Jewish groups in France have launched legal action to determine whether an imam who preached a hadith against the Jews in the Toulouse mosque is guilty of incitement to hatred.
The problem arises primarily from the literal interpretation of traditional texts that some imams offer to their Muslim congregations.
The Algerian imam of the Great Mosque of Toulouse, Mohamed Tataï, has become the centre of heated controversy since the end of June as a result of a video of a December 2017 sermon in which he cites a hadith referring to the “ultimate and decisive” battle between Jews and Muslims.
Following a complaint by the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) and the International League against Racism and Antisemitism (LICRA), prosecutors launched an investigation into “facts susceptible of forming an incitement to hate.”
After receiving a certified translation of the sermon, prosecutors indicated last Tuesday that they are now beginning “the analysis phase” and that they would deliver their decision “not earlier than mid-August.”
Nevertheless, Interior Minister Gérard Collomb weighed in on the matter during question time in the Senate on July 19 when he “very firmly condemned discourse that effectively incites hatred.”
On July 12, the rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur condemned Iman Tataï’s preaching, stating that it was based on “a hadith reported by a traditionalist author (Abu Hurayra) who had himself been rejected by the Umayyads” and “which did not deserve to be exhumed from its oblivion.”
However, Gawad contested this view: “The hadith is mentioned in several versions of major Sunni works,” he said. “The imam has not said anything unusual compared with the majority discourse in mosques over the past 30 years.
“What shocks me is the hypocrisy of those who defend it,” Gawad said. “They cannot feign ignorance of the fact that these texts are extremely well known and that the faithful link this with the violence between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Only Muslims who adopt the historical-critical approach can provide a different perspective on the authority of this medieval author, Gawad said.
“I would prefer imams to study the history of that period and thus to be in a position to affirm that it is no longer possible today to have the same confidence in it,” he said.
