Proliferation of Islamic Fundamentalism
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Since the late 20th century Islamic extremist groups have proliferated worldwide. This is most noticeable in the Middle East, where such groups have voiced their displeasure of concepts such as democracy and modernity, which are most commonly associated with accepting Western secular beliefs and values. The spread of secularism has caused great concerns among many Islamic political groups. It has been the reasoning for the Islamization of politics and protest, due to the large Muslim majority in the Middle East as well as the region's imperial past. For Islamic countries in the Middle East, there is not necessarily a problem as such with modernity, however, "the problem is when modernity comes wrapped with westernization, with absolutely and utterly rampant materialism".
In the book, Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Arab World(1994), the author N. Ayubi explained what he believes to be the two main concerns of Islamic political movements and extremist groups in the Middle East; 1) the Western belief in a bureaucratic state and 2) the secular values and beliefs associated with concepts such as modernity.
These concerns were exemplified in an interview with the Islamic fundamentalist, Osama Bin Laden who stated, after being asked about the message he wanted to send to the West:
Their presence has no meaning save one and that is to offer support to the Jews an Palestine who are in need of their Christian brothers to achieve full control over the Arab peninsula, which they intend to make an important part of the so called Greater Israel...They rip us of our wealth and of our resources and of our oil. Our religion is under attack. They kill and murder our brothers. They compromise our honor and our dignity and if we dare to utter a single word of protest against the injustice, we are called terrorists.
After the September 11 attacks, the Western media seemed to focus on personalities such as Osama bin Laden for condemnation, and publicize the activities of unknown terrorists into forerunners of "Islamic jihad." This appeared to create the stereotype of Muslims in the Middle East. This appear to result in the grants of prominence to Islamic fundamentalists who might otherwise have been insignificant political characters. Such publicity appeared to legitimise extremist opinions and views which might otherwise have been shunned by mainstream Muslims. However, as John Esposito notes:
The tendency to judge the actions of Muslims in splendid isolation, to generalize from the actions of the few to the many, to disregard similar excesses committed in the name of other religions and ideologies...is not new.
Yet the number of militant Islamic movements ‘calling for an Islamic state and the end of Western influence is relatively small’. Nevertheless, these groups are causing great fear among people in the Middle East and in the West. According to various polls, the majority of world's Muslim want to be governed by Islamic Law (Sharia).
Read more about this topic: Islam And Modernity