The sound of Arabic mingles with the birdsong
Posted on 04/20/2003 9:10:05 AM PDT by nwrep
France's Islamic heartland
by Hugh Schofield
The wooded hills of deepest Burgundy are the unlikely setting for a place that could play a key role in the development of a European Islamic identity.
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The sound of Arabic mingles with the birdsong
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The unhelpfully-named European Institute for Human Sciences (IESH) is in fact a theological college, which for 13 years has been training up a new generation of indigenous imams for France and the rest of the continent.
In the heart of what the French call "La France profonde" (deepest France) - amid the herds of cream-coloured cattle and the breathtaking scenery of the Morvan natural park - veiled young women sit studiously at their texts.
The sound of Arabic mingles with the birdsong.
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 Here a generation has grown up with French as its mother tongue
Zuhair Mahmoud
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"Why are you surprised to find us here? Religious institutions have always sought remote locations to encourage contemplation and inner thought.
"Here we are dead in the centre of France," said Zuhair Mahmoud, 51, the IESH's founder and director.
New generation
Zuhair Mahmoud is a former Iraqi nuclear scientist, who was sent to France by Saddam Hussein 20 years ago as part of a co-operation deal with Paris.
But prompted by his misgivings about atomic weapons he underwent a religious conversion and stayed in exile.
 Zuhair Mahmoud: We live in France and accept its laws
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"In the 1980s it became clear that the Muslims of France and Europe were integrating definitively in their adopted countries.
"Here a generation has grown up with French as its mother tongue," he told me in his office in the institute's main building - a converted holiday centre.
"These people need imams to pass on the religious values of their parents.
"Leaders from elsewhere cannot do it because they do not understand the language or the customs and habits that prevail here. They have to come from inside."
The 170 students take a two-year Arabic course, and then can stay on for a four-year qualification in Islamic jurisprudence, Koranic studies, history and preaching.
Three-quarters are French, and the rest from elsewhere in Europe.
Western freedoms
"I was very surprised to learn this place existed because I always thought France was intolerant of Muslims," said Adil Rehman, a 33-year-old computer programmer from Stratford in east London, who is in his fourth year.
 The silence of the national park encourages contemplation
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"The first time I came here, I got completely lost. I was wandering round the countryside at two o'clock in the morning."
According to Adil Rehman, the college plays a vital role by creating a generation of Muslims capable of interpreting Islam to the West and vice-versa.
"The irony is that this type of institute can only really develop in the freedom provided by the West.
"But the reason is clear if you think about it. Here the political systems have no understanding of Islam, so they cannot direct it or make people think in a particular way.
"In the East, it is different. Governments there are well-versed in manipulation. They know what they want you to learn and what they don't want you to learn," he said.
Another British student, Kazi Luthfur Rahman, 19, from Poplar, came to the IEHS after giving up his ambition to study in the holy city of Medina.
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It has been easy for men in our society to tell us what to do by saying it comes from religion
Aziza from Strasbourg
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"It is certainly a bit isolated after London, but you get used to it. My only problem is at mealtime. I cannot stand French food!" said Kazi Luthfur Rahman, who last year took third prize in the International Holy Koran Competition in Egypt.
Around 70 students are young women - they wear headscarves but share classes with the men.
Many said their aim was to return to their communities to teach Arabic and share their new knowledge of Islam.
"What we have learned is to distinguish between law and custom," said Aziza from Strasbourg in eastern France.
Liberal anxiety
"It has been easy for men in our society to tell us what to do by saying it comes from religion. But things like forced marriage are not in Islamic law. They are only customs and can be discarded," she said.
The IEHS is fully supported by the French Government, whose policy is to encourage a homegrown Islamic identity and wean the five-million-strong community away from its financial and doctrinal dependence on foreign states.
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These people are a real threat to secularism
Antoine Sfeir, Paris Middle East Studies Centre
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Last week elections were held for a French Council for the Muslim Religion - which is set to become Islam's first ever official representation in France.
Zuhair Mahmoud was himself chosen for the Council's general assembly.
However not all Muslims are happy with the course Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has taken, nor with the growing influence of the IEHS and its parent body, the Union of Islamic Organisations in France (UOIF).
Progressives note that the UOIF is linked to the highly conservative movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and fear that Sarkozy has taken the easy option by dealing with the traditionalist establishment instead of working with more liberal forces.
"For a long time the UOIF has been trying to infiltrate the cogs of state and assume control of the Muslim community by marginalising secular Muslims," said Antoine Sfeir, president of the Middle East Studies Centre in Paris.
"These people are a real threat to secularism," he said.
But Zuhair Mahmoud is quick to retort: "Have we done anything to counter France's humanistic values?
"We believe that to live in a country you must accept its laws. If we didn't accept them, then we would live elsewhere."
My vote goes to France.
Regards, Ivan
When Islam takes over a formerly Chrisianized country, there is mayhem and murder. The French need to confront the looming threat while they still can. If not, they haven't learned their recent lessons from Algeria.
If that is even close to happening, there will be a preemptive strike against France. You can't have a significant nuclear force in the hands of the jihadists.
But prompted by his misgivings about atomic weapons he underwent a religious conversion and stayed in exile.
This makes no sense. How can he "stay in exile" when he wasn't "exiled" in the first place? And if Mahmoud defected from Saddam's regime, why is he still alive? Doesn't pass the smell test.
The French birth rate has been steadily and noticably declining.
The indigenous muslim birth rate is high and getting higher.
The French have little interest in God, as shown by their low church attendance and the difficulty of finding Frenchmen for the priesthood.
The muslims are fanatically religious.
The French are as corrupt as any people on earth and have shown a complete willingness to look the other way if doing so results in profit.
The muslims in France remain true to their goals of spreading islam and gaining power in France.
The muslims to the north of Paris are ungovernable and consistently back down the Paris police, driving them out of their community.
In sum, the French couldn't kick their own cats out at night, let alone the muslims. Within 50 years, France will be a muslim country.
Muslim takeover will occur insidiously. There will be no lack of shortsighted French collaborators, driven by greed and short-term political advantage (like Chirac). As the muslims take charge, they will be careful to be "inclusive," creating the appearance of mixed governance. When they move decisively to take control, it will catch all but a few by complete surprise.
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