Oppositionality from a Different Perspective: Operationalizing The
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OPEN ACCESS Freely available online Anthropology ISSN: 2332-0915 Perspective Oppositionality from a different perspective: operationalizing the concept to ethnography in Al Da’awa Al Salafiyya in Alexandria versus Shubra Salafism Hebatullah Nazy Selim* Department of Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt. ABSTRACT This article responds to Richard Gauvain’s recently introduced concept of “Oppositionality” as it aims to operationalize the concept in Al Da’awa Al Salafiyya (DS) and Al Nor Party (NP) case from the perspective of a western trained conservative Muslim female ethnographer in the period between 2013 and 2019. This article endorses Gauvain’s observation about the lack of positionality on the part of ethnographers of Salafism, meanwhile it disagrees with his assumption that Salafi modes of oppositionality are quite identical in practice and that the forces of oppositionality must lead to the expulsion of Western-trained ethnographers from Salafi circles. The main argument in this article is that oppositionality is always possible, but its reasons and levels differ according to: the type of the movement and its application of Shari’a, the identity of the ethnographer, and the political context. In view of the identity of the researcher and the context, “Al Masaleh wal Mafased” (cost-benefit calculations) play a key role in the case of DS/NP. Keywords: Egyptian Salafism; Al Da’awa Al Salfiyya; Al Nor Party; Shubra Salafis; Oppositionality; Ethnography; Ethnographic realism; Positionality; Reflexivity INTRODUCTION of Salafism. And, as Gauvain observes, “without authorial positionality, there can be no [analysis of] oppositionality” 1. Oppositionality and Research on Egyptian Salafism (Gauvain 2018:209). The present article responds to, and seeks to build upon, Richard In addition to a misplaced loyalty to the genre of Ethnographic Gauvain’s recently introduced theory of “Oppositionality.” Gauvain Realism, Gauvain argues that ethnographers of Salafism may discussed this theory in relation to his ethnographic work within censor their fieldwork reports out of a well- meaning desire not two Cairene Salafi settings, Shubra and Madinat Nasr. Gauvain to appear to be in agreement with common media portrayals of defines oppositionality as: a set of attitudes (non-compliance, Salafis as “militant radicals” and/or “extremists” (Gauvain2018: defiance, hatred) which are formally prescribed to, and informally 208). While Gauvain does make exceptions he commends Joas generated by, Salafis in their dealings with non-Muslims, and often Wagemakers and Anabel Inge on the ways in which they with lapsed and/or errant Muslims (Gauvain 2018: 204). incorporate authorial positionality, and discuss oppositionality, in Gauvain’s argument stems from his realization that, despite often their analyses of Salafi settings (in Jordan and in Great Britain encountering resistance from their Salafi respondents, Western- respectively) (Gauvain2018: 205, n.6) his critique of the growing trained ethnographers tend to avoid writing about this aspect of field of Salafi studies is aimed very broadly. their fieldwork. Gauvain argues that there are several potential I worked with Gauvain as a research assistant over a decade ago reasons for such reticence. The main reason, he claims (borrowing when he was collecting data on Egyptian Salafism before the Arab from literary analysts, Marcus and Cushman) is the enduring Spring. The resulting monograph remains the most in-depth tendency of political scientists to write from within the genre of analysis of Egyptian Salafism. Trained as a political scientist, I “ethnographic realism,” wherein the ethnographer seeks to remain recall that, at the time, I found Gauvain’s emphasis on authorial “an unintrusive presence in the text,” and “a dispassionate, camera- reflexivity helpful and provided me with a wider and a more like observer” of his/her subjects (Gauvain2018:209). This approach has led to a regrettable lack of positionality on the part 1Wiktorowicz, 2006, Lauzi`ere, 2010, Lacroix, 2016, 2012, Awad, 2014, of ethnographers El-Sherif, 2015,2014,2012, Olidort, 2015, Hamming, 2013, Davis-Packard, 2014, Shalata, 2016. *Correspondence to: Hebatullah Nazy Selim, Assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt. E-mail: [email protected] Received: September 12, 2020; Accepted: September 28, 2020; Published: October 7, 2020 Citation: Hebatullah N.S (2020) Oppositionality from a different perspective: operationalizing the concept to ethnography in Al Da’awa Al Salafiyya in Alexandria versus Shubra Salafism. Anthropology 8:219. doi-10.35248/2332-0915.20.8.220 Copyright: ©2020 Hebatullah N.S. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Anthropology, Vol. 8 Iss. 5 No: 220 1 Selim HN OPEN ACCESS Freely available online balanced perspective. Over the years, I have come to agree that the legal school; but we respect the religious scholarship of al-Azhar. rapidly growing field of Salafi studies lacks reflexivity on the part Growing up, I was sure that virtually all Egyptian Muslims shared of its contributors. This criticism may be applied to scholarship our general orientations. written in English and European as well as the Arabic language1 . Before studying Salafism as an adult, I was suspicious and overtly As a matter of fact, when it comes to ethnography-based work, it critical of all Islamist and Salafi factions. To a significant degree, is difficult to understand how certain ethnographers have gained these attitudes are attributable to my early experiences and sufficient access to arrive at their conclusions. By omitting details upbringing. In my family, the so-called “Islamic revival” of the 1970s of their fieldwork and interview processes, the reader wonders was not viewed with optimism. When listening to the popular and how the ethnographer presented her/himself to his respondents. overtly politicized preachers, such as ‘Abd al-Hamid Kishk (d. Finally, with Gauvain, I agree that too few ethnographers of 1996), my father’s response was that we had always been good Salafism demonstrate awareness of how their relationships Muslims, and did “not need fanatics to teach us our religion” with their informants develop, preferring instead to offer “static (transliterated as: Ehna tool o’mrena muslimeen, msh mehtagen snapshots” of specific moments in time (Gauvain2018: 212). As a el mota’sebin dol ye’alemona denna). result, ethnographic representations of Salafism often appear piecemeal and partial. At the political level, my family adopted a mixture of leftist, Egyptian nationalist, and liberal ideas. Religion, they believed, To guard against or at least know when one receives packaged, pre- should take place in the mosque and the home. During the 1980s prepared answers, it is important for more participant observation- and 1990s, when militant Islamist attacks rocked Egyptian society, based fieldwork to take place among Salafi communities. Through I was attending a local Catholic school in Zamalek. Many of my his study of Salafi oppositionality, Gauvain reminds ethnographers friends were Christian. I blamed Islamists for what I saw as their that readers want to know how, precisely, we gather our data so as bigotry (towards Christians) and chauvinism (towards women). to arrive at our conclusions. I agree with Gauvain’s call to action in this regard. Increasingly interested in the political realities of my country, I attended Cairo University in 1999 to study for my undergraduate There are aspects of Gauvain’s argument, however, with which I degree in Political Science. This is where I encountered cannot agree. My main problem is that Gauvain bases his argument representatives of different Islamist groups, who were never open on Salafi oppositionality on his own experiences within a specific about their specific affiliations but were just carrying out da’awa context (in Shubra district). These experiences lead him to several in a way that seemed different from the way I was brought up assumptions regarding the fundamental nature of the relationship on. I understood that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) had the between Western trained ethnographers and their Salafi most presence on campus2. Its members engaged enthusiastically, respondents. To my mind, the following three assumptions with often bullishly, in da‘wa activities. They made me feel pressured considerable overlap between them are the most problematic: to adhere to a form of Islam I did not recognize or enjoy. They • The epistemologies of Western-trained researchers (Muslim wanted me to wear the veil (hijab). Women in my family used to and non-Muslim) and Salafis are always fundamentally put on the veil for social more than religious reasons. Only elderly opposed; married women usually wear it. At the time, I was neither elderly nor married. More to the point, I saw no reason for Islamists to • Salafi modes of oppositionality are more or less identical in practice (as they relate to Western-trained ethnographers); and dictate my choices of clothing to me. I refused to wear the hijab and rationalized this decision on the grounds that a simple change of • The forces of oppositionality must lead to the expulsion of clothes does not, by itself, make someone a better Muslim. At the Western-trained ethnographers from (and/or the latter’s time, I did