On September 3, 2025, the French government issued a dissolution decree forcing the Institut Européen des Sciences Humaines (IESH) in Château-Chinon to cease operations.

This university institute, located near Château-Chinon in the Nièvre region, was the largest imam training center in France. Since its creation in 1990, hundreds, if not thousands, of imams practicing in France, Switzerland and Europe have studied there. The Muslim Brotherhood have been the main promoters. In the official text of the decree, the French authorities cite the precepts of the Koran and Sunna that violate the law and yet are taught at this institute. These precepts also violate the Swiss law on discrimination and racism, as well as the laws of the European Union.

Analysis

We have reproduced the text of this decree, specifying which passages of the Koran and Sunna are covered by the ban. In principle, criticism of the teaching of these Koranic verses is not limited to IESH. They also incriminate all Muslim institutions and mosques that teach the Koran and Sunna.

Logically, this decree should set a precedent in France and Switzerland, as well as in the other countries of the European Union. In practice, it prohibits the teaching of these precepts in their literal sense and according to the interpretation given by almost all Muslim exegetes and jurisconsults from the beginning of Islam to the present day.

In our opinion, this is an event of considerable importance and a fundamental change for Islam in France and Europe.

The rector’s response to the closure of IESH

In Appendix 1, you will find the main passages of the interview with the Rector of the IESH explaining why the French government’s decision is, in his opinion, unjust, together with our comments. The ambiguity of his answers, particularly on the contextualization of the precepts of the Koran and Sunna, comes across as a very unconvincing defense of his institution.

This ambiguity is not unique to Islam. It is consubstantial with Islam, which, by laying down laws concerning all areas of life, becomes a political system. And since Muslims attribute a divine origin to these laws, they constitute a religion. Hence the ambiguity of Islamic discourse, which does not separate the political from the religious in a French context that clearly differentiates the two. The dissolution decree denounces the following points:

• The legitimization of the use of physical violence, presented as obligatory for Muslims.
• The obligation to govern in accordance with Allah’s precepts.
• The obligation for Muslims to obey Allah’s laws, including the precepts of hatred and violence.
• The punishment of those who oppose Allah and His Messenger.
• Discrimination against women: domestic violence, compulsory veiling, polygamy, repudiation, etc…
• Marriage of minors.
• The dehumanization of Jews, Christians and all non-Muslims.

Text with footnotes

In the official version of the French government’s text, we have added footnotes to some of the Qur’anic verses on which the precepts covered by the dissolution decree are based. It should be remembered that the prescriptive verses of the Koran are understood and institutionalized in the Sharia according to their literal meaning throughout the Muslim world.

Read the version with Koranic references: Decree dissolving the IESH