“The French Republic admits and protects all beliefs. Whatever path a human being takes towards his ideal, this path is sacred to us. » With these words, President Gaston Doumergue, accompanied by the Sultan of Morocco, Moulay Youssef, inaugurated the first great mosque in France in Paris on July 15, 1926.
A century after its opening, the building remains a place steeped in history. This major religious and cultural space for Muslims in France continues to bear the memory of a period marked by the First World War, French colonial history and relations between the Republic and Muslim populations.
A tribute to Muslim soldiers who died for France
The construction of the Great Mosque of Paris was decided after the First World War, in order to pay tribute to the Muslim soldiers who fought for France. Between 1914 and 1918, nearly 600,000 soldiers from the French colonial empire, mainly from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa, were mobilized in the French army. Historians estimate that between 70,000 and 100,000 of them lost their lives on the battlefields.
Instigated by Édouard Herriot, then a figure in the Radical Party and mayor of Lyon, a law was passed unanimously in 1920 in the Chamber of Deputies and granted a grant of 500,000 francs to create the Great Mosque. The first stone was laid in 1922, and the mosque was officially inaugurated on July 15, 1926.
A building with a political dimension
After its construction, in addition to its symbolic dimension, the Great Mosque became a political instrument of colonial France. The French authorities wish to create an official interlocutor capable of representing an Islam considered compatible with the interests of the Republic. The building became a place where French political leaders, foreign diplomats and religious representatives from the Muslim world met.
Its first rector, Si Kaddour Benghabrit, a religious man and former diplomat who worked with the French administration in North Africa, is a key player in these relations. Under his direction, the mosque played a mediation role between France and the Muslim populations from the colonial empire.
Even today, the Grand Mosque of Paris retains an important political dimension. She remains a major interlocutor of public authorities on questions related to the organization of Islam in France. Also, its historical links with Algeria, a country from which it receives funding, also give rise to debates, particularly since the deterioration of relations between Algiers and Paris.
One of the oldest mosques in France
When it was inaugurated in 1926, the Grand Mosque of Paris was one of the first large Muslim buildings built in metropolitan France which housed around 120,000 Muslims at the time. Located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, near the Jardin des Plantes, it occupies a plot of approximately 7,500 m2 and today remains one of the most important places of Muslim worship in the country.
The mosque welcomes several thousand worshippers, particularly during major religious holidays such as Eid-El-Fitr or Eid-El-Adha. Beyond its religious function, it also houses a library, a garden, a restaurant, a tea room and a hammam, making it a major cultural and tourist place in the capital.
Architecture inspired by Andalusia and Morocco
The architecture of the Grand Mosque is inspired by the palaces of Andalusia and Morocco. Its architects, Maurice Tranchant de Lunel, Maurice Mantout, Charles Heubès and Robert Fournez were particularly inspired by emblematic monuments such as the Al Quaraouiyine mosque in Fez.
To reproduce the neo-Moorish style, 450 craftsmen and artists from the Maghreb worked for four years on this building. The techniques used are those of traditional Islamic art: geometric patterns, floral arabesques and absence of human or animal representations.
The most visible element is its 33 meter high minaret, tower of which the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer. The building is also oriented towards Mecca. Like all mosques, its prayer room is designed for worshipers to pray in the direction of the Kaaba.
Jews in hiding during World War II
During the German occupation, from 1940 to 1944, the Grand Mosque of Paris was associated with several actions to protect Jewish people. Its rector, Si Kaddour Benghabrit, allegedly provided false certificates attesting to Muslim identity, allowing certain people to escape anti-Semitic controls. Testimonies also report that families and resistance fighters found refuge in the basements or outbuildings of the mosque.
Although the most recent research concludes that there is strong evidence of rescue acts, the paucity of sources makes it difficult to establish a precise toll. Some estimates suggest several hundred people, up to 1,600, while others revise these figures downwards, like Dalil Boubakeur, rector from 1992 to 2020, who cites around a hundred people.
