Islam in France

The Grande Mosquée in Paris.

Islam is the second-most widely professed religion in France behind Catholic Christianity by number of worshippers. With an estimated total of 5 to 10 percent of the national population, France has the largest number of Muslims in Western Europe.

The majority of Muslims in France belong to the Sunni denomination. The vast majority of French Muslims are of immigrant origin, while an estimated 100,000 are converts to Islam of indigenous ethnic French background. The French overseas department of Mayotte has a majority of its population being Muslim.

Statistics

Due to a law dating from 1872, the French Republic prohibits performing census by making distinction between its citizens regarding their race or their beliefs. However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such as the INED or the INSEE whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been authorized by the CNIL and the National Council of Statistical Information ([[{{{1}}}]]).

Estimations based on declaration

A study from INED and the INSEE in October 2010 concluded that France has 2.1 million “declared Muslims” aged 18–50 including between 70,000 and 110,000 converts to Islam.

Estimations based on people’s geographic origin

According to the French Government, which does not have the right to ask direct questions about religion and uses a criterion of people’s geographic origin as a basis for calculation, there were between 5 to 6 million Muslims in metropolitan France in 2010. The government counted all those people in France who migrated from countries with a dominant Muslim population, or whose parents did. Only 33% of those 5 to 6 million people (2 million) said they were practicing believers. That figure is the same as that obtained by the INED/INSEE study in October 2010.

The United States Department of State placed it at roughly 10%, while two 2007 polls estimated it at about 3% of the total population. The CIA World Factbook places it at 5–10%.

A Pew Forum study, published in January 2011, estimated 4.7 million Muslims in France in 2010 (and forecasted 6.9 million in 2030).

According to fr, there were 7.7 million Muslims( about 11 percent of the population) in metropolitan France in 2011.

An Interior ministry source in l'Islam dans la République published the following estimated distribution of Muslims by Alain Boyer by affiliated countries in 1999:

Algeria	1,550,000
Morocco	1,000,000
Tunisia	350,000
Turkey	315,000
Sub-Saharan Africa	250,000
Middle East	100,000
remaining Asia (mostly Pakistan and Bangladesh)	100,000
Converts	40,000
illegal immigrants or awaiting regularisation	350,000
Other	100,000
Total	4,155,000

These numbers include people of Muslim affiliation who are not actually observant Muslims. Among Muslims, 36% described themselves as "observant believers", and 20% claimed to go regularly to the mosque for the Friday service. 70% said they "observe Ramadan". This would amount to a number of roughly 1.5 million French Muslims who are "observant believers", another 1.5 million who identify with Islam enough to observe Ramadan, and 1 million citizens of "(Islam observing lineage) Muslim extraction" but with no strong religious or cultural ties to Islam. The number of people of Islam observing lineage who are practicing Roman Catholics is negligible.

According to fr, a researcher at INED, an acceptance of 5 to 6 million Muslims in France in 1999 was overestimated. Her work has shown that there were 3.7 million people of "possible Muslim faith" in France in 1999 (6.3% of the total population of Metropolitan France). These 3.7 million people whose ancestry is from countries where Islam is the dominant faith may or may not be observant Muslims themselves. In 2009, she estimated that the number of people of "possible Muslim faith" in France was about 4.5 million.

History

Early history

Main articles: Septimania and Franco-Ottoman alliance

After their conquest of Spain, Muslim forces pushed into southern France. They were defeated at the Battle of Tours in 732 but held Septimania until 759.

In the 9th century, Muslim forces conquered several bases in southern France, including Fraxinet. They were expelled only in 975.

Barbarossa's fleet in Toulon.

During the winter of 1543–1544, after the siege of Nice, Toulon was used as an Ottoman naval base under the admiral known as Hayreddin Barbarossa. The Christian population was evacuated, and Toulon Cathedral was briefly converted into a mosque before the city was regained by France.

After the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain in 1609–1614, about fifty thousand Moriscos entered France, according to the research of Henri Lapeyre.

1960-1970s labour immigration

Muslim immigration, mostly male, was high in the late 1960s and 1970s. The immigrants came primarily from Algeria and other North African colonies; however, Islam has an older history in France, since the Great Mosque of Paris was built in 1922, as a sign of recognition from the French Republic to the fallen Muslim tirailleurs mainly coming from Algeria, in particular at the battle of Verdun and the take-over of the Douaumont fort.

