Abstract:

The attacks of September 11 are related to the end of the Cold War and to the disconnection of radical extremist Islamist movements from their national bases. This brand of Islamism has built the image of its enemy as being the West, and more particularly the US. Cheikh Omar Abd al-Rehman’s trial in the US in 1996 epitomises this hostility, as well as the shift in the US’ policy towards radical Sunni Islam after the end of the Cold War. Radical Islamist discourse that legitimises the use of violence represents only a minor part of the large gamut of Islamist movements. Nonetheless, it relies on an interpretation of Islam that comes from a literal reading of the sacred texts. Even if it excludes the use of violence most of the time, it is found in many Salafi Ulemas’ interpretations of the revelation and it gives shape to a commonly used vision of religion that refuses a critical reading of the religious texts.


To read the full text in french