Founded 20 years after the ban on veiling in schools, Averroes, the first Muslim high school under contract in France, is threatened, with a favourable opinion on the termination of its contract with the State having been delivered Monday. 

A consultative committee chaired by the Prefect of the North voted on Monday in favor of the termination of the association contract linking the State this Muslim school located in Lille, the big city of northern France, told AFP two sources close to the file, this Monday, November 27, 2023.

Under the terms of this contract, signed in 2008, the teachers of the school are paid by the National Education and the extracurricular staff by the Region. The last word now goes to the prefect, who must make his decision on the future of this contract “in the coming days”, said one of the two sources.

Since 2019, the local authorities have refused to pay the subsidy provided under this contract with the State, accusing Averroès of a Qatari donation of 950,000 euros in 2014.

In filigree is also pointed out the historical link of Averroes with the Muslims of France (ex-UOIF), organization stemming from the Egyptian movement of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

The idea of creating a Muslim high school dates back to 1994, when 19 girls were excluded from a Lille public high school for refusing to remove their veil to go to school, despite a circular prohibiting “ostentatious religious signs”. 

The Lycée Averroès opened in September 2003 with about fifteen students in the premises of the mosque of the working-class district of Lille-Sud, with the support of the UOIF. 

With more than 800 students, including 400 under contract, Averroes remains by far the largest of the six Muslim institutions under contract in France. Only high school is recognized, not college.

Emergency services are trying to identify the number of victims caused by the passage of Storm Daniel, Sunday, September 10, 2023 on the east coast of the country. Torrential rains and the collapse of two dams led to the partial destruction of the city of Derna, which has a population of 100,000. The international community is organizing to provide emergency assistance.

Neighborhoods engulfed under water, dams that have broken, mudslides that take away buildings. The situation is dramatic in Libya, after the floods caused by storm Daniel last Sunday in the east of the country.

Libyan relief services under the Tripoli government, recognized by the international community, released a final human toll mid-day. According to their spokesman, Oussama Ali, the storm left at least 2,300 dead and 7,000 injured in the city of Derna alone, clearly the hardest hit.

The government of the East, rival to that of Tripoli, puts forward an even heavier record: it says that more than 5,200 people died in Derna. The Minister of Health even says he expects twice as many victims. The final toll remains very uncertain. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies remains cautious on the numbers, but recognizes a «huge» death toll that can be counted in thousands. There are an estimated 10,000 missing. There are also 65 other deaths in other cities in eastern Libya.

A IFRC official talks about humanitarian needs that far exceed the capabilities of the Federation, and even the government.

Studies commissioned by the organizing committee of the great Magal of Touba indicate that 5,875,536 people responded to the call of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba on Monday, September 4, 2023. The figure is the conclusion of investigations conducted by a team of experts led by Moubarack Lô, economist. In comparison with 2015, the difference is enormous even if, in its time, 4,119,551 pilgrims were counted in the religious city.

Ahmadou Bamba died in 1927 in Diourbel. But his legacy is perpetuated since then by his sons: Serigne Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké (1927-1945), El Hadj Falilou Mbacké (1945-1968), Serigne Abdoul Lahat Mbacké (1968-1989), Serigne Abdou Khadr Mbacké (1989-1990), Serigne Saliou Mbacké (1990-2007).

The disappearance in 2007 of Serigne Saliou Mbacké opened the accession of grandsons to the Khalifat: Serigne Mouhamadou Bara Mbacké (2007-2010), Serigne Sidy Moctar Mbacké (2010-2018).

Serigne Mountakha Bassirou Mbacké is the General Caliph of the Mourides since 2018.

The Magal, a Wolof term meaning to pay tribute, celebrate, magnify, is commemorated in memory of this exile which marks the beginning of a sum of hardships borne in conscience by the sheikh, following a pact contracted with his creator.

Each year, tens of thousands of pilgrims take the city of Touba by storm to gather and pray on the occasion of the Magal, which is also a moment of conviviality and hospitality through the ‘Berndae’, these hearty meals served to pilgrims.