The question of Islam in France is a circumstantial phenomenon. All of this is the result of a general ignorance of what Islam is, and this lack of understanding fuels fear and dislike of the religion.
If some have discovered this religion through travel and direct contact with Muslims themselves, the vast majority see Islam as an obscure ideology similar to communism, fascism, or Nazism.
In reality, they have no intimate knowledge of Islam, its structure, and especially its dimension. The Muslim religion is mostly misunderstood. But this is nothing more “normal” in a secular France, where secularism, fearing for its space, needs to assert itself. As a result, religious discourse is perceived as excessively intense.
Has Islam become, as the president of the French Council for the Muslim Faith, Mohammed Mouun, states, a political subject? It has always been. Islam has never been anything other than a political subject in France, because it has been associated with an immigrant population to whom jobs, housing, and security needed to be provided.
How do Muslims experience this situation? For the vast majority, they are astonished and often overwhelmed by the disproportion every issue related to their religion takes.
Who are the enemies of Islam? A tiny fraction of Muslims themselves who fan the flames. Extremists who want to impose their vision of Islam, a fantasized and schizophrenic Islam that is not reality.
There are also lobbies and political movements that thrive on religious antagonism. Almost everywhere in Europe, far-right groups prosper on the theme of the “Islamization of Europe.”
Unfortunately, we are dealing with systemic mechanisms that are difficult to unlock. To this difficulty, we must add the general security concerns in the broad sense: food safety, employment, geopolitical situation.
Our society is woven with pockets of insecurity that weaken the country: Islam is the ideal fantasy of this insecurity.
