Salafis and the ‘Arab Spring’ in Yemen: Progressive Politicization and Resilient Quietism

Abstract

The Salafi movement as it has developed in Yemen since the early 1980s has long been described as essentially quietist: Salafi leaders and activists in the country were said to have retreated from worldly affairs to focus on “religious matters”. Most leading Salafi clerics in Yemen have built their doctrine on a rejection of what they refer to as ḥizbiyya (partyism) and on a refusal to endorse democracy or to take part in elections. They would put emphasis on issues of creed (‛aqīda) and pros...