ISLAMISM AS RELIGIOUS
FUNDAMENTALISM
Islamism/jihadism
is religious term used by Muslims from the time of Prophet Muhammad to signify
an obligation of a believer to struggle. Jihad commonly referred to as a holy
war is a quranic word that has always explained the duty for Muslim struggle
either spiritually or physically in the determination towards the will of Allah[i].
Key Muslim scholars have always argued jihadism as an obligation by Muslims to
fight for Allah and against Muslim oppression by use of the sword or the
ultimate sacrificing of a believer towards a Muslim struggle in an act called mujahedeen.
The word jihad originates from the Quran with 41 appearances stressing on the
crucial practices that a Muslim believer is called to accomplish in this world.
The term can be used to wage a war against non believers in a measure for
religious expansion as well as territorial defense of a Muslim empire. It
unites all Muslims in an obligation to struggle in deep oneself to build a good
society by fostering peace and calling against secularism, external influences
and the conservation of the Islamic culture. In the quranic hadiths sahih
Muslim claimed that Islam is peace and it calls for all Muslims to fight for
peace and attain submission to Allah[ii],
he referred jihadism as a collective responsibility and insisted on its
validity to solve religious problems, to instill the knowledge of the law while
appraising good and shunning bad in the society.
The society has generally had the deep meaning
of jihad signifying the presence of a lesser and greater jihad, generally
signifying the non violent and violent respectively. It’s highly controversial
where Muslims are called to unite and by the sword fight against non believers,
sacrificing one’s life for Allah. It’s assumed a noble duty towards god that
comes with a reward as a divine duty towards the true worship of god[iii].[iv] It
has variably been defined as a measure to attain peace, a living principle in
Islam, the struggle to achieve the requirements of Islam and the struggle to
achieve one goal in life. Religious fundamentalism has seen backing from
religious teachings and observed in most third world countries in the recent. The
hard-line interpretation of Islamic religious teachings and economic challenges
in the present world are a major contribution to the isalmic religious
fundamentalism.
The world of today is in the wake of
dealings pertaining terrorism. Acts of violence coupled with political values
aggravated with hard-line religious faiths have emerged a key disquiet in
today’s world. This paper therefore assesses the impacts of religious
fundamentalism in Islam on the social and economic setup of any given country.
This explains the loss of lives, loss of confidence among the citizens of a
country as well as the tumbling of tourism industry in the respective
countries.[v] Terrorism has claimed several lives
since 1960s in the first crusade in the spread of Islam through jihad. The vice
has evolved over the years from tiny militant groups to strong, stable and
government backed organizations which have aggravated the influence and power
of terrorism. Modern day terrorism has spread to Middle East, America and
therefore today it has become a great threat to all nations of the world[vi]
The stagnation of economies such as
in Somalia as a result of declining consumer and investor confidence owing to
security concerns has also been as a result of Islamic fundamentalism. In effect,
this has depressed several economies’ ability to create employment as well as
keep a favorable [vii]balance
of payments and stable productivity also.
This creates the need for destabilizing political structures which
create a haven for terrorism expansion which are a threat to mankind.
Tourism
has borne the worst brunt of the modern day terrorism. Mill and Morrison refer to Maslow’s classical needs theory and
note that safety and security are second only to physiological needs[viii].
Consequently, the lack of these aspects has been a blow to tourism which has
been among the biggest sectors in the economies of many developing countries.
In effect their economies have suffered due to travel advisories issued against
them from other countries.
The
Islamic leadership can be traced from the times of Prophet Muhammad. After Muhammad’s
death the decision on who to succeed the prophet arose and this lead to
killings that brought the division of Sunni and Shia Islam. Shia believed that
a successor should be ordained as a measure to refrain from politics while the Sunni
believed that a successor should originate from ordained infallible twelve Shia imams[ix].
Islam is generally divided into Shia, Sunni and Sufism.
