Note from the Editors: This article originally appeared in French under the title “Osons Marine?” on the website of Albert Ali, a French-Muslim writer as a response to the President of the Muslim Collective of France. The latter had made statements warning Muslims against voting for the “Far Right” party Front National in the upcoming French Election. Ali, on the other hands believes that a more productive route might be to influence French nationalists to drop electoral Islamophobia, thus opening the path to collaboration with European conservatives.

It should be noted here that all the content and ideas here are solely those of Mr. Albert Ali, and they are presented here in the interest of making his ideas accessible to an English-speaking audience.

The article was translated by Thierry Vanroy, a Belgian blogger and edited by William van Nostrand and Ray Wilson, and is to be published in two parts. A short note from the translator follows.

Note from the Translator: In recent years, the bankruptcy of the traditional Left, Right and their respective alliances has become clear. The coming multipolar world will see entirely new post-ideological currents. There are many signs of what is to come in this respect. One of the most debated topics is “the Muslim Question” which for now still suffers from a total disconnect, especially in the West.

As a nationalist living in ‘Europe’, I find this a matter of extreme importance. We share the same continent and our fate is to be either intertwined by freedom or subdued by the unipolar ideology of the West. Interestingly, as clear evidence of changing times, some Muslims in France have been on the forefront of a very peculiar trend upon which I would like to elaborate.

However, I am not Muslim, nor am I French, so I cannot speak for Muslims, or Frenchmen. That’s something politicians do (both Left and Right). Fortunately, I do understand French. What better way is there than translating an article from a French Muslim?

Please mind, this is not an isolated anomaly. There is an increasing number of articles, books and organizations out there which share the same point of view.

One final note, this is written from a French perspective. Although I have tried to explain the peculiarities, not everyone might understand some of the specifically French context. That being said, what follows are not my words, but I hope it offers some insight into changing times.

Osons Marine? – A Reply to the president of the Muslim Collective of France.

My dearest Nabil, I would like to reply to your worries about the sympathy some Muslims have for the Front National.

I. Historical self-criticism:

As a former student of the political and social sciences at Sciences-Po, you should be familiar with our social and historical situation. The movement you preside over has a history and nearly all its militant cadres come from an engaged past, especially from the Far Left (syndicalism, the Green, the New Anti-capitalist Party, etc.)

Before I tackle the case of Marine Le Pen, allow me to take a critical look at your militant system, founded on an alliance with and using the analysis of the Left.

You have been a student of theology, so you know there is in fact no entity in French politics which coincides completely with Islamic ethics. This means to us, that every choice, from the Far Left to the Far Right, is a concession. If we admit it is a viable option to support the current democratic “game” – which remains to be seen – then every choice is valid and based on more-or-less acceptable terms. However, such terms have repeatedly been determined by the author and his personal, subjective take on reality. Thus, one can make the “Islamic” case for any party. It has already been proven how Leftist Muslims and the likes find themselves torn in their position between the Left and the Far Right, where it is in fact the latter which tends to defend the values of Muslims and Islam.

Thus, we might be inclined to say that it is but a small dive into the swamp of the social leftists before we find ourselves surrounded by the stench of the Far Right.

At the beginning of your letter, you state, “Muslims who are inclined to vote for the Front National (FN) ignore the past”. The same thing can also be said about those who sympathize with the Far Left, despite its “diversity”. We urge you to have the courage to see both the Left’s past as well as its present for what they are. The societal breakdown caused by the Left is apparent to any Muslim, as has always been the case of those whose point of view is at odds with tradition and morality. None of us, with our traditional values, can have much sympathy with the values of the Left, especially given the context of the undeniable past and the formation of our identity. Who among us can accept gay marriage and adoption? Who can accept libertine marriage and the collapse of the family or the anarchistic attitude towards order and discipline or the hatred for Jesus Christ and the insults aimed towards his Holy Mother or the militant atheism all the way into the schools and the denial of that which is sacred?

Have you seen the Leftists in Bordeaux who came to disturb the prayers of Traditionalist Catholics, because those Catholics opposed abortion? Are you aware of the insults of those Leftists were spouting against the Holy Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus? Why is there no Islamic representative who condemns abortion on demand — turned into a lifestyle by the Left — which today is wreaking havoc on Muslim youths? Where were the we, when we should have stood up against repulsive pseudo-art that insulted Jesus Christ? Why have we for 20 years already, allowed such concessions? How can we sit together and act together with the dishonorable militants of a lobby which sees pedophilia as a value of society? Why have Muslims conceded to the defenders of gay marriage, while being aware of the story of Lot as related to us in the Quran [1] ?

If talking about the Front National and its supposed wartime acts of torture sickens us, then why are we not also sickened by those people who admit on television to have had sexual acts with children in the name of progress? Is the leniency towards those who have praised pedophilia and who have tried to instill their values onto French society, supposed to make people take Leftist Muslims seriously? (translator: the author is talking about the Algerian war, this is a recurring theme in the article)

How are we to believe that, by supporting those who have tried to make sexuality at a tender age “acceptable”, as said by a former minister, Leftist Muslims can be turned into credible political actors?

