France Launches New Islamic Forum, Aims to Improve Muslim Representation

"Whether historic, it is for history to say. But founding, yes, for sure! This is a very important moment because it is the first time that we have heard the mosques or the people who did not feel represented. We all know that one of the big problems of the CFCM, even if not everything was bad there, is that it did not always represent the base and that a very large part of the independent mosques - more than half of those that exist in France - are not affiliated with a federation," said Gérald Darmanin in an interview with SaphirNews at the end of the first edition of the FORIF.

According to the official, the fact of fighting against foreign interference and wanting to represent Islam in its diversity is founding. "I hope it will be historic," he added, specifying that the FORIF is modeled on the German model. "There are several types of models. We preferred the more participatory, more open, more democratic German model than other closed models," explained the minister. "So, we’re giving it a try! The German model inspired us, not by Franco-German mimicry, but because we think it was the best."