In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC Professor John Esposito — one of the world’s foremost scholars on political Islam — unpacks 120 years of modern Islamic movements.

From Afghani and Abdu’s 19th-century reformist vision, through Hassan al-Banna and Maududi’s activism, to Sayyid Qutb’s radical turn, we trace the intellectual and political forces that shaped the Muslim world.

We explore the Iranian Revolution, the Afghan war, democratic Islamists, authoritarian crackdowns, and how the West’s perceptions of Islamism were forged. This is a masterclass in the history, ideas, and global impact of political Islam.

UNAPOLOGETIC is hosted by Ashfaaq Carim

Chapters

0:00 – Intro & episode setup

2:33 – Esposito’s unlikely journey

5:41 – Immersion in Muslim scholarship

10:14 – Plan: 120 years’ history

12:14 – Afghani & Abdu’s vision 15:45 – Islam as civilization & faith

18:09 – Abdu’s modernist reform ideas 22:02 – Anti-colonial political Islam roots

23:54 – Al-Banna & Maududi emerge

26:44 – Movements spread transnationally

30:58 – Ideas spread without media

33:15 – Critique of elites & clerics

38:58 – Sayyid Qutb’s radical turn

43:39 – America through Qutb’s eyes

47:14 – Nasser’s crackdown & prisons

50:33 – Cross-pollination of movements

52:47 – Iranian revolution reshapes politics

55:03 – Authoritarianism fuels radicalisation

57:12 – Gradualists vs violent factions

1:04:05 – Revolution’s impact on perceptions

1:09:58 – Shah, hostage crisis, US errors

1:18:22 – Afghan jihad to al-Qaeda

1:27:05 – Democratic Islamists in power

1:35:48 – Post-Cold War Islamism shifts

1:40:19 – 9/11 & war on terror

1:49:15 – Arab Spring & Brotherhood

1:53:32 – Egypt’s coup & repression

2:02:08 – Islamism, democracy & inclusion

2:07:39 – Misrepresentation in Western discourse