The Grand Mosque of Paris, 'part of the French Republic' for 100 years
Built to honour Muslim troops who died in the First World War, the Grand Mosque was officially opened on 15 July, 1926, at a time when France still ruled over a vast colonial empire that included swathes of Africa and the Middle East.
It remains the largest mosque in France and a prominent symbol of the country's roughly 5 million Muslim residents.
Hafiz, an Algerian-born lawyer, has been its rector since January 2020.
RFI: The Grand Mosque was inaugurated in the era of colonialism. Today, it aims to be fully integrated within France's republican system. How do you view this development?
Chems-Eddine Hafiz: The Paris Mosque already became fully part of the French Republic when it was inaugurated. When this mosque was conceived, designed and built, it wasn't a whim or some irrational impulse. It stems from something fundamental: the Muslim blood shed for the liberation of France. Those Muslims were brave. They fought in the most difficult and gruelling theatres of war. The supreme sacrifice made by these Muslims – who came notably from countries colonised by France, and represent both North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa – was a testament to the commitment that Islam, as a religion, expects of Muslims when they sign up or when they're called upon: to always show up, both out of solidarity and a broader sense of belonging to humanity.
How did France respond? It could have done the bare minimum and built this mosque in a working-class Muslim neighbourhood of the time. You might argue that the mosque's construction was exploited for political ends, but I want to emphasise something: the site that was chosen. In Paris, the City of Light, it's a stone's throw from the Panthéon and the Sorbonne, in the Latin Quarter... Today, 100 years on, this is the message the Grand Mosque of Paris wants to convey: that it forms part of France's cultural heritage. The mosque does not only represent a religion – through this identity, it represents the entire French nation. The minaret and facade of the Great Mosque of Paris, designed in Arabo-Andalusian class and listed as a historic monument since 1983.
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RFI: The mosque's location in the heart of the Latin Quarter – a long way from working-class neighbourhoods – raises questions about how accessible it is for worshippers. Do you think that comes from a political calculation on the part of the authorities at the time?
CEH: Certainly, when it comes to the history of the Grand Mosque, I don't believe it was the worshippers who decided at a certain moment to build a mosque. There wasn't really a large community of worshippers at the time, like there is today.
Today I think that, symbolically, Muslims still take pride in it, even if they [have to] travel a long way. If you visit other mosques in France, few of them are in city centres. But at the same time, it's part of our history. I think the pride that Muslims experience in coming somewhere like this allows them to feel like they're worshipping in a place that's worthy. Secularism in France, as defined by the law of 1905, symbolises the freedom to practise our religion. Whatever anyone chooses to believe in, they have that freedom. I don't believe distance is a barrier. A worker on the construction site of the Grand Mosque in the 1920s. Over four years, 450 craftsmen and artists from the Maghreb helped to build the complex.
But I do take your point. The main question is the true intention of the authorities at the time. Personally, I would say that it doesn't matter today – it was the French colonial empire of the time that took the decision to build this mosque. Bear in mind they could have done it differently. On the day the first stone was laid, Marshal Hubert Lyautey [France's resident general in Morocco] declared that the minaret "will send just one more prayer rising towards the beautiful sky of Île-de-France, and the Catholic towers of Notre-Dame will not be jealous".
Given France is the eldest daughter of the Church, it is important for us Muslims to say: "I am a citizen in my own right and I have no reason to be ashamed of my religion, because this religion has also been recognised symbolically through the Paris Mosque." Above all else, I believe that the dignity of Muslims lives on through the history of the Paris Mosque.
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RFI: You regularly draw attention to the shortage of Muslim places of worship in France compared to other faiths. What do you think would help solve the problem?
CEH: Firstly, we live in a secular state. It's quite difficult to get assistance to establish a Muslim place of worship. However, several projects to build mosques are under way, facilitated by circulars from the Ministry of the Interior. These days, Muslims organisations can obtain long-term leases and financial support to set up a place of worship.
After the Covid-19 lockdown, religious observance across all faiths has resurged. The Grand Mosque gets extremely busy on Fridays. I'm glad, because it proves the mosque is thriving. But at the same time, you see there is currently a glaring shortage of places to worship. The state has begun to make an effort, and as Muslims we must make a major effort.
I'd like to use this opportunity to say that we shouldn't try to build mosques that are too large. As villages in France have grown, we've ended up with two or three churches in a single urban area, and some churches are practically empty today. I wouldn't want mosques to find themselves in the same situation 50 years from now. We know we're in a secular state where we can't draw on public funds to maintain our places of worship. It is up to us – the associations that manage our mosques – to take responsibility. Muslims pray at the Great Mosque of Paris at the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan, on 15 June 2018.
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RFI: The resurgence of interest in religion is particularly marked among young people. Many of them get their information from social media, where they may be exposed to simplistic or even extremist religious messages. What can the Paris Mosque do in response?
CEH: You're right, more and more young people these days openly display their religion. Historically, the Grand Mosque of Paris was a place for so-called chibanis [older Muslim immigrants] to worship. Today the average age, from what I see after Friday prayers, is 17 to 18, people of all skin colours and ethnic backgrounds. But at the same time, they are all committed to the Republic, they are all French citizens and have no complexes about being Muslim. If you can be a good Muslim, you should also be a good citizen. The two are not incompatible – quite the contrary, since our teachings state that to be be a good Muslim, you have to be a useful part of the society you live in, whatever that society may be.
One particularity of Islam is that there is no single leader, as there is with the Church and the Vatican. Islam is truly a religion of free will. When you read the Koran, it tells you what is right and what is wrong. It's up to you to choose. For the past five or six years, the Grand Mosque of Paris has been trying to provide young people with as much information as possible through the medium they use, social networks... On social media today, there are people who proclaim themselves to be theologians or imams and who, whether out of naivety or from ulterior motives, are giving these young people the wrong information. For my part, I urge young people not simply to believe what the Paris Mosque says – that would be too easy – but at least to get involved. Muslims pray at the Paris Mosque during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, 13 April 2021.
RFI: What do you think will be the watchword for the next 100 years of the Grand Mosque?
CEH: The Grand Mosque of Paris is part of the Republic. I would like all Muslims to be part of the Republic. Today, as a Muslim, I wish to be a full citizen and I hope that in the coming century Muslims will be fully integrated into French society. It is so important for us to be citizens. Because, as I have always said, laïcité [secularism] is an opportunity for Muslims... Secularism, contrary to what some have sought to make us believe, is not the enemy of Islam.
Today, we have a brotherhood that unites us. The main thing is that you and I share a bond: we belong to the same country. We share the same destiny, we dream of the same things.
I'll end with this verse from the Koran, which says God could have made us all alike, but instead He said: "I have created you different from one another so that you reach out to one another and get to know each other better." That is the beauty of the Muslim faith.
This interview has been translated from the original version in French by Alexis Pignolet and lightly edited.