Family issues and bringing up a new generation of practicing Muslims is the main theme of this year's Le Bourget, Europe's biggest gathering of Muslims which is expected to draw as many as 150,000 attendees.
"Focusing on the family issue is the result of months of discussions and deliberations," Lhaj Thami Breze, chairman of the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF), the organizer, told IslamOnline.net.
"We want to protect Muslim families from within by giving parents answers about child upbringing and husband-wife relationship."
Themed "Family…Facts and Challenges", the four-day Le Bourget opened late on Thursday, May 8.
It is bringing together a galaxy of intellectuals and scholars including chairman of the European Institute for Humanities Sheikh Ahmad Gaballah, Fatwa House Chairman Ounis Guergah and Swiss-based intellectual Tariq Ramadan.
Le Bourget has become a fixture in the French calendar, a chance for Muslims to meet, hear speeches from intellectuals and scholars, and buy the latest in Islamic literature and clothes.
Thousands of Muslims came in droves to the annual gala, going through a miscellany of books and items on display, attending lectures and vying in contests for the memorization of the Qur'an.
More than 150,000 Muslims from across Europe are expected to attend this year's activities, with young women in their unmistakable hijabs and enthusiastic young men making up the bulk of attendees.
France is home to some six to seven million Muslims, the largest Muslim minority in Europe.
Priorities
Breze said putting the family file on the conference's agenda enables new Muslim generations to take part in building their countries.
"This is a critical stage as Muslims of the second and third generations are beginning to build families and have children," he explained.
"We are now having a new generation of European Muslim families who need guidelines."
The organizers believe strong Muslim families are the best way to counter Islamophobia.
"While the Islamophobes are destroying bridges, Muslims are building them."
Last month, vandals desecrated 148 Muslim graves in France's biggest war cemetery.
"We are also sending a strong message that Islamophobic campaigns would not distract us from continuing our path to contribute to the welfare of our societies while remaining faithful to our religious identity," said Breze.
"It is the duty of Muslims to give an example of family cohesion through the teachings of our faith and traditions."
Source: Islam Online (English)
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