On July 16, 1926, the French capital, Paris, was on a date with an extraordinary event, the opening of France's first official mosque, the Grand Mosque of Paris, the most important Islamic landmark on the soil of Europe's most secularist. The inauguration was attended by a large number of French leaders and politicians, including those who profoundly disliked any manifestation of religiosity and deeper hatred for a religion coming from Western-dominated Arab countries after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, but this did not prevent everyone from showing happiness and pleasure towards a move aimed at weaving A new relationship between France, the "motherland" and the rest of the colonies, whose people owe the religion of Islam (1).

The idea of ​​establishing a Paris mosque dates back to the mid-19th century, before French politicians developed and enthusiastic. In July 1920, the Parliament responded by an overwhelming majority to the proposal of the state's participation in financing the project in the amount of 500 thousand French francs, in addition to the donation of the Paris municipality with a plot of 7,500 meters. To establish the mosque (2). France has chosen two men to lay the foundation stone of the mosque, Marshal "Leoti" French Resident General in Morocco, and Algerian Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France and her loyal man and the fight against the liberation movements. Bengbait was carefully chosen to be the face of France before the world, and the face of a state that respects the beliefs and culture of other peoples, not the state that is killed in peoples who do not accept living under the weight of colonialism.

In addition to the mosque where the prayer is held, the facilities included a hot Arab bath and a restaurant serving Arabic cuisine with "Thousand and One Nights" decor, where couscous, Arabic tea and swaying dancers, France was not looking for Islam, but for its ancient imagination. From the magic of the East, Islam keeps all its elements of folklore and away from the "resistance, jihad and outrageous view of the other infidel occupier," Islam Ben Ghebrit, no Islam Abdelhamid Ben Badis, the Algerian scientist with the famous sentence: "If France says to me, 'Say no god but God, I will not say it.'

France's relationship with Islam went through several stages, which began at the beginning of the eighth century during the Muslim rule of Andalusia when the Islamic State extended its control over a number of major French cities. After the fall of Andalusia, religiously tolerant France then opened its doors to the displaced and threatened Muslims in their religion and their lives, before the relationship turned into a clear enmity between colonial France and the colonized Islamic countries, where this period saw the arrival of a large number of Muslims to the "land of lights" to defend during the wars Universal or sometimes to rebuild after the devastation of war at other times. The last chapter of this relationship is entitled "Containment", a chapter in which the Republic is trying to create a new religion for the Muslim community in the country, a religion that invites them to surrender culturally and religiously to France and to embrace its version of Islam, a secular version of Western identity.

Islam and France: The Tale from the Start

The first acquaintance between Islam and French territory dates back to the beginning of the eighth century AD, specifically in 714 AD, or just three years after the Muslims conquered Andalusia.During this period, Muslims called the present French territory "big lands", lands behind the Pyrenees. The Pyrenees in French), separating the Spanish north and the French south (3). Tarek Ben Ziad "Fatih Al-Andalus" went on an exploratory journey that year, advancing an army from Tortosa (Tartousa), passing through Barcelona to Narbonne, France, and Avignon, which is close to the Rhone. The following year, the year 715 AD, the Muslims were able to conquer Irbunah (Narbonne) and continued to advance until they reached Talosha (Toulouse), where he was martyred Samah bin Malik al-Khawlani army commander, ending the first attempt and the Muslims return to their strongholds in Barcelona.

Ten years have passed since the first attempt, before the Muslims decided to return the ball and knock French doors in search of a nearby conquest through an army led by Suhaim al-Kalbi, who went to the city of Nimes (Nis) to be the first castle to fall before the horses of the Muslims, and the army continued to advance to 100 miles From Paris to decide to change direction towards Dijon and stop on its outskirts. Attempts to subjugate French territory did not stop there. In 732 AD, a company of Muslim armies led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi went to France to annex new lands. The first French city was subordinated to Bordeaux, and then the army of al-Ghafiqi continued to advance until it reached Poitiers. The famous battle of the martyrs' court took place in Ramadan AH 114, corresponding to October 732 AD.

The Battle of the Court of the Martyrs did not affect the hierarchy of forces in the region, but it deterred the Muslims from advancing northward.

