Rabat – The French government is moving forwards with the decision to introduce a new group of clergy made up of men and women to lead the French Islamic community. The measure aims at “reforming” Islam in France and fending off Islamic extremism.
France’s Interior Ministry is to host the new body during a presentation ceremony today. The government-appointed clergy includes imams, prominent figures from civil society, intellectuals, and business leaders.
At least a quarter of the body is made up of women, according to sources cited by French media.
The new clergy is to replace the French Council of Muslim Faith. Created in 2003 during Nicolas Sarkozy’s tenure as Interior Minister, the council acted as a mediator between the government and the French Muslim community.
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The French government decided to dissolve the council this month, with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin citing its inefficiency at tackling Islamist extremism.
Training imams in France rather than bringing them from Turkey, Morocco, and Algeria is one of the core aims underlying the new reform, said French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We want to trigger a revolution and free Islam from foreign influence,” the French interior minister said in an interview with a French newspaper. “Islam is not a religion for foreigners in France, it is rather a French religion that should be free of foreign money and any interference from authorities outside of France.”
While supporters view the decision as necessary in light of France’s recent history of struggle against Islamist extremism, others maintain the measure is a mere political maneuver to draw far-right voters on the runoff to the presidency.
With Islamophobia surging across Europe, far-right parties’ anti-Islamism and anti-immigration rhetoric appears to have won the sympathy of a considerable segment of French society.
For critics of the controversial “reform of Islam in France,” the Macron government’s hardening stance on Isman is an electoral move designed to stack the odds in favor of President Macron ahead of this year’s presidential race.
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