Title: Joe and Sinead O’Connor Discuss the Sultan of Mercy
Setting: A quiet corner of a Dublin café. Rain taps against the window. Joe sips black coffee while Sinead O’Connor, wearing her signature hijab, speaks with fire in her eyes and gentleness in her voice.
Joe:
They say the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire sent ships of food to Ireland during the Great Famine. That wasn’t in my schoolbooks.
Sinead:
No, they don’t teach compassion in imperial history. His name was Sultan Abdülmecid. While Queen Victoria sent a token, he wanted to send ten times more—ten thousand pounds. They made him send less to avoid embarrassing her.
Joe:
That story always stuck with me. A Muslim leader showing more mercy to the Irish than the Crown did. What made him do it?
Sinead:
Faith, Joe. Islam teaches mercy. So does Judaism. So does Christianity—when it’s not twisted by empires and bloodlust. That’s why I created Judeo Chrslam. My own little creed. My rebellion, my prayer.
Joe:
Judeo Chrslam?
Sinead:
Yeah. A dream. A belief that the children of Abraham—Jews, Christians, Muslims—could break bread instead of bones. I didn’t convert to Islam to abandon Christ—I followed the thread of mercy, all the way back to Ishmael and Isaac.
Joe:
So it wasn’t about renouncing Ireland or Jesus?
Sinead:
No, Joe. It was about embracing the whole family. I still sing psalms to Mary. I just now bow to Allah too. And I remember the Sultan. When the world forgot us, he remembered. A Muslim remembered starving Irish Catholics. That’s the Ireland I dream of. One that remembers mercy.
Joe:
And now, your voice calls us to remember it too.
Sinead:
Not just remember—live it. There’s no Messiah coming to fix our mess. We are the second coming, if we choose peace.
Joe looks out the window. The rain has stopped. The clouds begin to part. Somewhere far away, maybe a child of Abraham is praying, in Hebrew, in Latin, in Arabic.
Joe:
Then let it begin here, with a song.
Sinead (smiling):
Then sing it with me, brother.
[Fade to black with echoes of a soft Irish melody merging with the Adhan…]