Overview. In Muslim-majority Arab countries and elsewhere in the Muslim world, Islam makes its presence felt in political life and in the way that ordinary citizens think about politics. Accordingly, there is a substantial body of political science inquiry, some by the present author, devoted to the connections between Islam and politics. There is, however, a critical consideration pertaining to Islam and its political significance that has not received serious attention, most particularly at the individual level of analysis. This is the variance associated with the interpretation of Islam, with how the requirements and prescriptions of the religion are understood by ordinary citizens. The relevant dimension of Islamic interpretation is an illiberalism-liberalism continuum, ranging from very narrow, rigid, and conservative interpretations to interpretations that consider context, emphasize underlying intent, and are open to new understandings. Variance among ordinary citizens with respect to this important dimension of Islamic understanding parallels the differing interpretations advanced by prominent Muslim scholars, jurists, and public intellectuals. Accordingly, many Muslim men and women reside in a community that is buffeted by widely differing voices that claim to be authoritative and to speak for Islam. The proposed research will measure and assess the impact of illiberalism-liberalism in the interpretation of Islamic prescriptions on the attitudes and values of Arab publics pertaining to democracy and democratic governance and to gender equality. These will be the primary dependent variables in analyses that test hypotheses in which illiberalism-liberalism in the interpretation of Islamic prescriptions is either the primary independent variable or an important control or mediating variable. To gather data for these analyses, probability-based and nationally representative public opinion surveys will be conducted in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan. Intellectual Merit. A very important intellectual contribution of the proposed research will be a significant enrichment of our understanding of the role Islam plays in shaping the political and societal orientations of ordinary citizens who are Muslim and who reside in Muslim-majority societies, and most likely in other Muslim societies as well. This contribution is both conceptual and operational. A related and equally important contribution will be a fuller understanding of how and why ordinary citizens in Arab countries come to possess particular attitudes toward democracy and democratic governance and toward gender equality. Analyses that include measures of Islamic interpretation will provide both richer causal stories and proof of concept with respect to Islamic interpretation.