“It is necessary, perhaps, but it is not sufficient”, for the Grand Imam of Bordeaux

Tareq Oubrou above all points to a “separatism which is developing on social networks” and calls for “an educational program for the training of imams which takes into consideration the French secular reality”.

“It is necessary, perhaps, but it is not sufficient”explains the grand imam of Bordeaux, after the government announced that France will no longer accept, from January 1, new imams “detached”that is to say sent by other countries. “The problem is that today, separatism, fundamentalism, extremism is developing more on social networks than in mosques”points out Tareq Oubrou, on franceinfo, Saturday December 30.

“There are many imams who are French and who have a discourse which is not necessarily extremist but which can inspire separatism”notes the grand imam of Bordeaux. “There is theological separatism which is not violent, but which can put French Muslims in a symbolically separatist situation, because there are practices which isolate Muslims from society”.

“It’s not fundamentalism, it’s pietism and religious conservatism”

“It is not fundamentalism, it is pietism and religious conservatism which could harm the secular balance of the Republic”, warns Tareq Oubrou. He pleads for “an educational program for the training of imams, an acculturated program which takes into consideration the French secular reality”based on “a doctrine which starts from Western specificities to think about canon law and Muslim theology”. “That is going to take time”he recognizes, especially since “the time of religion is not necessarily the time of media and politics”.

“There needs to be a time of acculturation of Islam. There is a de facto acculturation, but this acculturation must be accompanied by a theological acculturation and canon law.”

Tareq Oubrou, grand imam of Bordeaux

at franceinfo

“Since 2021, Morocco no longer sends seconded imams”according to “the statements of Mohammed Moussaoui, the president of the Union of Mosques of France, of Moroccan obedience”, explains Tareq Oubrou. Therefore, only “imams of Algerian and Turkish origin” are “currently affected by this provision”. Furthermore, he recalls that Gérald Darmanin’s announcement “does not prevent the arrival of seasonal imams for Ramadan”.