Imams exploit lockdown
Imams are taking advantage of curfews, imposed because of novel coronavirus, when they call Muslims to prayer via loudspeakers, French politician Marine Le Pen says. The National Rally chief has urged the interior minister in an open letter to put an end to this practice through legal means, if need be.
The curfew imposed due to the pandemic is a great opportunity for Islamists to push the principles of secularism aside, Marine Le Pen says. National Rally s president added that French Christians were forbidden to hold religious gatherings, that is, to attend a mass, while imams were calling Muslim believers to prayer via loudspeakers.
Ms Le Pen has appealed to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner in an open letter, asking him to put an end to this practice through the strict and swift application of the law or through legal proceedings and severe sanctioning, if necessary.
For some time, several mosques have seen an opportunity in the curfew to call believers to prayer publicly with the help of audio equipment, thus violating the law on secularity of the French Republic. This is the practice of, among others, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Lyon and also the imam of Valentigney, a small town near the Swiss border.
Authorities should keep control of the country and should not turn a blind eye to these illegal acts, Ms Le Pen stressed, expressing incomprehension over the silence of the interior ministry and over the failure of law enforcement forces to take action against the imams.
Appel à la prière islamique dans l espace public dans plusieurs villes de France: je demande instamment à @CCastaner de faire cesser ces nuisances sonores par une stricte et rapide application de la loi.
Ma lettre ouverte au Ministre de l Intérieur ⤵️ https://t.co/rfPp92Jw1u
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) April 4, 2020
Marine Le Pen was not the only one to criticise the behaviour of muezzins. French essayist Eric Zemmour has also voiced his disapproval, the French weekly Valeurs actuelles reported.
Alors que les églises de France faisaient sonner leur clocher pour célébrer l Annonciation,
un #muezzin en a profité pour lancer l appel à la prière islamique. Un acte interdit qui n a suscité aucune réaction de la part des élus. #Grandemosqueelyon https://t.co/zJASc543GG— Valeurs actuelles ن (@Valeurs) March 31, 2020
In Zemmour s opinion, it is unacceptable and outrageous that while French churches rang bells to celebrate the Feast of Annunciation on Wednesday 25 March, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Lyon called believers to prayer from the minaret with the help of a loudspeaker despite the fact that such practice is forbidden in France. The muezzin even recorded the call to prayer on video and posted it on a major video-sharing site.