After a month of confined Ramadan, do the Muslims of Ile-de-France expect to be able to go to the mosque on Sunday for the great collective prayer of Eid, marking the end of Ramadan? These last hours have undoubtedly given hope to some, after the publication of the decree paving the way for the immediate resumption of religious services, on the night of Friday to Saturday.
However, many mosques should keep their doors closed. This is also the recommendation issued by the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM). "We do not have the means to ensure the health security of the faithful," explains Hakim Rebiha, spokesperson for the association in charge of the Grand Mosque of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), also mayor- deputy. How can social distancing be respected? Choose who can enter or not? This mosque can accommodate up to 3,500 faithful and the Eid prayer is the one that attracts the most people. I don't have the Stade de France, me! "
The decree published on Saturday indeed establishes strict rules. It is the responsibility of the managers of places of worship to enforce a distance of 1 m between the faithful, to impose the wearing of masks, hand disinfection, to regulate the flow of the public and even to "avoid crowds" of around the prayer hall.
Two or three offices instead of one in Pantin
The prospect does not scare everyone. A Pantin mosque will open its doors to the faithful this Sunday morning. This Saturday, she even welcomed a small group of faithful, for a prayer in the form of a dress rehearsal. "Usually we receive up to 1,400 worshipers in the hall and on the ground," says M'hammed Henniche, one of the persons in charge of the place of worship. This time we will organize two or three offices, so that everyone can attend while respecting the rules of distancing. Once the mosque is full, people will wait outside, as they have been doing for two months at the door of the shops. "
Also responsible for the Union of Muslim Associations in 93, M'hammed Henniche ensures that other rooms are preparing to open in Stains, Aubervilliers, Pré-Saint-Gervais, Noisy-le-Sec… "The prayer of Eid includes reading verses. Not all the faithful are able to do so, which is why they prefer to come to the mosque. What the government has done is commendable. "
Prayer at the stadium in Levallois
In Seine-Saint-Denis, a message from the prefecture, sent this Saturday to some elected officials, recalls that it remains impossible to open gymnasiums and multipurpose rooms to associations that request them.
In the Hauts-de-Seine, it is at the Louison-Bobet stadium that the Union of Muslims of Levallois organizes, this Sunday morning, an Eid prayer. “We simply knew how to anticipate, welcomes its president, Ali Essebki. I do not understand that so many mosques are found this evening in the panade to receive their faithful. For my part, as soon as the Council of State rendered its decision and said that the government had a week to review its copy, I contacted the city of Levallois and the technical services to see if it was possible to organize something. "
At the Louison-Bobet stadium where the association intends to use both the athletics track and the football field, Ali Essebki ensures that the faithful, invited to all come masked, will be able to respect social distancing. Provided that the enclosure is not stormed. "We have enough room to receive the people of Levallois and if necessary, we will refuse the world," slips the president, aware that he risks generating frustration.
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This risk, the Ibn Badis Institute, the most important mosque in Nanterre, does not want to run it. “Too hot to organize something in such a short time, says a regular. With the threat of the Covid-19, it's even impossible. "
Neither preaching nor collective prayer in Montfermeil and Aulnay
In Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis), the mosque will be satisfied with a “drive” distribution of gifts for children, on this day of celebration. But no preaching or collective prayer. "The reopening can only be very gradual," said Farid Kachour, head of the place of worship. We have been preparing for this for a while, we have already started to make the markings on the ground. But I am still waiting for the distributors of hydroalcoholic gel, ordered on May 11. "He is surprised at the announcement by the Minister of the Interior:" On the eve of Eid when the Council of State spoke a week ago, there is really enough to cause trouble … ”
Yacine Laoudi, head of the great mosque in Aulnay, even says he is "scandalized". “It was unthinkable to organize in less than 24 hours for this prayer, the most important of the year! Usually we prepare for it three weeks in advance. We do not want to be the starting point for a resurgence of the epidemic, especially since we receive a lot of elderly people. This Saturday, he was besieged by regulars, ready to attend the service. "But there are all those who do not call and risk coming anyway, because they have heard the news and think that the mosque is open. There is a risk of public disorder! "