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:''This article is about the ''term'' "Islamofascism"; for a discussion of the relationship between fascism and Islam, see ]''. :''This article is about the ''term'' "Islamofascism"; for a discussion of the relationship between fascism and Islam, see ]''.


'''Islamofascism''' and '''Islamic fascism''' are ]s and ]s used to compare the ideological or operational characteristics of certain modern ] movements with ]an ] movements of the early ], ] movements, or ]. Organizations that have been labeled Islamofascist include ], the current ],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20060116-100037-9847r.htm | title = Mortal threat | publisher = The Washington Times | date = ]}}</ref> the ], the ], ], and ]. None label themselves fascist, however, and critics of the term argue that associating the religion of ] with ] is both offensive and historically inaccurate. '''Islamofascism''' is a ] and ] used to compare the ideological or operational characteristics of certain modern ] movements with ]an ] movements of the early ], ] movements, or ]. Organizations that have been labeled Islamofascist include ], the current ],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20060116-100037-9847r.htm | title = Mortal threat | publisher = The Washington Times | date = ]}}</ref> the ], the ], ], and ]. None label themselves fascist, however, and critics of the term argue that associating the religion of ] with ] is both offensive and historically inaccurate.


==Application== ==Application==
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== Examples of use in public discourse == == Examples of use in public discourse ==
*"he bombers of Manhattan represent fascism with an Islamic face, and there's no point in any euphemism about it. What they abominate about "the West," to put it in a phrase, is not what Western liberals don't like and can't defend about their own system, but what they do like about it and must defend: its emancipated women, its scientific inquiry, its separation of religion from the state." &mdash; ] in '''', The Nation 2001.
<!-- Link is dead, so this should be re-sourced or deleted: "The idea that there is some kind of autonomous "Islamofascism" that can be crushed, or that the west may defend itself against the terrorists who threaten it by cultivating that eagerness to kill militant Muslims which ] urges upon us, is a dangerous delusion. The symptoms that have led some to apply the label of "Islamofascism" are not reasons to forget root causes. They are reasons for us to examine even more carefully what those root causes actually are." He adds "'Saddam, Arafat and the Saudis hate the Jews and want to see them destroyed' . . . or so says the right-wing writer ]. And he has a point. Does the western left really grasp the extent of anti-Semitism in the Middle East? But does the right grasp the role of Europeans in creating such hatred?" ], author of ''A Brief History of Blasphemy: liberalism, censorship and 'The Satanic Verses'''writing in the ].--> <!-- Link is dead, so this should be re-sourced or deleted: "The idea that there is some kind of autonomous "Islamofascism" that can be crushed, or that the west may defend itself against the terrorists who threaten it by cultivating that eagerness to kill militant Muslims which ] urges upon us, is a dangerous delusion. The symptoms that have led some to apply the label of "Islamofascism" are not reasons to forget root causes. They are reasons for us to examine even more carefully what those root causes actually are." He adds "'Saddam, Arafat and the Saudis hate the Jews and want to see them destroyed' . . . or so says the right-wing writer ]. And he has a point. Does the western left really grasp the extent of anti-Semitism in the Middle East? But does the right grasp the role of Europeans in creating such hatred?" ], author of ''A Brief History of Blasphemy: liberalism, censorship and 'The Satanic Verses'''writing in the ].-->


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*"There's no question that if we were to prematurely withdraw and the march to democracy were to fail, the al Qaeda would be emboldened; terrorist groups would be emboldened; the Islamo-fascists would be emboldened." &mdash; ], press conference, 3/21/2006 . *"There's no question that if we were to prematurely withdraw and the march to democracy were to fail, the al Qaeda would be emboldened; terrorist groups would be emboldened; the Islamo-fascists would be emboldened." &mdash; ], press conference, 3/21/2006 .

*"Islamic fascists... will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom". &mdash; ], in a press conference after ]'s ] uncovered the ], 8/10/2006 .


==Criticism of the use of the term== ==Criticism of the use of the term==

Revision as of 21:52, 10 August 2006

This article is about the term "Islamofascism"; for a discussion of the relationship between fascism and Islam, see Neofascism and religion.

Islamofascism is a neologism and political epithet used to compare the ideological or operational characteristics of certain modern Islamist movements with European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism. Organizations that have been labeled Islamofascist include Al-Qaeda, the current Iranian government, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah. None label themselves fascist, however, and critics of the term argue that associating the religion of Islam with fascism is both offensive and historically inaccurate.

