In this day and age, the Islam religion expands over the majority of Northern Africa, and the Middle East. It has a strong influence in these areas, and a number of different Islam groups and denominations are in these areas. In this essay, it will be evaluated whether or not the use of the term ‘Islamism’ can be used for all of these movements/groups. Furthermore the essay will distinguish between violent and non-violent Islamist groups in a structured way. Roger explains these groups must either make Islam more modern to work alongside the West in democracy, or they must defend culture in their religion by creating a ‘protective umbrella’ (Roger, 2004, p158).
It is best to first define the term ‘Islamism’ and how it relates to Islam. The term ‘Islamism’ is a development from the Islam religion. It requires us to look deeper into Islam, and pick out certain parts of the religion which define ‘Islamism’. Islamism today is seen more as an ideology rather than a religion. It contains social, political, and religious aspects. Furthermore, Islamism is much more structured than the other religious denominations of Islam. It can easily be noticed because it is coherent, and easily noticeable (Mozzafari 2007). Further definition shows Islamism to, “bring all elements of social, economic, and political life into harmony with what its adherents believe is “true Islam” (Richards 2013, p363)
Firstly in the essay, peaceful Islam ideas will be look at, especially of ‘New Islamists’. Richards describes one of the groups of ‘New Islamists’ to be the intellectuals in Egypt. These people are called ‘Salafis’, they follow after the Prophet Muhammed. These Islamists are concerned with smaller aspects of life, for example the state of how t...
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...democratic means.
Works Cited
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Richards, Alan, and John Waterbury. A Political Economy of the Middle East, Boulder, CO/Oxford: Westview, third edition 2008: 362-384.
Owen, Roger. State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, London: Routledge, (3rd ed.) 2004: 154-177.
Mozaffari, M. (2007). What is Islamism? History and Definition of a Concept. Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions. 8 (1), p17–33.
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The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror is a book written by Bernard Lewis that ‘in particular charts the key events of the twentieth century leading up to the violent confrontations of today.’(Lewis) Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. They must determine whether their religion takes its place alongside other religions in a global community, or whether it will revert back into conflict with non-Muslim nations.
Walton, Mark.W., George. F. Nafziger, and Laurent. W. Mbanda, Islam at War: A History, Praeger/Greenwood, 2003
The article also discusses the origins of Islam as well as the beliefs of Islam. The theme in volume two is the “relationship between the expansion and fragmentation of Islamdom into autonomous, local dynasties” (Turner 192). According to the author, “The background of Islam was the emergence in the Axial Age of a new conception of religion, not as a tribal commitment” (Turner 192). The main issue of the religion was the fact that other Muslim communities were challenged by different religions and the refusal to accept the teaching of Islam. The author also discusses the rise of sufism. The author refers to sufism as relgious cement (Turner 193). Turner mentions that the author of The Venture of Islam would like to see Islamic influences in technological advances because of the moral roots of
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Yapp, Malcolm. The Near East since the First World War: A History to 1995. London: Longman, 1996. Print.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
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In both given articles, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” by Bernard Lewis, and “The Roots of Muslim Rage Revisited” by Nicolaas J.E. van der Zee, argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ view may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. Lewis indicates that Muslim fundamentalism is conceived through the Muslim community’s oppression and dissatisfaction with the West’s political involvement, as well as “Islam is a source of aggression” . In defiance of Lewis’ opinion, the word ‘Islam’ comes from the word peace as well as the will of submission to God. The notion of aggression and violence that Lewis conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supporting
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