‘You’re in the French army now!’ Institutionalising Islam in the republic’s army

Abstract

The establishment in 2006 of a military chaplaincy to Muslims in the French armed forces was a historic initiative which normalised the situation of France’s second religion within the institution. The purpose of this article is to explore the conditions for the emergence of this chaplaincy. From a socio-historical perspective, I analyse not only the many paradoxes surrounding the status of a Muslim military chaplain in the French context but also the various sociological factors and policies that have contributed to its institutionalisation. In the second part of the article I describe how this body operates, drawing on empirical data on the practices and experiences of Muslim personnel within the French military.

Keywords:

• armies
• religion
• chaplaincy
• Islam
• secularism
• laicité

Notes

1. The first article of the 1958 Constitution provides that ‘France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social republic. It guarantees equality before the law for all citizens without distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs.’

2. Pierre Joxe was the minister of national defence from 1991 to 1993.

3. Negotiations and attempts to organise had been going on since 1989 but had been hampered by internal divisions within the Muslim community in France. The fault lines are numerous and include the desire for influence from origin countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey), generational cleavage (old, young) and different social trajectories (people born in France and people from abroad).

4. The HALDE was an independent administrative authority set up to combat discrimination prohibited by law. It was dissolved in 2011, but its functions were transferred to the office of the défenseur des droits (defender of rights), likewise responsible for combating discrimination, though his mandate now encompasses other functions (advocate for children, ombudsman).

5. In 2012 there were nearly 40 Muslim military chaplains. By comparison, the other three denominations accounted for 233 civilian and military chaplains (176 Catholic, 37 Protestant and 20 Jewish).

6. This work was initiated by the French Muslim chaplain Mohamed Ali Bouharb. A first version will be presented in 2016 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Muslim military chaplaincy.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elyamine Settoul

Elyamine Settoul is currently Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. He has a PhD in political science from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris: his thesis deals with the enlistment of military personnel of immigrant origin. His field of interest includes military sociology, cultural diversity, migration issues and political Islam. His academic articles and reports include ‘Musulmans dans les armées françaises: entre banalisation institutionnelle et altérité imaginaire’, Migrations et sociétés 20 (120), 2008 and ‘De la conscription à la professionnalisation: héritage, continuités et mutations du rôle social des armées aujourd’hui en France’, Etudes de l’IRSEM 12, 2012.