The moderation journey of Kurdish Islamism in the Kurdistan region of Iraq
| Published date | 01 May 2023 |
| Author | Hardy Hasib Raza |
| Date | 01 May 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13224 |
Global Policy. 2023;14:373–384.
|
373
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gpol
1 | INTRODUCTION
The Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 throughout the Arab
world and Middle East (ME) revived the debate around
the relevance of Islamic movements1 and Islamist politi-
cal parties.2 Thereafter, Islamist parties made progre ss
in the elections and politica l processes they participated
in, notably the Muslim Brothers (MB) and its affiliates
(Pa rge ter, 2 013). However, Held and Ulrichsen(2 014)
contended that the future was indeed uncer tain for
Islamists. A decade on, Al- Arian (2020) declared the
end of political Islam in its recogni sed form. He consid-
ers Islamist Moderation as an accom modating process
incorporating radical change in Islamist political parties.
Although there is significant and plent iful literature
on Islamism and the Islamist partie s of the Middle
East and wider Islamic world, including ad dressing
Islamist moderation through inclusion in the political
arena, or even exclusion for that matter, there is scant
information related to Kurdish Islamists that this paper
addresses. This can be regarded as an overlooked
area of research in the field of Islamism. Thus, this is
a study of Kurdish Islamism with reference to the ex-
isting literature on theories of Islamism, the principal
theories being Inclusion- Moderation Theory (IMT) and
Cross- Ideological Cooperation (CIC). Using empirical
evidence, three Kurdish Islamist parties will b e stud-
ied to assess their moderation proces s. These parties
operate in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KR) and they
are the only Islamist parties in the regi on; hence the
reason for studying them and including them a ll in the
research. This shall serve as a step in bridging t he dis-
crepancy in the literature of Kurdish Islamism.
The structural format of this article i s as the fol-
lowing: After the introduction, is a sectio n that covers
relevant literature on Islamism, moderation, Inclusion-
Moderation Theory and aspects and contentions in
the field. It starts with Islamism's definiti on and what it
SPECIAL SECTION
The moderation journey of Kurdish Islamism in the
Kurdistan region of Iraq
Hardy HasibRaza
Received: 9 June 2 022
|
Revised: 27 April 2 023
|
Accepted: 28 Apr il 2023
DO I: 10 .1111/17 58- 589 9.13 224
© 2023 Durham Unive rsity and John Wiley & So ns Ltd.
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK
Correspondence
Hardy Hasib Ra za, Newcastle Univers ity,
Newcastle upo n Tyne, UK.
Email: hardyhraza@gmail.com
Abstract
This project assesses the proce ss of moderation within three Islamist political
parties, specifically, the Kurdistan Justic e Party, the Kurdistan Islamic Union and
the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan. The process of Islamist m oderation is a grad-
ual and complicated one and there are numerous factor s affecting this process.
In the literature, ‘inclusion- moderation theory’ is a key thesis that outlines the
factors concerning Islamist moder ation. It argues that the inclusion of Islamists
in the political arena consequently g ives rise to their moderation. However, this
study expands upon this thesis and argues t hat while it holds true for these three
Islamist parties, there are other essential factor s associated with the moderation
journey experienced by these parties. These p arties' behavioural changes, in the
form of political moderation, are more common compared to ideological modera-
tion. This conclusion is based on t wo distinct sources of evidence. First, the par-
ties' formal documents, such as internal and pro gramme guides and secondly,
first- hand d ata obtained by means of interviewing the political elites or leaders of
these three Islamist parties.
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