Bin Laden Naked is a comic book that illustrates the humorous contradictions of religious extremism. The graphic work provides insight into the religious extremism that is spreading in some Islamic countries, particularly after the rise of al-Qaeda and Bin Laden. Radio Netherlands Worldwide was given an exclusive pre-publication look.

A report by Abdelai Ragad
 

Algerian born Mohammed Sifaoui, a specialist in European Islam and the political Islamic groups, is the book's author.  Bin Laden Naked will be published by a Parisian publishing house on 11 September. Mr Sifaoui says it was no small feat creating Bin Laden Naked: "I had to exert a lot of effort in the few past months in order to make the book available for readers by September. It's the comic side of those who use Islam for political ends".

Cartoon characters
The idea of resorting to cartoons when writing about al-Qaeda and Bin Laden came to Mr Sifaoui in 2003. "It was an idea that came to me while studying in Pakistan and Afghanistan, preparing to produce a documentary film and a book, both entitled The Search for Bin Laden. The extremists I met during my trips were, I believe, like cartoon characters. My book consists of real incidents and not merely jokes about al-Qaeda and Bin Laden".

Sifaoui, who is an opponent of armed political Islamic groups, adds: "Those dark-minded people prove in every word and deed that they are comic and a source of amusement. It is this essential aspect that makes it easy for me to present the story of Islamic extremists and al-Qaeda in cartoons and pictures".

Prophet Mohammed cartoons
Mohammed Sifaoui began his work after the civil war in Algeria in the 1990s. He then fled to Paris, where he has been living for five years under the protection of the French police because of death threats. Mr Sifaoui says the Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and the subsequent reactions from radical Islamists inspired him to write the story of al-Qaeda and Bin Laden in comic form. The author believes that despite the serious and fearful face of the al-Qaeda and religious extremism issue, there is a comic byproduct of the contradictions and lack of logical reasoning seen in Islamic extremists. He also believes Bin Laden Naked is the first book of its kind.

The veil and mobile phone
Mr Sifaoui sees the Islamic veil, 'hijab,' as one of the most important and sensitive issues in the fundamentalist Islamic thinking. He says: "The attitude of the extremists towards women is psychologically deformed, because, on the one hand, they deny her very existence, hide her behind the burque or the garment, deny her independence and deal with her as a material object, but on the other hand they marry four women. Bin Laden himself has four wives."

And the writer believes that one of the most important sources of irony is that the extremist leaders never risk their own lives. This leads to the cynical throught: Will the suicide attackers be ushered into paradise while Bin Laden and his sons will be deprived of this enjoyment?

With this book, the author wants to send a message to Muslim youths, especially in Europe, that extremism can never co-exist with modernism. He says his book is a new and unique way to understand the nature of what he calls Islamism. It is "a text that helps us laugh at those who want to terrorize us". 

Model of "Radical Islam"
What is a typical radical Islamist according to Mr Sifaoui? "I'm talking about the satanic groups, which call themselves sometimes Wahabies and other times Muslim Brothers and those who believe they obey God when they kill people". In his book he states: "Radical Islamists give us, during our day to day lives, the impression that they have come from another world or another century. Even in their way of dressing they differ very much with the normal styles of dress. They don't use neckties, but they use mobile phones, the Internet and prefer luxurious cars. This shows a schizophrenic relationship with modernism". For Mr Sifaoui presenting this behaviour in the form of  cartoons is not difficult, because the comic details can easily be portrayed.  

 
Bin Laden Naked will be published by the Parisian "Baiz 12" Publishing House on 11 September and will be available in several languages.

Translation from the French

Desert pigeon

Back at Peshawar, I told Sheik Abdallah Azzem about my achievements and he encouraged me to persevere.

"I did good by recruiting this desert pigeon"

"I won’t tell him that I didn’t put a single dollar in"

The end of the war

At the end of the war, there were around forty thousand Arabs who came to Afghanistan for Jihad.

"I hope there will be enough space for everyone in heaven"

"...and especially enough virgins"
 

Bravo Osama!

"Bravo Osama, may God bless you!"

"Inch Allah! Like this, the brothers will have shelter when the Russian helicopters fly over the region"

In effect

"In fact, we got everything we asked for. Arms, equipment, instructors, locals, etc"

"Trust us, we will make real fighters out of them"