Islam Rediscovered
12. Islamic Fundamentalism
~ 220 ~
that there is nothing more destructive than
fanaticism—the
driving
force
of
Muslim
fundamentalism. However, it is not generally
appreciated that Islamic fundamentalism, launched
in the name of Islam, has been dealing a death blow
to the image of Islam as a religion of peace and
mercy. For it is this Muslim fundamentalism which,
today, has converted the image of Islam into one
tarnished by violence.
Let us place this form of extremism in a historical
perspective. At the time of the emergence of
modern western civilization, the greater part of the
world was politically dominated by Muslims. The
Ottoman empire at the western extremity and the
Mughal empire on the eastern border had become
symbols of glory for the Muslim
ummah
. These
Muslim empires came into direct conflict with the
western empires and, in the long run, the Muslim
empires were vanquished. This brought to an end
1000 years of their political supremacy. People in
general tend to accept what they see on the surface,
so that Muslims all over the world came to hold
that, in the break-up of their empires, the upholders