The
history of jihad traces from the times of Muhammad. He put it that a jihad was
a tool to combat non believers and bring them to submission as an obligation to
Allah. Muhammad brought jihad as a religious obligation to Muslims as a way to
expand religious and territorial boundaries a key tool in the first and the
second crusade in the spread of Islam to the non believers. Fundamentalists
have argued that it’s the only permissible warfare under Islamic law and
therefore must be embraced by all Muslims as a religious duty. Jihad can trace
its roots from the Islamic conquests during the Islamic expansion under
Muhammad, Rashid caliphate and the Umayyad caliphate. After the death of
Prophet Muhammad in 632 caliph umar launched battle conquests against byzantine
and the Sassanian empire in the yarmuk battle and forced the empire to withdraw
from Syria. This conquest was followed by the conquest against Alexandria the
then Egyptian capital. After conquering the land of Egypt with minimal
resistance they expanded conquering Iran and central Asia[x]. Those were the great conquests in the history
of Islam signifying jihad in action during the spread of Islam under the
command of caliph. In the spirit of jihad, in 928 Hassan al-banna founded the Muslim
brotherhood in the land of Egypt in a journey to start a foundation for the
establishment of a caliphate. The brotherhood formed on [xi]fundamentals
against secularism and westernization was a conservist in spirit to the stern
interpretation of the Quran. Similarly wahhabism is an Islamic religious
movement of the Sunni Islam that advocates for fundamentalism and the original
teachings of the Quran as is. The wahhabism originated from Saudi Arabia in the
18th century by theologian Muhammad ibn abd al-wahhab. Wahhab formed wahabbism by convincing Amir Uthman
ibn muammar to support him in the struggle for wahhabism[xii].
In the kingdom of Saudi Arabia wahhabism emerged as strong with enormous
support in the Arabian Peninsula through the financial support by Muhammad ibn Saud
and Muhammad ibn abd al-wahhab. Muhammad ibn abd al-wahhab influenced by hadith
teachings and the works of ibn tayymiya declared the philosophical
interpretations of ashari and maturidi schools claiming to rely on Quran and
hadith teachings lacking speculative philosophy to act within salaf. He
advocated against the Arabs and Muslim world embracing modernization, a decline
in the moral values and the widespread idolatry in the Arab peninsula. He was
against the declining obligation of Muslims to sainthood, shrine and tomb
visitation. Whabbism was adopted by the Ottoman Empire and was used as a basis
for Islamic conquests.
The
jihad movement in Islam has seen the brotherhood issue fatwa’s to kill all
united states of America citizens in Iraq and the ultimate 911 bombings in new
York by Osama bin laden the founder of al-Qaida only to mention but a few.
Consequently the Muslim brotherhood brought a consistent attacks and killings
against the supporters of President Mubarak and voted Mohammed morsi in, morsi
was later ousted under deadly clashes between the opposing supporters[xiii].
The
religion of Islam can primarily be attributed to fundamentalism as can be seen
from the verses ion the Quran. The desire of Islam to conquer the world in the
philosophy of submission is a threat to all other religions or the Islamic non
believers who are not ready to submit to Allah. Taking the quranic verses in
depth prophet Muhammad teaching s can be portrayed as those of hate to those
who don’t believe in Islam and hardcore to instill such virtues to his
followers, the teachings of non tolerance to others and lack of diplomacy
portrays Muhammad teachings as strict and that they are to be followed as is
the will of god and brings the impression of a forced submission as opposed to
the free will of a human being to the will of Allah[xiv].
The Quran lack of mercy to non believers does not only serve as a teaching to
Muslims to hate non believers but a calling to eradicate the presence of non
believers in the world by use of sword, sacrificing oneself as a duty towards
the will of Allah. These teachings have all centered their theme on a world
that is all submit[xv]ting
to Allah however what type of weapons are or can be used but also the need for
every Muslim believer to take it as a religious obligation towards an all
submitting world. Blame it on the Quran, a believer is taught to follow the
Quran to the word and as portrayed by Muslim scholars they have argued against
innovations and modernization of Islam and advocated for a conservist form of
Islam that is original and none deviated. The world opinion against jihad has
served a motivating factor towards jihadism in the present day world. The
understanding of jihad as a holy war fills in the desire of every Muslim as a
way of religious and self defense and serves as a uniting factor for all Muslims
in the spread and the liberation of Islam from oppression. The contemporary
Islamism argues that the present day Islam is under attack and therefore it’s a
duty of every Muslim to protect the interests of Muslim as well as those of any
other Muslim who may suffer elsewhere. The religion of Islam can generally be
said of comprising fundamentalist hard-line teachings by calling on all Muslims
to fight the way of god to those who fight them and cause aggression to god not
for god does not love aggressors. The Quran puts it that during the Islamist
conquests that it was a Muslim obligation and those who die in such a holy war
are treated as martyrs and hold a special position in the heart of Allah and
hence Allah holds for them a great reward for them in heaven. For instance the,
Surah
9.5 says, “Then, when
the sacred months are drawn away, slay the idolaters wherever you find them,
and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of
ambush[xvi].”
