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This article is seriously in danger of violating WP:NOR

We as editors are not treading on solid ground working on this article. As the following 6 top online dictionaries would seem to indicate, the term "islamism" hasn't even properly entered into the lexicon of the English language.

1. Cambridge dictionary for "islamism"

2. Merriam Webster's for "islamism"

3. MSN Encarta for "islamism"

4. Newbury House of American English for "islamism"

5. Infoplease for "islamism"

6. Factmonster for "islamism"

Due to this fact there is a strong need to properly surveil what goes into this article for if we do not then this article has the potential to violate Wikipedia:No Original Research and actually become cited for defining what islamism is. This is extremely counter to ethic of WikiPedia. (thanks to Netscott for setting an example of this in Talk:Islamophobia) I will be nominating this page for deletion soon. 24.7.141.159 23:49, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

And it will fail to be deleted for the exact same reasons that Islamophobia is failing. Wikipedia is not a dictionary. This article is rather balanced and, in comparison to some (especially Islamophobia), very well written. Kyaa the Catlord 12:51, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
First, I want to be clear. This article has nothing to do with Islamophobia. This article is not about Islam proper, but instead about a class of modern interpretations of Islam. Nowhere should this article classify all Muslims, because not all Muslims agree on how their religion should be applied. Many Muslims, for example, live in secular nation-states and have no problem with the political order. In contrast, an Islamist opposes a secular government and believes the state should, in some way, reflect a particular interpretation of Islam. Again, I must emphasize the particularity of Islamist interpretations. They are in no way attempts at unifying all Muslims. Therefore, Islamist positions are both 1)particular religious views and 2)anti-secular political views.
Second, there are other names for Islamism - "political Islam", "radical Islam", "Islamic fundamentalism". There are even terms like "Muslimism" and "Mohammedanism" floating around, though rarely used. I doubt many of these will be found in any dictionary, as Western scholarship got interested in this mostly in the 80's and 90's. A lot of terms in the humanities are not solidified. We could change the article name to one of the above - I probably wouldn't be opposed. However, the term "Islamist" is widely known among people who are well-read in these subjects. Precisely what it means may be contested - but then again, so is precisely what it means to be Muslim (again, not all Muslims believe the same things). If we need a list of a dozen or so scholarly sources which use the term, then I can provide these (with a little time).
Third, if anyone wants to put this article up for deletion, I encourage them to do it sooner rather than later. Since contentions about this seem to be pretty fundamental, I don't see a point in waiting. --Vector4F 03:55, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
Mohammedanism is old. I believe that it has fallen out of use due to it being tarnished as a perjorative term by racist and antisemitic movements of the early 20th century. Kyaa the Catlord 13:07, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
further, mohammadeanism isn't the same thing as islamism. islamism is a concept within islam. mohammadeanism is just an antiquated word for islam. its like moselm. most people no longer use it because its now offensive. --User:Yung Wei 綪永徽 00:44, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Origin of the term "Islamism"

Should there be a history of the use of the word Islamism/Islamist? Andjam 14:37, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

I think the term "Islamist" is in itself discriminatory, incites hate, and muddies the distinction between non-fundamentalists and others. No other religious fundamentalist is named after their religion, how about a Christianist? How are we to avert conflict with Muslims if we don't use proper vocabulary? I think a much more accurate and less confusing term would be Shariaist/Shariaism, after the word Sharia. (Sharism/Sharist is already taken from "to share")

People argue that the word Islamist has history. So what? So does "nigger", should we resurrect that word?

Lou Dobbs from CNN initially said he would use the term while I was still in college. I don't remember the exact date but it was between 2002-2003 when Lou Dobbs started his college tour. 24.7.141.159 15:33, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia isn't the place to create new words. (BTW, there is an article on the word nigger) Thanks, Andjam 22:52, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

Around the blogsphere (LittleGreenFootBall for example) the term "Islamist" has been tossed around as a derogatory term used exclusively by the the anti-muslim crowd against anyone who is perceived to be pro-Islam (whether they are fundamentalists or not). I believe the definition should stand, but there should also be a mention that this word will offend some people.68.160.131.210 22:03, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

It's used in scholarly literature (quick search on JSTOR has over 1000 hits for "Islamism"). Any specialist who handles Islam-related issues would know what you mean, at least in general. A lot of people use terms like "political Islam" or apply adjectives like "radical" for qualification. The fact that the term is vaguely defined, in conversational terms, is largely because most people in the West do not know much about the subject. The term is not exclusively used in the West either. If you read an Egyptian daily, for example, you will see it used (in the English translation at least).
The close relation of the word to Islam is a problem, though that's partly the nature of language. I think the intro is sufficient (apart from the little edit spat going on at the moment) - "controversial" is the key. --Vector4F 02:53, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

'See also' and 'External links' section length

It seems the "See Also" section is far too long. For one thing, listing all Islamist groups in this article seems unproductive. It would be better to have a new article "list of Islamist Groups" or something like that. Also, listing things like "Steven Emerson" and "Daniel Pipes" is really pushing the POV/NPOV line. There are plenty of people who specialize in Islamism - far too many to list in this article. Perhaps we can agree on a shorter list - say <10 items? Because of the controversy on this article, I would prefer to have some consensus on this before removing things. Comments please. --Vector4F 00:20, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

pushing the POV/NPOV line is an understatement. The whole list in 'External Links' is absolutely POV. Three articles of Daniel Pipes, the pope of anti-islamism, is two too many. More so when considering that there is a wikipage dedicated to Pipes, to which this article links. The other links are also contra-islamism. So, the list should be reduced (but not completely deleted of course). In order to balance all POVs and have NPOV, shouldn't there be at least one site which is sympathetic to islamism and one other which is critically inbetween pro and contra? -- ActiveSelective 20:20, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
User Yuber made some changes to the 'See also' section. I actually think there should be a listing of islamist groups, especially in an article about islamism! Where else? I would like to see these changes reverted.
The 'External links' section, however, should be worked on. (see my contrib above) -- ActiveSelective 11:36, 22 January 2006 (UTC)
I cut down on the external links: 1 broken, 3 copies of other links, 1 promoting racist fear.
and I added a (imho very good) article on Islamism (The Prophet and the Proletariat): academic, both history and today, not pro, not contra, but critical of islamism
In total it is a bit less POV now, but still overwelmingly POV nevertheless: 5 contra-islamism (help fighting 'em), 3 suspicious of islamism (keep watching 'em), 1 critical (what are pro's and contra's?)
-- ActiveSelective 10:56, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Rampant Linking

The adding of rampant and off-topic links to articles is an editing method generally frowned upon in Wikipedia. I feel that this is harming and not helping the article. If you can say why you think these links [1] should remain and make it good, please do so. As it stands, it looks to me as an unacceptable attempt at diluting the article or moral relativism; additionally, we have no similar links to Islamist Terrorism at Christian Terrorism and the standard at Wikipedia is to keep your links ON topic.

I also think that the doubling-up of the Islamist Movements and See Also section needs some cleanup. There are redundancies there.Queeran

I think the links to the somewhat similar ideologies that have developed with other religions are important and useful. There is more than one facet to Islamism, it is both an Islamic idea and a political science idea. This can clearly be seen by looking at the categories the article is in: it is part of the Islam category tree, but also part of the political theory tree. Thus we link to somewhat related ideas within Islam, such as Jihad, Dhimmi, and Wahhabism. We should also link to somewhat related ideas in political science, such as Dominionism.
I do agree that the double listing of Islamist organizations is a problem, and I have thus removed them from the see also. I also removed the prominent Islamist thinkers from this list, as they are already given considerable mention within the text of the article. - SimonP 04:27, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
You will need to explain why Dominionism is supposedly similar, I do not see the connection.Queeran
Both Islamism and Dominionism are ideologies that advocate basing government structures on religious ideals. - SimonP 15:28, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
However, [And_You_Are_Lynching_Negroes] is not a proper form of debate, and the links are off-topic. The relationship to these is adequately handled by the link to Theocracy. Queeran

As no one bothered to answer that, but users keep trying to reinsert those links, I have once again deleted them. Queeran

I agree with you, Dominionism should not be linked from this article. It's too specific, Islamism is wholly another thing (in context), and relating these two is the job of an article like Theocracy. --Vector4F 19:54, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

POV

Islamism has been coined by replacing the term Islamic fascism by many neo-conservative and anti-Muslim writers. The same way, they have also coined the term Islamist from Islamic fascist. Now these terms have been used by many writers to refer to any Islamic organization or any Muslim person. Most of the people with Muslim background have been refered to as Islamist they could be Muslim fundamentalist but they are not Islamic fascist. I would request that Wilikipedia review use of these two term and replace them with Islamic, Muslim, Islamic fundamentalism or Mulim fundamentalist as appropriate. The defination of fascism and fascist should also be reviewed in this context. I would be raising NPOV for every entry of Islamist and Islamism. User:Siddiqui 17:19, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree that these issue(s) should be reviewed. I would support coordination to that effect - for example a cross-article consensus on the use of these terms - and I would be glad to participate. Clear terminology is in everyone's interests. On the issue of this specific article, do you have any examples of usage that you disagree with? I welcome another perspective. --Vector4F 23:17, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
Was this not already covered somewhere else? In either event, I believe we should avoid weasel words. Queeran
As I've argued here in the past, the term "Islamism" and "Islamist" was not coined by neo-conservatives and has a long history in scholarly literature that is at least neutral with respect to Muslims (if not sympathetic), and means more or less what this article describes. I think what you meant to say was Islamists and Islamism have been relabeled by neo-cons as "Islamic fascism" or "Islamofascists". However, there really ought to be some term to describe people of this political persuasion that is NOT perjorative, and "Islamist" is it. The article on Islamofascism deals, I think, with perjorative connotations of that term. Is that not satisfactory? If not, why not? Graft 02:07, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
I agree completely with what Graft states. This has become the standard term for this subject, and is not usually considered pejorative. - SimonP 03:05, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
We do not agree. This matter has to be discussed furthur. The Islamist and Islamism is totally unacceptable. Each and every Muslim political organization and many Muslim leaders has been termed as "Islamist" which is untrue. Some organizations are fundamentalist but not involved in any militanncy yet they are termed as "Islamist". I will have to raise pov for each and every instance of use of these words in Wikipedia.

User:Siddiqui 18:59, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

The term does not indicate militancy, and that is not the way it is used in this article. Furthermore, it is absolutely untrue that "Each and every Muslim political organization ... has been termed as 'Islamist'". Even were this the case, what of it? I can find many examples of people ignorantly throwing labels around. I don't see how this reflects on the proper meaning of "Islamist". Graft 22:01, 6 January 2006 (UTC)
I concur with Graft, SimonP, etc. It seems that the only definition of Islamism advanced in this article is that of a political position that advocates, to some degree, the application of Shar'ia. --Vector4F 00:02, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
The problem that none of you seem to understand is that, to Muslims, Islam is a complete way of life. Shar'ia is applied in many Muslim nations, including current United States allies such as Pakistan. The idea of splitting spiritual Islam from the actual way of life of Islam is a Western convention and shows a gross lack of understanding of the religion by the authors of this article. To that extent, if we are going to continue to use this term to define what amounts to a set of people who a militant perspective then we must clear state that Islam and Shar'ia cannot be split. Neglect of this fact shows that most, if not all, the authors of this article has biased. I'm also going to vote for NPOV and Unverified facts tags. 24.7.141.159 15:51, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

I will have to object to Siddiqui's claims. First of all, the term Islamist does not come from "Islamic Fascist" any more than the term "Communist" comes from "Communal Fascist" or any other idea. Even the term Fascist itself is derivative, meaning one who advocates a sort of governing system known as Fascism.

The term Islamist is used to describe someone who advocates Islam, the rule of Islam, or in particular the backwards Shari'a legal system that Islamic jurisprudence claims is "holy" law, in a particular nation or all over the world. Because of this, I have to agree with SimonP, Graft, and Vector4F on the matter.

As for "each and every Muslim political organization" being termed "Islamist", sadly, the term extends to many of them. Not all, and I do not believe all, but the vast majority because any organization which sends money to so-called mujahid anywhere in the world, any organization which advocates the entrance into secular law of islam-based crimes or punishments, can thereby be termed Islamist under this definition. In fact, there are probably some people who would say that you - because you are raising the objection of "POV" but are more concerned that the word is some form of an insult to Islam - might be termed an Islamist thereby yourself. Queeran

Issue raised by MediaMonitors.net

"For example, one needs to have a look at the lead definition of Islamism, Islamic Fundamentalism, Islamic world and Dhimmi. Wikipedia doesn’t say who coined the term “Islamism” and when. It rather says it is “a set of political ideologies” which “hold that Islam is not only a religion, but also a political system that should govern the legal, economic and social imperatives of the state.” Before making it the lead definition, did the editors give it a thought to verify and see why did the Qur’an called Islam a Deen for Muslims? If Islam is not a Deen—a way of life—what is it actually? And if it is a way of life, why should it not cover “legal, social and economic imperatives.” Interestingly, there is no entry for Deen in Wikipedia. There is only a reference to a Bosnian dancer by the name of Deen. The absence of Deen in Wikipedia is not for the reason that there is no space for Arabic entries or it is less important than other Arabic terms such as Riba. A proper definition of the word Deen with reference to the Qur’an will nullify the falsehood under Islamism." [2]

Can we create an article called Deen, and can we get the origin of the word Islamism into the article (from memory, I think it was Voltaire who first coined it)? - Ta bu shi da yu 21:00, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I don't give a lot of credit to the criticism (Wikipedia isn't a standards board), but this seems like a good reason for an article. It is very important to clarify terms. Unfortunately, I have no sources on where the term "Islamism" originates. --Vector4F 06:46, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Systematic bias of nomenclature exposed

A supermajority of determined participants at Wikipedia has the strength to impose their will regardless a neutral, scholarly perspective, but the fact that Islamism is the topic of an article hostile to political aspirations in much of the Islamic world, while Christianism redirects to a main article about the faith reveals the deep systematic bias of those who dominate this project. 12:07, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I never understand why people speak of systematic biases in such vague terms. It makes it sound like a conspiracy. Just be clear. What would you like to see changed and why? --Vector4F 06:07, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
Either that or a plea to victimization. Regardless, one "ism" of a religion is not parallel to another "ism". We can't argue essential meanings here, just usage. --Vector4F 20:47, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

With respect to this topic, I've added NPOV tags. A reading of this talk page clearly shows that Vector4F has an axe to grind against proponents of Islam. I highly suggest looking at this link for how to balance this article out: Islamofascism#Criticism_of_the_use_of_the_term The same criticisms of that term apply to this Wikipedia article. Until that section is copied over or something similar added to counteract the bias here, I am going to vote to keep the NPOV tags on this article. The link section also needs a clean up because most, if not all, the external sites listed are largely Islamophobic orgs. 24.7.141.159 16:04, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

