France Delays Launch of National Imam Council Amid COVID Concerns

Convened by the president of the CFCM, Mohammed Moussaoui, the assembly has been postponed to January 9, 2022 due to "the very large number of imams who wished to take part in this assembly and the evolution of the epidemiological situation" in France, justifies the Muslim organization in a press release. These proceedings will allow "to provide our faith with a representative body drawing its legitimacy from the actors on the ground and those who are in daily contact with the faithful and Muslim families", assures the CFCM.

In the meantime, the Muslim organization intends to submit the draft founding texts of the CNI to the future participants during this month, which may be amended. "Through this participatory approach, the CFCM wishes to give a voice to all the imams of France and the heads of mosques, whether or not they are affiliated with a federation", affirms the organization.

The organization wishes to "go beyond the compartmentalization and references to origins in which" it has "been locked up for too long and allow the emergence of skills that are committed to serving the Muslim faith".

The project to create the CNI, wanted by French President Emmanuel Macron, was entrusted to the CFCM but is viewed with a bad eye by many independent imams and certain Muslim organizations. Four dissident federations of the CFCM are moreover piloting a CNI in the making.