Delving into the history of political Islam in the colonial period, this book shows how the idea of modernity, intense interaction, contestation and engagement between Islamist forces and the emerging democratic voices in the region have contributed to the recent Arab uprising. While investigating the role of religion in shaping the unfolding political situation in the Arab world it also discusses the future of political Islam. This is an ethnographic study encompassing the contestation between political Islam and the secular polity of the past and present, as well as the reconciliation between post-Arab spring politics and new Islamist forces in the region.