This is a comparative study of Muslims in Finland and the Republic of Ireland, from the perspective of religious freedom and multiculturalism. The book consists of three parts: the first part discusses religious freedom and multiculturalism from a conceptual point of view and mainly within the context of Western Europe, culminating in the cases of Finland and Ireland; the second part deals with the establishment of Muslim communities in Europe in general, and in Finland and Ireland in particular; and, the third part concerns Islam and education in these respective countries.

Since 9/11, the interest in Muslims in Europe has increased significantly. There has been much public debate and academic research focused on Muslims living in larger Western European countries like Britain, France or Germany, but little is known of Muslims in Ireland. This book fills this gap, providing a complete study of this unexplored Muslim presence, from the arrival of the first Muslim resident in Cork, in the southwest of Ireland, in 1784 until mass immigration to the Republic of Ireland during the 'Celtic Tiger' period from the mid-1990s onwards. Muslim immigration and settlement in...