A French court has upheld the six-month closure of the Chanteloup mosque near Paris, rejecting an appeal against the order. The mosque's lawyer stated the decision infringes on religious freedom and secularism, vowing to appeal.
The court's decision to uphold the mosque's closure raises significant questions about the balance between France's strict secularism laws and the freedom of religious expression for its Muslim population, potentially impacting religious practices and civil liberties.
A French court has upheld a six-month closure of the Chanteloup mosque, located near Paris, in a ruling that has sparked renewed debate over religious freedom and secularism in the country. The Montreuil Administrative Court on Friday rejected an attempt to suspend the July order, meaning the mosque will remain shut until January.
Rafik Chekkat, a human rights lawyer representing the mosque, expressed dismay at the decision, questioning the freedom of imams to quote from the Quran and Islamic texts in France. He stated that the authorities' case relied on imams citing passages from the Quran and major Islamic works like 'The Garden of the Righteous' and 'The Forty Hadiths,' which are part of the tradition of 13th-century scholar Imam al-Nawawi.
Chekkat announced plans to file an appeal before the Council of State, asserting that the ruling infringes upon religious freedom and freedom of expression. The authorities also objected to sermons that evoked 'hell' and 'punishments of the grave' for 'unbelievers,' a practice Chekkat noted is mirrored in other religious preachings.
Judges ruled that the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, Julien Charles, who issued the initial order, did not commit a serious or manifestly illegal infringement of religious or expressive freedoms. Chekkat described the decision as disappointing and surprising, suggesting that the Council of State might offer a more legal and less political review. This case follows a trend of increased state pressure on Muslim institutions in France, with numerous mosques closed and organizations dissolved in recent years, raising concerns about the restriction of religious freedoms.