Amid rising Islamophobic incidents in France, Muslim leaders called for building more mosques to provide France's millions of Muslims a place to pray indiscriminately. France's current total of 2,200 mosques, largely small-scale mosques, are not enough to adequately service France's Muslim community, the Muslim leaders stressed at the 32nd annual convention of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF), which gathers more than 250 Muslim associations together.

"We need double [the number of mosques in France] within two years," the head of the French Muslim Council and rector of the Paris mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, said at the gathering on Saturday. "There are a lot of mosques with uncompleted prayer rooms and there are a lot of mosques that are not being built," he said.

"The number of mosques must reflect the number of French Muslims," UOIF President Amar Lasfar said.

"Islam is no longer an Islam stemming from immigration, it is a national Islam that has the right to the recognition and consideration of the French population just like other communities in France," Boubakeur said stressing that the Muslim community should be respected in the country.

Since the founding of the French Council of the Muslim Faith in 2003, the scale and number of mosques across the country has been a matter of concern. Mosques that tend to be small have led to wide-spread allegations of discrimination as most worshippers have been left to pray in small rooms. Despite the size of the Muslim population in France, the country has only a few large-scale mosques with adequate room to pray for every worshipper. An increase in the number of large mosques has still been on the agenda of the French Muslim Council.

France is home to the largest Muslim population in Europe, estimated at between 4 million and 5 million. The French Muslim community represents approximately 6 percent of the total population of 58.5 million. However, French Muslims do not feel safe due to low security measures imposed by the French government compared to other French minorities under threat.

In the aftermath of the deadly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Muslims in France have been subject to violent attacks due to an increase in suspicion and negative sentiments toward the French Muslim community. Reports of attacks on mosques and Muslim-run businesses in various places in France have led many French Muslims to fear rising Islamophobia. The threat posed by many French militants affiliated with the radical Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has led to growing intolerance toward the Muslim community. With the rise of far-right extremism, peace and solidarity has slowly eroded in the French society. The misrepresentation of Islam by militant groups like ISIS, al-Qaida, Boko Haram and the Taliban trigger more fear and anti-Muslim sentiments, not only in France, but in many Western countries. As these militant groups have carried out violent attacks and killed many, people in Europe are more inclined to act violently against Muslims and immigrants while supporting far-right political parties.

The French media reported revenge attacks on Muslims in the aftermath of the Paris massacre, and many Muslims have become the target of renewed attacks on venues having religious significance that are owned by the Muslim community. Twenty-six mosques in France have been subject to attack with firebombs and gunfire as of Jan. 14 with a total of 167 reported Islamophobic incidents in January alone compared to just 14 in the same month of 2014.

The apparent rise in racism and discrimination against minorities, especially Muslims in France, was condemned by the European Council. A human rights report released by the Council of Europe in February shows an alarming rise of intolerance and racism against all minority groups while addressing the issues of vandalism and hatred of Muslims, Jews and the prevailing discrimination against immigrants, the Roma community and the social exclusion of disabled people.