Islamism sidebar

Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is conceived as a revival or a return to authentic Islamic practice in its totality.

Ideologies dubbed Islamist may advocate a " revolutionary" strategy of Islamizing society through exercise of state power, or alternately a "reformist" strategy to re-Islamizing society through grassroots social and political activism. Roy, ''Failure of Political Islam'', 1994: p. 24 Islamists may emphasize the implementation of sharia, pan-Islamic political unity, the creation of Islamic states, or the outright removal of non-Muslim influences; particularly of Western or universal economic, military, political, social, or cultural nature in the Muslim world; that they believe to be incompatible with Islam and a form of Western neocolonialism. Some analysts such as Graham E. Fuller describe it as a form of identity politics, involving "support for uslimidentity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, ndrevitalization of the community."

The term itself is not popular among many Islamists who believe it inherently implies violent tactics, human rights violations, and political extremism when used by Western mass media. Some authors prefer the term "Islamic activism", while Islamist political figures such as Rached Ghannouchi use the term "Islamic movement" rather than Islamism.

Central and prominent figures in 20th-century Islamism include Sayyid Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Abul A'la Maududi, Hasan al-Turabi, and Ruhollah Khomeini. Many Islamist movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have been willing to pursue their ends by peaceful political processes, rather than revolutionary means.Hamid, Shadi (October 1, 2015)
What most people get wrong about political Islam
''Brookings''. Retrieved December 2, 2017. Others, notably Qutb, called for violence, and his followers are generally considered Islamic extremists. However, Qutb openly denounced the killing of innocents.
According to Robin Wright, Islamist movements have "arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence", redefining "politics and even borders". Following the Arab Spring, some Islamist currents became heavily involved in democratic politics, while others spawned "the most aggressive and ambitious Islamist militia" to date, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Islamism is a concept whose meaning has been debated in both public and academic contexts. The term can refer to diverse forms of social and political activism advocating that public and political life should be guided by Islamic principles. In academic usage, the term ''Islamism'' does not specify what vision of "Islamic order" or sharia is being advocated, or how the advocates intend to bring about that vision.

Terminology

The term ''Islamism'', which originally denoted the religion of Islam, first appeared in the English language as ''Islamismus'' in 1696, and as ''Islamism'' in 1712. The term appears in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''In Re Ross'' (1891). By the turn of the twentieth century the shorter and purely Arabic term "Islam" had begun to displace it, and by 1938, when Orientalist scholars completed ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', ''Islamism'' seems to have virtually disappeared from English usage.

The term "Islamism" acquired its contemporary connotations in French academia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From French, it began to migrate to the English language in the mid-1980s, and in recent years has largely displaced the term Islamic fundamentalism in academic circles.

The new use of the term "Islamism" at first functioned as "a marker for scholars more likely to sympathize" with new Islamic movements; however, as the term gained popularity it became more specifically associated with political groups such as the Taliban or the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, as well as with highly publicized acts of violence.

"Islamists" who have spoken out against the use of the term, insisting they are merely "Muslims", include Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935–2010), the spiritual mentor of Hezbollah, and Abbassi Madani (1931– ), leader of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front.

The Council on American–Islamic Relations complained in 2013 that the Associated Press's definition of "Islamist"—a "supporter of government in accord with the laws of Islam ndwho view the Quran as a political model"—had become a pejorative shorthand for "Muslims we don't like". Mansoor Moaddel, a sociologist at Eastern Michigan University, criticized it as "not a good term" because "the use of the term Islamist does not capture the phenomena that is quite heterogeneous."

The AP Stylebook entry for ''Islamist'' reads as follows:

"An advocate or supporter of a political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam. Do not use as a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists or radicals, who may or may not be Islamists. Where possible, be specific and use the name of militant affiliations: al-Qaida-linked, Hezbollah, Taliban, etc. Those who view the Quran as a political model encompass a wide range of Muslims, from mainstream politicians to militants known as jihadi."

