Chronology of a painful liberation of speech
The wave of speech release on sexual violence, which sweeps in all the spheres of French society including the Catholic Church, does not spare the Muslim community. For more than a year, Muslim alert launchers have been denouncing the actions of preachers online on social networks online, triggering a series of controversies and cyberbullying.
These affairs have led some religious leaders to reflect on the lack of structures within the Muslim worship which would allow the speech of the victims to be collected, to direct them towards civil justice and to preventively dismiss the preachers questioned. Back on more than a year of fighting and controversy.
► October 2023: first whistleblower
It all started in October 2023, when a young Belgian Muslim influencer denounces the alleged actions of the preacher Mohamed Nadhir on Tiktok. The latter is not anyone: followed by 168,000 subscribers on Youtube and 84,000 on Instagram, it is one of the emblematic figures of 2.0 preachers that have appeared in recent years on social networks and very followed by many young Muslims.
Affirming to rely on the testimony of a young woman, the influencer accuses Mohamed Nadhir of insisting for having sex with this woman by promising her marriage, and of having taken a recording without his knowledge during a sexual intercourse. The victim has since filed a complaint for “Revenge porn” (“Pornographic revenge”), and an investigation is open, entrusted to the police station of Noisy-le-Sec (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Contacted by The crossMohamed Nadhir’s lawyer indicates that the latter is “Very affected by these accusations which he disputes bluntly”, and affirms that these “Probably rest only on unavored and malicious personal motivations”.
If the preacher is presumed innocent, these denunciations will for the first time publicly emerge the subject of sexual violence committed by imams within the Muslim community, giving rise to harsh debates tearing the small world of Muslim influencers: should a religious preacher be impeccable? Should we publicly denounce their actions when you are aware of facts? Who to contact when Muslim officials do not answer? Should we use social networks to break omerta? Who has authority to dismiss an imam from his duties? So many questions that illustrate the difficulties of an emerging movement of speech release.
► Spring 2024: To make things happen internally
Loubna Fethi then tries to alert those whom she considers authority in the Muslim community on the cases of this last preacher and Mohamed Nadhir – who was her teacher and which she had echo – hoping that they take measures. She contacted Nader Abu Anas several times, one of the best known preachers on the web – he has more than 500,000 subscribers on Instagram – with whom she also took lessons.
Following the Belgian Muslim influencer, the movement was taken over by a 34 -year -old young Muslim, returned to a diligent practice of religion a few years ago and made aware of the violence against women during his studies: Loubna Fethi.
In 2024, the young woman began to raise awareness of situations of psychological grip on her Instagram account. Gradually, in reaction to his stories, other women denounce situations of rights -of -way suffered from imams or preachers. Then more serious facts appear. During the month of May 2024, Loubna received the testimony of a woman saying that she was forced by a preacher known to have sex with him. After listening to the victim on May 21, she decides to believe it.
The 1er June 2024 However, Nader Abou Anas is announced as speaking in a webarial alongside Mohamed Nadhir. For Loubna Fethi, this is proof of omerta, and the fact that these “Imams 2.0” do not take these things seriously. Social networks appear to him to be a last resort to alert the potential danger that the accused preachers represent.
► June 2024: Social networks, last resort?
Saying ready to do anything to make things happen whatever the consequences, Loubna Fethi will therefore use her Instagram account to raise awareness of Muslim women about sexual violence committed by imams, and denounce some of them. Invoking the exemplarity that religious figures should, according to her, embody, she believes that those who have displaced behaviors towards women abuse the confidence of the faithful and dirty her religion. In fact, unlike other movements of speech release, he claims to be Islamic principles, Loubna Fethi combining demands of women’s rights with strict religious observance.
At the end of June 2024, she evokes on social networks the case of the woman who would have been recorded without her knowledge by Mohamed Nadhir, with whom she has been in contact since May 7. Then she publishes screenshots of a very raw exchange between Mohamed Nadhir and this young woman. The exchange shocks, the number of subscribers of Loubna Fethi soars, and the controversy swells on social networks. Mohamed Nadhir, he files a complaint for aggravated cyberbill.
► July 2024: Instagram, theater of public controversy
On the “Muslimostus”, the case takes on the appearance of public controversy. A live is organized on Instagram on June 28, 2024, that The cross watched. Loubna Fethi and two other Muslim influencers claim the constitution of an organization within the Muslim worship to take care of the question of sexual violence, orient the victims and dismiss the preachers questioned.
