Philosopher and Islamologist, Razika Adnani is a member of the Orientation Council of the Fondation de l'Islam de France and a member of the scientific council of the civic center for religious facts. She notably published a study for Fondapol entitled
“
Maghreb: the impact of Islam on social and political development
”
.
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In France, the implementation of breaks during football matches to allow the breaking of the fast for players who fast during the Ramadan period has once again burst onto the scene of debate despite the decision last year by the French Football Federation. Football to ban them.
Those who want to impose the breaking of the fast on the football field are not discouraged and the issue will undoubtedly come up again next year and other years, a bit like the wearing of the veil.
Two very similar situations.
In both cases, these are practices attributed to Islam and their relationship to public space.
One is expressed in the public space and we want to impose the other in the public space, because originally, breaking the fast belongs to the private space.
It is done at home and with family or in restaurants.
Today, we want to take advantage of football, the most popular sport, to allow it to exist in the public space and therefore give it more social visibility.
The phenomenon did not start with the demand for match breaks in the West.
In Muslim societies, collective breaking of fasts in public spaces has become a trend.
In France, "iftar" evenings multiply during the month of Ramadan where guests, whether they are fasting or not, Muslim or not, put themselves in a fasting posture in front of their plate waiting for the call to prayer which gives permission to eat.
Interrupting matches to allow players to break their Ramadan fast, which is not a simple “freshness break”, amounts to establishing this Ramadan atmosphere on the football field and imposing it on all players, on all players. supporters, to all viewers, in a form of fait accompli.
Which is different from iftar party guests who respond to invitations.
Those who sincerely practice their religion and live it as a spiritual and personal need do not feel the need to impose it on everyone.
Razika Adnani
Muslims must be the first to refuse to impose their religion on others.
Even if the law allows this type of break during matches, as is the case in other countries, morality does not allow it.
Moreover, those who sincerely practice their religion and who experience it as a spiritual and personal need do not feel the need to impose it on everyone.
The desire for religiosity has nothing to do with the desire to impose one's religion on others.
When we want to live in harmony with others, we have a moral obligation to question our own behavior, to put ourselves in the other's place on what we impose on them and how they perceive it.
It is a question of respect that we show towards him.
The other does not only designate non-Muslims but also Muslims or those who belong to Muslim societies or from Muslim families who do not want to fast or do not feel the need to believe in a religion.
The French Football Federation, which refers to the laws of the Republic, is right to ensure that football does not submit to the demands of religion.
However, it also has a duty to protect players and in particular those from Muslim families.
It must prevent those who do not fast from finding themselves in a situation which forces them to pretend to fast to avoid reprisals from certain supporters or from the player on the field, even if he is thirsty, not being able to drink before the breaking the fast, which can be dangerous for one's health.
Islamic fasting, where one deprives oneself of eating but also of drinking, is very difficult for the body and mind, especially when one makes great efforts.
Moreover, in Islam it is not recommended to fast for the sick, travelers and pregnant women.
This is proof that the health of individuals takes precedence over the practice of fasting.
It is important to clarify, in this context, that the obligation to fast itself is not as evident in the Quran and that some commentators have claimed that fasting is a matter of personal choice.
The question of breaking the fast during football matches as well as that of wearing the veil which is required in the West are proof that Western Muslims are not spared from the rise of conservatism and the strengthening of religion which affects the Muslim world.
It also reveals that militant Islamists, who are not just the Muslim Brotherhood, want to impose not only Islam, but their own conception of Islam.
After having taken over Muslim-majority societies, they are now attacking Western societies.
It is by approaching these phenomena as extensions of what happened in the Muslim world that we will be able to fully understand the motivations of those who are active in the West.
We are therefore not faced with an Islamism specific to the West as some claim.