Paris Grand Mosque Introduces Weekly Prayer for France’s Prosperity and Unity

In a letter sent on Thursday to the 150 imams affiliated with the Grand Mosque of Paris, Rector Chems-eddine Hafiz asked them to recite the following invocation every Friday at the end of the sermon: "Oh Allah, preserve France, its people and the institutions of the Republic. Make France a prosperous, safe and peaceful country, where the national community, in its diversity, its different religions, its convictions and its beliefs, coexist in security and peace."

The rector specifies that this approach is "part of the implementation of the adaptation of Muslim religious discourse in French society initiated by the Grand Mosque of Paris," recalling that some imams had already introduced an invocation for France after the assassination of teacher Samuel Paty in 2020 and others after the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.

Chems-eddine Hafiz also notes that "for many years," a "prayer for the Republic" has been recited in synagogues on Saturday mornings and on holidays, before or after the reading of the Torah, or on the occasion of official ceremonies. The rector of the Paris mosque concluded his letter by telling the imams that he attaches "particular attention to the execution of this request."