Search Results (26)

This study examines the complex process of Islam’s localization in Sudan, focusing on how hospitality, Sufi dhikr, and Mawlid celebrations integrate with Islamic practices. Drawing on three years of qualitative fieldwork, it demonstrates how Sudan’s geography, ethnic diversity, and historical heritage enable the blending of core religious principles with local customs. Sufi brotherhoods—particularly Qādiriyya, Tījāniyya, Shādhiliyya, and Khatmiyya—play a pivotal role in local culture by incorporating traditional musical, choreographic, and narrative art forms into their rituals, resulting in highly dynamic worship and social interaction. In Sudan, hospitality emerges as a near-sovereign social norm, reflecting the Islamic ethics of charity and mutual assistance while remaining deeply intertwined with local traditions. Islam’s adaptability toward local customs is further illustrated by the vibrant drumming, chanting, and dancing that enhance large-scale Mawlid al-Nabi celebrations, uniting Muslims under a religious identity that goes beyond dogmatic definitions. Beyond their spiritual meanings, these Sufi practices and networks also serve as tools for social cohesion, often functioning as support systems in regions with minimal state presence. They help prevent disputes and foster unity, demonstrating the positive impact of a flexible Islam—one that draws on both scripture and local traditions—on peacebuilding in Sudan. While highlighting the country’s social realities, this study offers insights into how Islam can function as a transformative force within society. Full article

Before the Arab Spring erupted at the turn of 2010 and 2011, Islamic fundamentalism had long played a significant role in the political and social landscapes of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Often associated with groups advocating for a return to a strict and literal interpretation of Islamic principles, Islamic fundamentalism manifested in various movements, ideologies and violent insurgencies. These movements aimed to shape governance, challenge existing regimes and resist Western influence. The decades leading up to the Arab Spring saw a rise in both peaceful political Islamist movements and militant groups with more radical objectives. Islamic fundamentalist organisations have played varied and significant roles in the political systems of North African states. From the peaceful reformist agendas of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Ennahda in Tunisia to the radical insurgencies of the LIFG in Libya and the GIA in Algeria, these organisations have shaped political discourse, challenged authoritarian regimes and represented the discontent of marginalised populations. In some cases, such as in Morocco, Islamist groups have found ways to work within the political system, while in others, they have been pushed into violent opposition. The impact of Islamic fundamentalist organisations before and after the Arab Spring reveals their enduring influence on North Africa’s political landscape. Full article

This article examines the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategic framing of democracy and human rights in Egypt following the 2013 military coup, contributing to scholarship on the movement’s adaptation to repression and political exclusion. Employing framing analysis, this study analyzes official statements from Ikhwanonline from 2015 to 2024, when the old guard regained control over the organization’s messaging, in order to explore how the movement operated to reclaim political legitimacy amid repression, exile, and internal fragmentation. The findings indicate that despite the failure of its strategic commitment to democracy as a pathway to political dominance—culminating in its ousting—the old guard continues to espouse this framework. The movement frames its predicament and struggle as part of the Egyptian people’s broader fight against oppression and authoritarianism. This rhetorical continuity persists despite internal divisions and reformist calls for a more proactive approach, highlighting the movement’s reliance on established discursive strategies not only to confront regime repression but also to avoid engaging with questions of institutional reform. Full article

This article traces the strengthening of Muslim movements in Jordan, emphasizing the period that marked the beginning of the regional upheaval (2011). It aims to examine whether and how this strengthening affected religious, national, and political identities. The article examines the interrelationships between the Hashemite regime and the Salafi movements in Jordan during and after the Arab Spring. This examination shows that there was a deterioration, aggravation, and erosion in these relations, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, also an understanding on the part of the regime that despite this the Salafis are interested in taking part in the Jordanian political game. In this discourse between the Salafi movements and the regime, we will also examine whether the movements sought to change the regime’s nature and, thus, the nature of society in Jordan from a Hashemite national identity to a Salafi identity. The article is based on secondary and primary sources that unfold a fascinating picture of dialectics and dialog between the ideological extremes of democracy and Islam. The main findings are that these processes, during and after the Arab Spring, tend to contain religious groups that will also participate in politics, out of recognition of the supremacy of the law of the state, which is not necessarily religious. Full article

Through his numerous visits to the Muslim world, and by promoting an ethics of recognition of Islam, Pope Francis built trust and a religious encounter with various Muslim institutions. His dedication to global ethical concerns, such as human brotherhood, the environment, migration, and peace, has made religious leaders throughout the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Egypt, and the Gulf states, favourable to interfaith co-operation with the Catholic Church for the common good. In particular, Pope Francis has influenced how justice and tolerance are perceived by many in the Muslim world, as evidenced by various Muslim responses to his messages. He was therefore effective in initiating an ethical encounter to overcome injustice and violence, in addition to re-establishing religious diplomacy and communication with Islam. Full article

