Violent and Non-Violent Political Islam in a Global Context

Abstract

The role played by Islamism, or political Islam, in the contemporary world holds the key to understanding current geopolitical tensions both within the Muslim world and between the West and the Muslim world. This article centres on four books that explore some violent and non-violent manifestations of political Islam and offer analyses of the Islamic State, al-Qa’eda, the Muslim Brotherhood and, more generally, Salafi-jihadism. Political Islam considers Islam to be a totalising entity that should shape the contours of society, culture, politics and the law – that is, it ideally seeks to achieve unity of state and religion ( din wa-dawla). It expresses itself in multiple, and at times interlinked, ways that can encompass, among many others, a largely non-violent gradualist approach to power (Muslim Brotherhood), global terrorist action (al-Qa’eda) and sectarian warfare combined with territorial control and state-building (Islamic State). The aim of this article is to capture some of the multifarious ways in which political Islam manifests itself with the aid of the four books under review. Holbrook D (2014) The Al-Qaeda Doctrine: The Framing and Evolution of the Leadership’s Public Discourse. New York: Bloomsbury. Pantucci R (2015) ‘We Love Death as You Love Life’: Britain’s Suburban Terrorists. London: Hurst. Vidino L (2010) The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West. New York: Columbia University Press. Weiss M and Hassan H (2015) ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror. New York: Regan Arts.

Effectiveness of Interreligious Literacy in Preventing Radical Views in Higher Education: Narrative Inquiry Research

“…The interfaith literacy program in the learning process in the classroom is well implemented in various aspects of material, assignments, methods, and so on is the right strategy in instilling tolerance and openness in students. In addition, this religious studies course should be given at the beginning of the semester and at the end because it can be used as a control for students' attitudes and behavior both in the tertiary environment and when they are involved in society (Bonino, 2018;Freer, 2020). Islamic religious education materials or other religions that are carried out on campus must be packaged or delivered must encourage students' minds to become more open, not more closed or intolerant, so the role of lecturers and policy makers in making the curriculum is very important.…”

“…The internet is the method most often used by parties who want to instill radical views because there are no boundaries and it is relatively fast and easy. The internet is often used by certain parties to spread this radical understanding through text, or videos that contain propaganda or doctrine to invite people to join them (Bonino, 2018;Freer, 2020). Universities have a very vital role in preventing or suppressing this understanding because the majority of groups or parties who spread this radical 160…”

Political Islam as an Incomplete and Contested Category: A Post-Foundationalist Revision

“…Numerous influential definitions of political Islam fall into this category. Political Islam and Islamism, as evident in the aforementioned definitions and many others, are predicated on a central principle, often adopting essentialist approaches (such as Kepel 2002;Roy 1994;Fuller 2003;Lewis 1990), or in relation to another category such as movement (Tu gal 2009b;Bayat 2005;Ismail 2004;Ramadan 2008), ideology (Shepard 1987), nationalism (Mandaville 2003;Roy 2003;Zubaida 2004;Keddie 1969;Cesari 2018), the modern state (Zubaida 2009;An-Na im 2008), religiosity (Mahmood 1994), modernity (Al-Azmeh 2009), violence (Bonino 2018), and so on. Additionally, they are frequently understood in the context of a particular interpretation of Islam, politics, and the interplay between them (Hurd 2008).…”

A comparative analysis of right-wing radical and Islamist communities’ strategies for survival in social networks (evidence from the Russian social network VKontakte)

“…Traditionally, experts classify followers of Islamism into violent extremists (jihadist or salafi-jihadists) and non-violent radicals or even ‘non-violent extremists’ (Bonino, 2018; Schmid, 2014; Wintrobe, 2006).…”