Islamists, people who want to islamize society, are often seen as opponents of the existing regimes. Islamist movements aim to apply Islamic law (sharia) to all spheres of social, political, and economic life. It is anti the ruling elites which, on one hand, tend to secularize their societies, but this is not always the case.
Sometimes, particularly in transitional polities, Islamist groups establish close ties with non-Islamists ruling elites. This occurs both when Islamists ally themselves with non-Islamist components and when regimes court Islamists to enlarge their support base. History is full of examples of groups exploited by governments.
Secular/non-Islamist ruling elites use the support of Islamists and then suppress them as soon as they outgrow their support. This happened in the two case studies I will analyze in this dissertation: the Islah Party in Yemen and the Islamist students in Egypt under Sadat. I wonder whether governments always exploit Islamist parties or not?
Why do Islamist movements do it? Why have they entered into a formal or informal alliance with the ruling elites? This is my research question.
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