How to stop radical Islam in France
As terror attacks multiply, it is no longer enough to say that “they have nothing to do with Islam” or that “Islam is peace". What is needed is reform within Islam to reconcile faith and reason, spirituality and the values of secularism, freedom, and equality. The imam of Nîmes, vice president of the Conference of Imams of France has some proposals to erase fear and establish the coexistence of Muslims in Europe.
Paris (AsiaNews) – The rise of Islamic terrorism deeply challenges Europe’s Muslim elites. Hocine Drouiche, an Algerian-born imam in Nimes, has made some proposals on how to develop a French Islam, respectful of reason and coexistence.
Imam Drouiche, who is vice-chairman of the Conference of Imams of France, has received threats from radicals because of his views. His ideas were presented on 5 October at a seminar held at the National Assembly titled ‘How to stop the spread of radical political and religious ideologies that threaten the Republic and French Islam?’* His statement translated by AsiaNews follows.
Attacks and attempted attacks that multiply as well as the anarchy that characterises Muslim life in France raise questions about the issue of Islam in France and Europe. This raises a number of topics such as the role of women, religious freedom, apostasy, patriotism, foreign intervention, the place of Jews, citizenship, terrorism ... etc. Such questions remain without convincing and reassuring answers.
Geopolitical developments in the Muslim world – in Syria, Iraq, Mali and elsewhere – and the echoes of the confrontation between Israel and Hamas in the absence of a real vision of peace between the two peoples have deeply upset the reality of Islam in our society.
The political Islam that has emerged over the past 30 years in the suburbs has always been present to take advantage of this climate of crisis and despair in order to offer new Muslim youth arguments justifying the confrontational strategy global Islam chose long ago, even though French Muslims are not obliged to follow the Islamic political model born in the Arab world, which certainly does not correspond to the lives of Muslims as minorities in secular western countries.
Native communities weakened by economic and political crises have started to see Islam as becoming more and more of an uncontrollable and threatening invasion, especially after the latest wave of attacks. The appearance of thousands of jihadists and the discrediting of traditional Islam by a new warlike Islam since the Merah** case, especially since the war in Syria, which has led to many vocations in our country, has also forced French Muslims to examine themselves seriously. In order to clarify their position and reassure French people, they must take the bull by the horns and clearly answer some important questions such as: Between France and the jihadists, who will we choose?
In light of Islam’s state of anarchy, do Muslims recognise the Muslim crisis (structural and in the words of imams)? What commitments will they take to control violent tendencies within the Muslim community? Are they ready to differentiate between the Muslim religion and the ideology of political Islam that seeks conflict and hatred more than peace and solutions? Do they accept an independent and free French Islam against the vision of foreign political Islam? Do they accept a Republican education of imams to avoid conflict with secularism, the values of the Republic and the traditions of French society, including the aforementioned important questions that Islam has not been able to deal with until now by giving clear and convincing answers that reassure the native population? Are they prepared to separate the divine order from the political order in order to adapt to the Republic?
All these ambiguities in French Islam provide fertile ground for extremists to recruit more young men and women on a path of deconstruction and hatred in the streets, mosques and, of course, social media. The state that has failed for several years to perform its Republican role in the suburbs is invited today to take its share of responsibility on all its territories. Of course, a solution to radicalisation can only come from within France’s Muslim community. Muslims are starting to feel the danger of not treating the problem of extremism. Only the future can offer us a precise answer.
"Islam is not violence"
The following points show us the difficulties of the question of Islam in France:
1 The non-recognition of the problem: Generally, imams, preachers and Muslim leaders believe that Muslims are completely innocent of any moral and religious responsibility for all the attacks that took place in France and Europe. We hear such "innocence "in the following answers that we receive from these players after each attack:
1 Islam is not violence, Islam is peace and love.
2 These kids have nothing to do either with Islam or the mosques as if these young people were Catholic, Buddhist, Jews or atheists!
3 The whole world does not like Islam and Muslims. Consequently, these "infidels" want to dishonour Islam (conspiracy theory)!
For most French people, such words represent the worst response that Muslims could give to these attacks. Millions of people in France and Europe do not understand the positions Muslims take against these attacks. Several imams are against this reaction deemed feeble by the social majority.
2- The reality of Islam
2.1 Religious reality: It is characterised by:
1 A new generation who found in religion the only refuge despite its linguistic and legal difficulties. It continues to make efforts to defend religion and the Ummah (nation).
2 Scriptures in the original language (Arabic) are sometimes poorly translated and even filled with ambiguities. The interpretations of these texts are generally old and contextual. Some hadiths and some interpretations are of such contradictory and astonishing violence vis-à-vis the values of humanism, freedom, mercy and openness, which are normally found in the Muslim religion.
3 Some medieval religious opinions are taught in all Islamic universities and institutes, including those in Western countries, which are having a hard time to find Muslim elites that can reform and adapt them.
4 Muslim elites are weak vis-à-vis a clear resistance by most Muslims against all reformist discourse: rejection, exclusion, attempts to discredit, takfir, etc.
5 There is an inability to produce clear, courageous and reassuring answers with respect to apostasy, stoning, religious freedom, secularism, etc.
