Islamic Fundamentalism Essay

Introduction: The term â€Å"Islamic Fundamentalism† refers to one of those Islamic movements in the Middle East, North Africa or South and East Asia with a goal to establish an Islamic government in the area of their struggle. Islamism and Islamic Extremism are other synonyms of Islamic Fundamentalism. The rise of Islamic Fundamentalism can be traced back to the 20th Century when different movements emerged with the goal of the revival of Islamic Political presence in the global scenario. It was initially in response to the colonialism and imperialism of the West. Most of the Muslim intellectuals regarded Western dominion of their lands as unfair. The alleged the Western Nations as looting and robbing their resources and wealth. The modern Islamists consider the global economical and political system as tools to perpetuate Western domination on the world. That’s why they appose and despise it. This paper will discuss whether the Islamic Fundamentalism is a threat to the modern civilization or not. Islamic Fundamentalism a Growing Threat: The feeling to revive the Islamic values among the daily life is a common feeling in the Muslim communities of the world. Thus in this way Islamic Fundamentalism is not a harmful or an aggressive phenomenon. There are also large numbers of Muslims who think that the western political and economical systems are not compatible with their social and religious norms. These people want to establish an Islamic political and economical system as an alternative to the Western Democracy and Capitalism. These are also divided into two categories. The mainstream of Islamists is determined to work according to the current rules and regulations of their respective societies. They do not violently appose political pluralism participate in the democratic process and recognize the interests and rights of the minorities. They do not disregard the presence of a market economy either. The Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and Jordan and the Islamic Salvation Front of Algeria before it was deprived from its electoral victory and forced to take arms lie in this category. (Millward, 1993) In the second category of the Islamist lie those who have a revolutionary and radical notion of establishing an Islamic State. They completely disregard the existing system in their societies and are eager to overthrow it with force and military struggle. They have no recognition of the market economy and they despise any form of political pluralism, and minority rights. Alqaida, The Palestinian Hamas and Egyptian Islamic Jihad lie in this category. (Millward, 1993) Because they consider the modern political system under the jurisdiction of the United Nations a way to perpetuate Western dominion, they despise it and deem it as an opponent and hostile force. Because their long-term goal is to develop an alternate global political system they have intended to destroy the existing supporting powers of the current system. These were the intentions behind the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Because the radical Islamic Movements deem the U. S. has the most powerful supporter of maintaining the status quo they made their first offensive against her. The more will be the support for democracy and capitalism the earlier it will become the target. U.K and Spain are other examples of some rigorous supporters of the democracy and capitalism which, sustained brutal assaults from radical Islamists. Conclusion: Radical Islamic Fundamentalism is indeed a threat to the modern world, but they have their limitations. The radical Muslims are a small faction of the Islamic Mainstream. Though recent events like American led invasion on Iraq has sparked angered among the Muslim youths, the failure of the secular elite leadership of the Islamic world is responsible for turning their eyes to the radicalists. If the World Leader did not take serious measures to pacify the Muslim masses the â€Å"Green Peril† will become deadly truth. References: Bukay, David (2003). Cultural Fallacies in Understanding Islamic Fundamentalism and Palestinian Radicalism, Jerusalem Summit , Retreived from the World Wide Web on April 19th 2007, http://www. jerusalemsummit. org/eng/full. php? id=23&speaker=72&summit=32 Millward. Wm. (1993). The Rising Tide of Islamic Fundamentalism, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, retrieved from the World Wide Web on April 18th 2007, http://www. csis-scrs. gc. ca/en/publications/commentary/com30. asp.