Muslim Street Prayer Banned in Paris, Other Cities in France to Follow
A new law in Paris will mean that Muslims caught praying in the streets of the capital will be arrested. French interior minister Claude Gueant, a right-winger who champions secularism in France, said the hundreds of worshippers facing down onto the streets “hurt the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens.”
He said the new law would also be applied in other French cities.
“My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied,” said Gueant. “Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism.”
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He added: “All Muslim leaders are in agreement.”
Sheikh Mohamed Salah Hamza, a mosque leader near Paris, says he fears a “climate of anarchy,” saying that the French government was treating Muslims like “cattle.”
Places of worship do not get public funding in France. In 1905 a new law which separates Church from state prevents public funding of any places of worship.
“This is another example of the government clamping down on Muslims, and the Muslim way of life,” said Abdul Sidiqi, a Muslim living in France. “If they do not want to see us in the street, then they should provide more Mosques. What is going on is scandalous. The government is creating problems which do not really exist to put us in our place.”
However, Gueant’s spokesman said empty buildings around Paris may be used by Muslim worshippers while they await new mosques.
