Islam in France - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

is the second most widely practiced religion

Religion in France

France is a country where freedom of religion and freedom of thought are guaranteed by virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité enforced by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the...

in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

by number of worshippers, with an estimated total of 5 to 10 percent of the national population.

Statistics

Due to a law dating from 1872, the French Republic prohibits performing census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

by making distinction between its citizens regarding their race or their beliefs. However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such as the INED or the INSEE

INSEE

INSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...

whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been authorized by the National Commission for Computer-stocked data and Freedom (CNIL

CNIL

The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés or CNIL is an independent French administrative authority whose mission is to ensure that data privacy law is applied to the collection, storage, and use of personal data. Its existence was established by French , concerning computers,...

) and the National Council of Statistical Information (CNIS)

Estimations based on declaration

A study from INED and the INSEE in October 2010 concluded that France has 2.1 million “declared Muslims” including between 70,000 and 110,000 converts to islam.

Estimations based on people’s geographic origin

As of 2010, according to the French Government which does not have the right to ask direct questions about religion and uses a criterion of people’s geographic origin as a basis for calculation, there is between 5 to 6 millions Muslims in metropolitan France. The government counted all those people in France who came here from countries with a dominant Muslim population, or whose parents did. Only 33% of those 5 to 6 million people (2 million) said they were practicing believers. That figure is the same as that obtained by the INED/INSEE study in October 2010.

The United States Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

placed it at roughly 10%, while two 2007 polls estimated it at about 3% of the total population. The CIA World Factbook places it at 5-10%.

A Pew Forum study, published in January 2011, estimated 4.7 million Muslims in France in 2010 (and forecasted 6.9 million in 2030).

According to , there were 7 million Muslims in France in 2007.

An Interior ministry source in l'Islam dans la République (Haut Conseil à l'intégration, November 2000, p. 26) published the following estimated distribution of Muslims by affiliated countries:

Algeria Algeria Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...	1,550,000
Morocco Moroccan diaspora The Moroccan diaspora consists of emigrants from Morocco and their descendants. Of the estimated 4.5 million Moroccans living abroad, roughly two thirds live in Europe; the remainder are distributed throughout the Americas , Australia, Africa , and the countries of the Arab World.-History:Europe...	1,000,000
Tunisia Tunisia Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...	350,000
Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...	315,000
Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...	250,000
Middle East Middle East The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...	100,000
remaining Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population... (mostly Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... and Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... )	100,000
Converts	40,000
illegal immigrants Illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In... or awaiting regularisation	350,000
Other	100,000
Total	4,155,000

These numbers include people of Muslim affiliation who are not actually observant Muslims. Among Muslims, 36% described themselves as "observant believers", and 20% claimed to go regularly to the mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

for the Friday service. 70% said they "observe Ramadan

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

". This would amount to a number of roughly 1.5 million French Muslims who are "observant believers", another 1.5 million who identify with Islam enough to observe Ramadan, and 1 million citizens of "(Islam observing lineage) Muslim extraction" but with no strong religious or cultural ties to Islam. The number of people of Islam observing lineage who are practicing Roman Catholics is negligible.

According to , a researcher at INED, an acceptance of 5 to 6 million Muslims in France in 1999 was overestimated. Her work has shown that there were 3.7 million people of "possible Muslim faith" in France in 1999 (6.3% of the total population of Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

). . These 3.7 million people whose ancestry is from countries where Islam is the dominant faith may or may not be observant Muslims themselves. In 2009, she estimated that the number of people of "possible Muslim faith" in France was about 4.5 million. .

Early history

After the conquest of Spain

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...

, Muslim forces pushed into southern France. They were defeated at the Battle of Tours

Battle of Tours

The Battle of Tours , also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Battle of the Court of the Martyrs, was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, located in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about northeast of Poitiers...

in 732

732

Year 732 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 732 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* October 10 – Battle of Tours: Near...

but ruled Septimania

Septimania

Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...

until 759

759

Year 759 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 759 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* The Franks capture Narbonne; the Saracens...

