Sufism and Islamist activism in Morocco: an examination of the tradition of 'commanding right and forbidding wrong' in the thought of ʿAbd al-Salam Yassine

In this article, I contribute to ongoing debates regarding proper conceptions of 'political Islam' or 'Islamism' by bringing greater attention to the roles that Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, have played in some traditions of Islamist thought and practice. I do so by situating the 'commanding right and forbidding wrong' discourse in the wider thought of ʿdeb al-Salam Yassine (d. 2012), founder of the Moroccan Justice and Benevolence Association (Jamaʿat al-ʿAdl wal-Ihsan). This discourse has been interpreted and deployed in various ways by Islamist movements to conceptualize their activist visions, and in the hands of Yassine, we find an understanding which has been thoroughly shaped by Sufism, especially in the role played by spiritual and ethical formation (tarbiya) in cultivating a successful socio-political vanguard. This perspective challenges analytical frameworks which describe Islamist groups primarily as products of modernity or as political ideologies. Additionally, attention to the Sufi-centric aspects of some traditions of Islamism offers a contrast to previous scholarship which has focused almost exclusively on its exoteric scripturalism and fixation on the law. Such insights are crucial when attempting to understand and engage Islamist actors for purposes ranging from cross-cultural understanding to policy formulation.