Islamic fundamentalism
The phrase Islamic fundamentalism maybe used to describe a number of phenomenon.
- It describes the beliefs of traditional Muslims that they should restrict themselves to literal and traditional interpretations of their sacred texts, the Qur'an and Hadith.
- It describes a variety of religious movements and political parties in Muslim communities. In this sense, Islamic fundamentalism is a form of religious conservatism, which is opposed to liberal movements within Islam.
- It describes Muslim groups which advocate Islam as a political movement, especially Islamism, which advocate the replacement of state secular laws with Islamic law.
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2 As a social and political movement |
For religious fundamentalists, their sacred scripture is the word of God. In this case, Muslims believe that the Quran is the word of God. Fundamentalism (in this sense of the word) depends on the twin doctrines that God articulated his will precisely to prophets, and that we also have a reliable and perfect record of that revelation, which has been passed down to our day in an unbroken chain of tradition. Since the Quran is the word of God, no one has the right to change it or disagree with it. Muslims believe that they are thus obliged to obey the word of God
Muslims believe that the Quran was dictated by Allah, through the Arch-Angel Jabril, to Muhammad, and that the current text of the Quran is identical to what was said by Muhammad to be the Quran. Islam traditionally has also taught that in addition that the correct interpretation of the Quran must rely solely on the Quran and Hadith (the oral accounts of Muhammad's teachings and practices), and nothing else. This would exclude tradition, popular practice, and all but the simplest reasoning.
While reading the Quran does not allow one to unambiguously know the will of God, reading the Quran in reference to the practices of Muhammad does allow one to unambiguously determine how Muslims should behave on important issues. This view, commonly associated with Wahhabism by Western sources hostile to islamic ideals, rejects Shi'a Islam, and the four common schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.
As with adherents of other fundamentalist movements, Islamic fundamentalists holds that the problems of the world stem from secular influences, and that the path to peace and justice in this world lies in a return to the original message of the faith, combined with a scrupulous rejection of all Bid'ah ("innovation') and perceived anti-Islamic traditions.
Many scholars of religion believe that, contrary to their own message, Islamic fundamentalists are not actually traditionalists. Typically, their message is that returning to the original version of the faith requires abandonment of a variety of traditional practices which they contend are medieval innovations, such as the practice of asking favors from "saints" (awliya). However, scholars of Islam hold that the result is that the fundamentalists are creating innovations, and are creating a form of Islam that never existed in the past.
Some Muslim fundamentalists seek to change the laws of their nation so as to make their laws based on the Quran and Hadith. While there have historically been many non-violent Muslim fundamentalists, one Western connotation of the term fundamentalism is the assertion of views through violence or oppression, rather than persuasion. This is due in large part to the perception prevalent view in the west that Islam is a threat to their way of life and interests.
As a way of reading one's religious texts
As a social and political movement
See also
External Links
Q & A on Islamic fundamentalism