Table Of ContentSalafism in the Maghreb
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Salafism in the Maghreb
Politics, Piety, and Militancy
xwx
Frederic Wehrey
&
Anouar Boukhars
1
1
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1. Defining Salafism: Contexts and Currents 5
2. Ambiguities of Salafism in Mauritania: The State, Clerics,
and Violence 19
3. The Paradoxical Mutations of Salafism in Morocco 38
4. The Fragmentation of Salafism in Algeria 59
5. Managing Salafism in Tunisia: A Post revolutionary Dilemma 82
6. Salafism and Libya’s State Collapse: The Case of the
Madkhalis 107
Conclusion 138
Notes 143
Bibliography 183
Index 207
( v )
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors of the book would like to express their deep thanks to the
many people who helped during the research and writing process. First
and foremost, we owe much gratitude to the Henry Luce Foundation for
its generosity in sponsoring a two year project on Salafism in the Maghreb.
This is the second instance of the Foundation’s support to the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace and, as in the past, the experience has
been immensely rewarding and stimulating. Toby Volkman, Luce’s Director
of Initiatives, has been an enthusiastic advocate, mentor, and constructive
critic of our work—a nd a true pleasure to work with. We are also grateful to
the Carnegie Endowment for providing a collegial and independent home
for the research and in particular Marwan Muasher and Michele Dunne
of the Middle East program for their unwavering commitment to deeply
researched and peoplec entered work on the region. Within the Middle
East program, we were fortunate to harness the talents of several capable
colleagues: junior fellows Katherine Pollock and Anmar Jerjees provided
indispensable research assistance, while Blair Scott kept a firm hand on the
tiller of day to day affairs.
We spent much time in the field delving into the social and political con
text of Salafism, and we could not have carried out this exploration without
the countless individuals in the Maghreb who facilitated our travel, brokered
meetings, protected us, and spoke to us candidly— sometimes at great risk
to themselves. For their safety, many must remain anonymous. Those we
can mention include Professor Mohamedou Meyine, whose tireless efforts,
hospitality, and warmth made Fred Wehrey’s research truly memorable.
In addition, the entire staff of the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur
l’Ouest Saharien (CEROS) providing a welcoming research home.
Both of us are indebted to the scholars and analysts who have shaped our
thinking on Salafism and the Maghreb, some of whom gathered together
for an incredibly rich and stimulating discussion on Maghrebi Salafism, in
the congenial setting of seaside Tunis in the winter of 2018. We wish in par
ticular to thank the following for their penetrating critiques of our chapter
drafts: Alex Thurston, Francesco Cavatorta, Stéphane Lacroix, Hicham
( vii )
( viii ) Acknowledgments
Houdaifa, Mohamed Masbah, Dalia Ghanem Yazbeck, Mohammed
M. Hafez, Joas Wagemakers, Amel Boubekeur, Raphael Lefevre, Yezid
Sayigh, Geoffrey Howard, Jalel Harchaoui, and Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim.
At Carnegie, a lunchtime discussion with colleagues— many of them non–
Middle East specialists in the fields of democratization, governance, and
security— helped us reframe our analysis through a comparative lens. We
thank Carnegie’s senior vice president Tom Carothers for facilitating this
exchange.
At Oxford University Press, we extend our thanks to our editor, David
McBride, for his interest and enthusiasm for the project and to the Press’s
stellar team of production editors and marketing professionals.
Lastly, we are both blessed with supportive partners who indulged our
absences in the field and frequent preoccupations and, most importantly,
have made the journey all the more worthwhile. Anouar Boukhars sends
his gratitude to Naima Hachad, and Fred Wehrey his appreciation to Nakisa
Karimian.
Introduction
Sitting at the nexus of three continents, the Maghreb region of North
Africa (comprising the Arab states of Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia, and Libya) has, for centuries, been a hub of rich political, eco
nomic, and cultural exchange, especially around the Mediterranean basin.
But in the last century, the Maghreb has been a minor player on the world
stage. Its influence was barely felt during the Cold War, with the exception
of the Algerian War of Independence and, perhaps, the international bel
ligerency of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. It remained mostly on the
margins of the Arab world’s central dramas like the Arab Israeli conflict, the
Arab rivalry with Iran, the post 9/ 11 US led “war on terror,” and the Iraq
War. Its main conflicts over the past decades, the Western Sahara dispute
and the bloody Algerian civil war during the 1990s, seemed to have mostly
escaped attention from the West, and even the world.
Yet in late 2010 and early 2011 all that changed. The self immolation of
a Tunisian fruit seller triggered protests that toppled the Tunisian regime
and spread far across the Arab world. In the Maghreb, the aftershocks of
that electrifying episode were felt most strongly in Libya, which saw the
overthrow of Gaddafi in October 2011 after an eight month revolution
backed by NATO led forces. Though initially marked by optimism and
successful elections, Libya quickly fragmented into civil war by 2014. The
resulting vacuum collapsed the boundaries, which were always more per
meable than many had assumed, between the Maghreb, the Sahel, and the
Mediterranean.1 Libyan arms and Tuareg fighters destabilized Mali, pro
voking French intervention. Libya also became the deadliest thoroughfare
for the world’s most catastrophic crisis of human migration, with thousands
perishing along a central Mediterranean route that started from its shores.
Salafism in the Maghreb. Frederic Wehrey and Anouar Boukhars, Oxford University Press (2019). © Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190942403.001.0001
