Islamic Fundamentalism Essay

20 March 2007 Introduction On kinfolk 11, 2001, the unite States of America experienced the shoot act of terrorism ever perpetrated on American soil, as major targets in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania were the scenes of the gigantic slaughter of innocuous civilians. From the moment that the disclose elevateth act commenced, the rumor mill flew into overdrive, hands down blaming the terrorism on activist Muslim people, and implying that this movement had suddenly sprung up divulge of obscurity to strike at the emotional state of America like a robber in the night.The reality is much more than complex, for fundamentalist Islam has a much yearlong history, and the threat it continues to pose to tungstenern majority rule, raze straight off, had been growing and mutating for generations prior to 9/11. In this paper, the very definition of fundamentalism at its generator will be presented, as puff up as the perversion of it that has led to the challenges and threats the westward now has come to bear. grow of originalism.To begin, whiz needs to understand two very different and specific terms chase of Islam and Moslem Fundamentalists, as the two groups argon vastly different, yet both aver legitimacy under the same doctrine. In its purest form, Islam is based upon the ancient teachings of the prophet Muhammad, who was give tongue to to become been given the Quran, or sanctum sanctorum book of Islam, by God himself, with Muhammad as the messenger and deliverer of the Quran and its teachings to the citizenry (Davidson).If one were to follow the teachings of Islam in a more traditional sense, as Muhammad is utter to score received the word from God, they would be peaceful, obedient servants of God, and Muhammad, thereby enriching their lives, raising self-colored families and leaving the world a offend place than what is was when they were born into it. Eventually, however, political tumult distorted this message and gave rise to a strain of Islam that is known as Fundamentalism or Extremism, depending upon the source of the material.This interpretation of Islam and the Quran takes the obstinate view that those who do non deal in Islam, and follow the Quran, argon characterized as Infidels, and the price of their infidelity to Islam is death. Of course, the Christian ideals of the West make America a satisfactory target of this grade of massive hatred, exclusively this hatred has also been fueled over the years by Americas defense of other enemies of the fundamentalists/extremists such(prenominal) as the people of Turkey and Israel (Mustikhan).Eventually, the rage of these Moslems would demote against the US on a crowing scale, beginning in the 1970s. The Islamic Terrorist is natural It is generally agreed that those who ar today termed Islamic Terrorists were first given that sobriquet by the West in 1979, when the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran was seized by terrorists, taking hundreds of American diplomats and their support staffs hostage in a siege that ultimately lasted 444 days, and brought the United States to the doorsill of war with Iran.The group of Iranians and assorted others who were in essence the foot soldiers who undertook the plot, led by the extremist leader Ayatollah Khomeini, came to be called Islamic Terrorists (Hoveyda). From there, the stereotype of what a terrorist is, and their potentiality to sour havoc on innocent people, began to grow in the minds of the world community. Threats to western sandwich democracy Due to the widespread presence of Islamic Extremists/Militants, the threat to Western democracy has capture very real, and of course has manifested itself in such tragedies as the Iran Hostage Crisis and 9/11. presumption the humble beginnings and admirable teachings that are give in the Quran, and were exhibited by Muhammad and carried down by his disciples, it is a wonderment as to barely how/why Islam eventually sp awned a militant f execution which goes against the openations of the faith itself. In a word, the violent offshoot is the byproduct of fanaticism. Fanatics are those members of the Islamic community who go interpreted the position that any government, or holiness (in their mind, they should be one in the same) that does not practice the teachings of the Quran are the equal of parasites that must be eradicated for the good of the homo race.The defense of this attitude, and the resultant violence which comes out of the attitude, is due to misinterpretation of the Quran, hence qualification these individuals worthy of the extremist label. Because the Islamic Extremists have convinced themselves that they are doing the will of God, as laid out in their yeasty interpretation of the Quran, there quite literally is no occasion fish fillet them from continuing to ground attacks against the Western Democracies, as well as other infidels who hold views and practice lifestyles which are contrary to theirs.One particularly deject reality of the threat against Western Democracy is the fact that Islamic Extremists, while found in large numbers in some nations more commonly than others, really do not have a nation with borders, do not strike down an identifiable flag, or wear a uniform that indicates that they are Islamic Extremists, despite what the leadership of the United States may film to claim in the present day. Rather, the Extremists have the ability to move freely close the globe and do not have a set territory where nonionic armies can pursue and battle them.This sort of an invisible threat, not centered in a geographic location besides highly organized and well financed as well as armed to the hilt, holds the potential to destroy their enemies, such as the Western Democracies, which are somewhat restrained by physical borders and the need to engage in conventional warfare. Because of this, the paradox is clear- how can an competitor be fought if it cannot be readily seen or tracked? Also, the inability to negotiate with Islamic Extremists closes another avenue of resolving differences and stopping the bloodshed.Conclusion- What is the Future Threat? This paper has shown that Fundamental Islam has the means, mindset, and determination to bring Western Democracy to its knees, as well as the commove of annihilation. What this will mean for the future is anyones guess but one thing is for sure- without some sort of decisive action against Islamic Fundamentalists, many more innocent lives may be lost, and hard lessons may be learned too belated and at too high of a price.Works CitedDavidson, Lawrence. Islamic Fundamentalism. Westport, CT Greenwood Press, 1998. Hoveyda, Fereydoun. The upset(a) Crescent The Threat of Militant Islamic Fundamentalism. Westport, CT Praeger, 1998. Marin-Guzman, Roberto. Fanaticism A study Obstacle in the Muslim Christian Dialogue. the Case of Twentieth Century Islamic Fundamentalism. Arab Studie s Quarterly (ASQ) 25. 3 (2003) 63+. Mustikhan, Ahmar. The Roots of Islamic Extremism. World and I July 1999 74.