French Muslim Council Warns of Rising Islamophobia Amid Veil Debates

On Monday, at the meeting of the French Council of the Muslim Faith at the Grand Mosque of Paris, concern was visible due to the news fueled increasingly by acts directed against Muslims in France, under the guise of respect for secularism and the fight against radicalization and terrorism.

The CFCM expresses, according to saphirnews, "its consternation at the hysterical reactions on the issue of the veil of Muslim women who wear it without infringing the republican law, without provocation or proselytism," demanding "urgently" from the authorities "to enforce the rule of law."

The body denounces the stigmatization and the publication of tendentious documents and statements that tend to take Muslims for people to avoid. The CFCM demands the same freedom of worship, granted to other recognized religions.

Nevertheless, in this climate of suspicion, doubt, and hurtful remarks, the Council said it was somewhat reassured by the tenor that Emmanuel Macron kept, just after the attack perpetrated at the Police Headquarters.

A speech in which he proposes "to establish a society of vigilance and not of suspicion that corrodes." "This is in no way a fight against religion but against its perversion," he had declared.

The body, currently led by the Rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, claims to have "always firmly denounced practices contrary to the rules of peace and tolerance advocated by Islam and, in particular, the criminal actions perpetrated in its name."

The CFCM says it has "very quickly engaged in the fight against all forms of radicalization," citing its Imam’s Charter project, which recalls "the obligations of all Muslim clergy." A meeting with the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, is scheduled for this Friday, October 18.