FUNDAMENTALISM, ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF JIHĀD

INDEX What is fundamentalism? How did the term “fundamentalism” begin? What is Islamic fundamentalism? What is “Jihād”? What is offensive Jihād? What is defensive Jihād?

WHAT IS FUNDAMENTALISM? Fundamentalism is the literal dogmatic interpretation of the sacred texts (or their equivalent, outside a religious context) that is based on these fundamental precepts (typically religious, but not limited to) and rejecting any contrasting ideology.

HOW DID THE TERM “FUNDAMENTALISM” BEGIN? Historically, the term was born in 1909 with the North American Protestantism, which opposed the theories of theological liberalism. Initially, the key concepts regarding fundamentalism were those of a conservative, closed and restricted view of society: exclusiveness, isolation, antagonism, defensiveness, but also, conversely, aggressive against anyone who is not aligned. The term was also used towards people who belonged to the same ideological group but maintained a non radical behavior and attitude, were moderate, open to compromise or would advocate a non-restrictive interpretation of religious truth. The term fundamentalism, which originally referred to the Protestant world, was replaced in the '50s when the major members of the religious sect decided to officially change the name. This term has spread into common usage to identify all those points of view - of thought and practice in the religious world - who insist on a literal interpretation of sacred texts such as the Bible or the Koran, and who have anti-modernist movements in their respective religions.

WHAT IS ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM? The term "fundamentalism" can be traced to the noun used by the militants asāsiyyūn (from the Arabic asās: "basis, foundation") since the birth of the Shiites in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The definition of Islamic "fundamentalism" - often used by the mass media - is neither more nor less than a tautology, because of the difficulty the Islamics have in accepting a way of life in which the mixture between religious and worldly aspects is not, by definition, "fundamental". The Muslims want to give an interpretation of the world based on a link between religious precepts and social order, the state, and ultimately the power, contained in the expression dīn wa dunya, in other words "religion and the world." For a Muslim believer “disbelief" means to reserve the expression of personal faith in a private sphere of his own conscience, without influencing and shaping the outside world on it.

WHAT IS JIHĀD”? Jihād is an Arabic word, ( ǧ ihād in Arabic: جهاد ) which comes from the root that means "exerting maximum effort." The word connotes a wide range of meanings, from the inner spiritual struggle to draw on a perfect faith up to the holy war. The term refers to one of the fundamental institutions of Islam. Today, the term is used in many circles as if it had an exclusively military dimension. Even though this is the most common interpretation of Jihād, it is noteworthy that the word is not strictly used in this context in the Koran, the sacred text of Islam. It is also true, however, that the word is used in several Hadīth contexts in both the military and non-military sense.

WHAT IS OFFENSIVE JIHĀD? The offensive Jihād is to wage a war of aggression and conquer all non-Muslims in order to submit them and their territories to Islamic rule. According to many interpretations including the Encylopedia of the Orient, "the offensive Jihād, in other words the attack, is fully accepted by Sunni Islam", but unlike the defensive Jihād, individual Muslims aren’t forced to participate, while the Muslim community as a whole is.

WHAT IS DEFENSIVE JIHĀD? Most Muslims consider the armed struggle against foreign occupation or oppression by an internal government worthy of defensive Jihād. In fact, it seems that the Koran demands the military defense of the Muslim community under siege. In the colonial era the Muslim population rose up against the colonial authorities under the Jihād flag: Dagestan, Chechnya, the Indian revolt against Great Britain (Indian Rebellion of 1857) and the Algerian war of independence against France. In this sense, the defensive Jihād is no different from the right of armed resistance against occupation, which is recognized by the UN and international law.

CREDITS Bibliography: mondo-contemporaneo_(XXI-Secolo)/ mondo-contemporaneo_(XXI-Secolo)/ Group: Ciulin Manuel, Ferrari Davide, Ferrazzo Michael, Iacumin Jessica, Polonio Giulia