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Gustave Le Bon chronicles this battle in his book Civilization of the Arabs: “Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi assembled an army of some importance in Spain, crossed the Garonne River and captured Bordeaux (Bardil) despite the defense of the Aquitaine and the Vascons led by Doc Odis. To Poitiers Fastgath Don Odis of Charles Martel, who was nicknamed the Prince of the Palace and who exercises power in the name of two weak kings of the Merovingian kings ”(4).

Charles Martel knew for sure that he would face a trained army with weapons and armor more than his army, which consists of small untrained armies led by princes called "lazy kings", but his plan was to rely on the spoils received by Muslims as a factor of obstruction to the army of Ghafiqi, which happened exactly. If a division of the Franks attacked the camp of Muslims, the army was divided into two, the first remained in battle, the second tried to protect the spoils, and thus was the first defeat of Muslims in the "big lands."

The Battle of the Court of the Martyrs did not affect the hierarchy of forces in the region, but it deterred the Muslims from advancing northward. They established France for two centuries and annexed Marseille in 737 and Saint-Troyes in 889 and extended their control over the Provence until the end of the tenth century. "The Arabs in France lived more than two centuries, and the victory of Charles Martel in Poitiers was not as important as the historians who told us that Charles Martel saved Europe and Christianity from the Arabs," he said. Out to supply his soldiers ... What was their concern (ie Muslims) suck Rova only to return what they used to return the ball again until they found those who defeated them (5).

France did not mind receiving a number of Muslims who preferred to remain in Europe after the fall of Andalusia rather than deported to North Africa

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Le Bon argued that Muslims wanted nothing more than to collect loot, which confirms their unwillingness to live in France, and thus France did not benefit from the strong Islamic civilization at the time, says in his book: "But suppose argument that the Christians were unable to defeat the Arabs, and that The Arabs found the atmosphere of northern France is not cold nor rainy as the atmosphere of Spain, so they have a permanent residence in it, what would have befallen Europe? And the injustices of the Inquisition. "

After the fall of Andalusia in 1492 AD, the relationship between Muslims and France entered another turn, not based on war and confrontation this time, but on cooperation for common interests because of the hostility of both sides to Catholic Spain. France did not mind the reception of a number of Muslims who preferred to stay in Europe after the fall of Andalusia rather than deported to North Africa, they set up mosques and worked in trade and increased the number after the introduction of French in Islam. In 1605 AD, a mission of the Moors (*) visited the French King Henry IV because of the great restriction of Spain, proposing to support them to carry out an armed revolt against Philip III of Spain.

French King Henry IV (Links)

France was about to redraw the geographic map of Europe and write a new history of the presence of Muslims in the old continent, when it viewed "religion" differently under the rule of Henry IV, the position to reject religious differences, whether internal Christian communities or between Christianity and other religions, but fate He played his game before France did what it wanted, at the hands of a mad monk who assassinated Henry IV and ended with him the dream of Muslims to return to their homeland in Andalusia. After the plot was unveiled, Spain began a marathon of torture sessions for participants in this coup attempt to force them to acknowledge the details of the plot and all its participants, before it was decided to deport 500,000 Moriscos on February 10, 1610 that separated France, Spain and North Africa.

Then the castles of Muslims continued to fall one after another, and the second castle was only the Ottoman Empire, the sick man of Europe who gave the soul to Sykes and Pico, explaining his body as they wanted, then the relationship between Muslims and France entered a new turn, the turn of colonialism and migration to the north. France has laid its sails in African countries, the scales of the game have been reversed, and France has raised the banners of 'jihad of demand', and has sent its horses in search of Africa's spoils of minerals, spices, precious stones, soldiers and workers defending them when the weight of war intensifies, and they build it when its clouds clear.

