Islamic Religious Education in the French Muslim Diaspora
Muslims, who constitute the second most populous faith group in France, constitute approximately 10% of the population with their numbers close to 6 million. With this number and ratio, the country with the highest Muslim population among European countries is France. Nevertheless, France is the country with the least legal regulations in its constitution regarding religion and beliefs. This indifference that France generally attaches to religion and to the problems of Muslims in particular makes the problems of the Muslim diaspora even more difficult.
The Muslim population in France, which emerged with the immigration of Muslims from the Maghreb after the First World War, became more intense with the Muslim migration from different parts of the world after the Second World War. The increasing Muslim population has brought with it some demands based on belief. Among these demands, Islamic Religious Education, which is seen as a carrier of identity, has recently been brought to the agenda by both Muslims and French authorities. For this reason, Muslims try to provide Islamic religious education to those who want to meet in their daily life (center, mosque, school, community, etc.). Today, increasing demands on Islamic religious education; issues such as institutionalization, legal infrastructure, the content of religious education, the language of education, the competence of the teacher and the training of these trainers have also become controversial areas for the Muslim diaspora.
The topics to be covered in the workshop are listed below.
- What is the constitutional and legislative dimension of Islamic religious education in France?
- Is France's secular identity an obstacle to religious education?
- How is the need for religious education for Muslims met in France?
- How are the training and selection of religious educators as well as religious education?
- Is there a difference between public and private schools regarding religious education? If yes, what are they?
What could be the underlying reasons why France does not allow religious education for Muslims?
- Are there any differences and different practices regarding the legal dimension of Islamic religious education in different regions of France?
- How is Islamic religious education conducted through mosques and private organizations (associations and communities)?
- What kinds of opportunities do the countries of origin of the Muslim Diaspora offer for religious education?
- How does the religious education issue affect the relations between France and the countries to which the Muslim Diaspora belongs in terms of origin?
- When did the issue of Islamic religious education of the Muslim diaspora in France started to be discussed?