How can one not be saddened by the sight of how our France has decayed through half a century of usurpation, agitation and fitna? Why have we not been angry when even 10 year old children can nowadays – thanks to the brand “Tammy” – walk around in lewd clothing? (Editor’s note: “Tammy” was a British retailer which targeted young teens and preteens.)

How are we to forge an alliance with the princes and masters of the fasâd [2], which praises drug use and group sex, in defiance of the Quran?

When we speak of moral priorities, which is worse in terms of fasâd? The planned destruction of the family, the support for drugs, sexual promiscuity and insults towards Christ and his Holy Mother, or the rejection of mass immigration and emphasizing job security for all French? Let’s be clear: What can we expect from the social engineering of the Left and the Far Left which – without having had time or power on its side – has thoroughly transformed France ever since May 1968, giving us this society in which excesses have become the rule?

Is this the future we want for our France? Should imams nevertheless take part in “Gay Pride” with a pink djellaba and an ultraviolet turban? If this spirit of lenience continues, this will be the end result: instead of imams warning against the “gay attitude,” imams clamoring for “gay pride,” complete with halal (sic) gay marriage!

II. Concerning Nazism, the inhumane and the praising of colonial revisionism:

You state: “The Front National has its roots in a history that glorifies the sulfrous Vichy regime and the darkest pages of the history of France”. It deplores how the Front National has many nostalgic to the French empire, or at the very least admirers of Vichy and Nazism.

I know that at Sciences-Po, you were taught that “Work, Family, Country” was the epitome of fascism. As a small reminder, in Islam, work is categorized as a cultural activity, an act of ‘ibâdah (worship), just like prayer, whilst Family has been a fundamental of Creation ever since Adam and Eve. Concerning “country,” the “land of our fathers” has been passed on through Divine Volition to those who deserve it. Could such a thing symbolize fascism or horror? This is not intended to claim that Hitler was better al-Ḥajjāj bin Yūsuf, or that National Socialism is in itself a theology, but I would nevertheless like to distance myself from categorizations instilled onto us by the system.

Why should we, descendants of post-colonial immigration, support this eternal squealing of the Left, this permanent antifascist twaddle, to mirror our minds to categorizations which are in fact not ours?

The history of European fascism is a history where we, as the “new French,” are complete strangers to. Why should we subject ourselves to such backtracking logic or the political use of intra-European history? Should there have been Nazi sympathizers and French collaborators, then we should also ask ourselves why in the beginning of the previous century the Ottoman Empire, at the end of its lifespan, felt itself compelled to support the Germans. And why, 30 years later, the Mufti of Jerusalem met Hitler and founded Muslim units in the Balkans? If we forgive one side, we should understand the other. Do we know what kind of choices we had to make should we have conquered this period in time? History is complex and dependent on such a myriad of factors, we should constantly be revising it. Getting back in touch with history is also risking anachronism. Therefore, let us start with the revision of our own familial and colonial history. Underlining the crimes of one side should lead us to investigating the unfortunate Harkis (translator: Algerians in the French army) who, 50 years since the end of the war in Algeria, are still our Muslim brothers, no matter what we say. They deserve to not just be cast away as is the case today. Cultivating hatred when we come across these people is not a part of our traditions. Eternal revenge is not a part of the Sunnah!

The reconciliation of tomorrow is important if we are to prevent the repeated condemnation of the past. Should we be compelled to go on with recycling the past, then let us also think of the torturings of the Harkis by the FLN ‘Mujahedin’, which were deceitfully betrayed on the order of the cowardly French government. Is this how the Prophet (swt) commands us to tread POWs? As far as torture goes they excelled far above the inventors the Gégène[3], as if to say that the Americans were mistaken by delocalising their torture chambers outside of Arab countries! Concerning French Muslims, there is more common ground – maṣlaha [4] – to work towards the reconciliation with the Harkis and especially their descendants, who are still alive, rather than conjuring up memories of the fallen victims, so as to contemplate once more on the military past of certain cadres of the Front National.

When will we stop perpetually follow the media’s rhythm, which opportunistically and incessantly replays the sad history of the FN? When will we free ourselves from the system’s categorizations, so we will finally become autonomous? We would like to hear about the antifascist associations of Muslims and about the Vichyism of the father of the Left, supported and massively voted for by Muslims with the presidential elections of 1981 (translator: Mitterrand). It would – politically speaking – be much more sensible than focusing on French militaries, straw men on Algerian soil. So if we are to look back at history, let us do so from a critical perspective and starting from our own past, so we can then do away with the myths and lay bare the necessary nuances.

To be Continued here

Footnotes:

[1] The Qur’an, Sûrah 7, Verses 80-82

[2] An Arabic term denoting corruption or social disorder.

[3] French military term designating an electric generator whose primary use is to power field telephones. The gegene was used to torture people by applying the electrodes to circulate an electric current between various body parts.

[4] An Arabic term roughly translated as “social welfare”. It is invoked to prohibit or permit something on the basis of whether or not it serves the public’s benefit or welfare.