Foundation to finance Islam in France

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   Foundation created to finance Islam in France  

PARIS, March 21 (AFP) - French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin and leaders of the country's Muslim community on Monday signed the statutes setting up a "Foundation for Islam" which will be used to finance the development of the religion in France. 
Relying on private donations from France and abroad, the Foundation will spend money on building and renovating mosques and prayer halls, and training imams and chaplains for the estimated five million strong community. 
In conformity with France's strict separation of religion and state, the body will receive no public money. However its funds will be banked at the state-owned Caisse des Depots et Consignations - which will guarantee financial  

transparency. 
Islam in France has for years been funded by foreign governments and donors, but there has been no public oversight over how the funds have been spent. 
Muslim leaders hailed the Foundation as an important step towards the "institutionalisation" of France's second largest religion. 
It comes two years after the establishment of the Council for the French Religion in France (CFCM) - Islam's first ever officially-recognised representative body in the country. 
Leaders of the four main groups inside the CFCM were at Monday's signing ceremony and will administer the Foundation's funds. 
They are the Union of Islamic Organisations in France (UOIF) which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood movement; the National Federation of Muslims in France (FNMF) which is linked to Morocco: the Grand Mosque of Paris, which is close to Algeria; and the Coordination Committee of Turkish Muslims in France. 
In response to criticism that "the big four" are monopolising power in the Muslim community, other groups and independents will also be represented. 
The Foundation will start operating in a few months, once the state council - France's highest administrative court - gives its approval, Villepin said. 
Intense debate broke out over the funding of Islam when Villepin's predecessor - Nicolas Sarkozy - suggested in a recent book that the best way of bringing the Muslim community into the mainstream would be to break France's century-old taboo and provide public money for mosques and imams. 
The idea was shot down by most of the political establishment.

� AFP 

Edited by semar

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semar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Male Islam Joined: 11 March 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1830	Post Options Post Reply Quote semar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Foundation to finance Islam in France Posted: 27 March 2005 at 12:15am
	Foundation created to finance Islam in France PARIS, March 21 (AFP) - French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin and leaders of the country's Muslim community on Monday signed the statutes setting up a "Foundation for Islam" which will be used to finance the development of the religion in France. Relying on private donations from France and abroad, the Foundation will spend money on building and renovating mosques and prayer halls, and training imams and chaplains for the estimated five million strong community. In conformity with France's strict separation of religion and state, the body will receive no public money. However its funds will be banked at the state-owned Caisse des Depots et Consignations - which will guarantee financial transparency. Islam in France has for years been funded by foreign governments and donors, but there has been no public oversight over how the funds have been spent. Muslim leaders hailed the Foundation as an important step towards the "institutionalisation" of France's second largest religion. It comes two years after the establishment of the Council for the French Religion in France (CFCM) - Islam's first ever officially-recognised representative body in the country. Leaders of the four main groups inside the CFCM were at Monday's signing ceremony and will administer the Foundation's funds. They are the Union of Islamic Organisations in France (UOIF) which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood movement; the National Federation of Muslims in France (FNMF) which is linked to Morocco: the Grand Mosque of Paris, which is close to Algeria; and the Coordination Committee of Turkish Muslims in France. In response to criticism that "the big four" are monopolising power in the Muslim community, other groups and independents will also be represented. The Foundation will start operating in a few months, once the state council - France's highest administrative court - gives its approval, Villepin said. Intense debate broke out over the funding of Islam when Villepin's predecessor - Nicolas Sarkozy - suggested in a recent book that the best way of bringing the Muslim community into the mainstream would be to break France's century-old taboo and provide public money for mosques and imams. The idea was shot down by most of the political establishment. � AFP Edited by semar
	Salam/Peace, Semar "We are people who do not eat until we are hungry and do not eat to our fill." (Prophet Muhammad PBUH) "1/3 of your stomach for food, 1/3 for water, 1/3 for air"

Lale Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 25 March 2005 Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lale Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27 March 2005 at 1:48am
	Unfortunately, they do not mention that it was the french government who decided who was eligible to take part in the election for the CFCM - so it means, the government decides, whose masjids can be financed. What if next they decide to throw out one of the other groups like the did not accept one of the major turkish groups? For me it feels like the effort to try to buy the right to decide which kind of Islam we will be allowed to live. Salam Lale