assalamualaikum greetings of Peace
recently we were reporting on Sinead
O'Connor alhamdulillah
alhamdulillah so 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 such I
left Islam until last because and I
never thought I would join religion I
left Islam to last because I I had so
much Prejudice about Islam you know yes
and then when I started reading I read
just chapter two alone of the crime I
realized oh my God I'm home I've been a
Muslim all my life and I didn't realize
it her death but 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 a story with me that they had
some benches inside that needed to be
moved and Eddie together Father and Son
were lifting these benches join us in
this project inshallah so we can
establish
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
foreign
with my Free Will and my favorite I will
continue to respect all other religions
including Christianity
but my way of life my way of life my
religion is Islam
congratulations congratulations
and with us Dr Omar assalamu alaikum
[Applause]
let me into my face
be upon him this is our religion Islam
Islam this is
show
um
how are you
alhamdulillah
so let's take us back to this day this
is the uh
the time when Sinead O'Connor actually
when she first embraced Islam and you
were 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 uh you
know I'm reminded of the verse of the
Quran Allah
Allah guides whoever he wants on the
straight path uh our sister
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 this 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 to
verses of the Quran they were specific
to theology specific to certain
questions certain topics that may be
ambiguous for some uh or confusing for
some for example the question of arcs in
Islam music in 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 I was surprised but it's
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
share so I did that that evening and
then it became very apparent to me that
the person that I met in the Islamic
Center was a worldly renowned a very
famed artist musician a singer
so we met after a few days alhamdulillah
we had dinner uh and we had a discussion
about Islam uh for us and she said she's
ready for the shahada so alhamdulillah
accepted Islam she proclaimed the
shahada in the Islamic Center of Ireland
uh and then also became very vocal very
public about her embracing of Islam
acceptance of Islam so may Allah you
know Grant her Jonathan for those
um it's 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
um and it is of course uh you know a
reality that kulunov sins every person
living person has to taste that and
sometimes we do not realize how fast the
you know modes and deaths will knock on
the door and for our sister the same
thing happened like out of the blue I
was in Pakistan uh when the the day she
passed away I received the 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
landsliding we were stuck there for
three days and we couldn't return back
to Islamabad so once I arrived in
Islamabad subhanallah within a few uh
minutes you know as soon as my phone
received the signal I got a message and
she had literally passed away just a few
uh hours before that and you know it was
very uh of course emotional because I
remember my discussions with her I
remembered her journey to Islam but also
uh very importantly her journey within
Islam so we pray for our sister may
Allah
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 another Irish person do 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 uh
more than 500 people have alhamdulillah
embraced people from all walks of life
and uh you know students journalists I.T
professionals uh even some lawyers but
uh it was the first time that somebody
of you know such great I think Fame and
renowned personality had embraced Islam
through me and uh I'm just thankful to
Allah that he has given this toffee and
he has provided us the opportunity to
give dawah and uh and and that people
have accepted and I think this is
perhaps one of these uh you know great
blessings of Allah that when you do
dawah sometimes you know and the dawah
hits the right spot in the heart and
then people Embrace Islam but it's only
the tawfiq of Allah
yes so I had absolutely no idea who this
lady was that she was the daughter of
Ireland so obviously one she raised
Islam and and we I mean we tweeted that
straight away I received phone calls
from America from Indonesia from
Philippines emails of Muslims being so
uh you know uh subhanallah excited and
also very emotional that you know the
person that they they had uh you know
witnessed going through a very difficult
journey in her life where she remained
faithful in the Divine but uh opposed
you know the Catholic Church oppose
religious institutions
um and became very vocal and renowned of
that that person then eventually comes
and Embraces Islam for many it it will
it made sense you know people that knew
her uh 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 she would have
found out about it and she did
alhamdulillah she did I like what you
said and you also saw the same thing
that I saw you know I was 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 alhamdulillah 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 know 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 huh
absolutely I think people fail to
understand when when we associate
someone the way it 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 is very wrong there are
