Preventing harm

This article showcases why ideology, and more specifically religion, is pertinent to the study of deradicalization by examining the influential revisionist efforts of two former advocates of Salafi-Jihadism, Dr. Fadl [alias for Sayyed Imam al-Sharif] in Egypt in 2007 and Abu Hafs in Morocco in 2009.

With recourse to both the revisionist ideologues’ argumentation and primary documents, we show that these efforts are informed by an Islamic legal perspective, which is undergirded by an interpretive approach constructed around the intent and higher objectives (maqāsid) of the shariʿa. As shown, this takes the form of engaged readings of the classical Islamic rulings pertaining to armed jihad and its conduct in the light of the realities of modern societies.

On the basis of their revisionist methodology, Dr. Fadl and Abu Hafs develop a faith-based model of containment that attempts to reconcile Islamist political thinking with the role of the nation-state in safeguarding the goals of the shariʿa as a means to preventing internal strife (fitna). Against this backdrop, the article argues that both authors’ call for a revival of the shariʿa’s higher objectives provides jihad with a new conceptualization and, in doing so, contributes to broader debates about the role that religious values can play in dismantling radical theological interpretations of politics and religiosity.