AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Edouard Philippe, who served as prime minister under Macron from 2017-2020, wrote in his newly released book Des Lieux Qui Disent (Places That Speak) that it may be necessary to create “a law and a specific organization for Muslims”.
In an interview on Inter, Philippe further explained his views, saying France’s 1905 law, which enshrines secularism, “is perhaps not capable of dealing with the specificities of Islam”, as reported L’Obs.
Philippe went on to say that one day the question of an organization “with particular obligations imposed on the faithful and those responsible for Muslim communities” will be asked.
He said that proposing some form of concordat, which is to say some special agreement for regulating the behavior of Muslims within French society, ought to be on the table.
It has long been argued that France’s extreme emphasis on secularism already singles out Islam and ties into France’s recent history of colonialism in the Muslim world, with it being accused of treating its significant Muslim minority as colonial subjects alien to France rather than fully integrated citizens.
The ban on the abaya, a modest dress worn by Muslim women, introduced in French schools this month has been cited as one recent example of this.
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