After being informed of sermons undermining “gender equality” at the Ennour Mosque in Gennevilliers and the Attakwa Mosque in Saint-Chamond, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin took action. As Le Figaro revealed on July 23, the imam of the second house of worship on the Loire was suspended from his post by the Minister of the Interior because of his “simply unacceptable” statements. His residence permit may also not be renewed. On July 20, “the imam explicitly ordered Muslim women to strictly submit to their husbands and told them to obey the commandment of Allah and that of their husbands”, Gérald Darmanin reported after RN councillor Isabelle Surply published a video in which the cleric can be heard telling the women present: “Stay in your houses and do not show off”.
In Hauts-de-Seine, the remarks of the imam of the Gennevilliers mosque, who declared that “women (were) lacking in modesty”, can also be heard in Place Beauvau. The cleric was summoned to the prefecture to explain himself and was then dismissed. Finally, Le Figaro adds that the Roubaix mosque leadership should also be questioned by the Minister of the Interior. The practice of excluding women from prayers since the beginning of the pandemic, “because of space problems”, according to association officials, could be a valid reason for Gérald Darmanin to make another clear decision in the coming days or weeks.