French Mosque Under Fire for Hosting Radical Islamic Publisher

"Mr. Mohamed Mehdaoui is the head of a publishing house ’Madrass Animée’ and he was fined 2,000 euros by the courts for having published texts or illustrations that present a danger to young people and are likely to incite violence, in this case by describing scenes of torture," explains Alexandre Brugère, prefect of Hauts-de-Seine, in a letter addressed to the president of the mosque to notify him of the formal notice.

The Nanterre Criminal Court ruled in early July that the books of Mohamed Mehdaoui, entitled "Heroes of Islam: The Companions of the Prophet," promote jihad and are close to Salafism, a radical form of Islam, recalls Europe 1. The "Omar du Sud" mosque has violated the law by inviting this controversial publisher, the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine rules.

And he threatens: "I will not hesitate to mobilize the range of sanctions that are at my disposal and that are at the disposal of the State if ever these facts were to be repeated. This is a fight that we must wage for our Republic not to leave the slightest anti-republican speech, the slightest platform that would be offered to individuals who do not respect the laws of the Republic."

The Bagneux mosque is the tenth to find itself in the sights of the authorities since the beginning of the year. It had not, moreover, been invited to the territorial assizes of Islam in France in the department on July 1st.