French Council of the Muslim Faith

Though the French State is secular, in recent years the government has tried to organize a representation of the French Muslims. In 2002, the then Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy initiated the creation of a "French Council of the Muslim Faith" (Conseil Français du Culte Musulman – CFCM), though wide criticism claimed this would only encourage communitarianism. Though the CFCM is informally recognized by the national government, it is a private nonprofit association with no special legal status. As of 2004, it is headed by the rector of the Paris Mosque, Dalil Boubakeur – who harshly criticized the controversial Union of Islamic Organisations of France (UOIF) for involving itself in political matters during the 2005 riots. Nicolas Sarkozy's views on laïcité have been widely criticized by left- and right-wing members of parliament; more specifically, he was accused, during the creation of the CFCM, of favoring the more extreme sectors of Muslim representation in the Council, in particular the UOIF.

Second generation immigrants

The first generation of Muslim immigrants, who are today mostly retired from the workforce, keep strong ties with their countries, where their families lived. In 1976, the government passed a law allowing families of these immigrants to settle; thus, many children and wives moved to France. Most immigrants, realizing that they couldn't or didn't want to return to their homeland, asked for French nationality before quietly retiring. However, many live alone in housing projects, having now lost their ties with their countries of origin.

The situation was different with the "second generation", born in France, and as such French citizens by jus soli influenced law. As such, they cannot be designated "immigrants", since they were born on national territory. A 1992 reform of the nationality laws delayed obtainment of French nationality until a request at adulthood (where previously it was automatically given). A large number of them are located in housing projects in the suburbs. Unlike in the United States and elsewhere, the French working classes often reside outside large cities, sometimes in villes nouvelles (such as Sarcelles, from which the term sarcellite was derived), for which limited infrastructure other than sleeping dormitories has been planned, partially explaining a general boredom which some have noted contributed to the 2005 Paris suburb riots.

Olivier Roy indicates that for first generation immigrants, the fact that they are Muslims is only one element among others. Their identification with their country of origin is much stronger: they see themselves first through their descent (Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians, etc.).

Some far-right activists claim that about a third of newborns in France have Muslim parents.

Maghrebis

According to Michel Tribalat, a researcher at INED, people of Maghrebi origin in France represent 82% of the Muslim population (43.2% from Algeria, 27.5% from Morocco and 11.4% from Tunisia). Others are from Sub-saharan Africa (9.3%) and Turkey (8.6%). She estimated that there were 3.5 million people of Maghrebi origin (with at least one grandparent from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia) living in France in 2005 corresponding to 5.8% of the total French metropolitan population (60.7 millions in 2005). Maghrebis have settled mainly in the industrial regions in France, especially in the Paris region. Many famous French people like Edith Piaf, Isabelle Adjani, Arnaud Montebourg, Alain Bashung, Dany Boon and many others have varying degrees of Maghrebi ancestry.

Below is a table of population of Maghrebi origin in France, numbers are in thousands:

Country	1999	2005	% 1999/2005	% French population (60.7 million in 2005)
Algeria	1,577	1,865	+18.3%	3.1%
Immigrants	574	679
Born in France	1,003	1,186
Morocco	1,005	1,201	+19.5%	2.0%
Immigrants	523	625
Born in France	482	576
Tunisia	417	458	+9.8%	0.8%
Immigrants	202	222
Born in France	215	236
Total Maghreb	2,999	3,524	+17.5%	5.8%
Immigrants	1 299	1 526		2.5%
Born in France	1 700	1 998		3.3%

In 2005, the percentage of young people under 18 of Maghrebi origin (at least one immigrant parent) was about 7% in Metropolitan France, 12% in Greater Paris and above 20% in French département of Seine-Saint-Denis.

2005 %	Seine-Saint-Denis	Val-de-Marne	Val-d'Oise	Lyon	Paris	France
Total Maghreb	22.0%	13.2%	13.0%	13.0%	12.1%	6.9%

In 2008, the French national institute of statistics, INSEE, estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (born in France) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. About 4 million of them are of Maghrebi origin.

According to some non-scientific sources between 5 and 6 million people of Maghrebin origin live in France corresponding to about 7–9% of the total French metropolitan population.