Overview

Definitions

Islamism has been defined as:
* "the belief that Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life",
* a form of "religionized politics" and an instance of religious fundamentalism
* "political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam" (from Associated Press's definition of "Islamist")
* "he term 'Islamist' has become shorthand for'Muslims we don't like.'" (from Council on American–Islamic Relations's complaint about AP's earlier definition of Islamist)
* "the slamicideology that guides society as a whole and that eacheslaw must be in conformity with the Islamic sharia",Shepard, W. E. ''Sayyid Qutb and Islamic Activism: A Translation and Critical Analysis of Social Justice in Islam''. Leiden, New York: E.J. Brill. (1996). p. 40
* a term "used by outsiders to denote a strand of activity which they think justifies their misconception of Islam as something rigid and immobile, a mere tribal affiliation."
* a movement so broad and flexible it reaches out to "everything to everyone" in Islam, making it "unsustainable".
** an alternative social provider to the poor masses;
** an angry platform for the disillusioned young;
** a loud trumpet-call announcing "a return to the pure religion" to those seeking an identity;
** a "progressive, moderate religious platform" for the affluent and liberal;
** ... and at the extremes, a violent vehicle for rejectionists and radicals.Osman, Tarek, ''Egypt on the brink'', 2010, p. 111
* an Islamic "movement that seeks cultural differentiation from the West and reconnection with the pre-colonial symbolic universe",
* "the organised political trend ..that seeks to solve modern political problems by reference to Muslim texts ..the whole body of thought which seeks to invest society with Islam which may be integrationist, but may also be traditionalist, reform-minded or even revolutionary"
* "the active assertion and promotion of beliefs, prescriptions, laws or policies that are held to be Islamic in character,"
* a movement of "Muslims who draw upon the belief, symbols, and language of Islam to inspire, shape, and animate political activity;" which may contain moderate, tolerant, peaceful activists or those who "preach intolerance and espouse violence."
* "All who seek to Islamize their environment, whether in relation to their lives in society, their family circumstances, or the workplace, may be described as Islamists."

Varieties

Islamism takes different forms and spans a wide range of strategies and tactics towards the powers in place—"destruction, opposition, collaboration, indifference" that have varied as "circumstances have changed"—and thus is not a united movement.

Moderate and reformist Islamists who accept and work within the democratic process include parties like the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan is basically a socio-political and democratic Vanguard party but has also gained political influence through military coup d'états in the past. Other Islamist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine participate in the democratic and political process as well as armed attacks. Jihadist organizations like al-Qaeda and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and groups such as the Taliban, entirely reject democracy, seeing it as a form of ''kufr'', calling for violent/offensive jihad or urging and conducting attacks on a religious basis.

Another major division within Islamism is between what Graham E. Fuller has described as the fundamentalist "guardians of the tradition" (Salafis, such as those in the Wahhabi movement) and the "vanguard of change and Islamic reform" centered around the Muslim Brotherhood.Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', (2003), pp. 194–95 Olivier Roy argues that " Sunni pan-Islamism underwent a remarkable shift in the second half of the 20th century" when the Muslim Brotherhood movement and its focus on Islamisation of pan-Arabism was eclipsed by the Salafi movement with its emphasis on "sharia rather than the building of Islamic institutions," and rejection of Shia Islam. Following the Arab Spring, Roy has described Islamism as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that "neither can now survive without the other." While Islamist political culture itself may not be democratic, Islamists need democratic elections to maintain their legitimacy. At the same time, their popularity is such that no government can call itself democratic that excludes mainstream Islamist groups.

Relation to Islam

The relationship between the notions of Islam and Islamism has been subject to disagreement.

Hayri Abaza argues that the failure to distinguish between Islam and Islamism leads many in the West to support illiberal Islamic regimes, to the detriment of those who seek to separate religion from politics.
A writer for the International Crisis Group maintains that "the conception of 'political Islam'" is a creation of Americans to explain the Iranian Islamic Revolution and apolitical Islam was a historical fluke of the "short-lived era of the heyday of secular Arab nationalism between 1945 and 1970", and it is quietist/non-political Islam, not Islamism, that requires explanation.

Another source distinguishes Islamist from Islamic "by the fact that the latter refers to a religion and culture in existence over a millennium, whereas the first is a political/religious phenomenon linked to the great events of the 20th century". Islamists have, at least at times, defined themselves as "Islamiyyoun/Islamists" to differentiate themselves from "Muslimun/Muslims". Daniel Pipes describes Islamism as a modern ideology that owes more to European utopian political ideologies and "isms" than to the traditional Islamic religion.

