Accepted French citizens Notwithstanding the islamist extremists' terrorist attacks in France, including the Charlie Hebdo and Nice terror attacks, some studies have concluded that France is the European country where Muslims integrate the best and feel the most for their country and that French Muslims have the most positive opinions about their fellow citizens of different faiths. A 2006 study from the
Pew Research Center on Integration is one such study. In Paris and the surrounding
Île-de-France region where French Muslims tend to be more educated and religious, the vast majority rejects violence and say they are loyal to France according to studies by Euro-Islam, a comparative research network on Islam and Muslims in the West sponsored by GSRL Paris/
CNRS France and Harvard University. 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). A 2014 survey by the Pew Research Center showed that out of all Europeans, the French view Muslim minorities most favorably with 72% having a favorable opinion. Other research has shown how these positive attitudes are not always reflected in popular opinion and the subject of Muslim integration in France is much more nuanced and complex.
Religiosity According to a poll by
Institut français d'opinion publique in 2020, 46% of Muslims gave the view that their religious beliefs were more important than the values and laws of the French Republic, more than twice the fraction of the French public (17%). Among Muslims under 25 years of age a large majority (74%) considered their religion more important than French laws and values.
LGBT acceptance The 2009
Gallup poll showed that 35% of the French Muslims believed that homosexuality is morally acceptable.
Unemployment In October 2020, the unemployment among Muslims was far higher at 14% than the population at large (8%).
Education According to a poll by
Institut Montaigne in 2016, 15% of Muslims in France had no academic qualification at all and 25% had less than secondary education (
Baccalauréat). 12% had more than 2 years higher education, a further 20% had more than 2 years. It been estimated that Muslim students form more than 10% of the students in the French
Catholic schools.
Discrimination In 2010, a study entitled
Are French Muslims Discriminated Against in Their Own Country? found 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". Another example is the 2004 French ban on ostentatious religious signs in public schools for minors, which forced young girls insisting on wearing the hijab in school out of public schools. 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. Destruction and vandalism of Muslim graves in France were seen as Islamophobic by a report of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. Several of Mosques have also been vandalized in France over the years. On 14 January 2015, it was reported that 26 mosques in France had been subject to attack since the
Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris. On 29 June 2017, a man who had schizophrenia attempted to ram his vehicle into a crowd of worshipers exiting a mosque in
Créteil, a suburb of Paris, though no one was injured.
Le Parisien claims the suspect, of
Armenian origin, wanted to "avenge the Bataclan and Champs-Elysées" attacks. In 2019, the French Institute for Public Research (IFOP) conducted a study from August 29 to September 18, based on a sample of 1007 Muslims aged 15 and above. According to the study, 40% of Muslims in France felt that they were discriminated against. More than a third of these instances were recorded in the past five years, suggesting an increase in the overall mistreatment of Muslims in France over recent years. The survey found that 60% of women wearing a headscarf were subject to discrimination. 37% of Muslims in France have been a victim of verbal harassment or defamatory insults.
Public opinion A February 2017 poll of 10 000 people in 10 European countries by
Chatham House found on average a majority (55%) were opposed to further Muslim immigration, with opposition especially pronounced in Austria, Poland, Hungary, France and Belgium. Except for Poland, all of those had recently suffered jihadist terror attacks or been at the center of a refugee crisis. A survey published in 2019 by the
Pew Research Center found that 72% of French respondents had a favorable view of Muslims in their country, whereas 22% had an unfavourable view.
Repercussions The
2005 French riots have been controversially interpreted as an illustration of the difficulty of integrating Muslims in France, and smaller-scale riots have been occurring throughout the 1980s and 1990s, first in
Vaulx-en-Velin in 1979, and in
Vénissieux in 1981, 1983, 1990 and 1999. Furthermore, although Interior Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy claimed that most rioters were immigrants and already known to the police, the majority were, in fact, previously unknown to the police. In 2014, an analysis by
The Washington Post showed that between 60 and 70% of the prison population in France are Muslim or come from Muslim backgrounds while Muslims constitute 12% of the population of France. The claims in this article have been refuted: the headline figure was based on research in 4 Paris and north regions prisons out of a total 188 by Professor Farhad Khosrovkhavar later said his best estimate was 40–50%, but that data is not recorded by French authorities. Statistics on ethnicity and religion are banned in France.
