The Struggle for Religious Identity in Tunisia and the Maghreb

Defining religious identity in the Maghreb has become an urgent challenge for governments fighting violent extremism. Nowhere is the battle as intense as in Tunisia, which is struggling to reshape its religious identity after more than a half century of state-imposed secularism. Following its revolution in 2011, Tunisia’s religious landscape was infiltrated by extremist preachers, and a surge in religiously inspired violence threatened Tunisia’s fragile political transition. Some religious and political leaders called for promoting “traditional” Islam to fight extremism and boost central religious control. The outcome of this struggle in Tunisia to define traditional Islam, and the extent to which governments across North Africa can create viable religious alternatives to extremist narratives, will shape the next generation of Islamic values and determine whether violent extremism becomes further embedded in North African society or is pushed to the margins.