Difference Between Islam and Islamism
Islamism is much more than simply an expression of Muslim faith or a desire to safeguard traditional values. In the 20th century, the term Islamism came to apply to a diverse range of social and political movements seeking a wholesale reform of state and society. In the Middle East, Islamism has been on the rise since the 1970s, along with growing religious conservatism in reaction to the economic and political failures of secular governments.
What do Islamists Want?
The basic tenet of Islamist ideology is the regulation of society through the application of Sharia, the Islamic law. Ultimately, Islamists want to establish an Islamic state whose legislation is based solely on religious law. To this end, some Islamists want to capture political power, but many other groups focus on proselytizing, media and charity work, aiming to Islamize the society “from below”.
The trouble is that there is no single codification of Sharia law, and the actual interpretation of Islamic doctrine varies wildly between different Muslim clerics.
There is no universal agreement among Islamists on what exactly should an Islamic state look like, or how to get to that goal.
As a result, the field of Islamist politics is extremely diverse and fragmented. The Islamists in the Middle East today range from moderate political parties that compete with secular groups in democratic elections, to militant groups that use violence against government targets and Western interests.
Below are some of the most common types of Islamist activity:
- Mainstream Political Parties: Moderate Islamism
- The most popular Islamist groups in the Middle East are mass political parties which accept the principle of democratic government. To reach out to voters, Islamist politicians have had to tone down their religious message and focus more on people’s everyday concerns, such as good governance, employment and housing. This brand of Islamism would typically woo conservative voters with emphasis on religious values in education and cultural creation, promising to clear out corruption and moral decay.
The most successful example is Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In power since 2002, Erdogan has overseen rising economic prosperity, earning him solid support in the middle classes and the business community. Other mainstream parties in the region include Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (Freedom and Justice Party), Ennahda Party in Tunisia, Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (no link to the Turkey’s AKP), and the Islah Party in Yemen.
Sometimes referred to as "moderate Islamists", these politicians are in principle willing to work with secular parties and compromise on the traditional goal of Islamist politics, the Sharia-based Islamic state. They are certainly accused of betraying the cause by radical Islamists. On the other hand, many secular critics doubt the sincerity of their commitment to democracy, fearing a hidden religious agenda that will be put in place once the Islamists consolidate their hold on state institutions.
Salafism is a puritanical movement within the Sunni Islam, advocating a return to the way of life as practiced by the first Muslim communities. In political terms, Salafis are an ultra-conservative brand of Islamism. They reject secularism entirely, oppose all Western cultural influence, and want all Muslims to conform to a strict implementation of Sharia.
One of the leading Salafi groups is Egypt’s Nour Party, which captured 25% of the vote in the first elections after the fall Hosni Mubarak’s regime in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Unlike the less radical Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis campaign for the constitution to be replaced entirely with Sharia law, calling for a strict gender segregation in public spaces, wholesale ban on alcohol sale and other practices considered as un-Islamic.
The most extreme form of Islamism calls not only for the immediate establishment of an Islamic state, but advocates violent struggle to bring down governments in Muslim countries and unite all Muslims under one rule. Ideologically, militant Islamist groups claim to be fighting in God’s name through a jihad, a holy war. Hence, this brand of Islamism is often referred to as jihadism.
The strategy used by jihadist groups is a mixture of terrorism in the form of suicide bombings, assassinations and kidnappings, and guerilla warfare against government troops. The most powerful jihadi organization is Al Qaeda. It is focused not only on local insurgencies, such as Syria and Iraq, but also on a “global jihad”, sponsoring terrorist attacks in Western countries.