Influence

Few observers contest the influence of Islamism within the Muslim world.Murphy, Caryle, ''Passion for Islam'', (c. 2002), p. 160Murphy, Caryle, ''Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: the Egyptian Experience,'' Scribner, (c. 2002), p. 161 Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, political movements based on the liberal ideology of free expression and democratic rule have led the opposition in other parts of the world such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and many parts of Asia; however "the simple fact is that political Islam currently reigns as the most powerful ideological force across the Muslim world today".

People see the unchanging socioeconomic condition in the Muslim world as a major factor. Olivier Roy believes "the socioeconomic realities that sustained the Islamist wave are still here and are not going to change: poverty, uprootedness, crises in values and identities, the decay of the educational systems, the North-South opposition, and the problem of immigrant integration into the host societies".

The strength of Islamism also draws from the strength of religiosity in general in the Muslim world. Compared to Western societies, " at is striking about the Islamic world is that ... it seems to have been the least penetrated by irreligion". Where other peoples may look to the physical or social sciences for answers in areas which their ancestors regarded as best left to scripture, in the Muslim world, religion has become more encompassing, not less, as "in the last few decades, it has been the fundamentalists who have increasingly represented the cutting edge" of Muslim culture.Cook, Michael, ''The Koran: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, (2000)

Writing in 2009, Sonja Zekri described Islamists in Egypt and other Muslim countries as "extremely influential. ... They determine how one dresses, what one eats. In these areas, they are incredibly successful. ... Even if the Islamists never come to power, they have transformed their countries." Political Islamists were described as "competing in the democratic public square in places like Turkey, Tunisia, Malaysia and Indonesia".

Types

Moderate Islamism

"Moderate Islamism" is the emerging Islamist discourses and movements which considered deviated from the traditional Islamist discourses of the mid-20th century. Moderate Islamism is characterized by pragmatic participation within the existing constitutional and political framework, in the most cases democratic institution.The Key to Arab Reform: Moderate Islamists
''Carnegie Endowment for Peace''. p. 2. Retrieved December 2, 2017. Moderate Islamists make up the majority of the contemporary Islamist movements. From the philosophical perspective, their discourses are represented by reformation or reinterpretation of modern socio-political institutions and values imported from the West including democracy.Moussalli, Ahmad S. ''Islamic democracy and pluralism''. from Safi, Omid. ''Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism''. Oneworld Publications, Apr 1, 2003. This had led to the conception of Islamic form of such institutions, and Islamic interpretations are often attempted within this conception. In the example of democracy, Islamic democracy as an Islamized form of the system has been intellectually developed. In Islamic democracy, the concept of ''shura'', the tradition of consultation which considered as Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad, is invoked to Islamically reinterpret and legitimatize the institution of democracy.

Performance, goal, strategy, and outcome of "moderate Islamist movements" vary considerably depending on the country and its socio-political and historical context. In terms of performance, most of the Islamist political parties are oppositions. However, there are few examples they govern or obtain the substantial number of the popular votes. This includes National Congress of Sudan, National Iraqi Alliance of Iraq and Justice and Development Party (PJD) of Morocco. Their goal also ranges widely. The Ennahda Movement of Tunisia and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) of IndonesiaAl-Hamdi, Ridho. (2017). ''Moving towards a Normalised Path: Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia''. JURNAL STUDI PEMERINTAHAN (JOURNAL OF GOVERNMENT & POLITICS). Vol. 8 No. 1, February 2017. p. 53, 56–57, 62. formally resigned their vision of implementing sharia. In Morocco, PJD supported King Muhammad VI's ''Mudawana'', a "startlingly progressive family law" which grants women the right to a divorce, raises the minimum age for marriage to 18, and, in the event of separation, stipulates equal distribution of property.The Islamism Debate: God's Counterculture
Sonja Zekri, ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' / Qantara.de 2008 Translated from the German by Phyllis Anderson To the contrary, National Congress of Sudan has implemented the sharia with the foreign support from the conservative states.Human Rights Watch Report
November 1994 Vol. 6, No. 9, SUDAN, "IN THE NAME OF GOD", Repression Continues in Northern SudanFuller, Graham E., ''The Future of Political Islam'', Palgrave MacMillan, (2003), p. 108 Movements of the former category are also termed as Post-Islamism (see below). Their political outcome is interdependent with their goal and strategy, in which what analysts call "inclusion-moderation theory" is in effect. Inclusion-moderation theory assumes that the more lenient the Islamists become, the less likely their survival will be threatened. Similarly, the more accommodating the government be, the less "extreme" Islamists become.