people that suffer with mental health
illness but are extremely intelligent uh
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
subhanallah when you look at the seera
of rasulullah
you find the prophet salallahu very
concerned very worried about what was
happening around him in his surroundings
in Makkah and the prophet would go to
the mountain and there was a cave cave
Hera where he would isolate himself from
everybody for days and days and
sometimes people of course who would
think that why would a person do that it
doesn't make sense is he is he well is
he mentally right you know but of course
we hold no subhanallah the prophet saws
was absolutely mentally right and the
prophet salallahu 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 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 their life and to put them in
the box of insanity that would be very
wrong so
acceptance of Islam has nothing to do
with her with her you know mental health
issues it is 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 as 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 misunderstand she had
they were all gone because it all made
sense to her everything the Quran was
message of the Quran was the massive
reason the Mastiff 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 Allah God of Allah and this
is something that really made sense to
her one of the things 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 in
subhanallah you are directly connected
by Allah because Allah says in the Quran
Allah is closer to us than our jugular
veins Allah says in the Quran
that I'm close to my servant and when
you oh my 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 intimate
intermediation so someone that has to be
there between you and God no for her the
fact that you can directly communicate
with God you do not need any Sheikh you
do not need any Imam you do not need any
you know any person in between and it's
just you and Allah that made sense to
her and this is why alhamdulillah she
embraced Islam
that was amazing yes she actually said
that in many interviews as she left
Islam till the end that she had a
Prejudice that she had
some things that she 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 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 confusion yeah like like
what you said I'm glad you know I'm
thankful uh brother that she she engaged
and interacted with the Quran with the
teachings of Islam before she engaged
and interacted with Muslims it's a very
you know um 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 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 and read the
Quran and interacted with the teachings
of Islam before actually she started
engaging interacting with Muslims and
this is how a lot of people nowadays
alhamdulillah they Embrace Islam and not
because they are impressed by the uh by
the of Muslims they are impressed by the
teachings of Islam and this is something
that when we look at the Syrah in the
early centuries of Islam it was
completely the opposite in the early
centers 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 and the first
experience they had was the experience
with engaging with Muslims even the
sahaba is
they met and engaged with rasulullah
first they were impressed they were
impressed by his behavior and this is
why when the prophet salallahu
first announced that there is only one
God and he invited people and he gave
Tower publicly he was asked by the
quresh give us a dalil give us an
evidence that you are a messenger of God
and God exists
he didn't show any miracle
he in fact responded with the war he
responded with the revelation of the
Quran
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 person is
so whatever he said they accepted it
straight away 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 their 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 janaza we call it funeral a
proper Islamic burial and you had many
many uh figures uh high ranking
figures show up you had was it is
Michael the president is this the
president of the country Michael D
Higgins presidents Michael D Higgins he
showed up you had also the YouTube from
the YouTube uh some famous uh musicians
Bob gladoff YouTube front man and many
others uh can you can you talk about
this
well first of all uh 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 her love to their loved
one sister Sinead O'Connor our sister
accepted Islam she was she clearly
identified 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 uh some days to
organize the whole uh 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 janaza prayer so I
engage 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 with the rights of a
Muslim person is at the Haku the rights
they have when they pass away and they
accepted that and they
facilitated that to to a great extent I
must say uh and and none of the family
members are Muslim
sister Sinead has one distant Uncle an
Australian one who is an Irish
Australian uh who is in his 80s right
now who is a Muslim uh mashallah and who
married the Bosnian Woman by the way wow
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 a great respect and
the family wanted the funeral to be
private uh and and we you know we
respect that uh you mentioned president
uh Michael D Higgins who was there we
had the Irish Prime Minister uh t-shock
layover we had some of the artists that
