The Transcendental and the Political: The Secular Dilemma in the Narratives of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Members

Is an Islamic modern polity attainable? How is it perceived, and how is it possible to accommodate a transcendental reference within modern political structures? Where is the line between the political and the religious to be drawn? This article examines these puzzles through the narratives of 48 members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. With reference to a growing literature on the notion of secularism and post-Islamism, the article examines two critical issues that are at the heart of the debate over the secularization of Islamists: (1) the stance towards the limits of the state’s legal intervention in the personal sphere, and (2) the notion of popular sovereignty and the transcendental reference of the state. By shifting attention from movement ideologues to grassroots actors, the article shows how “post-Islamist” adaptation can reflect an internally reasoned negotiation of sovereignty, morality, and authority rather than a retreat of religion from public life. It also examines that participants’ political reasoning functions not merely as an internalization of Islamic imperatives, but as a critical engagement with the limits of modern secular-democratic governance itself.