On Wednesday morning, TheLiberal.ie posted an article which was based on information which we received from a source within The Alliance of Former Muslims Ireland.
In our original article, we reported that a large blood sacrifice would take place on the pitch of Croke Park as part of the Eid festival. In fact, this will not take place in Croke Park but if this happens for the Eid festival, animals will be slaughtered in an abattoir elsewhere.
According to a factcheck carried out by thejournal.ie, Dr Umar Al-Qadri of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council and organiser of the event told thejournal.ie that no food or drink will be consumed at the event and that around 500 people will attend the event at the 82,300 capacity stadium.
Once again, Croke Park will not host a Muslim large blood sacrifice ritual and the pitch of Ireland’s largest stadium will not soon be saturated in the blood of terrified animals. It was confirmed to thejournal.ie that where animals are killed for events like this, it takes place in an abattoir or slaughterhouse.
Our amended article is as follows:
The Alliance of Former Muslims Ireland has hit out at the decision of the GAA to allow Muslims to take control of Croke Park for an Eid Al Adha prayer service.
On their twitter page the group posted:
“Throughout Europe, Muslims have successfully lobbied for their own schools, courts and slaughterhouses. Thus emboldened, they proceed to commandeer public spaces in the name of Islam. In Ireland, @officialgaa have just submitted to demands for Croke Park to be used as a mosque.”
Eid Al Adha or “Festival of the Sacrifice” is one of the most important festivals in Islam and is celebrated at the same time as the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and involves the mass ritualistic butchering of animals.
According to the Eid Al Adha’ Wikipedia page, in Pakistan alone nearly ten million animals are slaughtered on Eid days costing over US$2.0 billion.
The festival honours the obedience of Abraham in his willingness to kill his son on God’s command.
Croke Park, however, is sacred in itself to many Irish people as it is viewed as one of the symbols from which the independence movement and reassertion of Irish national identity sprang.
The GAA President John Horan has said staging the celebration at Croke Park shows the Association’s commitment to inclusion and its belief that it’s “Where We All Belong”.
The festival will take place either on July 31st or August 1st depending on moon sighting.
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