Abstract

The motivations of jihadist suicide attacks seem incomprehensible. However, numerous testimonies indicate that their death as martyrs is their only way to access paradise and its wondrous promises. Martyrdom appears as an option for those who feel a deep resentment and know themselves incapable of being “good Muslims” during their whole earthly life. René Girard, who was interested in this phenomenon (especially in his last book Battling to the End) provides us with some key elements to understand what we will call a neo-pascalian wager undifferentiating selfsacrifice and the sacrifice of others.