‘Islam does not accept any form of terrorism,’ says Sheikh Halawa
AS gardai chased the ghost of London Bridge terrorist Rashid Redouen through his old Dublin haunts last week, debate raged and Muslim leaders in Ireland were again canvassed for their views on the dangers of Islamic extremism.
According to one newspaper headline, the leader of Ireland’s largest mosque was not doing enough to “stamp out” Islamic radicalism. Sheikh Hussein Halawa, imam of the Clonskeagh Mosque, had even allowed himself to be “Facebook liked” by an extremist Muslim convert.
Sheikh Halawa doesn’t do many interviews. He claims not to speak English well, although he came to Ireland from Egypt more than 20 years ago, and requires the services of a translator. We were told he was not available, yet there he was last Wednesday, chatting on the grand terrace of the impressive Islamic Cultural Centre. We were there to interview Dr Ali Selim, an Islamic expert and scholar who lectures in Arabic at Trinity College, and the usual spokesperson for the Clonskeagh Mosque — but Sheikh Halawa agreed to speak to us too.
His office smells of incense and is lined with gilded volumes in glass cases, and an arrangement of carved wooded seats and embroidered cushions. There is an awkward moment over a proffered hand — Islam frowns on handshakes with the opposite sex if they are not related by marriage or blood — but he smiles to make up for it.
A small number of imams have challenged the Clonskeagh Mosque on its response to extremism, in particular Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, imam at a mosque in Blanchardstown. Sheikh Halawa does not like his name being mentioned. “The person you are talking about does not pray with us here, does not live with us, so he does not know what we do or do not do. I will not respond to his claims but you must check the articles on our website and you will see the statements we have made,” he states through Dr Selim.
He condemns the terrorist attacks on London Bridge. His bottom line on violence is: “The religion I represent does not believe in killing people. The religion that I represent says that whoever kills one person is the equivalent of killing all human beings.”
As for his Facebook friend? “I have hundreds or maybe thousands of followers. I don’t access their pages, I don’t know what they support and what they do not support. But I have said it before and I will say it again, if somebody knows someone who has sympathy with terroristic behaviour or something like this, they should report it,” he says.
At this point, Sheikh Halawa breaks into English. “If I see anybody here, I will speak to gardai directly. Because this is my country,” he says. He also speaks in English when asked about his links to the Muslim Brotherhood. “Anybody who would like to write anything, he can write anything. If he would like to speak, he can speak anything,” he says, before continuing in Arabic.
“Imam Halawa is saying I have never been a member of that group,” Dr Ali Selim translates. The next part of his answer adds ambiguity. “My approach is that I follow the truth and whoever has the truth I will support. If the Ikhwan [the Arabic term for the Muslim Brotherhood] are having the truth, I will support. If the Jews have the truth, I will support. So, my support is for the truth.”
But in case of doubt: “I would like to confirm that I am not a member of the Ikhwan.”
What about his son, Ibrahim Halawa, who was 17 when he and his sisters, in Egypt for the summer of 2013, were caught up in a “day of rage” against the removal of Morsi as president? The Egyptians claim Ibrahim was attending an illegal protest against the Muslim Brotherhood leader’s ousting and he is facing a series of charges. He claims he was seeking shelter in a mosque when he was detained without trial. Four years on, he is still in jail. Asked whether his son was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Halawa laughs aloud. “I am sorry, I am sorry for this,” he says in English. “My son, he has 17 years. A child. A child.”
He says he is deeply worried for him and pins his hopes on yet another trial date next month. “He is saying his son was born here, and lived all his life here,” says Dr Selim.
Sheikh Halawa’s five children were raised in Firhouse, and Ibrahim had just done his Leaving Cert at the Institute of Education in Dublin.
There are theories that his son may be being punished for his father’s reported connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. Sheikh Halawa says he has not travelled to visit his son in prison in Egypt because “currently, the country where the law is not effective, he has to be careful”, says Dr Selim.
Sheikh Halawa says he doesn’t know of any terrorist sympathisers or extremists in his mosque. He knows only of sympathisers with “oppression”. “So this is how they reach through to people, by the fact of their being oppressed, and people generally sympathise with oppressed people,” he says through his translator.
But gardai say there are facilitators and sympathisers of Isil in Ireland.
“Well, the bottom line is that we cannot get inside people’s hearts but I talk about what I see.”
Is Ireland at risk of a terrorist attack?
“I pray to God for the protection of Ireland. And surely God would protect Ireland.”
Back in 2006, according to leaked US cables, embassy officials were sceptical of Sheikh Halawa when he promised to report extremists. They saw it “more as a ploy to gain Irish trust than as serious engagement in the fight against terrorism”.
Sheikh Halawa never formally responded to those cables: “He said he would respond if he will have proof. If they don’t have the proof, he won’t be involved in answering them. And he doesn’t have time for things like this,” says Dr Selim.
At this, the imam breaks in again in English, sounding slightly exasperated: “Of course, if I am to make reports about everything, I think I need 365 day in the year.”
At the end of the interview, he repeats again: “I would like to confirm that Islam does not accept any form of terrorism.”