Application

Some writers have used "Islamofascism" to refer strictly to Islamic movements whose doctrines reflect the influence of propaganda promoted by the Nazis, especially the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This includes Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other movements inspired by the writings of Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian Islamist who acknowledged that he was influenced by French fascist philosopher Alexis Carrel. Others have applied it to all highly politicized strains of Islam, including Shi'a radicalism as practised in Iran.

While several modern political and militant organizations describe themselves as "Islamist", none refer to themselves as "fascist." Some view the term as an historically inaccurate metaphor. The term is generally not used to describe historic fascist organizations that had Muslim members. A few scholars have cautiously used the term fascism to discuss certain forms of militant Islamic fundamentalism. (See: Neofascism and religion.)

The more widely used term for politicized strains of Islam that seek to place governments in Muslim countries under the guidance of Sharia law is Islamist.

Islamists do not advocate corporatism, an important component of "classic" fascist governments in Italy and Germany. However, the Islamist idea of Ummah has been compared to the German fascist idea of Volksgemeinschaft.

Historian of fascism, Roger Eatwell, notes that the debate can be traced back to fascism's heyday: "Some made this equation – though in the reverse direction - back in the 1930s. For instance, Carl Jung said of Adolf Hitler in 1939: 'he is like Mohammed. The emotion in Germany is Islamic, warlike and Islamic. They are all drunk with a wild god.'."

Origins and usage

The origins of the term are unclear, but appear to date back to an article, "Construing Islam as a language", by Malise Ruthven that appeared on September 8, 1990 in The Independent, where he wrote:

Nevertheless there is what might be called a political problem affecting the Muslim world. In contrast to the heirs of some other non-Western traditions, including Hinduism, Shintoism and Buddhism, Islamic societies seem to have found it particularly hard to institutionalise divergences politically: authoritarian government, not to say Islamo-fascism, is the rule rather than the exception from Morocco to Pakistan.

The Guardian attributes the term to an article by Muslim scholar Khalid Duran in the Washington Times, where he used it to describe the push by some Islamist clerics to "impose religious orthodoxy on the state and the citizenry".

British journalist Christopher Hitchens used the term "Islamic fascism" or "theocratic fascism" to describe the fatwa declared on February 14, 1989 by Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie over The Satanic Verses, an event that was pivotal in shaping the attitude toward Islamism of Hitchens and several other prominent journalists on the left. Hitchens also used the term "fascism with an Islamic face" in The Nation after the 9/11 attacks, when the phrase spread to the blogosphere, shortened to "Islamofascism." For Hitchens and ex-Marxist Julie Burchill, who also uses these terms, there is a resonance with phrases like clerical fascism used by Marxists.

The scholar Walter Laqueur has also described Islamism as a new form of clerical fascism.

On October 6, 2005 President George W Bush used the term Islamofascism in a speech to the National Endowment for Democracy.

Radio talk show host Michael Savage has used the term "Islamofascism" frequently on his program. The context suggests the invocation of Islam to justify fascist-like activities.

In his 2004 book Power, Terror, Peace and War, Walter Russell Mead invoked a different but related term, which he calls "Arabian Fascism", to describe both secular and Islamic "enemies" of America in the Middle East.

Examples of use in public discourse

  • "What we have to understand is ... this is not really a war against terrorism, this is not really a war against al Qaeda, this is a war against movements and ideologies that are jihadist, that are Islamofascists, that aim to destroy the Western world." Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
  • " attacks serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane. Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom." George W Bush, President of the United States speaking before the National Endowment for Democracy, October 6 2005
  • "Far too many people on the Left are inclined to make excuses for Islamic fundamentalism. They accept its misogyny so long as it doesn’t target Western women. They accept its fascism so long as it is anti-American fascism. We now have a Stop the War coalition led by Islamic fascists and Marxist-Leninists, and much of the Left is silent about it. Acknowledging the horrors of Islamic fundamentalism would sully their consciences, which they want to keep clean for the battle against America ... Much of the Stop the War coalition now actually supports a fascist resistance movement and ignores their Iraqi comrades entirely. You have to look back to the Hitler-Stalin pact for a historical parallel. The concept of fascism is being lost. It’s something you hear about on the history channels. But Islamic fascism is still fascism ... Islamofascism has been ripping through the Arab world, often supported by America, and it should be the Left’s worst nightmare. It’s everything the Left has resisted since the French revolution. To equivocate in the face of it would be an absolute abdication of intellectual responsibility ... " — Nick Cohen, The Observer.
  • "There's no question that if we were to prematurely withdraw and the march to democracy were to fail, the al Qaeda would be emboldened; terrorist groups would be emboldened; the Islamo-fascists would be emboldened." — George W. Bush, press conference, 3/21/2006 .

