I am a Muslim. And I reject Islamism.
This statement should be self-evident. Yet it has become almost subversive in an age when any criticism of political Islam is immediately equated with Islamophobia. The blackmail is constant: if you criticise a political project inspired by religion, you are automatically accused of hatred against faith. This is a dangerous trend, because it stifles debate and weakens the very foundations of our liberal democracies.
I speak from experience. Just this week, attempts were made to defame me in certain institutions, simply because my views are controversial. But I will not remain silent. We live in a democracy. And in a democracy, everyone has the right to express their ideas without being subjected to insults, threats or censorship.
A welcoming country threatened by entryism
Belgium is a welcoming country. It always has been. More than 180 nationalities coexist here within a framework of shared rights and duties. Thousands of women and men have found refuge, protection and a future for their children here. This moral contract is based on a requirement of reciprocity: respect for the values of the host country.
However, for several years now, a rupture has been taking place. Certain groups or individuals, in the name of demographic or cultural change, are attempting to impose a unilateral vision that is often incompatible with the Belgian democratic spirit. Under the guise of religion, they are infiltrating associations, schools and institutions. They are trying to pass off a communal and authoritarian model as a simple cultural difference.
This is not diversity, it is a strategy.
Political Islam: a project of domination
Among these currents, the Muslim Brotherhood occupies a central place. This transnational movement advocates the gradual establishment of a political-religious order based on Sharia law. Its goal is not peaceful coexistence, but long-term domination through politics, education, the media and culture. Political Islam is not a faith. It is an ideology.
In my book Political Islam and Liberal Democracies, I analyse this phenomenon in depth. I demonstrate the structural incompatibility between two world views:
Liberal democracy, based on individual freedom, pluralism, gender equality and the separation of powers.
Political Islam, which aims to merge faith and governance and to restrict freedoms in the name of a divine norm interpreted in an authoritarian manner.
This conflict is not theoretical. It is daily, visible, sometimes even violent. It permeates mosques, schools, the media and social networks. It pits those who want to live their faith in peace against those who want to impose their vision on the rest of society.
France is waking up. And Belgium is following suit.
France, long blind to this danger, has recently taken a step forward. A parliamentary report on the Muslim Brotherhood has highlighted their strategy of influence and their threat to national cohesion. The state’s response is becoming firmer and more lucid.
Belgium, too, is beginning to open its eyes. The De Wever government, formed in February 2025, appointed Bernard Quintin as Minister of Security and the Interior. He embodies a clear turning point in the fight against Islamist movements. Measures of vigilance, restriction, control of funding and surveillance of networks of influence are being implemented.
This awakening is welcome. It is not a question of stigmatising Muslims, the vast majority of whom live peacefully, integrated and respectful. It is about protecting democracy from those who want to undermine it from within.
A choice for society
This fight is not about religion. It is political. It is not about pitting believers against secularists, Muslims against non-Muslims. It is about choosing the framework within which we want to live together.
Yes to Islam, no to Islamism.
Yes to spirituality, no to ideology.
Yes to freedom, no to intimidation.
Rejecting Islamism does not mean rejecting a religion. It means defending a common framework for living, where everyone — believer or not — can live in dignity, without fear and without pressure.
It is time to break with naivety. To dare to call things by their name. To open our eyes. And to say loud and clear: democracies must not back down.
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First published in this link of The European Times.
