Islamic Fundamentalism
Islamic Fundamentalism
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Now the aim of the first form of the Islamic
fundamentalism, that of Ibn Taimya is to put an end
to additions and innovations (
bid‘a
) in religious
matters and to replace them with the
sunnah
, the
original form of the Islamic Shariah.
The aim of the other form of fundamentalism is to
put an end to non-Islamic political set-up and
replace that with an Islamic political set-up. Both
the forms of fundamentalism are totally different
from one another. The sphere of the struggle against
innovation (
bid’a
) is confined only to matters of
belief and worship. Violence does not, of necessity,
accompany movements of this nature. Furthermore,
it is aimed at and concerned with the internal
reform of Muslims. Thus, in the relevant activities,
there is no possibility of coming into conflict with
non-Muslims. But so far as fundamentalism of the
other kind is concerned, it has been directed from
the very outset against political rulers, and whether
the inevitable confrontations have been with
Muslim or non-Muslim rulers, by its very nature
such a movement has demanded the use of
violence.