.

In the 9th century Muslim forces conquered several bases in southern France including Fraxinet

Fraxinet

Fraxinet or Fraxinetum was the site of a tenth-century fortress established by Saracen pirates at modern La Garde-Freinet, near Saint-Tropez, in Provence...

. They were expelled in 975.

During the winter of 1543-1544, after the siege of Nice

Siege of Nice

The Siege of Nice occurred in 1543 and was part of the Italian War of 1542–46 in which Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent collaborated in a Franco-Ottoman alliance against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII of England. At that time, Nice was under the control of Charles III, Duke...

, Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

was used as an Ottoman naval

Ottoman Navy

The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...

base under admiral Barbarossa

Barbarossa

Barbarossa, a name meaning red beard in Italian, may refer to any of these:-People:* Emperor Barbarossa or Frederick I , Holy Roman Emperor...

. The Christian population was evacuated, and the Toulon Cathedral was briefly converted into a mosque, before the city was regained by France.

After expulsion of the Moriscos

Expulsion of the Moriscos

On April 9, 1609, King Philip III of Spain decreed the Expulsion of the Moriscos . The Moriscos were the descendants of the Muslim population that converted to Christianity under threat of exile from Ferdinand and Isabella in 1502...

from Spain in 1609-14, according to the research of Henri Lapeyre, about fifty thousand Moriscos entered France.

1960-70s labour immigration

Muslim immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

, mostly male, was high in the late 1960s and 1970s. The immigrants came primarily from Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

and other North African colonies; however, Islam has an older history in France, since the Great Mosque of Paris

Paris Mosque

The Grande Mosquée de Paris , located in the 5th arrondissement, is the largest mosque in France and the third largest in Europe. It was founded after World War I as a sign of France's gratefulness to the colonies's Muslim tirailleurs, 100,000 of whom died fighting against Germany...

was built in 1922, as a sign of recognition from the French Republic to the fallen Muslim tirailleur
Tirailleur
Tirailleur literally means a shooting skirmisher in French from tir—shot. The term dates back to the Napoleonic period where it was used to designate light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns...

s mainly coming from Algeria, in particular at the battle of Verdun

Verdun

Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...

and the take-over of the Douaumont

Douaumont

Douaumont is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.The village was destroyed during World War I. Today the Douaumont ossuary, which contains the remains of more than 100,000 unknown soldiers of both French and German nationalities found on the battlefield, stands...

fort.

French Council of the Muslim Faith

Though the French State does not want to have anything to do with religion, in recent years the government has tried to organize a representation of the French Muslims. In 2002, the then Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

initiated the creation of a "French Council of the Muslim Faith

French Council of the Muslim Faith

The French Council of the Muslim Faith , is a national elected body, to serve as an official interlocutor with the French state in the regulation of Muslim religious activities. It is a non-profit group created on 28 May 2003, consisting of 25 CRCMs...

" (Conseil Français du Culte Musulman - CFCM), though wide criticism claimed this would only encourage communitarianism

Communitarianism

Communitarianism is an ideology that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. That community may be the family unit, but it can also be understood in a far wider sense of personal interaction, of geographical location, or of shared history.-Terminology:Though the term...

. Though the CFCM is informally recognized by the national government, it is a private nonprofit association with no special legal status. , it is headed by the rector of the Paris Mosque

Paris Mosque

, Dalil Boubakeur - who harshly criticized the controversial Union of Islamic Organisations of France

Union of Islamic Organisations of France

The Union des organisations islamiques de France is a prominent Muslim umbrella organization, and the French chapter of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe...

(UOIF) for involving itself in political matters during the 2005 riots. Nicolas Sarkozy's views on laïcité
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...

have been widely criticized by left- and right-wing members of parliament; more specifically, he was accused, during the creation of the CFCM, of favoring the more extreme sectors of Muslim representation in the Council, in particular the UOIF.

