Includes bibliographical references and index.

In this book, Boulares explores the ways in which the effort to transform the Islamic message into a political programme may turn out to be counterproductive and do damage to the message itself. His preferred term for these efforts is "Islamism" defined as an action carried out by militant Muslims so that their concept of religion penetrates the state and society. The book, as the author claims, is "both a report of actual events and an essay. Islam is its subject and Islamism its province". The subject, however, is conceived from a "progressive" Muslim perspective and the province is portrayed through a somewhat narrow-angle lens. In twelve chapters, with eye-catching titles like "The Sword and Destiny", "The Fear of Islam", and "The Shipwrecked Mullarchy", the author surveys "truly the actual situation" in "all the Muslim countries". In covering such wide historical and ideational spectrum, the work ends up being synoptic in some parts and sketchy in others. -- Review of the English version from https://www.jstor.org (Dec. 14, 2015).

Translation of: L'islam: la peur et l'espérance.

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