The Ahlul Bayt Islamic Center, Dublin

The Ahlul Bayt Islamic Center, being an active Shia ithna asheri center in Dublin, serves about six thousand Shia Muslims living in Ireland. It is was established by Dr. Ali Al Saleh through the funds collected from the Shia Muslim community of Ireland in 1996 under the supervision of Ayatollah Gholamreza Hassani. The center caters to the social, cultural and spiritual needs of the Shia Muslims of Ireland and includes facilities like a library, kitchen and prayer hall.

History

The National Irish Shia Muslims Islamic Center’s foundation was laid by students from the Middle East studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin during the 1970s. These students hired a small house for small gatherings and later shifted to another place to cater to the needs of a growing community. As Shias grew in Ireland, the Shias decided to finance and officially establish a Shia Ithna Asheri Center in Dublin. The site at Milltown Bridge, Dublin, was chosen to set up this Islamic Center.

Activities

The center operates as an institution for Shia Muslims, with Dr. Ali Al Saleh, a religious scholar from the Qom seminary, as its head. He is also a member of the Irish Council of Imams. The center is open to anyone who wants to know about Islam and observe their rituals. The center also opens for noon and evening prayers, after which various prayers, including the Dua-e-Kumayl, are recited.

On Fridays, the center conducts the congregational prayer and the sermon, and a program is held on Saturdays. The center also performs ceremonies on important occasions such as the birthdays of the Ahl-e-Bayt and Eid-al-Fitr, Eid-al-Adha and Eid-e-Ghadeer. More than a thousand people attend the traditions in the months of Muharram and Ramadan.

References

The website of Ahlul Bayt Islamic Center, Dublin

Wikipedia 2021, Ahlul Bayt Islamic Center, accessed 30th August 2021 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahlul_Bayt_Islamic_Centre>