Rachid Abou Houdeyfa

Rachid Eljay co-founded the subscription platform Dini TV with Abdelmonaim Boussenna to provide family religious education. In 2022, a Mediapart investigation described it as a « Netflix for conservative Muslims » and questioned its ideological orientation, the religious authority of its presenters and their relocation to Dubai.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Directly implicated

On 27 June 2019, Rachid Eljay and a worshipper were shot and wounded outside the Sunna mosque in Brest. The gunman was found dead shortly afterwards. Authorities did not adopt the hypothesis of a terrorist attack in their initial investigation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the victim

In spring 2016, the Brest prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation into Rachid Abou Houdeyfa's business activities and sources of income, particularly his commercial and association activities. The case was closed without further action on 3 February 2017.

In April 2016, François Hollande stated on television that the Brest mosque associated with Rachid Abou Houdeyfa had been closed and that the imam was subject to judicial proceedings. Verification showed that the mosque remained open and no judicial proceedings had been initiated at the time of the statement.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

Person targeted by the proceedings

François Hollande

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

In online videos recirculated in 2015, Rachid Abou Houdeyfa explained that the hijab represented a woman's « honour » and linked not wearing a veil to a risk of being neglected or abused by men, remarks widely condemned as misogynistic and blaming victims.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

In a filmed sermon before children, the imam explained that listening to music meant listening to the devil and referred to the risk of Allah turning listeners into a pig or monkey. The video went viral in 2015 and triggered strong controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

On 20 November 2015, under the state of emergency following the Paris attacks, the Sunna mosque in Brest and Rachid Abou Houdeyfa's home were searched.