you mentioned now I don't actually know
these artists believe it or not I when I
was Pray when we were done with the
janaza some of the Muslim Brothers with
me told me oh this is uh you know Bono
and this is uh Bob geldov and they told
me the names uh because I'm not familiar
with them and so they told me who they
were and uh but you know these people
were colleagues of physician Aid and
they were great friends friends of her
and it 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
uh you know individuals had experienced
janaza prayer I had heard you know the
duas that are being uh you know said at
the time of the burial at the time of
the janaza so this was uh you know a
moment of I would say it was of course a
moment that of grief uh but for us a
moment uh that where we were delighted
that our sister who is now going to you
know her next you know Destiny and and
and leaving this uh temporary world and
going to the Eternal Abode and we wanted
to ensure that that journey is uh has
appropriate as possible from the Islamic
perspective that we make Dua of we ask
Allah to forgive her granted dinner for
those and we pray according to the
Sunnah
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 uh will you please uh
do the Muslim uh prayers
so which was which was very and and all
of them they came to me after at the
family members uh 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 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 shuhada 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
um and then uh she was so uh 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 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 uh published in the
in the international media but most
importantly highly appreciated by the
family highly appreciate by her fans and
by anybody who reads it because these
were words coming from the heart uh
talking about her life but also talking
about the next Journey
so she got a full-on proper Islamic
barish her body washed Islamic Lee she
got shrouded everything happened uh how
it should have how this is amazing to
hear this is some really good news
the janaza prayer took place and when it
comes to the uh whistle I think it's
important for people to understand that
in Islam in Islamic jurisprudence 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
postmortons 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 Fick also substitutes as
opposal so it is not necessarily that a
Muslim woman gives the wholesale and
only then the Russell is accepted even
if the medical professionals
practitioners give the hustle and clean
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 and in
that case Islam allow house for it to
happen and then Islam gives this
flexibility Islamic jurisprudence that
that cleansing of the body takes place
in the hospital by medical experts is a
substitute to the Russell 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 also we made Dua
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 reward 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 buried it becomes a a
very big challenge so I mean this is
just a general advice I'm not talking
specifically about she needs of honored
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 5 I help people 500 people to
accept Islam make sure you have a will
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 hotel
the Cuffin part you have to
categorically mention the janaza and the
tadfin the burial all of that mention
that in detail in the absence of this uh
I think I'm reminded of the fact that
Islam is a religion of humanity it's a
religion of compassion it's a religion
that emphasis on emphasizes on takrim
but we all know about the Hadith where
he was sitting with the sahaba and a
funeral passed by of a non-believer of
an enemy of Islam and rasulullah stood
up
and the sahaba were shocked they were
surprised but he was an enemy he was one
of our enemies of Islam and why are you
standing up for his funeral and the
prophet saws responds back by saying but
wasn't he isn't he a human being he
deserves to be treated with respect uh
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 token decides what happens if
there is an absence of a will so in this
case you have to approach this with
hikima approach this with wisdom
um and 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 the janaza prayer is extremely
important for the person that has 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 it and you have to
convey that and alhamdulillah as I said
we were able to communicate this and uh
we were you know we were very thankful
to the family of our sister that they
were understanding of this and we were
able to alhamdulillah have uh janaza
prayers for sister alhamdulillah
alhamdulillah alhamdulillah this is uh
truly a blessing that alhamdulillah she
ended up um now this was uh something
that did you did you notice at all I've
I saw some of the um and this is what I
like uh about the the Irish people there
to have a good hearts and they've always
um been people when you look at many of
the suffering of the Palestinians you
have them there's a history a deep
history you know about the with the
Potato Famine back uh when the when the
when the sultan you know sent the food
there for the for the Irish people when
the Irish people remember this and they
still commemorate the and are really
thankful to the Muslims so there's been
a good connection between the Irish
