The influence of the salafi movement on the political transformation of Egypt in 2011–2013

Abstract

Until 2011, Salafi movement held itself aloof from politics. However, Arab Spring resulted in an opportunity to create their own political parties. Egyptian Salafi sts were the fi rst to follow this path aft er the fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime. Th e emergence of these parties proved to be benefi cial for the development of Arab democracy. By their convictions, the Salafi sts are extremely conservative and more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite its conservatism, the political force used peaceful means to fi ght for change, attracted a signifi cant part of Arab society to participate in legal politics, and also added diversity to the spectrum of Islamist parties, preventing any one force from claiming that it represented the entire Muslim community. But soon the rise in popularity of jihadist organizations, which call to fi ght for the implementation of Islamist ideas not by legal political, but by violent methods, undermined the infl uence of Salafi parties. In addition, discrediting of the Salafi movement was largely infl uenced by Saudi policy, the main purpose of which was to counter the Muslim Brotherhood inside Egypt. As a result, most of the ultra-conservative forces became Wahhabi, which led to discord within the Egyptian Salafi sts. Th e one part of the movement, which continued to support the Brothers, suff ered a political defeat with them aft er the 2013 military coup. Th e other part, which sided with the military elite, as a result of these actions completely lost support among the population. Th is article analyzes the process of the Salafi movement entering the political arena in Egypt, the dynamics of its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and the ideological diff erences between them. Th e article also examines the infl uence of Saudi Arabia on Egyptian Salafi sm and explains the main diff erences between Salafi sm and Wahhabism in the context of this infl uence. 1 Postgraduate Student at the Department of Political Science, National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, Tarlandash@gmail.com. ORCID: 0000-0003-4927-8241. 145 Th e infl uence of the salafi movement on the political transformation of Egypt