French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his country's Muslim representatives to accept the 'Charter of Republican Values' to destroy radical Islam.
On Wednesday, the President met eight leaders of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) and said that they are granted 15 days of deferment.
According to him, this charter should include two special things apart from other issues: Islam in France is only a religion, no political movement, and hence politics should be removed from it. And any kind of 'foreign interference' has to be banned in the Muslim community of France.
The president's tough stance has been seen since three suspected Islamic extremist attacks in the country last month.
These attacks also include the murder of a 47-year-old teacher on October 16, who showed some cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in one of his classes.
The country with the largest Muslim population in Europe
This angered the Muslim community and the teacher was beheaded by a youth of Chechen origin, 18 years old.
Leaders of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) have assured the President that they will prepare the charter soon.
The CFCM is the only major government-led institution in the government that is governmentally recognized and was founded by former President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2003, when he was the country's home minister. This institution includes all large groups of the Muslim community.
Muslims comprise 10 percent of the total population of France, which is the largest Muslim community in Europe.
Most of France's Muslims have migrated from its former colony Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. But the second and third generations of this community have originated in France.
Controversial bill proposed
France's President Emmanuel Macron's war against radical Islam does not end with the insistence of the Charter.
He also proposed a bill after several hours of this meeting which many people call controversial. Some important aspects of this bill are as follows:
Those who threaten and threaten public officials on religious grounds will be given severe punishment. There will be a ban on teaching children at home.
Every child will be given an identification number for his identification so that he can keep an eye on whether he is going to school or not. Law-breaking parents may face six months in jail as well as major fines.
A person will be banned from sharing personal information in such a way that they may be harmed by those who want to harm them.
The President had made some similar proposals on October 2 and said that there is a crisis in Islam.
His statements after the extremist attacks were described as anti-Islam and many Muslim countries became angry with him. In some countries, a Boycott of goods made in France was also demanded.
French Islam
Islam has been the biggest issue in France for the last few years. France has no official religion because it is a secular state. This secularism is called laïcité or 'lycete' in the country.
This is a secularism that has been well adopted by both the left-wing and the right-wing. Islam does not seem to fit perfectly in the government's view.
For the last two years, President Macron has been attempting to bring French Islam under the 'licit' realm in which previous presidents had failed.
Professor Ahmet Kuru is an expert in Islamic history at San Diego State University in the United States. According to him, President Macron is imposing his imagination of French Islam and adopting a dual policy.
He says, "Macro's new demand from France's largest Muslim organization the CFCM, including the acceptance of a Republican charter, violates the principles of a secular state."
Says Prosser Kuru, "The secular powers of France sought to decriminalize the dominance of the Catholic Church and decentralize it for years. But now, Macrons are trying to establish their dominance over Islam by giving CFCM the old Church status. , Assuming that the CFCM decisions will be binding on all mosques. The decentralization of the Catholic Church has been a historical goal of France, but now there is a clear contradiction in the direction of the CFCM over Islam. "
Criticism of CFCM
In an article titled "The Battle for a French Islam" ('Battle for French Islam'), French writer Kareena Pisar writes that trying to convert Islam to French mood in France is not new.
She says, "The state cannot intervene in the management of religion and the management of religious questions. But governments have been trying to do just that for the past 30 years, quoting Islam. This is a profound contradiction."
Now take CFCM only. This is an institution that was established in 2003 with the help of the government, but ordinary Muslims do not even know much about it.
Kareena Pisar cites a 2016 survey, saying, "Two-thirds of French Muslims had not even heard of this institution."
Marwan Mehmood, a well-known social activist from France, says, "The criticism of the CFCM is less about the fact that it has relations with foreign countries rather it is more critical than it has failed at all for Muslims. This is a top-notch organization. "
Stop foreign interference
The President has also said to ban foreign interference in the charter.
Imams of mosques in France often come from Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. The Jama Masjid of Paris is assisted by the gardener from Algeria. It is also generally believed that youth born in France were involved in all Islamic extremist attacks since 2015.
But Dr. Alexander Lambert, a teacher at the Geneva Institute of Geopolitical Studies in Switzerland, says that it is important for the French government to find out who is interfering with foreign powers in the country's Muslim institutions.
In his view, this will prove to be a difficult and complicated task, as a result of which it can also be established that the forces that intervene are not in the Muslim majority countries but those powers are sitting in the western countries only.
He says, "Don't forget that Macron speaks on behalf of the French Republic but he is not a career politician, he is ultimately a Rothschild banker, that is, of the corporate world."
The President is not alone in trying to mold French Islam into French values. Some Muslims in France also want the same, but their suggestion is slightly different.
Yunus al-Aziz of Moroccan origin is associated with the IT profession in the south France city of Marseille, saying, "We are a Liberal younger generation. Our friends are also mostly of the white race. We do not feel isolated from them." But when the government wants to impose its opinion about our religion, then there is a big problem. "
Younus adds, "They (Macrons) want a media-friendly Islam, an Islam that suits the living room debate and is liked by the authorities and who can select to represent the Muslims of their choice."
Islam and politics
Professor Ahmet Kuru also explains the Presidential election in 2022, behind the President's recent statements about Islam and action.
He says, "It seems that President Macron will continue the public debate on Islam until the presidential election in April 2022. He will try to woo voters who vote between him and his right-wing rival Marine Le Pen." Could not decide. "
According to Professor Ahmet, the President is making a huge mistake by doing this.
"One mistake is by isolating the Muslims of France from themselves. These Muslims may prove to be its allies in the fight against fundamentalist Islam in France. The other mistake is that they are doing against the principles of the French Secular State policy is adopted. The principle of the French Secular State is to separate itself from religions. But Macron is claiming that the French state is going to bring a bright idea to Islam. It is against France's policy of secularism. "
In Yunus al-Aziz's view, there should not be any step in the government and the state that Muslims see as imposing from above.
"It will never succeed. Rather negative reactions can come against it. So I understand that Islam must be saved from outside influence, but to allow the adoption of the values of Lycitee naturally."
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