Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Morocco’s regime has revived Sufism, in part as a diplomatic tool for convincing Western and African governments alike that the country can be a counterweight to extremist religious expressions. But the balance sheet of this state-led intervention is mixed.
In Algeria, the regime has used economic, political, and media tools to elevate Sufi orders that further its agenda. Sufi institutions and figures must balance the reputational trade-offs that accompany this cooperation.
In Egypt, al-Azhar and other religious institutions are negotiating their independence as Sisi’s government increasingly involves itself in the religious sphere. Yet Sisi’s religious reform may serve primarily to consolidate power.
In Libya, religious endowments and their associated wealth have become a magnet for intense and often violent competition among Libya’s many political and religious currents.
In the wake of Yemen’s civil war, Islamic institutions have become sites of foreign influence as well as military and political battlegrounds. Yet they will still play an important role in Yemen’s future.
Saudi Arabia’s Islamic institutions have undergone massive reform as the monarchy consolidates its vision for the country’s future. These reforms are incremental and reversible but together represent a systematic restructuring of religion’s role in Saudi politics and society.
The complex relations between the state and Islamic institutions in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco shed light on evolving governance and have important implications for Western policies of countering violent extremism and conflict resolution.
In an interview, Karim Sadjadpour outlines what a realistic U.S. policy toward Iran should look like.
To contain the coronavirus, Arab governments are mobilizing official Islamic institutions. The most pressing goal is to shut down sites of potential contagion as Ramadan approaches.
Although local clerics have helped the Syrian state reassert control, the regime is centralizing religious authority away from communities. Their future relationship is hard to predict.