Hijab advertising the hijab The wearing of
hijab in France has been a very controversial issue since 1989. The debate essentially concerns whether Muslim girls who choose to wear hijab may do so in state schools. A secondary issue is how to protect the free choice and other rights of young Muslim women who do not want the veil, but who may face strong pressure from families or some traditionalists. Similar issues exist for civil servants and the acceptance of male Muslim medics in medical services. In 1994, the
French Ministry for Education sent out recommendations to teachers and headmasters to ban the veil in educational institutions. According to a 2019 study by the Institute of Labor Economics, more girls with a Muslim background born after 1980 graduated from high school after the 1994 restrictions were introduced. While secularism is often criticized for restricting freedom of religion, the study suggested that "public schools ended up promoting the educational empowerment of some of the most disadvantaged groups of female students". Leila Babes in her book
The Veil Demystified, believe that wearing the veil does not derive from a Muslim religious imperative. The French government and a large majority of public opinion are opposed to the wearing of a "conspicuous" sign of religious expression (dress or symbol), whatever the religion, as this is incompatible with the French system of
laïcité. In December 2003, President
Jacques Chirac said that it breaches the separation of church and state and would increase tensions in France's multicultural society, whose Muslim and
Jewish populations are both the biggest of their kind in Western Europe. The issue of Muslim hijabs has sparked controversy after several girls refused to uncover their heads in class, as early as 1989. In October 1989, three Muslim schoolgirls wearing the Islamic headscarf were expelled from the
collège Gabriel-Havez in
Creil (north of Paris). In November, the First
Conseil d'État ruling affirmed that the wearing of the Islamic headscarf, as a symbol of
freedom of religious expression, in public schools was not incompatible with the French school system and the system of
laïcité. In December, a first ministerial circular (
circulaire Jospin) was published, stating teachers had to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to ban the wearing of Islamic headscarves. In January 1990, three schoolgirls were expelled from the
collège Pasteur in
Noyon, north of Paris. The parents of one expelled schoolgirl filed a defamation action against the principal of the
collège Gabriel-Havez in Creil. As a result, the teachers of a
collège in
Nantua (eastern part of France, just to the west of Geneva, Switzerland) went on strike to protest the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in school. A second ministerial circular was published in October, to restate the need to respect the principle of
laïcité in public schools. In September 1994, a third ministerial circular (
circulaire Bayrou) was published, making a distinction between "discreet"
symbols to be tolerated in public schools, and "ostentatious" symbols, including the Islamic headscarf, to be banned from public schools. In October, some students demonstrated at the
lycée Saint Exupéry in
Mantes-la-Jolie (northwest of Paris) to support the freedom to wear Islamic headscarves in school. In November, approximately twenty-four veiled schoolgirls were expelled from the
lycée Saint Exupéry in Mantes-la-Jolie and the
lycée Faidherbe in
Lille. 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 hijabs, Jewish
yarmulkes, or large Christian
crosses. It is still permissible to wear discreet symbols of
faith such as small crosses,
Stars of David, or
Fatima's hands. Two French journalists working in
Iraq, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were taken hostage by the "
Islamic Army in Iraq" (an Iraqi resistance militant movement) under accusations of spying. Threats to kill the two journalists if the law on headscarves was not revoked were published on the Internet by groups claiming to be the "Islamic Army in Iraq". The two journalists were later released unharmed. The arguments resurfaced when, on 22 June 2009, at the
Congrès de Versailles, President
Nicolas Sarkozy declared that the Islamic burqa is not welcome in France, claiming that the full-length, body-covering gown was a symbol of subservience that suppresses women's identities and turns them into "prisoners behind a screen." A parliamentary commission of thirty-two deputies led by
André Gerin (PCF), was also formed to study the possibility of banning the public wearing of the burqa or niqab. There is suspicion, however, that Sarkozy is "playing politics in a time of economic unhappiness and social anxiety." A Muslim group spokesman expressed serious concern over the proposed legislation, noting that "even if they ban the burqa, it will not stop there," adding that "there is a permanent demand for legislating against Muslims. This could go really bad, and I'm scared of it. I feel like they're turning the screws on us." store in
Saint Denis with mannequins advertising
sports hijab in 2022. In February 2019,
Decathlon, Europe's largest sports retailer, announced plans to begin selling a
sports hijab in their stores in France. Decathlon had begun selling the product in
Morocco the previous week, but the plan was criticized on social media, with several politicians expressing discomfort with the product being sold. Decathlon originally stood firm, arguing it was focused on "democratizing" sports. The company released a statement saying its goal was to "offer them a suitable sports product, without judging." While
Nike had already sold hijabs in France, Decathlon was met with much more scrutiny. Multiple salespeople were threatened physically in stores. The company also received hundreds of calls and emails in regard to the product. Decathlon was forced to backtrack and has since halted its plans to sell the sports hijab. Many throughout France were left disappointed with one Muslim entrepreneur, who didn't consider selling sport hijabs, stating, "it's a shame that Decathlon didn't stand firm."
Politics Formal as well as informal Muslim organizations help the new French citizens to integrate. Several political parties like Parti égalité et Justice have now appeared. Their most frequent activities are homework help and language classes in Arabic, ping pong, Muslim discussion groups etc. are also common. However, most important associations active in assisting with the immigration process are either secular (GISTI, for example) or
ecumenist (such as the
protestant-founded
Cimade). The most important national institution is the CFCM (
Conseil Français du Culte Musulman) this institution was designed on the model of the "Consistoire Juif de France" and of the "Fédération protestante de France" both Napoleonic creations. The aim of the CFCM (like its Jewish and protestant counterparts) is to discuss religious problem with the state, participate in certain public institutions, and organize the religious life of French Muslims. The CFCM is elected by the French Muslims through local election. It is the only official instance of the French Muslims. There were four organizations represented in the CFCM elected in 2003, GMP (Grande mosquée de Paris), UOIF (Union des organizations islamiques de France), FNMF (Fédération nationale des musulmans de France) CCMTF (Comité de coordination des musulmans Turcs de France). In 2008 a new council was elected. The winner was RMF (Rassemblement des musulmans de France) with a large majority of the votes, followed by the UOIF and the CCMTF. It is a very broad and young organization and there is a beginning of consensus on major issues. Other elections took place since then, the latest was due in 2019 but is still pending. Other organizations exist, such as PCM (Muslim Participation and Spirituality), which combine political mobilization (against racism, sexism etc.) and spiritual meetings, and put emphasis on the need to get involved in French society – by joining organizations, registering to vote, working with your children's schools etc. They do not have clear-cut political positions as such but push for active citizenship. They are vaguely on the left in practice. The government has yet to formulate an official policy towards making integration easier. As mentioned above, it is difficult to determine in France who may be called a Muslim. Some Muslims in France describe themselves as "non-practicing". Most simply observe
Ramadan and other basic rules but are otherwise secular. ==Statistics==