ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book parts ways with previous analyses by examining political Islam without assuming a position in this ideological debate. It examines the role of Islam and the Islamic movements in the post-independence Maghrib-Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The book focuses on these movements as forces of politically relevant change in modern Muslim societies by analyzing their nature, organization, and direction. It refers to the manifestations only insofar as they are relevant to a comparison of the Islamic movements in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The book also focuses on the active Islamic movements in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. It explains the reasons behind their gradual evolution, the nature of their dynamics, and the basic tenets of their ideology. The book analyzes the major themes of the Islamists' ideology and their evolution, as articulated by the main intellectuals of the movements.