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These are some of the most important individuals, groups and movements which have lead to the current radical Islamist ideologies:
The Kharijites
An original Muslim dissident movement, this group asserted that Islam had strayed
from the real directives established by Allah, and that most Muslims weren't really
Muslims after all. Economics played a role in their popularity, because the growing
numbers of non-Arab converts to Islam were not being treated as well as Arab Muslims.
Kharijites, however, endeavored to practice what they preached, and promised that
if there was a return to the pure traditions of Muhammad, economic and religious
problems would be solved.
Salafiyya
The school of salafiyya has to do with "getting back to the roots" of Islam
and restoring traditional beliefs and practices. It has at times embraced modernism,
but today the tradition normally opposes any blending of modernity and Islam. Yet
all versions share the premise that the societies in which Muslims now live no longer
apply Islamic principles. True justice and peace are attainable, but only if Islamic
law is fully and rigidly implemented.
Wahhabism
A reform movement which has been restricted mostly to the Saudi peninsula, Wahhabism
sought to eliminate non-Muslim elements which had become popular over the centuries
and corrupted Muslim's beliefs. A second goal was to return Islam to the purity of
its roots - people had been ignoring Islamic obligations, and as a result many Muslims
suffered, especially in the economic realm. The founder was one of the first to use
the term jahiliyya to apply to ostensibly Islamic lands, thus justifying the
use of force to make fundamental changes.
The Mahdi
An Islamic concept of a "guided one" who will restore Islam and bring about
an era of peace, it also resulted in a political movement in the Sudan which has
consequences even today. According to the Mahdi, non-Islamic practices had corrupted
Islam and resulted in hardships for common Muslims. In response, he led a revolt
against the Ottoman rulers which also ended up including Western powers as the enemy
behind those rulers.
Muslim Brotherhood
A social and political movement which started in Egypt in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna for
the purpose of establishing a pan-Islamic state, transcending all current political
and geographic divisions. Like those before him, al-Banna also regarded the West as
posing a fundamental threat to the future of Islam. He felt that even worse than
military campaigns were the attempts to import Western culture and political ideals.
The root of Muslim problems was that the shari'a had not been implemented -
once this was accomplished, everything would be better.
Jamaat-i-Islami
A still-active political party in Pakistan established by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala
Maududi for the purpose of ensuring that Pakistani society fully implenents Islamic
law (shari'a). According to Maududi, secular authorities do not need to be
followed if they are not genuinely Muslim. Revolution against such rulers is not
simply a right, but it is in fact a duty. Jihad was thus placed at the center of
a Muslim's life, taking on a role similar to the traditional Five Pillars of Faith.
Maududi was one of the first people to connect Islam with modern political movements
on a fundamental level.
Sayyid Qutb
A member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Qutb created an ideological basis for political
and even armed resistance to a Muslim government by declaring that any government
which does not completely follow Islamic law is not really Muslim at all. He painted
the world in stark terms of black and white, arguing that any government which relied
upon secular legislation was usurping God's sovereignty. His ideas later bore fruit
in the assassination of Egyptian President Sadat, and the organization responsible
for it included as its members Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, currently in a U.S. jail
for terrorism, and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, currently second-in-command of Osama bin
Laden's terrorist organization.
Jama'at Islamiyyah
Student groups in Egyptian universities during the late 1970s, their members became
radicalized and even violent in their effort to establish Islamic "purity"
on campuses and throughout Egypt. They were often very successful, and was later
shown in Afghanistan, they demonstrated that Islamic goals could be accomplished
through force and intimidation, thus eliminating the need to try and do things democratically.
Al-Da'wa
A magazine published in Egypt by former members of the Muslim Brotherhood, it expressed
a number of fundamental Islamist ideals. Of particular importance is their treatment
of "Jews and Crusaders," allegedly two of the greatest evils facing Muslims
today. Although not the only outlet of Islamist ideas, it was one of the most important,
and it can be used to gauge just what people were thinking and how their ideology
developed. This focus on "Jews and Crusaders" was to have deep, lasting
effects.
Hassan al-Turabi
Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan, al-Turabi worked with the Mahdist party
and was a mentor of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who later became a close aide of Osama
bin Laden. Al-Turabi continued to develop three ideas which have been fundamental
to the Islamist movement: that Islam is a necessary source of identity, that the
current ills in society are due to the failure to implement shari'a, and that
once society is fully Islamic, it will rise up and successfully challenge the West
because Islam is the superior system, coming directly from God. All of these have
strong appeal to Muslims who are inheritors of one of history's great religions and
civilizations, but who currently live in grinding poverty while the West dominates
the world political scene.
Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman
Honored by Osama bin Laden as a "spiritual leader," Rahman was involved
with those who assassinated Egyptian President Sadat and regards violent jihad as
a legitimate means of Muslims to defend Islam against the West. Like many earlier
Islamists, his original concern was with the Egyptian government, and he does not
consider any ruler acceptable who ignores Islamic law. Over time, however, he has
turned his attention to the West as being the greater enemy. He not only justifies
the use of jihad, but is even willing to employ it if it kills innocent people.
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