In his introduction to Rethinking Islamism, Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, praises Orofino for assembling “a diverse team of experts that dissect different aspects of the less discussed but unquestionably largest part of Islamism: the non-violent one.” Undoubtedly, the initiative to analyze non-violent Islamism as an ideology in its own right, rather than some sort of diluted jihadism, is an excellent one. The book, however, is only occasionally excellent as it consists of a disparate set of chapters, ranging from instructive to puzzling.
The idea that Islamism has been repeatedly misunderstood by many scholars who flattened its ideological complexity, is repeated throughout—a problem that the work intends to remedy. It would be easier to enthusiastically support this (much needed) attempt to nuance Islamism if it hadn’t been somewhat damaged by the author’s unfortunate categorization of the Taliban, a Deobandi movement, as proponents of “Salafi-Wahhabi ideology” along with Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The same writer later remarks that “Salafi Talibanism has difference from Salafism of ISIS.” Perhaps the main difference is that Talibanism is not Salafi at all and that Deobandism, with its ambiguous embrace of Sufism, has long been denounced by Salafis.
Still in the same chapter, one encounters an even more bizarre claim: “the medieval godfather of Islamism, may be identified to be Mulla Sadra and his transcendental philosophy.” The ‘evidence’ offered for this incongruous link between the two is that Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, a 19th century Muslim thinker who sought to reconcile Islam with modernity, “himself was a reader of Mulla Sadra philosophy.”
Another chapter focuses on Islamic feminism and figures such as Amina Wadud, who is widely reviled by Islamists. Given that the book is supposed to focus on Islamism, the presence of that section remains a mystery. Surely, it would have been more relevant to explore the thoughts of such influential Islamist women as the Egyptian Ni’mat Sidqi whose articles opposing secular feminism resulted in her holding sway over Salafi circles.
Elsewhere, an assessment of the British branch of Hizbut Tahrir heavily relies on the philosophy of Michel Foucault as well as on an anthropological and psychoanalytical understanding of fetishism—none of which seem particularly useful in this context.
Fortunately, the book also includes fascinating chapters on: lesser known Tunisian Islamists who distanced themselves from Tunisia’s main Islamist movement; the early Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood; conversion to Sunnism among Iran’s Arab minority as a form of political resistance as well as a genuine act of faith; a detailed exploration of Islamist developments in Tajikistan. “Rethinking Islamism” is at its best precisely when it focuses on rethinking Islamism instead of clamoring its intent to do so.
