Title: Critically assess the Extent to which Modern ‘fundamentalisms’ Are a

consequence Of secularism With special Reference to the Middle Eastern

context
The word 'Secular' is the best-known term to Westerners and often embodied the meaning of
modern. Nevertheless , the term is so obscured to the Muslims that they have rejected it as it
seems repugnant to Islamic principles. Among many Muslims who equated secularism with
atheism. However, the predominant Muslim cult does not think so. On contrary,
fundamentalism is an ideology, which is related to Semitic religions, especially Islam and
Christianity. Fundamentalism is the opposite of secularism.
This essay will critically assess the definition of fundamentalism and secularism and relate how
can fundamentalism be the consequences of secularism. Middle Eastern countries especially
Egypt and Turkey will be taken for the case selection.

A historical account of the term ‘fundamentalist’ by all accounts was used by the Protestants of the
United State in the 19th century as a retort to the unchecked supremacy of Lutherans and Calvinist.
Protestants believed that fundamentalism is more a literal understanding of the scripture than just
figurative reading of the biblical text. For that reason, the example on what they believed that The world
created in six days ought to be accepted without any doubt. Such argumentation became the base of
the social depreciation of the fundamentalist which was followed by the scopes of monkey trail in 1925
(Gierycz, 2020).

Given the retrospective account, now ‘Fundamentalism’, as defined by Almond, “is a pattern of religious
militancy “led by “self-styled true believers”. This can be justified on the ground , when Anthony
Giddens claims that the world has been surrounded by confusion and uncertainty which are bound to be
unraveled by fundamentalist. Similarly ,Mohsin Hamid a Pakistani based journalist wrote a novel “ The
Reluctant Fundamentalist”, in which he describe, a person being fundamentalist if he is radical in his
attitude or beliefs towards a particular thing. The novel depicts that Fundamentalism does not embody
terrorism as characteristics. Hamid said that “you Americans should not imagine that we Pakistanis are
all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you Americans are all undercover assassins.”

Moreover, Karen Armstrong stated that Fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon, considered to be an

ideological fight against the secular state. It is not a violent ideology. But rather fundamentalists prefer
to live a religious life and do not part with any terrorist acts. Although, Religion play its role as survivor
in times of conflict. Keren took the case of Arab -Israel war for justification to his argument. (Armstrong,
2004). Furthermore, Armstrong took the case of religion and politics that the separation of religion from
politics was not an unusual thing to the westerns. As in some cultures, even in the western culture, the
connection between religion and politics has been remained complex , so long. Likewise, He said that
secularism has its adverse impacts on culture when it's not get secularized timely. For example Gamal
Abdel Nasser’s ideas of divorcing religion from politics have had very negative and violent repercussions.
Due to which he has been put behind the bar to torture. Going one step further, Armstrong trying to
justify his arguments opted the case of Christianity and said that Christian Fundamentalist is more
violent and less associative with other fictions of society. Being hostile to fundamentalism, said
Armstrong, would generate negative impact. It is necessary to ease the tension by employing equal
terms while treating the Fundamentalist (Brooking, 2012).
On the other hand, the concept of fundamentalism developed in the USA, earlier in the 20 th century.
Curtis lee laws wrote an article in 1920, that people who belonged to the Christian cult proudly called
themselves “Fundamentalist” which often denotes the opposite meaning of modernism (Brekke,
Ahmad, 2020).

Stave Bruce in his book “Fundamentalism” (2001), stated that separation of church and state led to
diversity and such diversity helped in the progress of the west. Bruce argues not only it was separation
which conducive to the west, yet Rationalization also played a significant role in the development and
modernization of the west.

“The 18th century philosopher took the lead to present the case of rationalization among these the most
prominent John lock, and Roseau.” Writer opinion.

Bruce opined and defined that rationalization is “a process that concerns changes in the way people
think and consequently the way they act”. Similarly, Bruce says that the west has progressed in the
technology and science which played major roles in “demystifying the world”.

