What can Macron's “council of imams” change?

In a mosque in Caen.

(illustration) -

Soon imams "labeled" Islam from France?

It is possible: Emmanuel Macron has obtained from the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) to set up a "council of imams".

The idea, in the air for weeks, is to reduce foreign influence on imams who practice in France and are regularly affiliated with foreign Muslim countries.

An influence deemed harmful by the government.

Asked by

, Razika Adnani, philosopher, author, member of the steering committee of the Fondation de l'islam de France, finds the idea not bad in principle.

But she is pessimistic about the appearance of concrete results until the imams themselves become aware of the reforms she deems necessary in Islam.

Is this new advice from imams a good idea?

The idea, theoretically, is not bad.

But on a practical level I ask myself questions.

First we should know what is the place of the CFCM in the Muslim community: is it listened to?

Follow-up or not?

Does it have the necessary resources?

Difficult to answer reliably.

In addition, wanting to sign a republican charter is very interesting, but the problem is not republican values, it is the values ​​advocated by Islam, as Muslims understand and practice it, which is not not reformed.

Muslims have not been able to reform it so that it is adapted to the values ​​of our time, that of modernity.

They tried in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was unsuccessful.

Today, traditional Islam prevails.

How can an imam sign a republican charter and call on Muslims who come to pray at the mosque to respect republican values ​​such as equality between women and men and at the same time hold a religious discourse which considers that women are inferior to men for example?

This attempt to create a sort of clergy, which does not exist in Islam, is it a first step towards bringing together these discourses which appear to you to be antagonistic?

I think the problem that arises lies in the inability of those responsible for Islam, even if they defend republican values ​​and call for respect for secularism, to hold a real discourse of reform on points such as violence, gender inequalities… Many questions arise today within Islam but which many avoid.

We often hear that the problem is not Islam but Islamism or that it is just a misunderstanding of Islam.

You can only solve a problem if you recognize that it exists.

We must recognize the responsibility of Islam, as Muslims conceive and practice it, in the problems which arise in order to be able to carry out this reform of Islam which is necessary today.

Creating a council of imams is a good thing, but without this reform of Islam, it risks creating a discourse of imams that will not be accepted by young Muslims in mosques.

Emmanuel Macron has often received representatives of the CFCM since the start of the school year.

Do we have to see something positive, an engaged dialogue, or rather negative, like a placing under supervision contrary to secularism?

This is certainly a good thing for Islam in France and for Muslims.

It is a good thing that the extremists also know that one cannot do what one wants like to make a speech which endangers the Republic and the security of the company.

However, it is the consequences on the ground that question as I said.

As for Emmanuel Macron, his initiative concerns the "management" of Islam in France and not the Muslim cult.

On the other hand, the objective is to face “political Islam” as he puts it, in other words people who engage in politics.

In the name of Islam, of course, but it remains a political activity.

There is therefore no contradiction with the law on secularism that the State reacts to protect the Republic, as long as we are in the political field.

But you said a little earlier that there was a risk for the credibility of these “labeled” imams.

So the reform you are talking about must come from below and not from above?

The awareness must come from the Muslims themselves.

Concerning the imam, the question is to know what speech he holds.

Is he able to ask the question of the verses which are problematic in our present societies, and what will be his answer or his position?

Until now, many affirm that it is necessary to respect secularism and the values ​​of the Republic, but they do not address concretely, or very timidly, these questions.

Society

At the request of Emmanuel Macron, the CFCM will create a council of imams

Society

The CFCM works on the training of imams and the prevention of radicalization

• Religion

• Society

• Cfcm

• Emmanuel Macron

• Imam

• Islam