France used its citizens to establish its demographic presence in the occupied countries, such as in Algeria, where the "black feet" formed the class of masters over the slave people. In return, the Paris administration benefited from the human capital of African countries to strengthen the fronts of fighting during the two world wars. To contribute to the re-establishment of infrastructure and work in weapons factories. The immigration seasons began in the north of Algeria in 1870, and with the outbreak of the World War, France received 132 thousand Maghreb workers for the great need for hands to bear arms and hammers.After the doubling of numbers, French officials noted that the relationship of Muslim expatriates with their religion became stronger during periods of war and crisis. They built prayer halls inside hospitals, factories and weapons depots. During the same period, the first wooden mosque was built in Zusin camp.

By the end of World War I, the pace of immigration increased because of France's need for the labor that would build the country because of the devastation of the war, but the new immigrants were not much religious commitment, as the majority spent hours of the day between work, alcohol, gambling and prostitutes. The same scenario will be repeated with World War II, when the Nazis almost wiped France from the north to the south, so the number of Maghreb workers coming from the French colonies at the time to build the affected French cities and restore their shattered economy, these workers settled on the outskirts of cities in the housing provided by the French state. Over time, their families joined them to become Islam and for the first time the second largest religion in the French country after Christianity, and the first and greatest challenge to the French secular model, which does not digest any religious presence in society beyond the limits set in the "principles of the Republic."

French laicism: hostility to religion above all else

When you arrive in France as an immigrant from non-Western countries, for example, fleeing wars in the Middle East, famines in Africa or economic crises in poor Asian countries, you will be required to attend the “Integration and Principles of the Republic” course organized by the French Office for Immigration and Integration. This session aims to introduce newcomers to France, its history, culture and society. The most important paragraph, according to the organizers of this session, is that devoted to secularism. France presents itself as a country without religion, but it guarantees religious freedom for all, but this does not represent all. Truth, not even half the truth.

Secular France adopted a political and social approach with the Separation of Church and State Act of 1905, which is seen in France as an untouchable celestial text and no interpretation other than the one in which it was revealed.In 2004, the definition was redrafted to include equal treatment of all religions. However, French secularism differs from its British, American or German counterparts.Therefore, we find a particular term for this ideology in the political encyclopedia: the term "laicism", which Maurice Barbier, a political scientist, defines as "the separation of religion and worldly realities" (6).

The Republican slogan "Freedom, equality and fraternity" was created in 1905 (according to French law on the separation of state and church) to show that this church is state-owned

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The term "laicism" began to be used early in Europe, specifically at the end of the first century AD, and then spread and expanded after the Church became a character of holiness. The laicists at the time were not intended to separate the Church from public affairs, but rather a group of Christian persons, believers in Christ the Savior, but not members of the priestly organization under the banner of the Papal Empire.

France exercises its laity through two main mechanisms, the first is the mechanism of control and punitive control to guard the values ​​of the Republic and the definition of permissible and prohibited or halal and haram from the perspective of the state, and the second mechanism is for cultural and ideological guidance, because French secularism is not only to keep the church or religious institutions from the political field, but It confronts religion in societal, cultural, and ideological battles, and works to replace the secular values ​​that shape individual and collective consciousness through school rather than the church or mosque.

Attitudes of political currents in France towards Islam

During 1792, when the fire of the French Revolution was on fire, the members of the National Legislative Assembly gathered to vote on whether to accept or reject the general principles of the outdated monarchy in preparation for the founding of the first French Republic. The rejectionists chose to sit on the left of the presiding session. The rest of the aristocracy and the Christian clergy sit on the far right, called the "extreme right."

The far-right movement did not arise with the emergence of the National Front founded by John Marie Le Pen in the 1970s, but its appearance in French political life to the 19th century, when the French General George Ernest Boulanger came out in 1889 to demand the cleaning of the institutions of the third republic and to blow up the parliament The declaration of war on Prussia (now Germany) in defense of France's reputation and opened the door for religious and nationalist monarchies and Catholics to re-control France.

By John Marie Lubin

But the far right with the "current" political definition of the term emerged with Jean-Marie Le Pen, the spiritual father of political fascism in France, and one of the most controversial figures in the European arena, to the point that his daughter, Marine Le Pen, politically disowned him and slowly removed him from the party he founded. Although there are a number of extreme right-wing political parties in France, such as the National Republican Movement, the France Party and the French National Party, the former National Rally or the National Front remains the most prominent name within the far-right, having previously reached the second round of presidential elections on two occasions. 2002 against Jacques Chirac, and in 2017 against current French President Emmanuel Macron.

