PARIS,
May 7, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The French authorities’
appointment of a chief Muslim prison chaplain has sparked a furor, with two
leading members of the Muslim umbrella body resigning in protest.
Fathia
Al-Jabali and Foad Alwai, two members of the French Council of Muslim
Faith (CFCM) ’s Executive Council, have resigned as a demonstration
of dissatisfaction with the sidelining of the body in the selection
process.
The
two are representing the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF)
in the CFCM.
“Irrespective
of the Muslim chaplain named by the government and his integrity, the
UOIF expresses its deep concern over the move and totally rejects
it,” it said in statement issued Friday, May 6, and obtained by
IslamOnline.net.
The
French Justice Ministry is expected to rubberstamp the nomination of
Hassan Al-Alawi Al-Talibi as chief prison chaplain next week.
Justice
Minister Dominique Perben forwarded an “urgent” request to the
CFCM to appoint a chief prison chaplain to combat what he termed as
“Islamic extremism.”
Talibi,
of a Moroccan origin, is a teacher of mathematics in the northern city
of Lille. He is married with seven sons.
Union’s
Role
The
UOIF’s statement said the French government has failed to cooperate
with the CFCM which has at the heart of its roles nominating and
appointing chaplains.
A
CFCM’s ad hoc committee chaired by Sheikh Ammar Al-Asfar has been
scrutinizing the issue of preachers and chaplains for the past two
years, it added.
“The
government has stripped the CFCM of its key role and made it
insignificant,” UOIF chairman Lhaj Thami Breze told IOL.
“We
demand the government stop interfering in the CFCM’s affairs, which
badly affects its independence.”
In
an interview with IOL last week, Sheikh Asfar said the appointment has
taken the CFCM off guard.
“Ironically,
they sent us an emergency request but the name was decided in advance.
“We
bear no grudge toward Mr. Talibi, but we reject the way he was
appointed as we have been preoccupied over the past two years with
such a pressing issue”.
However,
CFCM leader Dalil Boubakeur criticized on Friday, May 6, in an
emergency meeting the resignation protest, stressing that the
appointment came in consultation with the Council.
Talibi
will be tasked with helping Muslim inmates practice their religious
rituals, providing them with copies of the Noble Qur'an and mediating
with the prison administration to solve problems facing them in
practicing religious rituals.
Last
year, a French study revealed that Muslims make up between 50-70% of
prisoners in the French jails.
The
move comes only few months after the French Defense Ministry assigned
Ayyat Hussein, a Muslim army colonel, to study the possibility of
setting up a department for Muslim chaplains to meet the spiritual
needs of Muslims serving in the republic’s army.
