[6][7] Some 20th century preachers and writers sometimes dubbed Islamic fundamentalist include Sayyid Qutb, Ibn Saud, Abul Ala Mawdudi,[8] and Israr Ahmed.
"In western usage, these words [Revivalism and Fundamentalism] have a rather specific connotation; they suggest a certain type of religiosity- emotional indeed sentimental; not intellectual, perhaps even anti-intellectual; and in general apolitical and even anti-political.
Unlike their Christian namesakes, the Islamic fundamentalists do not set aside but on the contrary embrace much of the post-scriptural scholastic tradition of their faith, in both its theological and its legal aspects.
It seems to have come into use in the early years of the last century, and it denotes certain Protestant churches and organizations, more particularly, those that maintain the literal divine origin and inerrancy of the Bible.
[27] In contrast, American author Anthony J. Dennis accepts the widespread usage and relevance of the term and calls Islamic fundamentalism "more than a religion today, it is a worldwide movement."
He notes the intertwining of social, religious and political goals found within the movement and states that Islamic fundamentalism "deserves to be seriously studied and debated from a secular perspective as a revolutionary ideology.
"[29] Hassan Hanafi reached the same conclusion: "It is difficult to find a more appropriate term than the one recently used in the West, 'fundamentalism,' to cover the meaning of what we name Islamic awakening or revival.
It defined fundamentalism as "approach, or set of strategies, by which beleaguered believers attempt to preserve their distinctive identity as a people or group ... by a selective retrieval of doctrines, beliefs, and practices from a sacred past.
[34] According to the Arab poet Adunis, the Islamic World experienced an influx of European ideas, values and thoughts during the late nineteenth century.
Meanwhile, Modernists like Muhammad Abduh in Egypt advocated reforms to reconcile with modernity; while emphasizing adherence to basic Islamic ideals.
Its main representatives were the ulema of Ahl-i Hadith movement in South Asia and religious revivalists of the Arab Salafiyya and various anti-colonial trends.
The religious endeavours of the Syrian-Egyptian Salafi scholar Rashid Rida (1865–1935 CE) marks the transition from proto-fundamentalism to the second phase of Islamic fundamentalism.
[40] Influenced by Rida's ideals that campaigned for the establishment of an Islamic state in the aftermath of the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate, popular Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e Islami carried the banner of fundamentalism during the interwar period.
The Brothers incorporated the Salafiyya message into a comprehensive political programme, while the Jamaʿat envisioned an all-out battle against Western influence and culture.
[41] The emergence of the next phase occurred in the context of the de-colonialisation era following the Second World War, during which Islamic fundamentalists were persecuted by authoritarian regimes and became radicalized.
The radical new teachings were epitomized in the treatises of Egyptian Islamist scholar Sayyid Qutb, which elucidated notions such as the return of the Jahiliyya (pre-Islamic barbarity).
In Iran, a radical Shiʿa combination of Khomeini's doctrine of wilayat-i faqih (guardianship of the jurist) and ʿAli Shariʿati's modernist social reinterpretations of the Qur’an would form the ideological basis of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
These groups were seen as a hedge against potential expansion by the Soviet Union, and as a means to prevent the growth of nationalistic movements that were not necessarily favorable toward the interests of the Western nations.
[44] In the contemporary era, the term "fundamentalism" is usually applied to denote these militant Islamist vanguards; although historians like Itzchak Weismann argue that it is more accurate to describe them as its radical offshoots.
Osama b. Ladin and Al-Qaʾida belong to a fourth phase of Islamic fundamentalism, known as Salafi-jihadism, a movement that strives to move the battle against "infidelity" on an international scale; since the turn of the twenty-first century.
Jansen disagrees, arguing that it is more akin to a traditional Muslim state, where a power separation exists between "princes" (umarā) and "scholars" (ulama).
[67] In contrast, Jansen argues that Khomeini came to power by advocating the formation of a system of Islamic government where the highest level of authority is in the hands of the ulamā (see Wilayat al Faqih).
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which represented secular understanding of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, could not be implemented by Muslims and did not accord with the system of values recognized by the Islamic Republic of Iran; this country would therefore not hesitate to violate its provisions.