The far-right movement in France bases its political and social presence on the principle of anti-foreignism and everything that is not French. It was the beginning of anti-Jews, from which the far-right now disowns, and it was one of the most important reasons for the removal of John Marie Lubin from the presidency of his personal party, because of his daughter's desire to restore The relationship with the Jews, and not to link her party to Nazism, in the light of news that some leaders of the National Front secret visits to Tel Aviv (7), but at the moment this trend focused its ideological defenses against Arabs and Muslims, and is presenting himself as a savior of France and Europe of Muslims, But these are enemies It did not prevent the comrades of Lubin from accepting funding for AED 2017 worth 8 million euros saved by the National Front of severe economic crisis ahead of the presidential election, according to the transfer site "Media Bart" (8). The French far-right is the founder of the "grand substitution" theory currently circulating in all right-wing circles around the world and referred to by New Zealand terrorists in the letter he left to justify the massacre he committed by killing 49 Muslims during Friday prayers.

After the extreme right, the French right, the most current of the French Republic, is one of the most prominent opponents of Islam in French territory, although it does not show it as direct hostility as the extreme right. The French right is one of the most active currents in all matters affecting Islam and Muslims. The right was a supporter of the law banning the wearing of prominent religious symbols in French schools, such as the hijab, the cross and the Jewish kippah, which was passed in 2004 and approved by Jacques Chirac at the time.

Young Muslim women wearing Islamic headscarves chanting slogans in the streets of Marseille to protest the ban on Islamic headscarves in French public schools 2014 (Reuters)

Thus, the French right wing does not miss an opportunity to emphasize the necessity of confronting Islam as a problem that affects France and contradicts its principles, as had been expressed by former French presidential candidate Francois Fillon, who said in a statement that France has no problem with religion, but there is A problem with Islam or rather Islamic extremism (10), while Nicolas Sarkozy, the more right-wing president among his colleagues, does not hesitate to express his positions rejecting the veil, burkini and halal eating of Muslim pupils in French schools (11).

On the other hand, leftist parties seem far less hostile on issues concerning Islam and Muslims, often taking the position of defending the Arab and Muslim community against their traditional enemies, the extreme right and the right. The French left is showing a marked interest in the Arabs, Muslims and immigrants in general from the logic of being marginalized groups who are clearly discriminated against and poor economic conditions because of the political system in France, but over the years, this trend has not developed his theses for Muslims sufficiently, perhaps to ensure the previous votes that will not go The extreme right or right is well known, or perhaps because of its ideological inability to address sensitive issues for Muslim minorities, such as the hijab, mosque building, racism, discrimination in employment and education.

Representatives of the left often refuse to associate Islam or Muslims with terrorism. They consider that all attacks known to France have nothing to do with the Muslim community, which comes out every time to express their rejection of this crime. This is evident in the speeches of former leftist President Francois Hollande who said: On more than one occasion, Islam does not contradict democracy and the principles of freedom in France, and Muslims have the same rights and duties as other French citizens without discrimination because of religion, pointing out that Muslims have not been spared from the recent attacks in France, and paid their share of blood as the rest of the flight. Seine (12).

"Benoit Hamon" left candidate in the French presidential election last (Reuters)

The same self-defense for Muslims was adopted by Beno هامt Hamon, the candidate of the left in the recent French presidential election, who refused to consider Islam a problem for the French Republic, and took the line of defending the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab if it was a personal conviction. This ideological line from the left sometimes changes because of "more right-wing" members such as Manuel Valls, the former French prime minister, who came out in a speech to the left shouting to his fans: "Marianne" symbol of the French Republic was naked Breasts, because they were the source of feeding the French people, and were not veiled because they are a free lady "(14), in a clear attack on veiled Muslim women.

The final color of France's political spectrum is the far left, now led by former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melchon. The French ultra-left views the Muslim minority as well as the moderate left, a poor, marginalized minority victim of France's political and economic system, as well as tangible evidence of right-wing elites exercising selective secularism, whose laws are not equally universal.

