Everything about Islamic Fundamentalism totally explained
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the
Quran and the
Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. It is deemed problematic by those who suggest Islamic belief requires all Muslims to be fundamentalists, and by others as a term used by outsiders to describe perceived trends within Islam.
One of its most defining features is the "reopening" of the gates of
Ijtihad. This distinguishes it as distinct from (but sometimes overlapping with)
Islamism, which is the term for a political ideology of Islam, but which may use one of the four preexisting schools of the
Shari'ah. Exemplary figures of Islamic fundamentalism who are also termed
Islamists are
Sayyid Qutb and
Abul Ala Mawdudi.
Definitions
The definition offered by American historian Ira Lapedis distinguishes between mainstream Islamists and Fundamentalists. Although a fundamentalist may also be an Islamist, a Fundamentalist is "a political individual" in search of a "more original Islam," while the Islamist is pursuing a political agenda. He notes that Islamic fundamentalism "is at best only an umbrella designation for a very wide variety of movements, some intolerant and exclusivist, some pluralistic; some favourable to science, some anti-scientific; some primarily devotional and some primarily political; some democratic, some authoritarian; some pacific, some violent."
Author
Olivier Roy distinguishes between fundamentalists (or neo-fundamentalists) and Islamists in describing fundamentalists as more passionate in their opposition to the perceived "corrupting influence of Western culture," avoiding Western dress, "neckties, laughter, the use of Western forms of salutation, handshakes, applause." While Islamists like
"Maududi didn't hesitate to attend Hindu ceremonies. Khomeini never proposed the status of dhimmi (protected) for Iranian Christians or Jews, as provided for in the sharia: the Armenians in Iran have remained Iranian citizens, are required to perform military service and to pay the same taxes as Muslims, and have the right to vote (with separate electoral colleges). Similarly, the Afghan Jamaat, in its statutes, has declared it legal in the eyes of Islam to employ non-Muslims as experts."
Other distinctions are in
- Politics and economics. Islamists often talk of "revolution" and believe "that the society will be Islamised only through social and political action: it's necessary to leave the mosque ..." Fundamentalists are uninterested in revolution, less interested in "modernity or by Western models in politics or economics," and less willing to associate with non-Muslims.
- Sharia. While both Islamists and fundamentalists are committed to implementing Sharia law, Islamists "tend to consider it more a project than a corpus."
- Issue of women. "Islamist generally tend to favour the education of women and their participation in social and political life: the Islamist woman militates, studies, and has the right to work, but in a chador. Islamist groups include women's associations." While the fundamentalist preaches for women to return to the home, Islamism believes it's sufficient that "the sexes be separated in public."
Graham Fuller describes it not as distinct from Islamism but as subset, "the most conservative element among Islamist." Its "strictest form" includes "Wahhabism, sometimes also referred to as salafiyya. ... For fundamentalists the law is the most essential component of Islam, leading to an overwhelming emphasis upon jurisprudence, usually narrowly conceived."
Interpretation of texts
Muslims believe that the
Qur'an is the unadulterated word of
God as revealed to
Muhammad through the angel Jibril (Archangel
Gabriel).
Islamic fundamentalists, or at least "reformist" fundamentalists, believe Islam is based on the Qur'an,
Hadith and
Sunnah and "criticises the tradition, the commentaries, popular religious practices (
maraboutism, the cult of saints), deviations, and superstitions. It aims to return to the founding texts." Examples of this tendency are the 18th century
Shah Waliullah in India and
Abd al-Wahhab in the Arabian Peninsula.
This view is commonly associated with
Salafism today.
Social and political goals
As with adherents of other
fundamentalist movements,
Islamic fundamentalists hold that the problems of the world stem from
secular influences. Further, the path to peace and
justice lies in a return to the original message of Islam, combined with a scrupulous rejection of all
Bid'ah ("religious innovation") and perceived anti-Islamic traditions.
Some scholars of Islam, such as
Bassam Tibi, believe that, contrary to their own message, Islamic fundamentalists are not actually traditionalists. He points to
fatwahs issued by fundamentalists such as “every Muslim who pleads for the suspension of the shari‘a is an apostate and can be killed. The killing of those apostates can't be prosecuted under Islamic law because this killing is justified” as going beyond, and unsupported by, the
Qur’an. Tibi asserts; “The command to slay reasoning Muslims is un-Islamic, an invention of Islamic fundamentalists”.
Conflicts with the secular state
Islamic fundamentalism's push for
Sharia and an
Islamic State has come into conflict with conceptions of the
secular,
democratic state, such as the internationally supported
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among human rights disputed by fundamentalist Muslims are:
freedom from religious police
the equality between men and women.
the separation of religion and state;
Freedom of religion. Muslims who leave Islam, or criticise it, "should be executed" while the right of non-Muslims to convert to Islam is celebrated.
As a result of this sharp conflict, some say that fundamentalist Islam is incompatible with modern liberal democratic states.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Islamic Fundamentalism'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://islamic_fundamentalism.totallyexplained.com">Islamic fundamentalism Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