Now dissecting the Muslim scholars view regarding fundamentalism. Mourad wahba an Egyptian
philosopher wrote a book “Fundamentalism and Secularization”, which was translated by Robert K.
Bashara, in which wahba traces the historical roots of fundamentalism and secularization and how these
two symbolizes their relationships. Moreover, how these two can be influenced by global capitalism and
predominantly postmodernism. He gave his voice from Islamic perspective and said that
fundamentalism did not arise naturally rather it is a complex phenomenon, which is kinked to
modernationzation in independent countries. Wahba seems equally against the religious
fundamentalism, which, he regarded, is impediment in way of secularization and democracy (Wahba,
2022).

Now debunking the other aspect of the topic which is secularism.

“Secularism” is progressive oriented phenomena often linked with democracy and capitalism.

The historical roots of “Secularism” dates back to 18 th century European state. Primarily, the words
“Secularism” was introduced by Holyoake.

Certain reasons can be attributed to the decline of church and the acceleration of modernism. Firstly,
The state vs church skirmishes were continued for undated period resulted in the relative decline of the
church authority. For example, The dispute between the Emperor of the Roman and the king of the
papacy resulted in the ousting of the former in 1270 A.D. Secondly, The conflict was exacerbated over
the tax of the church as there the rule prevailed about the exemption of the church from taxation.
Thirdly, church enjoy unrestricted authority, which it deemed fit to interfere in the political affairs of the
state more often than not. However, medieval scholars came to the fore front and curb the church’s
authority in the political affairs of the state (Rajput, 2022).

Basically, secularism is an ideological institution which supervises human conducts. As Asad’s said, “it
is a major assumption of this study that ‘the secular’ is conceptually prior to the political doctrine of
‘secularism,’ that over time a variety of concepts, practices, and sensibilities have come together to
form ‘the secular”(Scherer,2010).
Similarly, Charles Taylor, in his new book “A Secular Age”, has suggested a genuine case about the
development of a secular age that acquires and perfects the Christian. The same thesis as Hegel
appears to have developed in his lectures on the philosophy of history, which describe that:

“the final stage in History, our world, our own time,” is one in which “Secular life is the positive
and factual manifestation of the Spiritual Kingdom,” furthermore, such that “what has
happened, and is happening every day, is not only not ‘without God,’ but is essentially His
Work.”

Probably, it is a gap of two hundred years between Hegel and Taylor; both have tried to figure out
the secularism relations to Christianity, west and finally to modernity. Which finally resulted in the
Kantian secularism, However, Kantian secularism focused on reason and tries to separate 'Secular
reason' from 'Religious traditions'(Scherer, 2010).

Likewise ,Stave Bruce, a sociologist advances his thesis of 'Secularization' according to

which “processes of gradual secularization have been the significant and central to the
historical development of the western world, and have been driven by modernization.
“moreover, Bruce said that such process is “Irreversible”.

The thesis which he presented have been criticize on the ground that it lacks authentication
and vigorous sociological support.

Bruce stated:

“if a church defined its role in such a way that were meant to curb the role of supernatural
(for example rejecting that everything in the Bible is literally true) that is defined as 'Internal
Secularization” furthermore, Bruce rejected Grace Davie’s claims of “European
exceptionalism” (Bruce,2011).

Now analyzing the myth of Egyptian secularism firstly.

In the 19th century, Britain occupied the Suez canal and had already increased its
stronghold on Egypt. 'Elite Egyptians' hailed modernization of the British, while moderate
Egyptian were of the view that modernization and Islam should remain separated to each
other.

The most influential personality of Islamic modernism was Jamal Al -Din Afghani. He
believed in what had been deemed as threatening to the Muslim faith such as Western
ideas and social norms. He believed that a revival of Islamic civilization likely come true if
the Muslims follow and adopt economics, politics, and technology in a way that is not
repugnant to Islamic practices and faith (Menaldo, 2014).

Similarly, Another most influential personality in this regard was Sayed Qutb’s. He advance
his view by citing different examples. As he said that the US materialism prioritized material
gain over spiritual purity, which led to societal turmoil and a subjugated heartsickness. As a
result, the American society lacked in peace of mind due to acquisitiveness motivated by
ambition and a desire to advance socially. Qutb believed that, with the abnormality of
technological advancement, the political and moral framework of the West weakened and
remain far behind. Despite writing about individualism and liberalism, he came to the
conclusion that Americans were driven towards 'Epicureanism' by their preference for
individual freedom and secular politics. He thought that Islam as a worldwide religion and a
return to God were the only answers to the downgraded shape of human life
(Menaldo,2014).

