“When the blessed Prophet (saws) corrected a brother, he did so with gentleness in his heart. His is the noble example we should aspire to.”

I hope that was not referred to me. If so I’m a bit confused

Salam. It was a plea for Muslim unity and courtesy, not directed at any particular person. A simple reminder to us all that we would do well to remember the beautiful example of the Prophet (saws) more often. That’s all.

“This sinister Nazi mentality is becoming more widespread.”

There are 2 reasons why there is an inevitable overlap between Islamophobia and racism:

1. Racism was discredited in the West by the Nazi Holocaust, so racists can appear more “respectable” by playing the anti-Islam card.
2. Islam is more tenacious than any other religion in ideology, so can only be removed from a given area by using the methods of racists (ethnic cleansing and/or genocide).

On the other had, the term “Islamofascist” used by neocons is clearly a meaningless epithet, as the only truly fascistic ideology in the Arab world was the National-Secularism of Nasser, Assad and Saddam Hussein.

I’d also refer to extreme exclusivist terrorists (like Al-Qaeda In Iraq) as “Neo-Kharijites” or “Takfiris”.

*I’ve seen some Zionists call secular Palestinian militants (like Fatah or PFLP) “Islamists”, for example!

I define Islamism as the twentieth century political movement to instill “Islamic” governments in Muslim countries. The intellectual architects of this movement were Sayyid Qutb, Maududi, Ayatollah Khomeini and Hassan al-Turabi, amongst others. They have formed the political and governance template for movements in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, Somali, Sudan and Pakistan. The Islamist movements begin with a small, religiously purified elite of the wider group of believers that are welded into a group that form the nucleus for political and community action. It is interesting to observe that this type of Qutb Islamism is now employed as a modus operandi for Christian groups who wish to transform their community support into political power. The RNC’s flirtation with the evangelicals has parallels with Ikhwan’s links to the Nasserites, right down to the betrayal, (but not the executions).

I honestly never gave the definition of “Islamism” and its offspring “Islamist” any consideration in the “Shari’ah-believing” sense because currently the meanings are so distorted and negative .

“Granted, it might indicate a desire to implement Shari’ah Law, but not, I believe, in essence.”

I believe in sharia I also believe that it can effectivley govern Muslims in various politcal systems. For example, I think sharia can be appropriately developed for a monarch, republic and/or democracy, that is my opinion and I believe that.

Therefore, I am deemed an Islamist by Daniel Pipes and the like. And I have been called this as well, but when I was called an Islamist it was said/written more like a dirty word, so I do know what you are saying.

You said,

“Muslims these days are describing certain fellow brothers and sisters not as “Muslims” but as “Islamists”.”

I think what is being done here is that for the sake of clarity, many people in the media define Muslims who look to implement an Islamic government or political parties that advocate the application of sharia.

Because, surprisingly, there are a number of Muslims who do not want sharia and instead would like a secular government. Whether that number is large or small is unknown to me but I do know that they exist.

“At a time when 250,000 Chechens have been slaughtered; when 650,000 Iraqis have been murdered; when Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq have been trashed for generations to come by radioactive uranium weapons, Muslim unity is more important than ever.”

Ya Haqq!

“When the blessed Prophet (saws) corrected a brother, he did so with gentleness in his heart. His is the noble example we should aspire to.”

I hope that was not referred to me. If so I’m a bit confused

I’m not sure what the etymology of the word ‘Islamist’ is (although I don’t think Daniel Pipes invented it as many attribute), and certainly, the “-ist” likens it to the other “-isms” of the day (Communism, feminism, etc).

But I have never ever seen it used in anything but a derogatory sense. Perhaps it has a meaningful definition, and this is a discussion in itself, but in even the more respected broadsheets, “Islamism” and “Islamist” is never used to describe a belief or a believer (respectively) in Islam. It’s used to describe, for example, members of Hamas, Hizbollah or simply anyone considered “extreme”. Granted, it might indicate a desire to implement Shari’ah Law, but not, I believe, in essence.

At a time when 250,000 Chechens have been slaughtered; when 650,000 Iraqis have been murdered; when Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq have been trashed for generations to come by radioactive uranium weapons, Muslim unity is more important than ever.

When the blessed Prophet (saws) corrected a brother, he did so with gentleness in his heart. His is the noble example we should aspire to.

as-salaamu ‘alaikum, you said concerning the word Islamist,

“How is someone who supports “Shari’ah law” an “Islamist”? It’s invoked to describe terrorists.”

Perhaps that is true, however it is a corrupted use of the English language because the suffix “ist” in English dentoes a person and their belief. Thus an Islam-ist is one who believes in Islam. This is the proper context.

However, when someone uses Islamist to equate a “terrorist”. It is safe to say that they are either ignorant or are generalizing that ALL Muslims are effectively “terrorists” because of their belief.