The Lesser of Two Evils: The Salafi Turn to Party Politics in Egypt

A new report written for the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center by William McCants explores the political rise and impact of Salafis in Egypt. The following is an excerpt. A link to the full report is at the bottom.

Pragmatic political maneuverings do not sit well with Salafi quietists, who argue that Salafism’s social capital derives from its words and deeds being consistent with its ultraconservative principles. Politics is anathema to jihadi Salafis, who believe “polytheistic” systems of government should be overthrown, not ignored or validated through political participation.

But for politically-engaged Salafis in Arab countries like Egypt, where a corrupt government has fallen and the country has not descended into civil war, the jihadi approach is irrelevant and the quietist approach is irresponsible. The hated regime is gone and sitting out elections means leaving the political field to the Salafis’ competitors.

This calculation may change as circumstances change, which would be unfortunate since Salafis in parliament will help diversify the politics of the movement. Political participation would be a further reminder that one of the world’s supposedly most-inflexible religious ideologies is subject to emendation and accommodation when its adherents have an opportunity to govern.

This is not to say that Salafis will become socially liberal; their political power rests on their social conservatism. This is why the argument by some analysts, like Georgetown University’s Jonathan Brown, that Egypt’s Salafis will substantially moderate their positions on social issues if elected may not come to fruition. It is true that the main Salafi party, Nur, has adjusted some important aspects of its vision to attract votes, such as forswearing the use of state power to force women to wear headscarves.

But if Salafis go too far down this path—a prerequisite for achieving an electoral majority in Egypt—they will alienate their base. The fact that there is already a big tent Islamist party in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, makes it even less likely that they will try. Instead, it is more likely that they will agitate in parliament for curtailing the rights of women, religious minorities, and the irreligious (in all senses of the word). As for national security and economic issues, Egyptian Salafis have not shown themselves to be much different than Egyptian politicians of other stripes, despite their ultraconservative social views. Those views, therefore, should not discourage other countries from finding common cause with Egypt’s Salafis in these areas.

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2012/0501_salafi_egypt_mccants/0501_salafi
_egypt_mccants.pdf