Muslim World League leader on 'open' dialogue with French far-right leader Le Pen

Saudi Arabia's Muslim World League engages with France's far-right party leader Marine Le Pen openly and in a way that does not exclude disagreements, the league’s leader said on Monday.

Ms Le Pen’s Rassemblement National party (RN) could win France’s parliamentary elections, after leading with a third of votes in the first round on Sunday.

The snap election aimed at strengthening President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government backfired, with his centrist coalition Together coming third with only 20 per cent of votes. Political deal-making is currently under way to undermine the RN in the second round of voting.

Dr Mohammad Al Issa, the league’s secretary general based in Makkah, said he had met Ms Le Pen several times and at length, to discuss the mutual values of France and the Muslim world.

“We had a very long discussion with Marine Le Pen in several meetings,” he said, speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank on Monday.

Making points on integration or respect for local values and culture, he recalled telling her these ideals were at the core of Islamic belief. “We discussed the topic of respecting the values of the Republic," he said. "I said 'I am right now in France'. As long as I’m sitting among the French people in France I said 'I must respect the values of the Republic. Otherwise I should not come here in the first place.'”

“She asked me 'is this Islam?' I said 'yes, this is Islam and I am representative of the Muslim World League, millions of people follow us',” he said.

He advised Muslims in France to respect local laws and customs. “We respect others. Any Muslims who lives in a country must respect the constitution and the laws of that country. Anyone who visits our country, they should also respect our laws,” he said.

Discussion was possible even though Dr Al Issa disagrees with some of the so-called civilisational theories espoused by the far right and other extremist groups that have thrived in the European political scene.

“We are against theories of a clash of civilisations. Those who say a clash is inevitable, we are against it,” he added.

The Muslim World League seeks to promote a moderate understanding of Islam based on tolerance and rejects political Islamic movements and extremism.

Though the organisation is not political and does not endorse any particular party, Dr Al Issa said, it would “respect” the outcome of elections in Europe and overseas.

“The will of the people we respect. If the people choose a political party, then they have the right to rule,” he said. "Maybe we don’t agree with that party but this is the will of the people."

He warned that extremism was not unique to Islam and appeared in many forms. “This is not exclusive to Islam, there is extremism across the world,” he said.