Moderate Islamism within the democratic institution is a relatively recent phenomenon. Throughout the 80s and 90s, major moderate Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Ennahda were excluded from democratic political participation. Islamist movements operated within the state framework were markedly scrutinized during the Algerian Civil War (1991–2002) and after the increase of terrorism in Egypt in the 90s. Reflecting on these failures, Islamists turned increasingly into revisionist and receptive to democratic procedures in the 21st century. The possibility of accommodating this new wave of modernist Islamism has been explored among the Western intellectuals, with the concept such as Turkish model was proposed. The concept was inspired by the perceived success of Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in harmonizing the Islamist principles within the modern state framework. The Turkish model, however, has been considered came "unstuck" after recent purge and violations of democratic principles by the Erdoğan regime. Critics of the concept, who include other democracy-rejecting Islamists, hold that Islamist aspirations are fundamentally incompatible with the democratic principles.

Post-Islamism

Iranian political sociologist Asef Bayat proposed the term Post-Islamism to refer to Islamist movements which departured from traditional Islamist discourses of the mid-20th century, having found that "following a phase of experimentation", the "appeal, energy, symbols and sources of legitimacy of Islamism" were "exhausted, even among its once-ardent supporters. As such, post-Islamism is not anti-Islamic, but rather reflects a tendency to resecularize religion." This state originally pertained only to Iran, where "post-Islamism is expressed in the idea of fusion between Islam (as a personalized faith) and individual freedom and choice; and post-Islamism is associated with the values of democracy and aspects of modernity". A 2008 Lowy Institute for International Policy paper suggests that PKS of Indonesia and AKP of Turkey are post-Islamist. The characterization can be applied to Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and used to describe the "ideological evolution" within the Ennahda of Tunisia.

Salafi movement

The contemporary Salafi movement encompasses a broad range of ultraconservative Islamist doctrines which share the reformist mission of Ibn Taymiyyah. From the perspective of political Islam, the Salafi movement can be broadly categorized into three groups; the quietist (or the purist), the activist (or ''haraki'') and the jihadist (Salafi jihadism, see below). The quietist school advocates for societal reform through religious education and proselytizing rather than political activism. The activist school, to the contrary, encourages political participation within the constitutional and political framework. The jihadist school is inspired by the ideology of Sayyid Qutb (Qutbism, see below), and rejects the legitimacy of secular institutions and promotes the revolution in order to pave the way for the establishment of a new Caliphate.Mohie-Eldin, Fatima. ''The Evolution of Salafism A History of Salafi Doctrine''. Al-Noor, Fall 2015. pp. 44–47.

The quietist Salafi movement is stemming from the teaching of Nasiruddin Albani, who challenged the notion of ''taqlid'' (imitation, conformity to the legal precedent) as a blind adherence. As such, they alarm the political participation as potentially leading to the division of the Muslim community. This school is exemplified by Madkhalism which is based on the writings of Rabee al-Madkhali. Madkhalism originated in the 90s Saudi Arabia, as a reaction against the rise of the Salafi activism and the threat of Salafi Jihadism. It rejects any kind of opposition against the secular governance,Richard Gauvain, ''Salafi Ritual Purity: In the Presence of God'', p. 41. New York: Routledge, 2013. thus endorsed by the authoritarian governments of Egypt and Saudi Arabia during the 90s. The influence of the quietist school has waned significantly in the Middle East recently,''The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam: Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki'', eds. Nicolet Boekhoff-van der Voort, Kees Versteegh and Joas Wagemakers, p. 382. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2011. as the governments began incorporating Islamist factions emanating from the popular demand.

