Muslim activists in France debate ‘licenses’ for imams to fight religious extremism

France's leading Islamic body has called for imams to be licensed before being allowed to preach, a move that has prompted criticism from voices within the country's Muslim community. An AFP news agency report on Tuesday said Anouar Kbibech, the president of the French Council for the Muslim Religion (CFCM), had called for imams to be tested on their knowledge of Islam and French values before being allowed to preach.
Kbibech said the move would ensure religious leaders promoted a tolerant version of Islam during a meeting with the Bernard Cazeneuve, French interior minister, in Paris. The proposal comes shortly after attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group on the French capital, which left 130 people dead.

All those identified as having taken part in the attack so far have either been French or Belgian nationals, a fact that increased scrutiny of Muslim communities in both countries. Al Jazeera spoke to two prominent Muslim activists in France about whether the idea could deter French Muslims from joining ISIL and other armed groups intent on attacking the country. Yasser Louati, spokesperson for the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, told Al Jazeera he did not see how the move would tackle the appeal ISIL has to some French Muslim youth. "I don't see any added value in this announcement, the people who did it [Paris attacks] were not religious and were not radicalised in mosques. 

"We already have a curricula in place where imams get what's called an 'ijaza' (permit) so there is nothing new to add. Who will license this? It is not for the government to interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims," Louati said.


http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/Muslim-activists-in-france-debate-licenses-for-imams-to-fight-religious-extremism/