Islamism

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<!-- [[Daniel Pipes]], American historian and controversial expert on "[[Middle East]]" politics and Islam believes that Islamism and Islamic Fundimentalism is a reaction to Muslim disappointment that they are no longer dominant.  Pipes states "Islamism turns the bits and pieces within Islam that deal with politics, economics, and military affairs into a sustained and systematic program." He claims Islamism is a direct reaction to the tensions of Western society.<ref>These "tensions" are not limited to Islam, but exist throughout the world.  They include issues of access to massive amounts of information, shifting from small intimate family and social groups to large disconnected societies, extremes in access to wealth, demands for equality and reactions to those demands by "traditional" society, etc.</ref>.  One example he gives is western style law making, impacting what were traditionally personal religious laws.  For example, prior to "Islamism", a Christian could not only drink alcohol, but could also open a liquor store for other Christians.  The law against alcohol only applied to Muslims.  Today, however, it has become a state crime in many Islamist States, to buy or sell alcohol. He also demonstrates that, contrary to popular opinion, Islamism is not a response to poverty - there are Islamists in every socio-economic level. -->
 
<!-- [[Daniel Pipes]], American historian and controversial expert on "[[Middle East]]" politics and Islam believes that Islamism and Islamic Fundimentalism is a reaction to Muslim disappointment that they are no longer dominant.  Pipes states "Islamism turns the bits and pieces within Islam that deal with politics, economics, and military affairs into a sustained and systematic program." He claims Islamism is a direct reaction to the tensions of Western society.<ref>These "tensions" are not limited to Islam, but exist throughout the world.  They include issues of access to massive amounts of information, shifting from small intimate family and social groups to large disconnected societies, extremes in access to wealth, demands for equality and reactions to those demands by "traditional" society, etc.</ref>.  One example he gives is western style law making, impacting what were traditionally personal religious laws.  For example, prior to "Islamism", a Christian could not only drink alcohol, but could also open a liquor store for other Christians.  The law against alcohol only applied to Muslims.  Today, however, it has become a state crime in many Islamist States, to buy or sell alcohol. He also demonstrates that, contrary to popular opinion, Islamism is not a response to poverty - there are Islamists in every socio-economic level. -->
  
Islamists view themselves as under assault by [[Western world| Western]] social, political, and cultural influences. Debates can range from women wearing bluejeans and lipstick<ref>A Taliban leader remarking on the $500 shoes Michelle Obama wore on Inauguration Day, claimed Muslims protect women at home "like a precious pearl" whereas President Obama was pimping his wife to sell shoes.</ref> to the use of [[MSG]] in processed foods. There are several currents within the Islamist movement, most notably a re-born form of [[Salafism]] composed of three strains of thought: Islamic purists, so-called "politicos", and the violent [[jihad]]i movement.
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Islamists view themselves as under assault by [[Western world| Western]] social, political, and cultural influences. Debates can range from women wearing bluejeans and lipstick<ref>A Taliban leader remarking on the $500 shoes Michelle Obama wore on Inauguration Day claimed Muslims protect women at home "like a precious pearl" whereas President Obama was pimping his wife to sell shoes.</ref> to the use of [[MSG]] in processed foods. There are several currents within the Islamist movement, most notably a re-born form of [[Salafism]] composed of three strains of thought: Islamic purists, so-called "politicos", and the violent [[jihad]]i movement.
  
 
==Fundamentalism vs Authoritarianism vs Islamism==
 
==Fundamentalism vs Authoritarianism vs Islamism==

Revision as of 19:02, 8 November 2014

One of many articles on

Islam

Icon islam.svg
Topics of interest
Muslims are not socialist nor capitalist; they are Muslims.
— Quote from the Muslim Brotherhood[1]

Islamism is a set of ideologies rooted in the concept of Islam as a political system as well as a religion; in short, that government should be based around Islamic teachings. The term first appeared in French in the mid-eighteenth century, as a name for Islam, rather than in its modern political sense.[2] The term itself is controversial, as it is not a term used by adherents of Islam or Islamism, but applied without convention (and without accepted definition) to various social-political groups within Islam. Almost universally, Islamists are Islamic Fundamentalists - the reverse is not necessary the case.

The term is used by the media and many western governments to apply specifically to individuals and groups who advocated for violence, especially on civilians (re: terrorists), in their version of an Islamic world.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban are two of the more famous Islamist groups.

Contents

Cause of the rise of Islamism

Islamists view themselves as under assault by Western social, political, and cultural influences. Debates can range from women wearing bluejeans and lipstick[3] to the use of MSG in processed foods. There are several currents within the Islamist movement, most notably a re-born form of Salafism composed of three strains of thought: Islamic purists, so-called "politicos", and the violent jihadi movement.

Fundamentalism vs Authoritarianism vs Islamism

Fundamentalism seeks religious purity. Authoritarianism seeks control over people. To some extent, Islamism is the combination of both, because it seeks to legislate religious purity.

Islamism vs Extremism/Jihadism

Writer Reza Aslan draws a distinction between Islamism and Jihadism: "By the end of the millennium, Islamism and Jihadism, once cousins, had effectively split into two opposing, rival movements... Islamism remains a nationalist ideology, whereas most Jihadists want to erase all borders, to eradicate all nationalities, and to return to an idealized past of religious communalism".[4]

See also

Footnotes

  1. Distinguishing between Islam and Islamism
  2. Coming to Terms: Fundamentalists or Islamists?
  3. A Taliban leader remarking on the $500 shoes Michelle Obama wore on Inauguration Day claimed Muslims protect women at home "like a precious pearl" whereas President Obama was pimping his wife to sell shoes.
  4. Reza Aslan, How to Win a Cosmic War, p.29
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