The anti-France preaching of the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze (Gard) earned him a request for withdrawal of his residence permit from the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi's words on the “tricolor flags which plague us” and which have “satanic value” could lead to the expulsion from French territory of this cleric of Tunisian nationality.
For the Islamologist Bernard Godard, former general services civil servant responsible for relations with the Muslim faith, the case of this imam from Gard does not reflect systemic radicalism.
“I cannot imagine that this imam followed a solid training course to make insulting remarks about the flag,” asserts Islamologist Bernard Godard.
PhotoPQR/La Dépêche du Midi/Xavier de Fenoyl
Are supposed excesses like those of Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi frequent?
BERNARD GODARD.
This is not very common but it does happen.
Above all, he's an idiot.
All imams know that they cannot do this kind of thinking.
There have been enough warnings from all sides to know that even if we think it, we don't express it publicly.
An imam knows that he is followed by the faithful and those in charge of the mosque and that such comments end up reaching the ears of the authorities.
It used to be more common, but today you have to do it on purpose.
That an imam is fired by mosque officials is more common than one might think.
It is also the responsibility of the managers of the Bagnols-sur-Cèze mosque to have allowed this imam to assert himself.
So this type of statement remains an isolated case?
A well-trained imam would never say such things.
I can't imagine that this imam followed a solid training course to make insulting remarks about the flag.
It's crass stupidity which shows that his background is not solid.
How can the authorities continue to control what is said in mosques?
Over the past twenty years, the situation has improved greatly.
Particularly among mosque managers.
There is better organization.
In French Islam there is more and more rational management and this limits the expression of this type of imams.
There is self-regulation, even without a centralized body like the CFCM
(French Council of Muslim Worship)
, simply those in charge themselves are much more attentive to these possible abuses.