For them, there is the credibility of the Muslim community: “Does a strong pantry put the dirt under the carpet?” “, calls out Loubna Fethi. ” Do you (Imams) Are you able to organize yourself to remove a rotten fruit from the tree? “, Force one of the presents to the Imam Ismaïl of Marseille forcefully, who came to debate.
Nader Abou Anas, the preacher with 500,000 subscribers, connects in turn. Loubna Fethi accuses him of doing nothing to rule out problematic preachers. In front of the 3,700 Internet users who attend this pass of arms, Nader Abou Anas replied that it is not his responsibility. “If there are facts that fall under the lawhe defends himself, May the victim file a complaint! We have no religious authority to deal with the full -bodied problems that we receive here. »»
These stormy exchanges in fact reveal a form of collective helplessness to deal with these cases, and a structural problem: in the absence of a sufficient organization of Muslim worship, no imam has an official authority to sanction another. In addition, there is no organization within the Muslim community to collect the words of victims of sexual violence, like those that have been put in place in the Catholic Church following the CIASse (Independent Commission on Sexual Abuses in the Church).
► Summer 2024: the back of the stick
The denunciations therefore take place exclusively on social networks and also trigger vindictive. From the live of June, a cyberbully campaign against Loubna Fethi, orchestrated by several accounts, sets out. Multiplying stories and lives, several influencers intimidate her, publish photos of her without her veil – a humiliation for this observing Muslim woman – and threaten to disseminate her personal data. During the summer of 2024, the latter filed several complaints for cyberbullying.
Beyond the insulting messages, these denunciations are debated on the web: should we use social networks to publicly denounce preachers without necessarily verifying the testimonies? Loubna Fethi assumes her cut-off methods, she who wants to make things move at all costs: “We campaign for this problem to be taken into account, and we must put pressure if not, unfortunately, things do not move. »» Since then, she says she has received dozens of testimonies from women who complain about acts from imams or preachers, ranging from displaced messages to social networks to sexual assault.
► December 2024: The testimony of Aïcha Mounir and the mobilization of imams
The release of speech is then relaunched by a second wave of revelations. On December 17, Aïcha Mounir, a Muslim influencer, wife of the preacher Ismaïl Mounir known for her reformist positions, position on her Instagram account: “Today, I am 38 years old and I lived ten years of incest from my father imam. »» In a book titled The price to payreleased in self -publishing the same day, she recounts her childhood marked by the desire for control, the physical violence and the incest that she would have suffered from her father, who exercised as Imam in the north of France. Aïcha Mounir said to The cross Have filed a complaint on the day of the publication of the work. Since then, the influencer has received dozens of testimonies from victims of incest and sexual violence, which she rests on her Instagram account.
Finally, a reaction from Muslim authorities arrives at the end of December, responding to the wish of whistleblowers. In the aftermath of the revelations of Aïcha Mounir, the Council of Imamat and preaching, a recent collective of imams led by the Imam of Val-d’Oise Tarik Abou, published a statement condemning sexual violence, expressing his support for alleged victims by encouraging them to grasp civil justice while recalling the presumption of innocence. A way to be median to take these cases seriously while respecting the dignity of the accused.
The collective plans to set up a “disciplinary committee” to collect the speech of the victims, support them to file a complaint and ensure that the imams questioned are preventively set out. “In this way, if there are alleged victims, rather than denouncing on social networks-which creates incredible tensions-, this committee could take the subject with a le-corps, listen to the parties and make a kind of arbitration, without replacing civil justice”exhibits Imam Tarik Abou Nour at a collective meeting in February.
“When business appears, you have to break the silence, to encourage victims to file a complaint without going to social networks, which only do things”, he insists. A beginning of awareness?
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At the Great Mosque of Paris, a study day against violence against women
A sign that the subject emerges well in Muslim worship, a study day against violence against women was organized on November 25 at the Great Mosque in Paris.
The day brought together stakeholders from all confessions, including Muslim side, imams and Kahina Bahloul, first woman nomin in France.
The rector of the great mosque of Paris, Chems-Eddine Hafiz said that “Muslim worship and all other cults must be able to face their problems and, at the same time, find balance and harmony between their principles, their values and the emancipation of women”.
