Is political power built on institutions or on the stories we choose to believe?

What is Islamism, and how do political narratives shape power in the Muslim world?

In this episode of Thinking Islam, Dr Fatemeh Sadeghi explores Islamism, political narratives, and how storytelling shapes political power and legitimacy. Drawing on both Islamic intellectual traditions and modern social theory, Dr Sadeghi examines how narratives do more than describe reality - they actively shape it. From early Islamic history, where hadith and sīra were used to legitimise authority, to contemporary movements such as Islamism and the far right, we uncover how political stories mobilise people through promises of justice, salvation, and belonging. We also examine the decline of Islamism as a compelling narrative, and the “melancholic condition” it has left behind in many Muslim societies—a space marked by disillusionment, yet still open to new possibilities. The conversation raises a profound question: if all political and even religious commitments are mediated through stories, what kinds of narratives are needed today to sustain hope, dignity, and meaningful collective life?

Dr Fatemeh Sadeghi is a sociologist and political theorist at the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity. Her research explores political imagination, gender, and the role of narrative in shaping social order and legitimacy, offering a powerful lens for understanding the moral and political crises of our time.

Audio Chapters:

00:00 - Highlights

01:20 - What is a Narrative?

03:05 - Political Narrative: Stories That Shape Power

06:39 - Two Kinds of Narratives

13:19 - Good vs Evil: ‘Us and Them’

17:17 - Isn’t the Quran doing the same thing?

23:00 - Nostalgia as a Response to Colonialism

30:00 - Can some Narratives Cause more ‘Legitimacy’?

36:10 - Living Through a ‘Melancholic’ Moment

40:25 - Islamism Moved from Theology to Power

43:24 - What Comes After Islamism as a New Narrative?

48:30 - Who Creates Narratives when Knowledge is Democratised?

56:30 - New ‘Islam’ narratives are still grounded in Morality

01:00:50 - Thinking Islam Question