The conventional wisdom regarding European converts to Islam is based on the premise that the majority lack the necessary religious knowledge and being thus unable to discern between the various interpretations of Islam, they constitute easy prey for radicals. Moreover, the myth of “convert's zeal” contributes to the belief that being ready to prove their dedication to the new faith and community, converts are ready and willing do to everything, including the most atrocious acts of political violence. This thesis focuses on the question that asks: Under what conditions do converts to Islam coming from indigenous European societies radicalise? In other words, which factors determine both their non-violent (ideological) and violent (with subsequent engagement in terrorism) radicalisation? Consequently, the research aims to examine what the radicalisation mechanisms are that may lead to such an activity, to determine possible regularities and to analyse viable implications pertaining to countering them. The research aims to establish the conditions under which conversion leads to radicalisation and terrorist violence; analyse recrudescent concomitances of causal mechanisms of this phenomenon; explore possible pathways existing between conversion, radicalisation and terrorist violence; identify key variables pertaining to causal pathways and processes; provide hypotheses regarding the radicalisation pathways, and establish a typology that can serve as a basis for further studies. In this way the thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the processes of radicalisation, establishing a base for further studies and enabling others to follow with more nuanced and elaborate theories in order to provide contingent recommendations for policy makers. By dispelling many stereotypes concerning European New Muslims this thesis offers a new, contextual approach to the researched question thus inviting the reader to reconsider the concepts of “convert”, “radicalisation” and “potential”- crucial for analysing the widely expressed assumptions that European converts to Islam are a homogenous “risk group” and a security threat.

This thesis aims to problematize the cosmopolitan-spirited quest for a proper and permanent place for Islam and Muslim immigrants in Europe today, and to claim that the efforts to establish a European Islam cannot be thought in isolation from the efforts to consolidate a European identity. Since &ldquo / Europeanizing&rdquo / Islam is a process of inserting it into the politically acceptable formations of the secular in the European public sphere, not only does this project fail to offer a genuine alternative framework for belonging, or an authentic opportunity for dialogue, but also in fact consolidates the European civilizational identity on the one hand, and sustains the metanarrative about the Islamic threat on the other. The major argument of this thesis, therefore, is that the stranger (Muslim) is allowed to enter the host&rsquo / s secular space only under the conditions that construct Islam as the enemy. Forging a European Islam under the rules of secularism, without a radical interruption of the secular - religious division, and without referring to its implication in the discourses of Orientalism and racism, is ultimately a reconsolidation of the authority of the self-same European. This argument will be illustrated via a critical study of three cases of mosque debates in European cities.

La présence définitive des minorités musulmanes sur les territoires de l'Union européenne est devenue une réalité. Cette présence massive et durable a changé le paysage religieux européen au XXe siècle. Mais le développement de la présence musulmane dans les pays de l'Union européenne est un processus hétérogène et loin d'être terminé en raison de l'existence de certaines difficultés qui empêchent l'intégration complète de cette communauté. Les minorités musulmanes essaient de franchir ces obstacles pour arriver à obtenir une protection optimale et réaliser leur objectif principal relatif à l'obtention d'une égalité de traitement vis-À-Vis des autres minorités religieuses qui ont une présence plus longue dans cette partie du monde.Cette étude s'efforce de comparer les différents statuts juridiques accordés aux minorités musulmanes dans les pays de l'Union européenne pour établir un état des lieux juridique de la présence musulmane dans ces pays. La distinction entre les minorités musulmanes en tant que groupes minoritaires et leurs membres est nécessaire pour savoir si les droits collectifs de ces groupes ont été reconnus et privilégiés au détriment des droits individuels des personnes appartenant à ces minorités / The permanent presence of Muslim minorities in the countries of the European Union has become a reality.This massive and lasting presence has changed the religious European scene in the 20th century.But the development of the Muslim presence in the countries of the European Union has been a heterogeneous process which is not over yet because of certain difficulties which prevent this community from being integrated completely. The Muslim minorities are trying to overcome those obstacles to manage to get the best protection and achieve their main goal that is to say getting the same treatment as other religious minorities who settled inthe European Union long before them.This study attempts to compare the different legal statuses granted to the Muslim minorities in the different countries of the European Union so as to assess the Muslim presence in those countries legally. The distinction between the Muslim minorities as minority groups and their different members must be made so as to know ifthe collective rights of these groups have been acknowledged and given more importance than the individual rights of the people belonging to these minorities