French think tank calls for ‘Halal Tax’ on Muslims

A new report by a Paris think-tank underlines “the progress of Islamist ideology among Muslims in France”, suggesting that Salafi Islam can be stamped out through a “halal tax” and Arabic being taught in French schools. 

A new report by a Paris think-tank underlines “the progress of Islamist ideology among Muslims in France”, suggesting that Salafi Islam can be stamped out through a “halal tax” and Arabic being taught in French schools. 

According to the report released on Sunday by France’s Montaigne Institute, Salafism – a radical branch of Islam that calls for worldwide sharia law – has a monopoly on Islamic religious thought in l’Héxagone. 

Author Hakim El Karaoui, a consultant for the Paris think-thank who’s written on Arab and Muslim policy before, points to Turkey and Saudi Arabia as the main sources of funding for the dissemination of this radical school of thinking among France and Europe’s Muslim population.

The Montaigne Institute study highlights that this opaque financing pays for the promotion of Arabic learning among France’s Muslims at institutions that have a marked fundamentalist political-religious stance rather than just a linguistic one, the report suggests.

Through these obscure Islamic schools Salafi indoctrination “is gaining ground in France”, especially among “young people under 35”, El Karaoui suggests.