Criticism of the use of the term

Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle East and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, argues that the term is offensive and tantamount to hate speech, because it is a desecration that is profoundly insulting to Muslims.

"It is hard to see the difference between the bigotry of anti-Semitism as an evil and the bigotry that Medved displays toward Islam. It is more offensive than I can say for him to use the word "Islamo-fascist." Islam is a sacred term to 1.3 billion people in the world. It enshrines their highest ideals. To combine it with the word "fascist" in one phrase is a desecration and a form of hate speech. Are there Muslims who are fascists? Sure. But there is no Islamic fascism, since "Islam" has to do with the highest ideals of the religion. In the same way, there have been lots of Christian fascists, but to speak of Christo-Fascism is just offensive."

Others argue that grouping disparate ideologies into one single idea of "Islamofascism" may lead to an oversimplification of the root causes of terrorism.

"The idea that there is some kind of autonomous "Islamofascism" that can be crushed, or that the west may defend itself against the terrorists who threaten it by cultivating that eagerness to kill militant Muslims which Hitchens urges upon us, is a dangerous delusion. The symptoms that have led some to apply the label of "Islamofascism" are not reasons to forget root causes. They are reasons for us to examine even more carefully what those root causes actually are." He adds "'Saddam, Arafat and the Saudis hate the Jews and want to see them destroyed' . . . or so says the right-wing writer Andrew Sullivan. And he has a point. Does the western left really grasp the extent of anti-Semitism in the Middle East? But does the right grasp the role of Europeans in creating such hatred?" —Richard Webster, author of A Brief History of Blasphemy: liberalism, censorship and 'The Satanic Verses' writing in the New Statesman.

According to New York University professor Chris Matthew Sciabarra, writing about the influence of Sayyid Qutb, "(w)hatever totalitarian echoes one sees in the Qutbian vision, there are distinctions that disqualify the usage of the word "Islamofascism" to describe it, or to describe Islamic fundamentalism in general." See Neofascism and religion.

Others argue that movements characterized as "Islamofascist" are dissimilar to fascist movements of the past. According to Roxanne Euben, a professor of political science at Wellesley College,

"Fascism is nationalistic and Islamicism is hostile to nationalism. Fundamentalism is a transnational movement that is appealing to believers of all nations and races across national boundaries. There is no idea of racial purity as in Nazism. Islamicists have very little idea of the state. It is a religious movement, while Fascism in Europe was a secular movement. So if it's not what we really think of as nationalism, and if it's not really like what we think of as Fascist, why use these terms?"

Islamists, however, consider the community of Muslims, or Ummah, as a nation. The use of the term "Islamofascist" by proponents of the War on Terror has prompted some critics to argue that the term is a typical example of wartime propaganda.

"Islamofascism is nothing but an empty propaganda term. And wartime propaganda is usually, if not always, crafted to produce hysteria, the destruction of any sense of proportion. Such words, undefined and unmeasured, are used by people more interested in making us lose our heads than in keeping their own." —Joseph Sobran, syndicated columnist.


See also

References

Footnotes

  1. "Mortal threat". The Washington Times. 2006-01-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Erikson, Marc. "Islamism, fascism and terrorism". Asia Times. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |acessdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. Nephew, Thomas. "Sayyid Qutb's French connection". Newsrack Blog. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |acessdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Sobran, Joe. "Words in Wartime". Retrieved 2006-04-18.
  5. ^ Stille, Alexander. "The Latest Obscenity Has Seven Letters". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
  6. C. Jung, The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 10. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970, cited in Roger Eatwell "Reflections on Fascism and Religion" in Special Issue of Totalitarian Movements and Politics Religions, 4,3, 200, (Guest eds. A. Pedahzur and L. Weinberg), Religious Fundamentalism and Political Extremism
  7. Scardino, Albert. "1-0 in the propaganda war". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-04-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
  8. "In enemy territory? An interview with Christopher Hitchens". Retrieved 2006-04-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
  9. "Of Sin, the Left & Islamic Fascism". The Nation. Retrieved 2006-04-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
  10. W. Laqueur, Fascism, Past, Present and Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. See extract at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Society/Postfascism_Laqueur.html
  11. ^ "President Discusses War on Terror at National Endowment for Democracy". Retrieved 2006-04-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
  12. Cole, Juan. "The Passion of Christ in the World Religions". Informed Comment. Retrieved 2004-04-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)

External links

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