This article examines the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, tracing its transformation from a social movement into a political party. This study investigates the conditions and dynamics that compelled the organization to engage in the political sphere and its efforts to distance itself from armed strategies. It explores the factors that have driven these changes and offers insights into potential future trajectories, especially in the context of the challenges faced by the Brotherhood following the military coup on 3 July 2013. Employing theoretical frameworks from studies on the transformation processes of similar movements and utilizing a process tracing methodology and in-depth interviews, the article seeks to understand how both historical and contemporary contexts have shaped the Brotherhood’s evolution and strategies. The findings suggest that, much like during previous periods of repression, the Brotherhood is likely to endure the current crisis and sustain its organizational presence. However, in doing so, it is expected to temporarily withdraw from political engagement. The article posits that, after completing this period of exile and resuming its activities in Egypt, the Brotherhood will likely continue as a social movement, stepping away from political involvement for a significant period. Full article

This article proposes the novel understanding of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as a sect, going against the grain of the existing literature, which posits it as a political group, a social movement, or a religious movement (or some combination of all of the above). The sectarianisation occurs within the group via ideological build-up, organisational tactics, and internal socialisation of behaviour. The group is also a sect by constituting its unique identity in opposition to external actors. To make the argument, the analysis draws on the statements of key figures within the movement’s history, such as its founder Hasan al-Banna, as well as a range of interviews with current and ex-members. My argument has two main consequences for our understanding of sectarianism in general and the Brotherhood in particular. First, sectarianism is a process of sectarianisation that operates beyond the state and at lower levels, such as groups and individuals. Second, the Brotherhood is not a mere victim of the sectarianising practices of the state. Its sectarianisation is partly of its own making. Full article

This article examines the idea of ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam (mastership of the world), in the political thought of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam was formulated by the movements’ founder, Ḥasan al-Bannā, as the ultimate goal of the MB, the last of a gradual seven-stage plan to Islamize the individual, the family, society, the government, and the state, and restore the caliphate. In an attempt to unpack this abstract concept, this article offers a contextualized reading of its use in the foundational tracts of the MB general guides, and in pertinent commentaries on some of these tracts. We point to an inherent ambiguity in the concept, which intertwines ideational and active elements of domination, ranging between the homiletical task of propagating Islam to the world and striving to rule the world. Within the MB, ustāḏiyyat al-ʿālam is found to serve alternately as a privileged status of the Islamic nation, a duty, a mechanism of power legitimation, and as a source of motivation in times of despair, while utilized in anti-MB campaigns to discredit the MB and curb its internationalization. Full article

This article gives an historical and analytical account of post-1967 Islamist intellectual production in the Arab-Muslim world and the ways it shaped political ideology in the region. By discussing Islamist approaches and debates with regards to the “secular” and secularism in the Arab-Muslim world the paper tries to answer mainly two research questions: what the perceptions over secularism were after the 1967 Naksa, and how intellectual transformations were applied on political identities, ideologies and strategies by some Islamist parties, occasionally leading to cross-ideological synergies. Using conceptual history, we divide post-1967 into two broad periods, while we argue that Islamist thought copiously appropriated notions of the secular with, however, many limitations. Full article

The literature on post-Islamism has paid little attention to citizenship and has largely ignored how conceptual reform on this topic is supported by reinterpretations of the sharia. This article addresses this issue by focussing on the Jordanian ex-Muslim Brother Ruhayyil Gharayiba, who has been at the forefront of post-Islamist reform in his country, including with regard to citizenship. Based on an extensive reading of Gharayiba’s own work in Arabic as well as multiple interviews with him, it seeks to answer the following question: to what extent and how has Gharayiba built a conceptual as well as a legal basis for his post-Islamist ideas on citizenship and what does this tell us about the development of post-Islamism in relation to Asef Bayat’s writings on the subject? It shows that Gharayiba is, indeed, a post-Islamist and uses concepts on citizenship similar to those used by Egyptian post-Islamists, but goes further by also providing legal support for his views and pushing beyond the idea of a “civil state with an Islamic authority”. As such, the example of Gharayiba concurs with Bayat’s writings on post-Islamism, showing that continued religiosity can be combined with reform that goes beyond even that of the wasatiyya. Full article

