Salafism and Political Violence: A Reflection on the Impact of Social Crises on the Formation of Contemporary Radical Salafi Islamic Movements in the Middle East

Contemporary Salafi social movements in the Middle East are the product of ideological principles derived from diverse and variegated social crises that have emerged and spread in the Islamic world throughout history. And now, in the minds and hearts of most Takfiri and Salafi movements, these are viewed as a precious legacy and a singular axis around which they should gather and reproduce that legacy. There is no doubt that the analysis of this legacy based on mere juridical and theological terms and teachings, while ignoring the social frameworks, contexts, and crises of its maturation in each historical period (and vice versa) will lead to an irrational reductionism in the research; which, ultimately, will include nothing but procrastination and subjugation of the force of argumentation. Therefore, in the course of this study, in addition to expression of the most important ideas of thinkers such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Abd al-Wahhab, and Muhammad Rashid Rida who have, directly or indirectly, influenced the contemporary neo-Salafism; the role of social crises, especially in the interaction of Islamic world with the West, in the past century was explored in a combined manner. In other words, what this study aims to explore from an intellectual and sociological perspective includes the explanation of ideological principles of the pioneers of the early and contemporary Salafism, and the sociological analysis of the social reasons for their genesis in the context of social, cultural, and political crises within the Islamic world.