In the book of Ephesians the apostle Paul tells us that once we hear (or read) the gospel (the gospel books of the Bible are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and we believe that which we have read, once we believe God will then seal you with His Holy Spirit. This is just one of interesting ways to help your kids know more about God and teach them about the words from the Bible. Much of this folklore found its way back into enlarged editions of The Thousand and One Nights and, through it, has even influenced later history writing. In turn, this influenced the religion in England. Ancient Aztec religion was a complex interaction of gods, dates, directions and colours. The question is therefore when and where jihadis embrace religion. The embrace of religion is rarely kept secret, but rather is exhibited, but it does not necessarily correspond to immersion in religious practice. If indeed there was religious radicalisation, it did not occur in the framework of Salafi mosques, but individually or within the group. This over-representation of siblings does not occur in any other context of radicalisation, whether on the extreme left or Islamist groups. Another characteristic that all western countries have in common is that radicals are almost all “born-again” Muslims who, after living a highly secular life – frequenting clubs, drinking alcohol, involvement in petty crime – suddenly renew their religious observance, either individually or in the context of a small group.

Religious fervour arises outside community structures, belatedly, fairly suddenly, and not long before terrorists move into action. Most move into action in the months following their religious “reconversion” or “conversion”, but have usually already exhibited signs of radicalisation. 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. Both medicine and healing are associated with Apollo and were thought to sometimes be mediated through his son, Asclepius. Unless it’s to say that millennials are really awesome people! Sometimes he comes to the human world and helps good people no matter what religion they follow. When it comes to understanding their motivations, we have traces of their speech: tweets, Google chats, Skype conversations, messages on WhatsApp and Facebook. We certainly have more information on the lives of terrorists operating in Europe than we do on jihadis who leave for foreign countries and never return.

We also have all the biographical information that has been gathered by journalists. More still have been caught plotting attacks. It includes the perpetrators of all the major attacks targeting French or Belgian territory. We know many of their names thanks to police identification of perpetrators of attacks in Europe and the US. Khaled Kelkal, France’s first homegrown terrorist, and the Kouachi brothers (Charlie Hebdo, Paris, 2015) share a number of common features: second generation; fairly well integrated at first; period of petty crime; radicalisation in prison; attack and death – weapons in hand – in a standoff with the police. It highlights the significance of the generational dimension of radicalisation. At this time, Muslims had been persecuted and oppressed by the Meccans. 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. Their violent tendencies can have outlets other than jihad and terrorism – as we see in the gang wars of Marseille. Using this information, I have compiled a database of roughly 100 people who have been involved in terrorism in France, or have left France or Belgium to take part in global jihad in the past 20 years.

None of them belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood, none of them had worked with a Muslim charity, none of them had taken part in proselytising activities, none of them were members of a Palestinian solidarity movement, and lastly, none of them, to my knowledge, took part in the rioting in French suburbs in 2005. They were not first radicalised by a religious movement before turning to terrorism. The only exceptions are in Britain, which has a network of militant mosques frequented by members of al-Muhajiroun, which gave rise to an even more radical group, Sharia4UK, led by Anjem Choudary. 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. Each order, or lineage within an order, has one or more forms for group dhikr, the liturgy of which may include recitation, singing, music, dance, costumes, incense, muraqaba (meditation), ecstasy, and trance.