Religious practices

The bulk of Muslims practice their religion in the French framework of laïcité as religious code of conduct must not infringe the public area. They practice prayer (salat), and most observe the fast of Ramadan and most do not eat pork while many do not drink wine.

Some Muslims (the UOIF for example) request the recognition of an Islamic community in France (which remains to be built) with an official status.

Two main organisations are recognized by the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM): the "Federation of the French Muslims" (Fédération des musulmans de France) with a majority of Moroccan leaders, and the controversial "Union of Islamic Organisations of France" (Union des organisations islamiques de France) (UOIF). In 2008, there were about 2,125 Muslim places of worship in France.

Education

Since publicly funded State schools in France must be secular, owing to the 1905 separation of Church and State, Muslim parents who wish their children to be educated at a religious school often choose private (and therefore fee-paying, though heavily subsidised) Catholic schools, of which there are many. Few specifically Muslim schools have been created. There is a Muslim school in La Réunion (a French island to the east of Madagascar), and the first Muslim collège (a school for students aged eleven to fifteen) opened its doors in 2001 in Aubervilliers (a suburb northeast of Paris), with eleven students. Unlike most private schools in the USA and the UK, these religious schools are affordable for most parents since they may be heavily subsidised by the government (teachers' wages in particular are covered by the State).

Radicalisation

In november 2015 in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, French authorities for the first time closed three mosques with extremist activities and radicalisation being given as the reason. The mosques were located in Lagny-sur-Marne, Lyon and Gennevilliers. Muslim community leaders widely condemned the Paris attacks in public statements and expressed their support for the French government's attempts to oppose islamist extremism.

Integration

See also: Social situation in the French suburbs

Accepted French citizens

Several studies reveal that France seems to be, among the Western countries, the one where Muslims integrate the best and feel the most for their country. French Muslims also have the most positive opinions about their fellow citizens of different faiths. The study from the Pew Research Center on Integration is an example of works revealing this typically French phenomenon. 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 thorough survey by the Pew Research Center in Spring 2014 revealed that out of all Europeans, the French view Muslim minorities most favorably with 72% having a favourable opinion.

Discrimination

Further information: Persecution of Muslims

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.".

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. A number 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.

Recuperations

The 2005 French riots have been controversially interpreted, mostly by the foreign press, 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.

French residents of the banlieues constantly complain about the stigmatisation of their revolt, which they believe is falsely over-simplified as a so-called "Muslim riot", especially by the foreign press. French actor Roschdy Zem said in an interview with the French magazine Première given during the promotion of the movie Indigènes about those riots:

"Making of those riots an ethnico-religious affair seemed to me particularly disgusting. When railwaymen are blocking France, nobody goes search further as their demands. Take any Norwegian or Swede, inflict the same life conditions [as those of some French banlieusards] on them and I can assure you that they will end up burning cars too..."

Additionally, Zagreb-born Rada Ivekovic, PhD, philosopher and university professor in Paris stated in her paper "French Suburbia 2005 : The Return of the Political Unrecognized":

"The riots were neither communal nor ethnic, nor organised by leaders; no political project came from the rioters who have no representatives"

Hijab

Further information: French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools and Islamic scarf controversy in France

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 traditionalists. Similar issues exist for civil servants and for acceptance of male Muslim medics in medical services.

Many Muslims believe that the Qu'ran instructs women to keep their heads covered (outside of the immediate family) even though some others, including Leila Babes in her book "The Veil Demystified", believe that wearing the veil does not derive from a Muslim religious imperative. Some Muslims argue that it is a form of religious discrimination not to allow head-coverings in school. They believe that the law is an attempt to impose secular values on them. The specific parts of the Qu'ran are interpreted differently by groups of more liberal Muslims; another source for the requirement to keep women's heads covered is in the Hadith.

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 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 headscarf.

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.

Since 1994, around 100 girls have been excluded from French state schools for wearing such veils. In half the cases, courts have subsequently overturned the decision.

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 Muslim 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.

Some religious leaders have showed their opposition. 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 have 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 and 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.”

On 25 January 2010 it was announced that the parliamentary committee, having concluded its study, would recommend that a ban on veils covering the face in public locations such as hospitals and schools be enacted, but not in private buildings or on the street.

