Muslims should integrate in a positive way with the society around them, without losing their religious identity, a leading Islamic figure, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, said at the Clonskeagh mosque in Dublin yesterday.
Dr Ali Gomma Wahab is leading an Islamic-Christian delegation on a five-day visit arranged by the Church Mission Society Ireland. He said that even before coming here he had heard "glad news" about the Irish Muslim community.
He had visited many countries and was saddened by the way Muslim communities isolated themselves. In Germany, for example, there were three million Muslims but unfortunately they did not positively integrate into the society.
"When the second World War finished, they travelled to Germany but they didn't have a contribution, they closed themselves on themselves, they didn't go out. Consequently, the Muslims have no voice in Germany," he said.
The Grand Mufti urged his fellow Muslims: "Promote and reflect the moderate image of Islam." Diversity was a fact of life and had to be accepted.
"People are different and they should learn how to coexist together." Islam was a religion of peace, a religion of love which sought happiness for all humankind.
For health reasons the Grand Mufti was unable to give the speech himself, which was delivered on his behalf and in his presence by Shaykh Fawzy el-Zefzaf, speaking in Arabic with English translation by an official of the mosque.
Responding, Imam Hussein Halawa of the Clonskeagh mosque said the delegation's visit strengthened efforts to promote Islamic-Christian dialogue in Ireland.
"At the Islamic Centre we are working very hard in order to deepen the concept of dialogue in Ireland," he added.
Through dialogue "we aim to attain that positive integration without dissimulation, in other words, to integrate while preserving our Muslim identity".
He continued: "We enjoy the grace of coexistence in Ireland. We live in a society where plurality is welcomed, where diversity is described as enrichment." As a result the Muslim community had been successful in this country.
Speaking of behalf of the Church Mission Society Ireland, the Rev Patrick Comerford said: "Not only can we live side by side, but we can live together, because at the heart of it all we know that we are the children of Abraham."
The delegation later met President McAleese.