The Muslim Executive calls allegations of foreign interference “completely unfounded.” “The Muslim community in Belgium will not be intimidated.”
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The Belgian Islamic institutions regret that the recognition procedure of the Grand Mosque in Brussels has been suspended. This is what the Executive of the Muslims of Belgium (EMB), the Association for the management of the Grand Mosque of Brussels and the Coordination Council of the Islamic Institutions of Belgium (CIB) know. According to them, there is no foreign interference and espionage. They call those accusations unfounded.
‘Our institutions are organizations according to Belgian public and civil law, whose members are full Belgian citizens’, according to a joint press release. “It is defamatory, insulting and onerous to declare that our members are spies with interests abroad. These allegations are groundless, contentious and questionable. ‘
Freedom of religion
Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) issued a negative advice on the relaunch of the Brussels Grand Mosque. It was withdrawn from the influence of Saudi Arabia last year. According to State Security, it appears that the mosque is still under foreign influence, especially from Morocco. She appoints three employees of the mosque as agents of the Moroccan intelligence services. Van Quickenborne demands that all organs of the Muslim Executive be renewed.
The Muslim Executive believes that the minister’s statements openly violate freedom of religion and the separation between church and state. We consider this speech to be a clear interference in the affairs of Islamic worship. It is not up to politicians to assign qualifications to a worship service such as “progressive Islam” or to address religious communities on the choice of their representatives. The Muslim community in Belgium will not be intimidated and stigmatized through its institutions and members. ‘
Finally, the organizations emphasize that they remain open to dialogue with the government.
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