Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
I believed there was a God, but I couldn’t find God in the Catholic religion, it didn’t make sense for me.
I wasn’t a practising Catholic but I still believed in God, and life was fine but I needed an element of purpose. I started reading the Bible, and felt like their was a total lack of clarity.
BRIGID AYLWARD, A paediatric nurse at University Hospital Waterford, grew up as a Christian, but wouldn’t have given much consideration to what that meant.
It was after she left home that she started thinking more about where she was was going and for what purpose she was here.
She decided that she would travel to a Muslim country where she would work as a nurse in the hope that in isolation, she could reconnect with God, confirming her belief.
“When I got to Saudi Arabia, I realised that I had a very western mindset, a western culture. I had so many questions: ‘What the heck is with these women who covered head; I thought it was sad to look at, and that women had no place in society.”
‘Mothers behind the veil’
Brigid says that working as a paediatric nurse in a Muslim country she got to know the “mothers behind the veil”, and disspelled myths she had about the veil.
“They don’t have to cover – it’s their choice, they prefer to. They’re human, they’re normal. I started to read about Islam purely to do my job better and to understand these women better.
It started to make sense to me – it excited to me. It wasn’t anything I thought it was before.
In November 2008 Brigid accepted Islam. There were some fears she had that were associated with it, about what her mum would say and what her family would say.
Her husband, who she met while working in hospital in Saudi helped her deal with her fears and she says her family have seen the sense of purpose the religion has given her.
“I’ve only ever had positive reactions. I knew people would be surprised at a big change. I’ve only experienced niceness, that’s the great spirit of Ireland.”
Brigid says that the news of Donald Trump’s travel ban saddened her, but that she’d be sad no matter what religion they were.
“What Trump has done is put a mark on Muslims that says ‘We’ve a reason to be afraid of these people’. This is what we’ve been working against, it’s putting fuel on a fire.”
Misconceptions about Muslims
Dr Rachel Woodlock is an Australian Muslim academic who lives in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. She’s been studying attitudes about Muslims and opinions of Muslims themselves, and says that there are many misconceptions around Islam – one of which is not all Muslims are really religious.
“[In Catholicism] you’re meant to fast during Lent, but not all Catholics fast, not all Catholics go to church, and it’s the same with Islam. Muslims are a lot more heterogeneous – there’s no Vatican equivalent that prescribes what you do.”
Woodlock says that a survey was done of a population in Victoria, Australia that showed rates of ‘religiousness’ was the same in the general population as it was with Muslims.
“[Some Muslims] go to mosques the same way some Christians go to church at Christmas time.
Woodlock said that there were different attitudes towards Islam before the Lindt café siege – states like New South Wales started an ethnic force, while Victoria set-up a ‘multicultural liaison unit’.
“The thing about the attacker though, the Muslim community had been saying this guy is crazy, we’re worried about him, he doesn’t represent us. At the Quebec shooting this week, the attacker was called a ‘lone wolf’. Well Man Haron Monis was our lone wolf.”
She says that in Australia, the coverage of Muslims feels moch different compared to Ireland: “It’s as if Muslims make up 2% of the population but take up 30-40% of the media coverage, while in Ireland, about 1% of the population is Muslim and half a percent is covered in the media”.
“I think the history of terrorism in the north means Ireland can contextualise a national crisis a bit better than most.”
‘The veil’ used as political props
In traditional Muslim cultures, both men and women covered their bodies. It later evolved so that it was reserved only for upper class women. This then eventually spread out to all families as a symbol of culture and identity in the 18th century.
“Europeans argued for the emancipation of women,” Woodlock says. “But ironically, people like Lord Cromer who were arguing that these women needed to be set free, were also opposing the suffragette movement in England.”
In the Ottoman empire, women were a representation of the Muslim world; the Hijab was seen as the last barrier of defence. “So the veil took on a political current that it wouldn’t have had in previous eras.”
Even more so now – with burkini bans in France causing a debate over how to deal with the fear of terrorism and a recent ruling by a Swiss High Court that means Muslim girls must learn to swim with boys as part of their education, the issue of how to make room for tradition in a modern setting is becoming more and more tricky.
