The synergy of Totalitarianism and Religious Violence in Salafi Social Movements

The spread of extremism and religious violence in the Middle East has made peaceful coexistence between followers of religions in parts of the region impossible. Religious violence is a highly dangerous phenomenon that in addition to imposing human costs, also inflicts a lot of financial costs on the world. Islamic violence and terrorism are the product of certain Salafi readings of the theological doctrines of certain Islamic sects, formulated by radical Sunni clerics in the past and revived in the contemporary era. The formulation of these readings is such that it empties them of thought and turns them into ideology and provides the ground for totalitarianism and violence. Due to the lack or scarcity of research on the relationship between totalitarianism and religious violence in the Salafi movements, this article is an attempt to fill the gap in this area. Therefore, the present study focuses solely on the mechanism of the synergy of totalitarianism and religious violence in these movements. This paper uses the theoretical framework of Mario Diani and Cohen to explain Salafi social movements, as well as Hannah Arendt's theory of the roots of totalitarianism to explain the synergistic mechanism of totalitarianism and religious violence. Research data were analyzed by documentary analysis. The findings show that religious totalitarianism and violence reinforce and reproduce each other by relying on the mobilization of mass support behind an ideology that prescribes radical social change. The ideological totalitarianism of religious/social movements in the Middle East provides the basis for "alienation or" hostility "and thus legitimizes violence, and provides the basis for the mutual strengthening and reproduction of totalitarianism and religious violence.