Salafism's March Through North Africa (Tarek Osman, The Cairo Review of Global Affairs)
""This is not the Tunisia we know," the head of a respected Tunisian
think tank told me as thousands of Salafists marched through the heart
of Tunis's old Medina, steps from one of its most exclusive
restaurants, one that serves premium French wine under the watchful eye
of a stern sommelier.
But the city was Tunis, and the protestors were Tunisians. One of the Arab world's most progressive societies, with one of the most active civil society environments in the entire Arab world, and a notable history of gender equality and secularism, is clearly witnessing the rise of an assertive socio-political force that defines itself exclusively under a strict religious frame of reference. The scale of these marches -and various other forms of assertiveness-and the frequency with which they take place indicate that this trend is far from marginal or dismissible.
In Egypt's last parliamentary election, Salafist parties won about a quarter of the votes. Amid the polarization that the country is currently witnessing, several Salafist voices and parties are increasingly influential in the political sphere. And the rise of Salafism is also taking place in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and in other Arab countries.
But the city was Tunis, and the protestors were Tunisians. One of the Arab world's most progressive societies, with one of the most active civil society environments in the entire Arab world, and a notable history of gender equality and secularism, is clearly witnessing the rise of an assertive socio-political force that defines itself exclusively under a strict religious frame of reference. The scale of these marches -and various other forms of assertiveness-and the frequency with which they take place indicate that this trend is far from marginal or dismissible.
In Egypt's last parliamentary election, Salafist parties won about a quarter of the votes. Amid the polarization that the country is currently witnessing, several Salafist voices and parties are increasingly influential in the political sphere. And the rise of Salafism is also taking place in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and in other Arab countries.
(...)
Modern Salafism was a lucky ideology. It found a fertile ground in
Saudi Arabia, which, for the past four decades, had emerged as the most
influential Arab country. But following the current transformations
that the wave of uprisings has given rise to, the center of gravity in
Arab socio-politics will return to the eastern Mediterranean and North
Africa. And Salafism will lose the momentum that Saudi backing (and
petrodollars) have given it.
Salafism's traditional approach of trying to "purify" their societies from what they consider impurities that have been imposed on them will not resonate with the almost 200 million Arabs under thirty-five years of age, whose priorities are largely economic, not ideological, and who are mostly ill-disposed to indoctrination. Salafism's ability to evolve in the culturally richest parts of the Arab world-become capable political forces as opposed to missionaries, and locally integrated players as opposed to harbingers of purely Islamic identities-will be its fundamental challenge."
Salafism's traditional approach of trying to "purify" their societies from what they consider impurities that have been imposed on them will not resonate with the almost 200 million Arabs under thirty-five years of age, whose priorities are largely economic, not ideological, and who are mostly ill-disposed to indoctrination. Salafism's ability to evolve in the culturally richest parts of the Arab world-become capable political forces as opposed to missionaries, and locally integrated players as opposed to harbingers of purely Islamic identities-will be its fundamental challenge."