A retrospective account of Egyptian fundamentalism, which resulted in secularism started with Shaykh
Hassan al Banna, who inaugurated The 'Muslim Brethren' in 1928 as an Islamic opposition to the staunch
secular nationalist groups which had forgotten to acquire Egypt's liberation from British rule. Banna
facilitated an 'Islamist fundamentalism' and called for the establishment of an Islamic Egypt. However,
he was also subject to criticism of being importing political organization and propaganda strategies from
Europe, which are bound to inflict a thunderstorm on the Brotherhood in Egypt. All around the Arab
world, the Brotherhood extended its tributaries. After the World War ii, it escalated the level of violence
in its hostility to the British and the monarchy, which were supposed to have been funding and
supporting other acts of widespread violence. (Riedel, 2011).

In 1952, the decline of Egypt's sovereign, Farouk, paved the way for the 'Brotherhood' and Nasser's
revolutionary party, a military general came into power. Instead of dividing up political authority, the
regime preferred to choose 'Brotherhood'(Menaldo, 2014).

As a reluctant fundamentalist and strong advocate of Muslim brotherhood and particularly the believer
of Arab unity, Nasser propose firstly a strong tie among the Arab countries and then he establish a half
hearted relationship with communist Russia. During the swizz war in 1956, the seemingly victorious
Nasser got more ambitious. The establishment of Palestine liberation organization is one of the best
suited example in this regard (Lowe,2005). Nonetheless, one account also regard, The leaders of Al
Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri, were initially associated with the Brotherhood during
their political careers. (Riedel, 2011).

Sayyid Qutb reached to the stunning finding that although Nasser and his class professed to be Muslims,
they did not seem to be so because they upheld synthetic national boundaries while rejecting the global
Islamic community, and they can be controlled by human laws rather than divine ones. Though Qutb
was hanged in 1966, his most revolutionary views persisted in the growth of takfir-practicing
organizations in Egypt during the 1970s. “Takfir is the practice of declaring another Muslim to be an
infidel based on that person's perceived disobedience to God's law”. Without getting too deep into a
deviation, in the Qutbian conception, religious identity was the only pertinent facet of communal
identification (Singer, 2015).

Adding fuel to the fire, The Qutbian idea of pan-Islamism failed in Egypt due to the overwhelming force
of the country's repressive institutions. The Qutbian school of thought leaders in this regard transitioned
to Afghanistan in the late 1970s. In the wake of the 1979 Soviet invasion, they joined forces with local
Afghani leaders to oppose the Soviets and found common ground with ideological sympathizers from
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Palestine, and other places. In this setting, Afghan Arabs endeavored to establish a
Pan-Islamic paradise that was based on the use of religiously motivated violence to forge an Afghani
political community that prioritized Islam (Singer,2015).

Political initiatives that were employed within the confines of the territorially defined nation slowly
attained traction as more Middle Eastern states gained political independence as nation-states. Some of
these involved a staunchly secular nationalism that restricted all religious emblems and practices to the
privacy of homes. Most importantly, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, the founder of the Modern Turkish
Republic, even insisted on employing the Latin alphabet to compose in Turkish rather than the Arabic
one to distinguish the 'secular republic of Turkey' from its Islamic Ottoman past. Ataturk was a radical,
but he wasn't the only one. Similarly, Many Secular-nationalist governments came to power under the
Pahlavi family in Iran starting in 1925, the Free Officers movements in Egypt in 1952, and the
establishment of the Republic in Iraq in 1958. While secular nationalist regimes contended that there
was a distinct line separating Islam from the secular nationalist cause, the reality on the ground
challenges this distinction. In similar vein, rather than outright removing religion from the public
educational system, religious education was taught inside it in ways that complemented state policy. So,
on the one hand, it is evident that political identification originated before religion. On the other hand,
it's crucial to keep in mind that state elites in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and other countries actively participated
in using religion to define their national communities, despite assertions to the contrary (Singer, 2015).