Second generation immigrants

The first generation of Muslim immigrants, who are today retired from the workforce, keep strong ties with their countries, where their families lived. In 1974, the government passed a law allowing families of these immigrants to settle; thus, many children and wives moved to France. Most immigrants, realizing that they couldn't or didn't want to return to their homeland

Homeland

A homeland is the concept of the place to which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association with —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one's origin...

, asked for French nationality

Nationalization

Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

before quietly retiring. However, many live alone in housing projects, having now lost their ties with their countries of origin.

The situation was different with the "second generation", born in France, and as such French citizens by jus soli
Jus soli
Jus soli , also known as birthright citizenship, is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state...

influenced law. As such, they cannot be designated "immigrants", since they were born on national territory. A 1992 reform of the nationality laws delayed obtainment of French nationality until a request at adulthood (where previously it was automatically given). A large number of them are located in housing projects in the suburbs. Unlike in the United States and elsewhere, the French working classes often reside outside large cities, sometimes in villes nouvelles (such as Sarcelles

Sarcelles

Sarcelles is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Sarcelles is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the Arrondissement of Sarcelles....

, from which the term sarcellite was derived), for which limited infrastructure other than sleeping dormitories has been planned, partially explaining a general boredom which some have noted contributed to the 2005 Paris suburb riots.

Olivier Roy indicates that for first generation immigrants, the fact that they are Muslims is only one element among others. Their identification with their country of origin is much stronger: they see themselves first through their descent (Algeria

Algeria

ns, Moroccans

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, Tunisians

Demographics of Tunisia

The majority of modern Tunisians are Arab-Berber orArabized Berber, and are speakers of Tunisian Arabic. However, there is also a small population of Berbers located in the Jabal Dahar mountains in the South East and on the island of Jerba...

, etc.).

Maghrebis

According to Michel Tribalat, a researcher at INED

Institut national d'études démographiques

The Institut national d'études démographiques is a French research institute specialized in demography and population studies in general.-A research institute founded in 1945:...

, people of Maghrebi origin in France represent 82% of the muslim population (43.2 % from Algeria

Algeria

, 27.5 % from Morocco

Morocco

and 11.4 % from Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

). Others are from Sub-saharan Africa (9.3 %) and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

(8.6 %). She estimated that there were 3.5 million people of Maghrebi origin (with at least one grandparent from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia) living in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

in 2005 corresponding to 5.8% of the total French metropolitan population (60.7 millions in 2005). Maghrebis have settled mainly in the industrial regions in France, especially in the Paris region

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

. Many famous French people like Edith Piaf

Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...

, Isabelle Adjani

Isabelle Adjani

Isabelle Yasmine Adjani is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for Possession , One Deadly Summer , Camille Claudel , Queen Margot and Skirt Day...

, Arnaud Montebourg

Arnaud Montebourg

Arnaud Montebourg is a French politician, and a deputy of the fifth district of Saône-et-Loire to the French National Assembly for the Socialist Party. He has also been elected president of the local assembly of Saône et Loire after local elections in 2008...

, Alain Bashung

Alain Bashung

Alain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor.- Youth :Alain Bashung was the son of a Breton factory worker and French Kabyle father, whom he never knew. His mother remarried, and at the age of one, Bashung was sent to Strasbourg to live with his new stepfather's parents...

, Dany Boon

Dany Boon

Dany Boon is a French comedian who has acted both on the stage and the screen. He takes his stage name from the television show Daniel Boone.-Life and career:...

and many others have Maghrebi ancestry.

Below is a table of population of Maghrebi origin in France, numbers are in thousands:

Country	1999	2005	% 1999/2005	% French population (60.7 millions in 2005)
Algeria	1,577	1,865	+18.3%	3.1%
Immigrants	574	679
Born in France	1,003	1,186
Morocco	1,005	1,201	+19.5%	2.0%
Immigrants	523	625
Born in France	482	576
Tunisia	417	458	+9.8%	0.8%
Immigrants	202	222
Born in France	215	236
Total Maghreb	2,999	3,524	+17.5%	5.8%
Immigrants	1 299	1 526		2.5%
Born in France	1 700	1 998		3.3%

In 2005, the percentage of young people under 18 of maghrebi origin (at least one immigrant parent) was about 7% in Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France

Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...

