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D EFINING I SLAMIC F UNDAMENTALISM

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The Fundamentalist Worldview While defining Islamic fundamentalism as a whole is a useful exer- cise, it is helpful to remember that the phenomenon takes as many different shapes within Islam as do culturally specific Islamic expressions of faith. Fundamentalists do not all share the same socioeconomic background, nor do they subscribe to one global set of objectives. Modern fundamentalism is not a movement exclusively, or even predominantly, of the poor, uneducated, and marginalized within the Islamic world. Rather, it flourishes partic- ularly among the educated middle classes and in certain respects is a product of the spread of literacy. Nor do all fundamentalists strive for the same political goals. Many join moderate political parties to seek changes through the government; a relative few, such as the extremist Osama bin Laden, vow to wage war at all costs against both non-Muslims and any Muslims thought to sup- port Western ideals and governments. It is also important to understand the complex historical con- text in which contemporary Islamic fundamentalism developed. After the end of European colonialism in the Islamic world, the growth of fundamentalism was hastened by numerous events: the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, U.S. intervention in the Middle East, the end of the Cold War, the failure of nationalist gov- ernments in the Arab world, and the process of globalization, in which clear distinctions between the East and the West have disap- peared. In contrast to fundamentalists, modernists seek an environment in which modern ideas can coexist with Muslim ideals and faith. Many moderate modernists appeal directly to the Qur’an, the Hadith (the body of traditions and sayings ascribed to Muhammad), and Islamic history to advocate democracy, human rights, and a largely secular society. Secularists, in contrast, seek to distance government from Islamic institutions and to embrace completely nonreligious models of national identity and economic development.