Politics

A Mosque in Fréjus with West African architecture.

Formal as well as informal Muslim organisations help the new French citizens to integrate. There are no Islam-based political parties, but a number of cultural organisations. 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 "consistoire Protestant de France" both Napoleonic creation. 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 organise 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 for organisations represented in the CFCM elected in 2003 GMP UOIF FNMF CCMTF. In 2008 a new council was elected. The winner was RMF with a large majority of the votes, followed by the UOIF and the CCMTF. It is a very broad and young organisation and there is a beginning of consensus on major issues.

Two more organizations are PCM (Muslim Participation and Spirituality), which combine political mobilization (against racism, sexism etc.) and spiritual retreats and parties. The other is CMF (well known as "the organization close to Tariq Ramadan", though he is not their leader). Both of these organizations put a lot of 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.

Terrorism Related Activity

Main article: Terrorism in France

France
Date	Sub	Location	Deaths	Injuries	Type	Perpetrator	Description of target and attack
15 September 1958		Paris	1	3	Small arms fire	FLN (Algerian nationalists)	-- Government institutions Several gunmen fire into the car of the French Minister of Information, Jacques Soustelle. The minister survives unharmed, however four bystanders are struck and one is killed.
14 December 1973		Marseilles	4	20	Improvised Explosive Device	Charles Martel Group	-- Diplomatic (Algeria) A man exits a car and throws a bomb into the compound of the Algerian Consulate; the subsequent explosion kills 4 and injures 20 more, 4 seriously.
15 September 1974		Paris	2	34	Improvised Explosive Device	PFLP (Palestinian nationalists)	-- Private Citizens & Property A bomb explodes at the Drugstore Saint Germain, part of the fashionable circuit of restaurants and bars on Paris’s Left Bank, killing two and injuring 34.
20 May 1978		Paris	4	3	Grenade & Small arms fire	PFLP (Palestinian nationalists)	-- Airports & airlines Three terrorists open fire on El Al passengers in the departure lounge. All three terrorists are killed, along with one policeman, and three French tourists are also injured.
28 January 1980		Paris	1	8	Improvised Explosive Device	'	-- Diplomatic (Syrian) A bomb blast destroys the ground floor of the Syrian Embassy, killing one and injuring 8 others. Three of those injured were in a serious condition, including a pregnant woman. The attack happened 2 hours before the arrival of then Foreign Minister of Syria, Abdel Halim Khaddam, in France.
17 July 1980		Paris	2	4	Small arms fire	Guards of Islam (Iranian agents)	-- Government institutions (Shah of Iran) Former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar escapes an assassination attempt in which a French policeman and a woman neighbor are killed. Four other officers were wounded, one seriously. Allegedly posing as reporters, a trio of gunmen attempted to enter the exiled leader's apartment in Neuilly, a suburb of Paris. A police guard at an armored door to the residence resisted and a gunfight took place.
3 October 1980		Paris	4	40	Improvised Explosive Device	-	-- Religious figures & institutions A bomb went off outside the Union Libérale Israélite de France synagogue on Rue Copernic. The bomb had been hidden in the saddlebags of a motorcycle parked outside the synagogue on the eve of Simchat Torah. The explosion happened shortly before the end of services, however one of those killed were members of the congregation. French police initially suspected that the attack had been carried out by neo-Nazis, but later attributed it to the PFLP or one of its offshoots. See also: 1980 Paris synagogue bombing
9 August 1982		Paris	6	22	Grenade & Small arms fire	Abu Nidal Organization	-- Private Citizens & Property Two assailants throw grenades into the dining room of the Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant and fire machine guns at the patrons. Six people die, including two American tourists, and 22 others are wounded in the attack on the Jewish restaurant in Paris's Marais district. See also: Goldenberg restaurant attack
7 February 1984		Paris	2	1	Small arms fire	Hezbollah & Islamic Jihad	-- Government institutions (Shah of Iran) Gholam Ali Oveisi, a four-star general under Iran's late shah, and his brother, an ex-colonel, are killed by gunmen in downtown Paris. Their driver is also wounded.
8 February 1984		Paris	1	-	Small arms fire	Abu Nidal Organization	-- Diplomatic (Emirati) A lone gunman shoots and kills the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to France outside the diplomat's Paris home. Khalifa Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Mubarak is killed in a district of Paris nearby the Eiffel tower.
20 March 1986		Paris	2	28	Improvised Explosive Device	CSPPA (Lebanese faction)	-- Private Citizens & Property A bomb explodes in a packed mall of luxury boutiques on the Champs-Elysees, killing 2 people and wounding 28. A second bomb, found on a subway train, was defused by police demolition experts before it could explode. A terrorist organization calling itself the Committee of Solidarity With Arab and Middle Eastern Political Prisoners asserted responsibility for the attack in a handwritten letter sent to the Beirut office of a Western news agency.
9 September 1986		Paris	1	18	Improvised Explosive Device	CSPPA (Lebanese faction)	-- Government institutions A bomb explodes inside the post office of the Hôtel de Ville, killing one person and wounding 18 others. The dead man is identified as Marguerite Thuault, an employee of the post office.
15 September 1986		Paris	1	51	Improvised Explosive Device	CSPPA (Lebanese faction)	-- Government institutions A bomb explodes inside the Parisian police headquarters, killing one person and wounding 51 others, two seriously.
