One year after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) called for an “open mosque” weekend across France, but the results are uneven, reports FRANCE 24.
The mosque of Puteaux might be the most open one in France. The building has been under construction since 2011, so there are literally no doors, only scaffolding and steel beams. On Saturday morning, smiling members of the congregation set up long tables on the unfinished concrete floors and offered hot tea and North African sweets, encouraging passersby to take a tour of the future Islamic cultural centre.
Anouar Kbibech, president of the CFCM, was on hand to endorse Puteaux’s efforts and to explain the open mosque program, which he announced to Le Parisien on December 26.
“The idea is to involve people in a dialogue, away from prejudices, fears and clichés, which unfortunately were brought out after the tragic attacks of January and November,” Kbibech said.
For some visitors to the Puteaux mosque, it was the first time making contact with a member of the town’s Muslim community.
Marie Lebossé, 33, looked like she was dressed to go jogging but had stopped at the mosque for a cup of tea. She’s lived in the neighbourhood for two years but didn’t know anyone from the congregation. “I had a really nice visit,” she said. “It’s important that people from different backgrounds get together.”
Valérie and Thomas, a couple from the neighbourhood, hadn’t realised that there was a mosque being built on the site but were happy to be invited inside. “The people here are just like us,” Valérie said. “There’s no difference.”
Mohamed El Madani, a member of the mosque’s board of directors, gave a tour of the building’s five unfinished floors. He pointed out two floors that would become prayer halls to accommodate the 800 to 900 people who come to pray, spaces for offices and meeting rooms, and two more floors for classrooms where children would learn Arabic. According to El Madani, a solid Muslim education is a defense against radicalisation.
“It’s easy for someone with a big beard to come along and say, ‘This is what the Koran means,’ and if you don’t speak Arabic you might believe it,” El Madani said.
Lahssen Baba, president of the Islamic Solidarity Association of Puteaux, explained that reaching out is nothing new for the town’s Muslim community. The mosque helps organise regular interfaith dialogues, with the next one to be held on January 26 in the congregation’s temporary prayer hall in La Défense.
“The Catholic parish is across the street from us, and one of the rabbis from Neuilly lives down the block,” explained El Madani. “There’s a lot of interfaith dialogue.”