The Mosque was a Presbyterian church before being converted in 1983
Photo by Alice Tauleigne
Discovering the Dublin 8 Mosque On the South Circular Road lies a mosque, where the Islamic Foundation of Ireland is situated. There’s not only a mosque, but a restaurant where people bond with Muslim community.
by Thomas M. Prior
I
nside the office of the Islamic Foundation lies things you’d typically see on a desk; books, computer, and notes scattered everywhere. There’s also a picture of Mecca, the place of pilgrimage for Muslims worldwide. Their spiritual home is special, even for Irish Muslims, who usually face south-east when they pray in the direction of Mecca. This is the office of Fares Sabbagh, who is part of the administrative team there. The routine at the mosque is typically a busy one and it especially follows an everyday schedule. “On a daily basis, we have the five prayers that would be conducted here in the mosque and led by the Imam,” he said. “We would also have the Friday sermon, we also arrange funerals from start to finish, we do school visits for any schools that want to come in and visit the mosque just for a tour, and if they are looking to cover a particular topic about Islam with their students, then we also provide classes as well.” The Muslim community in Dublin 8 are known
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for charity events and often help out in the wider area, especially working with the homeless and other kinds of issues. “One thing that we’d like to do is keep it open and support other organisations as well, so we get on a regular basis different organisations’ that would contact us and say “Can we do a collection after the Friday prayer?” and we’d be more than obliging to do that, as long as they have charitable status and what not,” he said. “So, when that other organisations who would for example-feed the homeless, we’d allow them to come into the mosque on a Friday to do a collection there, so that there’s a bit of collaboration and support.” A Muslim women’s group called The Muslim Sisters of Éire, unaffiliated with the mosque has been notable for its own contribution towards helping the homeless. They are usually at the GPO in O’Connell Street giving food to the poor and needy. But another group called AMAL which is a women’s group often engage too. They are mostly affiliated with the mosque. “They do coffee mornings for the ladies every Wednesday,” said Fares. “In addition to that, they actually helped us put together English classes for the women who were migrants here
