A comparative analysis of three Sunni Muslim organizations on 'moderate' and 'radical' Islam in Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia

Bibliographic Data

ID4834409
AuthorsSerafettin Pekta (0000-0003-3698-370X, Independent researcher, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume51
Issue2
Pages190-213
Publication date2021-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0048721x.2020.1868383
OpenAlexW3118280055
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited20

The distinction between ‘moderate’ and ‘radical’ Islam has played a key role in tackling contemporary militant religious extremism. This article examines three prominent Sunni Muslim institutions that uphold this distinction and present themselves as the peaceful and moderate voices of ‘true Islam’, namely al-Azhar al-Sharīf of Egypt, Nahdlatul Ulama of Indonesia and al-Rabita al-Muhammadiyya lil-‘Ulama’ of Morocco. The article provides a critical, comparative analysis of their religious discourses and theological strategies in developing an ‘exceptional’ and ‘moderate’ Sunni response to jihadist militancy, particularly after the emergence of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ in Syria and Iraq (IS). It demonstrates that each institution has developed its own brand of moderateness with different motivations, argumentations, content and religious justifications. As such, this article challenges the moderate-versus-radical dichotomy by revealing that there are multiple discourses on moderation, instead of it being one single and coherent moderate bloc

Ideology · Islam · Jihadism · Militant · Moderation · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · Terrorism · Theology · Asian Studies and History · Islamic Studies and Radicalism · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious studies · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence