Voices
nated terrorist attack, led to the
death of the U.S. Ambassador to
Libya, other State Department
personnel and Libyan security
forces. Within two weeks, however, tens of thousands of ordinary Libyans had marched to
the central al-Kish square in the
same city, chanting, “No to terror,
no to Al Qaeda,” eventually overrunning the bases of groups suspected of being complicit in the
earlier attack.
Following the Arab revolutions
of 2011, Islam has forcefully entered the public square, and as
political forces jockey for power,
we are witnessing a growing duel
between radical rejectionists and
groups favoring more inclusive
engagement. If the former gain the
upper hand in this battle, which
differs country by country, it could
plunge the wider Middle East into
a decade of darkness.
With the revolutions in Libya,
Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, we
have seen secular autocrats swept
from power and Islamist forces
come to the forefront. The contestation by religious parties in
the democratic arena has meant
the mainstreaming of political
parties in the Arab world. The
rise of well-known groups such as
TAUFIQ
RAHIM
HUFFINGTON
10.07.12
the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
and Al Nahda party in Tunisia,
however, has been accompanied
by the emergence of a new political force, Salafists, who adhere
to a very puritanical interpretation of Islam.
The political Salafists have
tried to brand themselves as true defenders of the faith
As
in opposition to sopolitical
called “moderate”
forces jockey
Islamists. In effect,
for power,
they are trying to
we are
out-Islam their opwitnessing
ponents. While prior,
a growing
the Salafist moveduel between
ment had only a limradical
ited political role and
rejectionists
the more extreme of
and groups
their members were
favoring more
part of the wider jiinclusive
hadi movement that
engagement.”
includes Al Qaeda,
today they are using
the new environment
to assert themselves in the
mainstream. While just emerging in the Arab world, it is a trend
that countries like Pakistan have
been dealing with for the last
several years.
Despite their ability to mobilize