“Most Muslim women in the west chose to wear a veil as part of their identity – it’s not a fundamentalist act,” says Woodlock.
It’s a part of the religion and there are a lot of different meanings to it, but it all gets collapsed into one symbol of religion.
“It’s the woman who wants to wear a hijab,” says Brigid. “When you actually wear it then you realise the benefits.
“As well as fulfilling the religious requirements, for me I’ve gained more confidence when I speak, they’re not looking at me at what my hair is like, I have an inner confidence.”
Woodlock wears a hijab everyday, but recalls donning a face veil (nijab) when she was visiting a Muslim country, and she says it gave her an deeper understanding of why women wear it.
“I really got a sense of the privacy of it – I feel I’m able to look out at the world and operate in the world without the world intruding on me.
“But I wouldn’t wear it in the West, in case it creates a fear and apprehension.”
Aylward and Woodlock took part in the only registered event in Ireland to mark World Hijab Day last Wednesday at Waterford Institute of Technology. The an annual global event was set up by New Yorker Nazma Khan in 2013 in order to fight prejudice and discrimination against Muslim women.
Article was updated at 23.55
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
If the film is an accurate representation of what these lads did a medal isn’t enough, it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, stuff of legends. “We fired every bullet twice” you couldn’t make it up much respect for all involved.
@Marc Walsh: Hear hear Marc. Couldn’t agree with you more..
After hearing about the Peacekeepers being killed today; it really puts their achievement into context.
If half of the story is true it is still amazing that none of them were killed.
@Niallers: Its all true. My father was a mortar commander in A Company. It was the most incredible thing watching the movie for the first time with him and seeing him relive it all. He said the only cinematic deviance that he was aware of was that the helicopter was shot before it got off the ground. In the movie the heli is shot out of the air. What it didn’t show was the chaplain going from tench to trench giving the men the last rites. My dad is a hero :)
@Helena Quinn: Yes he is .
@Helena Quinn: he most certainly is.respect.
Anyone who is sent to protect and comes out the otherside should have a lot more than a medal.
It’s amazing that the articles don’t include Conor Cruise O’Briens responsibility for the men being in this predicament.Whitewashed out of it for some reason.
I would appeal to the Irish government to recognise these brave warriors actions and that of their Commandant and award them the highest honour the state can bestow in the form of a proper decorative medal in respect of their outstanding bravery against overwhelming odds.I salute them and their memory for service towards world peace.True patriots all.
the movie was incredible, their story amazing, what they did was heroism, but that their own country condemned them as cowards and traitors is sickening, these men should have lived the life of heroes upon their return, but instead were cast aside as an embarrassment to the hierarchy of the army, shame shame shame
I am totally thrilled these men got recognised for their bravery and so those my father who was in the 34th Battalion in the Congo. As a veteran himself my father feels that all the battalions should get a recognition for their services especially the early ones like the 32nd, 33rd,34,35th,38th all involved in Combat. My father told me stories that’d make the hair stand on your head, he was in several situations and sieges where they had to fight their way out and he was always on the front line as a Bren. I’m getting his story told after Christmas and pursuing it more for recognition.
Give them medals. Long long overdue
Hear, hear. I don’t understand why they haven’t received individual medals for their courage already. The army knows what they went through – public opinion back in the day has nothing to do with how well they came through. Brilliant film too.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: medals lol you are hilarious
About time these men were truly honoured for their bravery.
The way they were treated was both embarrassing and shameful.
It seems the prologue to the siege involved Indian troops with a gung-ho attitude. The progression of the siege involved the Cruiser trying to protect his own ass. The end involved the Irish Top Brass displaying an ostrich head in the sand mentality. The Irish troops were treated as tiny pawns in a game. To treat them as cowards was utterly despicable by the Irish State. To have the reputation of a judicious commander who managed the situation and protected the lives of his men left in tatters by the attitude of his so called superiors was nothing short of scandalous.
The politicians , was it Connor cruise O brien involved in that
Bravery for making tea, decisions Lyons or Barrys
have your say