The War 3 - The rise of the radicals
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Wed Mar 12, 08 08:03 PM
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War
The Rise of the Radicals
While many Muslims adapted to the fast-paced changes common to Western industrialization and modernization, some Muslims rejected them. Instead, they created a rigid ideology imbedded in the traditional values and laws of the Koran. This is the phenomenon known today as Islamic fundamentalism, or Islamism.
Islamism came to be seen as a struggle to return to the glorious days when Islam reigned supreme. It represents a yearning for the "pure" Islam as practiced by the prophet. Not unlike the American Amish, the movement rejects much that is innovative. Islamists, however, take the rejection of modernity a step further. They perceive those who have introduced these innovations (the West) as its enemy.
Western influence, however, was unstoppable. Consequently, writes Islamic fundamentalism expert Emmanuel Sivan in his book Radical Islam, a sense of "doom and gloom" developed among religious Muslims. Some perceived this world to be "the prison of the believers and the paradise of the unbelievers," according to Lewis. To them, this explained why Islamic values were losing out to the secularism of the West. Others argued that Allah was angry with Muslims for straying from the righteous path and was therefore punishing them for their disobedience.
In time, the Islamist vision crystallized. They not only rejected the influence of the West, they rejected the legitimacy of their own governments in the Arabic world, which they saw as subservient to the West. Thus, the overthrow of these regimes became an important part of the Islamist agenda.
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Link:
http://blog.bitcomet.com/yellowcorn/post_19283/
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