Global Affairs Session 76 11 August 2026

STORY OF POLITICAL ISLAM

Muslims, Arabs, Religion & Politics

Session 76 explains political Islam as a broad and varied field rather than a single ideology. It distinguishes Islam, Muslim and Arab identities; surveys the spectrum and major strands of political Islam; explains Muslim, Arab and GCC groupings; examines the Sunni–Shia divide and the memory of Karbala; and ends with the persistent fractures and regional organisations shaping the Muslim world. The presentation opens with the 2026 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement as an immediate geopolitical context.

Mecca defence context Political Islam Spectrum Muslim world Muslim, Arab & GCC Strands Sunni & Shia Karbala Persistent fractures Regional groupings

The 2026 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement

The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed on 7 August 2026 in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Sehbaz Sharif, establishes a collective defence arrangement under which an armed attack against any one of the three states is to be regarded as an attack against all three.

The presentation frames this emerging Saudi Arabia–Pakistan–Türkiye security arrangement as the rise of a possible “Muslim NATO” and separately examines why Egypt is being discussed as a possible future partner. The Egypt angle is presented as potentially adding Arab political weight, military scale and regional reach, while also requiring careful negotiation over binding commitments and operational integration.

Political Islam

Political Islam refers to political ideas and movements that seek to organise government or public life using Islamic principles and values. It is also called “Islamism”, though the presentation stresses that there are many shades.

Islam is a religion, while political Islam concerns how religion should influence politics, law and governance. Political Islamist movements vary widely—from participation in elections and democratic politics to more authoritarian or extremist movements.

Key debates include the role of Sharia, democracy, secularism, individual rights, and the relationship between religion and the state.

The spectrum of political Islam

• Mainstream political parties: Many Islamist groups participate in modern democratic processes as legal political parties. They seek to influence legislation through elections and parliamentary debates, with examples in the presentation including the Ennahda movement in Tunisia and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey.
• Social and grassroots movements: Some organisations focus primarily on social work, education and community building to create a more Islamic society from the bottom up, such as the early Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
• State-sponsored ideologies: In some countries political Islam is institutionalised by the state itself, though systems differ greatly. The presentation contrasts the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on Shia clerical rule, with Saudi Arabia’s historical link between monarchy and a specific conservative Sunni interpretation.
• Militant and extremist groups: A small but highly visible minority of the spectrum includes violent or revolutionary groups that reject democratic processes and use terrorism or armed insurgency to establish their vision of an Islamic state, with al-Qaeda and ISIS given as examples. Mainstream Islamist groups frequently condemn these organisations.

Understanding the Muslim world

1. Islam: A monotheistic religion based on belief in Allah and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
2. Muslim: A person who follows Islam.
3. Arab: A cultural and linguistic identity associated primarily with the Arabic-speaking world.
4. Sunni: The largest branch of Islam, following the historical Sunni tradition of leadership and practice.
5. Shia: A major branch of Islam emphasising leadership through the Prophet Muhammad’s family, especially Ali.
6. Sufi: An Islamic spiritual tradition emphasising inner purification and closeness to God.
7. Ummah: The worldwide community of Muslims united by a shared faith.
8. Caliphate: A historical system of Islamic political leadership headed by a caliph.
9. Imam: A prayer leader; in Shia Islam, the term also has a special religious leadership meaning.
10. Mosque (Masjid): A Muslim place of worship, prayer, learning and community activity.

Muslim countries, Arab countries and GCC countries

• Muslim countries: Countries where Muslims form a majority of the population; they span Asia, Africa, the Middle East and beyond.
• Arab countries: Countries where Arabic language and Arab cultural identity are dominant; not all Arabs are Muslim.
• Overlap: Most Arab countries are Muslim-majority, but many Muslim-majority countries—such as Indonesia, Pakistan and Türkiye—are not Arab.
• GCC countries: The six Gulf Cooperation Council members are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
• Key distinction: Muslim = religion; Arab = linguistic-cultural identity; GCC = regional political-economic grouping.

Strands of political Islam

1. Muslim Brotherhood: Founded in Egypt in 1928; combines Islamic social activism with political participation.
2. Jamaat-e-Islami: Founded by Abul A'la Maududi in 1941; promotes an Islamic political and social order.
3. Iranian revolutionary Islamism: Emerged strongly through the 1979 Iranian Revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini.
4. Salafi political movements: Seek governance based on their interpretation of early Islamic teachings; approaches to elections vary.
5. Turkish political Islam: Developed through movements linked historically to figures such as Necmettin Erbakan and later influenced mainstream Turkish politics.
6. Hamas: Palestinian Islamist movement combining political, social and armed activities; emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood tradition.
7. Jihadist Islamism: Militant current associated with groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, using violence to pursue political-religious goals.

Sunni and Shia

1. Sunni and Shia are the two principal branches of Islam. Sunnis form roughly 85–90% of Muslims, while Shias account for about 10–15%.
2. The original divide concerned political-religious leadership after Prophet Muhammad’s death: Sunnis accepted leadership chosen by the community, while Shias held that leadership should remain within the Prophet’s family.
3. Sunni tradition accepted Abu Bakr and the subsequent early caliphs; Shia tradition gives special authority to Ali ibn Abi Talib and the line of Imams.
4. Both share Islam’s central foundations: belief in one God, Prophet Muhammad, the Quran, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and other core religious practices.
5. The main differences lie in religious authority and interpretation: Sunni Islam relies on the Quran, Sunnah and scholarly traditions, while Shia Islam places distinctive emphasis on the authority and spiritual lineage of the Imams.

