“We will no longer have all these tricolor flags which plague us, which give us headaches.
Who have no value with Allah.
The only value they have is satanic value.”
This sermon by the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze (Gard), Mahjoub Mahjoubi, 52, denounced on multiple occasions, did not remain without consequences.
Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, demanded on Sunday the withdrawal of the residence permit of this imam, member of the association of Muslims of Gard Rhone (AMGR).
This withdrawal could lead to the expulsion from French territory of this religious of Tunisian nationality.
“On my instructions, the remarks of this imam were the subject of a report this week to the public prosecutor by the prefect of Gard,” explained Gérald Darmanin on his X account. I requested the withdrawal of his title of residence with a view to his expulsion from the territory.
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Mahjoub Mahjoubi's statements were also denounced by Tareq Oubrou, grand imam of the Bordeaux mosque, and Abdallah Zekri, vice-president of the French Council of Muslim Worship, to BFMTV.
“A mistake in the French language”, according to his lawyer
An investigation was opened for condoning terrorism by the Nîmes public prosecutor's office, indicates BFMTV.
The channel specifies that Mahjoub Mahjoubi has been the subject of three reports since last November: the first linked to the building company managed by his wife, the second linked to the administration of the mosque, the third to the famous sermon put on cause by the Minister of the Interior, as well as other passages which could be criminal, according to the prefecture.
But according to the imam's lawyer, Me Samir Hamroun, who has been working for some time alongside Mahjoub Mahjoubi, father of 5 children born and educated in France and married to a French woman, "the remarks attributed to him stem from a mistake in the French language.”
According to the lawyer, it is a sermon “on the division of Muslims of all nationalities”.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi “calls for a sort of union” and “cites all the flags”.
The mayor of the city has confidence “in the State to make the necessary decisions”
“He had no intention of attacking the French flag and its values for which he has a deep attachment,” assures his council.
It refers to the disunity that we see especially in football stadiums among Muslims and non-Muslims.
» The lawyer, who claims to have in the past fought and denounced another extremist imam alongside him, deplores that we can “confuse Mr. Mahjoubi with the worst extremists that exist”.
Last November, the Departmental Service for Youth, Engagement and Sports (SDJES) suspended the Arabic classes given at the Attawba mosque in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, administered by Mahjoub Mahjoubi, born in Tunis and established in France since 1986.
While the department had claimed compliance issues, the imam had refuted any accusation of Quranic teaching.
“There is no Koranic school here, that has nothing to do with it,” he assured Objectif Gard.
We have an Arabic language school where we mainly learn to read and write.
There are also thirty minutes devoted to Muslim education where we talk about ablutions, the rules of purification, how we pray.
For this, we read a few suras of the Koran but they are two or three pages at most, not the entire book.
»A hundred little boys and girls, from the age of 7, were taught Arabic, he specified, but “no rule of Islamic jurisprudence is taught to the children”.
“I have full confidence in the State to make the necessary decisions,” Jean-Yves Chapelet, mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, reacted in a press release this Monday.
All offenses likely to disrupt public order must be punished.”
The Minister of the Interior assured him on Sunday: “No call to hatred will go unanswered.
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