ABSTRACT
This chapter sheds light on the multifaceted reality covered by Salafism in the West. This fundamentalist and puritanical understanding of Islam, based on the self-proclaimed desire to restore the genuine faith of the Pious Ancestors (al-salaf al-salih) is now relatively successful amongst certain groups. By elaborating on a new typology of the Salafism communities that we find in Europe and North America, this contribution attempts to highlight the principles, sociological characteristics and relations with the rest of society of some of the most debated forms of Islamic radicalism today.
