French Interior Minister Moves to Close Mosque Accused of Spreading Radical Ideology

"This place of worship constitutes a place facilitating the dissemination of a radical ideology, in particular through the remarks made by its imam who manifests an obvious hostility towards French society, multiplies provocative and hostile remarks towards republican values and encourages the faithful in this radical vision," estimates the Ministry of the Interior. The latter reproaches the imam for "disseminating a Salafist Islam", "legitimizing polygamy", "calling for discrimination against Jews, homosexuals and women", "legitimizing violence towards cartoonists" and "rejoicing in attacks with conspiracy theories" attributing them to "the Islamophobic French State", reports Le Figaro.

Under the influence of the one who arrived in 2017 and is "known to engage in radical proselytism in the Bas-Rhin for about a dozen years", several young people attending the mosque have "radicalized" and some have "left France to study in Koranic schools, in Egypt or Yemen," says Gérald Darmanin’s department.

The procedure for closing the place of worship has been initiated by the prefect of the Bas-Rhin. The association managing the mosque has 10 days to make its observations known, before a possible six-month closure. It is also accused of "endorsing" the "remarks" and "actions" of this imam, "which have never been the subject of any conviction or moderation" on its part.

In a tweet, the Ministry of the Interior specified that out of the 2,623 mosques and prayer rooms in France, 23 separatist places of worship have been closed in the last two years.