Beauvais mosque closed for six months

For nearly ten years, the faithful of the future Bilal mosque, in Beauvais (Oise), have been collecting funds to finance the construction of a new place of worship, still unfinished. They have been praying a few meters away for more than four years in a temporary prayer room. Monday, December 27, the prefect of the department, Corinne Orzechowski, signed the decree recording the administrative closure of the premises for six months, following a procedure initiated on December 10. In question, the sermons of a fighting imam “Christians, homosexuals, Jews”, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on CNews on December 14. “I do not have a trembling hand against people who deeply attack our republican model and France”, he added.

The imam in question, a convert from the nearby town of Creil who studied at the Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia, was reportedly presented as “An occasional speaker” by the socio-cultural association Hope and Fraternity (ASCEF), manager of the place of worship, when he was in reality “A regular imam”.

In its closing decree, the prefecture of Oise mentions sermons “Valuing jihad as a ‘duty'”, “glorifying the combatants whom he describes as” heroes “in the service of the protection of the Muslim religion which would, according to him, be threatened by Western societies”, that he accuses of being “Islamophobes”, composed “Disbelievers, rapists and murderers”, inciting the faithful to “Break with the Republic” and urging them to “Identity withdrawal”.

The man would otherwise have defended “A rigorous and radical practice of Islam” and advocated “A strict application of the wearing of the Islamic veil”, not hesitating to hold “Discriminatory or even violent remarks against women who do not comply with this” obligation “, comparing them to” inhabitants of hell “and legitimizing their punishment”. All of these words can “Be regarded as provoking violence, hatred or discrimination with the aim of provoking the commission of acts of terrorism or defending such acts”, is it concluded in the decree.

“Unfair to penalize the faithful”

In a press release, the city of Beauvais affirmed, in mid-December, “Trust the state”, while stressing that, “In these always sensitive situations, it is advisable not to assimilate the sermons of one or a few with all French people of Muslim faith”.

You have 66.03% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.