Sunni Islamists: From Syria to the Umma, and Back

International audienceContrary to a widespread belief, Arab nationalism did not emerge in Syria as a purely secular ideology, considering that proto-Islamists played a key role in popularizing it from the late Ottoman era onward. This emphasis on Syria’s Arabness was perpetuated after independence by the Muslim Brotherhood: first, out of a quest for relevance in the country’s parliamentary system, notably after Nasser’s popularity grew among the conservative opinion; second, because after it was banned by the Baathist regime in 1963, the Brotherhood considered that returning to Syrian politics required to remain in tune with Arab nationalist ideas, despite the fact that the latter were increasingly vilified by conservative ulama and Islamist militants in the name of Pan-Islamic unity. The 2011 revolution and ensuing conflict had ambivalent consequences in that respect: On the one hand, alignment with the popular uprising encouraged a focus on Syrianhood as opposed to transnational identities, not only on the part of the Brotherhood, but also among hardliners like Ahrar al-Sham and, more ambiguously, the formerly al-Qaeda affiliated Hay’aTahrir al-Sham; on the other hand, the Islamic State’s unrepentant Pan-Islamists seized the new opportunity structure to proclaim the restoration of the Caliphate