, 12% in Greater Paris

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

and above 20% in French département of Seine-Saint-Denis

Seine-Saint-Denis

- Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...

2005 %	Seine-Saint-Denis Seine-Saint-Denis - Culture :A number of hip hop artists come from the Seine-Saint-Denis, including one of the first major hip-hop groups in France, NTM, as well as Lord Kossity, or more recent acts such as Tandem or Sefyu.- Miscellaneous topics :...	Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.- Geography :...	Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...	Lyon Lyon Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Total Maghreb	22.0%	13.2%	13.0%	13.0%	12.1%	6.9%

As of 2008, the French national institute of statistics INSEE

INSEE

estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (born in France) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. About 4 million of them are of Maghrebi origin.

According to some non-scientific sources between 5 and 6 million people of Maghrebin origin live in France corresponding to about 7-9% of the total French metropolitan population.

Religious practices

The bulk of Muslims practice their religion in the French framework of laïcité

Laïcité

French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...

as religious code of conduct must not infringe the public area. They practice prayer (salah), and most observe the fast of Ramadan

Ramadan

and most do not eat pork while many do not drink wine.

Some Muslims (the UOIF for example) request the recognition of an Islamic

Islamism

Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...

community in France (which community remains to be built) with an official status.

Two main organisations are recognized by the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM): the "Federation of the French Muslims" (Fédération des musulmans de France) with a majority of Moroccan leaders, and the controversial "Union of Islamic Organisations of France" (Union des organisations islamiques de France) (UOIF), influenced by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood

Muslim Brotherhood

The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...

.

As of 2008, there were about 2,125 mosque

Mosque

s in France.

Education

Since publicly funded State schools in France must be secular, owing to the 1905 separation of Church and State

Separation of church and state

The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....

, Muslim parents who wish their children to be educated at a religious school often choose private (and therefore fee-paying) Catholic schools, of which there are many. Few specifically Muslim schools have been created. There is a Muslim school in La Réunion

La Reunion

La Reunion may refer to:* La Reunion , a communal settlement near present-day Dallas, Texas*La Réunion, Lot-et-Garonne, a town in the Lot-et-Garonne department of France*Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar...

(a French island to the east of Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

), and the first Muslim collège (a school for students aged eleven to fifteen) opened its doors in 2001 in Aubervilliers

Aubervilliers

Aubervilliers is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Name:In medieval times the name Aubervilliers was recorded as Alberti Villare, meaning "estate of Adalbert"...

(a suburb northeast of Paris), with eleven students. Unlike most private schools in the USA and the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, these religious schools are affordable for most parents since they may be heavily subsidised by the government (teachers' wages in particular are covered by the State).

Integration

Several studies reveal that France seems to be, among the Western countries, the one where Muslims integrate the best and feel the most for their country. French Muslims also have the most positive opinions about their fellow citizens of different faiths. The study from the Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 1990, Donald S...

on Integration is a good example of works revealing this typically French phenomenon.

Discrimination

In 2010, a study entitled Are French Muslims Discriminated Against in Their Own Country? showed that "Muslims sending out resumes in hopes of a job interview had 2.5 times less chance than Christians" with similar credentials "of a positive response to their applications.".

Other examples of discrimination against Muslims include the desecration of 148 French Muslim graves near Arras

Arras

Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...

. A pig's head was hung from a headstone and profanities insulting Islam and Muslims were daubed on some graves. Destruction and vandalism of Muslim graves in France were seen as Islamophobic by a report of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. A number of mosque

Mosque

s have also been vandalized in France.

Recuperations

The 2005 French riots have been controversially interpreted, mostly by the foreign press, as an illustration of the difficulty of integrating Muslims in France, and smaller scale riots have been occurring throughout the 1980s and 1990s, first in Vaulx-en-Velin

Vaulx-en-Velin

Vaulx-en-Velin is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.It is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is located to its northeast, on the Rhône River.-Transport:*Metro line A*Tram T3...

in 1979, and in Vénissieux

Vénissieux

Vénissieux is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to the southeast.-Transport:...

in 1981, 1983, 1990 and 1999.

