Most of Paris mosques can no longer accommodate Muslim worshippers

By Hadi Yahmed, IOL Correspondent

PARIS , June 5 (IslamOnline.net) – The number of mosques in France has increased to at least 1554 by the end of 2003, moving from rented underground rooms to owned places of worship in public places and squares, according to a field study by a French Muslim group on the danger of Islamophobia.

Citing the study findings in the new edition of his book on mosques in France, French journalist and Islamic affairs expert Xavier Ternisien said the Paris northern suburb of Saint Denis hosts alone 97 mosques while there are 73 others in north France .

Ternisien, Le Monde reporter, stressed that France 's Islam has moved to the open and parted with vault prayer rooms, which had in the past been exploited by some to describe Islam as an underground religion.

Mosques are now being built on Muslims' properties and not leased spaces as in the past, he noted.

The French expert said that the current number of mosques is enough but they need to be expanded to accommodate French Muslims.

With mosques fully packed in the Paris neighborhoods of Belle Ville and Barbes, scores of Muslim worshippers are forced to prayer in the streets.

Underground

Ternisien charged that some people started using reference to vault prayer rooms to feed fears and allegations that Islam is an underground religion breeding on fanaticism.

The French expert recalled that the first generation of French Muslims used to perform their prayers in dormitories and small rooms in major factories.

He added that this was initiated by Pakistani workers who turned small rooms for lunch breaks and clothes in the factories into prayer rooms.

Ternisien asserted that the number of worship places has been increasing since 1980 after workers from North African countries were allowed to bring their families from their homes to settle together in France .

He added that the 1991 Gulf War caused an identity crisis to young Muslims from the second and third generations who went in droves to mosques seeking to get in touch with their lost identity.

The French expert noted that the Palestinian Intifada also encouraged more Muslims to return to mosques.

Racism

Ternisien said mosques burn the blunt of most racist attacks on Islamic symbols in the country.

He recalled that since 2001 several mosques were hit by arson attacks and Molotov cocktails.

Other assaults including the drawing of swastikas on the walls of mosques and houses of imams, added the French expert.

He noted, however, that neither human rights organizations nor Muslim associations attempted an estimate of such attacks.