Gérald Darmanin urged Muslims on Saturday to write a "
new page
" in the organization of their worship, and promised to help them create a "
status
" and "
social protection
" for imams, during the first plenary session of the Forum de l'islam de France.
Read alsoThe state regains control of Islam in France
"
Today we must write a new page,"
declared the Minister of the Interior before a few hundred personalities of the Muslim faith - for the most part players in the field from the departments - gathered at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council in Paris. "
This renewed dialogue with the State will now be based on women and men who derive their legitimacy from their work and their logic in the field"
, he added, pleading for "
a new form of dialogue that is more open, more diverse, more representative of the diversity of Islam in France
.
"From now on, there will no longer be"
, for the public authorities, "
a single representative of the Muslim faith, competent on all subjects, but collectives organized by theme to obtain concrete results"
, he said, wanting to learn from the “
failures
” of the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM), which had been the privileged interlocutor of the public authorities since 2003, but was undermined by internal struggles.
A status of imams
"
Get Organized!"
, he threw at them.
In the morning, four working groups examined four subjects deemed to be priorities: the organization of chaplaincies (military, penitentiary, hospital), the professionalization of imams, the application of the so-called law against "separatism" and finally the securing of places of worship and anti-Muslim acts.
On the first subject, Gérald Darmanin assured that the government would be “
alongside
” Muslims
“so that imams have a status”
and in particular “
social protection”
.
During the works, it was proposed to launch a fifth reflection, bearing on the question of
"transparent financing of the Muslim faith",
"
nerve of war
" according to the minister, who welcomed the initiative.