On social networks, some Muslim influencers are calling for the abandonment of classics of French literature deemed incompatible with their religious values. In their place, they promote a “halal” literature that is free of what contradicts the principles of Islam.
Do religious regulations after eating and finance now gain ground in culture? On social media, some Muslim influencers openly claim a new way to choose their readings. Sometimes dressed in the full veil, they advise their community against certain great classics of French literature, which are considered incompatible with their religious beliefs.
One of them explains that some books “trivialize deception and romanticize violence. In fact, it normalizes absolutely everything that contradicts my values. That’s not what I want to read as a Muslim.”
Focus on “halal romance”
Among the books concerned: Boule de Suif, by Guy de Maupassant.It tells the story of a prostitute during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. A narrative that is considered problematic by some readers because of topics that are considered incompatible with the codes of Islam.
The asserted principle is simple: to privilege stories whose romantic relationships respect religious aspects.
On TikTok and other platforms, “halal romance” gains visibility. The term refers to sentimental novels in which relationships between characters must remain in line with certain Islamic principles, including the absence of a sexual or romantic relationship before marriage. […]
Readings adapted to the religious environment
This new category of reading is accompanied by recommendations for books that include, for example, arranged marriages or Muslim characters. “Forbidden love, I can’t wait to read it because it’s an arranged marriage. Arranged and Muslim marriage in the same sentence, that’s enough for me to buy it,” says a Tiktokeuse.
For these readers, it is no longer just a question of choosing a literary genre, but of selecting works according to their conformity with a moral and religious framework. This trend is also beginning to structure around specific commercial offerings. A recently launched literary platform is portrayed as “Muslim friendly”, i.e. adapted to Muslim readers.
The work is selected according to certain criteria: the aim is in particular to highlight stories that do not downplay what is considered “sins”.
Some novels also continue in their criticism of French society. In “Nous malgré tout” by Lklmany , France is referred to as a country that is Islamophobic, capitalist and racist. The book also criticizes the principle of secularism and the 2004 law on religious signs in schools.
A logic of cultural separation?
Beyond the editorial phenomenon, some observers see it as a symptom of a broader development: that of a cultural consumption that is thought of according to religious criteria. For the influencers who lead this discourse, classical French literature would be representative of a “white, bourgeois and Parisian” universe far removed from its own cultural identity.
The anthropologist Florence Bergeaud-Blackler interprets this development as an example of a logic of cultural and religious separation. “This is an example of the exclusion and isolation of these young people. They have no intention of respecting the rules of liberal democracies. What is important to them is to enforce their own. They do this slowly, gradually, through their consumption. “
According to her, this strategy would be a form of “cultural conquest” aimed at Muslim populations in particular.
“This is an attempt to influence, according to the codes of the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafists, generally Islamizing a population that is not yet controlled by these groups,” the anthropologist analyzes.
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