In a speech open to his supporters in Toulouse in August 2016, shortly after Muslim women were banned from wearing "burkini" or "legitimate swimsuits," Melancheon Jam outraged French politicians, left and right: "They are a group of hypocrites, Mr Sarkozy, who defended Why did he not talk about human rights when he met King Salman, did he not know what was happening in Saudi Arabia, and Mr. Holland, who devoted a piece of beach to the royal family, did he warn the princesses about the illegality of wearing a burkini? ".

French businessman and political activist Rachid Nakkaz calls for support for Burkini wear (Reuters)

“The French government did not show any dissatisfaction when a religious Israeli minister refused to shake our minister's hands because she was a woman. Why didn't we hear them? Why didn't we hear them grumbling about violating secular laws when the Chancellor covered part of her poetry when she met the Pope of the Catholic Church? Why do you raise the flag of Europe and you know that the stars symbolize the stars of the Virgin Mary and not symbolize the founding countries? Because the founding countries were 6 and not 12 as the number of stars, and then you put this flag in the municipalities of the secular Fifth Republic, you are hypocrites talk about the right of citizens to practice their religion, in While you are preventing And you and those who practice your religion "(15). All these different currents agree on the sanctity of the principles of the French Republic despite their sharp ideological differences, but the way of interpreting the legal and constitutional text is fundamentally different, and this is evident in the way each trend deals separately with the issue of Islamic presence in France.

Islam of France: a religion intended for Marian breasts

Throughout France's long history, and since the French Revolution, France has developed a long history and an ancient legacy of frustration over all that is heavenly, an omen abridged by the symbolic story that the French revolutionaries hanged the last feudal feud with the intestines of another priest. Therefore, this republic could not allow Islam to expand socially and culturally, which is in fact clashing with the most important components of solid, namely, French Leica. But it is not easy, the French were and still are proud of their distance from religion and the removal of religion from their public affairs, so it was necessary to intervene quickly while keeping the garment of secularism bright and slogans shiny.

France pursued this goal in two different ways, with the aim of indirectly interfering in the internal affairs of the Arab and Arab Muslim community.

First: Continuous communication with the Islamic bodies and organizations present in the country, such as the National Federation of Muslim Muslims of France, the Federation of Islamic Organizations in France and the Federation of the Paris Mosque, where the French State is keen to link contact with these bodies and attend events organized by cultural, intellectual or electoral, taking advantage of the desire of these organizations and their willingness to coordinate With it to acquire the legitimacy of representation of the Muslim community in the country

Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls (right) shakes hands with regional representatives of the Muslim community upon his arrival for a meeting at the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg in Strasbourg (Reuters)

Second: Direct intervention through the establishment of non-organs of the organs of official bodies, despite the establishment of official figures working in the French Interior Ministry, which may explain the lack of confidence or satisfaction of the French state Islamic organizations and bodies in the way they frame the Muslim community or the type of religious message Through the platforms and intellectual symposiums, the secular republic decided to take the lead through the institution of the Islam of France, which will ensure that it intervenes in the framing of Islam without falling into the forbidden is the violation of its secular laws.

Contrary to what one might think, the idea of ​​the intervention of the French state apparatus was not the result of the recent attacks in France adopted by the Islamic State. The idea of ​​"French Islam" emerged at the end of the twentieth century, when French officials realized that Islam was its main or brotherhood. Salafism poses a major threat to the French way of life, and the integration of Muslim communities with the rest of society will inevitably be difficult.

On 23 November 1997, at a ceremony attended by officials from France's Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in Strasbourg, then-French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chauvinmun put forward the idea of ​​establishing a French institution to study and define Islam better in order to educate French citizens. The religious component that has become a strong presence in French society (16).

"No one can deny the great importance of religion within society, so it is normal for governments to take care of this basic component of the people, the government and with full respect for the law of separating the state from the church, which cares about religion and its social presence," he said. "Today I am addressing the Muslims present, not the state. I want to work together to create an institution of research and education to introduce Islam to the French. We want to establish a French Islam."