Please, that's either sarcasm or bad faith. Are you the poster who started this talk thread? Regardless, I still would like to know what anyone wants changed, i.e. specifics. For example, if the links are bad, pick a few you want to remove, justify why (without resorting to labeling to get your opinions across), and make the edit.
Also, if anyone has a problem with the term "Islamism", it would be great if they could provide some information on where it comes from and how it may be biased. Criticism works best with contributions. --Vector4F 21:55, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
Vector4F, it not sarcasm nor bad faith. I just have a desire to balance this article out a little bit more with the appropriate criticisms of the use of this term. The fact is that it seems like you're the guy in charge and I don't want to go about editing anything unless we talk about it first. I hope that sounds fair. The problem with the term "Islamism" is that it was coined in much the same way Islamofacism came about--mainly through western proponants post-9/11. I think the first hurdle is to decide whether we want "Islamism" to be defined in its classical sense as synonymous term for Muslim (a follower of Islam) or if we want to use the recent rise of of the negative connotaction of it. Let me know what you think. 24.7.141.159 04:31, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
This is ridiculous. First of all, the term is NOT a post-9/11 term. It was in use in scholarly literature well before then. Second, it would be absurd to define it in its "classical" sense as synonymous for Muslim, because that's absolutely not the point. This is a term to distinguish between those who see Islam as a political, economic, etc. system, and those who do not (e.g. secular Muslims). Benazir Bhutto is not an Islamist, though she is a Muslim. Graft 20:22, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Islam actually is a political, economic, etc. system by the mere fact that much of these systems and the rules governing them are present in the Qur'an. Ignoring this fact shows that you have never bothered picking up a translation for the Qur'an and are just ignorantly spewing non-sense on these pages. The idea of a "secular" Muslim is actually a very recent phenomenon and it's application is more of a side effect of the Western preception of religion rather than something touted in Islam itself. It's rather ironic that you cite Benazir Bhutto in your response because even she advocated government systems and laws rest on the Shari'a therefore making her an "Islamist" in your constipated definition. The NPOV tags are going back on. 24.7.141.159 15:39, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Following up my own comment with a speech Benazir Bhutto gave to the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1997. link Here are two relavent paragraphs that completely dismantle Grafts non-sense.
"There are four democratic principles at the heart of Islam. The first is consultation, or Shura ; then, consensus, or Ijma ; and finally independent judgment, or Ijdaha . Instead of Islam being incompatible with democracy, our holy book makes it clear that the principle operations of the democratic process: consultation between the elected officials and the people; accountability of leaders to the people they serve, are fundamental to Islam. The holy book says that Islamic society is contingent on mutual advice, through mutual discussions, on an equal footing. Let me repeat that now: Equal footing. Ladies and gentleman, the Holy Koran is as committed to equality as it is to democracy. As committed to pluralism and tolerance as it is to order and doctrine. I know this is inconsistent with Western stereotypes. But, nevertheless, it is true. Consultation under the Holy Koran demands that public decisions are made by representative personalities. By men and by women who enjoy the confidence of the people and the integrity of their own character. Consensus provides a basis for majority rule. And, according to the Muslim scholar Luis Saffie , the legitimacy of the state depends upon the extent to which state organization and power reflect the will of the Omar , or the people."
Notice how Mrs. Bhutto continually refers to the Qur'an for consultation in political and social matters. Interesting isn't it?
"Western political scientists, these days, hypothesize populist strategies to create more effective forms of participatory democracy. But, Muslims do not believe they have to go back to the drawing board to conceptualize democratic order. It is right there in the holy book. Under Islam, we do not have to create a sense of community and individual responsibility. It is there in the holy book, itself. Enlightened Muslims find Western lectures on democracy condescending. Muslims need the West to acknowledge that dictatorship came out because of the strategic need to contain communism. Dictatorship did not come about because it was a part of Muslim faith or culture."
Again she referes to Muslims referring to the Qur'an as necessary. For Bhutton being a non-Islamist, she sure seems to talk a lot about a political system based on teachings in the Qur'an.
On women: "To those in the West who would condemn Islam for being anti-women, let me as the first Muslim woman elected Prime Minister of her country recall that three Muslim countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Turkey have all had democratically elected women as head of their government. In other words, my friends, there is much that we can learn from each other. Islam and the West; the West and Islam, as we cross into a new century and into a new millennium."
And lastly, what I think Graft is completely missing is this: "So, let us decide to cast aside myths and stereotypes about each other. For Islam and for the West, it is time to attack the common and real enemies of our respective societies. These enemies are not people; they are ignorance and hatred. These enemies are not ethnic minorities; they are starvation and intolerance. Myopia and prejudice, whether it be religious, political, ethnic, gender or intellectual, are the common enemies of our hope for the twenty-first century. They are the fuel of the clash of civilization."
Pretty good for a speech writting in 1997 but Pakistan's first female head of state. The NPOV tags will stick around until we address concerns in this article. Graft, knowledge is an amazing thing and it would be in your best interest to go learn something before preaching ignorance here. 24.7.141.159 15:57, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Uh. Okay, so she makes references to the Qu'ran to justify her political stances, and so you call her an Islamist? Saddam Hussein quoted from the Qu'ran all the time. Are you going to say he's an Islamist now, too? Try again. Many reformist movements have made similar efforts to interpret the Qu'ran in ways sympathetic to their liberal politics. That doesn't make them Islamists - that makes them politically astute. Someone who says that modern parliamentary democracy - not a traditional Islamic legal system - is compatible with Islam is decided NOT an Islamist by my 'constipated' definition. Compare that with Hassan al-Banna, etc., whose primary goal was a restoration of the Caliphate. If you're putting both these people in the same boat, I would say you need to hone your powers of discrimination. Graft 23:34, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
By the way, if you have access to it, I suggest you search through JSTOR or something similar to satisfy yourself about the use of the term 'Islamist' in scholarly literature, WELL before 9/11. Graft 23:41, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
Did you read anything I wrote or did you just skim it? Did you both reading the entire speech or have knowledge of the entire works of Bhutto? It sure doesn't seem like it from your response. You said above:
This is a term to distinguish between those who see Islam as a political, economic, etc. system, and those who do not (e.g. secular Muslims). Benazir Bhutto is not an Islamist, though she is a Muslim.
I hate to burst your bubble but I pretty much proved that Mrs. Bhutto has always believed in Islam being the ultimate governing priciple in Pakistan. Hence, your little blurb is a contradiction. On one hand you refer to the idea of a "secular" Muslim which has never been defined the confines of Islamic scripture. Rather this is an ethnocentric interpretation of religion at the hands of someone (read: you) that has dealt with the separation of secular and spiritual division. Islam is *NOT* like that. Then, when I clearly show you Mrs. Bhutto referring to consultation of the Qur'an for determining a system of government, you back track by saying Mrs. Bhutto is politically astute by interpret[ing] the Qu'ran in ways sympathetic to [her] liberal politics. Right. If you ever meet Mrs. Bhutto, you should directly ask her if she is interpreting the Qur'an or if she's following 1400 years worth of Islamic political history. Her answer will be the latter which, again, disagrees with your view point. Your definition of Islamist is, from the outset, flawed because you don't know what an Islamic political system is supposed to be and when someone like Bhutto cites the Qur'an you quickly change your definition.
The best part of your response was this: Someone who says that modern parliamentary democracy - not a traditional Islamic legal system - is compatible with Islam is decided NOT an Islamist... Your lack of knowledge on both Islamic history and Islam itself comes through quite clear. I must ask you to tell all of us in Wikipedia-land to cite passages from primary Islamic sources (i.e. Qur'an and verified Hadith/Sunnah) to support such an outlandish claim. The fact of the matter is you can't and therefore your definition of Islamist is completely incorrect and not rooted in established Islamic text. For example, chapter (Surah) 42 of the Qur'an is titled "Consultation" and portions of that chapter are what Mrs. Bhutto was referring to. A little over a thousand and a half years ago, Surah 42 established the idea of consultation of the masses to determine a leader. That is just one tiny example from hundreds I could cite.
If you frown upon "Islamists" who view the Qur'an as a source of political doctrine, but the Qur'an itself leans towards what you call parliamentary democracy which I assume you also believe, then does that mean you are also an Islamist (by your definition)?
I find your desire to differentiate Hasan al-Banna from Mrs. Bhutto to also be ignorant. If you are aware of what Hasan al-Banna stood for, then the Bhutto speech I linked earlier should sound very familiar. Why? Because many of the same tenants certal to al-Banna's writings are echoed in Bhutto's words. Remember, al-Banna was influential because he was able to deliver the message of reformists of the time and those who came before him to the people. Many of Bhutto's policies echo thinkers the same thinkers al-Banna put forth such as Afghani, Kamil, Abduh, Rida, and Arsalan.
Lastly, I leave you with a few choice quotes from an article written by Mrs. Bhutto in 1995 for Asiaweek:
"In an age when no country, no system, no community gave women any rights, in a society where the birth of a baby girl was regarded as a curse, where women were considered chattel, Islam treated women as individuals. "Believers, men and women are mutual friends. They enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil," says the Koran (12:71). Long ago Islam gave women rights that modern nations have conceded grudgingly and only under pressure."
She then discusses matters of Women in Islam with citations from the Qur'an throughout. Bhutto then concludes with:
"The fact that at present three Muslim countries have female heads of government gives assurance that the problems of women in Islamic societies can be seriously addressed. We, as women leaders, regard it as our religious and political duty to lead the struggle to restore the women's dignity that has been divinely defined for us in the Holy Koran. May we succeed."
As an elected Muslim woman running a nation, she used the equality preached in the Qur'an to guide her policies. Again, but your constipated definition, she is just another "Islamist" but the fact is that Islam cannot be separated from its concept of din or way of life. This includes Islamic influence on politics, economics, and general social policy. In my opinion, Bhutto is just another Muslim representing the majority. So now you can either call Bhutto an "Islamist" as well as indirectly labeling all 1 billion Muslims (or about a fifth of the world's population) or you can change your definition of the term.
Last but not least, just because JSTOR or any other archive of "scholarly" works references Islamist does not mean it is a widely accepted or proper term. The term became commonplace and was resurected post-9/11 because Islamophobes were search for a way to label their new enemy since those pinko commies were gone. By the way, archives or scholarly works as refer to followers of Islam as "Muhammadans" which is incorrect because Muslims do not worship Prophet Muhammad. However, by your logic, because the term appears then it is completely correct and appropriate. I'd suggest picking up Edward Said's "Orientalism" before you return to this discussion. The NPOV tags still stay because the article hasn't been fixed yet. Have a good day. 24.7.141.159 09:06, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Islamism is about politics

Just got done reading the above. It was stimulating. To be clear, I definitely want to talk things over and I encourage criticism. Here's my position: The term "Islamism" is useful, as evidenced in plenty of scholarly literature for at least 30 years (at least in the English-speaking world). If 9/11 had never happened, it would still exist.

User:24.7.141.159, you brought up the point that Islam is a social system. Yes, this is true. But this is not what this article addresses. Islamism is the belief that Islam should monopolize society (to varying degrees) and that substantial *political* legitimacy should be afforded to Islam. Not all Muslims believe this. We can argue about whether or not they are "true" Muslims, but that is not for an encyclopedia.

Legitimacy is not a correlation argument, though it is common to conceptualize it that way. Let me give you an example:

If you frown upon "Islamists" who view the Qur'an as a source of political doctrine, but the Qur'an itself leans towards what you call parliamentary democracy which I assume you also believe, then does that mean you are also an Islamist (by your definition)?

No. Correlation does not equal causation, my friend. This is a huge issue in political philosophy. If we say "the Qur'an is a source of constitutional law", that is *not* the same as saying "the Qur'an has many of our constitutional ideals". Causation generally means that ideas bear the rule of constitutional law. Until then, it is only a correlation. Islamists either do not respect this distinction or work to establish a causation relationship. Merely affirming the correlation, however, does not make one an Islamist. That is a straw man.

Now, here's the catch (and this is controversial). In many Muslim societies, the causation/correlation distinction is simply not observed. Specifically, there is no solid Western idea of "separation of church and state" (American or European varieties). Instead, we find societies with political systems and populaces which have not firmly decided on this (Turkey is a grey zone). This isn't bad - it just is. Islamists generally know the distinction, however, and assert that Islam should have causation status. They often describe this as a correlation, but they operate towards making Islam as law. It is their intentions here and the object of their work which is important.

Why does "Islamism", the label exist? The concept of Islamism largely exists from Western discourse on Islam. (I say "Western" and I infer secularism and modernism.) The concept exists to explain this lack of distinction between religion and politics. In the West, secularism is a very sure idea (it is also artificial, of course). In most Muslim countries, the word is less certain. Islamism describes philosophies that advocate a particular opposition to secularism. Not all Muslims have a strong position on secularism - many do not see it as a real thing at all. But Islamists do. They see political institutions which need Islam as an alternative to secularism. --Vector4F 08:22, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Addendum. User:24.7.141.159, about the definition of Islamism. The "negative connotation" definition is too narrow (9/11 is not the major issue). The "classical" definition has merit but, I think, really does not capture the specific problems of Islam in a world where secular states hold major influence. Islamism developed largely as a revitalization of classical views of statehood+Islam, but also sought to counter modern secularization. The classical view was that Islam was a social system. The modern dilemma is that secularization threatens this goal. The Islamists come in and say that the classical view is dying (not true, but it seemed that way; see Cairo c.1900) and argue that it needs to be revived by fighting secularism. The Islamists not only have an agenda, but an opponent. Islamism starts as an attempt to strengthen the classical view, but ends up completely revising it. This contradiction runs throughout all Islamist movements, and has divided them for a long time (Muslim Brotherhood being a good example). --Vector4F 08:39, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Rather than reiterate a lot of the above, I'll just add a few directed observations. First, regarding the above debate - it is indisputable that there have been large secularization trends in the Islamic world in the past few years, part of which entails referencing the Qu'ran. Yes, one CAN find support for democracy in the Qu'ran, if one chooses to do so. But this is not what we see in 1400 years of history, actually. That position is a historical departure. Ijma did not mean "rule by the people" in the past, it meant rule by the ulema. It's classical usage is way more in line with vilayat-e-faqih than it is with democracy. My position is just that there should be a useful term to distinguish between secular reformists who promote novel interpretations of the Qu'ran and those who advocate various kinds of retrogressions to earlier Islamic forms. As suggested in the body of the article, the term "Islamist" should apply to those who are moving for a return to earlier established principles. Bhutto wasn't advocating a return to the law being defined by traditional fiqh, as happened in Afghanistan and Sudan. There should be a way to describe those who DO feel this way. Graft 21:59, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
Both of you deserve long responses and I'll do that by Wednesday. Graft you said: But this is not what we see in 1400 years of history, actually. That position is a historical departure. Ijma did not mean "rule by the people" in the past, it meant rule by the ulema. It's classical usage is way more in line with vilayat-e-faqih than it is with democracy. Looking at the empires in Iraq, Spain, North Africa and even the Ottoman's, your statement would be incorrect. Many of these Islamic empires from hundreds of years ago until modern times have had high ranking officials who weren't Muslim. Even during the Prophet's time in Medina, the rule of government was squarely in the hands of democracy within the bounds of "god's word." I would like you to cite specific examples over the last 1400 of empires supporting your claims. 24.7.141.159 01:56, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Intellectual Sources of Islamism

I added this new section. What I wrote is not very good, but is a first step to considering philosophy of history and Islamism. Basically, many groups have a view on history which is essential to understanding their theories. This has proved extremely important over time - for example, Qutb's rejection of many classical Islamic periods and his direct commentary on the Qur'an has been very influential. --Vector4F 17:54, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

There are two links the intro summary as of 44856929 [3]. I am not sure why they are there. The first [4] seems to be a blog entry detailing certain problems with Wikipedia, related to this article (the author apparently edits now and again). This seems inappropriate.

The second link [5] is to a commentary on the construction of the term "Islamism". The last sentence reads:

Muslims and non-Muslims must cooperate to understand the phenomenon, and identify the real culprits - neo-cons, and their fellow Islamists known as “moderate” - before battling this scourge.

I vote to remove both of these. If they have any value, I'd like to work on citing the information from better sources. First of course, we need to clarify exactly what we are trying to cite from these sources (it's not clear to me). Any comments? --Vector4F 04:26, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

The first link from "Media Monitors Network" provides a lot of important information esp. for the Deen article. The second link from the "Independent Center for Strategic Studies and Analysis" provides a good background to the muslim POV. Since the muslim POV tends to be less represented on Wikipedia, I vote for keeping these links. Raphael1 14:52, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the comments. First, these links should not be in the intro summary. No need for non-wiki links to be there. So if they stay in the article, we should move them. Also, I have no opposition to relevant information
About the first link: I assume we can agree this article is not about Deen, but about a loose grouping of political ideologies? If so, then we don't need to handle Deen here, only mention the Wikipedia article (for now, we have no other content about Deen in this article, as yet). Also, there is a conflict of interests in referencing someone's views about the Wikipedia article in the actual article. That's like citing the talk page in the article. Lastly, the linked article is about a critique of this Wikipedia article, which is self-referential (i.e. not a source, maybe further reading though). I support removing this link and drawing the relevant information from another source. The best way to do this might be to edit the Deen article or expanding this article to address this issue properly.
About the second link. We agree the article is POV. Let's move it to the bottom. I guess we can make a section on criticisms of the term Islamism. --Vector4F 23:01, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
Update: I moved the two links to the link section under the subtitle "Criticisms of the term 'Islamism'". --Vector4F 00:26, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I removed this link "Main Columns of the Osame Bin Laden Ideology". The English translation was poor and was too focused on bin Laden. The crux of the article was that bin Laden is an Islamist because his objectives are political. However, the article goes on to say that bin Laden is not a "pure" Islamist and has other goals in mind (e.g. terrorism, anti-Westernism). This piece is specific to bin Laden and applies to a different article. --Vector4F 23:10, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Debate over the introduction

I notice that the intro keeps changing, reverting, etc. As I write this, the current version is 45477409. Personally, I prefer the previous version 45311124 - it is shorter and more clear (in my mind). However, the current text is not bad or wrong (the "legal, social, political, etc." part is a little much, though) and part of it was previously editted by myself (so can't argue with that, eh?).

If anyone has a particular opinion on the intro, it would be great if you shared it so that future edits can consider your perspective. For example, I don't think the Deen link is necessary, though its not worth ceaseless reverting to change it. In fact, it may actually be more confusing, as Islamists have some heterodox views on Deen. We may need more room than the intro affords us to clarify this. That is, I think the intro should be minimalist. --Vector4F 03:09, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

The additional sentence is a false dichotomy because it suggests Islamists do not belong in the category of peace-loving and are violent. This is not true. Many Islamists make use of violence to pursue their goals, but there are non-violent Islamists in many quarters, and violence is certainly not a hallmark of Islamism in the manner suggested by your sentence (or, actually, words like 'moderate' in general, which is highly POV). Graft 22:49, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
You are right, that violence is not a hallmark of Islamism, but it is what many people associate with Islamism. Actually my sentence tried to explain, that virtually all Muslims desire to live by islamic principles in legal, social, political, economic and political spheres of life and therefore could be called Islamists by this articles definition. But still most muslims support peace and reject the use of their religion to justify violence of course. Raphael1 23:07, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Removing POV tags

I'm removing the POV tags. The editor who added them appears to simply be trolling. I do not see any content additions by him, nor any attempts to edit the article to try to restore it to an NPOV state. He seems to be "crying wolf". Kyaa the Catlord 08:25, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

So now you've determined for yourself the article is now compliant with the neutral POV perspective? Can you please tell us why you think this change was necessary? 24.7.141.159 09:13, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
Well, ip-man, did you see my reasoning above? Instead of crying wolf, please be bold and make changes. Kyaa the Catlord 12:31, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
I've asked some tough questions to which I am still waiting for responses. If anything, this talk page shows that Wikipedia is in the process of defining the term which goes against WP:NOR. Furthermore, my extremely long arguments against the definition and examples are above for you to read. If you feel like you have something to contribute then please jump in above. As it stands, this article is completely anti-Islam and the NPOV tags will stay. Do not get into a revert war with me because we all know the consequences as such. 24.7.141.159 19:31, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
Besides, ipman, you're confused about the NPOV policy. We are discussing a controversial subject here, there are many references to the fact that Islamism is a very debated topic. There are multiple views presented, but undue weight is not given to those contrary to the subject of the article. This is totally in line with the NPOV policy. Kyaa the Catlord 12:38, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Wasted effort

Looking at the history, I see the makings of an edit tug-of-war. This POV tag dispute is pointless. There's nothing more POV than arguing about a POV tag. Every page on the Internet should have a POV tag. Is anyone somehow more or less convinced about an article by its tag (and should this be encouraged)? Does the tag do anything except advance a suspicion without evidence? And what exactly does debating about the tag accomplish? If anyone has a problem with the article, let's work on the problem and forget the tags.

I encourage any editor involved to drop the issue. Let the article's content speak for itself. NPOV is not about non-biased editors, but informed readers. That's as real as NPOV will ever be. --Vector4F 04:20, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Vector4F: I agree with your reasoning to remove the NPOV. If no one else wants to speak up, I vote to remove the tag. That does not change my belief the article is grossly anti-Islamic. 24.7.141.159 09:20, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
Indeed. Why am I bothering to argue with someone who doesn't care enough to have a userpage? I must be insane. I'm dropping this. Kyaa the Catlord 09:00, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Is there an anti-Islamic bias here?

I open with this question. I have read the article, written portions of it, and I am well informed about Islam and the particular topic addressed here. However, User:24.7.141.159 (and perhaps others) have stated that they believe this article to be clearly "anti-Islamic". For my part, I do not see this. I am aware of several criticisms against the article - the most notable being the topic definition's potential, perhaps actual, confusion of a Muslim and an Islamist. Still, this does not strike me as anti-Islamic, only an area for clarification.

Ignorance seems the root of much bias. Rather than argue with each other, perhaps we can teach one another? I, for one, still have much to learn.

