The Quest for the Islamic State: Islamic Fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran

Abstract

I‘slamic fundamentalism’ is a term which has gained wide currency in recent years, both in the scholarly literature and in the media. It is a term created in current discourses on the Middle East and elsewhere which has an identifiable but not strictly limited range of reference. It refers to modern political movements and ideas, mostly oppositional, which seek to establish, in one sense or another, an Islamic state. The model for an Islamic state is sought by these movements in a ‘sacred history’ of the original political community of the faithful established by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina in the seventh century and maintained under his four successors, the rashidun (rightly guided) caliphs (in Shi’i Islam, it is only the rule of one of them, Ali). Identifying the essential elements of this model, and the way in which they can be constructed into a contemporary state and society, varies widely according to different political and ideological positions. I would argue that all ‘fundamentalism’ is modern in that it attempts to reconstruct the fundamentals of an ideational system in modern society, in accordance with political and ideological positions taken in relation to current issues and discourses. Identification of the fundamentals and their combinations are effected in relation to these current political processes. In what follows I shall examine the development of themes and issues in Islamic political discourse and activity in two Middle East countries in which these developments have been prominent and influential, and which provide strikingly contrasting examples.KeywordsModern StateReligious InstitutionReligious CommitmentMuslim BrotherhoodIslamic StateThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.