REUTERS

On April 19, 2003, when he was a guest of the Union of Islamic Organizations in France, Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister in the government of French President Jacques Chirac, said Muslims should show their full desire to be French like the rest of the French. Today, in France, they embrace the Islam of France, which allows them to practice their own religious rituals and pass it on to their children after them. Today, I call on Muslims and those in charge of Islamic organizations to communicate continuously with the state to discuss the implications of religious television programs, the role of clergy, the status of women and the formation of women. French imams, we want imams who speak our language, address our youth and respect our culture ”(17).

The speculation behind this speech did not last long. On 28 May of the same year, Sarkozy announced the establishment of the French Council of Islamic Religion as the first semi-official institution to regulate the religious life of Muslims. The council was entrusted with several tasks, including the formation of imams, the organization of halal food, the welfare of Muslims in prisons and those serving in the French army, and the dates of religious events such as Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. On March 21, 2005, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin announced the birth of a new Islamic body called Islam de France or Islam of France. Contradicts the principles of secular state institutions (18).

Reliance on this new organization was high, but its work was hampered by the enormous activity of other Muslim organizations, which almost disappeared for a decade, and reappeared in 2016 through former Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chauvanmon, who was appointed as its president. Muslim, to be replaced by Algerian Ghalib bin Sheikh.

Islam de France defines itself as a secular institution aimed at resisting radical Islamic Salafi extremism, and introducing a new perspective of Islam through an enlightened culture that opens the horizons for peaceful coexistence among all. The same body asserts that France Islam is not directed at a particular religious or ethnic group. They are addressed to all interested (19). On its main activities, Islam de France considers that its first priority is to redefine the French to Islam through the organization of cultural seminars, media productions and art demonstrations, to restore the friendly relationship between the French and Islam belonging to their culture after the loss of mutual trust after the recent attacks on France.

Foundation "Islam France" (networking sites)

The second goal is to form French imams who speak French fluently, to feel the society and its requirements, instead of importing imams from Arab countries, especially Maghreb, who often do not master the French language and have no real idea about life in France, besides supporting scientific research. This is what is said in public, but the Foundation will not be satisfied with these roles, however important, there are roles that have not been announced by the "Islam of France" and put forward by some media (20).

The undeclared goals are economic and political, through which France aims to establish taxes on the trade of halal meat, and flights to the pilgrimage, which Macron sees as an opportunity to achieve economic benefit, through a plan to reconsider the way to organize flights to Mecca, Until recently, France had merely approved 40 travel agencies that deal directly with the Saudi embassy and consulates. In addition to the largest and most dangerous project, tightening control over mosques and their external sources of funding from Arab and Islamic countries, in order to control the content of religious messages broadcast within them.

Imams of "Islam of France": secular clergy

- "What do you think of what happened?"

- "I'm so sad, how can we kill innocent people, we have no right to it, I'm so sad, I saw the family of the victims and I saw the Charlie family, I'm sad for them"

- Charlie?

- I apologize, I must leave, I will not say more than this.

This was part of a swift statement by the French imam of Moroccan origin Hassan Chelghoumi (21), after the attack on the headquarters of the newspaper "Charlie Hebdo" on January 7, 2015. The statement spread like wildfire on social media and media, the man seems He does not know what happened, and he thinks that the incident was the killing of a person named Charlie, and did not realize that it was the killing of 12 people working in a satirical newspaper.

Hassan al-Shalghoumi, imam of the mosque of the city of Drancy (Reuters)

Hassan Chalghoumi is the imam of the mosque of the city of Drancy located on the outskirts of the capital Paris, an unusual imam whose satirical tops social networking platforms, sometimes because he does not understand French, and sometimes because he makes gross mistakes during his talk, and sometimes because he speaks outside the subject or trying to make an impact, this with Many, many, many controversial statements are made only by an enlightened Islamic thinker.

But this is the funny face, and the serious face is that this Tunisian imam of an Algerian mother is one of the few imams who go out to the street only with personal insurance because of the threats he received for assassination because of his religious and political views, such as his public visit to Israel on two occasions and published pictures of the visit, and inviting the soldiers of the army Occupation with victory and empowerment, and its attack on Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip days after Operation Cast Lead.

