Aperçu sur l'histoire de l'islam à Marseille, 1813-1962. Pratiques religieuses et encadrement des Nords-Africains

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, Marseilles was the first large Metropolitan French city to receive a Muslim emigrant population remaining attached to Islamic religious practices. Although incomplete, archival sources clearly show that religious observance (prayer, fasting during Ramadan, religious holidays) and respect of Islamic rules governing burial and halal food, were practised by Kabyle and Arab workers from Algeria. Futhermore, important plans for the construction of mosques (191 7, 1937, 1942, 1949-51) mobilised leading local Muslim residents and elected politicians as wellas the administration, thereby revealing the wide range of conflicting interests and motives generated by Islam in the Metropolitan context. The well-known figure of Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit (Paris Mosque) is linked to the history of Islam in Marseille.