Grand Mosque of Paris

Genesis of the project

The history of the Paris mosque is inextricably linked to France's colonization of large parts of the Muslim world over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An early, if not the first, project for a mosque in Paris is recorded as desired to be "in the Baujon district in 1842, followed by a revival of similar intentions at the In 1846, the Société orientale (Eastern Society) proposed the construction "in Paris, then at Marseilles, of a cemetery, mosque, and a Muslim school (collège)." According to the historian Michel Renard, it was put forward "for philanthropic reasons, augmented by political reasons (the recent conquest and pacification of Algeria), but also religious since Muslims were judged to be closer to Roman Catholicism than the Jews." The negative reaction of the Ministry of Justice and Religions, which debated the matter with the National Assembly, shelved the project for ten years.

The First "Mosque" at Père-Lachaise

A French Prefectorial decree of November 29, 1856 permitted the Ottoman Embassy in Paris to construct a special enclosure that was reserved for the burial of Muslims in the 85th division of the Parisian Cemetery of the East, called Père Lachaise. The enclosure measured about 800 square meters, and in it the Ottomans built a structure labeled as a 'Mosque,' in order to give shelter to funerary services and the prayers for the deceased. It was thus the first mosque constructed on Parisian territory. However, it was not the first in Western Europe since the disappearance of Muslims from the south of France in the ninth century, because there was an earlier mosque that had long been used in Marseille within the boundaries of the Cemetery of the Turks, but it had been destroyed during the French Revolution."

The cemetery covered the tombs of Ottomans who had died in France. Little used, in 1883 it was cut down in size, but soon the building fell into disrepair, so the Ottoman government decided to finance its reconstruction and extension. In 1914, an architectural design was put forward for a more prominent building with a dome and clear "Islamic" characteristics evident, but the First World War blocked the implementation of the project. In 1923, however, an inter-ministerial commission of Muslim affairs discussed the work for completing a Muslim cemetery in Père Lachaise. It concluded that it was not practical to build a mosque in the cemetery, as they were looking to build a mosque in the district of the Jardin des Plantes.

1895 and 1915–16 projects

The first project for a true mosque in Paris was envisaged without success in 1895 by the Committee of French Africa set up by Théophile Delcassé, Jules Cambon, the Prince Bonaparte and the Prince d'Arenberg. An article in La Presse from January 12, 1896 was, however, optimistic about this project, specifically for a mosque to be constructed on the Quai d'Orsay, notably with the financial support of the Ottoman sultan, the Viceroy of Egypt, and the Sultan of Morocco.

First World War

In 1881, the French government established the indigénat in Algeria which enabled punishments, such as being stripped of land, and discrimination towards the colonials. This decree also restricted travel of Algerians internationally and in their own country by requiring permits to travel. In 1905, a strike among the French workforce had French officials look to Algerians to fill this role. The travel limitations were relaxed to allow Algerians to travel and immigrate to France to fill the voids in the labor force. In 1912, the French desire for workers grew as the country grew while also needing additional soldiers for the military. In response, the decree was softened allowing further immigration from Algeria. Shortly afterwards, during World War I France needed more resources to assist ongoing war. France saw large waves of migration of Algerians to France in order to serve in the military and to become laborers. The war saw casualties upwards of 100,000 Algerian soldiers serving the French and a new population of Algerian immigrants into France. As the war came to an end, the French became more accepting of the Muslim people and wanted to celebrate them for their efforts and sacrifices for France.

The mosque is inspired by the architecture of North African mosques. For example, the courtyard, horseshoe arches, and green-tiled roofs are inspired by the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, Morocco, while the minaret was inspired by the Zaytuna Mosque in Tunis, Tunisia. The minaret is 33 metres (108 ft) tall. The decorative program of the mosque, in particular the zellij tilework, was entrusted to specialized craftsmen from North Africa using traditional materials. The main entrance portal is ornamented with stylized motifs in Islamic style.

The Great Mosque of Paris covers an area of 7,500 square metres (81,000 sq ft), and comprises:

A prayer room whose decoration is inspired by many parts of the Muslim world

A madrasa (school)

A library

A conference room

North african's style gardens covering an area of 3,500 square meters

Annexes including a restaurant, tea room, hammam, and shops

The mosque, along with the Islamic Center, are listed in the supplementary inventory of Historic Monuments by the decree of December 9, 1983. The edifice is filed under the label of "Twentieth Century Patrimony" (Patrimoine du XXe siècle).

The Great Mosque of Paris can accommodate up to 1,000 people, and authorizes access to women, and provides confessional rooms as well as access for handicapped persons.

Legal status

Since 1921, the Great Mosque has been under the authority of the Société des Habous et lieux saints de l'Islam, an association regulated by the Law of 1901, owner of the building following its donation by the City of Paris. In the 1980s Minister of the Interior Gaston Defferre withdrew the guardianship of the Mosque from the Ministry and the City of Paris, an act which has since permitted Algeria to finance a third of the budget of the mosque (in 2015, this budget totalled 1.8 million euros). Even if the mosque is legally independent, it remains religiously and culturally linked to Algeria, which exercises an unwritten right to the nomination of its rector; although, in 2015, Algeria announced officially the start of procedures for the acquisition of the property of the Great Mosque of Paris.

Tourism

Today the Grand Mosque is the largest mosque in France and the third largest in Europe. It is located in the 5th arrondissement in the Latin Quarter near the Jardin des Plantes and the Institut de Monde Arabe. The mosque is a tourist destination as well as a place of prayer, and it offers guided tours. There are also large Hammam marble baths for visitors.

The mosque is open for tourists every day of the year (except for Fridays), outside of the rooms of imams and those for instruction, and the spaces reserved for reading of the Koran, prayers, and meditations by Muslims.

The mosque also includes a traditional restaurant "Aux Portes de l'Orient" (At the Doors of the East) which serves the cuisine of the Maghreb such as tagine and couscous, along with a tea room (serving mint tea, loukoum, pastries, hookah). There are also Arabic baths (exclusively for women), shops selling traditional Arab crafts, and all these establishments are open year-round to the public.

The mosque is accessed from Paris Métro Line 7 from the stations Place Monge and Censier-Daubenton as well as by several bus lines of the RATP (47, 67, and 89).

The Institut musulman de la grande mosquée de Paris is in a religious partnership with the Société française de contrôle de la viande halal (SFCVH; French Agency for Control of Halal Meat) agreed upon to regulate the priests authorized to perform ritual slaughter in conformation with the Decree of December 15, 1994 of the French Minister of Agriculture. The Institut musulman exercises the religious prerogatives in the matter of Islamic ritual sacrifice while the SFCVH is charged with overseeing the technical, administrative, and commercial aspects of control and certification of the processes of slaughter, such as electrocution and inert gas asphyxiation.