An Alternative Forum For Islam in France With Administrative Representation

After the French government lost control of the components of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, it is trying to search for new mechanisms that would enable it to regain control over the Muslim community, by preparing for the establishment of a new structure, the “Islam Forum in France”, while the search is still underway for figures who will represent it and mechanisms of representation as well.

The newborn that the French authorities are preparing for, was revealed by the French daily “L’opinion” based on statements of the chairman of the French Council of Muslim Faith, Mohamed Moussaoui, who finally admitted that the body he headed “is no longer viable”, in light of the acceleration of events related to this body’s relationship with some of its components on the one hand, and the French government on the other.

Serious consideration is being given to the “self-dissolution” of the Council of the Muslim Faith, which was founded by Nicolas Sarkozy when he was Interior Minister in 2003 to prepare the atmosphere for the announcement of a new baby to fill the void, in consultation with the frameworks and personalities who manage the affairs of the Religious Council.

Last month, the French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, confirmed his lack of cooperation with the Council of the Muslim Faith and signed its death certificate: “The French Council of the Muslim Faith, the consular representation of Islam – Moroccan and Algerian-, is dead. The French Council of the Muslim faith no longer exists for the French authorities. It is no longer the representative of the Muslim community for the Republic”.

After this statement, the Council responded with a statement attacking the French Interior Minister: “This statement is unacceptable, neither in terms of form nor in terms of content.” The Council also criticized the French government’s decision and asserted that it is not qualified to take such a decision without consulting the concerned parties, foremost among them the council itself.

According to the chairman of the Council of Muslim Faith; “Islam in France is at a crossroads. Turning the page on the current form of the representative bodies of the Islamic religion and striving to create new bodies in line with French society (…) is the first response to the many challenges facing Islam in France”.

L’opinion said that the “Islam Forum in France” is scheduled to meet within the coming weeks to reach a ground that produces a form of representation of Islam based on active parties in the administrations, and not based on the representation that originates from the mosque unions of the countries that consist the origins of the Muslim communities in France, and it is usually referred to Algeria and Turkey, and a lesser extent Morocco, noting that Algeria and Turkey are responsible for paying the bulk of the wages of hundreds of imams.

The accounts of the French authorities behind the reshuffling of the cards in the Council of Muslim Faith, is an attempt to sever the link between the Muslim communities and their countries of origin, and Paris tried to employ the Council of Muslim Faith to achieve this goal, but the Paris Mosque and some organizations and the federation revolving in its orbit blocked it. After its success in electing a (French) National Council of Imams last November, in response to attempts to establish a parallel body, it was expected that it would be entrusted with the task of selecting and supervising the imams of mosques in France, with the powers to control the formative curriculum of these imams, based on how the French authorities see it as an appropriate discourse in line with the Islam that Paris wants for the Muslim community.