The politically active Salafi movement, Salafi activism or ''harakis'', is based on the religious belief that endorses non-violent political activism in order to protect God's Divine governance. This means that politics is a field which requires Salafi principles to be applied as well, in the same manner with other aspects of society and life. Salafi activism originated in the 50s to 60s Saudi Arabia, where many Muslim Brothers had taken refuge from the prosecution by the Nasser regime. There, Muslim Brothers' Islamism had synthesized with Salafism, and led to the creation of the Salafi activist trend exemplified by the Sahwa movement in the 80s, promulgated by Safar Al-Hawali and Salman al-Ouda. Today, this school makes up the majority of Salafism.George Joffé, ''Islamist Radicalisation in Europe and the Middle East: Reassessing the Causes of Terrorism'', p. 317. London: I.B. Tauris, 2013. There are many active Salafist political parties throughout the Muslim world, including the Al Islah Party of Yemen and Al Asalah of Bahrain.

Wahhabism

The antecedent of the contemporary Salafi movement is Wahhabism, which traces back to the 18th-century reform movement in Najd by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Although having different roots, Wahhabism and Salafism are considered more or less merged in the 60s Saudi Arabia.(Salafism has been termed a hybridation between the teachings of Ibn Abdul-Wahhab and others which have taken place since the 1960s) Stephane Lacroix
Al-Albani's Revolutionary Approach to Hadith
. Leiden University's ISIM Review, Spring 2008, #21. In the process, Salafism had been greatly influenced by Wahhabism, and today they share the similar religious outlook. Wahhabism is also described as a Saudi brand of Salafism. From the political perspective, Wahhabism is marked in its teaching of ''bay'ah'', which requires Muslims to present an allegiance to the ruler of the society. Wahhabis have traditionally given their allegiance to the House of Saud, and this has made them apolitical in Saudi Arabia. However, there are small numbers of other strains including Salafi Jihadist offshoot which decline to present an allegiance to the House of Saud. Wahhabism is also characterized by its disinterest in social justice, anticolonialism, or economic equality, expounded upon by the most Islamists. Historically, Wahhabism was state-sponsored and internationally propagated by Saudi Arabia with the help of funding from mainly Saudi petroleum exports, leading to the "explosive growth" of its influence (and subsequently, the influence of Salafism) from the 70s (a phenomenon often dubbed as Petro-Islam). Today, both Wahhabism and Salafism exert their influence worldwide, and they have been indirectly contributing to the upsurge of Salafi Jihadism as well.

Militant Islamism/Jihadism

Qutbism

Qutbism is an ideology formulated by Sayyid Qutb, an influential figure of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the 50s and 60s, which justifies the use of violence in order to push the Islamist goals.William McCants of the US Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center, quoted i
Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism
by Dale C. Eikmeier. From ''Parameters'', Spring 2007, pp. 85–98. Qutbism is marked by the distinctive methodological concept of "offensive Jihad", a concept which promotes violence in the against the ''kuffar'' (infidels). Based on the two concepts, Qutbism promotes engagement against the state apparatus in order to topple down its regime. Fusion of Qutbism and Salafi Movement had resulted in the development of Salafi jihadism (see below).Hassan, Hassan. (June 13, 2016)
The Sectarianism of the Islamic State: Ideological Roots and Political Context
''Carnegie Endowment for Peace''. Retrieved December 3, 2017.

Qutbism is considered a product of the extreme repression experienced by Qutb and his fellow Muslim Brothers under the Nasser regime, which was resulted from an alleged 1954 Muslim Brothers plot to assassinate Nasser. During the repression, thousands of Muslim Brothers were imprisoned, many of them, including Qutb, tortured and held in concentration camps.Commins, David, ''The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia'', I. B. Tauris, 2006, p. 152 Under this condition, Qutb had cultivated his Islamist ideology in his seminal work ''Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones)'', in which he equated the Muslims within the Nasser regime with secularism and the West, and described the contemporary situation as beiing a state of ''jahiliyyah'' (period of time before the advent of Islam). Although Qutb was executed before the completion of his ideology,Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002, p. 31 his ideas was disseminated and continuously expanded by the later generations, among them Abdullah Yusuf Azzam and Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who was a student of Qutb's brother Muhammad Qutb and later became a mentor of Osama bin Laden. Al-Zawahiri was considered "the purity of Qutb's character and the torment he had endured in prison," and had played an extensive role in the normalization of offensive Jihad within the Qutbist discourse. Both al-Zawahiri and bin Laden had become the core of Jihadist movements which exponentially developed in the backdrop of the late 20th-century geopolitical crisis throughout the Muslim world.

