Open letter to my fellow Muslims

My dear compatriots,

For reasons of intellectual honesty, I was already thinking about drafting this appeal at the very moment when I was writing the Open Letter to my non-Muslim compatriots published on oumma.com[1].

My dear compatriots,

It is as a French Muslim that I speak to you, expressing the totality of my Me without denying any of the parcels that shape, I believe, my identity, and this, undoubtedly forever.

My dear compatriots,

It is the role of Muslims in this country, France, and the role that will shape our common future with our non-Muslim compatriots, that I wish to discuss with you here. Because I glimpse our common future and I'm afraid of the horrible turn it can take.

We are permanently settled in France, a non-Muslim country

My dear compatriots,

One of the most unexpected twists in history allowed most of our parents to settle in France, formerly the "Eldest Daughter of the Church". Called upon by our country to participate in its Reconstruction after the horrors of the Second World War, but also in its economic development during the Glorious Thirties and during the following periods, they knew how to seize this unique opportunity to extract themselves from social difficulties. from their countries of origin.

Because they had the rudiments or a good command of the language of Molière, which is a direct consequence of colonization (which was nevertheless mainly manifested by an unequal and unfair intrusion of Western powers into the country of our ancestors), our parents were able to fit peacefully into the complex sociological picture of France thanks to their hard work and their extraordinary ability to resist.

Because of the existence of jus soli, one of the specificities of France which does honor to our country, we almost all have the nationality of our country of birth.

Thanks to education for all, inscribed in the marble of French law, we have been able to benefit from free and compulsory education. We have seen ourselves inculcated, with more or less force depending on the place and the person, the ability to think for ourselves, as well as the deeply human values ​​of respect, tolerance, secularism, freedom, equality and of brotherhood. This is also the case with our children.

Our country, France, has offered us, and still offers us, undeniably, a chance of success in the country of equal opportunities.

And yet!

Major social integration difficulties

My dear compatriots,

Where do these obstacles come from on our roads? Are we not all from the same country, France, this country of merit?

Why is it that we are by far the French community that is doing the least well in terms of social integration and integration? Do Muslims, or people who claim to be such, not seek to live, in their vast majority, above all, and like all the other components of society, in respect for the laws of the Republic and in the search for economic stability?

However, most of us lived and grew up in these underprivileged neighborhoods that have been called suburbs, ZUPs, or lawless zones...

Furthermore, from the beginning of our training, official equality was transformed into de facto inequality since the least experienced teachers were sent to our schools to distill in us, certainly with the greatest courage for the vast majority, the programs of their subject.

Similarly, many of us faced academic failure and exiting the education circuit by the smallest of doors, that is to say without diplomas and with no qualifications required to move easily. in the tough job market.

Added to this, the stronger development than elsewhere of the same phenomenon which has plagued France from within for so many years, growing and persistent unemployment.

State services seemed to be slipping away more and more as we left the territories in which we had “elected” domicile.

In fact, an almost non-existent social mix because of the lack of foresight in the action of the public authorities, a more or less diffuse feeling of not belonging to the nation that has nevertheless seen us appear in the world, and the fantasized, but oh so life-saving bond on the psychological level, with our countries of origin, maintained by our parents organizing holidays in the "bled" and promoting the development of satellite dishes, were, for most of us, the only cultural horizon. All this in a relative decay of the economic possibilities offered by neighborhood life.

The harmful consequences of this social inequality

My dear compatriots,

Our neighborhoods have been the privileged place for trafficking of all kinds. Hub of the illicit trade in hash, petty theft and the development of incivility, visible delinquency has developed there more than elsewhere.

The phenomenon of gangs has been in many places the strongest sociological bond for young people.

Many of us, but not the majority, have known prison. Some of them develop a certain acuity in the knowledge of the stages of the legal procedure (custody, preventive, indictment, acquittal, lawyer, interrogation, permission, conditional…)

Some others, more rarely, have continued their development in crime and even more important trafficking (bank robbery, importing large quantities of hash, etc.). For the more "seasoned" still, the entry into organized crime was the ultimate step.

