Dialogue with Islam
removed from the university system. In the former German areas along the Rhine, the state follows the German system, with contracts between the départements and the churches. French secularism does not allow for the training of religious leaders in the academic system. The government appoints imams without formal training for the army and prisons; they follow classes on French culture at the Catholic University in Paris. The training of imams takes place in private Islamic institutions in and outside France. In 1999, then minister of internal affairs, J.-P. Chevènement, took the initiative to establish a representative council of Islamic organisations.12 His successor, Nicolas Sarkozy, organised elections from the bottom up in the main Islamic umbrella organisations and in 2003 was able to establish the Le Conseil Français du Culte Musulman.13 Its composition follows the national make-up of immigrant communities. A majority of Muslims in France come from the country’s former colonies, such as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia; another large group is related to the Turkish authority for Islamic affairs, Diyanet.14 Some départements have also established Islamic councils. On the local level, the mayors and city councils in
On Islamic policy cf. Godard and Taussig, Les mussulmans, 110–13. The book provides many statistics. For a number of the details I have used here, I am indebted to papers, so far unpublished, by Henri de la Hougue, Maître de conférences au Theologicum, Faculté de Théologie et de Sciences Religieuses de l‘Institute Catholique de Paris. 12
13 See http://www.portail-religion.com/FR/dossier/islam/pratique/institutions/CFCM/index.php; Godard and Taussig, Les mussulmans, 165–87, 349–51. 14 Algeria, 1.5 million; Morocco, 1 million; Tunisia, 400,000; Sub-Saharan Africa, 340,000; Turkey, 310,000; converts, 4,000–100,000; in total, at least 4 million. See Godard and Taussig, Les mussulmans, 25–9.
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