Islam Grows in France with State-Sponsored Mosques
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris
Friday, October 06, 2006
zaman.com
zaman.com
Another state-sponsored mosque is being constructed in France, where Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy took action for the reinterpretation of secularism.
With the support of the French state, Muslims, who previously congregated in various buildings for prayer, will now have mosques in downtown locales.
The construction of one mosque, Creteil Mosque, was commenced on Thursday night.
The mosque project proposed by Muslims living in Val-de-Marne of Paris three years ago was finally implemented with the support of the municipality.
When completed by 2008, it will be the first mosque with two domes and a minaret in the region.
The mosque will have a 2,000 person capacity.
Land for the mosque worth 4,000,000 euros was granted by the Creteil Municipality.
The municipality will also donate 1,000,000 euros during the construction process.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by French politicians as well as Christian and Jewish clerics.
Delivering a speech during the ceremony, city mayor Laurent Cathala provided remarkable insights on secularism and harmony.
The number of mosques is too few for the huge Muslim population in France, Cathala said recalling that immigrant Muslims, who have been sidelined by the dominant culture, could perceive the lack of mosques as another sign of exclusion.
Cathala further said that Muslim requests for mosques and cemeteries indicate their desire and willingness toward integration with and adaptation to the French society.
Recalling there was a noticeable lack of mosques in their region, Cathala noted that because Muslims did not have sufficient funds, the municipality had decided to provide funding for the construction of the mosque.
While the mosque construction coincides with the debates over the place of Islam in France, Cathala stressed that France is a country that can renew itself to embrace newcomers.
Cathala also reiterated the words of Gen. Lyautey, who spoke during the construction of the first French mosque in 1926.
Secularism lesson
Cathala expressed strong reaction to criticisms claiming he had violated the principle of secularism by allocating financial resources to the construction of the mosque.
Cathala noted that using secularism to disguise fear and the denial of diversity distorts the basic principle of the republic.
The law on secularism adopted in 1905 bans government funding for religious institutions. However, Cathala reminded that under the same law, the state must ensure equal opportunities to perform religious obligation to all citizens. |
