France Foreign Minister Gerald Darmanin has announced that the country will stop foreign imams paid from abroad from entering France starting 1st January. This is aimed at reducing foreign interference among the French Muslim community to combat radicalism and separatist sentiments.
France reportedly aims to increase the number of locally trained imams. Moreover, foreign imams already staying in France will not be able to stay after 1st April 2024 under the current terms of their immigration status.
The policy is aimed at around 300 imams from Algeria, Turkey and Morocco. The announcement of the new policy was sent to Turkey and Algeria.
Those foreign-funded imams residing in France will possibly be subject to deportation whereas those who want to stay back will have to switch to being paid by a French Muslim association instead of receiving money from overseas.
An exception will, however, be made for so-called “imams of Ramadan”, a group of 300 imams who travel to France annually for the Islamic holy month.
Reports citing French media state that the grand imam of the Bordeaux mosque, Tariq Oubrou has welcomed the decision as a step towards reducing political and theological interference from countries of origin.
Abdallah Zekri, vice-president of the French Council of Muslim Faith also lent his support but said that current imams are not separatists.
He defended the presence of about 270 imams from Algeria and Turkey saying that “detached” imams respect the values and laws of the Republic they reside in.
Under the new framework, worship place associations can directly hire imams. A basic understanding of French would also be required of the imams of Ramadan.
The decision was first announced by France President Emmanuel Macron in February 2020.
Addressing a news conference during his visit to the eastern city of Mulhouse, Macron had said he would gradually put a stop to the practice in which foreign countries deploy imams to France to preach in mosques and teach Islam to students.
“This end to the consular Islam system is extremely important to curb foreign influence and make sure everybody respects the laws of the republic,” said the French President.
The French President opined that though it is true that not all terrorists are Muslims, however, most such terror-related cases have links with Islamic terrorism. This is why such rigid steps were being taken, said Macron.
“The problem is when in the name of a religion, some want to separate themselves from the Republic and therefore not respect its laws,” Macron said.
France had provided a three year notice for this policy which ended on 1st January 2024.
The programme was created in 1977 that allowed several Muslim majority countries to send imams to France for cultural and language courses not subjected to scrutiny by the French government.
France has witnessed increasing number of cases of Islamic terrorism in the recent times. On 31st October last year, a hijab-clad woman threatened to blow up herself at a train station in Paris.
In December 2023, a man shouting Allah-hu-Akbar killed one and injured two in a knife attack near the Eiffel Tower. He had said he was upset over Afghanistan and Palestine.
Again in October 2023, a man stabbed a teacher to death in a school in France. He had given the Islamic war cry Allah-hu-Akbar.
A Syrian refugee in Annecy, France went on a stabbing spree at a playground, critically injuring two children.
Meanwhile, Germany has also implemented a similar policy stating that starting 2nd January, 100 imams will be trained in Germany every year and will be replacing foreign-funded imams sent from Turkey to lead prayers and religious guidance for German Muslims.
As per reports, most of the 900 mosques in Germany administered by Turkey have Turkish imams. Germany’s 5.6 million Muslims are primarily from Turkey and are the children of migrant labourers, who shifted here in the 1960s.
Shockingly, Turkey’s state-controlled Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (or Ditib) is the single largest Muslim organisation in Germany, funding around 900 mosques in the country. It was founded 40 years ago by Turkey as an arm of the state.
