The leader of the French Council of the Muslim Faith has called for the number of mosques in France to double within two years, arguing that there are not enough places of worship for the country’s Muslim population.
While speaking at a meeting consisting of French Islamic organizations, participants requested a decrease in Islamophobic acts and called for increased respect for Muslims and their religion. Boubakeur argued that the 2,200 mosques in the country did not adequately represent Europe’s largest Muslim community.
“We need to double the number in two years,” he said. “There are many prayer rooms, unfinished mosques, and there are a lot of mosques that are not being built,” Boubakeur added.
The gathering is the largest in the Western world and hosted by the Union of Islamic Organisations of France (UOIF), and took place only months after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
Since the attacks there has been a severe increase in Islamophobic acts in France: 167 acts against mosques or threats recorded in January alone, compared to just 14 in the same month last year.
Apart from physical acts, anti-Muslim sentiment in the country varies from mayors refusing to have mosques built to resistance to halal meals being served in prisons or schools.
Participants at the gathering ranged from liberal to conservative and unilaterally denounced radical extremism. “We are loyal to our country, France. We love God, we love our prophet, but we also love the French Republic,” said Amar Lasfar, head of the UOIF.
Boubakeur agreed, adding that Muslims must also be respected in France. “Islam is no longer an Islam stemming from immigration, it is a national Islam that has the right to the recognition and consideration of the French population, just like other communities in France,” he concluded.
