Islamic Council Norway

The Islamic Council Norway (Norwegian: Islamsk Råd Norge, IRN) is an umbrella organisation for Muslim congregations and organisations in Norway. Currently, it represents 41 congregations totalling about 60.000 members. The offices are located in Oslo. It is a member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR).

The Islamic Council Norway was founded on 22 October 1993. Since 2006, it has received funds from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture. The organisation's membership counts Muslim congregations centered around several different immigrant groups, notably Albanian, Bosnian, Iraqi and Pakistani congregations, as well as mosques with congregations that do not center around specific ethnic groups. Its stated mission is to

The organisation has since its foundation been in active dialogue with the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations.

The council's work is organised in issue-specific committees, such as a hilal committee that works to advise Norwegian Muslims on how the Islamic calendar should be interpreted in Norway, a Halal committee that oversees ritual slaughtering, in accordance with animal welfare laws, at designated Norwegian meat processing plants mainly owned by Nortura, and a burial committee, which collaborates with Norwegian Church Authorities to establish and maintain Muslim cemeteries.

In 2008 the council met protest for an alleged refusal to take a stance against death penalty for homosexuality, instead deferring the matter to the European Fatwa Council (ECFR). The Council's leader, Senaid Kobilica, stressed his personal opposition to the death penalty, but acknowledged that some may interpret Islamic texts differently. Homosexual and lesbian activist groups protested against the council's refusal to deplore the death penalty.

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