The CFCM warns against the manipulation of a survey on Muslims

The French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) denounced in a press release the “instrumentalization” of an Ifop survey commissioned by the magazine Screen saveraccusing the study of contributing to a “blacklisting” of Muslims in France. The organization disputes several data and analyses, deeming certain conclusions “approximate” and “devoid of scientific value” due to “numerous methodological biases”, in particular linked to the method of telephone survey or religious self-declaration. The CFCM considers that these results deviate from solid work carried out by INSEE, INED or CNRS, references for analyzing Islam in France.

According to the CFCM, certain questions in the survey – notably relating to “Sharia” or supposed “sympathies” towards extremist currents – are based on vague, poorly defined notions which are often unknown to the general public, which weakens the interpretation of the responses. The CFCM also calls into question the reading of generational differences, recalling that the youngest tend to over-declare their religiosity in a context of stigmatization, while their elders under-declare it out of caution.

The body also notes that certain conclusions, such as the assertion that Muslims favor religious rules over the laws of the Republic, are based on “reductive” interpretations of practices that are nevertheless legal, in particular ritual slaughter, shared with the Jewish community. A presentation that she considers “likely to fuel confusion” in an already sensitive climate.

Finally, the CFCM considers that the dissemination of terms like “re-Islamization”, “fundamentalism” or “religious absolutism”, without a rigorous definition, contributes to “confusing public debate” and reinforcing alarmist discourse. The body calls for a more responsible use of studies on religious minorities, while anti-Muslim acts are clearly increasing according to it. Warning of a “semantic drift” in the public debate, the CFCM calls for responsibility, believing that certain worrying terms disseminated by the survey fuel a climate of generalized suspicion towards Muslims and their places of worship.