Chaghaloumi, who heads the Emirati-backed Forum of Muslim Imams of France (22), is the most prominent Islamic face on French channels, as a representative of the Muslim minority at all heated dialogue tables, while the satellite channels themselves are closed to other imams who represent the largest segments and master the French, which France considers A prerequisite for accepting imams seeking to form them.

Along with Chalghoumi, another figure with a strong presence in the French media is the imam of the Bordeaux mosque, Tarek Obrou. Tarek Obereau holds an important place in the religious and cultural circles in France, and is often a guest much wanted by the French media to talk about thorny issues. Although he agrees with the content of Hassan al-Shaghoumi's message, his speech remains more coherent than his colleague at the school "Islam France" ".

Imam of Bordeaux mosque "Tarek Obero" (Reuters)

Tariq Obrou, who came to France from the Moroccan town of Taroudant in 1979, is a member of the "Islam of France" Foundation. He was and still considers himself one of the most important theorists of a French Islam in which Muslims respect the country they live in by engaging in their culture and society voluntarily, before they are hated. Accordingly, in the definition he published on his personal website, he says that the idea of ​​developing a French Islam came after the organization of the "Muslims of France" to which he belonged, "Islam of France", at the same time he was able to acquire French citizenship.

Imam Bordeaux considers that his "personal" educational path, in which he relied on himself without the behavior of traditional methods of navigating the forensic sciences such as the inheritance of the sheikh, tariqa, or even school, helped him to feel free, with his early commitment to the path of religiosity by former scholars in the study of science Legitimacy at the same time.

Tarek Obereau has a special religious vision, which is that Muslims should live in peace and in complete secrecy and without disturbing other French citizens because of their religious practices, a view translated by his fatwas more clearly, such as the fatwa permissible to eat non-halal meat on occasions and calls for politeness with the host, and fatwa permissible to eat Non-halal flesh children, after a heated societal dialogue on "halal in the schools of France", without forgetting his position on veiled Muslim women and considering their commitment to their veil as a mere desire to appear as legitimate representatives of religion in front of unveiled others (24). Abreu also calls on Muslims to live with the Western way of life and thinking, for several reasons, the most important of which is that the French state is not an enemy of God, but only came to organize society according to its cultural and values ​​perspective, and any resistance to Muslims in this regard may lead the country to civil war.

Opponents of the Islam of France: one front and various reasons

Lubin described Macron as a person who mastered the art of opening doors without having any clue how to close them, which is evident in the uncertainty that the state deals with in organizing Islam.

[Getty Images] Reuters

It seems that everything is intact, that France Macron is moving confidently towards making its version of Islam, and that all steps are paved, the left has no objection, but some of its leaders support the project heart and heart, the right is the legitimate father of the idea of ​​the French Islam, But in fact it is more complicated than that. There are many actors on the scene who are not enthusiastic enough about the Macron government's move.

The first is the far-right led by Marine Le Pen, who is currently the first and real opponent of Manuel Macron and his "forward" movement. Perhaps the European Parliament elections in which the National Front took first place in France are proof of this. The far-right party criticized its president, Raouna Emmanuel Macron, in dealing with the issue of Islam in France, although she praised some positive points. Le Pen described the French president as a person who mastered the art of opening doors without having any clue how to close them, which is evident in the uncertainty with which the state deals with the organization of Islam, and cautiously warned Macron against making any amendments to the secular law of France 1905 (25). .

The second player, no less influential than Marin Lupine, is the Islamic organizations and bodies that seem to have not yet appropriated the role of the "Islam of France", which will inevitably distance it from the religious, social and even political arena. The first objection was the French Council of Islamic Religion, which was founded by Nicolas Sarkozy when he was interior minister in 2003, after this body felt that its position at the top of the pyramid of organizations was threatened, and the evidence of this is abundant, the latest being the failure of French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to invite the Council. For a symbolic Iftar in the city of Strasbourg, state officials used to attend.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner (Reuters)

