A worshipper is murdered in a French mosque. How can this be ‘just another crime’? | Rokhaya Diallo

Friday is simply a beatified time for practising Muslims – a clip to observe the religion much profoundly and, wherever possible, be prayers astatine the mosque. That’s precisely what Aboubakar Cissé did aboriginal connected Friday 25 April.

In the confederate French colony of La Grand-Combe, Cissé, a 22-year-old carpenter primitively from Mali, volunteered astatine his section mosque and was a acquainted look among worshippers. So erstwhile helium offered guidance done the prayers and rituals that Friday to a newcomer, a young antheral he did not know , it was an wholly earthy gesture. The stranger, however, had travel to prayers with precise antithetic intentions.

As Cissé bowed successful prostration, helium was stabbed with a weapon 57 times. The assailant past posted a video connected Snapchat of his unfortunate writhing successful agony successful a excavation of blood. In the video, a antheral tin beryllium heard saying “I did it” and insulting Allah.

Yet successful France, this decease – and evident targeting of a Muslim worshipper – has not been unequivocally understood arsenic a hate crime.

Ongoing contention astir the lawsuit is simply a dismaying reminder of however institutionally Islamophobic France is. For much than a fortnight, determination person been nationalist protests astatine the inadequacy of the investigation, the biggest of which truthful far took spot successful Paris connected Sunday. But, with immoderate notable exceptions, successful governmental and media circles much clip has been devoted to debating whether a horrific sidesplitting successful a spot of worship deserves to beryllium called “Islamophobic” than the terrifying implications of specified unit for Europe’s biggest Muslim population.

Right from the outset we tin spot treble standards: pursuing a misleading steer from the nationalist prosecutor’s office, overmuch of the French media including nationalist quality networks wrongly framed the atrocity arsenic a quality betwixt worshippers, repeating this fake communicative implicit and over.

After 3 days connected the run, the suspect, a 20-year-old French nationalist named arsenic Olivier H, gave himself up to constabulary successful Italy. The suspect’s lawyer denied that his lawsuit harboured immoderate hatred towards “Muslims oregon mosques”. He has been charged successful France with execution aggravated by premeditation connected grounds of contention oregon religion. Yet this was deemed insufficient to classify the lawsuit arsenic a violent incident. The sidesplitting was an “isolated event”, the nationalist authoritative said, the fishy “driven by a convulsive urge, alternatively than ideology”.

The governmental reactions 1 mightiness reasonably person expected aft unit of this quality successful a mosque ne'er came either.

Bruno Retailleau, the interior curate who is besides liable for spiritual affairs, posted a brief message of solidarity with the Muslim assemblage connected the time of the killing. But helium did not cancel immoderate nationalist engagements (numerous, arsenic helium is campaigning for the enactment of the blimpish enactment Les Republicains) to instantly sojourn the municipality arsenic helium has done aft different violent incidents.

It took different afloat 24 hours for the premier minister, François Bayrou, to condemn the “vile Islamophobia … shown connected video” and different time aft that for the president, Emmanuel Macron, to publicly comment, expressing condemnation of “racism” and “religious hatred” successful France. He was quicker to explicit solidarity following an onslaught successful Vancouver – wherever a operator rammed a assemblage – adjacent though that tragedy, during a Filipino taste event, occurred a time aft the mosque onslaught successful France.

Aboubakar Cissé, who was stabbed successful a mosque successful the French municipality of La Grande-Combe connected 25 April 2025. Photograph: DR

According to Mediapart, nary subordinate of the authorities nor immoderate typical of the authorities took portion successful a soundless march successful La Grand-Combe. When Retailleau yet showed up successful the municipality connected 27 April, a lack of urgency criticised adjacent wrong his ain party, helium constricted his beingness to closed-door talks astatine the sub-prefecture and announced information extortion for mosques. He neither went to the mosque nor met the victim’s family.

Asked successful a TV interview astir the delay, Retailleau blamed his caution connected uncertainty about the motivation for the crime, contempt the video and the anti-Muslim sentiment the fishy had allegedly posted online. Throughout, Retailleau referred to the unfortunate simply arsenic “the individual”, ne'er utilizing his name, and aboriginal blamed the execution connected our “multicultural society”.

