Rabat – The French Mosques Union (UMF) has made a “pragmatic and carefully considered” choice to take advantage of Morocco’s experience in the training of imams and morchidates, which is recognized internationally. These and other statements were made in a press release from the organization, published at the end of the meeting of its Board of Directors on Sunday.
“It is within the framework of the Franco-Moroccan joint declaration signed on September 19, 2015, in the presence of the two heads of state, that the UMF accompanies young candidates for the function of the imamat and Islamic education in their training project at the Mohammed VI Institute in Rabat, which now hosts more than a thousand students of different nationalities,” explained the president of the UMF, Mohammed Moussaoui.
During the meeting, administrators of the UMF adopted an ambitious program in which they will aspire to meet the many expectations of French Muslims. The program also includes a plan to address the many challenges facing the Muslims of France in a difficult and demanding context.
At the top of these expectations and challenges is the training of religious figures and their status: imams, morchidates and chaplains, as well as those responsible for mosque management associations, stated the UMF. He noted that the struggle against religious extremism haunting the youth in France “rests in part on our ability to properly train our religious cadres and to give them the means suited in the pursuit of their noble mission.”
The UMF, which plans to create its own training institute on French soil, has just obtained the endorsement of its Board of Directors for the project, which is scheduled for September 2018, the statement said. It explained that, faced with the crisis caused by the dissemination by the president of the CFCM, the UMF is calling on all parties “to take stock of the gravity of the moment that our country lives on the eve of electoral appointments important for its future.”
“In these difficult times, Muslims in France need to consolidate their unity now more than ever, to better serve the oneness and cohesion of their country,” said the UMF. The statement revealed that the group had been invited to participate in a meeting to devise the charter for the Imam of France. The meeting was organized by the CFCM, the French Council of the Muslim Faith, on February 22nd, during which two documents were proposed by the UMF. “Of course, in any collegial project, it is normal that the various contributions are not fully retained.”
For the UMF, however, it would have been more in line with the CFCM’s decision-making process than the synthesis made by the CFCM president. It is again being discussed within the CFCM’s bodies in order to allow its definitive and indisputable adoption.
