2024-04-22 07:18:33
A European alliance of mosques and Islamic leaders seeking to field candidates for the European Parliament met this Friday, for the first time, in Paris, to promote a just Islam and fight against discrimination against Muslims.
The Alliance of Mosques, Associations and Muslim Leaders in Europe (Ammale) was officially launched on October 7, 2023, in Paris, with Muslim leaders from 17 countries.
But the birth of the alliance was overshadowed by the attack by the Palestinian extremist group Hamas in Israel, which occurred on the same day, according to the French agency AFP.
The objective of the alliance is “to unite the voices and efforts of Muslim institutions and personalities from across Europe”, said the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris (GMP), Chems-eddine Hafiz, at a press conference.
Ammale, which also phonetically means “hope”, is an association under French law, organized around GMP, which finances it.
It aims to coordinate actions to combat hatred and discrimination against Muslims, promote the humanist values of Islam, fight radicalization and oppose the extreme right.
Hafiz, who is also president of Ammale, said he was “aware of the increase in misunderstanding, intolerance and racism through political and media movements”.
“We are going to participate in the European elections”, he announced, defending “a fair Islam”.
Ammale vice-president and secretary general of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Adbassamad El Yazidi, said the alliance aims to “mobilize people to participate in the elections”.
He argued that it was necessary to confront an extreme right that wants “European states to turn against the founding values of Europe”.
Other representative associations already exist in Europe, such as the European Council of Muslim Leaders (Eulema), but Ammale leaders said they bring together those who are close to what the GMP represents.
“That is, a Sunni and Maliki school of thought,” said Hafiz, referring to the Islamic legal school founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century.
He added that there are several schools of thought and that “the doors are open”.
“We have to vote for the Europeans so the extreme right does not separate Europe”
Ammale brings together institutions from France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine, according to the published founding minutes on the GMP website.
The elections for the European Parliament take place between June 6th and 9th.
2024-04-22 07:18:33