Islam in France

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Islam is the second-most widely practiced religion in France behind Roman Catholicism by number of worshippers, with an estimated total of 5 to 10 percent of the national population.


Due to a law dating from 1872, the French Republic prohibits performing census by making distinction between its citizens regarding their race or their beliefs. However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such as the INED or the INSEE whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been authorized by the National Commission for Computer-stocked data and Freedom (CNIL) and the National Council of Statistical Information (CNIS(fr)).

Estimations based on declaration[edit]

A study from INED and the INSEE in October 2010 concluded that France has 2.1 million “declared Muslims” aged 18–50 including between 70,000 and 110,000 converts to islam.[1]

Estimations based on people’s geographic origin[edit]




According to Jean-Paul Gourévitch (fr), there were 7.7 million Muslims in metropolitan France as of 2011.[6][7]

An Interior ministry source in l'Islam dans la République published the following estimated distribution of Muslims by Alain Boyer by affiliated countries as of 1999:[8]

Sub-Saharan Africa250,000
Middle East100,000
remaining Asia (mostly Pakistan and Bangladesh)100,000
illegal immigrants or awaiting regularisation350,000




Early history[edit]



Barbarossa's fleet in Toulon.



1960-1970s labour immigration[edit]


French Council of the Muslim Faith[edit]


Second generation immigrants[edit]




Some far-right activists claim that about a third of newborns in France have Muslim parents.[15]


According to Michel Tribalat, a researcher at INED, people of Maghrebi origin in France represent 82% of the Muslim population (43.2% from Algeria, 27.5% from Morocco and 11.4% from Tunisia). Others are from Sub-saharan Africa (9.3%) and Turkey (8.6%).[16] She estimated that there were 3.5 million people of Maghrebi origin (with at least one grandparent from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia) living in France in 2005 corresponding to 5.8% of the total French metropolitan population (60.7 millions in 2005).[17] Maghrebis have settled mainly in the industrial regions in France, especially in the Paris region. Many famous French people like Edith Piaf,[18] Isabelle Adjani, Arnaud Montebourg, Alain Bashung, Dany Boon and many others have varying degrees of Maghrebi ancestry.


Country19992005% 1999/2005% French population (60.7 millions in 2005)
Born in France1,0031,186
Born in France482576
Born in France215236
Total Maghreb2,9993,524+17.5%5.8%
Immigrants1 2991 5262.5%
Born in France1 7001 9983.3%

In 2005, the percentage of young people under 18 of maghrebi origin (at least one immigrant parent) was about 7% in Metropolitan France, 12% in Greater Paris and above 20% in French département of Seine-Saint-Denis.[19][20]

2005 %Seine-Saint-DenisVal-de-MarneVal-d'OiseLyonParisFrance
Total Maghreb22.0%13.2%13.0%13.0%12.1%6.9%



Religious practices[edit]


Some Muslims (the UOIF for example) request the recognition of an Islamic community in France (which community remains to be built) with an official status.

Two main organisations are recognized by the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM): the "Federation of the French Muslims" (Fédération des musulmans de France) with a majority of Moroccan leaders, and the controversial "Union of Islamic Organisations of France" (Union des organisations islamiques de France) (UOIF). As of 2008, there were about 2,125 mosques in France.[24]

In France, the first islamic same-sex marriage was celebrated on February 18, 2012[25] and some French islamic organizations[26] are supporting religious same-sex marriage.





The Ahmadiyya community in France has existed since 1946.[27] Ahmadi mosques include the Mubarak Mosque, Saint Prix and the Baitus Salam Mission House in Paris.


Several studies reveal that France seems to be, among the Western countries, the one where Muslims integrate the best and feel the most for their country. French Muslims also have the most positive opinions about their fellow citizens of different faiths. The study from the Pew Research Center on Integration is a good example of works revealing this typically French phenomenon.[28] On the other hand, a 2013 IPSOS survey published by the French daily Le Monde indicated that only 26% of French respondents believed that Islam was compatible with French society (compared to 89% identifying Catholicism as compatible and 75% identifying Judaism as compatible).[29][30]


In 2010, a study entitled Are French Muslims Discriminated Against in Their Own Country? showed that "Muslims sending out resumes in hopes of a job interview had 2.5 times less chance than Christians" with similar credentials "of a positive response to their applications.".[31]

Other examples of discrimination against Muslims include the desecration of 148 French Muslim graves near Arras. A pig's head was hung from a headstone and profanities insulting Islam and Muslims were daubed on some graves.[32] Destruction and vandalism of Muslim graves in France were seen as Islamophobic by a report of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.[33] A number of mosques have also been vandalized in France.[34][35]




French residents of the banlieues constantly complain about the stigmatisation of their revolt, falsely over-simplified as a so-called "Muslim riot", especially by the foreign press. French actor Roschdy Zem said in an interview with the French magazine Première given during the promotion of the movie Indigènes about those riots:




Several parties, such as Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National and Bruno Mégret's Mouvement National Républicain, believe that large numbers of immigrants with non-Western European cultural background destabilize France and claim that there is a clear danger with regards to their behavior among the immigrant Muslim population. In the 2004 regional elections, the MNR ran on a "No to Islamization!" platform.[citation needed]

Some have argued that advocating sharia law inherently violates French law and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so the French government has deported some who openly advocate Sharia law. In a few cases, expulsion warrants on the basis of immigration status had already been issued.[citation needed]









In December 2003, President Chirac decided that the law should prohibit the wearing of visible religious signs in schools, according to laïcité requirements. The law was approved by parliament in March 2004. Items prohibited by this law include Muslim hijabs, Jewish yarmulkes or large Christian crosses.[42] It is still permissible to wear discreet symbols of faith such as small crosses, Stars of David or Fatima's hands.











Islamist movements[edit]

Islamism (Islamisme in French), Islamiste (when referring to a person of extremist opinions), islamique (for a qualifier, the "hijab" cloth veil, or foulard islamique, or barbe islamique, the traditional Arab beard; this does not have the connotation of extremism, and are merely public displays of faith), mouvement islamique (to refer to a political movement), mouvement intégriste or mouvement extrémiste (to refer to a fundamentalist group), mouvement terroriste (for a terrorist group).

In countries with Muslim majorities, Islamist movements are essentially political. Olivier Roy calls Islamists those which see in Islam a political ideology, in the modern sense of the term. In other words a theory which presumes to entirely understand the social side of a society, in political terms.

Islamists want to influence the laws of the state. When using the term Islamist, Muslims refer almost exclusively to those whose program is to establish an Islamic state. There are many more movements to establish such states than are recognized as Islamist by the West, thus the use is not very uniform.

This is not to say that Islamist groups advocate violent takeover in every political environment, they might simply advocate Sharia Law. Because influence in French politics is possible without resorting to violence, the use of violence in that context is considered counterproductive toward achieving their goal of guiding the political system according to the principles of Islam.

The political aim of Islamists is ultimately the formal establishment of Sharia law, with or without modern adaptations. Fundamentalism and traditionalism, of themselves, do not have this specific political connotation at all. Islamists are deemed such according to their adherence to the political goal of an Islamic state, rather than by features of their religious observance.

Islamists characterize their movement as:

Islamists often present themselves as a revival movement, a call to Muslims to renew their adherence to fundamental Islamic religious principles and laws, which initially apply only to Muslims.

According to Pascal Mailhos, chief of the Renseignements Généraux (RG), out of 1700 known places of worship, 75 had been subject to attempts of destabilisation by radical elements, half of them resisting the attempts. 31 radical activists have been expelled from French territory, and a dozen have been monitored by the French police.

Islam in France is subject to strong foreign influences. Statistically, only a third of the imams in France have a good command of the French language, another third an average command, and the last third a poor command. This is because there exists no imam training school in France, the 1905 law of laïcité preventing the state from sponsoring religious establishments; in this case, any mosques or 'imam schools'. A low number of salafist elements can be found in some regions of France. The RG estimates that about 200,000 Muslims regularly practice their religion, and that there are about 5,000 salafists, of whom one quarter are involved in radical Islamism. However, its reports on security issues have often been criticized, for example by Le Monde Diplomatique or Le Canard Enchaîné.

According to the RG head, Pascal Mailhos, radical elements had no influence on the 2005 civil unrest in France.[47]

See also[edit]


  4. ^ CIA – The World Factbook – France.
  5. ^ The Future of the Global Muslim Population
  13. ^ Henri Lapeyre. Geographie de l'Espagne morisque.. EHESS, 1959
  14. ^
  16. ^ Michèle Tribalat, L’islam en France, , p. 28
  19. ^ Michèle Tribalat, Revue Commentaire, juin 2009, n°127
  20. ^ Michèle Tribalat, Les yeux grands fermés, Denoël, 2010
  22. ^ Répartition des immigrés par pays de naissance 2008, Insee, October 2011
  24. ^ L'Annuaire musulman, édition 2008 Orientica
  25. ^ France 24 - Concilier islam et homosexualité, le combat de Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed - Gaëlle LE ROUX
  26. ^ - Association nationale Homosexuel-le-s musulman-e-s de France
  27. ^ Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around the World, pg. 192
  31. ^ "Study shows French Muslims hit by religious bias". Otago Daily Times. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 2020-04-09. 
  32. ^ French Muslim war graves defaced, BBC, April 6, 2008
  33. ^ EU reports post-Sept. 11 racism CNN – May 24, 2002
  34. ^ Vandals target Paris mosque The Guardian – Tuesday February 22, 2005
  41. ^
  43. ^ UNESCO Welcomes Release of French Journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot
  45. ^ a b Burqa Furor Scrambles French Politics
  46. ^ [2]
  47. ^ L'antiterrorisme, selon le patron des RG

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]