Just re-elected president of the Fondation de l'Islam de France (FIF), Ghaleb Bencheikh warned on Thursday of the
"survival"
of this cultural organization which, according to him, could soon disappear due to lack of funding.
Reform theologian and Franco-Algerian physicist, Ghaleb Bencheikh, 63, was re-elected Tuesday during a board of directors of this body created in the wake of the 2015 attacks to allow the general public to better understand Islam.
This mandate, the third for Ghaleb Bencheikh, who has chaired the FIF since 2018, will be placed under the sign of
“responsibility”
to ensure
“the very survival of the institution in an extremely tense financial context
,” he told AFP. president of the institution.
Due to a lack of donations, the Foundation only has 40,000 euros in cash, which roughly corresponds to one month of operation.
As a result
“there is a risk”
that it will go out of business
“in the coming months”
, he added.
“For two years we have been operating without a single euro of corporate sponsorship, and we are getting by hiccups with
individual private sponsorship,” lamented Ghaleb Bencheikh, according to whom
“it is not up to the challenges”
of Islam in France.
As for the envelope of 10 million euros announced by Emmanuel Macron in October 2020 during his Les Mureaux speech against
“separatism”
, Ghaleb Benacheikh assured that it had still not been released and he called for this that
“the promise is followed by effect”
.
Even if in the long term
“it is up to us to fend for ourselves
,” he admitted.
A secular foundation of public utility
Starting this week, the FIF will send its notice to vacate its premises in the 7th arrondissement.
“There will be a cost, and a blow, if we have to close the foundation
,” added Ghaleb Bencheikh, while the public authorities launched on Monday the second session of the Forum of Islam of France (Forif), a dialogue body between the State and the second religion in the country.
The FIF is not a religious organization but a secular foundation recognized as being of public utility.
It was set up in the summer of 2016 by Bernard Cazeneuve, then Minister of the Interior, and was first entrusted to Jean-Pierre Chevènement.
Its objective is to raise funding for projects in secular matters (Islamic cultures, education, research, civic training, etc.).
It thus distributes research allowances for doctoral and master's students in fundamental Islamology, but also scholarships to future imams for their secular training.
The FIF has also set up 40
“popular universities”
bringing together experts, and a digital campus,
“Lumières d’Islam”
, which is according to Ghaleb Bencheikh
“on the verge of becoming the reference site for everything related to Islamic matters”. in a rigorous and verified manner
.
During Tuesday's election, Juliette Dumas, lecturer at Aix-Marseille University, became an administrator of the FIF, while Didier Leschi was reappointed as administrator.