people and the Muslims there are so many
similarities between the Irish people
and between the Muslim World between the
ummah and I think particularly in this
day and age research and some of them
that you have mentioned now I would just
like to add to that that I I lived
approximately 15 well 14 15 years of my
life uh if 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
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 uh very uh 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 victim
they were victims of colonialism they
were victims of Oppression victims of
Injustice victims of authorization
victims of uh you know stereotyping uh I
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 every Irish
person was was was you know described as
a terrorist because of the IRA bombings
so they know how it is actually 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 uh 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 uh they have a lot
of appreciation and also as you
mentioned the famine the the fam was one
of the you know greatest injustices done
by the colonial powers to the Irish
people where two million three 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
sorry most American Presidents can trace
back their lineage to Irish ancestors
whether it's uh the the current uh you
know president Mr Bush President Bush uh
President Biden sorry and whether it's
Bush whether it's even even the the
previous president not Trump the one
that you had before Obama see Obama even
traced back his lineage to uh to a town
in County Longford because his maternal
great-grandfather was Irish you know
which is amazing that most Americans can
trace back their lineage to Irish people
how is that because two million Irish
people during the famine were forced to
leave their Homeland were forced to
leave their country forced to go to
England forced to 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 kind of understand where
they are coming from and this is why
they are more accepting uh when it comes
to Faith the Irish people are very
spiritual
they have had their issues they've had
their strong uh you know concerns and
reservations which are I believe are
completely Justified uh with the
Catholic Church uh because uh the way
the Catholic Church obviously treated
them and they were treated uh is
something that pushed them away from
faith and many of them have become
atheists and and those even that are
atheists the reality is they serve
spiritual in the sense that they still
have that you know element of family uh
you know element of of of family life
elements of spirituality of 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 I'm not
saying they don't believe they're not
saying they don't believe in in a divine
power uh they believe in in a divine
power they believe in God but it's just
their way of extra pressing their you
know their their anger towards the the
church and and that's what we saw in
Sister Sinead as well sister Sinead uh
when in 1992 she she had the picture of
the Pope she torn 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 to to find out about
Islam and then realize well this is
exactly how we want our way of life to
be our Deen to be because it has nothing
none of the uh 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 Jesus you know they
believe in diversion birth uh the the
the the meaning of life that you know we
are not here as a coincidence we are
here because we have a meaning to our
life and that is how do we live our life
so how do we have our head after
so all of this makes sense to Irish
people and this is why a lot of Irish
people as I said they Embrace Islam
wholeheartedly but it's all about dawah
it's all about
to make sure that you do dawah you know
I mean dawa in I mean I'm in Pakistan
right now as as you know I mean dawa in
Pakistan is completely different and
this this 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
yeah you have to adopt yourself and you
have to talk to people in the language
they understand
and there's going to 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 uh
if they want to go ahead and pick up a
free copy of the Quran they want to go
ahead and learn more what's the uh place
the center there that they can come
you're you're the head of the uh is it
the largest uh Islamic Center in Dublin
no it's not the largest Islamic Center
it's one of the Islamic centers one of
the Islam centers one of them they can
contact us by either our website
islamiccenter.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 uh from non-muslims coming to the
Islamic Center even from schools and
colleges students from universities
they're 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 prayer in the
largest most iconic historical venue
which is the which is called the croak
Park so croak Park in Ireland has a
history the history is that about 100
years ago when Ireland was under
colonial power the colonial uh 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
Crowe Park we started uh celebrating and
Performing Eid UL adha prayers during
covid-19 2020 in Croke Park and
alhamdulillah this year we performed our
fourth prayer so even today our Eid
al-adha prayer is in prog Park and the
illadha prayer is broadcasted live on
the Irish broadcasting State television
which is the 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 the Irish
people listening to us here if you're in
Ireland or if you're not uh we'll get
