Until 2011, Salafimovement held itself aloof from politics. However, Arab Spring resulted in an opportunity to create their own political parties. Egyptian Salafists were the first to follow this path after the fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime. The emergence of these parties proved to be beneficial for the development of Arab democracy. By their convictions, the Salafists are extremely conservative and more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite its conservatism, the political force used peaceful means to fight for change, attracted a significant part of Arab society to participate in legal politics, and also added diversity to the spectrum of Islamist parties, preventing any one force from claiming that it represented the entire Muslim community. But soon the rise in popularity of jihadist organizations, which call to fight for the implementation of Islamist ideas not by legal political, but by violent methods, undermined the influence of Salafiparties. In addition, discrediting of the Salafimovement was largely influenced by Saudi policy, the main purpose of which was to counter the Muslim Brotherhood inside Egypt. As a result, most of the ultra-conservative forces became Wahhabi, which led to discord within the Egyptian Salafists. The one part of the movement, which continued to support the Brothers, suffered a political defeat with them after the 2013 military coup. The other part, which sided with the military elite, as a result of these actions completely lost support among the population. This article analyzes the process of the Salafimovement entering the political arena in Egypt, the dynamics of its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and the ideological differences between them. The article also examines the influence of Saudi Arabia on Egyptian Salafism and explains the main differences between Salafism and Wahhabism in the context of this influence.

As Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the 2004 presidential election, it marked the end of Indonesia’s democratic transition era and experienced a dynamic change in foreign policy. The new international identity that viewed Islam as an asset was introduced by SBY, emphasizing the importance of moderate Islam as opposing extremism. The phenomenon of Islamic influence was not only the result of democratic consolidation domestically but also external factors such as the aftermath of 9/11 that portrayed Muslims as potential terrorists. For this reason, Indonesian foreign policy attempted to diminish such misconceptions and tried to be a peacemaker or a mediator in Muslim-related issues globally. To contextualize the analysis, the study focuses on the influence of Islam in Indonesian foreign policy towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Pakistan. The mutual aspirations on the Palestinian statehood shared by both the government and the Muslim elements in society could be found, while religious sentiments were noticeable, as shown by the Muslim groups. In contrast, the influence of Islam in Indonesia-Pakistan relations, especially regarding the Kashmir dispute, was absent due to the difference in views of the government and the Muslim groups and constraining factors, including Indonesia’s national interest priority.