French mosque reopens after a year of administrative closure due to 'extremist preaching' suspicions

The mosque of Allonnes in Sarthe reopened its doors on Friday, January 13, after an administrative closure dating back to the end of 2021.

The mosque was suspected of promoting radical religious practices and extremism by authorities, who ordered its closure.

“A new association was created, we worked for many months with the services of the prefecture, the new association and the services of the city so that everything goes as well as possible. An agreement has been signed,” said Gilles Leproust, mayor of the town, quoted by French media Ouest-France.

“Everything went through the city council and was validated, the Muslim community of the city is satisfied with this reopening” said the mayor.

In October 2021, the prefecture initiated a procedure to close the mosque, and the Council of State later supported this decision.

In January 2022, the two associations managing the mosque were dissolved by the Council of Ministers, believing that preaching within the mosque to an approximate 300 worshippers it receives encourages “armed jihad.”