Islamism and moderate Islam: ideological differences and interpretations of jihad

Islamists and Moderate Muslims

Islamism is an extreme fore of Islam, in which the adherents focus only on the Muslim way of life to the exclusion of all else. According to Daniel Pipes, this ideology requires that outside influences be rejected as far as possible. Islamists see it as their tasks to eradicate what they see as all the forces in the world that oppose them, and to create a purely Islamic state. This ideology particularly manifests itself in a hostility towards the West.

In order to accomplish the eradication of all that is "evil" in the world, i.e. everything non-Muslim, Islamists adhere to the concept of "Jihad," or holy war. This concept is interpreted as the directive to physically destroy, as far as possible, or at least to eradicate the non-Muslim world. Islamism is then often a violent ideology that focuses on the destruction of everything it perceives as a threat to itself.

Islamism is therefore a radical form of a religion that has become a social and political ideology. Like a political system, it does not require religious faith to impose its rules on all within its rulership territory. In contrast to Islam as religion, Islamism attempts to manifest itself via the violent power of Jihad.