<Special Feature 1 "Islam as a Source of Contemporary Thought: New Advances and Outlooks">Extensive Islamic Legitimation in the Arab Monarchies: Overview of the Double-Edged Sword in Maintaining its Legitimate Veneer

Abstract

This article examines the influence of Islamic legitimacy on the Arab monarchies' survival in the present time. Existing literature on the politics of the Arab monarchies has referred to the Islamic legitimacy of the monarchies as their unique source for gathering support from the population, but the discussion overlooks the international dimensions of the monarchies' attempts to utilize their unique legitimacy. Arab monarchies' recent active provocations of "moderate" Islam and inter-religious dialogues highlight the importance of this dimension. To address the problem, this article develops a new framework for understanding the Islamic legitimacy of the Arab monarchies, named "extensive Islamic legitimacy, " and shows that the recent royal Islamic discourse in the Arab world is more than a normative call for peace and mutual understanding; it is also an attempt to legitimize their repression of the domestic society, which could ruin the façade of peacefulness and promote opposition groups to take more radical strands. The balance between repression and inclusion should be the key to the eff ect of Islamic legitimacy on the survival of the Arab monarchies.