The role of a revolutionary from within is never an easy one but for Hakim El Karoui that is exactly the challenge he has set himself as he seeks to change the place for Islam in French life.
The banker turned author can remember precisely when he realised that he could no longer remain on the sidelines as divisions rose within France. In the early days of 2015, the first of what would be a series of deadly attacks that rocked all France targeted the newspaper Charlie Hebdo and then a supermarket in Paris.
"I asked myself, can people like me do nothing?" he recalled to The National. "The answer to the question is obvious: no. I have been involved in the political debate for the past 15 years. I wrote several books on political and economic subjects and I decided that Islam was going to remain a private matter. But after the attacks I told myself that this was not going to be possible anymore."
The author of a new report for the Institut Montaigne, Mr Karoui proposes a wholesale overhaul of the role of the French state in its relations with Islam. In the document he calls for an umbrella body that is more involved and seeks clearly defined outcomes.
Above all the report is based on his own insight that if the voices of moderation don’t speak up then the extremists prevail, like the Muslim Brotherhood or the Qatar-based ideologue Yusuf Al Qaradawi.
“If enlightened Muslims don’t mobilise, the French and Western population will believe that Islam is the Islamists, that Islam is the Muslim Brotherhood,” he says. “When one looks at what is happening on the social media, there are only the activists and Islamists speaking.”
A nephew of the former Tunisian prime minister Hamad El Karoui, the author believes that many French Muslims underestimate the nature of the extremist agenda.
“I think Islamism is a big project, a big ideology that interprets the world and gives it meaning, that wants to organise societies and the re-partition of power,” he says. “It is an ideology that is rival to the Western ideology. It is not a reaction to the Western thought, it is competing with it.”
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It is wrong, he thinks, to subscribe to the view that the tensions seen today are a product of bitter historic struggles between different communities. “In France we often say that if Islamism exists it is because the West made mistakes – colonisation, the Iraq war, the segregation of Muslims in popular quarters, racism – and that therefore Islamism is the Muslim response to everything that the West has done,” he said.
Instead of an unthinking critique or giving in to hopelessness in the face of violence, moderates should match the organisation and dedication of the extremists he believes.
“Islamists are organised and I think we should do the same. We need to have organisations, militants, funds and discourse,” he said. “We need people to fight back on things like discrimination, who can explain that France and Muslims are not on opposite sides. This must be a global mobilisation, and only a global mobilisation can avoid a fracture and the rise of the far-right.”
Having looked at some of the best-practice thinking produced from the UAE, Mr Karoui also advises French officials to look for cooperation from outside. “I think that France and the UAE must engage more in a religious debate. The positions of the moderate Muslims in France can be close to the ones of the UAE.”
Mr Karoui adds that it’s a misconception that the constitutionally mandated secular nature of the French state means officials must stay aloof and that it can support the moderates seeking change. “I tell Muslims that secularism is their ally against Islamism, because Islamists cannot succeed in making France Islamist,” he said. “Islamists want to impose their vision of Islam, but secularism protects the right of every Muslim to say: I have the right to believe in whatever I want.”
While known to be close to President Emmanuel Macron – a 2016 report from the Institut has been cited as an influence on the French leader's thinking – Mr Karoui can only say he hopes his ideas will be reflected in the reform package the Elysee Palace has promised to deliver before the end of the year.
“Emmanuel Macron always presented moderate proposals on this subject,” he said. “He always considered the fact that one must avoid the risk of adding fuel to the fire, as they say. I think he agrees in principle – because what I have said is nothing but the discourse of the republic. On what must be done next, I hope that he can be convinced.”
Above all he hopes to convince French Muslims like himself to engage with the issue for the alternative is to cede ground to extremist thought. He said: “Those who are in the middle – the true Wasatia, not the Wasatia of al-Qaradawi – they do not speak up.
"For those Muslims who are caught in the middle, the best way to deal with it is to take action"
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
The five pillars of Islam
CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES
Mar 10: Norwich(A)
Mar 13: Newcastle(H)
Mar 16: Lille(A)
Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)
Apr 2: Brentford(H)
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
UAE's role in anti-extremism recognised
General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.
"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.
He also noted the impact that Hedayah, among others in the UAE, has played in addressing violent extremism.
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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