Although all these failures were the prerogative of a minority and not the exclusivity of Muslims or so-called Muslims, since the majority of children from working-class neighborhoods excluded themselves from the infernal logic of the repetition of these misdeeds, they contributed, and still contribute since they are topical, to the development of a harmful image developed against people of our religion.

Fantasies about fear of Islam

My dear compatriots,

Oh! Do not think that I am forgetting the recent developments of this feeling of fear of Islam which is emerging in the heads of many among our non-Muslim compatriots. And that I put aside the growing number of acts of Islamophobia, the result, among other things, of an atmosphere maintained by our politicians for a number of years, no doubt for electoral purposes.

The “problem” of the veil at school was the first stone in the construction of this wide caesura in the country about our religion.

Those of halal, polygamy, excision, communitarianism, sheep sacrifice, circumsition, today integration, are knowingly or sincerely recalled by some of our compatriots encouraged by media.

Lack of major hindsight, the bloody conflicts that have taken place or are still taking place in many Muslim countries of the world serve as a pretext for many to prevent themselves from not believing that we are all potentially inclined to a kind of relationship society based exclusively on violence.

Finally, and even more seriously, minorities claiming Islam have acted through terrorist acts targeting civilians, in our country as in others. Dozens of attacks have taken place every year since the most appalling of all, that of September 11, 2001 in New York, Washington, and in the American countryside.

A French future

My dear compatriots,

The acceptance by our compatriots of our presence and our rights on the soil of our homeland passes through the path of recognition in ourselves of our historical role.

If we want to reverse the trend of social exclusion, should we not invest in democratic struggles for the betterment of our society? Associative work, participation in peaceful political battles, thanks to the interest that we will show in the public affairs that govern the life of our country (and not only in what concerns the place of Muslims in the national structure), are the opportunities available to us to develop serenely.

And the fear of Islam, you ask? Is it not by the development of a true Islam of France that it will be annihilated, I would ask you? He must understand several things if he really wants to be accepted as such by our compatriots.

The first is in the history of France. This was composed by the development of what was called Gallicanism, a specificity of the French Catholic religion which did not hesitate to promote an autonomous organization of the Church of France, in relation to the Vatican and its pope who aimed at omnipotence within the Christian nations. The countries of origin must therefore be excluded from the power struggles within the Muslim institutions of France. It is appropriate to draw inspiration from this politico-religious doctrine within the CFCM. Thus, this is how it will make room in its organs and offices for Muslims born in France, who will represent the real components of the community and who will try to respond to the real problems encountered by society as a whole.

The second has to do with leaving life among oneself. Muslims sometimes have the peculiarity of only feeling comfortable with their co-religionists. However, we must seek to know the other. Doesn't God say that He created the different peoples so that they would know each other[2]? Our Creator being Sovereign in the interpretative scope that He put in the Koranic Word, and already knowing at the time of their revelations that our current complex situations were going to exist, does this not mean that this verse must be interpreted in a sense of rapprochement with people of other religions, and who are our compatriots? Neighbours, work colleagues, friends of our friends, if they are non-Muslims, benefit from being known. It is therefore necessary to open up to others, through common meals, outings, open debates, mutual assistance. Only then will we be able to create a tolerant nation. Only in this way will we develop a sincere attachment to our common homeland, the place where God gave us birth.

