27-year-old Charlène had never entered that mosque’s doors in Lannion (Côtes-d’Armor) until that day in November 2021 when she decided to visit the mosque “in secret”. After months of hesitation, she finally contacted the imam and told him of her desire to convert to Islam. “This wish came to me after a difficult time,” she confesses on the phone.
Today she is a practising Muslim. The bakery employee, who was not baptised but attended Catholic schools, says she appreciates the ” atmosphere ” that Islam offers her. Charlène prays daily, eats halal and no longer drinks alcohol. “I follow the rules I think are right and best suited to my personality,” she explains. “But I can’t imagine not celebrating Christmas or my little son’s birthdays any more. I know it’s not right, but we all do stupid things!” “Not right?” Where did she hear that celebrating birthdays is a sin? The answer is in two words: on TikTok.
Charlène is a convert thanks in the first place to Redazere, a “ticktokeur” […].
(messages intended to remind the faithful of a theological or practical aspect), interspersed with images from the Korean series Squid Game or from his holiday in Mexico. Depending on the mood of the day and questions asked by commentators, the charismatic young man indicates which supplications he should say before an exam, promotes charity, poses take-along challenges – such as naming most of Allah’s names in 30 seconds – or claims that listening to music and looking at women is not allowed in Islam.
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An account like that of “Ilhan.st” makes it clear how much these online discourses have changed […] 469,000 subscribers […].
“As Muslims (…) we cannot afford to look like non-Muslims,” he says in response to a critical comment. “Islam is a way of life. And don’t forget: moderate Islam does not exist. The Islam we live is the Islam from the time of anNabi (the Prophet), and we cannot presume to change it.” When a subscriber challenged him on the existence of dinosaurs, the Tiktocrat sidestepped the issue, arguing that there were “more essential things to know” and that “Allah is the Knowing One.” […]
The 37-year-old Hamid S. is the face of “Comprends Ton Dîne” (Understand your Communion) […] 500,000 subscribers […].
He advises against birthday celebrations because they are “based on pagan foundations that contradict our religion”. Another video shows him taking down a poster of the French national football team, on the grounds that “in Islam it is forbidden to hang any kind of photo showing human or animal creatures”. Also in football: wearing a jersey with a cross, like that of FC Barcelona, “is not allowed in Islam, simply because the Barça cross is a religious symbol.” […]
Underneath a video in which Redazere claims that it is “super bad” to perform only four out of five prayers, a teenager wrote: “Reda, because of your videos I am scared. I’m only 13 years old and I find (…) that I’m burdened with too many sins, that I’m not doing enough for Allah.” The distribution capacity of videos on TikTok is all the greater because people do not have to search for content there to see it. The social network’s “For You” window constantly suggests new videos to users, selected by the algorithm based on their previous interactions. In the past, you had to know Salafism to find this content,” comments Damien Saverot, a PhD student at the École Normale Supérieure. Today, we have influencers who do not openly profess Salafism, who spread it among people who are not familiar with it, pretending that it is simply Islam. This helps to impose Salafism as a reference norm in the collective imagination.”La Croix