Fadlullah calls on France's Muslims to play an influential role in French politics, based on abidance by French laws
| Fadlullah: Six Million Muslims Cannot Stay on the Sidelines of French Politics |
On June 29, Lebanese Religious Scholar and Authority, Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, addressed French Muslims in a statement reported by the Lebanese News Agency: "The religious scholar and authority Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah has called on France's Muslims to act in line with their French citizenship and to live it fully like other French citizens, while affirming their Islamic identity. He stressed that there is no contradiction between the two. He also emphasized to Muslims the need to participate effectively in exercising influence, not only on French domestic policy but also in formulating France's general national foreign policy, in a manner that reflects the depth of the human value of France's activity, especially as the principles of the French Revolution have focused on the values of liberty and justice for nations.
Sayyed Fadlullah noted that the interests of Muslims in France are determined by French Muslims themselves, and not by this or that state, for however great is the concern for those interests such concern can only lead -and that has actually happened -to harmful divisions that paralyze the Muslim community and deflect it from its main issues. He called on aware and sincere sections of the Muslim community in France to strive by all means to overcome the repercussions of the sharp disagreements among the bodies that represent Muslims, for those disagreements threaten the community's interests and lead to internal Muslim conflicts, at a time when the need for unity is of great importance, especially in light of the ferocious onslaught on Islam in Europe today.
Sayyed Fadlullah’s call came in a statement he addressed to France's Muslims in the wake of sharp disagreements among the Muslim community in France. The statement says in part:
There have been sharp disagreements recently among the Muslim community in France over more than one issue, and particularly over representation within the Council of France's Muslims. Notwithstanding our appreciation for the need to organize the Muslim presence in the West, and specifically in France, and regardless of the nature of the representative framework of that presence, we -from a position or religious responsibility and from a stance of concern for the civilized image of Muslims and their distinguished position - emphasize several matters including:
First: The interests of Muslims in France are determined by the Muslims' themselves, and not by this or that state, for however great is the concern for those interests such concern can only lead -and that has actually happened -to harmful divisions that paralyze the Muslim community and deflect it from its main issues. That permits the infiltration of numerous forces and persons and enables them to influence or harm the interests of France's Muslims.
Therefore, aware and sincere sections of the Muslim community in France must strive by all means to overcome the repercussions of the sharp disagreements among the bodies that represent Muslims, for those disagreements threaten the community's interests and lead to internal Muslim conflicts, at a time when the need for unity is of great importance, especially in light of the ferocious onslaught on Islam in Europe today.
Second: France's Muslims must act in line with their French citizenship and live it fully like other French citizens, while affirming their Islamic identity. There is no contradiction between the two spheres except in the minds of some people. Therefore, the concerns and issues of France's Muslims are always inseparable from the concerns and issues of the French people.
Their political, economic, social, and cultural problems are almost the same, and that calls for paying attention to them and proposing solutions to those problems, in accordance with the principle that they are French citizens and are affected like other compatriots by the same problems. Therefore, they should define their demands as being demands that serve the interests of the French people, and thus they will emphasize their national affiliation, and open up -from their Islamic and human stance -to the causes of Muslims and humans outside their French particularity.
From this premise, it is the duty of France's Muslims to participate effectively in influencing not only French domestic policy, but also in influencing the formulation of France's general national foreign policy, and thus reflect the depth of the human value of France's activity, especially as the principles of the French Revolution have focused on the values of liberty and justice for nations.
We call on France's Muslims to find the appropriate formula that enables them to play an influential role in French politics, based on abidance by French laws. That is right, just and legal. Approximately six million people cannot at all be on the French sidelines, for that will create problems, which everyone can do without.
Finally: In this context we are not talking about a sectarian stand, nor are we provoking people's sensibilities, bearing in mind that France remains Catholic at heart, despite declarations about its secularity. What concerns us is the issue of equality in rights and duties. We are pained by the difficult conditions experienced by the Muslim community as a result of what Zionist propaganda has done - in complete freedom - to distort the image of Muslims and to complicate their affairs.
Thus, Muslims were unjustly accused of engaging in violence and terror at times, and of being backward and savage at others, although numerically they are the second in France. While we call on the French government to shoulder its responsibilities in this regard, we similarly call on Muslims to seek to correct the image of Muslims by showing as much as possible the features of their cultural, civilizational, and humanitarian identity