Islamism: history and modernity

ISLAMISM: HISTORY AND MODERNITY


Abstract: The article provides an analysis of Islamism as a socio-political trend, its numerous social functions, broad public support, deep folk roots are considered, the reasons for its diversity are explained. It is shown that moderate Islamism, unlike radical Islamism, seeks to integrate into the legal political space, and therefore can be an ally in the fight against radical Islamism, as well as strong secular political regimes. The history of the emergence of Islamism from the end of the XIX century is considered: it arose as a response to Western imperialist expansion, the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate.
Keywords: Islam, moderate Islamism, Islamic revival, history, political space, political regime, modernization.
Introduction
The Islamic world covers almost the entire Afro-Eurasia from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, penetrating deeply to the south into sub-Saharan Africa, north to the middle reaches of the Volga and capturing the largest island state of Indonesia, spreading in the basins of three oceans. It is impossible to imagine the modern world without Islam, especially since the number of Muslims is growing rapidly. Muslims now make up over 20% of the world's population (1.7 billion) and are projected to increase to 2.76 billion by 2050, representing nearly 30% of the world’s future population.
The main findings and results
It seems that the economic role of the states of the Islamic world will also increase. Hence the relevance of studying Islamism in all aspects. This is an extremely important task, because Islamism is by no means a superficial phenomenon, it affects the fundamental aspects of the life of Muslims, it is a mass m ovement, the social base of which is wide and ramified. There are almost no countries left in the Muslim world where Islamism has not become an influential and stable factor in domestic and foreign policy. What at the end of the last century seemed to be isolated episodes turned out to be one of the main trends in world politics. And the priority role of Islamism as a factor in world politics will continue for a long time to come.
Islam and Islamism are not synonyms, it is impossible to put an equal sign between them. Islam is one of the main and highly authoritative world religions, rooted in world history, including the attributes of a religious cult and relying on a community of clerics - experts in the Koran, Sharia and other sacred texts.
At the same time, such ministers are most often far from public policy and try to remain within the framework of purely traditional religious activities. On the contrary, Islamism is a relatively young political and social ideology created on the basis of popular religious ideas and practices, which calls for the extension of Islamic laws and traditions to the behavior of the whole society (all Islamic societies or even the whole world). Its conductors are politicians, who usually do not have spiritual education, political groups and parties seeking power and influence on it. Cultists most often do not welcome Islamism, which is, in fact, the Islamic reformation.
And today, Islamic texts and provisions are very often interpreted and put into practice not by the clergy, but by the laity. And this reduces the importance of the Islamic clergy.
Islamism is wrongly presented to many as a kind of growth on the body of Islamic societies. On the contrary, as we shall see, it largely reflects the essence of contemporary Islamic societies, their way of thinking and living.
I slamism is a mass and branched movement. Islamism and Islamist organizations perform many functions in Islamic society: helping the poor, self organizing to solve pressing issues, monitoring morality, organizing spiritual education, medical care and discussing religious issues that concern society, mediation in delivery of money to migrant families, etc.; they also provide an opportunity for talented people to come forward.
Thus, Islamism not only spiritually, but also functionally permeates the social fabric of society. Therefore, even with a strong secular state, a ban on Islamist organizations and repressions against their activists, it is extremely difficult to force it out of society.
After all, it is based on ideas that are understandable to the absolute majority of people, regardless of their level of education, namely, religious-cultural and religious-political. This is another of its advantages over other political currents. Being a grassroots movement, Islamism is also most often an opposition movement, which gives it strength, since criticism of the authorities appeals to the population.
Islamists are at the head of the organization of the struggle for the fulfillment of specific requirements, etc. Therefore, from this point of view, Islamists personify a certain control of society over the power and institutions of society. They also help to convey their protest in a world of injustice to those who can hear it. Thus, Islamism is a broad popular movement.
Thus, when analyzing the situation in the Muslim world, when trying to understand the essence of Islamism and predict its future, it is necessary to take into account: a) the deep roots and mass basis of Islamism; b) the extremely heterogeneous nature of Islamism; c) the fact that in a number of countries (Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia, etc.) moderate Islamists fit into the political system quite well. As long as the Muslim community retains numerous features of the traditional or quasi-traditional, Islam remains one of the main regulators of relations b etween people, as well as between the state and society. Therefore, in particular, interest in it remains as an instrument of political mobilization, which is typical for almost all parties and movements in the Islamic world, including those fighting for democracy.
We hope that as a result of the analysis, we were able to show that the various metamorphoses of Islamism as a very significant phenomenon of the modern world affect the interests of billions of people of all countries, religions and beliefs. In conclusion, we would like to once again emphasize the need for a clear distinction between radical and moderate Islamism, while the latter can become a positive and promising wing of the political system of Islamic countries.
We believe that it is impossible to reduce the danger of radical, terrorist Islamism by forceful struggle against it alone. One can hope that this global threat will subside if moderate Islamism can be separated from it and made the latter more respectable, open, and involved in normal political life.
On the other hand, any kind of interference in the activities of the state, the overthrow of political regimes, the fall of the state order - all this contributes to a sharp increase in radicalism, extremism and terrorism.