Here is my proposal. Let's take one point of the article - a sentence, phrase, etc. - and look at it. We can ask ourselves: Is it anti-Islamic? Is it justifiable? And so on. I invite anyone to cite from the article the best example of this bias and to briefly explain their choice. Above all, please be clear and brief. The goal here is to make your position obvious, as to a room of trusting students. Please consider that trust. As for myself, I hope to learn something. --Vector4F 17:18, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Well I think the anti-islamic bias on that article starts right at the beginning, the bare definition of Islamism. Even if that definition is coherrent with original scholars on that topic, this definition is far from how the common public nowadays percieves Islamism. Western media generally only differs between so called "moderate Muslims" and "Islamist" (or any of the other words for it Fundamentalist, Extremist, Radicalist, ...). So public opinion usually understands Islamist as violent Muslim. By expanding that term to anyone who'd like that politics get influenced by Islam, you are peging many people Islamist. How do you call pro-lifer? Christianists? Obviously their religion influences politics, don't you think? Raphael1 20:20, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
Pro-lifer is not synonymous with Christian, one can be Christian and pro-choice and non-Christian and pro-life. As for people who want religion to influence the state, we generally call them fundamentalists and if they are Christian then Christian fundamentalists. IIRC, the parallel with Islamism is Dominionism. This was a short aside, please keep discussion to the article in hand. - FrancisTyers 20:50, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
I just editted the article to clarify this a bit more. One may be Muslim and not be an Islamist. One many wish to influence politics with Islam and not be an Islamist. The difference which can be called Islamism is two-fold: 1)particular religious views and 2)anti-secular political views. The influence of religion on government is not what makes one Islamist. The Islamist position is opposed to secularism and favors Islam as a major or dominant philosophy for government. I can explain this further, and would prefer to add more to the article. In short, Islamism is a narrow and specific interpretation of Islam as it should be practiced (including by the government). Islam itself is not so narrow and not always so specific.
Let me address the problem of perceptions. I understand the influence of Western media and the ignorance of most people to these issues. I do not believe that the public has even a working definition of Islamism - I think they have a bunch of suspicions and impressions. I think that makes this article all the more important. Most of the facts about Islamists are not attractive to journalists or bloggers. I think the distinctions here are important and the best course is to address them head on. I do believe the article can be greatly improved in this regard. However, it is a speciality topic and will always remain a bit obscure. --Vector4F 01:27, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Vector4F, this is the opening paragraph that I would like to use. However I am not committing the change until we can talk about every edit I made. Cool?
"Islamism refers to any political Muslim movement perceived to harbor anti-secular and, consequently, anti-Western political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam. Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen), should be practiced as a philosophy by the government. Many Muslims advocate a theocratic political system that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law. The term Islamism is a means to define any group of Muslims that stray from widely held customs and traditions of European populations. The use of this term is typically considered a form of triumphalism by Muslims." (forgot to sign) 24.7.141.159 12:16, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Hi 24. The problem here is that the last half of what you've written above is not true. It doesn't 'define any group of Muslims that stray...', rather it defines isolated, fringe groups. It isn't used to paint great swaths of the Islamic world, it is used to define specific, non-mainstream groups. I think you are failing to understand that it isn't being used against the Islamic world as a whole, but instead, to define and categorize certain isolated groups that are truly outside of the norm.
Also, I believe that part of the problem is that Islamist redirects here. I believe that the common usage of this in the media is the first definition, not the one used by moderate and liberal Muslims to describe themselves. Personally, I've never heard a Muslim refer to Islamism in the manner described in the second paragraph. Perhaps this is not a common usage in the modern era and the term has been hijacked? Kyaa the Catlord 12:32, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
I support the version of 24.7.141.159. Raphael1 13:29, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Based on a rereading of the text of the article, I support it with the following suggestion. I think that the last line does not need to be limitted to "by Muslims", it can be considered triumphalism by nonmuslims as well. I think the statement is stronger actually without "by Muslims" since there are nonmuslims who are supportive of the moderate and liberal wings who use "Islamism" in a positive sense. Kyaa the Catlord 13:51, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Kyaa, can you please modify wherever you feel the changes need to be so I can see your version (use strikethrough formatting if you can when you delete text). Out of respect for Vector4F, I really want to get his/her input as well before doing anything. I do agree with you that the term is meant to distinguish between the "Western-philic" and "Western-phobic" ideologies, but the danger is that we paint all Muslims with one broad brush. My thinking is this: somehow I want to convey to people that although a majority of Muslims adhere to the idea of "deen" where politics, economics, etc are under the umbrella of Islam, that the current usage of Islamism is more geared towards any group who claims to be Muslim but not exactly in line with contemporary Western beliefs. In other words, the initial paragraph should distinguish between Bhutto (as discussed above) and whoever we, as Americans, are not supposed to like today. Prior versions of the article, as per my reading, seemed to erroneously suggest that Islam is more like the modern day practice of Christianity in the United States (and Western world) where separation of Church and State is a hallmark. I think all of us have touched on these points before in some way on these talk pages.
What do you think about removing the last sentence completely? I do agree that many nations, religions, and groups are guilty of triumphalism but does it need to be overtly stated? Does it add a bias from a Muslim prespective? Can we modify the second paragraph to more accurately convey this point in a more NPOV way? I'm open to seeing what you think a better version of the 2nd paragraph would be. Someone should page Vector4F so we can get his thoughts on this as well. Ahhh, Wikipedia at its finest. I like this. Good work team. 24.7.141.159 17:20, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
I'm considering bowing out completely. I've found that my understanding of this term was limitted to the popular usage of "Islamist" in the media and I'm not sure that my grasp of it is strong enough to understand the second, more historic meaning. On the subject of triumphalism, I believe that taking it out completely may be the best course of action. It seems rather superfluous. I wonder who originally added it and what their reasoning behind it was, but without that knowledge I feel it doesn't fit in the introduction at the very least. I try to remain neutral on Islamic issues, I'm a student of ME history and it is impossible to do that without having some perspective on Islam and the role of it in politics. :D But I agree, this is how WP should work. :D Kyaa the Catlord 19:49, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
I think another thing we need to take into account is the source of these cries. Do they add to the article? Do they attempt to improve and remove the POV from the article or do they simply have a history of going to any article which deals with the topic of Islam and Islamic movements, political or otherwise, and complain? Is there an agenda they are pushing? These are necessary questions when we deal with these topics. Kyaa the Catlord 07:29, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Hey folks. Throwing in my $.02 on 24's comments, above. I'm uncomfortable with the intro as written because while Islamists may, in fact, be anti-Western and anti-secular, this is really more a result of their particular attitude towards proper governance, political philosophy, etc. In fact, 24's version seems to villify "Islamists" way more than the current version does. Personally, I think we should couch our writing so that "Islamist" is defined more with respect to their orientation in the Muslim world, rather than with respect to the West. Obviously the latter is an important part of how certain Islamist philosophies developed, but as above, I'd characterize the difference between Bhutto and Islamists as "progressive reformist Muslim" vs. "regressive reformist Muslim". (Not actual proposals for words in the article, just illustrative.) Bhutto wants to make Islam grow and seeks to interpret its principles in new and creative ways. Most Islamists think things were perfect in the time of the Prophet and we need only return to the principles and way of life practiced in that time to create a harmonious society. Both of these are perfectly consistent with the idea of deen and look to Islam as their main inspiration, but they're definitely distinct, and in a more important way than mere anti-Western sentiment encapsulates. Graft 20:40, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Bhutto? ... may refer to any member of a prominent political family in Pakistan? Raphael1 22:55, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
Graft, thanks for the comments. Can you please clarify what this means:
..."Islamist" is defined more with respect to their orientation in the Muslim world..."
The reason I am asking for clarification is because I don't seem to understand how that would change the introduction and, consequently, the implied meaning of the term. I'm a native speaker of most of the major languages in the Muslim world and I have no knowledge of a word that Muslims use to describe the phenomenon of Islamism as defined on these pages. I have searched dictionaries and consulted five professors on this topic via telephone--none of whom could turn up anything. Would it be a stretch for me to conclude the label of Islamism is a Western term used to describe certain movements in Muslim communities? I don't think it's a stretch.
Most Islamists think things were perfect in the time of the Prophet and we need only return to the principles and way of life practiced in that time to create a harmonious society."
True, but so do most Muslims who don't necessarily fall under the category of Islamist. I could give some examples of extremely Western-philic and "moderate" thinkers who say the same thing. So then what is an Islamist? 24.7.141.159

Alternatives to the introduction

I have read all the above comments dealing with a new introduction. This is very encouraging. I feel like we are getting somewhere.

On User:24.7.141.159's version. I have criticisms. We have to give the reader some distinct terms to fall back on. In these first paragraphs, we must make Islamism as different from Islam as possible. Issues, like deen, would be better placed in the definition section. However, I recognize such issues are very important. Still, I think it is much to ask the reader to assimilate the similarities and differences of Muslim and Islamist in the introduction. It adds length and complexity. So the first paragraph, I feel, should only mention Islamists and only what makes them distinct as such. The second should only mention the major usages.

Also, I must agree with Graft, the emphasis on anti-Westernism is too much. Not only is it not universal to all Islamists (some contemporary groups), it is not essential and not unique to Islamism. Yes, it is a very strong aspect of the movement, but it is a flavor, like nationalism or modernism. However, I disagree with Graft about secularism. The Islamist emphasis on a "regressive" view of history (polemical terminology) is an attempt to return to times when secularism was not even a possibility; a change of perspective. It is a way of vividly showing to other Muslims that Islam should not be repressed in a secular society. Islamism becomes Islamism in reaction to secularism, but it would be wrong to define Islamism *only* by this. The core of Islamism is not really political, but its active agenda has always been to resist native and foreign ideas of secularism. And as history teaches, secularism came out of a religious world view! Note also, anti-secular is not the same as anti-Western.

Here is the a rewrite of the first two paragraphs:

No-force Version

Islamism refers to anti-secular political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam. While all Muslims believe that Islam is a both a religion and a way of life, Islamists generally assert that Islam should be the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance. Many Islamists advocate a theocratic political system that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law.

The use of the term "Islamism" is controversial. Individuals labeled Islamists often regard themselves as simply observant Muslims and oppose using the term. In contrast, moderate Muslims and liberal movements within Islam generally apply the term to distinguish themselves from groups and philosophies with which they do not identify. However, the term is often misapplied to denote Muslims who engage in violent or insurgent activities.


With-force Version

Islamism refers to anti-secular political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam. While all Muslims believe that Islam is a both a religion and a way of life, Islamists generally assert that the use of force is warranted to ensure Islam is the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance. Many Islamists advocate a theocratic political system, or Islamic state, that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law.

The use of the term "Islamism" is controversial. Individuals labeled Islamists often regard themselves as simply observant Muslims and oppose using the term. In contrast, moderate Muslims and liberal movements within Islam generally apply the term to distinguish themselves from groups and philosophies with which they do not identify. However, the term is often misapplied to denote any Muslims who engage in violent or insurgent activities.

I know this does not satisfy a compromise and I am sensitive to that. Let us keep working though. Also, I can provide a line-by-line commentary on User:24.7.141.159's version if that is desired. I will not be editting the article introduction for now. --Vector4F editted 17:47, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

I think, that the similarities and differences of Muslim and Islamist are very important and should therefore be in the introduction. I prefer 24's version, which says, that Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen), should be practiced as a philosophy by the government. Raphael1 23:58, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
I have reconsidered and made a change to the above. A sentence now reads: While all Muslims believe that Islam is a both a religion and a way of life, Islamists generally assert that Islam should be the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance. I hope this communicates a distinction which not all Muslims share. Still, I recommend avoiding cracking open the debate about Muslims and Islamists in the first paragraphs. --Vector4F 03:59, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
My major problem is with this phrase: ... Islamists generally assert that Islam should be the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance. Many Muslims believe that too and it could be argued that Bhutto also believes that as well. How do we differentiate a Muslim from an Islamist? The problem is the term Islamist is more a of Western distinction rather than something coming from within Islam. Differentiating Muslim from Islamist therefore mandates that we talk about that aspect. Do you see now why this term is such a slippery slope? I appreciate the discussion thusfar. 24.7.141.159 04:16, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
I'd say, that the main distinction between Muslim and Islamist is the way how they want to reach the goal of an islamic governance. At least the media generally only refers to an Islamist, if a Muslim used violence somehow or other. Raphael1 15:01, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for aiding my understanding. No matter how much one studies, it is good to have alternative perspectives. I readily agree that "Islamist" comes from an orientalist, Western tradition. I do not wish to advance this perspective in the article. It is true that Islamism as known by the majority of Westerners came about from discussion around major events (Iranian revolution, Sadat's assasination, WTC bombings and 9/11, etc.). This is a stigma and ignorance which is naturally coupled with Western suspicions about counter-secular religious movements. I have serious reserves about giving these suspicions any further ground. We must deal with them, but in recognition of their hypersensitive, Western-leaning context.
Here is my thinking. I am wondering if we *need* to say Islamism is about the justification for the use of force to establish Islam in a primary, constitutional sense for a state-society. To a Westerner, the issue is clearly about anti-secularism, but to the Muslim (particularly the Arab Muslim) the critical point seems to be the use of force. I suppose, though, the justification for force is not the same as advocating force outright; neither does it immediately lead us to something we might loosely call terrorism. Like speaking of "political ideologies", we are speaking of public agendas and only suggesting a religious core. So too, the "use of force" also leaves open the centre of the phenomena, which is the invocation of j-h-d for specific ends.
I have split the changes above, so we can compare. One version encorporates justification for the use of violence/force, and the original does not. I would still prefer to keep the "anti-secular" adjective.Vector4F 17:47, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
I still don't agree with either version regardless of the "with force" phrase. To illustrate my point, let me change the sentence around:
Democracies generally assert that the use of force is warranted to ensure democratic principle is the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance.
You see, the US has used force in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, Chile, Vietnam, etc to ensure democratic principles reign over Islamically-based governments and communism. To merely state that any group is willing to use force to establish their beliefs and protect their way of life seems to be nothing more than restating the obvious. For example, Bhutto and Sharif both used force, trials, and punishment throughout their tenures to ensure that the laws of Pakistan were followed. Could it be argued that since Pakistani laws are crafted to not violate basic tenants in Sharia, both Bhutto and Sharif are using force to maintain some semblence of Islamic governance? Sure. Are Bhutto and Sharif Islamists? Probably not.
Your version: "Islamism refers to anti-secular political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam."
Isn't any follower of a religion that call itself a way of life automatically anti-secular? Although I understand that you want to keep the term anti-secular, it sounds like a buzzword thrown in. In my version of the introduction, I tried to keep it in line with what Islamism truely is: a definition and boundary created by Western thinkers.
My version: "Islamism refers to any political Muslim movement perceived to harbor anti-secular and, consequently, anti-Western political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam."
The issue with Islamism is not necessarily that it is a political ideology but rather a political ideology that Westerners feel threatens our way of life. Hence, when these groups confront followers of more Westernized brands of thinking, we react by labeling them "Islamists" who follow "Islamism." Ask yourself this: why progressive Muslim movements who advocate the use of force to implement Western style democracies are not called "Islamist" movements? This why we should make sure to address why their is a motivation to have this term and who actually uses it.
Your version: "While all Muslims believe that Islam is a both a religion and a way of life, Islamists generally assert that the use of force is warranted to ensure Islam is the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance.
The first phrase (up to the comma) I agree with completely because it finally puts the Islamism article in agreement with the rest of the Islamic articles on Wikipedia. The second phrase I disagree with because most Muslims believe Islam should be the dominant and exclusive philsophy of governance. Case in point, when "liberating" Iraq, Americans opposed the desire of Iraqis to add a clause to their constitution that no law could violate Sharia. Are we going to call all the liberated people of Iraq who elected representatives under our occupation to be "Islamists"? I don't think so. Yet, we need to differentiate between Islamists and regular Muslims because as the definition stands, any Muslim is wrongly labeled an Islamist if s/he proclaims that their religion (which is a way of life) should be the basis of government.
My version: "Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen), should be practiced as a philosophy by the government. Many Muslims advocate a theocratic political system that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law."
This is why I make it very clear that a Muslim cannot be labeled an Islamist simply because they advocate Islam as a basis of government.
Your version: "Many Islamists advocate a theocratic political system, or Islamic state, that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law."
Okay, that's fine but you do realze that more than a simple majority of Muslims feel the same way, right? We are blurring the distinction between Muslim and Islamist.
My version: "The term Islamism is a means to define any group of Muslims that stray from widely held customs and traditions of European populations."
The fact is Islamism is nothing more than a label given to any group that asserts governance in accordance with Islam that may be at odds with traditional historically percieved to be European. Neglecting this fact simply does not do justice to the aim of what Islamism really is: a label. 24.7.141.159 01:08, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for response and patience, User:24.7.141.159.

"Could it be argued that since Pakistani laws are crafted to not violate basic tenants in Sharia, both Bhutto and Sharif are using force to maintain some semblence of Islamic governance? Sure. Are Bhutto and Sharif Islamists? Probably not."

As you say, it can be argued and that is the reason this article exists. Sharif and Bhutto both use Islam as a tool of government. That is not anti-secular - they are not taking an opposition to secularism - it is simply non-secular and somewhat theocratic. However, there are other judgments to make here before we can cry Islamism. Do they derive the basis of their legitimacy from a particular interpretation of Islam? If they were not Muslims, would they still *legally* be leaders? Is their adherence ideological or simply practical? If one ascents or enforces a law, which happens to be derived from Shar’ia, that does not make one an Islamist. That is simply a function of government. Islamism is an advocacy of giving an interpretation of Islam the authority of state. Making Islam law is more than making laws based on Islam. Yes, these two statements are very different. I have argued elsewhere about the difference between causality and correlation. Some Western countries go far and say no laws based on a religion; other countries go the other way and say no law without religious basis. Most states are in-between. Islamists are clearly on one side, though they may work from one end of the spectrum to the other.

"To merely state that any group is willing to use force to establish their beliefs and protect their way of life seems to be nothing more than restating the obvious."

No, I must disagree. The use of force is not universally justified by all agents for their respective causes. Not all adherents of Islam believe that they should kill, for example, to ensure that their government implements Islamic law. And the U.S. is a state/government, not a religion. It’s actions are justified, in all technicality, on a non-religious basis. Advocacy of the U.S. government to do anything - even to create an Islamic state in Iraq - is not Islamism. Such advocacy may agree with Islamist goals, but it is not Islamism. The basis of advocacy is as important as the content of such advocacy.

"...why progressive Muslim movements who advocate the use of force to implement Western style democracies are not called "Islamist" movements?"

Because democracy is not a religion, unless we mean any ideology which advocates a human system is a religion. Because a Western government is not constituted on a religion. Because an Islamist movement claims to be purely constituted on a religion. Because a Muslim who advocates a war for a political ideology which is not religiously based cannot be basing their claims on something called “Islamism”.

"Isn't any follower of a religion that call itself a way of life automatically anti-secular?"

No, secularism here is about political philosophy, the legitimacy and social contract of a government and state. Is the government an agent or benefactor of a religion by law? An individual may advocate a secular government and still be religious. Islamists generally argue that a Muslim *cannot*. They believe secularism is anti-Islam, not just non-Islamic. That is, an Islamist believes Muslims cannot be Muslims under a secular government (e.g. the U.K. government).

"The fact is Islamism is nothing more than a label given..."

This same logic has been used to say that "Islam" is just a label. I do not want to go down this line of argument, though. We can call Islamism postulate #99 as advanced by a random Muslim in a Cairo cafe. But, let me make sure I understand you correctly. Islamism points to nothing other than a Western interpretation? There are no Islamists except with a Western pair of eyes picking them out? --Vector4F 05:14, 2 April 2006 (UTC)


I'm glad you could give me a response.
That is not anti-secular - they are not taking an opposition to secularism - it is simply non-secular and somewhat theocratic.
In that sentence, you were referring to Bhutto and Sharif. Unfortunately, with all due respect, you are not aware of the political problems Sharif went through in matters regarding Sharia. I would recommend that you do some research on these matters because Bhutto and Sharif would be squarely called Islamists under your definition. Quite frankly, the last fragment is nothing more than a play on words made to bolster your position in this argument. Yet, when we look at groups like the Brotherhood and Hasan al-Bana, they too are not necessarily anti-secular but rather non-secular and theocratic. Any example that you could provide from Hasan al-Bana's writings of anti-secularism could found in the histories of Muslims who you'd wouldn't label Islamist. This is the point you can't seem to concede. You can't seem to let go of your insistance that Islamism is squarely a Western term that has no analogue in local languages and cultures within the Islamic world.
Do they derive the basis of their legitimacy from a particular interpretation of Islam?
You would be hard pressed to find any Islamic group relying soly on the "legitimacy of their particular interpretation of Islam" for their position. Lack of understanding this point shows even more clearly where the disconnect occurs between Western commentators and Muslims on these matters. You may want to try to cite Wahabis or Salafis are an example of how this is statement could be incorrect, but I assure you that very few Wahabis and Salafis derive their legitimacy solely from their interpretation. They will show their reasons for believing what they do and whether you believe them or not is usually of no consequence ot them. To understand this you have to be a Muslim who has grown up in a Muslim environment before confronting these issues with Muslim paradigms. As it stands, reading that question invokes the image of an average white American who grew up in the suburbs trying to explain the phenomenon of racism against African Americans. Or put another way, you're trying to ask an American if he derives his legitimacy as a politically active citizen because of his ties to the Republican party. Beliefs and stances are just that. Where you seem to be getting hung up is because Islam happens to be a religion. Yet, if Islam was a political philosophy alone then you could get over that hurdle.
If they were not Muslims, would they still *legally* be leaders?
Quite frankly, they wouldn't be elected much like African Americans and women won't be elected to power in the United States any time soon. Can non-Muslims run? In most cases the answer is yes. Yet, women and Blacks can run for President in the United States but they won't be elected. This is where the Muslim world has us Americans beat. They've already had more than a few female heads of state. I'm going off on a tangent. Islamic history clearly shows non-Muslims were in extremely high ranks of government in just about every Islamic empire. For example, Maimonides was the chief physician for the Court of Saladin and also happened to be Jewish. As you may recall, physicians were more than just experts in medicine but also provided feedback in many spheres of governance, war, and other other policy. As a society, Muslims are allowed to make decisions on what is acceptable or not. Apostasy falls under that realm and I'm sure a leader doing that publically would spark a national debate in whatever Muslim country may occured in.
Is their adherence ideological or simply practical?
I don't think you and I cannot and should not be going in this direction. Asking this question wreaks of the orientalist spirit that Edward Said spoke and wrote so much about. It is extremely arrogant on your part to callously assume that anyone claiming to follow Islam is just doing for the practical purpose of being elected. However, because we are doing this in the spirit of Wikipedia, I challenge you to speak to more than a handful of retired Muslim heads of state for the purpose of asking this question and to also see how they practice their religion at home. I think you'd be surprised to see that most, if not all, have an ideological adherence. Furthermore, I'd be even more surprised if the person you'd be asking wouldn't throw you out of their home for asking such an offensive question. Although I will say that most dictators the West has supported in Muslim countries only really follow Islam from a practical prespective.
If one ascents or enforces a law, which happens to be derived from Shar’ia, that does not make one an Islamist. That is simply a function of government.
I agree with you but the definition of Islamism, as written in the article, is incorrect and should be altered to reflect this fact.
Islamism is an advocacy of giving an interpretation of Islam the authority of state. Making Islam law is more than making laws based on Islam. Yes, these two statements are very different.
Islam is all about interpretation and neglecting to acknowledge this fact opens the door to me asking you (quite directly): Do you understand what Islam is? I'm very sorry if that sounds harsh but Islam is very much a religion that has some clearly defined borders. These borders are "edge cases" such as the belief in one God and the messengers. The major point that you must grasp is that within those borders there is a whole universe of different interpretations--if we must label it then I'd call it a grey area. The reason why there are different types of interpretation is because of the wiggle room built into Islam. Muslims believe that Islam is the final and most perfect religion from God and will survive the test of time. Logically speaking, the only way a collection of scripture could theoretically be applicable to all ages without any modification would be to leave deliniation of rulings on various topics not yet considered to the scholars of the time. These scholars would take complex issues and break them down into more fundamental pieces on which scripture does give rulings. This is exactly what Islam is when viewed from an outsider's prespective. Hence, Islam has been interpretation from the beginning.
These days, Sunnis are the majority but within this "branch" are multiple schools of thought based on the works of scholars. Furthermore, Muslims believe that hand picking whatever interpretations they like on various topics is not right. The reason being is that a scholar examines the entire set of relatvent scriptures through a point of view that is more consistant across grey areas. In other words, if the scholar believes that a certain verse means something then when the phrase is repeated again, that scholar will stick to the original interpretation and that provides consistancy.
So why did I bother explaining all that to you? The reason is that Islam is based on the Qur'an and Sunnah but to practice the religion requires interpretation and therefore opening the door to different meanings on certain subjects. Pakistan's government is based largely on the Sunni interpretation of Islam and therefore the ultimate authority of state for decisions rendered in the courts and legislative bills. Yet, the Sunni interpretation is constantly reexamined and refined to deal with new and unseen issues. So a law based on Islam and an interpretation of Islam is actually very much the SAME THING!!! The states are actually not different at all but one in the same.
Not all adherents of Islam believe that they should kill, for example, to ensure that their government implements Islamic law.
You go towards oversimplifying again and fail to grasp my point again. Fire of all, please point out any legit groups that squarely dictates that they must kill to implement Islamic without advocating anything else. To somehow differentiate the US Government's actions to implement democracy using military force is not too different than some organizations in the Muslim world. The US, like certain Islamic groups, has a certain set of accepted political ideologies which they seek others to follow. The key difference is that the US is a superpower with the resources to project its military force beyond its borders with the blessings of its citizens. Whether these ideologies are those of European philosophers in the case of democracy or religion, the end goals are the same: having others follow the way the group or nation feel is the best solution. I would openly urge you to consider the actions of the U.S. government over the past century because ample evidence exists where we have gone to topple governments and attack ideologies we did not find to be agreeable.
Because democracy is not a religion, unless we mean any ideology which advocates a human system is a religion.
I'm glad you see that. Now we need to work on you understanding that Islam is a human system encompassing ideology and religion as classically defined by Western thinkers.
Because a Muslim who advocates a war for a political ideology which is not religiously based cannot be basing their claims on something called “Islamism”.
What's your point? Maybe an anology will help. Can we draw a parallel between a Christian who advocates war on a religious basis and call their belief based on Christianism? What do we call speakers like Pat Robertson and others that shameless promote intolerance and war against Muslims in the hopes of having their ideologies adopted? The fact is that Islamism is a label against any Muslim group that advocates using war as a means to defend their nation and way of life. The very fact that Islamist and Islamism are terms thrown around when describing criminals and terrorists of the Islamic faith makes these an even more effective means of playing pyschological games associated with labels. As long as a Muslim advocates implementing democracy and using war as a means to do so, he will be heralded as a hero. If a Muslim advocates an Islamic government and suggests using war to defend his way of life, then he is an Islamist. This, ladies and gentlemen, demonstrates my problem with the term Islamism and position that Vector4F is taking. It's a position that is clearly anti-Islamic, ethnocentric and extremely arrogant.
Is the government an agent or benefactor of a religion by law?
Most Muslims believe Islam to be a religion and a way of life (deen). Their government is must draw its position from the laws of God instead of the laws of philisophers. That choice is the society's to make. Advocating one to be superior than the other is fine. Imposing the term Islamism on "the other side" wreaks of arrogance.
An individual may advocate a secular government and still be religious.
But most Muslims don't advocate a "secular government" as you've defined it. They advocate their governments to follow the common interpretation of Islamic scripture.
Islamists generally argue that a Muslim *cannot*.
So are you saying all Muslims are Islamists too then? Or are you saying that Muslims living in the West aren't Islamists but every other one is?
They believe secularism is anti-Islam, not just non-Islamic.
When Islam is both a religion and a way of life with defined government and economic systems, then being secular at the expensive of supressing Islam is rightfully called anti-Islamic. Logically speaking, if we critique the actions in Iraq where we (the U.S. government) rejected a line in the Iraqi Constitution that would say no law would go against Sharia in the hopes to establish a "secular" government then we have our answer. The West is advocating the position of being anti-Islamic because they want Muslims to follow Islam spiritually but ignore the directives in it which have been traditionally viewed by the West as domains of secularism. Hence, my reasoning for calling Islamism a Western preception which Muslims do not distinguish between internally.
This same logic has been used to say that "Islam" is just a label.
No, Islam is a religion with over a billion followers. Islamism is a label to describe anyone with political aspirations that disagree with western beliefs. As I stated earlier and you then confirmed. If a Muslim uses Islam to wage war for the established of government based on democratic interpretations, he is not an Islamist. If the same Muslim advocates a position suggesting a Caliphate then he is automatically an Islamist even though the real process of select a Caliph actually conforms to ideals more congruent with democracy than not.
I do not want to go down this line of argument, though.
It doesn't matter if you want to go down this line of argument or not because any discussion on defining Islamism automatically makes this a necessary point to be discussed.
Islamism points to nothing other than a Western interpretation? There are no Islamists except with a Western pair of eyes picking them out?
If you want to oversimplify, then I would say Islamism is a construct of Westerners to label any group not in line with our beliefs.
Quite frankly, you seem to be getting hung up on the religion issue as I pointed out earlier. Why do you have this aversion towards a religion with teachings that go beyond the spiritual belief in a God, angels and a devil? Could it be that your Western paradigms preclude the ability of you to understand this point? Again, I mean you no disrespect but thusfar your respose panders to the Western preception of religion and governance. This is the reason why my introduction clearly stated that Islamism is a label advocated by Western thinkers.
I can see why many Muslim wikipedians give up and not bother with this stuff. I still stand by my original definition because you still haven't told me what is wrong with it. Maybe you need to do a line-by-line analysis of it otherwise the three of us are in favor of it versus you. Maybe it is time we implemented a little bit of democracy ourselves. lol! 24.7.141.159 12:38, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

My intro

Islamism refers to any political Muslim movement perceived to harbor anti-secular and, consequently, anti-Western political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam. Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen), should be practiced as a philosophy by the government. Many Muslims advocate a theocratic political system that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law. The term Islamism is a means to define any group of Muslims that stray from widely held customs and traditions of European populations. The use of this term is typically considered a form of triumphalism by Muslims.

24.7.141.159 12:50, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't really matter, if that label is justified or whether there should be a label for US doctrine (democrationist, secularist, ...) too. The question we have to think about is, what does Islamism refer to. I'd say, it should emphasise on being anti-western, violent and anti-secular. Islamism doesn't really make sense in a muslim nation, even if a western mind might worry about non-muslim minorities or the "human rights vs. Sharia" problem in islamic states. Muslims have problems in secular but still primarily christian cultures too, but that doesn't make them Islamists unless they detonate a bomb. Raphael1 14:33, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree for the most part with your response. The percieved qualities of Anti-westernism, anti-secularism, and violence are hallmarks of what Western thinkers like to term Islamism. Whether these elements actually exist or not and whether Western religious and political establishments (i.e. national governments) use the same means to achieve their ends may not be relavent to the actual definition of Islamism but it provides a frame-of-reference. It also illustrates the concept of HIStory being the written record of the group in power rather than a true NPOV account of what really happened. I believe I touch on all of these elements within my proposed introduction and help differentiate people like Benazir Bhutto (as discussed above) from the causal Islamist. I just hope we can reach a consensus soon. 24.7.141.159 15:33, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
User:24.7.141.159, I disagree with your position. However, my disagreement is not substantially important. I recommend you edit the article to reflect your definition. I will not try to change or undermine it, though I do not endorse it.
One last comment. If this sounds arrogant, I apologize. I am not sure that you understand the problem which you suggest is my problem: The Western perspective and the construction of Islamism. I would recommend you consider the reverse position, wherein a Muslim seeks to understand this “Western” perspective by virtue of a label. To paraphrase Rumi (though in a way disagreeable to him): beyond our ideas of where we stand, one against the other, there is a field; the world is too rich for the poverty of our language. Inna lillahi wa inna ilahi raji'un. --Vector4F 02:06, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
Vector4F: No, I cannot edit it without reaching a middle ground. I have my reasons for wanting it this way and I'm sure you understand. You bring up an interesting point and one that I'd like to explore. I'm a born and raised American which gives me a unique view on these matters since I was raised in a very culturally aware household. I don't necessarily have a problem with the construct of Islamism until we start getting to the point of redefining Islam with our paradigms. For us, religion is a Sunday morning thing to do and government is something we like to proclaim to be devoid of absolute control by religion. Whether these concepts are a result of the action of the Church over the past two thousand years is beyond what I'm willing to write about at the moment. However, what we do know is that Islam is a religion and ideology constructed of a mixture of what many of us consider to be oil and water. I understand this concept can be quite difficult to grasp even for someone like me. Yet my argument on these pages has a point and that point is not to upset you but something bigger.
The crime in all of this is not necessarily that the two of us disagree but that our definition serves to label seemingly innocent people under this term and all its associated emotion. In 2006, five years after Islam become our mortal enemy in the United States, many topics of Islamism, Islamophobia, etc are being defined in the collective awareness of the Western world through seemingly tinted lenses. People with all sorts of agendas that ultimately malign Muslims and Islam have hijacked this religion to redefine it in their image. Every day we are bombarded with news of Muslims practicing their religion but doing so under the watchful eyes of law enforcement. Want to donate to your local Mosque? Be careful because their may happen to be some nut case who frequents the Mosque so in the next FBI round-up you'll be picked up and put on trial for supporting terrorism. Want to send your kids to religious school? Be careful because religious schools are usually referred to as "terrorist training camps" by the mainstream media. These are just two small examples of where we are headed. The end result is Muslims must turn their religion from a deen (way of life) to a Sunday affair while adopting as many Western philosophies into their daily lives even when they are at odds with Islamic teachings. In essence, Islam just becomes a label rather than a practice.
Muslims in the West have had a hard time making sure these terms and ideas fairly portray their religion. However, Muslims are aware of the reality that if they do not act, then they will be forced to stop practicing their religion in the way it was intended because doing so may not necessarily be illegal but because it evokes a guilt by association mentality in others. This is one of the reasons why I have fought so hard to maintain this article in way that is fair to the world's billion or so Muslims. I would hate to see the grandchildren of today's Muslim youth precluded from participating in the American political establishment because of their adherence to a religion that also as serves as an ideology. Maybe you can understand my position and see it from my angle.
I apprecaite the Rumi quote and don't find it arrogant at all. By the way, Inna lillahi wa inna ilahi raji'un is a quotation from Islamic scripture and it means: "Surely we belong to Allah and surely we will return to Him." 24.7.141.159 06:38, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
My very short response to the critics of this article: plenty of other religions also prescribe a way of life. However, in the 21st century, most of the time their followers are satisfied to merely try to practice that way of life themselves, and let everyone else do whatever they wish (well, they may try to convince them, but not force them). This is the crux of the issue: an Islamist is a Muslum who is unwilling to merely practice the "right" way of life themselves, and seeks to have Islam take over government in order to make everyone else follow the "right" way of life. This is not a western perspective, it is a modern perspective: many, many non-westerners who have come under attack by militant Islam(ism) would ardently support that point of view (Christians in parts of Africa, Buddhists in Asia, ...). An Islamist is someone who is not willing to live and let live. Is every observant Muslim an Islamist? I sincerely hope you're wrong about that. There are some prominent examples of countries in which the government is secular and a large majority of the population is Muslim (Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan). Are they not "real" Muslims? ObsidianOrder 08:38, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Umm, I don't mean to be disrespectful but you are completely clueless with this statement:
most of the time their followers are satisfied to merely try to practice that way of life themselves, and let everyone else do whatever they wish (well, they may try to convince them, but not force them)
Unfortunately, your comment is rather ignorant and uninformed. I'm not going to sit here and try to educate you on where you are wrong because Google has ample amounts of information.
Is every observant Muslim an Islamist?
The way you are trying define it, every Muslim must be an Islamist. Again ignorance.
I sincerely hope you're wrong about that.
Actually you're wrong to characterize all Muslims as Islamists if they happen to practice their religion. I'd also like to remind you that there are over a billion Muslims and a majority of them practice their religion. If Muslims really truly were the way you seem to want to portray them, then odds are that life on this planet would be pretty difficult for non-Muslims. Please, life the blinders off your eyes.
There are some prominent examples of countries in which the government is secular and a large majority of the population is Muslim (Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan). Are they not "real" Muslims?
Your example of Turkey is off because the government was imposed secularism against the will of the people. This is clearly anti-democratic and also goes against widely accepted teachings in Islam.
Your example of Pakistan is also wrong. Nawaz Sharif worked hard to have Sharia implemented and judges across the Pakistani nation rely on Sharia for their verdicts.
It seems like you have a knowledge gap that needs to close before we can have a productive conversation. 128.97.247.141 09:13, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Perhaps I need to close a knowledge gap, but you need to drop the arrogant attitude.
"The way you are trying define it, every Muslim must be an Islamist." - not my definition, that is the meaning of the word in common usage, I can cite examples if you wish. However, that every Muslim must be an Islamist is just your opinion, nothing more. No doubt a popular opninion among Islamists.
"ignorant and uninformed" - I never said that people always get along perfectly, but most of the time there is a degree of tolerance, and in some places tolerance is a virtue. You can try to convert people to Islam in the USA without getting killed. If you were to go to Afghanistan in 2000 and try to convert people to Christianity, you would certainly have been killed (and people were, just on the suspicion of that). That is a significant difference, wouldn't you say?
"Turkey is off because the government was imposed" - seems like part of a popular movement to me (see Turkish War of Independence). The question was put to the vote not too long after. Ok, Pakistan was perhaps not a great example, but there are others - Malaysia? I notice you're not saying anything about Indonesia either.
"If Muslims really truly were the way you seem to want to portray them..." - no, that's the way you want to portray them, not me "...life on this planet would be pretty difficult" - and in places in which there are people like that, it certainly is. Fortunately, a small minority. ObsidianOrder


