9781422281116

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I SLAMISM & F UNDAMENTALISM IN THE M ODERN W ORLD

But fundamentalism and modernism are both responses to pressures on Islam in the modern world—pressures from without to accept secular views of the relationship between society, gov- ernment, and religion, and pressures from within to refuse to change centuries-old traditions in the face of contemporary reali- ties. Modernists seek to accommodate new ideas within Islam, while fundamentalists seek to return to the core vision of Islam they believe to be set forth in the Qur’an and Hadith. Defining the Key Terms The term fundamentalism actually refers to any effort to purify a reli- gion by laying out the fundamentals of that religion and expecting individuals and even whole societies to abide by them. Fundamentalists have emerged in every major religion in the modern era. The term fundamentalism was in fact coined to describe the call for a return to the roots of Christianity made by some Protestant Christians in the United States during the 1920s. It came into wide use for Islamic groups only after the Iranian revolution in 1979. Though fundamentalism is still a widely used term for the mod- ern efforts to purify Islam, other terms are used frequently as well. These include revivalism , Islamism , resurgence , traditionalism , and renewal . Increasingly, Islamism is used in journalistic and scholar- ly accounts of the phenomenon. Fundamentalism is often used interchangeably with militant extremism , but the latter term refers specifically to the beliefs of fundamentalist groups who advocate violence as a means to bring about their proposed reforms. These militant groups are a minority among Islamic fundamentalists. Most fundamentalists work through religious institutions and political parties to enact changes peacefully. Another term widely associated with Islamic fundamentalism is the Arabic word jihad , which is often interpreted to mean “holy war” but literally translates as “struggle” and has a long and com- plex history of use within Islam. In fact, the legal scholars ( ulama ) who formulated most of Islamic law by the 11th century did not

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