Shaping the Public Image of Islam: The Shiis of Ireland as "Moderate" Muslims

Public discourse on Muslims in Europe has been characterized by a differentiation between "moderate"and "radical"Muslims. This discourse which distinguishes between acceptable and unacceptable forms of Islam also creates tensions and competitions among Muslims with organizations and individuals vying for leadership, recognition, and government sponsorship by presenting themselves as moderate voices within Muslim communities speaking out against extremism and radicalism. In Ireland, the Shii community, its clerical leader and other lay activists emphasize their moderate and integrationist understanding of Islam and appear as outspoken critics of radical and militant expressions of Sunni Islam. Thereby, representatives of the Shii community adopt the differentiation between moderate and radical Muslims in contemporary discourse and conflate it with the historical sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiis, translated into a European diaporic setting. In addition to providing a profile of the Shii community in Ireland, this paper discusses the Shii selfrepresentation as a moderate group among Muslims in Ireland. The reasons and motivations for this particular self-representation in the public will be examined by considering the socio-economic background of early Shii migrants, current streams of Shii thought and its impact on Shiis in Ireland and the double-minority setting as "a minority within a minority".