The third concerns the conflicts that dot the Muslim world. We have the right not to want France to intervene militarily in Mali, Libya, Afghanistan or elsewhere. And let it be known peacefully. But still it must be recognized that these decisions are the result of a strict application of the constitution, the same one which governs our lives in the principle of freedom. However, we must understand that the wars that take place in the Muslim world are first linked, in their outbreak, to the fact that they are part of the world of the South, of what used to be called the Third World, c that is to say from a place on Earth that is predominantly disadvantaged in terms of economic development and the international division of labour. Especially since colonization, by disorganizing the structures of these societies and by allowing, during independence, new border logics that did not respect History, were the germ of subsequent conflicts, especially in Africa. The wars that bloody the Muslim world have nothing to do with an alleged essence of Islam that favors them. They are phenomena participating in the evolution of what Francis Fukuyama called the historical world, the one that contrasts with the rich and democratic countries in which we live and which have "come out of history"[3].

Which brings us to the fourth idea that we must absolutely integrate into our logic of thought. France is part, like the West, of a single world, that of liberal democracy. It is clear that it is because we live in such a world that we can develop our practice of worship freely and that we have the leisure to think about our ethical principles and, consequently, our peaceful political action. Now, this freedom, it is important to cherish it, not only for our co-religionists. The development of the inalienable rights from which we all benefit, beyond the problems linked to the fear of Islam, the trend of which should be reversed through democratic actions, are a unique moment in history, such as the prophetic mission of elsewhere in another context and of unequaled value for us, followers of Islam. They were developed in the West, but they do not belong only to Westerners. They are universal. Isn't it then time, by a temporalized wisdom in our time, to oppose the application of punishments or penalties of apostasy in certain parts of the Muslim world? More generally, by developing Tariq Ramadan's moratorium, would it not be wise to call for a total and immediate cessation of all corporal punishment in application of sharia? This is our reality of having to confront this in our globalized world. Which is not easy but is of the order of an earthly Mission that God has given us since nothing is due to chance. Shouldn't we fill it?

Finally, the fifth action to take, it is important to always state that we absolutely do not condone terrorist acts targeting civilians. During the wars that the Prophet (pbuh) had to wage because God commanded him to preserve his Mission which changed the face of the world and which made us Muslims, he always insisted that civilians, women, children, and even trees, are not knowingly affected by acts of violence. This is the first appearance in history of human principles governing warfare. However, jihadist terrorist attacks are undeniably actions that harm civilians, regardless of the contexts in which they appear. Our prophet, the one we consider to be the best of men, forbade any Muslim to use this kind of process. So we have to speak out against that. And add, without insulting our compatriots, that we are against all the bombardments of civilians that countries like the United States and Israel massively develop during their wars against Muslim countries or allegedly as such (Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine).

Conclusion: we are Muslims from France

My dear compatriots,

I'm sure most of you feel attached to your country, France. I saw it recently in the support you expressed for the French team before their heroic match against Ukraine, then once the victory was complete. I notice it in your desire to work your way out legally and start a family with dignity. I feel it in your inclination to enjoy your freedom in excessive laughter, one of the practices that you are most fond of, no doubt to forget the hard trials of life, and the obligatory feeling of uprooting that you feel and which is born from the fact that you are the first generations of Muslims in France, living a legitimate attachment to the country of origin, that of your parents.

My dear compatriots,

I call on you to insist on your undeniable belonging to the French nation. Attach yourself to it! Develop a sincere love for her! Participate in its development according to your own ethics that you will build yourself freely! Be democrats! Be proud to be French!

My dear compatriots,

Be aware that you are Muslims from France. That you must fulfill a historic role, that of building an Islam in France. Take an interest in it! Because your religion is and will be a major component of French identity.

My dear compatriots,

Work for peace! Only in this way will you prevent a past, not so distant as that for Europe, from coming back to us in the future, if only by the simple tip of its nose.

Notes

[1] Open letter to my non-Muslim compatriots, oumma.com, October 31, 2013.

[2] “We have divided you into peoples and tribes, so that you may become acquainted with one another”, Koran, s. 49, c. 13

[3] Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man, 1992

[4] Mohammed Talbi and Gwendoline Jarczyck, Free Thinker in Islam, 2002, p. 294