This signifies how the Quran encourages fundamentalism by legalizing the sword as
a divine tool towards the will of Allah, however the Quran further states that
a jihad serves as the last option towards freedom from oppression.
Religious
fundamentalism can be found in all religions from Christianity, Jewish, Islam, Mormon,
Hindu and others[xvii];
it entails a conservist religious ideology mingled with an average political
interest and the hardcore interpretation of religious documents in hard-line
beliefs. The teachings of the madarasa for instance, as a young Muslim a child
is taught to believe that all other people who don’t submit to Allah are
infidels or kafirs and occupy no position in the kingdom of god[xviii].
Taking Muslims for instance the fundamentalism refers to the strict observation
of the Islamic fundamentals using religion as a basis by following the Quran to
the word. The Islamic fundamentalism has at its heart to instill the age of
prophet Muhammad back to life through political and religious movements and the
four guided caliphs on the pillars of pure Islam. The fundamentalism comes
primarily through political interests. After the world war one the united Arab
nations under their leader Gamel Abdel Nasser lost the fight against Israel, as
a result there was widespread dissatisfaction in the Arab world and they felt
that this was Islam under oppression and cultivated inborn notions towards
enmity and fundamentalism against the western nations and Ussr[xix].
The defeat of USSR in 1967 by the Arabs saw the Soviet Union leave Afghanistan
as losers and this instilled fundamentalism to the Arabs that they could
challenge America if they had challenged a super power. During the afghan
Russia war, the proceedings acted as a training ground to experienced Arab
guerillas who sought to create resistance by forming terrorist groups on return
to their countries. This at large converted most of the middle east to Islamic
fundamentalism as they referred to the presence of Russians and Americans as Satan[xx]
in the Arab world and it was their obligation unified by their religion to
eradicate them.
The Arab defeat of 1967 war between the Arabs
and the Americans saw the forceful occupation of the American embassy by the
Arabs in Tehran from November 4, 1979 to january21 1981, this instilled some
confidence in the Arabs that they were capable to resist and deter all the
actions fostered by the super powers, they believed they could wage a winning
war to the superpowers and win hence encouraging fundamentalism[xxi].
As a matter of politicks playing a major role to the ever
increasing Islamic fundamentalism the gulf crisis in the middle east of
11990-1991 saw the defeat of Iraqi an
agonizing endeavor in the hearts of Arabs. It left Arabs distressed and felt
painful with the inner desire to revenge against the westerners. The Arab
spirit was torn apart and the Arab Muslim world was devastated and concludes
that Islam was under attack, so this led to the rise of Islamism that sought
for independence of the Arab world. The defeat of Arabs by the Americans in the
gulf war brewed fundamentalist ideologies among the Muslims and this resulted
in mushrooming of terrorist groups that sought to revenge and seek popularity
in the Arab Muslim world in the post-gulf war period[xxii].
The further rivalry between the United States of America and the Soviet Union
saw the fundamentalist emerge as gainers with the defeat of Soviet Union. The
Arab spirit to defeat a superpower was raised and brewed Islamist
fundamentalists who are the greatest American enemies as of present.
Lastly
Islamic fundamentalism can be seen as partly aggravated by economic
challenges as witnessed in the e middle east and the country of Somalia as is currently
experiencing terrorists attacks. The fact that most Islamic countries are third
world countries comes with numerous challenges like lack of employment, low
education levels and the eminent high corruption levels in the developing
countries[xxiii].
As a result the youth become devastated and fall prey to terrorist
organizations who offer them a job for a living. The high corruption levels
make it hard for the normal citizens to access government utilities and
therefore high poverty levels emerge and since convincing a poor person is an
easy task the youth easily fall prey into these terrorists’ organizations.
With all these serious difficulties due to
Islamic fundamentalism, the ball therefore lies in our hands to dialogue and
resolve these challenges, even when the future looks unpredictable with the
ever improving warfare technologies. The first and the most effective measure
that can be used to end Islamic fundamentalism is the correct interpretation of
Islamic doctrines in a religious and not political ways. This can be achieved
by the fatwas issued by muslim scholars by way of acting within the theme of
peace and shunning the evil in the society by use of force and not diplomacy[xxiv].
