There is a heavy rush for purchasing books on Islam in France after the brutal attack on Charlie Hebdo recently. Islam is the fastest growing religion of Europe. A supplement of a magazine specially brought out on the Quran was flown off the shelves. Book shops in France are selling more books on Islam than ever after the attack in January which killed 17 persons. The French people are inquisitive about many things in Islam. They are not satisfied with the replies they get from the electronic media. The director of Philosophie magazine, Fabrice Gerschel had published the special issue of his magazine which is selling like hot cakes. In the first quarter of the current year the sale of books on Islam was increased three times. This was reported by French National Union of Bookshops.
Mathilde Mahieux, of La Procure chain of bookshops that specializes in religion told that the citizens of France are eager to know a better understanding of Islam rather than observing the practices of barbaric Islamic State group which claims to represent the Islamic world. They want to know true Islam. The recent attack by Muslims on Charlie Hebdo, a magazine which satirized the Prophet of Islam left many non-Muslim citizens looking for the correct answers about Islam.
Yvon Gilabert, a book shop owner in Nantes, western France told that a staunch catholic woman came to buy a copy of the Holly Quran. She wanted to know whether Islam is violent religion or not. The other citizens also want to know the extremist interpretation of Islam.
French professors are also becoming more curious about knowing the teachings of Islam. On Thursday a chair in the study of Quran was inaugurated in College de France in Paris.
Mr. Jean Roy, a professor at Sorbonne University in France started study of the Quran recently. He said that he has started teaching about Islam to the students studying for magistrate exams. The Publisher of Al Bouraq Publishing house, Mr. Mansour specializes in publishing books on Islam and the Middle East. He told that the sale of his books has gone up by 30%.
It may be noted that the same situation happened after the attack of 9/11 in 2011. Mr. Mansour opined that this situation is going to last longer because Islam will continue to pose a geo-political problem for the entire world.