I strongly support Vector4F's "no-force" version of the intro, as I think it very clearly and concisely states what the term means and what connotations it comes with. Islamism is literally "any political movement based on Islam" (or: "Islam as politics"), but Vector4F's version brings in some important elements that commonly go with that, namely anti-secularism, exclusivity and theocracy. Whether all Muslims are, or should be, Islamist if they are "real" Muslims according to your vision of Islam is immaterial to the definition. ObsidianOrder 08:55, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Vector4F, do you see what I mean by ObsidianOrder's uninformed response? Islam is a deen (way of life) with political, economic and other items which I have written about quite a bit above. Unfortunately, it seems like ObsidianOrder didn't bother reading any of it.
Islamism is literally "any political movement based on Islam" (or: "Islam as politics")...
Why are you trying to redefine Islam ObsidianOrder? You can't mold Islam into your vision based on your paradigms. Islam is as much a religion as it is an ideology. Before responding, I'll ask you read this entire talk page before rehashing old arguments again. It's shows very poorly when you restate points that have already been refuted. Have a good day. 128.97.247.141 09:13, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
"as much a religion as it is an ideology" - well, the wiki article says "Islam is a monotheistic faith", it does not go on to say "...and political ideology", you know. The two are obviously not the same. You think it is both, fine, but many people who would also call themselves Muslim would disagree with that, and you can't mold Islam into your vision either. I'm not trying to mold anything, I'm just essentially repeating the definitions of words from the dictionary. ObsidianOrder 09:40, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Right, are you going to tell me that Wiki article captures the essence of one thousand four hundred years of Islamic history and tradition? Please. Get real. Still, the Wiki article also calls Islam a DEEN which means "a way of life." You seem to think a monotheistic faith is mutually exclusive from secular life because religion can only be modeled in the paradigms in which you were born into. Let me bring the language down a few notches. You are a person who shares in the Western belief system. For you, religion is generally a Sunday affair. The concept that religion can encompass all spheres of everyday life evokes visions of Christian lunatics running through the streets. Yet, somehow, Muslims balance this out and squarely deal with this. Again, you have not bothered reading all the discussion above.' Please respect those of us on the talk page by reading the discussion above. Furthermore, judging by your previous contributions to Wikipedia, it is no surprise that you have an agenda to paint Islamic political ideologies in a negative light. 24.7.141.159 18:20, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
"You are a person who..." - you know absolutely nothing about me. Who I am is also completely immaterial to this discussion, and so are my previous contributions (thanks for looking though). If we're throwing ad-hominem attacks I might say you are obviosuly an Islamist - but that doesn't matter either. "Muslims balance this out.." - do they? I think on the one hand there are the Muslims who don't believe that (most of them), and then there are those who believe it (a small minority) and who would support whatever the local equivalent of the Taliban is. "mutually exclusive from secular life" - never said it was mutually exclusive, they are just different things and hence there are different terms for them. Of course there is some overlap - your argument is that the overlap is 100%, and so there is no need for a distinction. Such a claim requires pretty strong evidence. "reading the discussion above" - I have. I am addressing a particular point which I do not believe has been adequately settled: not all Islam is Islamist or political, despite your claims. Show some evidence, please. "paint Islamic political ideologies" - I don't wish to do anything except describe them accurately. Whether people view them negatively as a result is not my problem. ObsidianOrder 21:38, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
see below 24.7.141.159 03:27, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Regarding deen: the difference between a religion and an ideology is very simple: a religion tells you how you should live, an ideology tells you how everyone else should live. Traditionally, Islamic law applied only to Muslims, no matter where they were, and not to anyone else: for example Christians in Muslim countries could drink alcohol and so forth. Modern Islamists are trying to change that, insisting that Islamic law applies to everyone living within a certain territory, regardless of their faith (and by the way, what territory? if you listen to some, it is wherever any Muslims live). This is completely non-traditional. There are other religions which prescribe a complete "way of life": Tao litteraly means "way", and Buddhism has the "Eightfold Path" for example. But that does not make them inherently political, nor have they sought to enforce their way on everyone in a society. Let me give you a different example: suppose Catholics believe abortion is wrong. A good Catholic would not have an abortion or cause/help anyone else to, but even if they believe that very strongly they wouldn't necessarily vote to make it illegal for everyone. If they did vote to make it illegal for everyone, they would be a "Catholicist". This is precisely the point. You are saying that all Muslims must be Islamist as part of their faith. A few hundred million Muslims living in democratic countries with non-Islamist governments disagree with you (since presumably if they agreed, they would quickly vote such laws in). Can you provide some objective evidence that a large number/majority of Muslims see Islam as inherently political? And no, quoting scripture or religious authorities doesn't qualify - I'm looking for a direct measure such as an opinion poll or election results. Let me put it this way, this is not something you want to be right about. ObsidianOrder 22:04, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
I strongly oppose Vector4Fs "no-force" version of the intro, as it unnecessarily expands the meaning of Islamism. The term Islamist is not used to describe Muslims, who desire to implement islamic principles in politics. Islamists rather assert that the use of force is warranted to ensure Islam is the dominant and exclusive philosophy of governance. This is what the term is generally used for, which is why Wikipedias should define it as such. Raphael1 09:49, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
A quick search for uses of the word: [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] ... If the word means anything other than "Islam as a political ideology", I certainly can't figure that out from the examples. Can you? And - no, the "use of force" is not a necessary characteristic. "dominant and exclusive" - yes, that is probably true, but only as a corrolary. The last article says explicitly "what is the difference between Islam and Islamism? Fundamentally, it comes down to a pair of concepts: faith (Islam) and ideology (Islamism)". So how is Vector4F's intro expanding the meaning of Islamism again? ObsidianOrder 10:37, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Here are some quotes from your sources: [17] "But during the last two decades violence seem to have become an intrinsic part of the Islamist ideology, and the will to use violence doesn't need much provocation anymore." [18] " Islamism, is a power-obsessed ideology. Like other 20th century "isms" -- Communism, Maoism, fascism, totalitarianism -- it is radical, repressive, cruel, contemptuous of human rights, and deeply hostile to outsiders." Raphael1 11:35, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
I would appreciate you jumping into the discussion with ObsidianOrder and myself right above this. It seems like s/he has a knowledge gap and an unwillingness to read the previous discussion on point s/he is bringing up. Maybe you can explain it better to him. 24.7.141.159 18:20, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
I think the problem we're seeing here is that there are two seperate groups that claim "Islamism" as their label. There's the more radical groups and the more moderate, even liberal groups. Both sides have valid claims, but when we're working on the introductory paragraph we need to refer to both stances and explain them in a neutral manner. We can't give weight, due or undue, to either group because, as an introduction, we are simply defining the term in a general manner. Related to this is the User:Muslimsof... who added the tags this morning. He'd been trying to add too many definitions into the intro, imho, and I reverted his edits earlier since they were in this intro paragraph that we're working on above.... I did suggest, in my summary, that he take part in our discussion here, but instead he tagged the article. I'm going to remove those since these disputes ARE being discussed here in a positive way. I'll wait until there is some feedback before doing so though, rather than being bold in this instance. Kyaa the Catlord 12:16, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Kyaa, wow. Looks like some serious editing going on without much discussion. I agree, there are disputes on this topic but we're talking about it. You, Graft, Vector4F, Raphael1, and myself have contributed a lot of text here. Quite frankly, this talk page is probably more representative of what goes on around the term than the term itself. I understand where the User:Muslim... is coming from because he has expressed many of the things I've written about here while editing the article. The simple question remains: if Islamism is truly defined, then why is there so much disagreement? 24.7.141.159 18:20, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Raphael - very selective quoting, but even so: "during the last two decades" - meaning violence is not inherent to Islamism, but it has become a common characteristic (as I said); and "is a power-obsessed ideology...it is radical, repressive" - yes, and it can be all that even if the Islamist come to power without resorting to violence, for example as a result of an election (and that has indeed happened in a few places). ObsidianOrder 21:43, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
So if violence has become a common characteristic and is now an intrinsic part of the Islamist ideology, why don't you want to write that in the article? Raphael1 12:55, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Where are we going

When Edward Said made his case against Orientalism, he was also making a case against essentialist Islam. His project of skeptical negation, based on the genealogical tradition hailing from Neitzsche, comes full circle in determining that there there is no essential Islam. This was, of course, the ground of much of Orientalism. In response, some scholars have sought to reconstruct Islam in a non-essential way (e.g. Al-Azmeh). If there is a Western misreading of Islam, I would point to those scholars who have tried to redefine Islam as fragmentary. This seems very Western, to my senses. However, I don't really concern myself with pointing fingers - Said, Foucault, etc. created their own problems and I don't care to share in them.

Still, I am always surprised that Said's thesis - opposition to Orientalism paired with a critique of terminology - is used by anyone trying to defend an essential interpretation of Islam. This line of inquiry can be used to negate an essential concept of Islam as surely as it negates Orientalism. (see Bobby Said, "A Fundamental Fear") I, for one, came here to contribute to an article, not to undermine the pretext of said article.

My point is this: I think everyone on this page is willing to agree with a core set of ideas which compose Islam. It naturally follows, then, that there can exist a core set of meta-ideas, if you will, which we might call Islamism. Having both definitions does not conflict.

To be sure, such an Islamist will speak of their meta-ideas through core Islamic ideas. This confusion is unavoidable, yet critical to the issue at hand, which is this: religion does not have picket fences, only horizons. Islamists say Muslims should set their fences only at the horizon. Not all Muslims feel they are called to build such fences - many believe it is wrong - especially when it may disrupt their neighbors. The use of force is secondary; the primary issue is the constitution of religion. Is it political, for example? Can a political fence be built on the horizon? Yes, there are such fences, and yes, they have no effect on where the horizon is. The Qur'an, for example, does speak of where we should build fences in respect to the horizon. But the Islamist assumes that the horizon is a place where fences can be built. --Vector4F 12:53, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Although we may disagree on some points on this article, by no means can anyone say you are not an intelligent person. Great thought provoking questions seem to be a hallmark of your contributions. "Essentialist Islam" does in fact exist but where we go wrong is to judge Muslims as being perfect followers (drones). In this sense, the arguments of Said still stand because accepting "essentialist Islam" does not necessarily mean that an "essentialist Muslim" exists. The only the way two of them could theoritically exist is if Islam had no grey areas but rather was presented as a bullet-style list of right and wrong. The mistake that we as Westerners make is blurring the lines of the concepts of "essentialist Islam," "essentialist Muslim," and human nature. Furthermore, we as humans try to explain and understand our observations through our own paradigms even when the implied meanings of those words do not accurately convey reality. I don't know if that made any sense but I'll elaborate on it later. As it stands, I have called up B&N to pick up a copy of "A Fundamental Fear." I should be done reading it by later tonight. Hopefully I can pick this up where I left off. (Time to get a user name.) 24.7.141.159 18:44, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Killer flaw

To whom it may concern:

This entire article is about Sunni teachings and ideologues - the word "Shi'a" is not even mentioned. Khomayni, Iran, shariati, Khatami, Hizbullah, SCIRI, MKO, Da'wa, the Rushdie affair, Muqtada al-Sadr, al-Sistani, Fadlallah, etc etc etc... it's not as if there isn't plenty of Shi'a islamism to write about. Arre 12:46, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

I think we're are still figuring out what Islamism actually is rather than adding anyone we disagree with who also happens to be Muslim. I'm more than willing to hash out this discussion if you want to give a justification of why each of those groups qualifies under the banner of Islamism. Before you begin, please define Islamism so we are on the same page. 24.7.141.159 12:54, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
For the record, I've long been aware and frustrated by this problem, which more or less highlights the dubious nature of the term "Islamism" as a coherent ideology. Correcting this, however, requires extensive work of the sort indicated by 24 (who should really get a username!) Graft 16:09, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

POV Tags added April 4, 2006

This article seems to be have written from an anti-Islamic bias. The artcile refuses to explore the orginal root fro mwere the term, which many Muslims find to be offensive, came from. MuslimsofUmreka 18:26, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Furthermore, Islam is a religion that defines how Governments should fucntion. So from an Islamic perspective, it is purely Islam that governments function with Islamic law. The article makes no mention of that and purely calls it Islamism. Islam is more than a religion; it is a way of life, and governing factor. MuslimsofUmreka 18:30, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
MuslimsofUmreka is (are?) making the point he (they?) tried to make in the intro: Islamists sometimes object to the term not because it distorts their views or is pejorative per se, but because it implies that there can be an Islam which is not also Islamism. In the eyes of Islamists, secular government is merely shirk.
Islamism is coherent in the sense that any trans-national political movement is. Differences between instances do not invalidate the category. The category need not be coherent in the sense that a single party's ideology might be (or not), nor is it necessary that all factions are allied. See Communism. While there is nothing which strictly prevents large numbers of people from adopting absolutely inappropriate terminology, most often the currency of a term is proof of its utility.
Not that we shouldn't try to hammer out some working definitions.Timothy Usher 18:47, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
MuslimsofUmreka brings up many of the same points I've brought up above. Defining that political movement so it doesn't go against established belief systems in Islam is what is important. 24.7.141.159 19:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Hello MuslimsofUmreka. Clever name by the way (referring to Umreka). Anyway, I understand where you are coming from but I would urge you to read this talk page from top to bottom before making contributions. The reason behind this is very simply that you are walking into the land where terms are used as to negativly label and silence any legitimate discussion by Muslims. Your actions can be used by detractors of Islam to paint a very ugly picture of Muslims as can be seen in other Islam-related articles on Wikipedia talk pages. The issue is that when you come in and change around the article without discussion--right or wrong--people will resist the change. So engage the people here so we may all learn.
If you truly are Muslim then you must know that the story of Hassan and Hussein when they taught a man the proper way to do Wudu before prayer. Instead of pointing and laughing at him, they asked him why he was doing Wudu that particular way. Then, by example, Hassan and Hussein showed him how to do it properly. Had they told him how to do it, he may not have changed and continued in his ways. You can't expect people who aren't of the Islamic faith and raised in cultural homes to understand the contention behind terms like Islamism. The people on this talk page such as Kyaa, Graft, Vector4F, Raphael1 and others are all intelligent people who want to contribute and learn from each other as much as possible. Alienating them does more harm to your cause than good. Engage all of us after reading what has been said before so we can sort things out. 24.7.141.159 19:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
MuslimsofUmreka wrote, "Furthermore, Islam is a religion that defines how Governments should fucntion."
Does it? Even if we agree that we should have a Caliphate, what is the Islamic method for determining who the Caliph will be? As you probably know, this was a problem from the very beginning. Even if we agree that Sharia ought be the supreme law - one thing with which it seems all Islamists at least nominally agree - who decides which traditions are operative, and how they should be applied?Timothy Usher 20:01, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Now you are just being ignorant. I would like you to point out passages in Islamic scripture that mandate only having a "caliphate." I'll give you 24 hours to pull the relavent pieces out of the Qur'an and present them. Barring that, I think your responses are borderline anti-Islamic and totally naive. I think that if you have something to say, then you can start to responding to the lengthy posts above that I have made. 24.7.141.159 03:25, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Timothy, very good points. I might add one more: "defines how Governments should fucntion" - ok, but where exactly does this apply? In any country which has a majority Muslim population? 51%? A significant minority? 5%? 1%? 0.1%? Within a hundred kilometers of at least one Muslim? On the whole planet? I'd really like to know. ObsidianOrder 22:11, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Regardless, the term has roots that are not mentioned in the article. Muslims are just termed Muslims. Islamists, islamism, and other such terms take root from people who made tha tterm to make Muslim ideology seem as something evil. If Hip hop ideology were to be termed hip hopism, that would make no sense. The artcile needs to reflect the a racist roots of these terms and how they are designed to make people fear Islam. I will find published sources that are verifiable to back my statements up. MuslimsofUmreka 00:22, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I am taking out this blatantly racist sentence,Many Islamists oppose the term, as it suggests their philosophy to be a political extrapolation from Islam rather than a straightforward expression of Islam as a way of life. added by Timothy Usher. I am replaceing it with the following, Muslims are opposed to the term islamism and islamist. The correct terms are Islam and Muslims.MuslimsofUmreka 01:17, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Huh? Even were it anti-Muslim, how would that be "racist"? Is Islam a race now? Anyhow, you misunderstand: we are not equating Islam and Islamism. You are. That's POV. Other Muslims state that they are not Islamists, or even that Islamism is a perversion of Islam. So, your POV edit need to go.Timothy Usher 03:01, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
This articles first verifiable statement, cited from: http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/Terms.htm "Islamism emerged in the late 1980s in French academe and then crossed into English, where it eventually displaced Islamic fundamentalism in specialized contexts...The term Islamism first appeared in French in the mid-eighteenth century. But it did not refer to the modern ideological use of Islam, which had not yet come into being. Rather, it was a synonym for the religion of the Muslims, which was then known in French as mahom�tisme, the religion professed and taught by the Prophet Muhammad." I am adding this too the article. MuslimsofUmreka 01:23, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Also I would like to request that Timothy Usher not edit any Islam related page. He seems to add unsourced anti-islamic slander into articles. This is not a KKK website, this is an encyclopedia. All information should be unbaised and be cited from a published source. MuslimsofUmreka 01:33, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Such as?Timothy Usher 03:01, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

I also added new tags to article because it all seems to have been written from opinion and very little facts. The article also seems to have been written from an extremely anti-Islamic perspective. MuslimsofUmreka 01:48, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

