France has been trying to construct a “French Islam” shorn of the elements of Islam that threaten the nature of French society as a whole. This is extremely unlikely to work, of course, because (as I point out in Islam Unveiled) Islamic reformers are always vulnerable to challenge from those who are less reform-minded on the basis of a plain reading of the Qur’an and Sunnah: the jihadists have the texts on their side.
A hint of this comes from this BBC article (with thanks to all who sent this in): “Woman quits French Muslim council.” She says it is dominated by Muslims from other countries: i.e., not by Westernized French Muslims, but by Muslims from Islamic countries who are coming to France expecting to Islamize it, not to see France Frenchify Islam.
Dounia Bouzar said she was stepping down from the French Council of the Muslim Faith because it had become dominated by men born outside France.
She said they were too influenced by their countries of origin and failed to address young French Muslims’ concerns.
The council was set up in 2002 as an official point of contact with Muslims….
She said the fact that mainly immigrants ran the council (CFCM) meant young Muslims felt unrepresented and received little advice on how to live as Muslims in a secular western state.
“As long as there is not a majority of French-born Muslims on the board, the CFCM will suffer from rivalries that divide its members according to their countries of origin,” she said.