What factors have led to the resurgence of Islamic Fundamentalism?

Answer 1

Islamic-ist-ism fundamentalistismist is just an idea which was pumped up by the media.

it all comes down to wars - when milosevic and Russia were invading/bumrushing the bosnians and afghans they were called freedom fighters. now we are invading their countries they are fundamentalists terrorists. it wouldn't look good to the public if we were fighting freedom fighters would it?

its a sad fact of life that money and power take priority over anything else, dnt let anyone tell you otherwise, money and power is the cause of ALL wars, not religion, or democracy, or operation enduring freedom part 3.

naturally if anyone try's to invade your home you will defend, and depending on how much passion you fight with can define you as a fundamentalist homeowner.

Iraq has 500billion barrels of oil - do the math, wots it worth today and in 10 years time..??

Answer 2

Answer 1

First let understand the meaning of Islamic fundamentalism. This term is introduced by the west as indication of terrorism in Islam. This term is propagated as such by the Westerners and by Media to give the impression, intentionally although wrongly, that those who sticks to the fundamentals and principles of Islam are terrorists and are against modern values and civilizations.

However, Literally, the term fundamentalism means sticking to Islamic principles and Islamic high morals. The main goals of any Islamic fundamentalist, and basically any Muslim, per Islam religion, are: * Submission to God, the one and only one God * performing ritual worships per the five pillars of Islam and Islam principles. * Following the Islam guides and morals per God commands in Quran and per Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) teachings. * Doing good deeds for the community, society, nature, and mankind * Calling people for worship of God, the one and only one God with no partner, no son, no companion, no associate and no resemblance.

Allah (or God in English and same God worshiped in Christianity and Judaism) created mankind to worship Him and care for His creation. Allah says in the Holy Qur'an; Muslims holy book as revealed by God to prophet Muhammad:

"And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practice regular charity; and that is the religion right and straight. [98:5]

Accordingly, if you mean by Islamic fundamentalism the western definition; then its resurgence is due to the oppression of the west and their unjustifiable control of Islamic countries and practicing terror attacks on Muslims, insulting them, killing them without any justification, and torturing them as happened in Iraq Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons.

However, if you mean the true meaning of Islamic fundamentalism as itemized above, then its resurgence is the aspiration of Muslims to lead a better life based on peace, justice, and dignity.

Refer to related questions below.

Answer 2

Islamic Fundamentalism is difficult to discuss as a general historical phenomenon because it is a heterodox philosophy. This means that there are numerous different beliefs that are only tangentially related to each other, but are all grouped under the same header. For example "flying animals" would be a group like this since bugs, birds, and bats are only tangentially related to one another. There are National Salafists, National Islamists, Transnational Salafists, International Islamists, there are apolitical Salafists, etc. All of these groups have different goals aspirations and intentions. As Answer 1 notes, the issue is not with the fundamentals of Islam but with the use of Islam as a roadmap to achieve certain political goals that are problematic. All of this variety comes out of the tragedy of the colonial experience in which the Medieval Islamic Society which never progressed naturally into the Modern Era was shattered and each group (including non-fundamentalist groups as well) is trying to pick up the shards and create something new that could work.

Probably, the most famous and important group of Islamic Fundamentalists are the International Islamists. Groups like Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood are International Islamist organizations because their ideal is to create a unified international government based exclusively on Islamic Principles read in their way. The first modern Islamist was Sayyid Qutb (Oct. 9, 1906-August 29, 1966) who actively advocated for Islamic values to permeate government institutions. In his view Western values were corrupt and any government based on those values should be destroyed, especially in the Islamic World. He was executed for attempting to assassinate Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser after being a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s.

Sayyed Qutb was very clear about why he thought that Islamist principles were necessary:

Modern Jahiliya: He saw the modern interplay between nation-states and empires as reminiscent of the Arabian Peninsula in the Jahiliya or Pre-Islamic Period. During this period, Arab tribes jockeyed for power and served only their self-interest. What stopped this fighting was when Mohammed successfully subdued Mecca in armed combat and was able to unite all of Arabia under Islamic principles. He expanded this view to the world.

Western Cultural Hedonism: He objected to Western Materialism and the Western obsession with sex and violence. He thought that this method of thinking and perceiving the world was incredibly hedonistic and did not give reverence to those things that were actually worth praising, such as love, devotion, and truth.

Diplomatic Intransigence: Western States were not willing to recognize the independence of Islamic States and even when they did, they left them in the hands of Secularists who would rule the countries as if they were Western Proxies, instead of being representative of the Islamic beliefs of its people. Therefore, violence would be necessary to reclaim power for Islam.

Islamic Virtue: Qutb held that Secularists were unbridled in their ability to inflict torture and damage upon their fellow humans. By injecting morality into the people through Islamic governance, problems like torture, civil strife, etc. could be removed.

Offensive Jihad: He believed that Islam had been under colonial occupation and now ran the risk of being destroyed. To prevent this and protect Islam, campaigns of violence and religious war needed to be used proactively against Westerners to cow them into accepting Islam as the correct and proper way to rule Islamic States and for the non-Muslims to accept the Islamist mentality. This to him was analogous to how the colonizers forced secularism on Islamic States, but since Islam was more virtuous, it would result in a more virtuous world.