From a comparative perspective on the authoritarian states in the Middle East and North Africa, Islamist movements differ tremendously with respect to their relationship with regimes. While relations are largely characterized by contentious politics, three distinct strategies can be identified through which authoritarian elites respond to Islamists' claim for political participation: (1) integration of Islamists in political regimes as part of ruling coalitions; (2) partial inclusion of Islamists by accommodation in political institutions or power-sharing arrangements; (3) exclusion of Islamists from political institutions, accompanied by high degrees of coercion towards their demand for political outreach. Thus, according to the form of (contentious) relationship with regimes, Islamists in the political arena perform (1) governance, (2) opposition, or (3) resistance. The paper applies this framework--supported by explanatory evidence from a comparative perspective at Islamist movements in the MENA--to understand political action of Hamas in the contemporary political context. My hypothesis is that Hamas is a unique example of an Islamist movement that has incorporated all three forms of interaction concurrently. Hamas has emerged as an opposition movement towards the PLO-controlled proxy-authoritarian regime of the Palestinian National Authority, as a resistance group towards continued Israeli occupation, and--since the parliamentary elections of January 2006--as a political force executing governance. The paper will account for the dynamics of Hamas' contentious relations and, to this aim, take into account domestic and international factors. Another hypothesis is that the prominence of engagement of Hamas in any of the above mentioned forms of contentious relations ultimately depends on one another. It seems, for instance, that a 'zero-sum game' of political contention can be identified in Hamas' relations with various opponents: The more Hamas emerges in its opposition towards PLO, the less pronounced becomes its resistance activities towards Israeli occupation, and vice versa. In order to test these hypotheses, a qualitative analysis of the emergence of Hamas since its inception in 1987 will be based on existing academic sources as well as on the profound discussion of indicators accounting, over time, for the strength of opposition politics (election results) vs. militant struggle of resistance (number of militant attacks carried out against Israeli military forces and civilians). While the analysis provides insights into the constraints and opportunities of political activism of Hamas, the movement will--as a unique case--provide challenging insights for a more profound understanding of Islamist-regime relations in Middle Eastern politics at large.