Rabat – The Federation of Mosques in France (UMF) called on the country’s Muslim community to celebrate religious events at home with their families before June 2, the date that French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe proposed for resuming religious gatherings and ceremonies in places of worship.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, UMF and the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) have defended decisions that aim to preserve the lives of citizens, in accordance with recommendations from French health authorities, said UMF and CFCM today in a joint press release.
UMF also suspended several funerals and closed mosques before the French government applied these preventive measures, according to the statement.
The federation’s president, Mohammed Moussaoui, said that the upcoming Eid Al Fitr holiday–which will probably fall on May 24–invites the Muslim to be extremely vigilant given the remaining unknowns on the impact of this crisis.
“A possible resumption of activities in the mosques, which must be necessarily progressive, cannot take place on the occasion of a large gathering such as the feast of Eid El Fitr,” said Moussaoui.
“We can never say it enough, a single saved life is better than all religious celebrations regardless of their importance,” the UMF head concluded.
Moussaoui is also president of the CFCM, which is the highest public representative of Islam in France.
The council has been accompanying the Muslim community and their demands throughout the crisis. CFCM has asked the country’s authorities to make available burial spaces for Muslims who died from COVID-19 in France.
“The number of victims of the coronavirus pandemic continues to increase, leaving many families facing the pain of mourning and the fact of being unable to bury their dead in accordance with their rites,” the CFCM lamented in a press release on April 13.
Without a solution on offer, Moussaoui said that Muslim families are living amid anxiety, worry, and regret, though the crisis is temporary.
