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Collaboration Between Government Officials and Muslim Leaders on Mosque Reopening

In many settings the public health directives aimed at reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus are testing both legal and political boundaries between government authority and the rights of religious communities. In France, these boundaries are strict, reflecting one of the world’s most explicit approaches to separation. However, on May 23 France’s highest legal authority (the Conseil d’Etat) ruled that orders prohibiting religious activities were “disproportionate,” and official measures thus allowed religious services to resume. The orders came with calls for religious leaders to exercise caution.
 
The orders and guidelines were primarily directed to Muslim prayer and celebrations during and at the end of the month of Ramadan, and the process overall reflected generally positive relationships. The French Council of Muslim Faith urged people not to go to mosques, and asked them to instead pray and celebrate Eid-el Fitr at home. A majority of Muslim leaders made similar calls. Objections were raised around planned enforcement of sanitary guidelines when mosques reopened, including respecting physical distancing, ablutions, wearing masks, and sanitizers. Minister of Interior Christophe Castaner explained that each religious authority would be responsible to adapt rites to sanitary restrictions. Enforcement is complicated as rules differ among French regions: green zones are considered safe, while red or orange zones are less so.
 
A consultation among 152 mosques aimed to identify day-to-day challenges during the quarantine. More than 109,000 were surveyed, representative of mosques across France. The survey highlighted some generally positive trends. Of respondents, 60 percent recognized that they would have been unable to carry on Eid al-Fitr celebrations in compliance with sanitary guidelines. Mosque leaders were cautious, with 67 percent considering risks still too high to reopen. A vast majority of mosques worked closely with public authorities, national and local, during the crisis and planned to continue the relationship in implementing sanitary guidelines.
 
The survey also noted the crucial role that mosques played in terms of local solidarity; more than 73 percent hosted charitable activities throughout the lockdown, especially during Ramadan.

(Based on: June 3, 2020, Euro-Islam.info article.)