On the other hand, the case of turkey is different with regard to Egypt. Turkey was Muslim state run by
a 'khalifa' before Atatürk's "revolutions”. After the abolishment of caliphate, Ataturk established a
secular state, which is continue to be praised in Turkish books. A year after the establishment of the
republic in 1924, the caliphate an institution that had served as a representation of Muslim political
authority since the time of the Prophet Mohammed was abolished. Slight evidence of organized religion
was left behind after the "Ministry of Sharia" was disassembled, Sufi groups, traditional madrasas
(Islamic schools), and mosques were put under government supervision. Government officials were
required by law to wear brimmed hats with a European aesthetic instead of the 'Ottoman fez’. The
Arabic alphabet was exchanged out for the Latin, and the Islamic calendar was substituted with the
Gregorian one. Both the teaching of Arabic and the performing of Turkish music for a spell in the 1930s
were outlawed (Akyol, 2019). Such so-called "revolutions" were inspired by a belief held by the
Kemalists:

religion, and especially Islam, was a "obstacle to progress." The Kemalists argued that “religion belonged
in the "conscience of individuals" and not in the public domain, even if they did not declare themselves
to be anti religious”. According to Mustafa Kemal and his allies, Ottoman culture and politics were
influenced by Islam, according to Turkish political scientist Binnaz Toprak:

“The new republic would implement a number of changes to free the women and eradicate Islam's
dominance in public policy, legislation, and administration. The folk Islam, which they discovered to be
the driving force behind the widespread ignorance of logical thought, had to be outlawed at the same
time in order to establish a new nation of people who would be led by positivist concepts of reason”.

Akyol noted in his article “Turkey’s troubled experiment with secularism” that Nationalism, as well as
Kemalism’s are fundamental pillars, has obtained virtually universal acceptance in Turkish society, with
the exception of the Kurds, the country's largest ethnic minority. (While other non-Turkish Muslim
ethnic minorities, such the Arabs, Circassians, Bosnians, and Albanians, integrated into the broader
Turkish body, the majority of Kurds maintained a distinct ethnic identity and reacted to the state's
suppression of it.) who frequently depict 10% of the electorate? Nationalism remains the most potent
political ideology in Turkey today.

Contrary, Kemalist secularism, however, has had a very minor impact on Turkish society, primarily the
urban population, supported the Kemalist cultural revolution and adopted the role of its self-appointed
protectors in order to preserve it for future generations. The majority of Turks, however, were against
Kemalist secularism. Election outcomes have regularly demonstrated this since the first free and fair
elections in 1950. The majority of Turks consistently cast their ballots against candidates who were
adamantly secularist (Akyol, 2019).

Ahmet Kuru, a political science professor at San Diego state university stated that “The previously
tenuous division between Islam and the state has been weakened by the present Islamist populist
leadership in Turkey. Islam becomes a tool of political demagoguery and oppression without such a
barrier. Right-wing politicians in Turkey use Islam to manipulate the Muslim population by playing on
their religious sentiments. Furthermore, given that Islamic law has numerous historically established
regulations that restrict women's rights and freedom of speech, Islam has been employed in a number
of nations as a means of restricting liberties”.

To conclude the essay, it is worth mentioning that a number of factors have impacted the increase in
fundamentalism. Attempts to impose foreign ideas, concept of separation of church and state,
commercial and military aggressiveness, claims of moral depravity in secular regimes, and a lack of
moral leadership are a few examples. As Samul P. Huntington rightly noted in his book “ Clash of
civilization and Remaking of the world order” (1996)' that there several fault line amongst the nations
which are said to be the major cause of conflict, and also help in transitions from one ideology to
another. Likewise argument has been put forward by Tariq ali in his book “Clash of
Fundamentalism”(2002) , in which he stated that Muslims fundamentalism aroused mainly against the
atrocities of the west. In this regard he cited the example of 9/11. After which America have rocked
certain Muslims countries.However, Secular nationalism and Islamist nationalism might be viewed in
this context as ideological relatives as well as political rivals. Though they disagree on a number of
important points, most notably on how the political community should define itself. Additionally, they
share the following perspectives on how citizens of these nations should treat them: Industrious citizens
are expected to strive for the advancement of the political community while being submissive to the
authority of the government.

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