Hamas as a Wasati (Literally: Centrist) Movement: Pragmatism within the Boundaries of the Sharia

Sagi Polka

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2019, vol. 42, issue 7, 683-713

Abstract: This article examines Hamas as a test case for the struggle within Islam between two rival ideological streams: wasatiyya, whose principles were formulated by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b. 1926), and Salafi-jihadism, which is the wellspring of global jihad. Hamas is a wasati movement, and its wasati principles serve as the basis for its polemic with Salafi-jihadists, who accuse both it and al-Qaradawi of heresy. The article also shows how the principles of wasatiyya afford Hamas flexibility and allow it to adopt pragmatic positions by distinguishing between immutable long-term goals and flexible means of pursuing them. Hamas translates the principles of wasati jurisprudence into practical political and military ones.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1402432

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