Salafis and Democracy in the Era of Arab Democratic Revolutions

Abstract

The Arab-Democratic Revolutions era represents a transformation stage in the Salafi Movements path within the Arab World. Many Salafi groups and movements have entered the field of politics and political parties. Moreover, they participated in the elections of the Egyptian Parliament in 2011 and announced their intention to establish their own political parties in other countries. The involvement of Salafis in elections and politics calls into question about the range of transformations per their ideological discourse in committing to the notion of democracy; taking into consideration salafists voicing their acceptance of the democratic game or the democratic system, given its description as a final system and abandoning their previously opposing or rejectful positions. This study discusses the transformation of the Salafi discourse towards democracy, and the new role of the salafi political dimension.