Today's Islamic fundamentalism is also a cover for political motifs. We should not overlook the political motifs we encounter in forms of religious fanaticism.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Basically, fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon. In the same way that Hitler evoked a mythological religion of German purity and the glory of the past, the Islamists use religion to evoke emotions and passions in people who have been oppressed for a long time in order to reach their purpose.
Nobody can deny there is a rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
The caricature of Islam as a violent and intolerant religion is horrendously incomplete. Remember that those standing up to Muslim fanatics are mostly Muslims.
In Islamic societies, politicians can manipulate almost everything. But thus far, no fundamentalist leader has been able to convince his supporters to renounce Islam's central virtue - the principle of strict equality between human beings, regardless of sex, race, or creed.
The reality is that Islam is facing a phenomenal rise with regards to fundamentalism. It cannot control it, but what is sure is that neither can European states control and monitor the development of fundamentalist networks in their own territory.
In Iran, fundamentalism was fuelled to an extent by the regime of the Shah being supported by the West.
That's because international Islamic religious fanatics have the same goal as the Axis fascists - the destruction of our way of life.
I'm concerned that Islam has not just been politicised but that it's becoming an identity. This is like turning religion into a football match; it's a distraction from the real thing.
The focus of my research is how secular movements originated in West Asian countries and subsequently changed to pan-Islamic movements. The role of Western countries in this aspect is also a part of the research.
The Muslim world is threatened by religious fanaticism. The Western world is threatened by secular fanaticism.