Preaching Politics: How Politicization Undermines Religious Authority in the Middle East

Abstract

A growing body of research demonstrates that political involvement by Christian religious leaders can undermine the religion's social influence. Do these negative consequences of politicization also extend to Islam? Contrary to scholarly and popular accounts that describe Islam as inherently political, we argue that Muslim religious leaders will weaken their religious authority when they engage with politics. We test this argument with a conjoint experiment implemented on a survey of more than 12,000 Sunni Muslim respondents in eleven Middle Eastern countries. The results show that connections to political issues or politically active religious movements decrease the perceived religious authority of Muslim clerics, including among respondents who approve of the clerics' political views. The article's findings shed light on how Muslims in the Middle East understand the relationship between religion and politics, and they contribute more broadly to understanding of how politicized religious leaders can have negative repercussions for religion.

Can Religious Reinterpretations Bridge the Secular-Religious Divide? Experimental Evidence from Tunisia

“…If they are only effective when deployed by religious leaders, it would suggest that liberals and activists should try to privately lobby religious authorities rather than attempt to deploy reinterpretations themselves. At the same time, they should be cognizant that an appearance of politicization might undermine those religious leaders’ authority (Williamson et al, 2022).…”

The Religious Communication Approach and Political Behavior

“…The potential dangers of politicking in congregations have been found in a place where some least expect it—from clerics in mosques. In survey experiments of 12,000 Muslims conducted across 11 majority‐Muslim countries, Williamson et al (in press) find that “politicization undermines religious authority in the Middle East.” This finding is particularly interesting given the proclivity of figures on the American right to argue that Islam is inherently political, perhaps not even a religion as much as a political ideology.…”