Umar Al-Qadri
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri is a Sunni
Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...
and
sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...
based in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
who was born to a Pakistani Muslim scholarly family. His father is Sunni Muslim scholar Mehr Ali Qadri, who arrived in the late 1970s in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, to serve as an
Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
. Al-Qadri is also the Chair of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council, a national representative Muslim body with a presence in Dublin, Cork, Athlone,
Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. Portlaoise was the fastest growing of the top 20 largest town ...
and Belfast. He unsuccessfully contested the
2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...
for the
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
constituency and for the Dublin West constituency in the
2024 Irish general election The 2024 Irish general election to elect the 34th Dáil took place on Friday, 29 November 2024, following the dissolution of parliament, dissolution of the 33rd Dáil on 8 November by president of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins at the re ...
.


Early life

Al-Qadri was born in Pakistan. He moved to the Netherlands at a young age, where his Sunni Muslim scholar father, Mehr Ali Qadri, had settled in the 1970s to serve as an
imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. After completing his secondary education in the Netherlands, he completed his Masters (Shahadah Al-Alamiyyah) in Islamic Sciences at Jamia Islamia Minhaj-ul-Quran in Pakistan.


Life in Ireland

Al-Qadri moved to Ireland in 2004, and started working full time as an imam. He founded the Clonee Mosque in a residential estate and in 2008 founded the
Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland The Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland, which started its activities as Clonee Mosque, based in the village of Clonee, is the mainstream and leading Islamic Centre in Dublin 15, Ireland. It was established in January 2004 as Clonee Mosque ...
in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. Al-Qadri is a representative of the Muslim community of Ireland in various governmental and non-governmental bodies and organisations, including the Fingal Ethnic Network,
Fingal County Council Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...
, Blanchardstown Citizens Information Centre, and the TCD Scriptural Reasoning Group. He was appointed in June 2013 as the secretary of the Fingal Ethnic Network, and he served until 2014, and he has served on the board of the national New Communities Partnership. He was a founding member of the Council of Irish Imams, but resigned from it in 2016, citing a lack of confidence in it and stating it was "ineffective as a platform to discuss the concerns of the Muslim Community in Ireland." Al-Qadri writes occasionally on Islam related affairs in Irish newspapers, particularly the ''Irish Times''. Al-Qadri reported having been seriously assaulted in
Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...
, Dublin in February 2024.


Views


Abortion

In 2018 he called for Irish Muslims to support the "Yes" vote in the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment to the Irish constitution, allowing for the legalisation of abortion. This resulted in criticism from other Islamic scholars in Ireland and also from members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and establishment.


Anti-radicalisation and anti-extremism efforts

Al-Qadri has spoken against extremism among Muslims and believes that it is his responsibility as a Muslim to contribute to a peaceful society and to fight against extremism. He has launched an anti-radicalisation website, www.jihad.info, to promote the true concept of Jihad and to stop Muslim youth from radicalising. The launch took place in the Waterford Institute of Technology on Thursday 22 January 2015, where Al-Qadri delivered a talk on Islam, Jihad, and Terrorism. Al-Qadri is a traditionalist and considers the views of extremists like al-Qaeda as religiously illegitimate and inauthentic. He decries the failure of extremists to adhere to the classical canons of Islamic law and theology and denounces their fatwas. He unequivocally rejects suicide bombing and considers the killing of noncombatants as always forbidden. According to Al-Qadri, members of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and Boku Haram are un-Islamic, unqualified vigilantes who violate basic Islamic teachings. In June 2015 he organised a protest against ISIS in Dublin City Centre where he launched "Guidelines to Prevent Radicalisation among Irish Muslims".


Female genital mutilation

In February 2018, following remarks by Muslim scholar Ali Selim supporting the practice of
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...
, Al-Qadri issued a
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
against female circumcision, saying that it is forbidden and sinful in Islam, and that any Muslims aware of it taking place in Ireland should stop it and report it to the authorities. Minister for Health,
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence since January 2025, having previously served as Taoiseach from 2024 to 2025. He has ...
, welcomed the statement, tweeting "I welcome this strong statement this evening from the Islamic Centre of Ireland which makes it clear that FGM has no place in any society, it is wrong in all situations and is harmful and a violation and condemns it and rejects the appalling comments of Mr Selim #EndFGM"


Integration

Al-Qadri promotes integration of Muslims in Ireland and has spoken on many public platforms stressing the importance of integration. He believes interfaith dialogue between Muslims and other religions will “build bridges and demolish walls that separate” the religious groups.