Furthermore, although Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy claimed that most rioters were immigrants and already known to the police, the majority were, in fact, previously unknown to the police.

French residents of the banlieue

Banlieue

In francophone areas, banlieues are the "outskirts" of a city: the zone around a city that is under the city's rule.Banlieues are translated as "suburbs", as these are also residential areas on the outer edge of a city, but the connotations of the term "banlieue" in France can be different from...

s constantly complain about the stigmatisation of their revolt, falsely over-simplified as a so-called "Muslim riot", especially by the foreign press. French actor Roschdy Zem said in an interview with the French magazine Première
Premiere (magazine)
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...

given during the promotion of the movie Indigènes about those riots:

"Making of those riots an ethnico-religious affair seemed to me particularly disgusting. When railwaymen are blocking France, nobody goes search further as their demands. Take any Norwegian or Swede, inflict the same life conditions [as those of some French banlieusards] on them and I can assure you that they will end up burning cars too..."

Additionally, Zagreb-born Rada Ivekovic, PhD, philosopher and university professor in Paris stated in her paper "French Suburbia 2005 : The Return of the Political Unrecognized" :

"The riots were neither communal nor ethnic, nor organised by leaders; no political project came from the rioters who have no representatives"

Several parties, such as Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...

's Front National
Front National
Front National can mean:* Front National , a French political party* Front National , a World War II French Resistance group* Front National , a Belgian political party...

and Bruno Mégret

Bruno Mégret

Bruno Mégret is a French Far-right politician. He is the leader of the Mouvement National Républicain political party, but retired in 2008 from political action.-Youth and studies:...

's Mouvement National Républicain, believe that large numbers of immigrants with non-Western European cultural background destabilize France

France

and claim that there is a clear danger with regards to their behavior among the immigrant Muslim population. In the 2004 regional elections, the MNR ran on a "No to Islamization!" platform.

Advocating sharia law inherently violates French law and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so the French government has deported some who openly advocate Sharia law. In a few cases, expulsion warrants on the basis of immigration status had already been issued.

Hijab

The wearing of hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....

in France has been a very controversial issue since 1989. The debate essentially concerns whether Muslim girls who choose to wear hijab may do so in state school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s. A secondary issue is how to protect the free choice and other rights of young Muslim women who do not want the veil, but who may face strong pressure from families or traditionalists. Similar issues exist for civil servants and for acceptance of male Muslim medics in medical services.

Many Muslims believe that the Qu'ran instructs women to keep their heads covered (outside of the immediate family) even though some others, including Leila Babes in her book "The Veil Demystified", believe that wearing the veil does not derive from a Muslim religious imperative. Some Muslims argue that it is a form of religious discrimination not to allow head-coverings in school. They believe that the law is an attempt to impose secular values on them. The specific parts of the Qu'ran are interpreted differently by groups of more liberal Muslims; another source for the requirement to keep women's heads covered is in the Hadith

Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

.

The French government, and a large majority of public opinion are opposed to the wearing of a "conspicuous" sign of religious expression (dress or symbol), whatever the religion, as this is incompatible with the French system of laïcité
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...

. In December 2003, President Jacques Chirac said that it breaches the separation of church and state and would increase tensions in France's multicultural society, whose Muslim and Jewish populations are both the biggest of their kind in Western Europe.

The issue of Muslim hijabs has sparked controversy after several girls refused to uncover their heads in class, as early as 1989. In October 1989, three Muslim schoolgirls wearing the Islamic headscarf were expelled from the collège Gabriel-Havez in Creil (north of Paris). In November, the First Conseil d'État ruling affirmed that the wearing of the Islamic headscarf, as a symbol of religious expression, in public schools was not incompatible with the French school system and the system of laïcité
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...

