hello,
excellent contribution by Olivier Roy in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/apr/13/who-are-the-new-jihadis
"To summarise: the typical radical is a young, second-generation
immigrant or convert, very often involved in episodes of petty crime,
with practically no religious education, but having a rapid and recent
trajectory of conversion/reconversion, more often in the framework of a
group of friends or over the internet than in the context of a mosque.
The embrace of religion is rarely kept secret, but rather is exhibited,
but it does not necessarily correspond to immersion in religious
practice. The rhetoric of rupture is violent – the enemy is kafir, one
with whom no compromise is possible – but also includes their own
family, the members of which are accused of observing Islam improperly,
or refusing to convert.
At the same time, it is obvious that the radicals’ decision to identify
with jihad and to claim affiliation with a radical Islamic group is not
merely an opportunistic choice: the reference to Islam makes all the
difference between jihad and the other forms of violence that young
people indulge in. Pointing out this pervasive culture of violence does
not amount to “exonerating” Islam. The fact that these young people
choose Islam as a framework for thought and action is fundamental, and
it is precisely the Islamisation of radicalism that we must strive to
understand."
have a nice day,
stephanie
