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Source: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-1.834503
Understanding the Islamic Salafis
(Ha'aretz) Zvi Bar'el - The ultraconservative Salafis are divided into three factions, one that strives to live as Islam's founding fathers did. This faction shuns political or military activity and condemns religious leaders who do otherwise. This is the root of the theological rivalry between the purist Salafi stream and political-Islam movements like the Muslim Brotherhood and their descendants like Hamas. The second faction recognizes the power of politics to push for a sharia state. This faction set up Salafi parties that cooperate with the Egyptians in their fight against the Muslim Brotherhood. The third faction, called Salafia Jihadia, refuses to take part in the politics of the existing Arab regimes, which it intends to topple. Some of its members joined the Islamic State, some joined al-Qaeda, and others are acting independently.