. In December, a first ministerial circular (circulaire Jospin) was published, stating teachers had to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to ban the wearing of Islamic headscarf.

In January 1990, three schoolgirls were expelled from the collège Pasteur in Noyon, north of Paris. The parents of one expelled schoolgirl filed a defamation action against the principal of the collège Gabriel-Havez in Creil. As a result, the teachers of a collège in Nantua (eastern part of France, just to the west of Geneva, Switzerland) went on strike

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

to protest the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in school. A second ministerial circular was published in October, to restate the need to respect the principle of laïcité
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...

in public schools.

In September 1994, a third ministerial circular (circulaire Bayrou) was published, making a distinction between "discreet" symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...

s to be tolerated in public schools, and "ostentatious" symbols, including the Islamic headscarf, to be banned from public schools. In October, some students demonstrated at the lycée Saint Exupéry in Mantes-la-Jolie

Mantes-la-Jolie

Mantes-la-Jolie is a commune based in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center. Mantes-la-Jolie is a sub-prefecture department.-History:...

(northwest of Paris) to support the freedom to wear Islamic headscarves in school. In November, approximately twenty-four veiled schoolgirls were expelled from the lycée Saint Exupéry in Mantes-la-Jolie and the lycée Faidherbe in Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

.

Since 1994, around 100 girls have been excluded from French state schools for wearing such veils. In half the cases, courts have subsequently overturned the decision.

In December 2003, President Chirac decided that the law should prohibit the wearing of visible religious signs in schools, according to laïcité
Laïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...

requirements. The law was approved by parliament in March 2004. Items prohibited by this law include Muslim hijab

Hijab

The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....

s, Jewish yarmulkes or large Christian cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

es. It is still permissible to wear discreet symbols of faith

Faith

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...

such as small crosses, Stars of David

Star of David

The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...

or Fatima's hands.

Some religious leaders have showed their opposition. Two French journalists working in Iraq, Christian Chesnot

Christian Chesnot

Christian Chesnot is a French journalist working for Radio France who, along with Georges Malbrunot and Muhammed al-Jundi , was taken hostage on August 20, 2004, by the Islamic Army in Iraq. This group gave the French government a 48-hour deadline to repeal its law on secularity and conspicuous...

and Georges Malbrunot

Georges Malbrunot

George Malbrunot is a French journalist working for Le Figaro who, along with Christian Chesnot and their Syrian driver Muhammed al-Jundi, was taken hostage on August 20, 2004, by the Islamic Army in Iraq. This group gave the French government a 48-hour deadline to repeal its law against girls...

were taken hostage by the "Islamic Army in Iraq" (an Iraqi resistance militant movement) under accusations of spying. Threats to kill the two journalists if the law on headscarves was not revoked were published on the Internet by groups claiming to be the "Islamic Army in Iraq". The two journalists were later released unharmed.

The arguments have resurfaced when, on 22 June 2009, at the Congrès de Versailles, President Nicolas Sarkozy declared that the Islamic burqa is not welcome in France, claiming that the full-length, body-covering gown was a symbol of subservience that suppresses women's identities and turns them into "prisoners behind a screen." A parliamentary commission of thirty-two deputies and led by André Gerin

André Gerin

André Gerin is a French politician who is currently a Deputy in the National Assembly of France. He has been elected in the Rhône department, and is a member of the French Communist Party.-References:...

(PCF), was also formed to study the possibility of banning the public wearing of the burqa or niqab. There is suspicion, however, that Sarkozy is "playing politics in a time of economic unhappiness and social anxiety."

A Muslim group spokesman expressed serious concern over the proposed legislation, noting that “even if they ban the burqa, it will not stop there,” adding that “there is a permanent demand for legislating against Muslims. This could go really bad, and I’m scared of it. I feel like they’re turning the screws on us.”

On January 25, 2010 it was announced that the parliamentary committee, having concluded its study, would recommend that a ban on veils covering the face in public locations such as hospitals and schools be enacted, but not in private buildings or on the street.

