For decades the main political rival to the Jordanian regime was, and remains to some extent, the Islamist movement represented by the Muslim Brotherhood. The role of the Brotherhood as a major opponent has been amplified in the past two years after the eruption of the Arab Spring.

Defined as a moderate Islamist social organization whose aim is to reform society gradually through peaceful means, the Brotherhood has managed to coexist with the Hashemite regime in Jordan, which provided their members with a safe haven during the tumultuous years of the 1950s and ‘60s.

But now a relative newcomer to the scene is beginning to flex its muscles. It is the Salafist movement, which has evolved over the past few decades, since the mid-1980s, from a docile and reformist Sunni group calling for strict interpretation of the Quran and rejection of modern innovations that corrupt pure Islamic thought, into a more radicalized form, commonly known as Salafist jihadists, with absolute commitment to holy war, especially against the United States, Zionism and infidel regimes.

The conservative reformist group, which has traditionally accepted the authority of the state, still exists but has been overtaken by the more radical offshoot.