Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization

by Reza Aslan

In the Muslim world, the fusing of religion and nationalism is called “Islamism.” Developed primarily in postcolonial Egypt and India, Islamism is a political philosophy that seeks to establish an Islamic state—either through grassroots social and political activism or through violent revolution—built upon a distinctly Islamic moral framework. Some Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Islamic Action Front in Jordan, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), and Algeria’s Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), are committed to civic, even democratic, participation in society. Others, such as the Taliban in Afghanistan, Islamic Jihad in Egypt, and the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA), wish to overturn their governments through armed revolt.