French Muslim Leader: Veil Debate Has Become 'Hysterical' in France
Chems-eddine Mohamed Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, once again speaks out on the issue of the veil, which continues to divide.
"Today, unfortunately, the issue of the veil has become a completely hysterical issue in France. And I believe that when a woman is a believer, she must also take into account the society in which she lives," explains the guest of RTL. According to him, there is a principle that has existed for 14 centuries in Islam, it is the notion of necessity, the notion of constraint. "That is to say that when a woman cannot, for various reasons, wear a headscarf, she must remove it. This does not mean that she will lose her faith and that she is no longer Muslim," Chems-eddine Mohamed Hafiz further explains.
And he launches: "Look, in Muslim countries today, are there women who wear the veil when they compete in sports? No." The rector thus refers to the French basketball player, excluded from a competition in northern France for refusing to remove her hijab.
