Salafism Goes Global: From the Gulf to the French Banlieues (Religion and Global Politics Series)

Salafism has emerged as one of the most visible and questioned faces to contemporary Islam. In many countries from the East to the West, this fundamentalist vision seeking to restore a vision of Islam that is supposed to be pure and unchanged is increasingly successful. This is the case in France where thousands of Muslims are now dedicated to living this puritanical and fundamentalist religiosity. In connection with some Islamic countries, starting with Saudi Arabia, they appeal to a transnational narrative through which they promote a new face of globalization today. Reacting both political Islam and Jihadism, they prefer becoming entrepreneurs in order to seek for economic success. Splitting from the rest of the society, they prefer building a counter-narrative on behalf of which they represent the purest form of the Islamic identity nowadays. Through a prolonged immersion in French Salafist communities for several years, this book sheds light on the lifestyle, representations, profiles, and trajectories of these communities. By focusing on quietist Salafism and its formative ties with several Gulf countries, especially with Saudi Arabia, this book is also an attempt to understand contemporary religious globalizations. Besides this political globalization of Salafism, this also sheds light on a dynamic that is less centred on formal political entities, and which primarily refers to a globalization taking place in the margins that have been little studied for too long -- University Press Scholarship Online "Salafism has emerged as one of the most visible and questioned faces to contemporary Islam. In many countries from the East to the West, this fundamentalist vision seeking to restore a vision of Islam that is supposed to be pure and unchanged is increasingly successful. This is the case in France where thousands of Muslims are now dedicated to living this puritanical and fundamentalist religiosity. In connection with some Islamic countries, starting with Saudi Arabia, they appeal to a transnational narrative through which they promote a new face of globalization today. Reacting both political Islam and Jihadism, they prefer becoming entrepreneurs in order to seek for economic success. Splitting from the rest of the society, they prefer building a counter-narrative on behalf of which they represent the purest form of the Islamic identity nowadays. Through a prolonged immersion in French Salafist communities for several years, this book sheds light on the lifestyle, representations, profiles, and trajectories of these communities. By focusing on quietist Salafism and its formative ties with several Gulf countries, especially with Saudi Arabia, this book is also an attempt to understand contemporary religious globalizations. Besides this political globalization of Salafism, this also sheds light on a dynamic that is less centred on formal political entities, and which primarily refers to a globalization taking place in the margins that have been little studied for too long."-- Provided by publisher Salafism is a fundamentalist Sunni vision of Islam that is growing in popularity in many countries. In this book, Mohamed-Ali Adraoui focuses on quietist Salafism, which he calls a study in contradictions. Strongly opposed to political action, terrorism, and the overthrow of established regimes, quietist Salafism insists on restructuring Islamic norms with the fervor of a revivalist and fundamentalist ethic. Quietist Salafis seek the purification of culture and religious renewal through a "de-militantization" of the Islamic corpus. Adraoui explores the Salafis' individual trajectories, their relationship with politics, and their vision of the world and of modernity, in order to understand how quietist Salafis negotiate their social identities and religious obligations in the Western context. What does the increasing presence of Islamic movements in the global space mean? Adraoui draws parallels between the French case and that of Muslim countries, and argues that the spread of quietist Salafism is partially a result of the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. Quietist Salafism, he argues, is resonant of Saudi Arabia's efforts to promote a legitimist, anti-anarchist, and counter-revolutionary conception of Islam, after having long legitimized and reinforced the Islamist forces and Jihadist movements when it was in its geopolitical interests to do so. Salafism Goes Global sheds light on a dynamic of globalization that is taking place in the margins. Salafism is a fundamentalist Sunni vision of Islam that is growing in popularity in many countries. In this book, Mohamed-Ali Adraoui focuses on quietist Salafism, which he calls a study in contradictions. Strongly opposed to political action, terrorism, and the overthrow of established regimes, quietist Salafism insists on restructuring Islamic norms with the fervor of a revivalist and fundamentalist ethic. Quietist Salafis seek the purification of culture and religious renewal through a "de-militantization" of the Islamic corpus.0Adraoui explores the Salafis' individual trajectories, their relationship with politics, and their vision of the world and of modernity, in order to understand how quietist Salafis negotiate their social identities and religious obligations in the Western context. What does the increasing presence of Islamic movements in the global space mean? Adraoui draws parallels between the French case and that of Muslim countries, and argues that the spread of quietist Salafism is partially a result of the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. Quietist Salafism, he argues, is resonant of Saudi Arabia's efforts to promote a legitimist, anti-anarchist, and counter-revolutionary conception of Islam, after having long legitimized and reinforced the Islamist forces and Jihadist movements when it was in its0geopolitical interests to do so. Salafism Goes Global sheds light on a dynamic of globalization that is taking place in the margins Salafism is a fundamentalist Sunni vision of Islam. Growing in popularity in many countries, it seeks the purification of Islamic culture and religious renewal through a "de-militantization" of the Islamic corpus. This book examines Salafism in France and looks at how this movement spread from the Gulf to Western countries. Salafism is a fundamentalist Sunni vision of Islam. Growing in popularity in many countries, it seeks the purification of Islamic culture and religious renewal through a 'de-militantization' of the Islamic corpus. This text examines Salafism in France and looks at how this movement spread from the Gulf to Western countries