Islamism, also known as Political Islam (Arabic: إسلام سياسي islām siyāsī), is an Islamic revival movement often characterized by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt "to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life."[1] Islamism favors the reording of government and society in accordance with the Shari'a.[2] The different Islamist movements have been described as "oscillating between two poles": at one end is a strategy of Islamization of society through state power seized by revolution or invasion; at the other "reformist" pole Islamists work to Islamize society gradually "from the bottom up".[3] The movements have "arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence", redefining "politics and even borders" according to one journalist (Robin Wright).[4]
Islamists may emphasize the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law);[5] of pan-Islamic political unity,[5] including an Islamic state;[6] and of the selective removal of non-Muslim, particularly Western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influences in the Muslim world that they believe to be incompatible with Islam.[5]
Some observers (such as Graham Fuller) suggest Islamism's tenets are less strict, and can be defined as a form of identity politics or "support for [Muslim] identity, authenticity, broader regionalism, revivalism, [and] revitalization of the community."[7] Following the Arab Spring, political Islam became heavily involved with political democracy,[4][8] but also spawned "the most aggressive and ambitious Islamist militia" to date, Daesh.[4]
Islamists[9] generally oppose the use of the term, claiming that their political beliefs and goals are simply an expression of Islamic religious belief. Similarly, some experts (Bernard Lewis) favor the term "activist Islam",[10][11] and some (Robin Wright) have equated the term "militant Islam" with Islamism.[12]
Central and prominent figures of modern Islamism include Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Maududi,[13] and Ruhollah Khomeini.[14] Some of these proponents emphasise peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, and those followers are generally considered Islamic extremists.
