Secular France Finds Islam Refuge
Filling a spiritual gap in their secular homeland, a growing number of French are reverting to Islam, defying government and public hostile attitudes toward the Muslim faith.
“The conversion phenomenon is significant and impressive, particularly since 2000,” Bernard Godard, who is in charge of religious issues at the Interior Ministry, told The New York Times on Monday, February 4.
Estimates show that about 150 Muslim conversion ceremonies are held annually in the snow-white structure of the Sahaba mosque in Créteil.
Though it is relatively small in France, this number of converts presents a growing challenge to French government after doubling in the past 25 years.
According to Godard, of an estimated six million Muslims in France, about 100,000 are thought to be converts, compared with about 50,000 in 1986.
Muslim associations say the number is as high as 200,000.
Highlighting the increasing number of converts, many experts referred to a major change in the nature of conversions.
In Marseille, on the southern coast, “conversions have increased at an incredible pace in the last three years,” said Abderrahmane Ghoul, the imam of the Marseille mosque and the president of the local branch of the French Council of the Muslim Faith.
Ghoul signed about 130 conversion certificates in 2012.
Other Muslim imams think conversions have also been propelled by France’s official secularism, which breeds spiritual emptiness.
“Secularism has become antireligious,” Hassen Chalghoumi, the moderate imam of Drancy, another suburb near Paris, said.
“Therefore, it has created an opposite phenomenon. It has allowed people to discover Islam.”
Many experts, however, note the influence of celebrity converts who found Islam, particularly football players like Nicolas Anelka, who converted in 2004, and Franck Ribéry in 2006.
Source: Onislam.net
Estimates show that about 150 Muslim conversion ceremonies are held annually in the snow-white structure of the Sahaba mosque in Créteil.
Though it is relatively small in France, this number of converts presents a growing challenge to French government after doubling in the past 25 years.
According to Godard, of an estimated six million Muslims in France, about 100,000 are thought to be converts, compared with about 50,000 in 1986.
Muslim associations say the number is as high as 200,000.
Highlighting the increasing number of converts, many experts referred to a major change in the nature of conversions.
In Marseille, on the southern coast, “conversions have increased at an incredible pace in the last three years,” said Abderrahmane Ghoul, the imam of the Marseille mosque and the president of the local branch of the French Council of the Muslim Faith.
Ghoul signed about 130 conversion certificates in 2012.
Other Muslim imams think conversions have also been propelled by France’s official secularism, which breeds spiritual emptiness.
“Secularism has become antireligious,” Hassen Chalghoumi, the moderate imam of Drancy, another suburb near Paris, said.
“Therefore, it has created an opposite phenomenon. It has allowed people to discover Islam.”
Many experts, however, note the influence of celebrity converts who found Islam, particularly football players like Nicolas Anelka, who converted in 2004, and Franck Ribéry in 2006.
Source: Onislam.net