17 September 1986		Paris	5	50+	Improvised Explosive Device	CSPPA (Lebanese faction)	-- Private Citizens & Property A bomb thrown from a passing car explodes in front of a Tati department store on the Left Bank, killing at least 5 people and wounding about 50. The blast, which occurred about 17:30, destroyed the entire front of the seven-story building on the rue de Rennes.
17 November 1986		Paris	1	-	Small arms fire	Action Directe	-- Business A man and woman firing from a motorcycle kill the head of the French auto-maker Renault. Georges Besse is struck down by gunfire as he exited from his car, unaccompanied by bodyguards. He had been appointed chairman of the company in January 1985.
25 July 1995		Paris	8	150	Improvised explosive device	GIA (Islamists)	-- Transport Eight people are killed and 150 wounded in an explosion of a gas canister packed with nails and bolts on a Paris regional train at the Gare de Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame rail station. The bombing was claimed by the Armed Islamic Group as reprisals for French support for Algeria's army-backed government.
3 December 1996		Paris	3	85	Improvised explosive device	GIA (Islamists)	-- Transport A blast at 18:03 CET rips open the doors of a train on the southbound track of the Port Royal station of the regional express network on the Left Bank, scattering the wounded -- totaling over 85 -- over the platform. Three people succumb to injuries caused by the bomb made from a 28-pound camping gas canister filled with nails.
15 March 2012		Montauban	2	1	Small arms fire	Mohammed Merah (Islamist)	-- Government institutions At around 14:00 CET, two uniformed soldiers were killed and a third was seriously injured outside a shopping centre in Montauban, while withdrawing money from a cash machine. They were all from the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment (17e Régiment du génie parachutiste), whose barracks are close to the town. Corporal Abel Chennouf, 24, and Private Mohamed Legouad, 23, both of North African origin, were killed. Corporal Loïc Liber, 28, from Guadeloupe, was left in a coma. See also: Toulouse and Montauban shootings
19 March 2012		Toulouse	5 (one perp.)	1	Small arms fire	Mohammed Merah (Islamist)	-- Religious figures & institutions At about 8:00 CET, a man drove up to the Ozar Hatorah school on a motorcycle. He dismounted, and immediately opened fire toward the schoolyard. Four people died: 30-year-old Rabbi Jonathan (Yonatan) Sandler; his two oldest (out of three) children Aryeh, aged 6, and Gabriel, aged 3; and the head teacher's daughter, eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego, the girl shot in the head. Bryan Bijaoui, a 17-year-old Jewish boy, was gravely injured. See also: Toulouse and Montauban shootings
7 January 2015		Paris	14 (2 perps.)	11	Small arms fire	Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula	-- Private Citizens & Property At about 11:30 CET, two militants armed with assault rifles and other weapons forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. They fired up to 50 shots, initially killing 11 people and injuring 11 others, and shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for "God is [the] greatest") during their attack. Main articles: Charlie Hebdo shooting and January 2015 Île-de-France attacks
9 January 2015		Paris	5 (one perp.)	9	Small arms fire -- hostage taking (1 day)	Amedy Coulibaly (Islamist)	-- Private Citizens & Property At about 1:00 CET, an Islamist militant who pledged allegiance to Islamic State, enters the Hypercacher kosher superette in Porte de Vincennes and takes up to 20 Jewish patrons hostage. Four Jewish hostages die and held fifteen others are held during a siege in which Coulibaly demands that the two militants responsible for the attack on the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo not be harmed. Main articles: Porte de Vincennes siege and January 2015 Île-de-France attacks
26 June 2015		Saint-Quentin-Fallavier	1	2	Bladed weapon & Improvised Explosive Device	Yassine Salhi (Islamist)	-- Private Citizens & Property At about 9:30 CEST, a suspected Islamic militant decapitates a man and drives a company van into gas cylinders at an Air Products gas factory near Lyon. The attacker placed the head of a victim on a fence railing, and planted two Jihadist flag banners alongside it. Video surveillance footage showed that the perpetrator also tried to ignite several canisters containing flammable chemicals. Main article: Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack
21 August 2015		Oignies	0	5	Small arms, bladed weapons	Ayoub El Kahzani	-- Transport At about 17:45 CEST, a 26-year-old Moroccan national carrying an AK-47, a semi-automatic pistol, 300 rounds and a box cutter, opens fire on a Thalys train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris. The gunman was attacked and subdued by four men (three Americans and one British), who beat him unconscious. The train was diverted to Arras where the man was arrested and identified. The man had been previously flagged with an "S" card, France's warning alert for someone believed to be a national security risk. Main article: 2015 Thalys train attack
13 November 2015		Paris, Saint-Denis	137+	352	AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades, various explosives, suicide vests	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (claimed) aka ISIS	-- Private Citizens & Property On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks comprising mass shootings and suicide bombings occurred in Paris and Saint-Denis, France. Beginning at 21:16 CET, three separate explosions and six mass shootings occurred, including bombings near the Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis. The deadliest attack was at the Bataclan theatre where attackers took hostages and engaged in a standoff with police until it was ended at 00:58 CET 14 November 2015. Main article: November 2015 Paris attacks