Abdallah Zekri, the council's delegate, expressed frustration at Castaner's move, recalling that his colleagues in the past had given a special place to the annual event. But the response was not long overdue, when the Anti-Islamophobia Observatory of the French Council of the Islamic Religion attacked the "International Conference for Peace and Solidarity" organized by the Foundation of "France France" in partnership with the Muslim World League Saudi Arabia on Tuesday 17 September and attended by a number of important religious figures in France (27). Abdellah Zekri, head of the Observatory, considered that the institution "Islam France" plays a big role in the marginalization of the role of other Islamic institutions representing the Islamic religion in France, and then directed his heavy weapons towards the Saudi Muslim World League, which he described as an organization that provides Islam is not commensurate with the Islam of France and The values ​​of the French Republic.

The French Council of the French Religion was not the only one that lined up against the "Islam of France" and its activities. It was joined by the Paris mosque headed by Algerian Dalil Boubakeur, who said in press statements that the use of the topic of "interfaith dialogue" by foreign organizations in order to pass their political agenda is very important. Dangerous, he was surprised that France allowed the Muslim World League to organize a conference in central Paris (28).

While the Paris Mosque and the French Council of Islamic Religion see Islam France as a threat to their presence in the religious arena and a reduction of their social authority over the Muslim community, other independent bodies have explicitly expressed their views on the content of the message to be submitted by the semi-state-affiliated organization, such as the Muslim Consultation Campaign. 29) which considered that the Islamic institutions established by the French state did not give the desired, which requires evaluation of its performance.

Foundation "Islam France" (networking sites)

The campaign tries to form an internal Islamic opposition front for the way the religious affairs of Muslims are managed in France, and includes a number of imams, preachers and intellectuals born in France, and closer to the religious religiosity with a light link to Salafism as a scientific and belief approach, as the campaign began to collect the signatures of Muslims, especially Muslim youth in order to represent Better them socially and politically. The campaign is headed by the Islamic activist Marwan Mohamed, a French national of an Egyptian father and an Algerian mother, who had gone out more than once to criticize the institution of "Islam France", considering it a religious religious institution came to monitor Muslims and intervene in their own affairs, so that the state out of its secular path It becomes the guardian of the order and is obeyed even if it is outside his field of specialization.

Islam of France: that religion in doubt

France has a long history with Islam, a history of frank and sometimes convincing conflict, an ancient philosophy chosen by the authorities in Paris to deal with a religion that is the most important aspect of a peer-to-peer civilization in front of Western civilization. Napoleon Bonaparte, despite his occupation of Egypt, declared his Islam and called himself Muhammad in a trick that did not fall on the scientists of Egypt, and General Lioti, who used to call Muslims bad torment in the colonies was himself the idea of ​​financing the Great Mosque of Paris, the largest and most important Islamic teacher in France, and at the time His country writes on the graves of Muslim soldiers killed in world warfare, “soldier so and so he answered the call of his Lord.” It would kill thousands of soldiers themselves if they took up arms to demand the independence of their homelands.

In light of these facts, we must read the existence of the institution "Islam France", its objectives and orientations and messages, whether religious or secular, also should not be overlooked is a very important factor is that Europe and the gate of the largest secular castles entered the field was a trademark registered in the name of the Arab regimes, the field of control in Islam He wore national dress to dwarf his societal and political role. Does this project work? Does it fail because Muslims are not involved in it? Everything is possible, but in all cases the intellectual and civilizational battle between Muslims and Westerners seems to have entered a new turn.

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Moriscos: the inhabitants of Andalusia who embraced Islam and demonstrated Christianity to preserve their lives from the Spanish Catholic Inquisition, and the word "Moresci" is a Spanish word meaning "young Muslim".

The French settlers and other Europeans who lived in Algeria during the French colonial period.These names are due to the color of the shoes they wore.The number of million people in Algeria in 1960 was a powerful cowpea to which the French government calculated a thousand accounts.

Marianne is the symbol of the French Republic, which represents its three principles: "freedom, equality, fraternity", a representation of the mother of the people for whom she fights, seeks and defends his rights. It is not a real character, but a fictional character generated by the French collective mind, and was named after the name "Marian", which combines the names "Mary" and "Anne" the most common names in France during the French Revolution.