Salafi Jihadism

Salafi jihadism is a term coined by Gilles Kepel in 2002, referring to the ideology which actively promotes and conducts violence and terrorism in order to pursue the establishment of an Islamic state or a new Caliphate."Jihadist-Salafism" is introduced by Gilles Kepel, ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2002)Deneoux, Guilain (June 2002). "The Forgotten Swamp: Navigating Political Islam". ''Middle East Policy''. pp. 69–71." Today, the term is often simplified to ''Jihadism'' or ''Jihadist movement''. It is a hybrid ideology between Qutbism, Salafism, Wahhabism and other minor Islamist strains. Qutbism taught by scholars like Abdullah Azzam provided the political intellectual underpinnings with concepts like Salafism and Wahhabism providing the religious intellectual input. Salafi Jihadism makes up a minority of the contemporary Islamist movements.

Distinct characteristics of Salafi Jihadism noted by Robin Wright include the formal process of taking ''bay'ah'' (oath of allegiance) to the leader, which is inspired by Hadiths and early Muslim practice and included in Wahhabi teaching. Another characteristic is its flexibility to cut ties with the less-popular movements when its strategically or financially convenient, exemplified by the relations between al-Qaeda and al-Nusra Front. Other marked developments of Salafi Jihadism include the concepts of "near enemy" and "far enemy". "Near enemy" connotes the despotic regime(s) occupying the Muslim society, and the term was coined by Mohammed Abdul-Salam Farag in order to justify the assassination of Anwar al-Sadat by the Salafi Jihadi organization Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) in 1981.Noah, Timothy (February 26, 2009)
The Near-Enemy Theory
''Slate''. Retrieved December 3, 2017. Later, the concept of "far enemy" which connotes the West was introduced and formally declared by al-Qaeda in 1996.

Salafi Jihadism emerged during the 80s when the Soviet invaded Afghanistan. Local mujahideen had extracted financial, logistical and military support from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States. Later, Osama bin Laden established al-Qaeda as a transnational Salafi Jihadi organization in 1988 to capitalize on this financial, logistical and military network and to expand their operation.Byman, Daniel L and Williams, Jennifer R. (February 24, 2015)
ISIS vs. Al Qaeda: Jihadism's global civil war
Brookings. Retrieved December 3, 2017. The ideology had seen its rise during the 90s when the Muslim world experienced numerous geopolitical crisis, notably the Algerian Civil War (1991–2002), Bosnian War (1992–1995), and the First Chechen War (1994–1996). Within these conflicts, political Islam often acted as a mobilizing factor for the local belligerents, who demanded financial, logistical and military support from al-Qaeda, in the exchange for active proliferation of the ideology. After the 1998 bombings of US embassies, September 11 attacks (2001), the US-led invasion of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), Salafi Jihadism had seen its momentum. However, it got devastated by the US counterterrorism operations, culminating in bin Laden's death in 2011. After the Arab Spring (2011) and subsequent Syrian Civil War (2011–present), the remnants of al-Qaeda franchise in Iraq had restored their capacity, which rapidly developed into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, spreading its influence throughout the conflict zones of MENA region and the globe.

