Salafism in Lebanon: Local and Transnational Movements

Description

The past two decades have seen an increasing association between Lebanese Salafism and violence, with less attention being paid to Salafis who focus on peaceful proselytization. In reality, it is these Salafis whose influence has dramatically grown since the eruption of the Syrian conflict that profoundly affected Lebanon as well. Based on extensive fieldwork, Zoltan Pall offers insights into the dynamics of non-violent Lebanese Salafi groups and examines the importance of transnational links in shaping the trajectory of the movement. In particular, he shows how the internal transformation of Salafism in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia led to the fragmentation of the Lebanese Salafi community. By analysing Salafism as a network, we see how the movement creates and mobilizes material and symbolic resources, and how it contributes to reshaping the structures of authority within the country's Sunni Muslim community.

Zoltan Pall is a research fellow at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore and a former Visiting Assistant Professor at the Gulf University of Science and Technology in Kuwait. He has done field work in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and taught at universities in the Netherlands, Kuwait and Indonesia. His main research interests include Salafism, the dynamics of Muslim transnational networks and Middle East-Southeast Asia relations. He published academic articles, book chapters and policy papers on these subjects. Pall's current project focuses on the activities of Kuwaiti Islamic charities in Cambodia and Indonesia.

'The spread of Salafi Islam in recent years has significantly changed religious scene in the Arab world. Focusing on Lebanon, Zoltan Pall's careful study sheds new light on our understanding of Salafism, its transnational network, and its effects on public life in the Middle East and beyond.' Asef Bayat, Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies and Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 'Pall has written a highly informative book on the Salafi movement in Lebanon. Based largely on years of fieldwork in northern Lebanon and supported by deep knowledge of the country's sectarian and political relations, this book sheds important light on the 'purist' and 'haraki' (activist) Salafis and their transnational links to the Gulf.' Joas Wagemakers, Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands