﻿ France likely to close more than 100 mosques | France News | Al Jazeera

France likely to close more than 100 mosques


    France likely to close more than 100 mosques


    France shuts three mosques

    Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told journalists on Wednesday that three mosques had been closed over the past two weeks during the state of emergency - marking the first time France had taken such action against places of worship.


    Security officers found "jihadist" documents in the raids at the mosque and related premises in Lagny-sur-Marne.









    "This kind of speech shouldn't even be allowed in Islamic countries, let alone secure countries like France," El Alaoui, who became the first Muslim prison chaplain-general in 2005, said.

    The recent mosque closures, he added, were made under "a legal act that the authorities have" and must have happened because "of some illegal things that they found".

    The imam also rejected those suspected of carrying out the suicide bomb and gun attacks, which left 130 people dead, as "terrorists".

    "Those terrorists are a bunch of thieves and drug dealers that wore religious clothing," he said. "The whole issue is not about Muslims, but about terrorists. It's an issue of security for everyone."


    RELATED: Muslim minorities are first victims of terror


    "It hardly comes as a surprise to me that there are mosques that absolutely deserve to be closed in France," he told Al Jazeera.

    Marquardt: 'My religion has a contemporary problem.'

    He said that he has joined the Islamic prayer in several French cities "and been shocked of what I've heard".

    "There was a world view [being preached] that was quite worrisome. I'm talking about the politicisation of Islam. I've heard some speeches that tend to promote the notion among Muslims present that Islamophobia is organised by the French state, that somehow non-Muslim French people are against the Muslim minority."

    France's extended emergency rule has seen a surge in arrests, house arrests and raids on homes and private property in the wake of the Paris attacks - including at mosques and Muslim-owned businesses - and has raised alarm among rights organisations that the law could curb civil liberties.


    RELATED: Mass raids after Paris attacks spark civil rights fears

    "Being Muslim in France is not easy, it's a complicated condition," acknowledged Marquardt, "especially if you are a woman wearing a veil, you are a victim of discrimination, and if you're a man you find it hard to get a job".

    Rising Islamophobia in the wake of the attacks, he added, was "unsurprising", though not "understandable".

    "The link between people committing barbaric acts throughout the world is that they think of themselves as Muslim. As long as Muslims refuse to look at that honestly...I think it's not very serious intellectually and dubious morally and it's shocking this point is going to keep on coming."

    Follow Anealla Safdar on Twitter: @anealla

    SOURCE: Al Jazeera


    Interactive: Plundering Cambodia's forests

    Interactive: Plundering Cambodia's forests


    The priceless racism of the Duke of Edinburgh

    The priceless racism of the Duke of Edinburgh


    China will determine the future of Venezuela

    China will determine the future of Venezuela
