Dublin 8’s community?

Fares Sabbagh, who works as the administrator for the Islamic Foundation, says that the establishment isn’t only used for praying purposes, “We make most of our profit through the Al Khair restaurant, which has been running for around 30 years”. Fares says that the previous owner of Al Khair passed away and left the business to his son.

“We also provide halal foods through the Nuur Shop, along with Halal certificates which is another great percentage of our profits.” Both are situated on the Islamic Foundation grounds on South Circular Road,“A solid restaurant if you can handle your spice” mentions Mr Sabbagh. The administration building also provides translations, fax services, and mosque visit arrangements.

The main entrance to the Mosque takes you to the prayer rooms. Fares states that you won’t see any pictures when you walk into a prayer room.

“It’s because when it comes to God, things that are unseen - Al Ghaib in Islam- we have no knowledge of it, so even the idea to try and comprehend God’s essence or appearance can be considered Haram, sinful.”

The prayers carried out at the Dublin Mosque are held out by the Imam at the minbar, but comparably to other Mosques, they provide an English translation throughout. Fares says, “It’s good to get a mix, some only do English and some only do Arabic”.

Fares explains that the upstairs area is normally used by women, along with the secluded prayer room for women. “But in Islam, a man must attend the Friday prayer and not a woman, so when it packs out and we have a thousand people inside the Mosque we will give men the precedence”.

The Islamic Foundation takes advantage of their busy fridays by allowing charitable donations to book slots within the day to go in and collect donations. He goes on to mention that they collect their donations for Sakaat outside of the prayer rooms. Mr Sabbagh explains that the Sakaat is a mandatory donation that must be given yearly, as part of the Islamic religion. “There is something called a Nisāb though, which is the minimum threshold a Muslim should have before giving to Sakaat.” These donations go to the poor and needy, “We dedicate them to countries in need, there are people we trust in countries like Palestine that will be able to give them to those who need it”. He continues by saying that most of the time you would need to donate through charitable foundations “But some countries don’t have organisations willing to help like that”

The most exciting part of the building is the extension. This is where most of the Foundation’s works take place. “Although the building seems big it’s being put to good use at all times, it still feels small sometimes”. The extension side of the Mosque is where the weekend Quran school for children takes place. Fares says that the class is mainly focused on memorising the Quran and telling stories about it.

8 community into the Ramadan spirit every year by giving out Ramadan cards to neighbours and going door to door with slices of cake for everyone.

On top of this, the Islamic Foundation also works very closely with Discover Islam Ireland, which Fares speaks very highly about. “When people come in to convert religions Discover Islam is there to help you every step of the way”, Fares says that they are there to help make sure you feel 100% comfortable throughout your conversion. “When converting, you’d be surprised how many problems come up with families. Discover Islam is there to help people navigate.”

The extended area also holds the ladies’ and children’s rooms. English classes for women are carried out in this room on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Along with the Tuesday Lady’s Quran Class. Fares mentions that Arabic lessons were also offered to the community if consistency and genuine interest were offered in retrospect, but that sadly didn’t work out.

Wednesday mornings the Mosque hosts Ladies Coffee, this is primarily for refugee women, women that can’t speak English very well, and women that have just moved to the country. “The focus of the coffee mornings is to make sure they can implement themselves into the community if barriers are stopping them,” says Fares.

The coffee mornings are hosted by the same person who runs the AMAL office in the Mosque. “Amal stands for Hope” comments Sabbagh. Hanan Amer is an Egyptian lady who started Amal and runs it with Amilah Ali as an organisation that supports women going through domestic violence cases. “She’s a gem. During Ramadan, she gathered food packages and went around Ireland giving them out to refugees.”

The Foundation itself implements the Dublin

Fares also reminisces of times before Covid-19 when they used to host Islamic Cultural Exhibitions. This would occur twice a year and the whole neighbourhood was welcome. The main focus was showcasing Islam by sharing what the Mosque did. This would include leaflets and posters that contained information for anyone interested in learning more about the religion. They would also al- low everyone to taste cultural foods made at the Al Khair Restaurant free of charge. “We are trying to start that up again, it just hasn’t happened yet, a work in progress.”

Not taking full responsibility for how great the Mosque is, Fares says “There are multiple jobs the Imam is in charge of. The Mosque is a Patron for two schools in Dublin, which means the Imam oversees the curriculum and how the school’s function”. But that’s not all the Imam does. He focuses on pilgrimage trips to Mecca for Hajj (which are available to all Muslims when converting at the Dublin Mosque) and oversees donations processes.