MuslimsofUmreka, you cannot just copy and paste material from third party sources without quotations. It is unethical, a copyright violation and a violation of the rules of wikipedia.
Secondly, there may be some linguistic confusion at work here: English is not the same as French, much less French of the 18th Century. "Islamism/Islamist" *is not* synonymous with "Islam/Muslim", or it wouldn't have it's own article. See Islam for the religion called Islam.Timothy Usher 03:18, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I put quotation marks in there. If you look at the orginal post I made before it was edited, there were quotation marks which looked like the following "". They sorrounded the copy and pasted material. MuslimsofUmreka 03:27, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Okay, it looks like you did. Can you now explain how the sentence you keep reverting is "racist"?Timothy Usher 03:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
The thing is that the term Islamist has roots of spreading propaganda. I was born a Muslim and raised a Muslim. There are groups listed in their that I know people from personally. I know moderate Muslims and I have read a lot of books on Islam from all perspectives. I think I know what i'm talking about when I say that the term Islamism is a tool of propaganda to degrade Muslims. The article should reflect cited sources. I can give you a hundred sources for this article that can show were the root of this word came from and why it is used in correctly. There is no such thing as Islamic fundamentalism, only Islam. There is Islam and moderate Islam. The real Islam falls in with realm of what non muslims who are not familiar with Islam would refer to as Islamism. It is a term meant to make Islam look bad. The article reflects nothing about that. The article cites no sources and is one-sided. Views from all sides should be shown, with cited sources. MuslimsofUmreka 03:46, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


Well, I don't think you know what you are talking about. In fact, we use the term not to degrade Muslims, but to seperate the nutcases from the majority.
Ironically, the sentence you bizarrely call "racist" (you still haven't explained how Islam is a race) was an attempt to represent your POV. You claim that Islam requires a certain form of government, is an entire way of life, and that there can be no distinction between Islamism/Islamist and Islam/Muslim, even stating that the "correct term" for Islamism is merely Islam. So, if I say, Osama Bin Laden is an Islamist, you will say, no, he is a Muslim who is not moderate enough for my tastes? A "real Muslim"? Others disagree with your approach, and thus use this distinctive terminology.
Timothy Usher 03:52, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Its not about disagreeing or agreeing with me. Its about showing cited sources. As for Osoma Bin Laden, he is still a Muslim and not an islamist, though he may not be the best Muslim which would just be my speculation. Just as an american who goes overseas to war is an American not an Americanist. Majority of Muslims dont make such distinctions amongst themselves. Also, one who is Muslim and has had a lot more exposure to Islam can write this article better with cited sources. For example, would someone who lives in California be able to write an article on the New York City Subway system? If they tried, much off it would be speculation. One who rides the subway in NYC and knows were all the subway lines go and can back it up with proof with MTA maps can write an article on it really well. They can also know about construction or delays in the system with notices and by going to the MTA website. They are also more likely to listen to news reports regarding the subway system and are more likely to pay atention to newspaper articles regarding striks and such. They have more exposure to the subway and know more about scams that can get people free subway rides by using a metrocard trick. They can write an article on the NYC subway system with facts and not just speculation.
One who is Muslim has had much more exposure to this area and has paid attention to articles and books about the subject area and can easily cite those sources. They can also write a factual article and not just an article that is 90% speculation.
MuslimsofUmreka 04:18, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
"Just as an american who goes overseas to war is an American not an Americanist." Were there an ideology commonly called "Americanism" (as there easily could be), and this American promoted it, then he would be both.
Seems your real objection is with recent evolution of the English language.
I also take issue with your notion that other editors should defer to the opinions of Muslims on that basis alone.
But my biggest question remains, why do you claim that Islam is a race? Please explain.Timothy Usher 04:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Muslims are still a group of people. And any group of people can be discriminated against. Just as some people from a certain geographical area or a particular income amount me be subject to discrimination. Muslims are also subject to discrimination. Though race may not have been the best term to use, I should have used the word discriminatory remarks.
Editors shouldnt defer to anybody's opinion. They should base it all on fact. People who had more exposure to Islam can provide much more facts with actual sources. This is an encyclopeida were evrything is based on facts and verifiable statements. This isnt a personal opinion essay. Everything in the article is pure opinion and very few sources have been provided.
MuslimsofUmreka 04:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
"And any group of people can be discriminated against."
As your avowed political philosophy discriminates against non-Muslims, it is difficult to feel too bad for your own feelings in this regard. You can put me on the record: I oppose political ideologies which entail discriminating against those of other religions. One such ideology is known as Islamism. If you want to say I’m discriminating against you and your Islamist cohorts, that’s fine.
Unless you'd agree with me now, that Jews, Christians and Hindus ought have all the same rights as Muslims, including in the Middle East? Including of proselytization, conversion, church-building, open worship, holding office, weapon ownership, taxation, etc.? And that whatever point of Sharia which contradicts this should be abolished?Timothy Usher 05:02, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
So are you suggesting that modern day empires in the Middle East represent Islam? Most Muslims don't believe that today but somehow you do. I find it interesting that a cursory glance at history shows Muslims have been very tolerant of other religions.
Between the 7th century and the 15th century, Islam extended from India to Spain. Within those borders were many different religious groups including Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc. Scheindlin writes (2000) that "Most of the Jews in the world were now inhabitants of a single Islamic empire stretching from the Indus River in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, including Spain. This development brought the Jews of Palestine, Egypt, and Spain nearly instant relief from the persecutions, harassment, and humiliation that they endured under hostile Christian rule. It also brought them, for the first time since the beginning of the Diaspora, into a single cultural, economic, and political system. Both these new conditions would enable them to flourish and to create the most successful Jewish Diaspora community of premodern times." (Scheindlin, A Short History of the Jewish People Oxford University Press, 2000)
Jews prospered in all spheres from cultural to theological. Ever heard of the term "Ge'onim"? It describes the period under Islamic rule for Jews at "The Period of the Excellencies." Jews had their own schools in Iraq in the 10th century and Andelusia from the 11th-14th centuries where they refined their religious philosophies. Look up the term "Tor Ha-Zahav" if you need more information.
The funny thing that people like you seem to neglect to mention is that non-Muslims had very high positions in Islamic governments. A name that pops up is Maimonides. Heard of him? He was an extremely influential Jewish philosopher who also happened to be the chief physician of Saladin. Still not convinced? Look up the life histories of Ibn Ezra, Moses deLoen, and Judah Halevi as they all lived during this time period and all were non-Muslims living under Muslim rule.
Furthermore, if Muslims and Islam is so wrong then why were Jews establishing Rabbinical Academis in Iraq during the 9th and 10th centuries? Your hate for Islam and Muslims is illogical. While Europeans were murdering Jews left and right, Muslims protected them. You seem to want to use any example you can to put the religion down. As I said before, most of the empires and governments imposed upon Muslims are not of their own creation but rather put in place by Western powers. Unfortunately, in Wikipedia we go with facts, not just what feels right. 24.7.141.159 11:29, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
TOUCHE. Nicely said, Tim. I doubt you'll get a response to that one, though. ObsidianOrder 10:16, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
How do you determine that these are Islamist ideologies? These are things that were revealed in the Quran. Muslims are told never to change their religion. And how do you determine that one follows Islamist ideology? The term Islamist has not even been defined properly in this article. Its all speculation with no sources. MuslimsofUmreka 10:04, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


Then the proper defintion should be what I proposed above. Mainly, Islamist is any Muslim who harbors a political ideology not congruent with popular western thought. Vector4F said that he didn't agree with that definition completely but he wouldn't stand in the way of me editing it. Yet, I haven't touched it... yet. 24.7.141.159 04:13, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


That doesn't quite work for me, though I agree that Islamist doctrines are not so congruent, that is not enough. For example, hereditary autocratic monarchies aren't congruent with popular western thought, yet we aren't calling Jordan's King Abdullah or the leaders of the Gulf States Islamist.Timothy Usher 04:24, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

ObsidianOrder erroneously labels me an Islamist

I'm growing very tired this attack by you to label anyone or anything that disagrees with him to be an Islamist (I'm even tempted to describe your actions as Islamophobic). In the course of academic, historical, and theological discussion the exploration of all points is necessary. I'm going to pick apart ObsidianOrders post and I hope that all editors and contributors take a stand against these sorts of tactics immediately.

you know absolutely nothing about me... you are obviously an Islamist

In the record of this talk page, it is pretty obvious that your contributions have been to label all Muslims and anyone that even remotely gives any legitimacy of the core teachings of Islam as a "deen" to be considered an Islamist. I have repeatedly asked you to tell me what authority you have to redefine Islam as a religion in the image of the Westernized practices of Christianity. Yet, you've avoided that topic. Instead, you call me an Islamist and continue on your tirade. Can a non-Muslim be an Islamist or is that term only reserved for Muslims? If anything, this proves the point that an Islamist is term thrown around and applied to:

1. anyone who harbors positive opinions of Islam. 2. anyone who rightly acknowledges and supports the core belief of Islam being a way of life (deen). 3. anyone who is willing to challenge the propaganda-based, and hence fact-devoid, notion that anyone using Islamic teachings in traditionally Western secular spheres to be an Islamist.

In the end, I am not an Islamist. I AM DEMANDING AN APOLOGY AND RETRACTION. I'm hoping you can civil about this so I don't have to escalate this issue.

Can we ask in what way you are considering escalating the issue? Do you mean like Mohammed Bouyeri? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, it's just important that other editors know what you're threatening so we can plan accordingly.Timothy Usher 05:09, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
So you are now trying to slander me as a murderous editor? I'm appalled at the depths you are willing to sink to because you can't argue the facts. 24.7.141.159 05:12, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

I think on the one hand there are the Muslims who don't believe that (most of them), and then there are those who believe it (a small minority) and who would support whatever the local equivalent of the Taliban is.

First of all, what you think is of no concern. What matter is fact and reality. And what are you arguing for? Muslims believe that Islam is a deen and those who do not believe that are in the minority. Deen encompasses secular areas as well. Please refrain from molding Islam in your image. Doing so is a breach of WP policy and academic tradition.

Of course there is some overlap - your argument is that the overlap is 100%, and so there is no need for a distinction.

I don't think I've said that anywhere. Please quote where I have made that claim. As it stands, most of your post is nothing more than a clever attempt at railroading me into silence by putting words into my mouth. Luckily for us, Wikipedia maintains black-and-white text histories so its on you to show where I have made those claims. There is a very urgent need for distinction of this term because the definition, as it is now, unfairly labels a majority of Muslims to be Islamists. I have contributed an introduction above that I know to be very accurate of the notion of Islamism. That definition has a few votes in favor of it and the main editor here has said that he won't block the change.

Such a claim requires pretty strong evidence.

The evidence that Islam is a deen is in scripture and is considered common knowledge by Muslims and those of us who study Islam. I would suggest using Google to find Islamic scholarly sites that discuss these points. Unfortunately for you, many publications aren't in English and even more are only in book form. If you don't have the skill set to comment directly from sources then you have no business passing judgement on a religion or remolding it to fit whatever feels good to you.

I am addressing a particular point which I do not believe has been adequately settled: not all Islam is Islamist or political, despite your claims.

Where have I made that claim? Again, please show all of us where I have said that. I believe what I have said Islam is a deen and that we need to be very clear to distinguish Bhutto and Sharif from the Osamas. The fact it is a deen makes exploring politics under the umbrella of Islam a legitimate pursuit. Unfortunately, I do not agree with you is where you said above:

an Islamist is a Muslum who is unwilling to merely practice the "right" way of life themselves, and seeks to have Islam take over government...

Under that label, the majority of Iraqis who want Islam to be written into the Constitution must be Islamist. Under that label, all Pakistanis are Islamists. Under that label, Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia are also Islamists. Quite frankly, any Muslim who wants Islam a part of government instead of the the Western idea that government should be secular is called an Islamist by you. As I have said numerous times before, you cannot redefine Islam from a Western view. Instead, provide all of us proof that Islam is only a secular religion from Islamic Scripture. Prove to all of us here that the concept of DEEN is just a fabrication.

Quite frankly, when I called you out on that statement above with your lackluster examples of nations that have supposedly secular governments, you backtracked. Then you proceeded to say this:

However, that every Muslim must be an Islamist is just your opinion, nothing more. No doubt a popular opninion among Islamists.

You've already wrongly called me an Islamist and then you do it again. Unfortunately, labeling me doesn't shut me up although this tactic has been used successfully by your ilk to silence American Muslims out of fear of persecution for their beliefs in their own country. You aren't here to have a discussion to make the article more representative, rather you are here to railroad Muslim wikipedians and any of us sympathetic to them to only believe your side of the story. I'm going to ask you again to provide me ample evidence to support your religious interpretation because as it stands it is nonsense.

In reference to Islamic political ideologies you said: I don't wish to do anything except describe them accurately. Whether people view them negatively as a result is not my problem. The sad part is you said accurately but in reality you seek to label Muslims and anyone who supports academic discourse on Islam. I await your apology. I am also expecting you to provide evidence from reputable sources to support your claims that Islam is a Sunday religion with no concept of deen. 24.7.141.159 04:13, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

"In the record of this talk page, it is pretty obvious that your contributions have been to label all Muslims and anyone that even remotely gives any legitimacy of the core teachings of Islam as a "deen" to be considered an Islamist."
MuslimsofUmreka is saying precisely this. Will you be so kind as to rebuke him likewise?
I continue to be baffled by the both of your positions. On the one hand, you are saying, all true Muslims are what we call "Islamists" in the sense of seeing Islam as a way of life, including government (though no one has answered my question about succession - I guess by assasination, as per Umar, Uthman and Ali...maybe even Muhammad?), then you claim deep offense that we label you Islamists!
So, another question: in your mind, what is Islamism, and how do your opinions differ from it? Timothy Usher 04:33, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
This is my definition of Islamism. If you had read above, you'd also see that there is support for this statement:

Islamism refers to any political Muslim movement perceived to harbor anti-secular and, consequently, anti-Western political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam. Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen), should be practiced as a philosophy by the government. Many Muslims advocate a theocratic political system that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law. The term Islamism is a means to define any group of Muslims that stray from widely held customs and traditions of European populations. The use of this term is typically considered a form of triumphalism.


You didn't answer the second part of the question. You are claiming offense at being called an Islamist, but will not say how you are not one, ever under your own definition (which I reject). The notion that "Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen),{ should be the philosophy of the government itself "stray[s] from widely held customs and traditions of European populations." Since you say that Muslims generally asserts this, you claim by your own definition that most Muslims are Islamists. Yet say that you are not one. No more running in circles: how do your opinions differ with your own definition of Islamism?Timothy Usher 05:21, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Please refrain from editing my comments. Thank you.
You are claiming offense at being called an Islamist, but will not say how you are not one
I'm not claiming to be offended, I am offended. Secondly, I cannot prove a negative but I'm going to ask you again to refrain from labeling me an Islamist. If you cannot respect this then I will ask an Administrator or the Mediation Cabel to step in. Slander, whether electronic, has consequences in civil society and I'm willing to pursue those avenues.


You cannot use formatting to make your comments appear more important then other comments on the page. It is like writing in all caps.
Vector4F and I have highlighted our potential changes to the intro above. DO NOT EDIT MY COMMENTS AGAIN. 24.7.141.159 06:05, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
“Secondly, I cannot prove a negative but I'm going to ask you again to refrain from labeling me an Islamist.”
I did not label you an Islamist. I asked you if you are, even accepting your own definition for the purpose of the question, and you refuse to answer.
Then I hope you'll be retracting your implication of labeling me Islamist and also standing against ObsidianOrder. Without that, you're just be disingenuous. I look forward to a retraction and admonishment of any editor who takes ObsidianOrder's position of labeling other editiors. 24.7.141.159 06:05, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I retract nothing. Prompted by your strident complaints and threats to ObsidianOrder, I asked you a direct question which you've not answered. If you are going to run around saying, "how dare ObsidianOrder say I support X", the least you could do for your case is to state that you don't support X. As per your own definition, naturally.Timothy Usher 06:23, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
It's too bad you aren't retracted but you're backing down which is a positive sign. Do you support labeling editors? Your line of reasoning is implying that you do. This position is in violation of Wikipedia:Civility and WP:WPA. As I understand it, Wikipedia takes a very strong stand against people who do those things. Also, what part of I am not an Islamist (as written above) do you not understand? The biggest error in your thinking is to assume my choice of religion. Think about it for a second. Lastly, Islamism's definition has nothing to do with an unwarrented personal attack on me. It is in the best interest of this article and your participation of this community to retract your statements and move on. 24.7.141.159 06:38, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I never said you were an Islamist, though admittedly by this time it seems rather likely. You are right, it shouldn't have anything to do with wikipedia, anymore than you being a Muslim does, as per your request for deference from non-Muslim editors. I asked, given *your pet definition* of Islamist, as you've highlighted above, how do your opinions differ from it, such that you are not an Islamist? I would never have asked, except that you were running around threatening another editor for calling you one. Then noticed that your definitions of Islam and of Islamism, respectively, suggested that all Muslims are Islamists by virtue of Islam as Din. So am trying to figure out if ObsidianOrder had a point, or if you did. You've not much helped your case thusfar. And you've still not answered this direct, prompted question.Timothy Usher 07:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
You seem to be rather stubborn in your responses.
I never said you were an Islamist, though admittedly by this time it seems rather likely.
I'm glad you recognize that I'm not an Islamist, however the second fragment makes you sound like a sore loser. Just admit you were wrong and back down.
anymore than you being a Muslim does, as per your request for deference from non-Muslim editors.
So now you're claiming I'm a Muslim? Interesting. Isn't it clear to you yet that making assumptions leads you to getting yourself in trouble? Its funny how people automatically assume that supporting Islam and admonishing non-Muslims would somehow automatically make me Muslim. Ask yourself something, when some speaks out against Americans supporting the way, does that automatically make them non-American? Your logic is rooted in assumption and your assumption is wrong.
how do your opinions differ from it, such that you are not an Islamist? I would never have asked, except that you were running around threatening another editor for calling you one.
Again, whatever my opinions are is irrelavent to the article itself. What I do know is that labeling anyone on Wikipedia goes against policy and labeling me an Islamist is a smear tactic rooted in falsehood. If ObsidianBlack and you are not willing to back down from slandering me, then I am well within my right to take action against either one of you.
... suggested that all Muslims are Islamists by virtue of Islam as Din.
Hence why I am here to edit this article. Islam is a Din and you not provided any evidence from scripture to disagree with that statement even though I have asked you before. Furthermore, by you attempting to draw a verdict on my supposed Islamist-ness only serves to prove how this term is used incorrectly. Have you heard of Godwin's Law? The eventual implication of that Law is that ... whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress. Islamism/Islamist will need to be added as a term that could replace Nazi in Godwin's Law because the use of the it is quickly heading down the same road.
You've not much helped your case thusfar. And you've still not answered this direct, prompted question.
1. I'm still waiting for you to back up your false claims that I called anyone a racist.
2. I'm waiting for you to tell me where I used legal threats beyond going to Wikipedia's mediation cabal.
3. I'm waiting for you to provide evidence as to how Islam is not a Din.
4. I'm waiting for you to apologize for your personal attack on me by supporting ObsidianBlack's claims.
5. I'm waiting for you to provide evidence that Bukhari's hadith is a "lie."
6. I'm waiting for you to give us an introduction that you like.


