Popular protests continue to roil the Middle East, spreading from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain and Libya and elsewhere. Speculation is rife about what could come next, but also about the role Islam could play in reconfigured Arab countries — and what role religion is playing in sparking the current revolts.

In the Egyptian situation, much of the discussion about the influence of religion focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood, an important religious and political group based on the belief that Islam is not simply a religion, but a way of life.

But in other Arab nations the role of religion as a liberating force also raises questions about the political future of the Middle East, and about the stability of one of the world’s most contentious trouble spots. What does secularism mean in cultures where religion is so intertwined with daily life?

Some observers say it is a mistake to try to fit contemporary events in these Arab and Muslim countries into a Western historical framework.

Others believe that the popular revolutions in these largely Islamic societies can provide insights into American views of Islam because of the way Americans react to the events.

One school of thought in the United States fears the rise of populist Islam, which is seen as a threat to U.S. interests and to Israel. Others believe that the emergence of genuinely democratic societies in the Middle East, even if heavily influenced by Islamic religious principles, is in the long-term interests of the United States and of human rights.

This edition of ReligionLink provides resources for journalists covering the ongoing developments in the Middle East.

Articles and resources

• The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has a new report, “The Future of the Global Muslim Population,” providing estimates of the number of Muslims around the world today and projecting the growth of the Muslim population to 2030. The survey’s website includes interactive maps and data tables, and a section on Muslims in the Middle East that includes details on Egypt and other countries.
• A 2010 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project found that a majority of Egyptian Muslims said that democracy was preferable to any other kind of government. An overwhelming majority also viewed Islam’s influence in politics as positive.
• A 2009 Pew Forum report on restrictions on religion around the world found that Egypt is among the countries with the highest government restrictions on religion.
• Read “Concern about Islamists masks wide differences among them,” a Feb. 4 report by Reuters reporter Tom Heneghan.
• Read “5 Reasons the Muslim Brotherhood Won’t Turn On Israel,” a Feb. 3 column at ReligionDispatches.org by Haroon Moghul.
• “Egypt’s Bumbling Brotherhood” is a Feb. 2 op-ed in The New York Times by Scott Atran, author of Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood and the (Un)making of Terrorists. Atran argues that the Muslim Brotherhood is largely ineffectual.
• “Can the Arab revolt learn from Turkish model?” is a Feb. 2 analysis from a Reuters correspondent in Turkey.
• “Coptic Pope Backs Mubarak; Other Christians Speak Out,” is a Feb. 2 story from EthicsDaily.com.
• “Copts say Egypt regime change trumps Islamist fears,” is a Feb. 1 story from Reuters.
• Read a Jan. 31 analysis, “Unrest in Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood,” by Jonathan Wright, a former Reuters correspondent in the Middle East who currently lives in Cairo.
• “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood mutes its religious message for protests” is a Jan. 31 story from Cairo in the Los Angeles Times.
• Read “What Does Change Mean in Egypt, for Egyptian Christians?” at EthicsDaily.com, a Jan. 31 column by Ayman Ibrahim, an Egyptian Christian and a doctoral student at Fuller Theological Seminary.
• Read “Egypt’s churches turn to prayer,” a Jan. 30 blog item at Christianity Today detailing reactions to the unrest by Egypt’s embattled Christian minority.
• Read “The wrong friends: The uncomfortable lesson of the uprisings in the Middle East,” a Jan. 30 column in The Boston Globe by political scientist David Mednicoff, arguing that religious-based governments in the Middle East may be more stable and reliable than secular governments.
• Read “Do Egyptians want both democracy and a role for religion in their government?,” a Jan. 30 essay at “On Faith” by Reza Aslan, a widely cited scholar of religions.
• A Jan. 29 post at USA Today‘s ”Faith & Reason” blog rounds up articles on the religious import of the Egyptian situation in a post titled “Mubarak or Muslim Brotherhood not Egypt’s only choice: Experts.”
• “What is the Muslim Brotherhood?” is a Jan. 28 background article on the Islamic organization by CNN.com.
• Read a Jan. 28 essay, “Don’t Fear Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood,” by Bruce Riedel, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution.
• “With Muslim Brotherhood Set to Join Egypt Protests, Religion’s Role May Grow” is a Jan. 27 story in The New York Times.
• Read coverage at The Washington Post‘s “On Faith” blog, titled “Egypt uprising; the Muslim Brotherhood a ‘wildcard.’”

ReligionLink editions on Islam

• Covering Islam 101: The basics — Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they know little or nothing about Islam’s practices. And what they know is sometimes wrong. Meanwhile, 32 percent of Americans say the media are the biggest influence on their perception of Muslims. This edition of ReligionLink is a journalist’s guide to covering Muslims and Islam in America. It is a complement to a Religion Newswriters webinar presented on March 11, 2008.
• Understanding Islam: From Sunnis to Shiites and beyond — Muslims tend to avoid terms like denominations or sects to describe the different streams of tradition. All Muslims are one, they note, and share the same basic beliefs and rituals. But there are different schools of thought within Islam, denoted by historical and legal differences — differences that can lead to serious divisions.
• Muslims and civil rights: A continuing debate – President Barack Obama’s June 4, 2009, address to the Muslim world served as a fresh reminder of the tensions between civil rights and national security that have played out in the U.S. and abroad since 9/11. The speech was welcomed by the Muslim community, which remains deeply concerned about attacks against Muslims.
• Islam: A guide to U.S. experts and organizations — This ReligionLink guide includes more than 100 experts who specialize in such areas as civil rights, politics, foreign affairs, art, culture, history, law, family issues and more. It also includes Muslim advocacy organizations, research centers and think tanks.
• Covering Islam and politics — Muslims’ engagement with government and politics is becoming more prominent in the United States and abroad on issues ranging from immigration and terrorism to charities and civil rights. This guide lists research centers, organizations and scholars with expertise on the growing role of Muslims’ interactions with government and politics.
• Mapping Muslim assimilation: Islam’s growing social infrastructure — Like Jews, Catholics and other immigrant groups before them, Muslims are building a social infrastructure in America that includes houses of worship, schools, health clinics, banks, charities and more. Muslims’ social and religious needs are diverse —  and that diversity is reflected in the network of mosques and related social services centers they are creating.