History

Predecessor movements

Some Islamic revivalist movements and leaders pre-dating Islamism include:
* Ahmad Sirhindi (~1564–1624) was part of a reassertion of orthodoxy within Islamic Mysticism (Taṣawwuf) and was known to his followers as the 'renovator of the second millennium'. It has been said of Sirhindi that he 'gave to Indian Islam the rigid and conservative stamp it bears today.'
* Ibn Taymiyyah, a Syrian Islamic jurist during the 13th and 14th centuries who is often quoted by contemporary Islamists. Ibn Taymiyya argued against the shirking of Sharia law, was against practices such as the celebration of Muhammad's birthday, and "he believed that those who ask assistance from the grave of the Prophet or ''awlia, are mushrikin (polytheists), someone who is engaged in shirk."
* Shah Waliullah of India and Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab of Arabia were contemporaries who met each other while studying in Mecca. Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab advocated doing away with the later accretions like grave worship and getting back to the letter and the spirit of Islam as preached and practiced by Muhammad. He went on to found Wahhabism. Shah Waliullah was a forerunner of reformist Islamists like Muhammad Abduh, Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Asad in his belief that there was "a constant need for new ijtihad as the Muslim community progressed and expanded and new generations had to cope with new problems" and his interest in the social and economic problems of the poor.
* Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi was a disciple and successor of Shah Waliullah's son who emphasized the 'purification' of Islam from un-Islamic beliefs and practices. He anticipated modern militant Islamists by leading an extremist, jihadist movement and attempted to create an Islamic state based on the enforcement of Islamic law. While he engaged in several wars against the Sikh Empire in the Muslim-majority North-Western India, his followers participated in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 after his death.
* After the defeat of the Indian Rebellion, some of Shah Waliullah's followers ceased their involvement in military affairs and founded the Dar al-Ulum seminary in 1867 in the town of Deoband. From the school developed the Deobandi movement which became the largest philosophical movement of traditional Islamic thought on the subcontinent and led to the establishment of thousands of madrasahs throughout modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Early history

The end of the 19th century saw the dismemberment of most of the Muslim Ottoman Empire by non-Muslim European colonial powers. The empire spent massive sums on Western civilian and military technology to try to modernize and compete with the encroaching European powers, and in the process went deep into debt to these powers.

In this context, the publications of Jamal ad-din al-Afghani (1837–97), Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) and Rashid Rida (1865–1935) preached Islamic alternatives to the political, economic, and cultural decline of the empire. Muhammad Abduh and Al-Afghani formed the beginning of the early Islamist movement. Abduh's student, Rashid Rida, is widely regarded as one of "the ideological forefathers" of contemporary Islamist movements.

The ideas of Rashid Rida, Hassan al-Banna,and Mustafa al-Siba’i included the creation of a truly Islamic society under sharia law, and the rejection of taqlid, the blind imitation of earlier authorities, which they believed deviated from the true messages of Islam. Unlike some later Islamists, Early Salafiyya strongly emphasized the restoration of the Caliphate.

Sayyid Rashid Rida

The modern concept of an Islamic state was first articulated by the Syrian-Egyptian Islamic scholar Muhammad Rashid Rida, who played a significant role in forming the revolutionary ideology of the early years of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as influencing other Sunni Islamist movements across the world. Rida's Islamic state emphasized the principle of ''shura'', which would be dominated by the ''Ulama''.

In his influential book ''al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-'Uzma'' ("The Caliphate or the Grand Imamate"); Rashid Rida elaborated on the establishment of his proposed Islamic state. This doctrine would become the blueprint of future Islamist movements. Rida believed that societies that properly obeyed '' Sharia'' would be able to successfully emerge as alternatives to both capitalism as well as the disorder of class-based socialism; since such a society would be unsusceptible to its temptations.

In Rida's Caliphate, the ''Khalifa'' was to be the supreme head whose role was to govern by supervising the application of Islamic laws. This was to happen through a partnership between the ''Mujtahid'' ulema and the ‘‘true caliph’'; who engage in ''Ijtihad'' by evaluating the Scriptures and govern through ''shura'' (consultation). This ''Khilafa'' shall also be able to revitalise the Islamic civilization, restore political and legal independence to the Muslim ''umma'' (community of Muslim believers), and cleanse Islam from the heretical influences of Sufism. Rashid Rida's Islamic political theory would greatly influence many subsequent Islamic revivalist movements across the Arab world. Rida was certain that an Islamic society which implemented '' Sharia'' in the proper manner would be able to successfully resist both capitalism as well as the disorder of class-based socialism; since such a society would be unsusceptible to its temptations.

Islamist intellectuals that succeeded Rida, such as Hasan al-Banna, would not measure up to the former's scholarly credentials. The subsequent generations ushered in the advent of the radical thinker Sayyid Qutb, who in contrast to Rida, did not have detailed knowledge of religious sciences to address Muslims authoritatively on '' Sharia''. Qutb rejected Western beliefs while simultaneously employing Western terminology to substantiate his beliefs and used the classical sources to bolster his subjective methodology to Scriptures.

