In his lecture, Professor Skovgaard-Petersen will argue that the Arab revolutions, the establishment of the Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt and its electoral victory in 2012 marked the pinnacle of Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s influence over the Islamist movement, but also the limits of his political horizon and personal trajectory: a dedicated enemy of despotism, al-Qaradawi had less to offer in terms of constructive advice to Islamists at the moment when they reached power. Nevertheless, his wasatiyya position, and his more recent projects of developing a contemporary fiqh of the state, citizenship and even revolution may well be lasting contributions to contemporary Islamic political and legal thinking.