The integration of islam and politics is a setback to all these efforts and therefore
the political setups should be rid of the point to point link with religion but
rather create an arena for religion and not politicize the Islamic religion
itself. Generally islamists claim that politics is a part and parcel of
governing, however with the developing world trying to accommodate all people
of vast doctrines this move curtails the rights of others and hence the interference with democracy.
Secondly the other
effective way to deal with the ultimate effects of Islamism would be a measure
to end terrorism. This would start from creating an enabling environment in
those countries so that the youths aren’t lured easily into religious
fundamentalism in a measure to serve political interests[xxv].
Youths would less easily fall prey as they have other means to generate income
and hence a reduction in the islamist fundamentalist groups
Thirdly freezing the
source of funding to the islamist groups that recruit the youth to fundamentalism
could be effective too[xxvi].
This would leave the terrorist groups with little influence and hence a
reduction in their Islamic radicalization to the target population. It’s
evident that most of those who become Islamic fundamentalists end up in
terrorist related acts like suicide bombings, generally they don’t do this for
free but rather they are given enough money to accept to sacrifice themselves,
freezing these funds could see less such occurrences and as a result less
people would be interested in the acts.
Lastly Islamism is an
act perpetrated by sheikhs and imams, usually these religious leaders have vast
influence in their audience and whatever their teachings are just the
reflection of what the audience does[xxvii].
Force is not diplomatic but becomes the last options when diplomacy fails,
therefore in my opinion bringing radical sheikhs and imams to the arms of the
law could serve a tool to end radicalization. As a result this will ride off
radical sheikhs who instill fundamentalism in their audience and hence a
reduction in radicalization levels. Information flow can be a crucial weapon
too to end Islamism through change of
perceptions even when short term solutions are crucial undertakings[xxviii].
In conclusion, peace is imperative to the existence of humans and indeed all
humankind deserves it.
Footnotes
[i][i]
Barr, James. Fundamentalism.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978.,19-26.
Khan, L Ali. A theory of international
terrorism : understanding Islamic militancy. Leiden ; Boston: Martinus
Nijhoff Publishers43, 2006, 321.
Taheri, Amir. Holy
terror : inside the world of Islamic terrorism. Bethesda: Md. : Adler &
Adle, 1987. 97,99.
[i]
Marcovitz, Hal. Religious fundamentalism.
San Diego: CA : ReferencePoint Press, Inc, 2010. 68-93.
Weinberg, Leonard, and
Ami Pedahzur. Religious fundamentalism and political extremism. London ;
Portland,: OR : Frank Cass, 2004. 33,34,35.
[i]
Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford
Logos,, 2002. 1121, 1156, 1306.
[i][i]
Herriot, Peter. Religious fundamentalism :
global, local and personal. London ; New York: Routledge, 2009.11-16.
[i][i]Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 23-50.
[i]
Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford
Logos,, 2002. 1132, 1133.
Fridell, Ron. Religious
fundamentalism. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009. 18.
Herriot, Peter. Religious
fundamentalism : global, local and personal. London ; New York: Routledge,
2009. 73,74, 79.
[i]
Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle
East, from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964.
9-23.
Fridell, Ron. Religious
fundamentalism. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009. 6-11.
Barr, James. Fundamentalism.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978. 401-486.
[i]
Barr, James. Fundamentalism.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978. 333.
[i]
Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford
Logos,, 2002. 965-1003.
[i][i]
Gowen, Herbert H. A history of religion,.
Milwaukee, Wis: Morehouse Pub. Co, 1934. 16-18.
[i]
Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle
East, from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964.
16-19.
Menzies, Allan. History
of religion; a sketch of primitive religious beliefs and practices, and of the
origin and character of the great systems,. New York: Scribner's Son, 1903.
22-28.
[i]
Barr, James. Fundamentalism.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978. 333.
[i]
Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle
East, from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 19.
Khan, L Ali. A
theory of international terrorism : understanding Islamic militancy. Leiden
; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers43, 2006. 43-46.
Barr, James. Fundamentalism.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978. 326.
[i]
Gowen, Herbert H. A history of religion,.
Milwaukee, Wis: Morehouse Pub. Co, 1934. 22.
Taheri,
Amir. Holy terror : inside the world of Islamic terrorism. Bethesda: Md.
: Adler & Adle, 1987.13.
References
Barr, James. Fundamentalism. Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1978.
