Salafis Between Revolutionaries and Reformist Activists

One of the most influential Islamic movements of the past 40 years, Salafism seeks to bring about a new religious and sociopolitical order based on a strict interpretation of an “authentic” Islam. While Jihadi-Salafis pursue this goal through armed violence and Islamists seek access to governance through party politics, mainstream Salafis have typically adopted a “quietist” stance, shunning overt oppositional and institutional politics and instead deploying social pressure at the grassroots level. Amid the 2011 Arab uprisings in North Africa and their aftermath, Salafi groups developed new forms of social and political mobilization as these events produced different opportunities for reshaping societal and institutional systems. By analyzing the actions of prominent quietist Salafi movements in Tunisia and Egypt, and their formal and informal institutional impact, our research maps the strategic choices and mechanisms most salient during the instability engendered by the uprisings. We study how and why these groups mobilized their supporters, engaged with other actors at different junctures to make specific demands, gain concessions or implement their views, and how these Salafi leaders’ interactions with institutional actors contributed to the insertion of their agenda into social and institutional governance.