Following the car bombing of the Ahmad Al-Badawi Mosque — a Sufi mosque that contains the shrine of Al-Sayyid Al-Badawi, founder of the Badawiyyah Sufi order — on Oct. 14, 2014, sheikhs of the Sufi order issued statements accusing the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist movements of carrying out the operation. They vowed that they would even the scores in the next parliamentary elections, as the Sufi orders, for the first time, would toss their hat in the ring, in coordination with other political forces. So would the Sufi order be a more moderate religious alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists in power?

Sufis and the Muslim Brotherhood might share common ground in regard to the principle of absolute obedience to the commander; the Muslim Brotherhood strictly obeys the group’s general guide, and Sufis follow the command of the sheikh of the Sufi order. In this context, Ahmed Ban, a researcher in Islamic movements, told Al-Monitor, “There is a disparity in views between Sufis as to the ideas on obedience. While some believe that the sheikh of the order should be fully obeyed, others believe that their relationship with him is more spiritual, aiming at enhancing and improving their behaviors.”

For his part, Sheikh Alaa Abu al-Azayem, a sheikh of the Azamiya Sufi Order, said in an interview with Al-Monitor, “Sufis are not a religious group like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist group. Sufism is a way of life dedicated to enhancing the behavior of the people belonging to it. Sufis believe that the sheikh of the order may err and thus they are not obliged to obey him blindly.”

Sufis, the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists believe in the return of the caliphate or the Islamic state. According to the book “Al-Jafr,” which is one of the most famous mystical books by Sufi Sheikh Mohammed Abu al-Azayem, the Islamic Caliphate will be reinstated but adapted to the current time.