An alignment of screenshots, the possibility of creating several profiles, of watching videos on all media, offline, and a FAQ that borrows exactly the same presentation codes: at first glance, you think you’re on Netflix , the popular video-on-demand platform. But on Dini TV (meaning “my religion” in Arabic), the logo is dressed in green and the platform does not offer series or films but modules aimed at becoming a “good Muslim”. Unknown to the general public, the site is aimed at younger generations, eager for new technologies and tired of the quarrels that have agitated consular Islam since the break-up of the French Council for Muslim Worship. “Dini TV is now an essential part of Islam in France”, summarizes Hakim El Karoui, author of several reports for the Institut Montaigne on the representation of Muslims in France.
On Dini TV, we are very far from the world of imams present in mosques on Fridays, barely speaking French because sent by countries like Morocco, Algeria or Turkey. The speakers are French Muslims born in the territory who speak to French Muslims who are also born in the territory. With videos on “the stories of the Koran”, “Islamist finance” or “successful marriage” for adults, on “calligraphy”, “cooking” or “invocations” for children, its presentation in the form of “series”, its modern decorations, the site, launched in September 2020, seduces by focusing on the rite. “Religions are exploding in entrepreneurial forms, but also in self-exposure that seek to answer questions such as ‘Who are we? How to act?'”, observes François Gauthier, sociologist of religions at the University of Friborg in Swiss.
In the manner of influencers, the facilitators highlight their experience and their experience, play the card of pop culture to convince that they are bearers of a real religious authority at a time when traditional intermediaries are weakened. “By saying that Islam is cool, that you can get rich as long as it’s not exaggerated, that you can consume as long as it’s sharia friendlythese preachers become low religious authorities”, resumes François Gauthier.
Dini TV appeals to the Muslim community, but it is closely scrutinized by the authorities, in particular because of the controversial past of its two founders. The first is Rachid Eljay, long known as “the Imam of Brest”. In the early 2010s, he still called himself Rachid Abou Houdeyfa and claimed to be a Salafist. On at least two occasions, he arouses controversy with his statements against women who do not wear the veil, then with children to whom he declares that those who “listen to music will be transformed into monkeys and pigs” . After the 2015 attacks, in the sights of the police, he softened his speech, changed his outfit and enrolled in a university degree in “religions, law and social life”.
The second founder is Abdelmonaïm Boussenna, former imam of Roubaix, long in the movement of the Muslim Brotherhood, he had notably defended Tariq Ramadan when the preacher was accused of rape. From now on, the two men abstain from any political intervention. In particular, they distanced themselves from the Les Musulmans de France platform launched by a former spokesperson for the CCIF, dissolved in 2020 by the Ministry of the Interior. And are content to make their notoriety grow.
“People say to themselves that Islam is normalized and that being a good Muslim is what”
The fact remains that, under its modern exterior and its prudence, the site carries a conservative vision of Islam. “These neo-preachers base their offer on the fact that there is a demand for religious frameworks among the children of their time. However, the observant French field is conservative in terms of morals, with attention paid to orthopraxy”, emphasizes Haoues Seniguer, author of The authoritarian republic. Islam of France and republican illusion (2015-2022), (ed. Le Bord de l’eau). By displaying an Islam of the “golden mean”, they seek to reassure. Not really convincing. “Environment in relation to what? That doesn’t mean much. There is a form of naturalization that takes place: people say to themselves that Islam is normalized and that being a good Muslim is what “, continues Haoues Seniguer. “We are certainly not in incitement to violence, but on the constitution of a counter-society. Their approach codifies all the behaviors of individual and collective life. This massive dissemination of content contributes to a trivialization of ideas brothers, Islamists, all the more pernicious as they are concealed. Behind the apparently exclusively religious content, there is a politico-religious vision of the world”, notes Christian Gravel, prefect, secretary general of the Interministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and radicalization (CIPDR).
Greater credibility than free sites
The fact of paying (29 euros per month or 290 euros per year) to access Dini-TV gives its videos a credibility and a reputation for seriousness that those broadcast on YouTube or TikTok do not always have. However, by mixing Quran and hadiths (reported words of the prophet), by distinguishing only what is haram (prohibited) from what is halal (compulsory) without the other nuances (neutral, recommended and authorized or authorized but not recommended) however existing, the founders of Dini carry a strict vision of Islam. A widespread phenomenon according to Marwan Sinaceur, professor at Essec, specialist in Arab culture: “In Muslim orthodoxy, the hierarchy is very clear: the hadiths do not have the same value as the Koran since this The latter is posed as divinely inspired. Furthermore, people tend to follow the ‘scholars’ while the Quran advocates a direct relationship between human beings and God.”
Difficult to measure the real influence of Dini TV. After having been temporarily domiciled in Lille, the site displays an address in Ajman, in the United Arab Emirates, which makes it impossible to access its sources of financing and its accounts. The two founders, who would live in Dubai, did not respond to our requests. The only certainty is that they have a large base from which to draw. Rachid Eljay has 2.3 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, 2.6 million followers on Facebook and 800,000 on Instagram. Abdelmonaïm Boussenna significantly less (869,000 YouTube subscribers and 892,000 on Facebook), but he remains one of the best known preachers. Some estimate that they could have between 20,000 and 50,000 paying subscribers, which would represent 5 to 14 million euros in turnover per year.
Official Islam destitute
Moreover, the two men are not at their first attempt to monetize their influence. Rachid Eljay, for a time, when he was still in France, broadcast his sermons via DVD or CD. The internet has changed the game. Recently, the two founders accompanied the faithful on a pilgrimage to Mecca, they are offering another one next May, with a package ranging from 2,190 euros to 2,490 euros (depending on whether there are two, three or four per room ). The other speakers on the channel also have an activity outside of Dini. Thus Sofiane Meziani, who offers videos on “Reform your life” or “The companions of the prophet” on the platform, set up an online philosophy academy in the spring of 2022. And Hanane Afellah, the dietitian who provides nutritional advice in line with the Koran and the Sunna, has a well-being and nutrition site, also religious, based in Belgium.
With its modern interface, Dini TV holds its own against consular Islam, which does not know how to react to these social networks that escape it. Kamel Kabtane, the rector of the great mosque of Lyon, recognizes this: “We must develop interventions for the faithful, but we must have the financial means, people with knowledge who work on it. And then, we have so many problems. to be settled…” On the side of the Ministry of the Interior, we are carefully observing the rise of these new media. With, in mind, the issue of young people, very fond, in the Muslim community as elsewhere, of their mobile phone and what they can find there.