Gerald Darmanin, France’s right-wing interior Minister, stated on Twitter that he is taking legal action against a Muslim publishing business for allegedly selling books promoting Islamic history on major Muslim individuals who struggled for their faith.
The minister claims that the publishing house “Nawa Editions” has an editorial line that is “anti-universalist and in direct conflict with Western ideals” and that it has “distributed multiple volumes legitimising jihad”.
A biography of the Muslim military commander Khalid Bin Al-Walid from the seventh century is one of these works.
France has been quick to honour and protect colonial-era personalities who have sparked debate over the country’s violent imperial past. Muslims on the other hand may today be considered fanatics for publishing and honouring historical personalities significant to their history and identity.
Nawa Edition “issued a statement condemning the state’s “purely political” move. The publishing houses expressed concern over the “drift of the French political paradigm” towards executive dissolutions of Muslim groups without due process.
France’s new steps against a Muslim organisation are part of a pattern in which the government has shut down Muslim-related organisations.
Last year, the country’s largest Muslim charity, Baraka City, was shut down, followed by the anti-Islamophobia advocacy group CCIF, which was the country’s only organisation collecting statistics on escalating anti-Muslim violence.
On both occasions, the group’s alleged ties to “Islamism” were noted, a broad termed that the French government is increasingly using to describe groups that criticise state-led racism and Islamophobia.
According to its website, the Nawa publishing house wants to “advance the human and political sciences of Islamic heritage” and “contribute to the revitalisation of these disciplines by researching the western world and science, modern political philosophy and doctrines”.
The bank accounts of the publishing house as well as those of its primary writers, Assam Ait Yahya and Abu Souleiman Al Kaabi, were frozen as a result of the judgment.
Many organisations have come out in support of the publishing house’s unusual moves.
A commenter mentioned both the increased pressure Muslims are suffering in the country and the French government’s hypocrisy in protecting freedom of expression while also cracking down on Muslims.
“It’s time for the Muslims to stand up and be counted. We cannot accept the dissolution of a publishing firm. It is an effort to the republic’s fundamental right to freedom of expression”.
With Macron’s disapproval ratings hovering around 60% and the French presidential elections less than eight months away, the flurry of anti-Muslim ideas is a ploy to win votes from the far-right
Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right leader, is leading polls for the presidential elections in 2022. She is known for her anti-Islam and anti-Muslim stances.