How extremists carved out a moderate position: the resident other in centrist (wasatiyya) Islamic discourse since the Arab Spring uprisings

This article examines the evolution of wasatiyya (centrist) Islamic discourse on the status of non-Muslim minorities in Muslim-majority societies, with particular attention to the transformations that followed the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Employing textual and contextual analysis of sermons, fatwas, and writings by leading wasati figures–most notably Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Rashid al-Ghannushi, Fahmi Huwaydi and Muhammad Salim al-Awwa–the study traces the movement’s reinterpretation of citizenship (muwatana) and coexistence. Prior to 2011, wasatiyya emphasized a paternalistic vision of inclusion rooted in the dhimma system and the ‘Constitution of Medina’, granting non-Muslims a protected but subordinate status. In the aftermath of the uprisings, wasati thinkers reformulated these concepts to endorse egalitarian citizenship grounded in national solidarity and limited democratic participation. Yet, this rhetorical moderation remained circumscribed by theological exclusivism and resistance to secular pluralism. The article argues that while the Arab Spring stimulated a discursive shift from hierarchical tolerance toward conditional equality, wasatiyya ultimately reaffirmed its ideological boundaries, revealing the enduring limits of centrist Islamism’s accommodation of liberal democracy.