The Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamo-Leftist Alliance to Infiltrate French Universities
French intelligence services are warning that the Muslim Brotherhood and related Islamist groups are actively infiltrating the country’s public universities with the aim of institutionalizing Islamic practices on secular campuses.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamo-Leftist Alliance to Infiltrate French Universities
Soeren Kern | Ideological Defense Institute | April 21, 2026
French intelligence services are warning that the Muslim Brotherhood and related Islamist groups are actively infiltrating the country’s public universities, according to a document leaked to L’Express, a weekly news magazine based in Paris. Their aim is to institutionalize Islamic practices on secular campuses, and they are joining forces with leftist groups to make it possible.
The intelligence alert was issued after an influential Islamic student union associated with the Muslim Brotherhood won a large number of seats on the board of directors of the National Center for University and School Services (Centre national des œuvres universitaires et scolaires, CNOUS), the most important student representation body in France.
In elections on April 2, representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Muslim Students of France (Étudiants Musulmans de France, EMF) merged candidate lists with two far-left student unions—the Student Union (L’Union Étudiante) and the Student Union Federation (Fédération Syndicale Étudiante, FSE)—and won three out of eight seats on the board of directors of CNOUS, which manages most aspects of student life, including university housing, dining, and scholarships. The Islamo-leftist alliance also won eight seats on the boards of regional CNOUS affiliates known as CROUS.
The concern is that the Muslim Brotherhood will now use the EMF to promote Islamism on campuses and, among other goals, advocate for Islamic dress codes, meal options, and prayer rooms in secular universities.