Muhammad Iqbal

Muhammad Iqbal was a philosopher, poet and politician in British India who is widely regarded as having inspired the Islamic Nationalism and Pakistan Movement in British India. Iqbal is admired as a prominent classical poet by Pakistani, Iranian, Indian and other international scholars of literature. Though Iqbal is best known as an eminent poet, he is also a highly acclaimed "Islamic philosophical thinker of modern times".

While studying law and philosophy in England and Germany, Iqbal became a member of the London branch of the All India Muslim League. He came back to Lahore in 1908. While dividing his time between law practice and philosophical poetry, Iqbal had remained active in the Muslim League. He did not support Indian involvement in World War I and remained in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as Muhammad Ali Johar and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian nationalist and secularist Indian National Congress. Iqbal's seven English lectures were published by Oxford University press in 1934 in a book titled The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. These lectures dwell on the role of Islam as a religion as well as a political and legal philosophy in the modern age.

Iqbal expressed fears that not only would secularism and secular nationalism weaken the spiritual foundations of Islam and Muslim society, but that India's Hindu-majority population would crowd out Muslim heritage, culture and political influence. In his travels to Egypt, Afghanistan, Palestine and Syria, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist differences. Sir Muhmmad Iqbal was elected as president of the Muslim League in 1930 at its session in Allahabad as well as for the session in Lahore in 1932. In his Allahabad Address on 29 December 1930, Iqbal outlined a vision of an independent state for Muslim-majority provinces in northwestern India. This address later inspired the Pakistan movement.

The thoughts and vision of Iqbal later influenced many reformist Islamists, e.g., Muhammad Asad, Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi and Ali Shariati.

Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi

Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi was an important early twentieth-century figure in the Islamic revival in India, and then after independence from Britain, in Pakistan. Trained as a lawyer he chose the profession of journalism, and wrote about contemporary issues and most importantly about Islam and Islamic law. Maududi founded the Jamaat-e-Islami party in 1941 and remained its leader until 1972. However, Maududi had much more impact through his writing than through his political organising. His extremely influential books (translated into many languages) placed Islam in a modern context, and influenced not only conservative ulema but liberal modernizer Islamists such as al-Faruqi, whose "Islamization of Knowledge" carried forward some of Maududi's key principles.

Maududi believed that Muslim society could not be Islamic without Sharia, and Islam required the establishment of an Islamic state. This state should be a "theo-democracy," based on the principles of: ''tawhid'' (unity of God), '' risala'' (prophethood) and ''khilafa'' (caliphate).
Although Maududi talked about Islamic revolution, by "revolution" he meant not the violence or populist policies of the Iranian Revolution, but the gradual changing the hearts and minds of individuals from the top of society downward through an educational process or ''da'wah''.

Muslim Brotherhood

Roughly contemporaneous with Maududi was the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Ismailiyah, Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al Banna. His was arguably the first, largest and most influential modern Islamic political/religious organization. Under the motto "the Qur'an is our constitution,"
it sought Islamic revival through preaching and also by providing basic community services including schools, mosques, and workshops. Like Maududi, Al Banna believed in the necessity of government rule based on Shariah law implemented gradually and by persuasion, and of eliminating all imperialist influence in the Muslim world.

Some elements of the Brotherhood, though perhaps against orders, did engage in violence against the government, and its founder Al-Banna was assassinated in 1949 in retaliation for the assassination of Egypt's premier Mahmud Fami Naqrashi three months earlier. The Brotherhood has suffered periodic repression in Egypt and has been banned several times, in 1948 and several years later following confrontations with Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser, who jailed thousands of members for several years.

Despite periodic repression, the Brotherhood has become one of the most influential movements in the Islamic world, particularly in the Arab world. For many years it was
described as "semi-legal" and was the only opposition group in Egypt able to field candidates during elections.The Islamism Debate: God's Counterculture
Sonja Zekri, ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' / Qantara.de 2008. Translated from the German by Phyllis Anderson. In the 2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election, the political parties identified as "Islamist" (the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Salafi Al-Nour Party and liberal Islamist Al-Wasat Party) won 75% of the total seats. Mohamed Morsi

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