Islamism is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is conceived as a revival or a return to authentic Islamic practice in its totality.
The Salafi movement, also called the Salafist movement, Salafiyya and Salafism, is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam. The name derives from advocating a return to the traditions of the "ancestors" (salaf), the first three generations of Muslims said to know the unadulterated, pure form of Islam. Those generations include the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions, their successors, and the successors of the successors. Practically, Salafis maintain that Muslims ought to rely on the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the 'Ijma (consensus) of the salaf, giving them precedence over the later Islamic hermeneutic teachings.
Salafi jihadism or jihadist-Salafism is a transnational, hybrid religious-political ideology based on the Sunni sect of Islamism, seeking a global caliphate, advocacy for "physical" (military) jihadism and Salafi concepts of returning to what adherents believe to be "true Islam". The ideological foundation of the movement was laid out by a series of prison-writings of the Egyptian Islamist theoretician Sayyid Qutb during the 1960s.
Hazem Salah Abu Ismail is an Egyptian lawyer and Salafi Islamist politician. He has been described by The Economist as a "populist Salafist."
The al‑Nour Party, or "Party of The Light", is one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law. It has been described as the political arm of the Salafi Call Society, and "by far the most prominent" of the several new Salafi parties in Egypt, which it has surpassed by virtue of its "long organizational and administrative experience" and "charismatic leaders". Its political aim is to establish a theocratic state on the lines of Wahhabism like in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was found to be the main financer of the party according to the public German television news service ARD (broadcaster).
The Authenticity Party is one of the political parties created in Egypt after the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist Salafist ideology, which believes in implementing strict Sharia law. The party was formed by the former head of the Virtue Party, General Adel Abdel Maksoud; he left the Virtue Party after allegedly discovering a plot which changed the moderate principles of the party. The party is considering leaving the Anti-Coup Alliance.
Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia is a radical Islamist group that operates in Tunisia. In 2013, the group was estimated to have roughly 10,000 members. It has been listed as a terrorist group by the Tunisian government as well by Iraq, the United Nations, the UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States. Some of its members may be linked to the 2015 Sousse attacks. In 2013, the group declared loyalty to Al-Qaeda.
The People Party is an Islamist party in Egypt which is part of the Anti-Coup Alliance.
The Egyptian Renaissance Party, also known as the Revival Party, is a Salafist political party. However, it has also been reported to be in favor of a civil state. The leader of the party, Ibrahim Al-Zafaraany, stated that the party would focus on education and "scientific research" as well as the economy. Al-Zafaraany is a former member of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya.
The Virtue Party is a Salafist political party. The party stated in September 2012 that it and the Renaissance Party would merge.
The Islamic Party is an Islamist political party in Egypt. The name of the party was changed in approximately December 2012. The main leaders of the group are Mohamed Abu Samra and Kamal Habib. The party is backed by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group. Most of the founders of the party are former members of the organization. Many members of the party have court rulings that bar them from running for elected office.
The Homeland Party is an Islamist political party in Egypt, founded in January 2013 following a split within the al-Nour Party. It was formed when Emad Abdel Ghaffour, the former leader of al-Nour, and 150 other party members quit in protest at the part of a dispute between Ghaffour and followers of Yasser Borhamy. The party has stated that Copts will be allowed to join the party and women will be allowed on electoral lists. In June 2013, 130 members of the party resigned in response to differences within the party leadership. The party withdrew from the Anti-Coup Alliance on 17 September 2014, though the reason for its withdrawal was not because of political differences.
Madkhalism is a strain of Islamist thought within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Rabee al-Madkhali. Arab states have generally favored Madkhalism due to its support for secular forms of government as opposed to other strains of Salafism, and Madkhalism's decline in Saudi Arabia has been connected with a decline in support for secular forms of government in the Muslim world.
Ḥassan al-Kettani is a Muslim preacher and former political prisoner from Morocco. He was imprisoned for alleged connections to the 2003 Casablanca bombings, Kettani was pardoned by Mohammed VI eight years later after efforts by his lawyer, human rights groups and Islamists success in Morocco's parliament.
Since the classical era, traditional Islamic religious culture was divided between two main theological schools, Sufi-Ash'arism represented by Ghazzali (1058-1111) and Salafism represented by Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328). The dispute between these two schools of thought dominated the Sunni world, splitting their influence across religious communities & cultures, with each school competing for scholarly authority via official and unofficial religious institutions. The relationship between Salafism and Sufism – two movements of Islam with different interpretations of Islam – is historically diverse and reflects some of the changes and conflicts in the Muslim world today.
The Anti-Coup Alliance is a coalition in Egypt formed to reverse the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. The coalition is made up of approximately 40 Islamist parties and groups.
The Salafist Front is an Egyptian Salafist organization that was founded after the 2011 Egyptian revolution after breaking away from the Salafist Call. It has been called "one of the largest Salafist associations in the Middle East". The organization was part of the Anti-Coup Alliance, though it announced on 4 December 2014 that it had withdrawn from the alliance. It has also been described as one of the most revolutionary Islamist movements in Egypt.
A political crisis evolved in Tunisia following the assassination of leftist leader Mohamed Brahmi in late July 2013, during which the country's mainly secular opposition organized several protests against the ruling Troika alliance that was dominated by Rashid al-Ghannushi's Islamist Ennahda Movement. The events came as part of the aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution which ousted the country's longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, followed by a general election which saw Ennahda win a plurality alongside Moncef Marzouki's allied Congress for the Republic (CPR). The crisis gradually subsided when Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh resigned and a new constitution was adopted in January 2014.
The Salafist Call is a Salafi organization in Egypt that was established in 1984. It established the Nour Party in 2011, which won the second-highest number of seats in the 2011–2012 Egyptian parliamentary election. Yasser Borhamy is the vice president of the organization, while Mohamed Abdel Fattah Abu Idris is the president.
