MARINE Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, is to stand trial on old charges of inciting racial hatred after having compared Muslim street prayers to Nazi occupation (Sept 23).

In 2010, she had complained during a campaign that there were ‘10 to 15’ places in France where Muslims worshipped in the streets outside mosques when they were full. She said, “It is an occupation of parts of the territory, suburbs.... Sure, there are no armoured vehicles, no soldiers, but it is an occupation nonetheless and it weighs on residents,” and she likened it to the Nazi occupation in WW-II.

This had provoked an outrage in France. However, while the lady is totally wrong in her comparison, many Muslims appear to be unaware of the fact that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had actually forbidden Muslims from praying on roads or streets as it would cause inconvenience to pedestrians.

However, it is likely that this phenomenon of worshippers spilling on to the streets in France would only be limited to Friday or Eid prayers because on normal days their numbers would be smaller, as in other Western countries.

While living in such a place many years ago, I used to offer my Friday prayers in a downtown mosque, having no parking space.

As a result, some Muslims hurrying to pray during rush-hour, with the added constraint of only having their lunch time to both pray and eat, would park their cars in front of the gates of neighbouring houses. Some of the neighbours were annoyed and complained to the city government. But at the same time, there were others who were supportive.

Anyway, I made it a point to never park before anybody’s gate, even if it meant missing the Friday congregation. Here, I would be acting on the Prophet’s (PBUH) teaching about not going to the mosque in a hurry, but at a comfortable pace.

While Muslims should be grateful to the majority of the French people who opposed Ms Pen’s vitriol, they must remember the Prophet’s sage advice and act upon it.

A Pakistani
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2015

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