Bruno Retailleau confirms the forum of Islam in France

A first contact tied with faces of Islam in France. Tuesday, February 4 in the morning, the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau met for the first time members of the forum of Islam of France (FOIF), the platform for dialogue between the public authorities and the Muslim worship, composed of Local Muslim actors. After this first informal exchange, all the members of the Forer will officially meet in the presence of Bruno Retailleau on February 18.

In the meantime, this first meeting of approximately two hours was an opportunity, for a dozen members of the Forif to present to the Minister the advances in the work of their six working groups, which concern leading subjects in the organization Muslim worship, namely the status of imams, anti -muslim acts and securing places of worship, chaplains, the application of the so -called “separatism” law, the funding of worship and finally the territorial structuring of worship. “We were able to redo the history of the different working groups and take stock of what is advancing and what has already been put in place”, reports Najat Benali, rector of the Javel mosque in the 15th arrondissement of Paris and member of a working group.

A word that reassures Muslims

Beyond the files, this contact made it possible to reassure certain Muslim officials, worried by the Minister’s latest declarations concerning Islam. In mid-January, Bruno Retailleau had spoken out for the ban on the veil during school outings and university. “We had left for a rather negative a priori in view of his steep statements,, But we were pleasantly surprised, reports a participant. We have met someone attentive, interested in our work and by the format of the Forif. “He is a man who has not particularly worked the question of Islam but which we feel that he is a believer and that these questions interest”, add another participant.

The Minister thus confirmed his desire to perpetuate the FOIF, and to turn the page of the CFCM, the former body of representation of the Muslim worship. This body, which is no longer the interlocutor of the public authorities since his disavowal by Gérald Darmanin at the end of 2021, continues to take public positions on various subjects concerning Islam and Muslims in France.

The expected file of the status of imams

For their part, the members of the Forif have brought back to the minister the state of anxiety that according to them their co -religionists in the face of recurring debates and controversies on Islam in public debate. “We showed him that we lacked strong institutional speech which reassures Muslims in the exercise of their worship”, mentions a participant.

If several members of the FORIF assure that the work is progressing, others believe that the political will still lacks to advance certain files, such as that of the status of imams, long awaited on the ground. “We have defined the perimeter of the Imam post, which relates to the tasks of the imam, and specifies the legal challenges, details a member of the working group concerned. We have proposals but we are still on hold and we have the feeling that there is not really a political will to materialize the advances. »» Works whose results should be specified on February 18.