1. This has already been discussed, as you know. You are not writing in good faith. The culprit here is MuslimsofUmreka as discussed and agreed.
2. I've already provided the quote, as you know. Which you wrote to begin with, as you also know.
3. Never said it wasn't. Please use English terms where possible: this is an English-language page.
4. There is no user ObsidianBlack in this discussion. What are you trying to say by changing his name?

I never supported his claims. However, I totally oppose your approach to him.

5. I didn't say Bukhari's hadith is a lie. Aisha probably did say that. Though of course neither of us can possibly have any evidence on either count.
6. May do so if I feel like it, but it's not my obligation.
I've answered your six new questions, but you are still incapable of answering the original question: assuming your definition of Islamism, how do your own opinions differ?

Timothy Usher 09:17, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

User:Timothy Usher has been [editing comments] critical of his position as written below. I've reinserted these here after he removed them.
1. You're not in any position to be lecturing me on good faith.
2. I don't see a quote, nor do I ever recall making a legal threat. The very fact you can't post the quote proves that you are not only not writing in good faith but as a very quick to make things up.
3. Please save your arrogance for someone who actually cares. The term is "Din" and is listed in the English Wikipedia as such. I see that you are trying to dig deeper into desperation as your house of cards is crashing down.
4. That would be a brain fart on my part. You wanting to chastise me for it, however, is a hallmark of your rather weak position. Grasping at straws certainly is entertaining.
5. Oh? Below you wrote in reference to Bukharis narration of the poisoning of Muhammad and concluded that it's probably a lie..." Now are you saying you didn't write now? I only see one possibility here: you've been caught fabricating again and need a way out. You've made stuff up and claimed I wrote it yet the record of this talk page shows that I never said anything of the sort. With that said, I don't put it beyond you to fabricate ideas in regards to Bukhari either. Are you conceding again that you are wrong? Yes? If so, good. I'm glad.
6. Then what is your obligation? It seems like uncivilized discourse is your only obligation here so far. Unfortunately that is very sad. I would suggest taking a WikiBreak and coming back later when you've cooled down. You've already shot your reputation to hell here and you need to start fixing the mess you've made here. I'm willing to help as long you can proporly answer the above six questions in a meaningful way. Good luck. 24.7.141.159 15:47, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Actually you haven't answered my questions. By the way, since it is my definition of Islamism, my opinions about Islamism don't differ from it. If they did, then I'd provide a new definition for discussion. 24.7.141.159 10:34, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
What you have succeeded at so far is providing a lot of irrelavent personal attacks that have contributed nothing towards defining the term. The sad part is that as that I've asked you to do this over and over again yet each time I smash another one of your false claims, you come up with a few more new ones. This doesn't show very well on you at all. 24.7.141.159 08:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
“Slander, whether electronic, has consequences in civil society and I'm willing to pursue those avenues.”
Wikipedia:No_legal_threats But more saliently, how can one slander an anonymous IP address?Timothy Usher 05:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
It's simple, follow WP:NPA and Wikipedia:Civility so we won't have a problem. If you continue to ignore it then I will pursue a resolution as outlined in Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution. 24.7.141.159 06:05, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


your own definition (which I reject)
Whether you reject it or not doesn't matter. The only option you have is to write a line-by-line critique showing all of us where you disagree and why. Also, its very difficult to understand your roundabout logic. Either provide a coherent argument devoid of personal attacks of me or quiet down. It's very simple. 24.7.141.159 05:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


MuslimsofUmreka is saying precisely this. Will you be so kind as to rebuke him likewise?
MuslimsofUmreka is saying that you can't label all Muslims Islamists based solely on political ideology because the deen component of Islam mandates its use political discourse. ObsidianOrder, wants to ignore this fact and blanketly label Muslims as Islamists because they apply religion in traditional Western enclaves of economics and politics. So I can't rebuke him on that.
I continue to be baffled by the both of your positions.
I've laid out my argument quite clearly. However, if you don't understand then I'm willing to discuss further.
you are saying, all true Muslims are what we call "Islamists" in the sense of seeing Islam as a way of life, including government
Islam is a deen (also spelled Din). There is ample evidence in scripture to support this. There are Wikipedia articles on this as well. You cannot redefine Islam via Western theological paradigms. Any attempt to do that will be met with disagreement by me and numerous scholars over the past 1,400 years.
no one has answered my question about succession
What does succession have anything to do with the topic of Islamism? It is more likely that the discussion of succession is a red-herring. Regardless, in Muslim history of governance succession wasn't always considered or used a legitmate means to pick the next leader. There are volumes written on this topic by both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars so I urge you to read up on that in your own time. As it stands, succession has no bearing on this article.
I guess by assasination, as per Umar, Uthman and Ali...maybe even Muhammad?
Muhammad was not assassinated although attempts were made on his life by the Quresh of Arabia. I certainly hope you knew this very basic fact because it doesn't actual give me much comfort knowing that other (very vocal) editors do not have a grasp of this necessary knowledge.
I have no opinion on this, but one tradition has it that a Jewish woman from Khaybar poisoned his meat. You should learn more about Islamic history. Though it's probably a lie, at least you would have heard of it.Timothy Usher 05:47, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

User:24.7.141.159 this should prove a salve for your ignorance:

Bukhari 5:59:551: “Narrated Abu Huraira: When Khaibar was conquered, a (cooked) sheep containing poison, was given as a present to Allah's Apostle.” [[19]]

Bukhari 5:59:713: “Narrated 'Aisha: The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used to say, "O 'Aisha! I still feel the pain caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta is being cut from that poison." [[20]]

Please sign your comments appropriately. I also don't know what you quoting Bukhari achieves. In my original posting I wrote: Muhammad was not assassinated although attempts were made on his life by the Quresh of Arabia. Everyone can see what I wrote above yet you haven't seemed to disproven it but instead you confirmed it. Assassinate means "to kill someone..." and Muhammad was not killed due to assassination. This can be confirmed from hundreads of works published on his life over the past 1,400 years and on Wikipedia. Furthermore, you go on to make a claim that Bukhari's narration is probably a lie. Can you provide evidence of this statement is a lie or are you questioning the integrity of Bukhari now? I still don't understand what you achieved other than to prove my initial statement to be true: Muhammad was not assassinated and attempts were made on his life. Again, I'm going to ask you to remain civil as listed in Wikipedia:Civility and adhere to WP:NPA. Are we going to be seeing a line-by-line refutation with cited sources of my proposed introduction soon? As it stands, a majority still either support or have no desire to block it from taking over. Also, when can I expect an apology from you for erroneously implying the Islamist comment? I'm greatful that you see the error in your actions on this page. It gives me another reason to cheer for Wikipedia and its community. Thanks for being a great member. 24.7.141.159 06:31, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
You mean with an anonymous IP address? In case you can't parse this properly, Aisha is saying in 5:59:713 that Muhammad attributed the illness from which he died to the poisoning
You can never expect an apology from me for once again asking you this question: assuming the definition of islamism which you've given above (which I reject), how do your own opinions differ from it?
No, you do not have a majority. Count.
And you cannot feign civility while demanding apologies, evading direct questions, threatening legal action, calling people racists, etc.Timothy Usher 06:41, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
It is ironic that you would cite a Hadith that many non-Muslims use to prove to themselves that Muhammad was a fake. The act of poisoning is on most anti-Islam websites and even a Bible Wiki. I would ask that you please provide citations from the major works on Prophet Muhammad's life that conclude he was confirmed to be assassinated. Barring that, you can't make such a claim. There is a stringent requirement within Muslims on how to authenticate Hadith because the Hadith, unlike the Qur'an, is believed to have occassional errors in reporting since it is the construct of fallable humans.
threatening legal action, calling people racists
Please show all of us where I threatened legal action unless going to Wikipedia:Requests_for_mediation for violations of WP:NPA and Wikipedia:Civility constitutes a legal threat (which it can't). Also, please show me where I called anyone a racist. It sounds like your case is just falling apart because you're making up things now. 24.7.141.159 07:11, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Looks like I forgot to cut and paste this into my response. Interesting, Shih Muslim mentions this:
A Jewess from Khaibar had put poison in the Prophet's (pbuh) food. He spat it out after taking a morsel but a disciple who had his fill died the next day. The Jewess was brought before the prophet (pbuh) who questioned her:
"Why did you do this?" "To kill you," was her defiant reply. She was told, "Allah would not have allowed you to do it." (Muslim, Sahih Muslim.)
In other words, the Prophet lived to talk about it and actually questioned the woman who did it. As I said earlier, we need your sources on the table to prove Muhammad was assassinated because I have proven my earlier statement that the Hadith is not always infallable. I'm still waiting for you to show where I called anyone a racist and where I supposedly threatened legal action. 24.7.141.159 07:23, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


"Please show all of us where I threatened legal action"...
You wrote, "Slander, whether electronic, has consequences in civil society and I'm willing to pursue those avenues." However, I apologize for this: it was MuslimsofUmreka who called people racists. Although you've clearly no interest in rebuking his comments, it was not you who said it. You have additionally demanded apologies from people OR ELSE while evading this very direct question: assuming your own pet definition of Islamism, how do your own opinions differ from it, such that you are not an Islamist?Timothy Usher 07:35, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
It's not my job to rebuke another editors comments. If you have treated him in any manner similar to how you've treated me, then I can understand that particular editor's stance. Although I'm glad you finally admit that I've never called anyone a racist or threatened legal action.
Uh-uh-uh..."slander" has no status in wiki rules. Your sentence suggested legal action. If you've backed down, that's great. Hallelujah.Timothy Usher 09:03, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
It falls under Wikipedia:Civility and WP:NPA. So before you said I threatened legal action and now you've turned it around to me "suggesting" legal action. Right, as I have written before about your methods of fabrication and you're doing it again. I'm glad you've apologized. It shows that you are making progress. 24.7.141.159 11:05, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Now you're hung up on my supposed Islamist-ness. My personal beliefs are of no issue beyond my stance that I am not an Islamist. Quite frankly, in addition to my statement of not being an Islamist, my definition, proposed definitions and current definition make it literally impossible for me to be an Islamist. Whether you desire to understand that or not is up to you. Now tell me something more relavent, why are you trying to label all Muslims as Islamists by supporting the current definition? What did Muslims ever do to you that makes labeling a core belief in "DIN" an automatic entitlement for people like you to label them Islamists? Provide me evidence from scripture that proves Islam has no concept of "DIN". You won't be able to and therefore you'll have to concede this point if you want to have any legitimacy left on Wikipedia. 24.7.141.159 08:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I never contested that Islam in the form taught and practiced by Muhammad supports Islamism. But I am also willing to accept that many or most Muslims don't wish to live in a state of constant warfare, and if papering over the original practices is needed, I'm not about to challenge them. So far as I can see, you are the one asserting that all Muslims are Islamists by saying that all must, as a matter of faith, reject prevailing western views of secular government. That is in practice untrue, I know several Muslims who accept Western government as an advance, compared to the madness of the "rightly guided caliphs", they are not Islamists. But your comments suggest they reject the belief in din and are thus not true Muslims. Again, I don't presume to deny that Qur'an and Hadith mandate political Islam. From one POV, Islamism can be defined as a return to the original traditions in this regard, and indeed isn't that precisely what Salafis say they are doing? I hold that contemporary Islam, original Islam, and contemporary Islamism are three interrelated but distinct things.Timothy Usher 09:03, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Wow, so now you honestly want me to take your seriously when you juxtapose Muhammad's original teaching on one hand to being in a constant state of war on the other? The two concepts are mutually exclusive. You comment is about as silly as it comes. I think you are grasping at straws now. Let's see where your response leads us.
you are the one asserting that all Muslims are Islamists
Actually I'm here to change the current ambiguous definition which directly says what you wrote. Furthermore, Obsidian's response below futher supports how both of you are trying to redefine Islam in your own image. Let's call Islamism what it is: a western view put onto anyone who happens to be Muslim. It was pretty obvious that you kept calling me an Islamist until you learned my real faith and now you can't. It is so sad that you are becoming desperate in your responses.
all must, as a matter of faith, reject prevailing western views of secular government
Fabrication. I never said that. If I have, then paste the quote. Otherwise I can say that your nose is growing, fabricator.
I know several Muslims who accept Western government as an advance...
Who you know is irrelavent. I know quite a few people who say the world is flat, does that mean the world is now obviously flat? No. This is why we have standards in place for academic and judicial discourse. You should try to insert that comment into an academic paper or in testimony in court and wait to see how quickly you are run out of town. Again you are grasping for straws.
comments suggest they reject the belief in din and are thus not true Muslims
Wrong again. I have never passed judgements on Muslims. Furthermore, an opinion on government is a very small piece of the puzzle that comprises "Din." By the way, didn't you lecture me above to use English terms yet you are using Din yourself? Regardless, you would know what "Din" is if you actually knew about Islam but as it stands your responses don't lead me to believe you have any deep understanding.
I don't presume to deny that Qur'an and Hadith mandate political Islam
Okay that is good. The ironic thing is that once Muslim chooses to follow those mandates, he or she is automatically an Islamist. The fact that you can tell a Muslim what he can or cannot follow out of his scripture is arrogant beyond belief.
Islamism can be defined as a return to the original traditions in this regard
No it can't. That would be called fundamentalism, not Islamism. Get your terms straight. 24.7.141.159 11:05, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
As for Hadith, I agree they are hardly infallible. In fact I'll go a step further and say no human being, prophet or otherwise, is infallible, and that whatever words God's angels recite to him will be adulterated by the time of their recital due to this fallibility. You asked why I though those sayings are lies. Though it is obvious enough that Muhammad was capable of lying, I do not think he is the problem here. Nor have I any reason to think Bukhari generally unreliable (first you acted offended at this perceived suggestion of Bukhari-unreliability, now that you see what's being said, you are alleging it yourself!) I rather suspect Aisha is the problem here.Timothy Usher 07:35, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Please provide evidence for suggesting that it is obvious enough that Muhammad was capable of lying. Using human nature doesn't qualify as evidence but rahter providing a historical event will do nicely. You can add this to the list of things you have to provide evidence for. Even what I ask you to PROVE that Bukhari is lying, you cannot give me any hard evidence other than to move to blame to Aisha. By the way, I was never offended at your suggestion but said in my original reply that Hadith are unreliable on which you agreed. Stop putting words into my mouth because it is becoming old and tiresome. 24.7.141.159 08:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
And once again, assuming your own pet definition of Islamism, how do your own opinions differ from it, such that you are not an Islamist? This was the issue to begin with between you and ObsidianOrder. This is what launched you on your ballistic trajectory. Time to answer.Timothy Usher 07:35, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
What does my position on being an Islamist have anything to do with the article? It's time for you to answer. It seems like you keep coming back to this red herring because you have nothing of substance to contribute here. I made a list of things I am waiting for from you above. Those items are largely concerned with you providing evidence of your claims. Whether you or I or anyone else are Islamists or not is irrelavent. All I know is that it is literally impossible for me to be Islamist and maybe my Catholic upbringing can vouch for that. Let me know how stupid you feel right now because I'm cracking up. 24.7.141.159 08:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
It matters only because you wrote to another user: In the end, I am not an Islamist. I AM DEMANDING AN APOLOGY AND RETRACTION. I'm hoping you can civil about this so I don't have to escalate this issue. You also falsely claimed I'd called you an Islamist. So whether or not you are is relevant to judge your claim of "slander". Since you are an anonymous user, I place little stock upon what you say about your background, but note again that you are incapable of answering a direct question.Timothy Usher 08:37, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Right. What you meant to say is when you are single-handedly proven wrong, the only way to save face is to claim that since I am an anonymous user that you place little stock upon what you say about your background. The reason behind you doing this is that I took away your only weapon: labeling me an Islamist. Now you have to argue with me on valid points and thusfar you haven't done so well. Every one of your fabrications has been revealed and your reputation has taken a hit on Wikipedia. You even sunk as far down as to compare me to a murderer. No wonder Muslim wikipedians don't bother with people of your ilk. 24.7.141.159 11:12, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


then you claim deep offense that we label you Islamists!
Are you labeling me an Islamist too? I certainly hope not. Do you want me to include your username as well if I deem it necessary to escalate this issue? 24.7.141.159 05:10, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I have asked you several times, and you won't answer. As for my username, I gave you permission to remember it when I posted.
"Regardless, in Muslim history of governance succession wasn't always considered or used a legitmate means to pick the next leader."
Your statement here makes no sense. I think what you may be trying to say is that there is no agreed-upon method of determining succession. If so, you are right: the only system of government upon which all Islamist agree is the dictatorship of Muhammad himself. Abu Bakr forward, it's all disputed. Since Muhammad isn't around, and the Mahdi is held up in traffic, that leaves Islamism without an answer for one of the most fundamental political questions.Timothy Usher 05:28, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
What this has to do with Islamism and trying to slander my name is still beyond me. The tone of your response shows your true colors. It's time you provide us with a line-by-line critique otherwise you are quickly becoming a non-factor in this discussion. I look forward to something of substance soon from you. 24.7.141.159 05:34, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Dear 24 - indeed, I have no reason to assume you are Muslim or Islamist. Based on everythin you've said, you are obviously Islamist-sympathetic, but there is no reason to assume you actually are Islamist. I will apologize for my unfounded assumption if it upset you - when you apologize for, well, all the even more unfounded statements you made about me before I said that ;) To pick a few: "completely clueless", "ignorant and uninformed", "You are a person who shares in the Western belief system", "For you, religion is generally a Sunday affair", "you have an agenda to paint Islamic political ideologies in a negative light"... Seeing how you actually have no idea what country I am in now, what country(ies) I grew up in, and what religion I believe... that is pretty presumptuous, isn't it? That is what I was responding to when I said (and let's give the full quote here) "If we're throwing ad-hominem attacks I might say you are obviosuly an Islamist". That's if and might. Ok, so it was a case of WP:POINT, and I probably shouldn't have said it, but it seems to have hit a bit of a sore spot, hasn't it?
In any case, I am rather perplexed. You said: "Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system, should be practiced as a philosophy by the government". But that is Islamism in the modern meaning of the word - I gave tons of examples of such usage above. Therefore you are saying that all (most, whatever) Muslims are Islamist - unless you also redefine "Islamist" to mean something completely different from what it means to everyone else. If you believe Islamism is simply an inherent part of Islam, why are you offended? ObsidianOrder 09:09, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


To answer a few things point by point:

Where have I made that claim? Again, please show all of us where I have said that. I believe what I have said Islam is a deen and ... - you said, "Muslims generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system (Deen), should be practiced as a philosophy by the government". That, based on a number of examples I gave, is practically a dictionary definition of the meaning of the word "Islamism" in modern usage. So, again, unless you redefine Islamism to mean something else at the same time, you just said that "Muslims generally are Islamist".

unfairly labels a majority of Muslims to be Islamists - according to you a majority of Muslims are Islamist. how is that unfair labelling?

evidence that Islam is a deen is in scripture - no doubt; but I question how many people actually believe that strongly enough to put it into practice. That is why I asked for votes and similar, not scripture. There are plenty of things in Christian scripture that a majority of Christians would vote against in a millisecond (all shellfish should be illegal, I'm sure you can think of other examples as well).