Tracing back political Islam to the French Campaign that invaded Egypt in 1798, the article argues that political Islam emerged and developed from within the folds of the modern nation state in Egypt. The article conceptualizes three historical phases: from 1805 to 1849, 1849 to 1879, and 1879 to the mid-1920s. Each of these phases is centered around a common theme that characterized the discourses, knowledge, and structures of politics, the economy and “Islam”, as they encountered the West, which are, in order, technology, civilization, and ideology. The works of Ḥasan al-ʿAṭṭār will be explored as an example of the first phase, and the works of Rifāʿah al-Ṭahṭāwī will be the example of the second phase, where Islam, as it encounters politics, becomes the foundation of state nationalism. The third phase will start with a transitional period of undifferentiated discourses, but will quickly, after the British occupation in 1882, differentiate into three political Islams: liberal, represented by Muḥammad ʿAbduh and al-Ummah Party; official, represented by ʿAlī Yūsuf and the Reform on the Constitutional Principles Party; and extra-state, radical Islamism, represented by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Jāwiš, and the Nationalist Party. The article will explain the national and international political and economic contexts that surrounded and participated in the formations of political Islam in all its varieties. Against the popular academic conviction of rooting Ḥasan al-Bannā’s thought in Muḥammad ʿAbduh’s work, and rooting ʿAbduh in Jamāl al-Afghānī’s movement, this article will explain the rupture and contradictions between Afghānī and ʿAbduh, on the one hand, and the rooting of al-Bannā’s ideology in ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Jāwīš’s thought, on the other hand. Full article

This paper sets out to study loyalty as identity formation through the cases of three Muslim leaders in France (T. Ramadan, A. Mamoun and M. Zenati). First, I will discuss the state of research on “Muslim loyalties” in the West. Afterwards, Ramadan’s concept of critical loyalties, Mamoun’s loyalty as gratitude, and Zenati’s human brotherhood as the basis of loyalty will be thoroughly examined. The main goal of the current study is to determine how the three Muslim leaders incorporate loyalty as an element of shaping the identity of French Muslim citizens while attempting to resolve the current tensions between the French state and Islam. Full article

This article aims at revisiting the history of Egyptian Islamic activism during the important decade of the 1970s, by reintroducing a crucial element that is absent from the existing academic literature: the role played by Salafi ideas in the religious socialization of 1970s Egyptian Islamic activists. Far from only being the product of Saudi Arabia’s intense petrodollar-funded proselytization efforts, these Salafi ideas had already gained a foothold in Egypt in the first half of the 20th century, when they started being promoted by organizations such as Ansar al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya, which saw itself as a rival to the Muslim Brotherhood. Reintroducing this element helps complexify a historiographical narrative of the 1970s that has been mostly centered around the Muslim Brotherhood and the posthumous role played by the ideas of radical thinker Sayyid Qutb (1906–1966), and it is key to a more accurate and nuanced understanding of the subsequent evolutions of Egyptian Islamic activism. Full article

This article focuses on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s relationship with violence after the 2013 military coup. Following the Brotherhood’s sudden ouster from government, scholars predicted that renewed repression would lead to the radicalization of wings of the movement, particularly speculating that the youth would resort to violence as a way to respond to the regime. Indeed, calls in favor of the use of violence were recorded and associated with the activities of the New Office in Egypt during 2015, and with radicalization within the country’s prisons. Yet, this phenomenon has remained limited with reference to both time and context. Relying on interviews with members in Egypt, Turkey and the UK (2013–2021), this article critically unpacks the Brotherhood’s relationship with violence in the aftermath of the coup, investigating how the majority of Brotherhood members who subscribed to the movement’s peaceful resistance navigated nonviolent and violent strategies advocated by competing movements’ factions, as they became exposed to state-led violence. It looks at how members, male and female, endured repression, what role violence had in their resistance, if any, and how they justified it. The conclusion reflects on the role that violence plays in the Brotherhood’s strategies to reunite and rebuild after 2013. Full article

This paper highlights how the Muslim Brotherhood instrumentalized antisemitic conspiracies in its journal al-Daʻwa in its bid to strengthen its socio-political authority under Sadat. After discussing theoretical insights on conspiracy theories and (Muslim and Muslim Brotherhood) antisemitism, the paper zooms in on the return of the Muslim Brotherhood under Sadat, focusing on the movement’s internal dynamics and its growing socio-political ambitions, followed by a content analysis of antisemitic conspiracy theories found in al-Daʻwa. The final part of the paper analyses the different dimensions and the functions of these antisemitic conspiracies for the movement. The paper concludes that through the antisemitic conspiracies, the Muslim Brotherhood has positioned itself as a religious, moral and political authority. Although al-Daʻwa promulgated classical (European) antisemitic conspiracies, these were utilized by the movement for purposes other than mere hatred and distrust of the Jews and Jewish–Muslim polemics. Full article