The Rise and Causes of Islamic Fundamentalism in Middle East

This essay examines the causes and rise of Islamic fundamentalism within the context of Middle Eastern politics. It begins by defining Islamic fundamentalism as a religious movement characterized by a return to fundamental principles and intolerance of other views, distinguishing it from the broader Islamic religion. The paper argues that the support for Islamic fundamentalism stems from the social conditions in the region, including resentment towards oil industries, exploitation by the United States, and the failures of Arab ruling elites to address these issues. It discusses the historical attempts by communist and socialist parties to overthrow capitalism and their subsequent failures, which created a vacuum for right-wing Islamic extremists to gain influence. The essay further explores how Islamic fundamentalism has exploited the frustrations of the masses due to the inability of Arab governments to solve socioeconomic problems, using examples from Egypt, Algeria, and Jordan. It concludes that extremist Islamic fundamentalism has emerged as a result of the crisis in the region and the failures of both left-wing movements and capitalism, emphasizing the need for rebuilding mass socialist parties to counter its influence. The essay also highlights how some extremist groups use religion to achieve political goals, including terrorism, and discusses the impacts of Islamic extremism on tourism, internal terrorism, and regional stability.

Running head: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
Islamic Fundamentalism
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
The term Islamic Fundamentalism has become prevalent by the western media. In
order to understand the fundamentalism is very necessary to define it at first. The Islamic
fundamentalism refers to the religious movement or the view-point that is characterised by a
return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles and often by the
intolerance of the other views and opposition to secularism. This Islamic Fundamentalism has
begun in the last 1500 to 200 years in the 1400 years of the existence of Islam1. However, it is
also to note that the Islamic Fundamentalism has nothing to do with Islam religion, it is just
one of the means of using the name of Islam for their own agendas. This paper is going to
elaborate on the causes and rise of Islamic Fundamentalism, particularly in the Middle
Eastern politics.
The basis of support for the thorough Islamic fundamentalism cannot be discovered in
the religious doctrine2. Instead, it could only be found in the social condition of the very
region. There was a very deep resentment among the Arab masses towards the oil industries
and companies which extracted huge profits while the ones who did the work could not even
feed their children. The government of the United States also has a long history of exploiting
and dominating the resources and people of the Middle East. Regardless of such a
tremendous oppression, the ruling elites as well as the capitalists of the Arab refused to stand
up to the United State imperialism. Most of the Arab ruling elites were the clients of the
United State imperialism and they subserviently followed the orders of the Washington’s 3.
For example, the Mubarak’s Egypt did not challenge the support of Washington’s for the
Israel as because of the fact that billion dollars of Washington annual bribe.
1 Flower, Scott. "Islam and Papua New Guinea: growth in context." In Islam and Cultural
Change in Papua New Guinea, (2016): pp. 28-39.
2 Eickelman, Dale F. "Trans-state Islam and security." In Transnational Religion and Fading
States, (2018): pp. 27-46.
3 Petras, James. "Imperial Counter-Offensive: Challenges and Opportunities."
In Globalization and Antiglobalization, (2017): pp. 47-62.

2ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
In order to break the stranglehold of imperialism, it was very important to cancel all
the foreign debts and to nationalise the giant multinationals which were at that time
exploiting the resources and the people of the region. As because of the fact that the ruling
capitalists and the elites would not be willing to take those steps since then, the responsibility
had then fallen on the poor peasants and the working class. They in actual, used to be very
strong and powerful communist and socialist parties in most of the countries of the Middle
East region which fought against the oppression and poverty. There used to be many attempts
by the Arab masses for overthrowing the concept of capitalism. Some of the best example of
it to note is that in Iraq in the year 1959, In Syria and Algeria in the year 1960, in Iran in the
year 1979 etc4. However, each of the opportunities was entirely misused and wasted by the
secular nationalist of Arab as well as by the Stalinist Communist Parties that have then
subordinated the struggles of the peasants and workers to the interests of the Arab capitalists
and the Soviet foreign policy. During the collapsing of the Stalinist states in the year 1989 to
1991, the communist parties started disintegrating. They had then looked to all these regimes
as some of their model of socialism. Finally, the defeat of the communism as well as the
failure of the left in delivering on its promises have then confused many of the people and led
them to look for other available solutions and into this vacuum, the right-wing Islamic
extremists then stepped in. While they were then still one of the minority groups. They have
significantly grown in influence. The suffering of the people in Arab on the US and in the
rich kings of Arab as well as the dictators who had then collaborated with the US
imperialism, they have all been able to tap into the emerging anger in the society5. Some of
the key factors to mention in this context are the relations and links to the traditional rules,
4 Taji-Farouki, Suha. "Islamic state theories and contemporary realities." In Islamic
Fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 35-50.
5 Sukarieh, Mayssoun. "The Rise of the Arab Youth Paradigm: A Critical Analysis of the
Arab Human Development Report 2016." Middle East-Topics & Arguments 9 (2017): 70-83.

3ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
landlords, the tribal leaders and the armed power through their militias who are financed by
the reactionary Arab regimes and for a period, the United States.
Islamic Fundamentalism has no logical or rational program for solving the social and
economic problems that were been facing by the Arab masses. Also, it is absolutely no
concrete plans for providing living wage jobs, health care facilities, housing facilities,
democratic political institutions or industrial developments. Nevertheless, in the utter absence
of any kind of alternative movements that were then supposed to be capable of leading a
struggle for changing the society, the Islamic extremism has been then able to take the root as
the one and only radical and absolute alternative.
The background and history of the Middle East region shows that the Islamic
Fundamentalism has only developed out of a deep crisis of the regions under left and the
inability of the capitalism for developing society6. For countering the influence of the Islamic
fundamentalism as well as to overcome the issue of terrorism, there was high need for re
building mass socialist parties in the Middle East region which were prepared for
overthrowing the ruling cliques and the landlordism.
However, while the general trend of returning to Islam is objectified at correcting the
society in a step by step manner and to instil all the values of the religion as one of the way of
life, the extremist Islamic organisation have then turned the phenomenon into a lever for
fulfilling the political aims, whether by means of democratic process for gaining power
through legal means or through any other illegal means such as terrorism etc. Today, Egypt
has been threatened by the Islamic Fundamentalism on both the political as well as personal
6 Spring, Úrsula Oswald, Hans Günter Brauch, Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald, and Juliet
Bennett. "Introduction: Regional Ecological Challenges for Peace in Africa, the Middle East,
Latin America and Asia Pacific." In Regional Ecological Challenges for Peace in Africa, the
Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific, pp. 1-15. Springer, Cham, 2016.

4ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
levels7. Within Egypt, the outcomes of Islamic extremism are mainly felt in the damage to the
tourism and through the internal terrorism prevailing in the region. The authorities of Egypt
are aware of the dangers that are been brought in by the Islamic extremism on the regional
plane and that is felt in the threatening connection in between Iran and Sudan along with the
consequences of the current events in Algeria. During the last months, the confrontation in
between the radical Islamic and the Egyptian security forces has significantly intensified8.
Majority of the actions of the government have been focused in Upper Egypt and it is because
of the fact that in that region, there are many terrorist operations that are been directed against
some of the specific individuals, most significantly the tourists. In addition to these, the
Egyptian security forces have also uncovered an assassination list comprising of many other
spiritual and political leaders.
One of the other notable examples of such is of Algeria. Algeria in Middle East have
been proved to be weak link among all the Maghreb nations because of its vulnerability to the
actions and activities of the Islamic extremists. This country is politically vulnerable to the
growth of Islamic fundamentalism as it was described by the attempt of one of the Islamic
political party for winning power by means of democratic elections. Furthermore, it is also to
state that against the backdrop of one of the worsening economic condition and inspired by
Khomeini revolution of Iran, the Islamic fundamentalism movement in the country Jordan
has occupied huge strength during the 1980s9. This has resulted in achieving of a huge
number of political successes by the Muslim Brotherhood. In the parliamentary election of
1989, they won more than one third of the total seats, brought about the election of one of
their members as a speaker in the parliament and has consolidated their strengths in the
7 Azzam, Maha. "Egypt: the Islamists and the State under Mubarak." In Islamic
Fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 109-122.
8 Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence. Vol.
13. Univ of California Press, 2017.
9 Choueiri, Youssef. "The political discourse of contemporary Islamist movements."
In Islamic fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 19-33.

5ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
campuses and in trade union movement. To an extent, Hussein has now allowed brotherhood
to integrate into the framework of legitimate politics. Despite of this, the country government
has been also very closely monitoring all their activities and has not even hesitated to seize
the activists against the state. Not only this, the authorities have also arrested many of the
parliament members from the Islamic factions who were suspected of subversion. In the
recent times, particularly the events in Algeria, the organisation has decides to engage itself
in the Lebanese politics. In the most recent Lebanese Parliamentary elections, the
representatives of Hizbollah have succeeded in occupying twelve seats in the parliament10.
The political party, el-Daawa is the main occupational body and it has been forced
underground. Most of its members were also executed in the early 1980s because of an
assassination attempt that was made against the Information Minister of that time.
To conclude, it can be said that the extremist Islamic fundamentalism has emerged
during the last few years as a by-product of the rise in the strength of Islam throughout the
Middle East (the Muslim and the Arab world). These movements have developed in the
countries in question as because of the stagnant economies, stagnant economies, social
instability and unemployment. Islamic fundamentalism has exploited the frustrations of the
whole masses because of inability of the Arab governments for solving the present socio-
economic problems. While the main motive of the movement was to impart religious values
as a way of life and for persistently correcting the society, the militant groups of
fundamentalism seek to realise the political goals under the cape of religion.
References:
Achcar, Gilbert, and Michel Warschawski. 33 Day War: Israel's War on Hezbollah in
Lebanon and Its Consequences. (2015).
10 Achcar, Gilbert, and Michel Warschawski. 33 Day War: Israel's War on Hezbollah in
Lebanon and Its Consequences. Routledge, 2015.

6ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
Azzam, Maha. "Egypt: the Islamists and the State under Mubarak." In Islamic
Fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 109-122.
Choueiri, Youssef. "The political discourse of contemporary Islamist movements." In Islamic
fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 19-33.
Eickelman, Dale F. "Trans-state Islam and security." In Transnational Religion and Fading
States, (2018): pp. 27-46.
Flower, Scott. "Islam and Papua New Guinea: growth in context." In Islam and Cultural
Change in Papua New Guinea, (2016): pp. 28-39.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence. Vol.
13. Univ of California Press, 2017.
Petras, James. "Imperial Counter-Offensive: Challenges and Opportunities." In Globalization
and Antiglobalization, (2017): pp. 47-62.
Spring, Úrsula Oswald, Hans Günter Brauch, Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald, and Juliet
Bennett. "Introduction: Regional Ecological Challenges for Peace in Africa, the Middle East,
Latin America and Asia Pacific." In Regional Ecological Challenges for Peace in Africa, the
Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific, pp. 1-15. Springer, Cham, 2016.
Sukarieh, Mayssoun. "The Rise of the Arab Youth Paradigm: A Critical Analysis of the Arab
Human Development Report 2016." Middle East-Topics & Arguments 9 (2017): 70-83.
Taji-Farouki, Suha. "Islamic state theories and contemporary realities." In Islamic
Fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 35-50.

7ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
End Notes
1. Flower, Scott. "Islam and Papua New Guinea: growth in context." In Islam and
Cultural Change in Papua New Guinea, (2016): pp. 28-39.

8ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
2. Eickelman, Dale F. "Trans-state Islam and security." In Transnational Religion and
Fading States, (2018): pp. 27-46.
3. Petras, James. "Imperial Counter-Offensive: Challenges and Opportunities."
In Globalization and Antiglobalization, (2017): pp. 47-62.
4. Taji-Farouki, Suha. "Islamic state theories and contemporary realities." In Islamic
Fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 35-50.
5. Sukarieh, Mayssoun. "The Rise of the Arab Youth Paradigm: A Critical Analysis of
the Arab Human Development Report 2016." Middle East-Topics & Arguments 9
(2017): 70-83.
6. Spring, Úrsula Oswald, Hans Günter Brauch, Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald, and
Juliet Bennett. "Introduction: Regional Ecological Challenges for Peace in Africa, the
Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific." In Regional Ecological Challenges for
Peace in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific, pp. 1-15. Springer,
Cham, 2016.
7. Azzam, Maha. "Egypt: the Islamists and the State under Mubarak." In Islamic
Fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 109-122.
8. Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious
violence. Vol. 13. Univ of California Press, 2017.
9. Choueiri, Youssef. "The political discourse of contemporary Islamist movements."
In Islamic fundamentalism, (2018): pp. 19-33.
10. Achcar, Gilbert, and Michel Warschawski. 33 Day War: Israel's War on Hezbollah in
Lebanon and Its Consequences. Routledge, 2015.