you at the end the 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 would say to
them to all the Irish people yes
a hundred thousands welcome to any
Islamic Center how do you say that again
say it again what what's the term
vulture
it's a hundred thousands welcomes
welcome welcome welcome we welcome you
to Islam come to Islam come and meet the
Muslims come and uh uh go ahead and
enjoy some food with us and um last
question I had for you is since you're
in Pakistan uh we heard the breaking
news I don't know if you you can comment
on it with uh Imam Khan what's going on
the latest and if you're able to talk
about that for a second your feelings on
it
okay
well I think uh like most uh people with
Pakistani roots that live in the west uh
I had a lot of hopes when Pakistan had
Imran Khan as its prime minister uh the
situation Pakistan was improving after a
long time
we had democracy after a long time a
financial situation was becoming uh
stable people started investing in the
country started having trust to invest
in the country but unfortunately uh
Imran Khan is not a prime minister
anymore and it it's not just that in
fact there is whole I think particular
movement going on that want 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
Imran Khan was a democratically elected
uh you know prime minister his party is
the largest political party in Pakistan
uh 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 you
know states are silent on this is
questionable and it's very disappointing
because he was a democratically elected
you know uh 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 I uh you know
I'm more involved in Irish politics out
then in Pakistani politics but obviously
uh 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 uh you know may Allah
bring Justice and may uh you know
Justice Prevail uh and 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 them is
this something that's already the court
has has happened I think it was
something like three years that he got
in jail is this is this something that's
being appeal what's going on with that
so so he basically uh got sentenced for
three years and then five years he's not
allowed to contest in any or engage in
political activities uh but having said
that I think that his uh his you know
party and his lawyers and legal team are
are you know trying to uh override that
uh by the Supreme Court
um 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 uh but it's 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 uh you know their own power you know
struggles and and it's something that we
witness I think you know a lot in 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 uh I and you know but again you
know life and that is in the hands of
Allah people like Imran Khan uh and
people that uh you know I mean want to
do something great for the country uh
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
uh just a couple more on this uh so
what's the tempo now the feeling like in
Pakistan with him being in jail is uh
what's it feel like in Pakistan are most
people obviously seeing that this is uh
this is a setup or what are they
how is the response been
sure people don't talk about it in
public because they know as soon as they
mention something in support of Imran
Khan they can be taken away they can be
uh 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 mention
what is happening and um even I mean
14th of August which is the Independence
Day is coming uh which is happening on
Monday and I spoke to a lot of people
and a lot of people that are pakistanis
you know when I mention oh Independence
Day is coming and they're like wish
Independence Day what Independence Day
we have we aren't really independent
it's been 76 years but the country isn't
really independent we're still uh you
know being ruled uh so so it's so 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 um clear up some of the the doubts
that people had regarding the janaza
with Sinead O'Connor and bringing us up
to speed
a uh God Almighty Allah rewards you
bless you and uh you got me think you
got me thinking uh when I start to hear
more of uh Ireland and how receptive the
Irish people are to Muslims and Islam um
we look forward hosting you today
you got me thinking about maybe uh
visiting uh Ireland we're gonna have
we're gonna have to also uh have uh
what's his name the uh Conor McGregor
come over to the to your mosque you're
familiar with Conor McGregor yes yes I
am I am yes we invite him to Islam also
Allah guide him and we can visit you
there all right everybody I mean
everybody thank you
I'm sure all of you know Eddie from the
d-shock and I'm sure that we'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 cooperate
and participated in many things together
alhamdulillah 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 what you have what
are you going to do to help the ummah to
help someone who's been around for 20
years doing dawa you've enjoyed the
shows you've enjoyed the interviews
you've enjoyed now it's your turn
support the dean Center
[Music]
I cannot leave without giving you a gift
if you are not yet Muslim and you're
tuning in to see what these Muslims are
talking about and you like a free copy
of the Quran go and visit thedenshow.com
we'll take care of the postage and
everything and get it delivered to you
and if you still have some questions
about Islam call us at
1-800-662-4752 we'll see you next time
until then peace be with you