This is a notable fact in the desire of the Grand Mosque of Paris to promote an Islam anchored in France: the rector of the Parisian Muslim institution, Chems-eddine Hafiz, asked Thursday, January 9, the imams of the country to introduce the end of their Friday sermons an invocation for France.
In a letter dated today, he urges them to recite the following invocation, in French and Arabic: “O Allah, preserve France, its people and the institutions of the Republic. Make France a prosperous, secure and peaceful country, where the national community, in its diversity, its different religions, its confessions and its beliefs, coexist in security and peace. Amin. »
The invocation is intended to be said at the end of the sermon, at the time when the imam traditionally pronounces prayers for the sick, the poor, or peace. “The ministries of worship of other religions in France have already been doing this for many years,” specifies the rector in his press release. Although it is not systematic in the Catholic Church, prayer for the country or its leaders is frequent during universal prayer during Sunday mass. The Jews say “prayer for the Republic” every week in synagogues during Shabbat services.
Think tank on the adaptation of Islamic discourse in France
Officialized today by the Grand Mosque of Paris, the idea of this initiative dates back to the trauma caused by the assassination of Samuel Paty in October 2020. “The problem that arose at the time was to see how we could integrate, like other ministers of religion, a prayer for the Republic,” trace back to The Cross Chems-eddine Hafiz. Imams from the Grand Mosque of Paris then began to make this invocation, which some resumed on October 7, 2023, after the bloody attacks by Hamas against Israel.
The introduction of this prayer is also part of the work of a think tank launched by the Grand Mosque of Paris in March2023 aimed at adapting Muslim religious discourse in a secularized society like France. “On this occasion, we talked a lot about the role of the imam and his speech, asking ourselves the question of whether the sermons should be identical in Algiers, in Tunis or in Paris. »
For the rector, adapting the speech to the French context included explicit mentions. “I said that the imam in his sermon had to be based on French cultural and historical references, and that is when we added the question of the imams’ prayer for the Republic. » “I proposed it in a desire for national cohesion”, he adds.
While the work of this working group is about to end, Chems-eddine Hafiz asked the imams to start saying this invocation this Friday, January 10. If this recommendation – which is not an obligation – is addressed to all imams in France, it mainly concerns those who officiate in mosques affiliated with the Grand Mosque of Paris, the others not having a direct link with this institution .
Publication of a document at the end of April
The final document of the think tank on the adaptation of Muslim discourse in France should be published at the end of April 2025 by Albouraq editions. Building on the work of two commissions, one religious and the other made up of people from civil society, the group first worked to identify regular points of friction in society over Islam, to then work on the adaptation of Muslim religious discourse in the French context. In addition to imams and Muslim experts, representatives of Al-Azhar University in Cairo and Zitouna University in Tunis were consulted.
The document will notably include a charter and a glossary giving Islamic recommendations on several subjects such as « the veil » or “freedom of conscience”, but also “prayer or ablution”. The rector hopes that this work of reflection will allow “for Muslims and non-Muslims to be able to agree on what Muslim practice is in a non-Muslim country”.
