On the fifth anniversary of the brutal beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty by a radical Islamist, Abdelali Mamoun, Imam at the historic Grande Mosquée de Paris, said Muslims were tired of it and felt”ostracised”.
During an interview with public broadcaster Franceinfo yesterday evening, Mamoun described the annual remembrances as a source of pain for France’s Muslim community, framing it as part of a broader pattern of discrimination and scapegoating.
Paty, 47, was decapitated in 2020 by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, Abdoullakh Anzorov, after showing students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on free expression.
The attack, claimed by the Islamic State, shocked France and prompted President Emmanuel Macron to declare “Islamist separatism” a national security threat.
On the evening programme Sur le terrain, Mamoun joined other guests, including teacher and author Xavier Boissel, to reflect on the tragedy’s legacy. But his phrasing quickly drew fire.
Mamoun argued that the commemorations exacerbate a sense of alienation among Muslims, who felt they were held responsible as a group for the act of a single individual.
“When we talk about Samuel Paty, Muslims are fed up because it’s them who are targeted,” he said in a widely shared clip.
He elaborated that the focus on Paty’s death perpetuates a narrative of the Muslim community as “constantly ostracised, accused and made a scapegoat”, linking it to perceived discrimination.
The full episode explored shifts in education and counter-radicalisation efforts since 2020. Mamoun, who has positioned himself as a proponent of a “republican Islam” aligned with French values, appeared to pivot the discussion toward his community’s sense of victimhood.
Viewers decried the remarks as a “moral inversion”.
Mamoun’s comments contrasted sharply with the solemnity of the anniversary events, which included school ceremonies, a minute of silence nationwide and a speech by education minister Nicole Belloubet emphasising vigilance against extremism.
This was not Mamoun’s first brush with controversy. In 2023, during heightened tensions over the Israel-Hamas war, he questioned the French interior ministry’s reported surge in anti-Semitic acts – more than 1,200 incidents post-October 7 – asking: “Where are these 1,200 anti-Semitic acts in France? I’d like them to be revealed so we can be truly supportive.”
In 2020, shortly after Paty’s murder, Mamoun had condemned the killing outright, urging imams to “mount the ramparts against this ignoble and monstrous act” and affirming that no Islamic text justifies vengeance for depictions of Muhammad.
Le jour de la commémoration de l’assassinat de Samuel Paty, Abdelali Mamoun, imam de la mosquée de Paris, en parle ainsi : « Ce personnage, Emmanuel Paty… Quand on parle d’Emmanuel Paty les Musulmans en ont marre, parce que c’est eux qui sont visés.» ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/LdtbQrvwix
— Carine Azzopardi (@CarineAzzopardi) October 16, 2025
