Islamofascism Totally Explained

Everything about Islamofascism totally explained

ť This article is about the term "Islamofascism"; See the broader treatment of possible relations between religion and fascism in Clerical fascism and Neofascism and religion.

Islamofascism is a controversial neologism suggesting an association of the ideological or operational characteristics of certain Islamist movements from the late 20th century on, with European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism. Critics of the term argue that associating the religion of Islam with fascism is racist, offensive, inaccurate, and totally counterproductive.

Origins and usage

The term is included in the New Oxford American Dictionary, defining it as "a controversial term equating some modern Islamic movements with the European fascist movements of the early twentieth century". and Manfred Halpern's 1963 comparison of "neo-Islamic totalitarian movements" with fascist movements.
   In a 1979 debate with Michel Foucault in the pages of Le Monde over the character of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the French Marxist historian Maxime Rodinson wrote that the Khomeini regime and organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood represented a type of "archaic fascism" ("un type de fascisme archaïque"). Albert Scardino claims that "Islamo-fascism" was coined by Muslim scholar Khalid Duran in a Washington Times piece, where "the word was meant as a criticism of hyper-traditionalist clerics". In 1990 the term was also used by Scottish historian Malise Ruthven who wrote in The Independent that, "authoritarian government, not to say Islamo-fascism, is the rule rather than the exception from Morocco to Pakistan."
   The related term, Islamic fascism, was adopted by journalists including Stephen Schwartz and Christopher Hitchens, who intended it to refer to Islamist extremists, including terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, although he more often tends to use the phrases "theocratic fascism" or "fascism with an Islamic face" (a play on Susan Sontag's phrase "fascism with a human face", referring to the declaration of martial law in Poland in 1981). The terms Islamic fascism and Muslim fascism are used by the French philosopher Michel Onfray, an outspoken atheist and antireligionist, who notes in his Atheist Manifesto that Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution "gave birth to an authentic Muslim fascism".
   Some commentators including Paul Berman and Christopher Hitchens, believe there are similarities between historical fascism and Islamofascism:

rage against historical humiliation;
inspiration from what is believed to be an earlier golden age (one or more of the first few Caliphates in the case of Islamism);
a desire to restore the perceived glory of this age — or "a fanatical determination to get on top of history after being underfoot for so many generations" — with an all-encompassing (totalitarian) social, political, economic system;
exaltation of death and destruction along with a contempt for "art and literature as symptoms of degeneracy and decadence", and strong commitment to sexual repression and subordination of women.
offensive military, (or at least armed) campaign to reestablish the power and allegedly rightful international domination of the nation/community.— Mike Huckabee

"What we've to understand is ... this isn't really a war against terrorism, this isn't 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

"[Islamicterrorist] 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

Support

American author and Nixon speechwriter William Safire writes, "Islamofascism may have legs: the compound defines those terrorists who profess a religious mission while embracing totalitarian methods and helps separate them from devout Muslims who want no part of terrorist means." Christopher Hitchens has also publicly defended the term in Slate, noting along with the fact that he finds the comparison apt, that the names for other forms of religious fascism, like clerical fascism have a less contested existence.

Criticism and controversy

The term, "Islamofascism" has been criticized by Western scholars and journalists alike. One of the world's leading authorities on Fascism, Walter Laqueur, after reviewing this and related terms, concluded that "Islamic fascism, Islamophobia and antisemitism, each in its way, are imprecise terms we could well do without but it's doubtful whether they can be removed from our political lexicon."
   Cultural historian Richard Webster has argued that grouping many different political ideologies, terrorist and insurgent groups, governments, and religious sects into one single idea of "Islamofascism" may lead to an oversimplification of the phenomenon of terrorism. In a similar vein the left-wing National Security Network argues that the term dangerously obscures important distinctions and differences between groups of Islamic extremists while alienating moderate voices in the Muslim World because it "creates the perception that the United States is fighting a religious war against Islam." Other critics, such as former National Review columnist Joseph Sobran, and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argue that it's predominantly a propaganda term used by proponents of the War on Terror. Yet others, such as security expert Daniel Benjamin, political scientist Norman Finkelstein and The American Conservative columnist Daniel Larison, highlight the claim that despite its use as a piece of propaganda the term is inherently meaningless, since as Benjamin notes, "there is no sense in which jihadists embrace fascist ideology as it was developed by Mussolini or anyone else who was associated with the term." Conservative British historian Niall Ferguson points out that this political use of what he calls a "completely misleading concept," is "just a way of making us feel that we're the 'greatest generation' fighting another World War." Harping on the claimed incongruity between the "Muslim World" and "industrial state fascism," American journalist Eric Margolis claims that ironically the most totalitarian Islamic regimes, "in fact, are America's allies."
   The public use of the term has also elicited a critical response from various Muslim groups. In the aftermath of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, George Bush described the fight against terrorists as a battle against "Islamic fascists... [who] will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom". The Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote to him to complain, saying that the use of the term "feeds the perception that the war on terror is actually a war on Islam". Ingrid Mattson of the Islamic Society of North America also complained about this speech, claiming that it added to a misunderstanding of Islam. Mattson did acknowledge, however, that some terrorist groups also misuse "Islamic concepts and terms to justify their violence."
   The controversy surrounding this neologism isn't only confined to the critical commentary of media figures, academics and Muslim groups. In 2007, the conservative writer and activist David Horowitz launched a series of lectures and protests on college campuses under the title of "Islamofascism Awareness Week." At least 40 Universities moved officially to distance themselves from the event Several Muslims and non-Muslims on different college campuses aware of the event came out in opposition to it. The Muslim Student Group at Penn State University, for instance, said it feared "that this Islamophobic program will have hazardous consequences on the Penn State community." At least one campus "Republican" group has also gone on record to distance themselves from the event.
   In April 2008, Associated Press reported that US federal agencies, including the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, were advised to stop using the term 'Islamo-fascism' in a 14-point memo issued by the Extremist Messaging Branch, a department of another federal body known as the National Counter Terrorism Center. Aimed at improving the presentation of the war on terrorism before Muslim audiences and the media, the memo states: "We are communicating with, not confronting, our audiences. Don't insult or confuse them with pejorative terms such as 'Islamo-fascism,' which are considered offensive by many Muslims."

In between: Support of similarity

Author Malise Ruthven, a Scottish writer and historian who focuses his work on religion and Islamic affairs, opposes redefining Islamism as `Islamofascism`, but also finds the resemblances between the two ideologies "compelling," both embracing spirituality and rejecting reason. He compares Islamism first to Marxism but then draws a stronger comparison with fascism.

Further Information

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