Beware the ideology of Islamism - The Centre for Independent Studies
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Beware the ideology of Islamism

ideas-image-150130-2 The latest spate of radical Islamist terrorist attacks on schools, cafes, offices and other 'soft targets' has again ignited debate about Islam's compatibility with liberal democracy.
 
Some commentators have taken this brutal violence as further evidence that 'there is a problem with Islam' and that it is time to discuss 'Islam's place in the West,' while others have warned against the dangers of 'Islamophobia' and insisted that Islam is a 'religion of peace.'
 
Rather than engaging in a divisive debate about the meaning of modern Islam, attention should instead be turned to the real and present danger posed by the ideology of Islamism.
 
Whether the Islamic faith is liberal or illiberal depends on the attitudes of its adherents. However, a political ideology aimed at imposing an 'Islamic order'–Islamism–is by its very nature at odds with liberal democratic values.
 
In Muslim-majority countries from Indonesia to Morocco, Islamists advocate policies that severely restrict individual liberty. These groups oppose the freedom of women to dress as they see fit, the freedom of sexual minorities to choose their own partners, and the freedom of Muslims to renounce Islam.
 
As demonstrated by examples like Tunisia's Ennahda party–which last year peacefully accepted electoral defeat–Islamist political parties sometimes respectfully play by the rules of parliamentary democracy. But the Islamist's overarching project of remodelling political, social and economic life in accordance with apparently Islamic principles still threatens the liberty of those who do not share their particular brand of religious fundamentalism.
 
Although many Islamist political parties have renounced terrorist tactics as a means of advancing their cause, the expanding ranks of numerous violent Islamist movements make plain that the ideology of Islamism also imperils peace and security.
 
Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq rival the fighting power of the conventional militaries of the Syrian and Iraqi states and will continue to perpetrate and inspire terrorist attacks around the globe.
 
The combination of the rise of IS and the legions of Islamist fighters already active in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Mali, Nigeria and elsewhere suggests that there are at least hundreds of thousands of Islamist militants worldwide.
 
This all too common combination Islamist ideology and a willingness to employ violent tactics in its name makes contemporary Islamism a threat to not just liberty but also life itself.

Benjamin HerscovitchDr Benjamin Herscovitch is a Beijing-based Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.