The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the State Department to condemn France’s closure of a mosque reportedly due to recitation of verses of the Holy Quran, Islam’s revealed text.
A French court has upheld the six-month closure of a mosque near Paris. Human rights lawyer Rafik Chekkat said the authorities based part of their case on imams “quoting…seven passages from the Quran and references to major works of the Islamic tradition….”
SEE: France shuts mosque over Quran verses and Islamic texts used in Muslim worship | Middle East Eye
In a statement, Washington, D.C.-based CAIR said:
“No government has the right to shut down a church, a synagogue, a mosque or any other house of worship for reading text from their faith’s holy book. Shutting down a mosque for preaching The Holy Quran is the definition of religious discrimination and persecution. We call on the State Department, which has repeatedly called for the protection of religious freedom, to condemn this reprehensible violation of liberty by the French government.”
CAIR has previously condemned Islamophobic incidents and policies in France.
SEE: CAIR Condemns Attempted Arson of Muslim Prayer Room in France
CAIR Calls for Rejection of France’s Proposed Ban on Hijab, Other Religious Attire in Sports
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]