The presentation separately identifies Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain as Shia-majority; Iran and Iraq as clearly Shia-ruled or Shia-led; and Yemen as Shia-controlled through the Houthis/Zaydi Shia. It also states that Syria should no longer be classified as Shia/Alawite-ruled because the Alawite-led Assad regime fell in December 2024.

Iran and the Battle of Karbala

1. Battle of Karbala — 680 CE: Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, refused to submit to the Umayyad caliph Yazid I and was confronted at Karbala in present-day Iraq.
2. A vastly unequal battle: Husayn travelled with a small group of relatives and supporters; most of the men with him, including Husayn himself, were killed on 10 Muharram 61 AH (10 October 680).
3. Central event in Shia memory: Karbala did not create the Sunni–Shia division, which had earlier roots, but Husayn’s death profoundly shaped and strengthened distinct Shia religious identity and collective memory.
4. Ashura and martyrdom: Shia Muslims commemorate Husayn’s death every year on Ashura, seeing Karbala as a powerful symbol of sacrifice, justice and resistance to oppression.
5. Iran war, 2026 — the idea of shahadat: In contemporary Iranian Shia discourse, shahadat (martyrdom) often draws directly on the Karbala model—honourable sacrifice in defence of faith or community. During the 2026 war involving Iran, the U.S. and Israel, the presentation says Iranian leaders repeatedly referred to war dead as “martyrs”, linking present sacrifice symbolically with Husayn’s martyrdom.

The persistent fractures

1. Arab vs non-Arab: The Muslim world is not one cultural bloc; major powers such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia are non-Arab.
2. Sunni vs Shia: A centuries-old religious divide still shapes politics, alliances and conflict, especially across Iran, Iraq, the Gulf, Lebanon and Yemen.
3. Monarchies vs republics: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan and Morocco retain monarchies, while most other Muslim-majority states are republics.
4. Oil-rich vs population-rich: Small Gulf states possess extraordinary hydrocarbon wealth; countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia carry vastly larger populations and different development pressures.
5. Religious state vs secular state: Systems range from Iran’s clerical republic and Saudi Arabia’s religion-centred monarchy to strongly secular constitutional traditions such as Turkey’s.
6. Stable states vs fractured states: Some have durable central institutions; others—including Libya, Yemen, Syria and Somalia—have endured prolonged civil conflict, competing authorities or territorial fragmentation.
7. Different geopolitical camps: Muslim-majority states have long differed over relations with the US, Israel, Russia, China and Iran, repeatedly preventing the emergence of a single unified “Muslim bloc”.

Regional groupings

The final chronology in the presentation places major regional organisations and arrangements in sequence: the Arab League (1945), Baghdad Pact (1955), CENTO (1959), RCD (1964), OIC (1969), GCC (1981), ECO (1985), and the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement (2026). The chart illustrates how regional cooperation has repeatedly taken political, security and economic forms rather than developing as one single unified bloc.

Value addition

Glossary and related terms

Political Islam

Political ideas and movements that seek to organise government or public life using Islamic principles and values.

Islamism

Another term used for political Islam; the presentation emphasises that it contains many different shades and approaches.

Sharia

Islamic law and ethical guidance; debates over its role in public life are one of the central issues within political Islam.

Muslim

A person who follows Islam.

Arab

A cultural and linguistic identity associated primarily with the Arabic-speaking world.

Sunni

The largest branch of Islam, associated historically with community-selected leadership after Prophet Muhammad.

Shia

A major branch of Islam that gives distinctive religious authority to Ali and the lineage of Imams from the Prophet’s family.

Sufi

An Islamic spiritual tradition emphasising inner purification and closeness to God.

Ummah

The worldwide community of Muslims united by a shared faith.

Caliphate

A historical system of Islamic political leadership headed by a caliph.

Imam

A prayer leader; in Shia Islam the term also has a special religious leadership meaning.

GCC

Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

OIC

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, shown in the presentation as a grouping of 57 member states across the Muslim world.

Muslim Brotherhood

An organisation founded in Egypt in 1928 that combines Islamic social activism with political participation.

Jamaat-e-Islami

A movement founded by Abul A'la Maududi in 1941 that promotes an Islamic political and social order.

Salafi political movements

Movements seeking governance based on their interpretation of early Islamic teachings; their approaches to elections vary.

Jihadist Islamism

A militant current that uses violence to pursue political-religious goals, associated in the presentation with groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Karbala

The 680 CE battle in present-day Iraq in which Husayn ibn Ali and most of the men with him were killed, becoming a central event in Shia memory.

Ashura

The annual commemoration of Husayn’s death, especially significant in Shia religious memory.

Shahadat

Martyrdom; in the presentation’s discussion of contemporary Iranian Shia discourse, the idea is linked symbolically to the Karbala model of sacrifice.

Value addition

Conceptual references

• The distinction between Islam as a religion and political Islam or Islamism as a field of political ideas and movements.
• The distinction between Muslim religious identity, Arab linguistic-cultural identity and GCC regional membership.
• The spectrum from electoral and grassroots Islamist activity to state-sponsored ideologies and militant currents.
• The Sunni–Shia leadership divide, the line of Imams, Karbala, Ashura and the idea of shahadat.
• The OIC, Arab League, GCC and other regional groupings used to understand political organisation across the Muslim world.
• The 2026 Mecca Joint Defence Agreement and the discussion of possible expansion to Egypt as the session’s immediate geopolitical frame.