France will now reshape Islam as per French values

France is one of the worst-hit countries by Islamism. The country which is most welcoming of migrant Muslims has borne the brunt of it as well. Fed up with all this, now Emanuel Macron government is trying to reshape Islam as per French values.

A new initiative by Macron

France has launched a new body to integrate Islamic culture into its society. Its name is Forum of Islam. Apparently, the main goal set for the forum is to eliminate extremism from Islam.

Its main body is composed of clergy, common people and most importantly women. It will include influential figures from civil society, prominent intellectuals, imams and business leaders. At least, 25 percent of the seats in the forum will be reserved for women. French government itself will take care of all appointments.

The above-mentioned body will be divided into four working groups. These working groups will work towards improvement in the training of imams, clerics employed in prisons, hospitals and the military, as well as mosque security, and discrimination against Muslims. The developments will be evaluated in the annual meetings of the Forum.

France’s war against Radicalism

France has shown remarkable resilience to the threats from Islamic radicals. As extensively reported by the TFI, in October 2021, the French government had shut down 650 places in the country for housing extremists elements.

Read more: France’s war on Islamic extremism continues as 36 mosques get shut down within a year

In December 2021, we had reported that 99 mosques and Muslim prayer halls have been investigated in recent months because they were suspected of spreading “separatist” ideology.21 out of these 99 mosques had been shut down. Additionally, 36 mosques have been tamed by the French government.

Read more: France did it again! And this time the “Wokes” will be pleased  too

Recently, Islamic radicalism has seen an outburst in the western world. France, which holds the largest Muslim population in western Europe has been specifically targeted by Islamists. A total of 236 deaths between 2014-16 can be attributed to radical Islamism in the country. The concerns about taming radicalism caught momentum only after the beheading of Samuel Paty by Islamists.

The French had long been holding a red carpet for Muslim migrants flooding the country’s shores. During 1960-70, the West African Muslim men flooded the country, mainly as Economic migrants. They maintained their connections with their families and the French establishment was forced to give them citizenship in the 1970s. The citizenship status also translated into their wives and children moving to France, which resulted in an outburst of the Muslim population.

France has been at the receiving end of thankless Islamists

Despite staying and earning their livelihood in France, the Muslims were never accustomed to French values. Islamic culture and value system was accommodated in French society due to the tolerant value system of French democracy. Various polls have shown that Muslims living in France and other European countries are universally united by a belief in Prophet Muhammad, and practice certain rituals as per the Islamic scripture.

The Muslims living in Europe are much younger and mainly focus on producing more and more children to increase their homogeneity. Very few of them have adopted western values in its true sense. The idea of freedom for women and LGBTQ are some of the biggest contradictions between Islamists and Western democracies.

Read more: Dear LGBT folks, Hinduism is the only religion that recognizes and respects you

Up until now, it has proved to be doubly difficult for democratic leaders to integrate Islam into their core constitutional values. Whether in India or anywhere else, Muslims have been more loyal to their culture rather than the land which provides them with a better livelihood. It’s yet to be seen whether Macron could change it.