Interfaith relations

Al-Qadri promotes interfaith and intra-faith relations. As a Sunni Muslim scholar himself, he has attended many Shia Muslim gatherings and events as main guest. In the Islamic Centre that he has founded, he has also invited the national Shia leader of Ireland, Shaykh Dr. Ali Saleh. He wrote the preface to "A journey together, A Muslim Christian dialogue resource" published by Cois Tine. Al-Qadri has also condemned the persecution of Christians in Kenya and blamed the ignorance on false interpretations of Islamic texts by the terrorists. Al-Qadri has pointed out the similarities between Christianity and Islam and told stories of positive interactions Muhammad had with Christians to promote relations between the two religious groups.


LGBT views

Al-Qadri was criticised by foreign LGBT groups in 2018 for his invitation to members of the LGBT community to an
iftar ''Iftar'' () is the Fasting in Islam, fast-breaking Supper, evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of ' (call to prayer) of the Maghrib prayer. Iftar is the second meal of the day; during Ramadan, the daily fast begins immediately a ...
meal at the mosque, an invitation some viewed as "insulting" as he continued to describe homosexuals as "sinful." He claimed the invitation had been welcomed by LGBT groups in Ireland. In 2022, he was criticised by Irish LGBTQ+ groups for comments described as insulting, when he stated "You cannot force me to believe that this lifestyle is right. In my view, according to Islam, this lifestyle, it contradicts the Koran. You like somebody from the same gender? Maybe that's natural, but Islam, it strictly forbids from engaging in physical sexual activity with the same gender. Simple as that." He stated on Twitter: "I did say that sex between men is prohibited in Islam. And so is drinking alcohol, eating pork or sex outside marriage. Can we not just agree to have diversity in identity, lifestyle and choice but live together peacefully without accusing others as homophobic or Islamophobic?" In March 2023, Al-Qadri wrote on behalf of the Irish Muslim Council that it supported the position of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association in opposing teaching children about gender identity, saying "The Irish Muslim Council believes every child in primary school should be supported, respected and treated with consideration. We think it is unacceptable to teach children about gender identity under the pretext of teaching them about diversity."


Appearances in the media

Al-Qadri has delivered various Islamic lectures on popular media channels including
Ummah Channel Ummah Channel was an Islamic television channel based in the United Kingdom. It launched in August 2009 by replacing 9X's former Sky EPG slot on Sky Digital. It was closed down at the end of 31 July 2017 and is no longer broadcasting. Channels ...
,
ARY Qtv ARY QTV HD, formerly known as Quran Television (QTV), is a Pakistani television channel with a Sunni Islam belief, that produces programs mainly having focus on the Ahlesunnat wal Jamaat. QTV is part of the ARY Digital Network of Pakistan. T ...
, Noor TV and Minhaj TV. Al-Qadri is the only Muslim scholar to be interviewed on '' The Meaning of Life'', an Irish religious television programme, broadcast on RTÉ One. Originally presented by
Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late La ...
, each edition involves the veteran broadcaster interviewing a public figure. Al-Qadri has also appeared on TV3 and RTE television and radio channels on many occasions, being interviewed about issues relating to the Muslim community in Ireland.


References


External links


Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre



ISLAMIC LEADER LAUNCHES ANTI-RADICALISATION WEBSITE IN WIT

Irish Muslim Cleric launches anti radicalisation website


* ttp://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/muslim-cleric-in-ireland-acknowledges-problem-of-extremism-306163.html Muslim cleric in Ireland acknowledges "problem of extremism" {{DEFAULTSORT:Qadri, Umar Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Living people Barelvis Year of birth missing (living people) Irish Sunnis Irish people of Pakistani descent Dutch Muslims Dutch emigrants to Ireland Dutch people of Pakistani descent