Kahina Bahloul
Kahina Bahloul | |
|---|---|
 Bahloul in 2021 | |
| Title | Imam |
| Personal | |
| Born | March 5, 1979 Paris, France |
| Religion | Islam |
| Nationality | French, Algerian |
| Denomination | Sufism |
| School | |
| Organization | |
| Founder of | Fatma Mosque |
Kahina Bahloul (born 5 March 1979) is a French imam and Islamic academic. An adherent of Sufism, she became the first female imam in France in 2019, when she founded the unisex Fatima Mosque. Bahloul advocates modernist reforms in Islam, including equal rights for women in Islam and the creation of a distinct French Muslim identity.
Early life[edit]
Kahina Bahloul was born in Paris to a French mother and a Kabyle Algerian father.[1] Her family was interfaith: her father was Sufi Muslim,[2] and her mother was the child of a French Catholic man and a Polish Jewish woman,[1] though her mother personally identified as atheist.[3] As a child, Bahloul was raised in the Kabylia region of Algeria.[3] Her mother moved back to France, so she was raised by her father and his family. She became fluent in Arabic, French, and a Berber language.[4]
Though her father had little formal knowledge about Islam, he her to practice the religion in conjunction with humanism and progressivism.She never left Islam, but she distanced herself from the religion as a teenager because she felt unwelcome as a woman.[3] While in Kabyila, Bahloul obtained her master's degree in law. She took interest in the law's adherence to Sharia, as opposed to other places where Western law was inherited through colonialism, but also that in her view patriarchy in Algeria prioritized men over Sharia. As the Algerian Civil War progressed, Bahloul objected to what she saw as fundamentalist Islam being imported to Algeria from Saudi Arabia, including the expectation of women to wear a hijab.[4]
Bahloul returned to France in 2003.[1] The state of Islam, including the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, gave her further reservations about the religion.[4] The death of her father in 2009 revitalized her interest in religion.[5] She coped with his death through the works of Syrian poet Khaled Roumo.[3] Bahloul stopped attending mosques in 2014 because of sex segregation that she said resulted in lower quality facilities for Muslim women.[6] She spent 12 years working in the insurance business before leaving the career in 2015 to return to school,[3] and she attended the École pratique des hautes études to obtain a doctorate in Islamic studies.[7] It was at this time that she explored Sufism and mysticism in Islam.[3]
France saw a rise in Islamic terrorism at this time, which brought a crackdown on Muslim communities, including closures of mosques and investigations into their funding. Bahloul saw this as evidence that French Muslims needed to "reclaim their faith".[7] The November 2015 Paris attacks convinced Bahloul that she should become involved in Islamic reform, and she decided to become an imam.[8] To further her involvement, she founded the discussion group Parle moi d'Islam (transl. Talk to me about Islam).[6]
Imamate[edit]
Bahloul co-founded Fatima Mosque with philosophy professor Faker Korchane, first applying for its establishment in November 2018. The French-language mosque was created as a unisex place of worship. Men and women are allowed to pray together on opposite sides of the prayer hall, and the imam leading prayers alternates between a man and a woman each week.[8] Although it is a mosque, it allows non-Muslims to participate in prayers.[7] Fatima Mosque operated online during the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
Bahloul became an imam in May 2019, making her the first French woman to hold the title.[1] She delivered her first sermon to a mixed gender group of ten women and twelve men.[5] With the attention that the project received, Bahloul has received derision and threats from conservative Muslims.[1][3] As she became a prominent figure in the French Muslim community, she held workshops in Drancy about Islamic prophets with the Alawya association, and she co-founded La Maison de la Paix, which provided Sufist teachings, in Paris with the Norwegian imam Annika Skattum. La Maison de la Paix lacked funding and closed after one year.[3] Bahloul wrote a memoir, Mon islam, ma liberté (transl. My Islam, My Freedom), in 2021.[1]
Religious and political views[edit]
Bahloul adheres to Sufism as taught by Ibn Arabi.[2] She has also cited Abu Bakr al-Razi,[4] Rabia Basri, and Emir Abdelkader as influences. Her understanding of Islam is one based in love demonstrated by submission to Allah. Bahloul believes that Islam should emphasize spirituality over orthodoxy and radicalism.[2] She believes that the lack of central authority in Islam invites new interpretations and personal understandings of the religion,[9] and that the increased access to the text in the modern era allows for individual reading of the Quran.[7]
Bahloul supports the liberalization of Islam and the acceptance of women in Islamic practices.[3][9] Bahloul is critical of mainstream Islamic scholarship, alleging that it "emanates from medieval thought".[7] She argues that conservative sects of Islam view the religion from a male perspective, promoting patriarchy and misogyny.[8] Bahloul believes in a form of Islamic feminism that unifies men and women in Islam by "rebuilding a complementary feminism".[4] She argues that society would be improved by a stronger feminine presence and that women have an obligation to challenge injustice.[5] Bahloul does not wear a veil and maintains that it is not required by the Quran.[6] She also argues that female imams are permitted by the Quran as it makes no mention of the role, but that the lack of female imams has led people to believe it is forbidden.[7]
Bahloul has called for the development of a French Islamic religious identity distinct from that of Muslim-majority nations. She is critical of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, arguing that it represents the Islamic governments of other nations rather than French Muslims.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Larousse, Virginie (2021-04-03). "Kahina Bahloul, première imame de France : " Gardons-nous de faire de l'islam une identité à part entière "" [Kahina Bahloul, first imam of France: "Let's be careful not to make Islam a full identity"]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b c Van Mele, Lieven (20 May 2021). "Mon islam, ma liberté" [My Islam, my freedom]. Doorbraak (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Eschapasse, Baudouin (2019-01-09). "Kahina Bahloul, l'islamologue qui veut ouvrir une mosquée " inclusive "" [Kahina Bahloul, the Islamologist who wants to open an “inclusive” mosque]. Le Point (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b c d e Henni-Moulaï, Nadia (8 February 2019). "Kahina Bahloul, ou le combat pour un islam érudit et décliné au féminin" [Kahina Bahloul, or the fight for an erudite and feminine Islam]. Middle East Eye (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ a b c "Kahina Bahloul, 1ère femme imam de France et d'origine algérienne, raconte son parcours" [Kahina Bahloul, 1st female imam of France and of Algerian origin, recounts her journey]. Algerie 360 (in French). 2023-03-08. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
- ^ a b c Hird, Alison (2019-01-10). "French Muslim women push for 'inclusive' mosque in Paris". RFI. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Borges, Anelise (2021-04-21). "Meet France's first female imam who is on a mission to modernise Islam". euronews. Archived from the original on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b c Wemaëre, Alcyone (2019-02-05). "The rise of the female imam in France?". France 24. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ a b Bancaud, Delphine (2019-07-22). "Quel est le projet de Kahina Bahloul, première imame de France?" [Kahina Bahloul, first imam of France: “My journey is a symbol of the renewal of Muslim thought”]. 20 Minutes (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-11.
Further reading[edit]
- Bahloul, Kahina (2021). Mon islam, ma liberté [My Islam, my liberty] (in French). Albin Michel. ISBN 978-2-226-46357-9.
External links[edit]
- "Meet Kahina Bahloul, France's first female imam" – Interview by euronews on YouTube, English subtitles (9:37)