Despite a collapsing Lebanese economy and considerable political turmoil, Hezbollah continues to threaten Israel. These threats must be taken seriously,...
Currently, the vast majority of Europe’s imams come from abroad, largely from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco. In France, 70% of practicing imams are not French. Morocco and Turkey’s religious affairs arm, the Diyanet, oversee the majority of mosques in the Netherlands. In 2017, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia each sent more than 100 imams to France. Added funding also comes from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Muslim Brotherhood affiliates, who collectively sponsor hundreds of European mosques.
That needs to stop, Michel believes. European imams need to be taught values of “tolerance and openness.” On November 9, he declared on Twitter, “In order to fight the ideologies of hate, we must as soon as possible create a European institute for the training of imams in Europe.”