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Abstract
The Arab World has witnessed massive popular uprisings that seek to overturn years of authoritarianism and supposedly bring about democratic change and social justice. These uprisings evoke both optimism and pessimism about religion, violence, and their connection to cities. As people in various parts of the Arab world embark on their quest for self-government, there is no telling where this great experiment will lead. Based on current indications, religion will play a decisive role in shaping the futures of these nations, and particularly their cities. These directions seem to be charted by the religious parties that have come to power, and through a series of subtle and gradual policies that are setting the foundations for future theocratic states. The aim of this article is to explore the urban processes by which religious ideologies transform into fundamentalist urban movements, and how their actions are starting to reshape the cities of the Arab World.
Notes
1. Much of the material for this paper is drawn from several pieces that I have authored and co-authored earlier including an introductory chapter in a co-edited volume, The Fundamentalist City (AlSayyad, Citation2011); Religious Fundamentalism in the City: reflection on the Arab Spring (AlSayadd and Massoumi, 2012) and Medieval Modernity: On Citizenship and Urbanism in a Global Era (AlSayadd and Roy, 2006).
2. The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth (1910–1915) was a series of twelve pamphlets that attacked modernist theories of biblical criticism. Their central theme was that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and should be taken literally. But, as a writer in the 19 May 1923 issue of Time Magazine discovered, there are earlier sources for such a viewpoint. For example, the Westminster Confession of 1643, which provides the constitution of Presbyterianism, substituted the authority of the Bible for the authority of the Roman Pope, and held the Bible to be “the only infallible rule of faith and practice” in The Fundamentalist City, AlSayyad (Citation2011, p. 23).
3. (July 14, 2011) Salafis Boycott Friday Protests. Egyptian Independent
4. See Political Islam Everywhere on the Rise: The Success of Egypt's Islamists Marks a Trend Throughout the Region, The Economist, Middle East and Africa Section (2011, December 10).