Tunisia: Ennahda’s New Course

Issue Date October 2016
Volume 27
Issue 4
Page Numbers 99-109
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This article calls attention to the declaration by Tunisia’s Ennahda (Renaissance) party that it would abandon the traditional connection between religion and politics in Muslim contexts and instead engage in new approaches to politics based on a separation of activism from predication. The significance of this decision is discussed against a backdrop of the political history of Muslims and the thinking that has prevailed among most Muslims in the name of their religion. The article further aims to identify some of the serious challenges that arise when secularism is supported by civil society rather than imposed by the army or a militant movement.

About the Author

Abdou Filali-Ansary is now retired from his positions as director and research professor at the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (AKU-ISMC) in London.

View all work by Abdou Filali-Ansary