Brown hair, green eyes, neat beard, the Quebecer Redazere is a hit on social networks, particularly on TikTok, where he has more than 1.8 million subscribers. The man in his mid-twenties perfectly masters the codes of these new media: short videos, dynamic montages, humour, quizzes, proximity to his community which he affectionately calls “the family”. His favorite subject: Islam.
Every day, he offers reminders to believers: the right way to perform his ablution of the feet or what to do when one is distracted during his meditation. He talks about forgiveness and mutual aid, asks his subscribers to come to the aid of those in need. Redazere also presents more traditional facets of her religion: the strict norms that govern relations between men and women, the obligation to wear the veil, the reasons why one should not listen to music or decorate one’s house for Christmas…
TikTok is first known as an entertainment-focused network that appeals to 13-29 year olds. However, religions are increasingly nesting there: hashtags such as #islam or #jesus have 78.9 and 51.5 billion views respectively. They only totaled 1 billion and 85 million respectively in 2019, according to articles from Insider and The Daily Beast. Among the most popular accounts to talk about Islam: Ilhan St, Understand your dine, Know Islam and Hicham R2F, each followed by hundreds of thousands of subscribers. On the side of the Catholic religion: Nouhatie, Lionel Veh and Olivier Zeytooun, but especially Father Matthieu, a young priest from the region of Yonne, in France. The latter made himself known, among other things, thanks to a video in which he affirmed that it was written nowhere, neither in the Bible nor in the catechism, that homosexuality was a sin, which had raised the ire of certain members of the French clergy. It now has nearly 900,000 subscribers. Even Satanism finds its place on TikTok, with the young xxdevilishdollxx, followed by more than 92,000 people.
At the beginning of the year, the French daily The cross, in a report on the rise of French-speaking Muslim influencers, ranked Redazere as one of the most important. In the process, voices were worried in France about this increase in interest. Claude Askolovitch, journalist in charge of the press review at France Inter public radio, expressed concern that some have managed to adapt fundamentalism to the codes of TikTok. In the far-right news site Boulevard Voltaire, journalist Renaud de Bourleuf claimed that Islam « recruits » and « indoctrinates » on this « dangerous » social network. There is fear of the spread of « superstitions » and of a religious ideology encouraging the separation of believers from the rest of the population. Above all, we are alarmed for this youth fond of perky clips, whose critical spirit is not sharp enough to distinguish the wheat from the chaff.
Redazere, who stays away from journalists, ignored numerous interview requests from News. Several approaches to half a dozen religious and academic authorities remained a dead letter or were refused. Only Solange Lefebvre, professor and holder of the Chair in Cultural and Religious Diversity Management at the University of Montreal, agreed to discuss this subject.
The interest in religious subjects on TikTok is not very surprising for Solange Lefebvre. “When you’re between 15 and 25, you’re in a period when you normally ask yourself big questions,” she says. In this quest for self-construction, we often find ourselves looking for spirituality, benchmarks and rules of life, which a doctrine can provide.
Religion has also had a bad time in the French-speaking public sphere for several years. The adoption of laws on secularism in France as in Quebec and the attacks of September 11, 2001 have made this a thorny subject. “There is this narrative about religion that only talks about it critically and drives it out of schools. Alright, he’ll come back. It will create a taboo, people will no longer dare to discuss it and they will turn to these sources [Internet et les réseaux sociaux] “, she continues.
However, if the “digital continent” lends itself particularly well to this search for meaning, it is not familiar territory for religious authorities. Their social media connections are just beginning to form, forced by the pandemic. “Some congregations didn’t even have their members’ email addresses,” says the professor. While Redazere and Father Matthieu show great mastery of the language of these networks, this skill remains rare among more traditional religious groups, she adds.
On his TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accounts, Redazere claims he was nearly banned from the network on several occasions. He repeats that he is not an imam and merely offers religious reminders to his followers. To the French media who are worried about his popularity, he responded on Instagram. Disappointed at being portrayed as a potentially dangerous preacher, he claims not to represent any sectarian movement. He wishes to advocate freedom, coexistence and, above all, peace.
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