Politics

Formal as well as informal Muslim organisations help the new French citizens to integrate. There are no Islam-based political parties, but a number of cultural organisations. Their most frequent activities are homework help and language classes in Arabic, but ping pong, Muslim discussion groups etc. are also common. However, most important associations active in assisting with the immigration process are either secular (GISTI, for example) or ecumenist (such as the protestant-founded Cimade

Cimade

The Cimade is a French NGO founded at the beginning of the WWII by French Protestant student groups, in particular the Christian activist and member of the French Resistance Madeleine Barot, to give assistance and support to people uprooted by war, in the first instance those who were evacuated...

).

The most important national institution is the CFCM (Conseil Français du Culte Musulman)this institution was design on the model of the "Consitoire Juif de France" and of the "consistoire Protestant de France" both Napoleonic creation. The aim of the CFCM (like its Jewish and protestant conterparts)is to discuss religious problem with the state, participate in certain public institutions,and organise the religious life of French Muslims, in other words to be an interlocutor and an organisator of the cult. The CFCM is elected by the French Muslims through local election.It is the only official instance of the French Muslims.

There were for organisations represented in the CFCM elected in 2003 GMP UOIF FNMF CCMTF. In 2008 a new council was elected. The winner was RMF with a large majority of the votes,followed by the UOIF and the CCMTF. It is a very broad and young organisation and there is a beginning of consensus on major issues.

Two more organizations are PCM (Muslim Participation and Spirituality), which combine political mobilization (against racism, sexism etc.) and spiritual retreats and parties. The other is CMF (well known as "the organization close to Tariq Ramadan

Tariq Ramadan

Tariq Ramadan is a Swiss academic, poet and writer. He is also a Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University...

", though he is not their leader). Both of these organizations put a lot of emphasis on the need to get involved in French society - by joining organizations, registering to vote, working with your children's schools etc. They do not have clear-cut political positions as such, but push for active citizenship. They are vaguely on the Left in practice.

The government has yet to formulate an official policy towards making integration easier. As mentioned above, it is difficult to determine in France who may be called a Muslim. Some Muslims in France describe themselves as "non-practicing". Most simply observe Ramadan and other basic rules, but are otherwise secular.

Islamist movements

Islamism

(Islamisme in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

), Islamiste (when referring to a person of extremist opinions), islamique (for a qualifier, the "hijab" cloth veil, or foulard islamique, or barbe islamique, the traditional Arab beard; this does not have the connotation of extremism, and are merely public displays of faith), mouvement islamique (to refer to a political movement), mouvement intégriste or mouvement extrémiste (to refer to a fundamentalist group), mouvement terroriste (for a terrorist group).

In countries with Muslim majorities, Islamist movements are essentially political. Olivier Roy calls Islamists those which see in Islam a political ideology, in the modern sense of the term. In other words a theory which presumes to entirely understand the social side of a society, in political terms.

Islamists want to influence the laws of the state

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

. When using the term Islamist, Muslims refer almost exclusively to those whose program is to establish an Islamic state

Islamic State

An Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...

. There are many more movements to establish such states than are recognized as Islamist by the West, thus the use is not very uniform.

This is not to say that Islamist groups advocate violent takeover in every political environment, they might simply advocate Sharia Law. Because influence in French politics is possible without resorting to violence, the use of violence in that context is considered counterproductive toward achieving their goal of guiding the political system according to the principles of Islam.

The political aim of Islamists is ultimately the formal establishment of Sharia

Sharia

Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

law, with or without modern adaptations. Fundamentalism and traditionalism, of themselves, do not have this specific political connotation at all. Islamists are deemed such according to their adherence to the political goal of an Islamic state, rather than by features of their religious observance.

Islamists characterize their movement as:

A recall to tradition, which in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

is called "Sallaf". This is a doctrine from the end of the 19th century called "la Salafia" (Salafism). It may be found in many Islamist movements, and in particular in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, in one of the GIA
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...

groups involved in the Algerian Civil War
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...

