“Why did I not become radicalized?”

Author: Prof. Mehdi Lahlou, University of Rabat, Morocco

I am a 26 years old Moroccan student in France. I was born in Morocco in 1993, where I lived until the age of 18 where I moved to France to study.

I consider that the primary reason I never became or was ever tempted to become a radicalized Muslim is the environment I grew up in. Indeed, I was born in a Muslim country, with a deep Islamic culture, I was raised as a believer in Allah with Arabic-Muslim traditions, in a country where mosques were built everywhere, more than schools. Religion was omnipresent around me. But I was also raised in a family where religion was subject for discussion. My parents are Muslims, but only partly practice their religion, and I was never pushed into religion as well. It was a given that I was a Muslim since I was born, but my parents taught my brother and I that, among other things, tolerance and respect for everyone no matter their origin and belief is even more important than religious practice like prayer. The other important factor to me is also that I was able to talk about religion freely, ask about meanings and doubts that I would feel during the period of life where we are building ourselves as future adults. I deeply believe that this openminded environment where I was raised in, was the most important shield I could have had to protect me against a religious radicalization. Furthermore, I was enrolled in a French school since kinder garden where the teaching is secular. Religion was considered only as a private matter. But to have access to that education, I was also very lucky to be born in a wealthy family with educated parents that understood the importance of providing me this education.

The secondary reason for why I never become radicalized is that I didn’t find any difficulty integrating when I moved to France after I graduated high school to study. The fact that my family could provide for me during my studies gave me a quality of life that made me able to focus on getting used to a new foreign country and my studies. It helped me find my place in a new life, in a different culture. And, thanks to my education, I was able to grow in a new society where I was welcomed. Even though I was still attached to a Moroccan student community in Paris, I was able to meet new people and classmates and accepted me as the foreigner that I am. I landed in a new environment that was open for me, and where I could keep my education going. Also, the fact that even though I was a foreign student in France, I got the same governmental financial help that any other student living far from their families. I got access to financial help for housing, the same student fees as my classmates, and the same healthcare. Of course, I have to go through every year the complicated and overwhelming process of renewing my resident visa, but other than that, I felt like I was welcome to study and live in France. Thanks to my education, I didn’t find difficulties comprehending and integrating the local culture and religion. I never felt the need to confine myself into a Moroccan nor Muslim community to find my place in France. To my mind, the combination of both my family and education background and the acceptance and welcoming I got when I moved to study in France, protected me from the need of confinement into religion and radicalization.