France sees sales boom for books on Islam

French are seeking answers in books teaching Islam following deadly attacks in nation.

Books (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Books
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Books on Islam are flying off bookshelves at bookstores in France, three months after a slew of terror attacks and a marked rise in anti-Semitism in the country.
French news service AFP reported Sunday that sales of books on Islam in the first quarter of 2015 were three times as much as this time last year.
The attacks have left the French curious about the religion guiding terrorists and inspiring others to join the ranks of Islamic State in the Middle East.
"The French are asking more and more questions, and they feel less satisfied...by the answers they're getting from the media," Fabrice Gershel, director of Philosophie magazine, told AFP. The magazine recently published a special supplement on the Koran. The supplement, along with the full Koran text and other interpretative books on Islam, have been selling out quickly.
In January, 16 people were killed in the span of a single week in Paris when Muslim terrorists attacked the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and then a Kosher Supermarket days later.