French president asks for measures to combat Muslim Brotherhood threat

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked the government to formulate "new proposals" in light of the "seriousness of the facts" mentioned in a declassified report on the supposed gradual infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood in France.

Commissioned last year by then interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, the confidential 73-page document, revealed by Le Figaro on Tuesday, warns of a "threat to national cohesion" with the development of Islamism "from below".

It estimates that 139 mosques or places of worship are affiliated with Musulmans de France (Muslims of France), a group identified as "the national branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in France", and lists "280 associations affiliated with the movement".

The report asserts that the educational sector is one of the Muslim Brotherhood's preferred targets, with "21 establishments identified as linked to the 'Brotherhood' movement" as of September 2023.

"The reality of this threat, even if it is based on a long-term horizon and does not involve violent action, poses the risk of harming the associative fabric and republican institutions [...] and, more broadly, national cohesion," the report states.

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Its authors highlight the "subversive nature of the project promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood," which aims "to work over the long term to gradually obtain changes to local or national rules," particularly those concerning secularism and gender equality.

The report stresses on the existence of a Muslim Brotherhood "risk" in France, where Muslims increasingly have a "feeling of 'Islamophobia,' which is tending to become a belief in 'state-sponsored Islamophobia'”.

On Wednesday, Macron convened a Defence Council meeting to discuss the report, flanked by his key ministers.

The council also addressed the issue of social media, which "constitutes a vector for Islamists who exploit current events and challenge what the Republic stands for in terms of secularism, particularly to try to demonstrate that the state is Islamophobic."

The Elysee vowed to alert on the "threat" of the Muslim Brotherhood's “entryism”, which it defined as a "bottom-up" effort consisting of "using concealment to conquer power structures, replace the rules of social life and implement the rules of Sharia law".

As a sign of disagreements at the highest level, the Defence Council issued no measure as previously announced.

"Given the importance of the issue and the seriousness of the established facts, [the president] asked the government to formulate new proposals, which will be examined at a future Defence Council meeting in early June," a statement read.

The presidency also promised to release a detailed version of the report "by the end of the week," a rare statement for a Defence Council.

‘Permanent suspicion’

The report has sparked fierce criticism within the Muslim community, starting with the incriminated Musulmans de France, which denounced "unfounded accusations".

"We firmly reject any allegation that would attempt to associate us with a foreign political project or an entryist strategy," the group said.

"Conflations, even involuntary, between Islam, political Islamism and radicalism are not only dangerous, but counterproductive for the Republic itself."

"Behind these unfounded accusations, a stigmatisation of Islam and Muslims is emerging."

Likewise, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Chems-eddine Hafiz, on Thursday said the mosque "has always defended a vision of Islam compatible with the letter and spirit of the principles of the Republic," and "always refused to allow Islam to be misused for political ends aimed at fracturing the national community".

However, he added, "it also refuses to allow the legitimate fight against Islamism to become a pretext to stigmatise Muslims and serve particular political agendas," deploring "the construction of a Muslim problem and the insidious development of an increasingly unashamed discriminatory rhetoric."

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), a former representative body for Islam, also expressed its "deep concern about possible abuses and instrumentalisations".

The CFCM highlighted its fight against Islamist extremism, however, it stressed that "the absence of clear definitions of the concepts" used in the report "maintains harmful confusion".

"Many Muslim citizens today feel they are no longer immune to permanent suspicion," it added.

Muslim blogger Al Kanz denounced on X a "conspiratorial outburst" that "endangers not only overt Muslims but all those who can be assimilated to them".

'Delusional theories'

The report was also criticised by the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party. Its leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, said on X that "Islamophobia had crossed a threshold".

"A Defence Council around the president accredits the delusional theories of [Interior Minister Bruno] Retailleau and [far-right leader Marine] Le Pen," he said, adding that Macron would "destroy our country".

'Behind these unfounded accusations, a stigmatisation of Islam and Muslims is emerging'

- Musulmans de France

"This kind of method has already been applied in the past, first against Protestants and Jews," Melenchon said, warning that the government’s action "leads directly to an unleashing of cruel inquisitions against individuals [and is] disastrous for the unity of the country".

The methodology used for drafting the report has also raised questions.

According to Mediapart, one of the people interviewed by the rapporteurs indicated that they "clearly felt that it was a political commission, the conclusions of which had practically been written in advance by the government".

Recognised specialists on the subject such as researchers Vincent Geisser and Margot Dazey also refused to be interviewed by the rapporteurs, the outlet said.

Proposal to ban hijab in public for under 15

The issue of the so-called "Muslim Brotherhood entryism" in France has been the focus of attention in parts of the French political and media scene for months.

Evoking a "shocking" document that details how "France [is] increasingly corrupted" by a "sprawling networks, [a] secret organisation [and] Islamised neighbourhoods," right-wing media outlets have multiplied the articles on the much-heralded report, the publication of which has been announced for over a year.

Several voices have denounced the political exploitation of the issue, starting by the current right-wing interior minister.

Retailleau, known for his uncompromising stance against immigration, has made it his hobby horse, promising for weeks to reveal the declassified report, which he deemed "damning" and a testament that an "insidious” and “combative” Islamism aims to "slide all of French society into sharia law".

In recent days, the issue has been the subject of a flurry of political proposals.

Right-wing politician Xavier Bertrand called for "a republican offensive" because we "must be uncompromising with the enemies of the Republic, the Islamists," while the president of the far-right National Rally party Jordan Bardella called for "the Muslim Brotherhood to be banned" and for "all its supporters to be combated administratively".

The idea that generated the most reaction came from Renaissance, Macron's centre-right party, whose secretary general, former prime minister Gabriel Attal, initiated the ban on wearing the abaya, a loose traditional dress covering the arms and legs, in schools in 2023.

On Tuesday, Le Parisien revealed that Attal planned to propose a series of measures including a "law against Islamist entryism" and banning the hijab in public spaces for minors under the age of 15, as the report expresses concern about a "massive and visible increase in the number of little girls wearing the veil".

The proposal, whose constitutionality could be called into question, has drawn criticism even from within his party.

For a decade, successive French governments have vowed to combat the supposed influence of political Islam in the country.

Several measures have been taken in this regard, such as the dissolution of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), the termination of the contract with the Averroes Muslim high school, and the withdrawal of subsidies received by sports or cultural associations considered to be infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2020, former interior minister Darmanin even accused footballer Karim Benzema of having "notorious links" with the movement.

In 2021, France adopted a controversial law pushed forward by Macron to combat “separatism”.

The legislation has been accused by its detractors of being discriminatory against Muslims by broadening the grounds for closing mosques and dissolving community organisations, restricting home schooling and introducing an offence of "separatism" punishable by up to five years in prison.

Pending the measures announced by Macron on Wednesday, French Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad already announced on Monday that he would ask Brussels to "strengthen controls" on European funding to ensure it does not go to actors "linked to antisemitism or Islamism".

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