In recent days, the French government and the French Council of the Islamic Faith (CFCM) agreed on a 10-point “Charter of Principles” that establishes the precedence of French Republican principles such as secularism over Islam. The French Council of the Islamic Faith, which consists of nine religious organizations, promised in the document to establish a French Imam Council to train Muslim clerics to curb the influence of trained imams abroad.
The text believes in secularism, the separation between state and church, gender equality, and rejects discrimination and “certain cultural practices” that claim affiliation with Islam.
Article 6 of the charter provides for combating the exploitation of Islam and its exploitation for political and ideological purposes, and the signatories undertake to reject the promotion of “political Islam.”
The ninth article also argues that the reference to “state racism” is a fabrication that exacerbates hatred against Muslims and the French.
Tense negotiations preceded the adoption of the document after French President Emmanuel Macron declared war on “Islamic separatism” in November, and religious leaders called for a similar law. The Macron family also introduced a bill to prevent, among other things, financial support for Islamic organizations in France from abroad.
Frank Frigosi, Lecturer at Science-Po Aix and expert on Islam in France Prof. Authorization to France24 He assessed that the document that was just adopted contains many contradictions, such as placing the organizations on the black list of “political Islam”, which was also among the signatories of the document.
Nor is it clear to him who will comply with these regulations in what manner. The importance of this issue is reinforced by the fact that the federations represented in the CFCM represent only half of the Islamic religious institutions in France.
Frejusi sees the document as a compulsory top-down text that in many ways ignores the facts found in everyday life.
The contradictory and discriminatory nature of the document was highlighted in a Twitter post by Reem Sarah Alwan, a French lawyer, which raises the rhetorical question of whether the government will sign a similar charter with the Catholic Church, in which it should believe in gender equality and women’s rights. .
Now I can’t help but wonder: Will the French government get the Catholic Church to sign the “Charter of Values of the Republic” whereby they pledge to adhere to the principle of equality, especially gender equality and women’s rights? https://t.co/UPIqcz5SyQ
– Reem Sara Alwan (RimSarah) January 18, 2021
the document According to his critics Under it, the French state designates a religious minority of 5 million members for crimes committed by an extremist group.
Controversy over Islam in France flared up again in the country after a young fundamentalist beheaded teacher Samuel Patty in October 2020, as he presented a caricature of Muhammad in the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo during his class on freedom of expression. When the cartoon was originally published, in 2015, terrorists operating in the name of Islam made an assassination attempt in Paris, killing 12 people, among them several members of the newspaper.
(Politico)
Cover Photo: Facebook / Emmanuel Macron
