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REVISTA IEEE 11

195 Elena Labrado Calera An analysis of the plurality of political Islam. The cases… Aside from the circumstances of political Islam in each country, we must highlight a fundamental difference in the form of government of each state: Tunisia and Turkey are republics, while Morocco is a constitutional monarchy. http://revista.ieee.es INTRODUCTION «Politics ruins religion and religion ruins politics». This was one of the slogans on the signs wielded by the thousands of protesters that took to the streets of Tunis3 in the January 2011 demonstrations that put an end to President Zine el-Abidine Ben Alique’s regime, which later became known as «The Jasmine Revolution» and is regarded as the precursor of the so-called Arab Spring. And yet today, almost six years later, the two, politics and religion, are still compelled to get along, at least in the Maghreb and the Mashreq, which encompass the scope of this article, even though in both regions this is done differently because, among other things, the rites are different4. This article does not aim to explore in depth all aspects, factors and consequences of a subject that is as complex and diverse as the relationship between politics and Islam. Rather, it aims to highlight some data and actions that are relevant to the phenomenon of political Islam. When religion gets involved in politics, it must, for obvious reasons, play by the rules of politics, or at least do so if it is to have any degree of success (if attaining power or at least a degree of influence is not the goal, then why enter politics?). Therefore, the Islamist parties covered in this study play by the rules of the political system in their respective countries. And they do so with one essential and intrinsically political goal in mind: to rise to power and remain there for as long as possible. Sometimes, as in the case of Tunisia, pragmatism must prevail and you must bide your time and play the cards you are dealt, not staking everything on an ideal that is difficult to reach for earthly actors. At other times, which would appear to be the case of Turkey, after a certain degree of success and political action have been achieved through pragmatism, you can reach for the sky and cling to it at all costs. The case of Morocco is a clear example of playing by the rules of the game to make it into government, even if this entails limited action, i.e. making certain concessions. The relationship between religion and politics in Islam is different from the Western one. Therefore, it is logical to assume, as senior fellow at the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy, Shadi Hamid, does, that its evolution and its point of arrival can hardly be an exact replica of the Western 3  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/world/africa/21tunisia.html?_r=0 Accessed on 25-07-2016. 4  http://www.pensamientocritico.org/charfi0209.pdf Accessed on 02-08-2016.

REVISTA IEEE 11
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