French Islam scholar Fethi Benslama: ″There is no such thing as political Islam″

Last week he told Germany′s Die Welt newspaper that jihadists are far more interested in destroying the political. Their arch-enemies are those who support democracy "since they have turned their back on God."

The life of most Muslims is "far more secular than we imagine," added Benslama. By contrast, those who become radicalised take on a ″religion of outward signs. Everything is on display: the beard, the sign on your forehead, that you bow so frequently when praying, the headscarf, the trousers. None of this existed before."

Regardless of their culture, many people are alive today ″who live with the sense of not existing," the psychoanalyst expanded. "Our modern world intensifies this sense. God is no longer to be found in things, making people lonely and confused as a result." At the same time, doubt is symptomatic of our modern times – take science, for instance – and it is this combination which encourages conspiracy theories. "Doubt can become a disease."