Fridell, Ron. Religious
fundamentalism. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009.
Gohari, M J. The
Quran. Oxford: Oxford Logos,, 2002.
Gowen, Herbert H. A
history of religion,. Milwaukee, Wis: Morehouse Pub. Co, 1934.
Herriot, Peter. Religious
fundamentalism : global, local and personal. London ; New York: Routledge,
2009.
Khan, L Ali. A
theory of international terrorism : understanding Islamic militancy. Leiden
; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers43, 2006.
Kirk, George E. A
short history of the Middle East, from the rise of Islam to modern times,.
New York: Praege, 1964.
Marcovitz, Hal. Religious
fundamentalism. San Diego: CA : ReferencePoint Press, Inc, 2010.
Menzies, Allan. History
of religion; a sketch of primitive religious beliefs and practices, and of the
origin and character of the great systems,. New York: Scribner's Son, 1903.
Muṭahharī, Murtaz̤á,
and Hamid Algar. Fundamentals of Islamic thought : God, man, and the
universe. Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1985.
Taheri, Amir. Holy
terror : inside the world of Islamic terrorism. Bethesda: Md. : Adler &
Adle, 1987.
Weinberg, Leonard, and
Ami Pedahzur. Religious fundamentalism and political extremism. London ;
Portland,: OR : Frank Cass, 2004.
[i] Barr, James. Fundamentalism. Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1978. 333.
[ii] Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford Logos,,
2002. 965-1003.
[iii] Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 23-50.
[v]Marcovitz, Hal. Religious fundamentalism. San
Diego: CA : ReferencePoint Press, Inc, 2010. 68-93.
Weinberg, Leonard, and
Ami Pedahzur. Religious fundamentalism and political extremism. London ;
Portland,: OR : Frank Cass, 2004. 33,34,35.
[vi] Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 16-19.
[vii]Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 23-50.
[viii]
Menzies, Allan. History of religion; a sketch
of primitive religious beliefs and practices, and of the origin and character
of the great systems,. New York: Scribner's Son, 1903. 22-28.
[ix] Menzies, Allan. History of religion; a sketch of
primitive religious beliefs and practices, and of the origin and character of
the great systems,. New York: Scribner's Son, 1903. 22-28.
[x] Khan, L Ali. A theory of international terrorism :
understanding Islamic militancy. Leiden ; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers43, 2006, 321.
[xi] Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 9-23.
[xii] Gowen, Herbert H. A history of religion,.
Milwaukee, Wis: Morehouse Pub. Co, 1934. 16-18.
[xiii]
Herriot, Peter. Religious fundamentalism :
global, local and personal. London ; New York: Routledge, 2012. 73,74, 79.
[xiv] Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford Logos,,
2002. 1132, 1133.
[xv] Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford Logos,,
2002. 965-1003.
[xvi] Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford Logos,,
2002. 1121, 1156, 1306.
[xvii]
Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle
East, from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964.
23-50.
[xviii]
Gohari, M J. The Quran. Oxford: Oxford
Logos,, 2002. 1121, 1156, 1306.
[xix] Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 9-23.
[xx] Fridell, Ron. Religious fundamentalism. New
York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009. 6-11.
[xxi] Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle East,
from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 23-50.
[xxii]
Kirk, George E. A short history of the Middle
East, from the rise of Islam to modern times,. New York: Praege, 1964. 19.
[xxiii]
Taheri, Amir. Holy terror : inside the world
of Islamic terrorism. Bethesda: Md. : Adler & Adle, 1987. 97,99.
[xxiv]
Herriot, Peter. Religious fundamentalism :
global, local and personal. London ; New York: Routledge, 2009.11-16.
[xxv] Taheri, Amir. Holy terror : inside the world of
Islamic terrorism. Bethesda: Md. : Adler & Adle, 1987. 97,99.
[xxvi]
Khan, L Ali. A theory of international
terrorism : understanding Islamic militancy. Leiden ; Boston: Martinus
Nijhoff Publishers43, 2006, 321.
[xxvii]
Weinberg, Leonard, and Ami Pedahzur. Religious
fundamentalism and political extremism. London ; Portland,: OR : Frank
Cass, 2004. 33,34,35.
[xxviii]
Khan, L Ali. A theory of international
terrorism : understanding Islamic militancy. Leiden ; Boston: Martinus
Nijhoff Publishers43, 2006, 321.
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