France Closes Chanteloup Mosque for 6 Months, Management Appeals to Council of State
The French government closed the Chanteloup Mosque in Aulnay-sous-Bois, Paris, for six months after local authorities questioned the content of several sermons, including quotations of seven Quranic verses and references to classical Islamic texts.
The closure remains in effect after the Montreuil Court rejected the mosque's request for a stay. The management's lawyer, Rafik Chekkat, confirmed he will take the case to the French Council of State (Conseil d'État).
Chekkat questioned the limits of an imam's freedom when delivering Islamic teachings in a mosque. "In France, is an imam still allowed to quote the Quran in the mosque where he delivers sermons?" he said, as quoted by Middle East Eye, Thursday (13/8/2026).
The government accused several sermons at the mosque of containing the spread of radical Islamic ideology, legitimization of jihad, glorification of death as martyrdom, and calls that could incite violence, hatred, or discrimination. The defense stated that the disputed material included seven Quranic verses and references to Riyadhus Shalihin and Al-Arba'in An-Nawawi, two works by Imam an-Nawawi that are important references in the Islamic scholarly tradition.
https://mozaik.inilah.com/news