B The socioeconomic reality: Most of this [Muslim] population lives in the suburbs and endures insecurity, unemployment, marginalisation and school failure. These factors favour turning inward, self-exclusion and flight towards "wishful thinking" or easy emotional solutions that exploit the victimisation, hatred, despair, and identity conflict felt by these kids. This can be seen in the words that are repeated every day in the suburbs: We are not the same; us vs them; they don’t like us; it'll be a civil war, change your name to get a job, etc.
C. Globalisation and the lack of a clear vision: The world is going through an extraordinary period. It does not know which way to go! This ambiguity around world is a reflection of the failure of all economic and social visions. Citizens are going back to their old values when they do not know their destination! That is, if we don’t go forward, we automatically go back.
D Political Islam settling its accounts with the West: This Islam speaks an emotional, globalist and populist language. Often it has to create conflicts and adversities to maintain its popularity. It typically defines difficulties in a populist language justified by the theory of a Western conspiracy against Islam and Muslims! This language is imported from the Arab world. European Islam has never changed it even though it places European Muslims in direct conflict with their fellow citizens on the old continent.
E Weak representatives of Islam in France: We see this at two levels:
1 At the theological level: French Muslim leaders generally have a dry political language, poorly argued and unconvincing. By contrast, the emotional language of imams and preachers that is generally supported by verses and hadiths currently affects and attracts more French and European youth.
2 Diatribes from several Arab and Muslim countries like Algeria, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey undermine intra-Islamic relations as they settle their political conflicts on French soil using the issue of Islam in France. Some officials are appointed by the governments of these countries!
All these factors still influence the reality of Islam in France. Muslim elites are no longer independent. The room for of rationalism within these elites has been greatly reduced. The French and the Europeans no longer understand the timid reaction among Muslims to attacks. Political Islam drives straight into the wall and then honks. That is to say, it does not condemn the attacks enough and complains about "Islamophobia". In view of this situation, political Islam is today accused of producing Islamophobia because it can live only through a conflict-based strategy and the creation of enemies! Whereas peaceful Islam (Republicans, Sufi, etc.) is still weak among Muslims in France.
Possible answers
Faced with such a complex situation, the concept of French Islam cannot find a place nor definition.
1 The only proposed solution is turning inward and return to the past! Extremism finds no better environment than this to nurture hatred and cruelty. With respect to poor educational outcomes, marginalisation in neighbourhoods, unemployment, Islamist actors still advocate an emotional language based on self-glorification. The has prevented Muslims from having the courage to engage in the kind of self-criticism that can allow progress.
2 The solution of the Muslim issue in France can only come two ways:
2.1 The grassroots solution
This means that Muslims themselves carry out the reform. It may not be feasible without the following conditions:
- recognising the existence of a crisis of rationalism in Islam itself as it is experienced and presented in France and Europe,
- recognising the existence of the crisis between Islam and the Republic,
- having the courage to review the interpretations of some Qur'anic verses and hadiths that are not valid for living together and for life in a democratic society,
- accepting the creation of a national Islam in France (as it exists in Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, etc.) ... etc.). These different applications of Islam have the same bases whilst religious opinions may vary from one country to country. This reform will not change any religious foundations. It fits perfectly with secularism and the values of the Republic. It meets the legitimate concerns and questions raised by the native population seeking reassurances about their cultures, religions and values,
- training imams in France within the framework of Republican values (secularism, freedom, equality, etc.),
- delinking French Islam from the Islamist globalisation in order to get out of the logic of conflict and settling international accounts in favour of a constructive francisation that does not change Islam but refuses to use France as a battleground for foreign forces who take advantage of the freedom that exists in France and Europe.
2.2 Top-down solution
If imams and the interlocutors of Islam fail to do this work of reform as the Catholic Church has done in the past few centuries, they will be forced to do it either by the power of the state (by public orders or an imposed concordat) or by the power of society. Such an external, violent and brutal solution will certainly be imposed. Thus, the clash of cultures and the direct conflict between Islam and part of the local society will unfortunately be inevitable.
The modernisation of textual exegesis in Islam has become complicated. Yet there are Muslims who demand necessary reforms for their religion and see social life from another point of view more suited to modern time. Islam in France is still seeking its Martin Luther, Calvin and Zwingli!
Personally, I believe that the desired reform can only happen from within Islam. By contrast, this process needs someone who can support and encourage the liberation of French Islam. This process requires the following conditions:
- the establishment of a competent and free French religious reference,
- disarming conflictual political Islam from certain arguments it is based on:
a the effective presence of the state in the suburbs in order not to leave the field to be filled by non-Republican forces.
b settling political problems like Syria, Mali and Libya, as well as past issues like the war in Algeria, for example.
Are Muslim elites able to revive the Muslim rationalism and Averroism needed to support social progress? Can Islam adapt to the Republic? To what extent the latter can contain Muslim traditions through its tolerance and flexibility? Can Islam coexist as a minority amid a predominantly non-Muslim population?
Today, this is the great challenge for Islam and Muslims in France and in the West. Of course, history does not give us too many experiences of this kind to learn from or copy. Muslim elites alone have to meet this historic challenge. Only time can provide us with answers to such important questions, which will in turn shape the next social map of France.
* The original title in French is ‘Comment interdire la propagation des idéologies politico-religieuses radicales qui menacent la République et l’Islam de France ?’
** Attacks in Toulouse and Montauban, 2012
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