. (There are several different doctrines in Islamism, and given the variety of the movements, and their varying goals, it is almost always advisable when referring to a specific political movement, to avoid generalizations and refer to it by its name.)
A return to following the laws outlined in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

("Coran" in French). Islamists support a revolutionary and political reading of the Qur'an, they criticize the anti-Islamic times, also known as a return of the ignorance before the Prophet Mohammed. ("jahhiliyya" - Arabic for ignorance).
Islam as religion and State. This position has been adopted, for example, by the djazarist faction of the G.I.A. This group argues that the State itself should ultimately be Muslim in nature.

Islamists often present themselves as a revival movement, a call to Muslims to renew their adherence to fundamental Islamic religious principles and laws, which initially apply only to Muslims.

According to Pascal Mailhos, chief of the Renseignements Généraux (RG), out of 1700 known places of worship, 75 had been subject to attempts of destabilisation by radical elements, half of them resisting the attempts. 31 radical activists have been expelled from French territory, and a dozen have been monitored by the French police.

Islam in France is subject to strong foreign influences. Statistically, only a third of the imam

Imam

An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

s in France have a good command of the French language, another third an average command, and the last third a poor command. This is because there exists no imam training school in France, the 1905 law of laïcité preventing the state from sponsoring religious establishments; in this case, any mosques or 'imam schools'. A low number of salafist elements can be found in some regions of France. The RG

Direction centrale des renseignements généraux

The Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux , often called Renseignements Généraux , was the intelligence service of the French police, answerable to the Direction Générale de la Police Nationale , and, ultimately, the Ministry of the Interior...

estimates that about 200,000 Muslims regularly practice their religion, and that there are about 5,000 salafists, of whom one quarter are involved in radical Islamism. However, its reports on security issues have often been criticized, for example by Le Monde Diplomatique
Le Monde diplomatique
Le Monde diplomatique is a monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first created mainly for a diplomatic audience as its name implies...

or Le Canard Enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...

.

According to the RG head, Pascal Mailhos, radical elements had no influence on the 2005 civil unrest in France

2005 civil unrest in France

The 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots by mostly Muslim North African youths in Paris and other French cities, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on 27 October 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois...

Terrorist attacks in 1995

France suffered a series of attacks in 1995

1995 bombings in France

The 1995 bombings in France were carried out by the Armed Islamic Group , who were broadening the Algerian Civil War to France. In total, these attacks killed eight and injured more than 100...

masterminded by Khaled Kelkal

Khaled Kelkal

Khaled Kelkal was an Algerian terrorist affiliated with the GIA. He was involved in the 1995 terror bombings in France.-Biography :...

, and linked back to Algeria. The first violent movements appeared in Algeria in the 1980/1984 by the emergence of a new movement, the M.I.A. (Algerian Islamic movement), led by Mustapha Bouyali. It was dismantled in years 1988/1989. After the dissolution, about 150 people were judged members of this movement. In October 1988, a large meeting mostly made of students in Algiers led to between 500 and 600 dead. These events were used by some Islamists who created new parties, such as the F.I.S. in Algeria (1989/1990) then the G.I.A.

Armed Islamic Group

The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...

(leader Mansour Emezziani), reconstructed from the M.I.A. The first violent action of the G.I.A. occurred in 1992 before elections in Algeria. This date was the beginning of many violent actions, which have had repercussions in France, because of the very tight ties between France and its former colony Algeria

External links

French Muslims, Government Grapple With Integration Pains
France Tries to Soften Local Style of Islam
Fighting Terrorism: Lessons From France
Islam in France (negative view of French immigration)
France's burka bill - background Radio France Internationale in English

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Statistics

Estimations based on declaration

Estimations based on people’s geographic origin

Early history

1960-70s labour immigration

French Council of the Muslim Faith

Second generation immigrants

Maghrebis

Religious practices

Education

Integration

Discrimination

Recuperations

Hijab

Politics

Islamist movements

Terrorist attacks in 1995

See also

External links