“Seeking European Imams Desperately” : An Assessment of the Ongoing National and EU Initiatives

The function of imam is often considered the most effective entry point to organise Muslim communities, as Prof. Welmoet Boender, from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, points out in a recent article in the journal Religions. In Europe, imams are often considered a potential bridge builders between Muslim communities and secular-majority societies… if they possess the…

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French Imams assemble at Holocaust Memorial

04.02.2012 Le Figaro For the first time in France around 50 imams from all over the country have come together with members of Islamic associations , representatives of other religions as well as the French Secretary of State to assemble at the Shoah Memorial in Drancy. The assembly was organized by Hassen Chalghoumi who is…

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French Imams Visit Israel to Clear Image

On Islam – 11 November 2012   A group of French Muslim imams arrived in Israel on Sunday, November 11, on a controversial visit to dispel the perceptions that Muslims are harboring hatred against Jews. “Unfortunately French Muslims are seen as being anti-Semitic,” Hassan Shaljoumi, who heads a mosque in the Paris suburb of Drancy,…

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Polygamy question in France continues, CFCM weighs in

A French Muslim threatened by the government with being stripped of his passport for practicing polygamy said he had only one wife and several mistresses. The case of Lies Hebbadj, an Algerian-born butcher who became a citizen when he married a French woman in 1999, has flared into a major political debate. The government, which…

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The “Conference of French Imams” Seeks to Represent Imams

French imams have launched a new body to confront problems facing Muslim religious leaders in the European country. “It is high time for France’s imams to take the initiative in playing a genuine and effective role and filling in the gap left by Muslim groups,” said Drancy imam Hassan Chalghoumi, chairman of the “Conference of…

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