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FUNDAMENTALISM:
Refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often
religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with
modern social and political life.

Fundamentalism is a broad movement within many religions.

Fundamentalists try to preserve what they consider are the basic beliefs of their
particular religion against criticism by liberal theologians. Many fundamentalists show
little tolerance of any views opposing their own.
The term fundamentalism was first applied to a movement within
Protestantism. At the end of the 1800's, many liberal religious scholars challenged the
accuracy of the Bible. They used historical research to question previously accepted
Christian beliefs. The liberals tried to adjust Christian theology to the new discoveries
in the sciences, particularly those in biology and geology. Between 1910 and 1915,
anonymous authors opposed to the liberals published 12 small books entitled The
Fundamentals. Fundamentalism got its name from these booklets. The authors tried to
explain what they felt were basic Christian doctrines that should be accepted without
question.
Protestant fundamentalism began in the northern United States but it has
gained its greatest strength in the southern states. Protestant groups most affected by
the fundamentalist movement include Baptists, Presbyterians, the Church of God, the
Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal Churches, and organizations within a movement
called the New Religious Right. It also influences independent Protestant churches in
Northern Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa.

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The term fundamentalism is also used to describe conservative trends in

other religious denominations, notably Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.
Fundamentalism in general has taken on a political dimension. Fundamentalists
oppose governments they consider too liberal, or try to win election to political office
in order to represent fundamentalist views and preserve a conservative way of life. In
Israel, for example, the political party Likud has a strong power base among Jewish
fundamentalists. They believe that Jewish scriptures justify Israel's possession of land
claimed by the Palestinian people.
In non-Muslim countries, many journalists and politicians have linked
Islamic fundamentalism to violence and terrorism. In fact, Islam preaches tolerance.
Every Muslim must live according to the teachings of the Quran, the holy book of
Islam. These teachings are considered perfect and must be obeyed. In some Muslim
countries, these teachings have become the basis of a political system based on the
Sharia, the Islamic law governing moral and religious practices in daily life. In Islamic
countries, the leader of a community has a duty to preserve a political order that
promotes Islam, and the community has a duty to obey his authority. However, Islam
also requires its followers to protest against what they see as political and moral abuses
in their societies. In the late 1900's, such protests have led to violence and even
revolution. The Islamic Revolution which occurred in Iran in 1979 deeply influenced
many political developments in both North Africa and the Middle East.
In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) provide a political focus for Hindu fundamentalism. In December 1992, tens of
thousands of Hindu extremists demolished the Muslim Babri mosque at Ayodhya, in
Uttar Pradesh.

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MYTHS & REALITES

The general public and many academics have several preconceived notions
about Islamic Law. One such notion is that Islamic judges are bound by ancient and
outdated rules of fixed punishments for all crimes.
Some contemporary scholars fail to recognize Islamic Law as an equal to English
Common Law, European Civil Law and Socialist Law. A few academics have even
attempted to place Islamic Law into the Civil Law tradition. Other writers have
simply added a footnote to their works on comparative justice on the religious law
categories of Islamic Law, Hindu Law, which is still used in some parts of India, and
the Law of Moses from the Old Testament which still guides the current thought of the
Israeli Knesset (Parliament) today. This survey will attempt to alter some of these
inaccurate perceptions and treatments in both the contemporary literature and academic
writings.
Mohammed Salam Madkoar explains the theoretical assumptions of Islamic Law:

In order to protect the five important indispensables in Islam (religion, life,

intellect, offspring and property), Islamic Law has provided a worldly
punishment in addition to that in the hereafter. Islam has, in fact, adopted two
courses for the preservation of these five indispensables: the first is through
cultivating religious consciousness in the human soul and the awakening of
human awareness through moral education; the second is by inflicting deterrent
punishment, which is the basis of the Islamic criminal system. Therefore
"Hudud," Retaliation (Kisas) and Discretionary ( Tazir ) punishments have been
prescribed according to the type of the crime committed.

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Islamic Law and Jurisprudence is not always understood by the western

press. Although it is the responsibility of the mass media to bring to the world's
attention violations of human rights and acts of terror, many believe that media
stereotyping of all Muslims is a major problem. Bombing at the World Trade Centre in
New York City is a prime example. The media often used the term "Islamic
Fundamentalists" when referring to the accused in the case. It also referred to the
Egyptian connections in that case as "Islamic Fundamentalists.
The media has used the label of "Islamic Fundamentalist" to imply all kinds
of possible negative connotations: terrorists, kidnappers and hostage takers. Since
the media does not use the term "Fundamentalist Christian" each time a Christian does
something wrong, the use of such labels is wrong for any group, Christians, Muslims,
or Orthodox Jews.
A Muslim who is trying to live his religion is indeed a true believer in God.
This person tries to live all of the tenets of his religion in a fundamental way. Thus, a
true Muslim is a fundamentalist in the practice of that religion, but a true Muslim
is not radical, because the Qur’an teaches tolerance and moderation in all things.
When the popular media generalizes from the fundamentalist believer to the "radical
fundamentalist" .To understand Islamic Law one must first understand the assumptions
of Islam and the basic tenets of the religion. The meaning of the word 'Islam' is
“submission or surrender to Allah's (God's) will." Therefore, Muslims must first and
foremost obey and submit to Allah's will. Mohammad the Prophet was called by God
to translate verses from the Angel Gabriel to form the most important book in Islam,
the Qur’an, Muslims believe.

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EXTREMISM:
Extremism is a term used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals
or groups outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed
to violate common moral standards. The term is invariably, or almost invariably,
used pejoratively.

The Quran says ‘

That Qabil, son of the first man Adam, killed his own brother Habil, due to
some personal reason. After that, the Quran declares: 'On that account: We
ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person -- unless it be for
murder or for spreading mischief in the land -- it would be as if he slew the whole
people: and if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole
people. Then although there came to them Our Messengers with Clear Signs, yet
even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land'. (Surah al
Maidah 32)

MYTHS & REALITES:

MYTHS:
This suggests that killing innocents is completely forbidden according to
God's law and that it is a heinous crime. However, human beings have always
acted against and disobeyed this law. They have resorted to killing others for what
they see as their own interests or out of revenge or, as now, and on an increasingly
menacing scale, out of ideological reasons.
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This sort of violence completely overlooks the distinction between innocents

and others and leads to indiscriminate killings. But because ideological
justification is sought to be provided for these killings, it does not prick the
conscience of those who engage in such violence. Their hypothetical ideology
leads these people to believe that the violence that they perpetrate is for the cause
of the truth.

A horrific instance of this sort of 'ideological violence' was that perpetrated

by some communists in the early twentieth century. According to their
understanding of the theory of dialectical materialism, the revolution that they
sought could only come about through killing 'class enemies'. This led to the
massacre of literally millions of people in different parts of the world.

A second, even more frightening form of 'ideological violence' was that

which emerged in parts of the Muslim world in the first half of the twentieth
century. Two Muslim parties were particularly responsible for developing and
spreading this ideology: the Ikhwan ul-Muslimin in the Arab world and the
Jamaat-e Islami elsewhere. A product of the peculiar ideology of the Ikhwan was
the slogan, 'The Quran is our Constitution, and Jihad [in the sense of violent war]
is our Path, and through this we will establish Islam throughout the world'. From
Palestine to Afghanistan and from Chechenya to Bosnia, wherever violence was
resorted to in the name of 'Islamic Jihad' it was all a product of this ideology.

Likewise, the Jamaat-e Islami developed the theory that all the systems
prevailing in the world today are 'evil' (taghuti). It claimed that it was the duty of
all Muslims to struggle to destroy these systems and to establish the 'Islamic
system' in their place. It claimed that this work was so necessary that if by
warning or admonition this did not happen, the followers of Islam should resort to

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violence to snatch the keys of power from the upholders of 'evil' and establish
'Islamic government' across the whole world. The violence that is happening in
Pakistan and Kashmir in the name of Islam today is entirely a result of this
fabricated ideology.

This is the biggest misconception in Islam, no doubt resulting from the

constant stereotyping and bashing the media gives Islam. When a gunman attacks a
mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an
urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiamen rape and kill innocent Muslim
civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith. Never are these acts
attributed to the religion of the perpetrators. Yet how many times have we heard
the words’ Islamic, Muslim fundamentalist, etc.’ linked with violence Politics in so
called “Muslim countries” may or may not have any Islamic basis. Often dictators
and politicians will use the name of Islam for their own purposes. One should
remember to go to the source of Islam and separate what the true religion of
Islam says from what is portrayed in the media. Islam literally means ’submission
to God’ and is derived from a root word meaning ‘peace’ Islam may seem exotic or
even extreme in the modern world. Perhaps this is because religion doesn’t
dominate everyday life in the West, whereas Islam is considered a‘way of life’ for
Muslims and they make no division between secular and sacred in their lives. Like
Christianity, Islam permits fighting in self-defense, in defense of religion, or on the
part of those who have been expelled forcibly from their homes. It lays down strict
rules of combat which include prohibitions against harming civilians and against
destroying crops, trees and livestock.
NOWHERE DOES ISLAM ENJOIN THE KILLING OF
INNOCENTS….The Quran says: “Fight in the cause of God against those who

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fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love transgressors.” (Quran
2:190)
“If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in God for He is the One
that
heareth and knoweth all things.” (Quran 8:61)
War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid
down by the sacred law. The term ‘jihad’ literally means ’struggle’. Muslims believe
that there are two kinds of jihad. The other ‘jihad’ is the inner struggle of the soul
which everyone wages against egotistic desires for the sake of attaining inner.

REALITES:
Our people in Gaza have experienced some of the most
difficult days imagine le, days who se hardness’ and severity are
almost indescribably able; and the enemy was amazed and the
friend delighted by the resolve of a defenseless people against the
savagery of the brothers of moon keys and swine which
manifested itself in the ugliest off forms; and so ugly were their
crimes that they were condemned by groups and individuals
among the Jews, usually bereft of fairness and human emotions.
The aggression against Gaza represents a new holocaust and
another massacre in the continuing series of criminal massacres
which the member s of the Zio-Crusader alliance are w aging
against brothers of ours inn Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia,
Paletine, and else where, and we must interact with everything
that happens to our brothers in Gaza in this context. In addition,
this open-faced aggression and ugly crime against humanity

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coincided with Obamma’s rise to power in America, and there

should be no doubt that Obamma’s approved the Jewish crime
and supported it, ass evidenced by his administration beginning to
receive see curityintelligence and state department briefings the
day after his election last November. The Obamma’s a
administration is an old/new American administration led by a
clique of Zionist Jews and Zionism Christians who respect in a
believer neither kinship or covenant. And responsibility for the
continuation of the suffering of the people Palestinian people
begins in the White House and ends in thee palaces of the leaders
who collude with thee Jews and Christians in suffocating you with
the oppressive blockade and burning you with phosphorous .
Brothers in G a z a and the rest of Palestine: the fact is,
mm ere words aren’t sufficient to describe you’re solve, patience,
sacrifices and heroics.
How can words do justice to a vigilant Muslim
people which for decades has been sacrificing everything
precious and dear in defense of its religion and blood, patiently
and seeking its reward; taking lightly killing, destruction and
displacement; and neither fazed by adversities nor by treason
and desertion.

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