French newspaper: Saudi Arabia … an unlikely ally of Macron in...

Paris – “Al-Quds Al-Arabi”:

Under the title: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an unlikely ally of Emmanuel Macron in the war against radical Islam ”; The French newspaper “Le Pignon” said that French President Emmanuel Macron received support from Riyadh in the framework of his fight against the Islamists, through Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League and advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for religious affairs; And who called on Muslims to comply with the laws of the host countries, against the background of the murder of a French teacher last Friday.

Al-Issa also denounced, a few days ago, after the speech of French President Emmanuel Macron about “separatism,” what he considered “the actions of Muslims – or those who claim to be so – who gave a bad image of the Islamic religion through their extremism, intolerance, or terrorist acts.”

The advisor to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for religious affairs also made clear his opposition to “importing imams” from abroad, preferring to “train imams” on national soil in France and other countries. He also called for the sermons in the mosques to be commensurate with the local environment of each country. He said, “Imams from outside bring their culture and life … In some cases, they consider customs or cultural traditions part of the religion, which is not.”

The newspaper believes that this Saudi position is in line with the Elysee Palace project for the Islamic religion in France, although many French are skeptical.

The newspaper believes that this Saudi position is in line with the Elysee Palace project for the Islamic religion in France, although many French people question the seriousness of the former Saudi Minister of Justice, who was previously responsible for ratifying death sentences in his country. However, there are real developments underway in the kingdom, and its leaders are obsessed with improving their image in the West by proving that they are implementing “progressive” reforms to gain support.

“Le Penion,” indicated that Dr. Muhammad Abdul Karim Al-Issa, a former Saudi Minister of Justice, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, and the current advisor to the Saudi Crown Prince for Religious Affairs He visited Europe, Asia and Africa several times after assuming his current position at the end of 2016. He took the opportunity to defend moderate Islam and combat Islamophobia, which he sees as fertile ground for the recruitment of youth by extremists.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for its part, is reviewing school textbooks in order to “replace anti-Semitic content with one about religious tolerance.” And it began with “contempt / contempt” of the Jews in sermons .. Even the imam of the Great Mosque in Mecca, known for his anti-Semitic statements, recently narrated that the Prophet Muhammad had friendly relations with the Jews, in statements that many were surprised by, Le Pignon newspaper adds.

In addition, King Salman bin Abdulaziz received Rabbi David Rosen last February, although he is not yet ready to normalize relations with Israel. A month earlier, Dr. Al-Issa visited Auschwitz in honor of the victims of the Holocaust.

When he came to France in 2019, he wanted to visit the headquarters of the satirical “Charlie Hebdo” magazine, before being discouraged from doing so by making it clear that the visit could be viewed as a provocation. But he went to commemorate the priest Hamill, who was massacred in a church in the French Normandy region in the year 2106, in a crime that shook France at the time.