Notable French Muslims

Main category: French Muslims

• Zinedine Zidane, former football player.
• Franck Ribéry, football player.
• Karim Benzema, football player.
• Nicholas Anelka, football player.
• Rachida Dati, politician
• Samir Nasri, football player.
• Hatem Ben Arfa, football player.
• Moussa Sissoko, football player.
• Adil Rami, football player.
• Mamadou Sakho, football player.
• Nabil Fekir, football player.
• Paul Pogba, football player.

See also

• Demographics of France
• Religion in France
• Islam in Marseille
• Islam in Besançon
• Ni Putes Ni Soumises
• Beurgeois- affluent French Muslims of North African descent
• Franco-Ottoman alliance

Further reading

• Davidson, Naomi. Only Muslim: Embodying Islam in Twentieth-Century France (Cornell University Press, 2012)
• Katz, Ethan B. The Burdens of Brotherhood: Jews and Muslims from North Africa to France (Harvard University Press, 2015)
• Mandel, Maud S. Muslims and Jews in France: History of a Conflict (Princeton University Press; 2014) 253 pages; scholarly history of conflicts since 1948; special attention to Marseilles and to the impact of French decolonization in North Africa.
• Motadel, David. "The Making of Muslim Communities in Western Europe, 1914–1939." in by Götz Nordbruch and Umar Ryad, eds., Transnational Islam in Interwar Europe: Muslim Activists and Thinkers (2014) ch 1
• Murray-Miller, Gavin. "A Conflicted Sense of Nationality: Napoleon III's Arab Kingdom and the Paradoxes of French Multiculturalism." French Colonial History 15#1 (2014) pp: 1-37.
• Rootham, Esther. "Embodying Islam and laïcité: young French Muslim women at work." Gender, Place & Culture (2014): 1-16.
• Scheck, Raffael. French Colonial Soldiers in German Captivity During World War II (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
• Zwilling, Anne-Laure. "A century of mosques in France: building religious pluralism." International Review of Sociology 25#2 (2015): 333-340.

External links

• French Muslims, Government Grapple With Integration Pains
• Fighting Terrorism: Lessons From France
• The numbers of French Muslims and Muslims in France are exaggerated euro-islam.info 12 January 2013
• [3]
• France's burka bill – background, Radio France Internationale in English