Rector of the Great Mosque of Paris is not an easy job. Chems-eddine Hafiz, the brand new holder of the post for a week discovered it. Present from morning to evening since Monday in the Moorish style mosque of the 5th arrondissement of Paris to feel the pulse of all the activities of the institution, this unknown to the general public also felt the wind of controversy.
Barely elected, already disputed. During a press conference Thursday, under the benevolent gaze of his resigning predecessor Dalil Boubakeur, Chems-Eddine Hafiz cleared a number of thorny subjects disseminated through the press. His election, a “coup de force”? "I was unanimously elected," replied the person concerned. A golden parachute of 300,000 euros voted for his predecessor Dalil Boubakeur? "Slander. There is an aggression on the part of our adversaries to want to dirty this institution. This is completely false and it is defamation, “replies this determined 65-year-old lawyer.
The context is - it is really - burning within the representative bodies of Islam in France. This Sunday, Me Hafiz will apply for the head of the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM), whose election has been postponed several times. "I think I am a good candidate. But I would not go so far as to force my hand, I do not wish to jeopardize the building for a question of ego ”, confides in aside the new rector. His past as a lawyer of the Polisario Front, does not plead in his favor on the side of the Muslim authorities close to Morocco, which could oppose him.
65-year-old French-Algerian lawyer
Born in Algiers in 1954, Chems-eddine Hafiz arrived in France in 1990, he has since obtained French nationality and proudly displays his dual culture. A criminal lawyer by training, his business law firm is today displayed on the prestigious avenue des Champs-Elysées.
For twenty years, he has been the legal adviser to the GMP, and is present in many Muslim institutions. He is vice-president of the CFCM and member of the National Consultative Commission for Human Rights, but also at the head of the association which produces "Islam", the program on the Muslim religion broadcast on Sunday by France 2.
"I do a lot of things at once," he admits while saying he is ready to give up one or two of his caps. "I want to succeed in this particular mission", confides this father of three children and twice grandfather while praising "the incredible sacredness of the Paris Mosque".
Friendship with Sarkozy, good relations with Macron
“I am a man of compromise. I try to be the middle way. I am not a polemicist, "confides head-to-head the one who created the association the Brotherhood of the Paris bar, bringing together lawyers of all faiths within the Paris bar. "So I understand that my opponents are disappointed," laughs even this sixty-something man with a good profile. He makes no secret of his friendship with Nicolas Sarkozy but also recognizes that he has good relations with President-in-Office Emmanuel Macron, for whom he wants to be a "loyal partner" in the future.
On the side of his entourage, like the lawyer Francis Szpiner, we are delighted with the election of the one who is unanimously described as "serious". "I am delighted, because Chems is a republican without compromising with radical Islam," said one who could run under the LR label in the 16th arrondissement in Paris at the municipal elections in March.
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"He has real skill, it's a natural succession, it's anything but an apparatchik. Since I have known him, he has always pursued his religious commitment in parallel with his career, ”he underlines.
"He is a pragmatist, who is not fixed"
Same story on the side of the Franco-Turkish Ahmet Ogras, the president of the CFCM until last June, who praises the qualities of the man. “It will bring new life and new energy to the Paris Mosque. It is a natural relay for Dalil Boubakeur, ”confides this fine connoisseur of the mysteries of Islam in France.
"He is a pragmatist, a true professional, who is not frozen," adds the man, who confides that he would not be shocked to see a Franco-Algerian taking the head of the future CFCM office, in the light of importance of the community of Algerian origin in France.
In a context where Emmanuel Macron promised announcements in early February on the fight against communitarianism, this practitioner of karate and judo, also entrusts his priorities to the head of the GMP. Chems-eddine Hafiz therefore intends to put "all his energy to prevent any form of radicalization and exclusion", and judges that "Islam cannot be at the service of political ambitions and strategists". He also vigorously and sincerely recalls the condition of "full citizens of Muslims in France", and regrets "the shortcut between fanaticism and Islam".