The leaders of the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) presented Emmanuel Macron, Wednesday, November 18, with a project for a national council of imams.

The head of state had asked them to create a body responsible for labeling imams in France, said the Elysee.

The Head of State also asked them to draw up, in conjunction with the Ministry of the Interior, a "charter of republican values" to which the CFCM and the nine federations that make it up will have to commit.

He gave them an appointment in a fortnight to come and present this charter to him, said the Elysee, confirming the information from Le Figaro and Le Parisien.

This charter, the president asked, should affirm the recognition of the values ​​of the Republic, specify that Islam in France is a religion and not a political movement, and stipulate the end of interference or affiliation with states foreigners.

The objective is in particular to put an end, within four years, to the presence in France of the 300 foreign imams "seconded" by Turkey, Morocco and Algeria.

"Get out of ambiguities"

Since his speech on separatism and radical Islam in early October, and even more since the assassination of Samuel Paty and the Nice attack, the Head of State has increased his pressure on the leading bodies of Islam by France to fight against foreign influence, radicalization and political Islam.

On Wednesday, he received the leaders of the nine federations that make up the CFCM for the fourth time since the start of the school year according to the Elysee.

The president told them to know that several of these federations have ambiguous positions on the subjects discussed and that it is necessary "to get out of these ambiguities".

Among these nine federations, representative of a large part of the Muslim cult, three do not have "a republican vision", like the Milli Görüs, of Turkish obedience, and the Muslims of France, ex-UOIF, notes the Élysée .

"If some do not sign this charter, we will draw the consequences", warned the president, who "took note of their proposals".

Label imams

The council of imams, presented as a kind of council of the order on the model of that of lawyers, will not only be able to label imams and give them an official card - currently no label is necessary and it is possible to To proclaim themselves imam - but also to withdraw their approval in the event of a breach of the charter and of a code of ethics that it will have to develop.

The president gave the CFCM six months to implement a training framework for imams.

Depending on their role (imams leading prayer, preaching imams and speaker imams), they will be asked for different levels of knowledge of French and diplomas, up to university training.

The Council will have to bring the current imams into this model.

Membership of the CFCM in this new organization of Muslim worship in France would mark a victory for Emmanuel Macron, target of sometimes violent criticism of Muslims in several countries for his remarks on an Islam "in crisis" and his speech against radical Islam.

In addition to calls for a boycott of French products, the French president, who rejects any accusation of being anti-Muslim and defends a neutral secularism vis-à-vis all cults, has even personally become the target of jihadist threats.

With AFP

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