Muslim Charities as Providers of Social Welfare in France and the UK

This paper aims to give an overview of French Muslim charities, especially from the perspective of a comparison with their UK parent charities. Indeed, a large proportion of the first generation French Muslim charities originated in the UK and were considered as fundraising offices by the English head-offices. Since the 2010s, a sea change can be observed with the creation of national and local programs, while a second generation of organizations have emerged, created by young French Muslims. These organizations try to couple humanitarian action abroad with social action in France, especially since the “refugees crisis”, whether they work in cooperation with state authorities, through a selective partnership co-optation, or remain totally independent, intentionally or not. Although there are many reasons to explain this change of attitude, one of the strongest seems to be the desire and necessity to gain public legitimacy by acting locally and taking into account French domestic needs. However such a trend is not as visible in the UK, and many factors must be analysed: the influence of the State in the regulation of these organizations, the welfare traditions in the providing of social services and the public perceptions of Islam and secularism.