When a minute’s soundlessness astatine the nationalist assembly was proposed, the president of the chamber, Yaël Braun-Pivet, initially refused, claiming that minutes of soundlessness were not observed for “individual cases”. Yet a fewer months earlier, soundlessness had been observed for a young pistillate murdered by an undocumented immigrant, arsenic good arsenic for a French hostage killed portion being held by Hamas.

Braun-Pivet yet relented, but her counterpart successful the legislature refused to travel suit, claiming: “We lone clasp minutes of soundlessness … for superior events, peculiarly violent attacks.”

Why are France’s highest-ranking politicians truthful reluctant to telephone a horrendous battle a violent incident? The fishy seemingly expressed a privation to onslaught astatine different Muslims successful the video helium allegedly posted connected societal media. Why does it look truthful hard to spot the obvious?

Mourad Battikh, a lawyer representing Cissé’s distraught family, rightly described the determination not to person the lawsuit dealt with by the nationalist anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office arsenic “shocking”, and the archetypal sidesplitting successful a spot of worship not to beryllium treated arsenic ideologically motivated.

But determination is simply a signifier here. When Muslims are targeted by hatred crimes, the attackers’ motives are rarely, if ever, labelled arsenic they should be. There is, arsenic the writer Widad Ketfi has pointed out, a glaring treble modular for however attacks are reported depending connected whether victims are successful a mosque oregon astatine a synagogue.

A fewer weeks earlier Cissé’s murder, Politis detailed the staggering fig of mosques that person been subjected to violence successful caller years (33 successful the past 10 years). Most of these crimes person gone unpunished by the justness system, were weakly condemned by governmental leaders and under-covered by the media. Islamophobia is rampant and yet, successful its astir convulsive expression, it is perpetually downplayed arsenic random transgression and reported successful forgettable headlines reserved for “faits divers” (news successful brief), hardly worthy of nationalist quality attention.

Incredibly, the connection Islamophobia itself is still contested. Some ministers, including Retailleau, refuse to usage it, alleging that it was created by Islamist extremists to forestall immoderate disapproval of Islam. That fake quality was debunked 2 decades ago. But the lack of a basal statement connected the word speaks volumes astir the denialism surrounding the world of Islamophobia arsenic a signifier of racism.

And yet, the facts are undeniable. Between January and March 2025, the fig of recorded Islamophobic incidents successful France rose by 72% compared with the aforesaid play successful 2024.

In the days aft Cissé’s death, a antheral was arrested adjacent a mosque carrying a butcher’s knife, portion a pistillate wearing a hijab says she was assaulted successful the thoroughfare and had her headscarf forcibly removed. She was pushing her kid successful a pram. A antheral was tally implicit and killed successful beforehand of his girl past summer, aft receiving explicitly Islamophobic threats. Yet his household is still fighting for the transgression to beryllium officially recognised arsenic racially motivated.

It is not that Islam is not discussed successful the nationalist sphere. It is perpetually debated. Whether it’s banning Muslim women from wearing headscarves successful sports, the hyper-regulation of schoolhouse formal codes, oregon the passing of a law whose Islamophobic consequences person been condemned by quality rights organisations, the regular lives of Muslims are progressively hemmed successful by an ever much intrusive governmental agenda.

According to the NGO Sleeping Giants, successful 2023 the words “immigration” and “Islam” appeared successful the header banners of CNews, the starring quality web successful France, 335 days retired of 365.

Meanwhile, Islamophobic rhetoric continues to proliferate and escalate. At a caller governmental rally, Retailleau openly declared “Down with the veil”, which not lone only breaches the rule of secularism but besides undermines his relation arsenic curate for spiritual affairs and the state’s work to stay neutral.

After Aboubakar Cissé’s brutal death, 1 mightiness person expected the authorities to denote a program to tackle Islamophobia. In reality, our governmental leaders are among its main drivers.

• Rokhaya Diallo is simply a Guardian Europe columnist