how the French mosques concerned will have to organize themselves

Since the start of the year, France has no longer welcomed imams sent by foreign countries. Even if the measure only concerns around 300 imams out of the 2,700 in France, it remains a challenge for the mosques which benefited from it.

No more “detached imams”. Since 1^er January, France no longer accepts on its territory imams sent and paid by other countries. The measure was announced by Emmanuel Macron during his speech in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) in February 2020. The President of the Republic then presented a series of measures aimed at fighting against “Islamist separatism”.

At the time of the Head of State’s speech, in 2020, France had 2,700 imams on its territory, including just over 300 so-called “detached” imams. This designation refers to imams sent and paid by another country to serve in a mosque or a Muslim community. They mainly came from Turkey (around 150), Algeria (120) and Morocco (30). The end of the bilateral agreements which existed with these countries since the 1990s was recalled by the Ministry of the Interior in a letter dated December 30. The only exception: “Ramadan imams”. Three hundred chanters and reciters will be authorized to go to France during this month of fasting for Muslims.

Fight against a “form of separatism”

Not all “seconded” imams who officiate in France will necessarily leave for their country of origin. If they want to stay in France, they will have to change their status and be employed by the associations managing places of worship before 1^er april. Around thirty seconded Moroccan imams linked to the Union of Mosques of France (UMF) have, for example, been paid since 2021 by the places of worship where they work, and should therefore remain in France, explains The Parisian.

According to Abdallah Zerki, vice-president of the French Council of Muslim Worship and rector of the Peace Mosque in Nîmes, there are still around thirty Turkish imams who will return to their country of origin before the end of March. For Algerian imams, “we can think that a large number will return because they want to continue their career in their country”, continues Abdallah Zerki. But some will want to stay. The rector of the Peace Mosque in Nîmes hopes to be able to retain the Algerian seconded imam who is currently officiating: “He wants to stay and he is respected by the faithful”he explains.

Among the criticisms that could come up most often, the poorly mastered French language and a lack of adaptation to the values ​​of the French Republic and the culture of the country. Training abroad was considered “a possible entry point for a form of separatism”summarizes Franck Fregosi, research director at the Societies, Religions, Secularisms Group (GSRL) of the CNRS.

Imams “controlled by their country of origin”

But were these imams really leading figures of the “separatism“? “They are usually extremely controlled by their country of originrecalls the researcher. I am not convinced that this is really the priority target, especially since it only concerns 10% of imams who officiate in mainland France.” For Abdallah Zerki, the detached imam present at the Nîmes mosque and who wants to stay “is listened to by young people who attend the mosque. He has a balanced speech and calls for respect for the values ​​of the Republic and secularism”. More generally, these imams “are people who have been trained and who have the necessary level”defends the rector.

“The ‘detached’ imams are not self-proclaimed imams like some who come to talk and do anything. Those I call ‘Google imams’.”

Abdallah Zerki, vice-president of the CFCM

at franceinfo

“The problem is that today, separatism, fundamentalism or extremism is developing more on social networks than in mosques”, pointed out for his part the grand imam of Bordeaux Tareq Oubrou, on franceinfo on December 30. To avoid the preachers “self-proclaimed”the government wants a “increasing share” imams officiating in the territory are, “at least partially, trained in France”with an offer “respectful of the laws and principles of the Republic”. “There are training courses which are supported by certain federations but which sometimes tend to reproduce what is already taught in predominantly Muslim countries”explains Franck Fregosi. Should we also ensure that the imams of France trained in France are not foreign to the realities of what Islam is in the 21st century?^e century in a secular Republic ?”

Another difficulty: the quality of teaching. “In some places, these are discounted training coursessays the vice-president of the CFCM. How can these institutes train imams, giving them courses once a week for three years, while imams in Algeria have three or four years of training?

Low pay

The government’s decision to put an end to “seconded imams” must ensure that no imam is paid by a foreign state of which he is a civil servant or public agent. But will foreign financing stop? The question may arise because according to The world, to pay Algerian imams and have them sign contracts in France, the Grand Mosque of Paris must see its endowment provided by the Algerian State increase to the level of the salaries that will have to be paid. According to Abdallah Zerki, the Ministry of the Interior has not yet indicated whether it accepts that these imams are employees of the Grand Mosque of Paris, then dispatched to the different mosques.

For the moment, the ministry does not seem to want to move in this direction. In the event of a negative response, the rector of the Nîmes mosque will therefore have to hire the seconded imam with a salary lower than that he received with the Algerian administration. “With the charges to be paid, we will not be able to go above the minimum wage”, explains the rector. The possibility of remunerating a person is in fact based on donations from the faithful and may be difficult to follow for small structures. And precisely, if there are few imams available, it is also because the position is poorly paid, or even not at all.

A large number of imams who work in mosques in France are volunteers. They work in the private sector and are simply paid for their travel, for the lucky ones. “The only ones who received remuneration were precisely the seconded imams”, specifies Franck Fregosi. The Forum of Islam of France (Forif) which was to replace the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) – with little success for the moment – ​​notably worked on a statute for the imam of France and advanced this avenue to make them employees of the associations which manage places of worship.

Reduce the control of foreign states over Islam in France and want to create a sort of “of Islam of France” is paradoxical for the CNRS researcher: “For some, it is a way of asserting a somewhat paradoxical form of religious sovereignty. We are still in a framework in which a secular Republic, normally, does not have to intervene in the formation, in the functioning, the financing and organization of worship.”