The fact it is a deen makes exploring politics under the umbrella of Islam a legitimate pursuit. - whether Islamism is legitimate or not has no bearing whatever on the definition of Islamism.

Iraqis who want Islam to be written into the Constitution must be Islamist - yes, that is correct, although it is a weak form of Islamism, more as a symbolic gesture.

any Muslim who wants Islam a part of government instead of the the Western idea that government should be secular is called an Islamist by you - yes, also correct (although secularism is a very popular idea, and not only in the West).

to silence American Muslims out of fear of persecution for their beliefs - this requires a somewhat longer response. Even in an extremely tolerant society such as the USA, some philosophies are ostrachized, and with very good reason: for example, KKK, Nazis, etc etc. What do these have in common? Very simple, they preach anti-tolerance - according to them there is only one right way, and everyone else just has to be forced to follow that. This is the one thing that even the most tolerant society cannot tolerate without being destroyed. Such philosophies also usually preach incitement of violence against specific ethnic or religious groups. The question is, is Islamism one of those philosophies? You can answer that better than I. Further: the USA is so amazingly tolerant that none of these philosophies are actually illegal in themselves, as long as their adherents do not try to put them into practice. If they do, they break a number of ordinary criminal laws and typically go to jail because of that (let's just say, try and practice Sharia, I'd like to see you try to stone an adulteress in public in the USA). I don't think that even-handed enforcement of criminal law can remotely be described as persecution. I think it extremely unlikely for there to be any state persecution of Muslims in the USA in the forseeable future. Public ostrachism may or may not become common, depending on what views the Muslim community expresses and follows.

in reality you seek to label Muslims - as what? Islamists? I don't think most Muslims are Islamist; you do, you said so (except you didn't use a label, you merely described what the label/term means).

support your religious interpretation - it is not an interpretation, it is a sense that most Muslims tend not to take any interpretation too seriously, and tend to follow their own interpretation tempered with a considerable amount of common sense.

to support your claims that Islam is a Sunday religion - I don't have a particularly good source, other than people I've talked to. Do you have a source for the opposite, other than scripture? ObsidianOrder 10:03, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Apology accepted. I'm not going to argue particulars because I've already written about every point you've commented on. If you take the response you've given, you can find that the conclusions you've come are the very reason this article requires the definition to be altered. As it stands, your position is that any Muslim following scripture is technically an Islamist and puts them in the same boat as Osama bin Laden and others. It also suggests that Islam fundamentally breads terrorists unless they accept Western conventions on the separation of Church and State. You also suggest that any Muslim that isn't an Islamist is probably doing so because they using a considerable amount of common sense which is an ultimately very arrogant and Orientalist prespective on the Muslim world. This is an attempt to redefine Islam in the image of Christianity. In the end, your stance has very far reaching consequences that cannot be condoned by anyone--Muslim or not. It goes to show that the very fears I have spoken to at length on this page are very real and I would continue to pursue the cause to be sure we don't malign Muslims following basic tenants of their faith. 24.7.141.159 10:47, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Since Ostracism is a form of persecution and we don't want the persecution of Muslims (do we?), I suggest to narrow the term Islamist to those who preach anti-tolerance and violence. Since Islamists are ostracized like Nazis and the KKK, we don't want to label Muslims. who consider Islam as both a religion and a social system (Deen), Islamists. Raphael1 13:42, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Deen Sentence

My source MuslimsofUmreka is you. How is this not precisely what you've been saying on the discussion page? Please explainTimothy Usher 05:06, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Statements by wikipedia editors are unacceptable and non-notable as a source and would be original research anyway. Find a better source; if it's true it should be easy. Also, please refrain from personal attacks such as your above comment comparing your fellow editor to a murderer. Thank you. Deuterium 07:37, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Please note that the Deuterium has only now joined Wikipedia, and is in all liklihood a sock puppet of one of the editors above.
I agree that their statements are non-notable as sources, and should not be seen as authoritative.
Do re-read. No one was compared to a murderer. Anonymous user 24.7.141.159 threatened - in boldface - to "escalate this issue" in an unspecified way; I asked what he was threatening.Timothy Usher 07:49, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

The Deen sentence :

"Many Islamists oppose the term, as it suggests their philosophy to be a political extrapolation from Islam rather than a straightforward expression of Islam as a way of life".

I can see a problem with this sentence, although the main thrust I think is correct. I would suggest a rewording taking into account that to classic muslim thought politics is an indivisible part of a "way of life". If fact all of life is subject to "Allah" (in Islamic thinking) so politics cannot be exluded from their activities. For instance an implimentation of Sharia law has intrisically a political element. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 10:17, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

ReWrite Article with sources

I removed everything taht was just opinion and that could not be verified. The article should be rewriten USING sources. The article should also not be written by people who has anti-Islamic Bias. It appears the people who wrote the orginal article are anti-Muslim and want to define proper Islam and fundamentalist Islam using their OWN OPINIONS. This is not your personal essay, this is an encyclopedia. Everything must be verifiable and must have sources. I would recommend that the original people who wrote the article not contribute any of the orginal biased, anti-Islam garbage they had contributed in the past. MuslimsofUmreka 10:21, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

MuslimsofUmreka, I am not one of the original contributors, and I too see much that could be expanded upon or improved. Note that nothing in this article attempts to define "proper Islam" - it is actually you who have been doing so here on the talk page by asserting that all true Muslims are Islamists. You start with that premise and then say that ipso facto those who define Islamism presume to define "proper Islam". That is your POV. It is also not up to you to say who should be banned from editted Islam-related topics based on your perception of bias. I've no aversion to including the Islamist POV. However, your recent edit is considered vandalism; such changes will be reverted.Timothy Usher 10:32, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


Crazy people trying to impose their elaborate religious bull**** on everyone else starting with WP. Like an onion, you peel off this layer and that and are back where you started.

Please sign your contributions from now on please. Secondly, you are as much as a part of the problem as anyone on the opposite side is. It helps to look in the mirror before pointing fingers. 24.7.141.159 11:48, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

I hear you saying I'm as much a part of the problem as anyone on the opposite side. Now I hear you saying it helps to look in the mirror before pointing fingers.

Please sign your comments by adding these to the end of your comment: ~~~~. 24.7.141.159 12:35, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
I reverted this to a pre-edit war state. Also, you are closing in on 3rr, MuslimsofUmreka. Kyaa the Catlord 12:59, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Proper Sources and the right way to write this article

With term Islamist and Islamism, you can not write an article in this format. Use the article nigger as an example. It gives an evolution of the word and how different people have used it and view it. Saying that some people follow islamist ideology is a matter off opinion, not fact. You can not prove that somebody is an Islamist unless the openely declare and say, "I am an Islamist." The article should be reformatted to include quotes from different political leaders and people on how they view this term. Examples:

  • Progressive Muslims support a secular government.
  • Sunni Muslims and other Muslim sects in general follow the Quran to the letter with strict tafsir that is based on hadiths. They consider themselves to be just plain Muslims.
  • The media generally identifies Islamists as terrorist groups.
  • In the arabic language, the prefix Mu is added to Islam to donate the term Muslim which means one who follows Islam. This is the correct technical term to indetify followers of Islam with. Islamist is considered politically incorrect from this stand point.

The above are examples of how this article should be formatted. 165.230.73.18 13:21, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

MuslimsofUmreka established the preceding sock puppet this very morning - same edits, same issues, same tone - to get around WP:3RR.Timothy Usher 13:27, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Exactly. I've given up on reverting this, MuslimsofUrethra, empty victory is yours. Kyaa the Catlord 13:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Adding sources and citations

I have begun to add citations and sources from different political thoughts on the term. I owuld recommend that the rest of the article be cleaned up and sources be added. Everything else lacks sources and seems to based on opinion. Wikipedia has a policy against orginal research. Everything that goes in wikipedia must have a published source. 165.230.73.20 15:36, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

User:Timothy Usher is deleting comments off the talk page

I wanted to alert everyone here that User: Timothy Usher is deleting comments critical of his position on this talk page. Here is an example: [Removing my comments]. This isn't the first time he has edited other people's comments on the talk page and now he has moved up to deleting items he thinks are disruptive to his position. I am advising people to be vigilant over edits here. Oh, the official claim of "breaking up his comments" is bogus because User:Timothy Usher uses the same style of posting comments. I have already altered an Administrator of this behavior. 24.7.141.159 15:45, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

all relevant users should attempt to calm down - the comments refered to above are all very emotive and also being interspersed in danger of losing the user signatures. Resorting to coarse language also is not ideal. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 16:22, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Stop breaking up other people's posts, 24.7.141.159, and the won't be deleted. That's not an "official claim", but a verifiable one in the page history. Wikipedia isn't all about you and what you have to say about other users.Timothy Usher 19:28, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Before you get up to lecture me, I'd like to point everyone towards [just one example] of many times where you not only broke up my post, but in this case you compared me to a murderer. Don't cry foul when you are doing the same thing to others. Please remember WP:NPA and Wikipedia:Civility before responding. 24.7.141.159 19:34, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Once again, I did not compare you to a murderer. You had issued unpecified (and bold-faced) threats to another user to "escalate the issue", and then began threatening me when I came to his defense. I asked you what you had in mind. Perhaps the link was a little much, but you have been extremely hostile and personalized to other users and shouldn't be entirely surprised that your hyperbolic posts evoke some bemusement and lament. Please stop your constant attacks on and abuse of other editors.Timothy Usher 19:44, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Actually, until you and Obsidian showed up, we were having a very productive discussion on this talk page. Personally, I have great respect for Graft, Vector4F, Raphael1, and Kyaa for letting me speak my mind but more importantly, for them questioning and criticizing. Quite frankly, this place went to hell when you came here with your anti-Islamic attitude where you accused me and other editors of being Islamist and you compared me to a murderer. You need to take a WikiBreak because you happen to be here to waste time and tie up editors in useless arguments. By the way, great job deflecting commentary on how you use the same posting style of comments on which you altered my critical response of you. As it stands, it looks like you've given up and conceded all the points being argued above. I'm fully expecting an apology for being compared to a murderer, being falsely accused of making legal threats, and for having my comments altered. I'm also waiting for evidence as to how or why Bukhari and Aisha are liars and you claim that Islam somehow has no concept of "din" in scripture. Lastly, I need to know why you seem to think that any Muslim who adheres to scripture is automatically an Islamist in your eyes. Until that point, your arguments are nothing more than fabrications and emotionally dervied blabber which has no place in an encyclopedia. 24.7.141.159 03:36, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
"By the way, great job deflecting commentary on how you use the same posting style of comments on which you altered my critical response of you." Thanks! Positive reinforcement works wonders with me.
Didn’t accuse you of being an Islamist, compare you to a murderer, say there is no concept of din in scripture, say Bukhari is a liar or that Muslims who adhere to scripture are automatically Islamists. So you’ll have to take it up with whatever internal voices are telling you these things.
Did note that you made a legal threat in violation of WP:NLT. Also stated that if I had to guess (key word), I’d say Aisha were the liar in the Hadith I quoted, which could hardly surprise the many millions of muslims who take a dim view of Aisha and her father Abu Bakr, who succeeded Muhammad (get it now? try thinking a little more critically).Timothy Usher 04:45, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Let me demonstrate to everyone who insane and unstable you are.
Your claim now: Didn’t accuse you of being an Islamist
Reality: Yes you said, you claim deep offense that we label you Islamists! referring to your edit on: 04:33, 5 April 2006 (UTC). Then you proceeded to prove to yourself that I was somehow an Islamist with an accusatory line of question in multiple talk page contributions. You then only stopped when I told you about my Catholic heritage. When will your lies stop? Furthermore, you have been labeling MuslimsofUmreka as an Islamist. This comes from your 05:02, 5 April 2006 (UTC) edit: If you want to say I’m discriminating against you and your Islamist cohorts, that’s fine. Ouch, when will you stop digging?
Your claim now: Didn’t... compare you to a murderer
Reality: You actually compared me to a murderer in your 05:09, 5 April 2006 (UTC) edit where you said: Can we ask in what way you are considering escalating the issue? Do you mean like Mohammed Bouyeri? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, it's just important that other editors know what you're threatening so we can plan accordingly. The key here is that Mohammed Bouyeri murdered someone for having disagreeable views. Ouch, caught again Timmy Boy. We now have two lies exposed. Then in your 19:44, 5 April 2006 (UTC) contribution, you said perhaps the link was a little much... So you admitted doing it but then claim you didn't. Everything is referencable and you just digging a hole for yourself by continuing to lie.
Your claim now: Didn’t say... there is no concept of din in scripture and Didn’t say... Muslims who adhere to scripture are automatically Islamists.
Reality: If it is really true that there is a concept of din in Islamic scripture, then you cannot label Muslims as being Islamists when they apply political ideology to their way of life. In your 09:03, 5 April 2006 (UTC) edit, you said: I never contested that Islam in the form taught and practiced by Muhammad supports Islamism. You then continued your logic-devoid response by saying Muslims following scripture-based Islam would lead Muslims to live in a constate state of war and you feel that if papering over the original practices is needed, I'm not about to challenge them. In other words, if a Muslim follows his religion based on scripture (look up the definition of scripture please), then that Muslim is an Islamist. The arrogant attitude took a new high when you claimed that Muslims who accept Western government as an advance... are not Islamists. Not only do I disagree with that statement, I find it extremely offensive because of your elitest mentality. As it stands, your position is that any Muslim following scripture is technically an Islamist and puts them in the same boat as Osama bin Laden and others. It also suggests that Islam fundamentally breads terrorists unless they accept Western conventions on the separation of Church and State--effectively removed their scripture from being a legitimate source and instead adopting whatever FEELS right to you. In the end, your stance has very far reaching consequences that cannot be condoned by anyone--Muslim or not. It goes to show that the very fears I have spoken to at length on this page are very real and I will continue to pursue the cause to be sure we don't malign Muslims following basic tenants of their faith. I took you task on this point in my response on 11:05, 5 April 2006 (UTC) to which you still haven't provided a counter point to. Liar and fabricator yet again.

Are you okay? Can I help? We need to figurre out what are we going to do with this rage which is consuming you. Maybe other wiki people havent been very nice to you. I am so sorry youre going through all this. It must feel really awful.

Please dont move my comments to make it seem im addressing another, it is your pain i am feeling right now.67.188.110.197

I disagree with breaking up a persons comments. I have asked an Admin to ban User:67.188.110.197. Hrana98 08:45, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Your claim now: Didn’t say... Bukhari is a liar.
Reality: In your 05:47, 5 April 2006 (UTC) edit, you provided us the Bukhari Hadith about Muhammad possibly being poisoned. In your diatribe leading up to it, in reference to the Hadith you said: Though it's probably a lie, at least you would have heard of it. I then showed you a conflicting Hadith by Shih Muslim that stated Muhammad questioned the lady for why she wanted to poison him. I also asked you to provide proof that Bukhari is a liar. As you did here, you put the blame on Aisha. Why not be a man and admit you are wrong? Yet another lie exposed.
Now you are claiming this: if I had to guess (key word), I’d say Aisha were the liar in the Hadith I quoted." Can you please provide proof of this? You can't and therefore questioning the character of a woman admired by Muslims sounds disingenuous.
You then keep running your mouth by pulling more claims out of that place where the sun doesn't shine by saying (referring to the Hadith): hardly surprise the many millions of muslims who take a dim view of Aisha and her father Abu Bakr, who succeeded Muhammad
Please provide evidence to back up this claim. The only people who have any contention for Abu Bakr are Shia. Out of the 1 billion or more Muslims, they comprise a very small minority. Even then, many Shia still respect Aisha and Abu Bakr. The best part of your line is how you try to make it more important than it really is by using a big term such as "millions." The fact is when you are talking about Muslims numbering in the billion range, a few million here and there is a very small percentage. For evidence to this, please refer to Aisha#Sunni_and_Shia_views_of_Aisha and then for population numbers go to Shi'a#Demographics. Chalk this up as another loss for you.
Now you keep harping a legal threat that was never made. Could it be just another fabrication on your part? It sure is. If it is not, then can you please cut and paste the quote where I made an explicit legal threat? Without posting the quote (which does not exist), you are again LYING! Please don't try to rewrite my comments to make a quote where one didn't exist.
Your rather hilarious request now: Please stop your constant attacks on and abuse of other editors.
So far, you've made up claims, you've attempted to question me on your own fabrications, you've lied constantly, you've edited/deleted comments critical of you, you've deflected questions and harassed editors who disagree with you. I think there are two important points that you must consider. It is very hard to take someone like you seriously and that you are hopelessly outgunned in the knowledge department by the editors on this page. By the way, when can I expect a response to my [11:29, 5 April 2006 (UTC)] contribution where you claimed to be doing the right thing by standing up to another editor with this charge: If you want to say I’m discriminating against you and your Islamist cohorts, that’s fine. I took you task on that too. I await your response but I'll understand if you want scurry away into a hole after being expose like this on Wikipedia. 24.7.141.159 06:13, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Please read WP:NPA.Timothy Usher 06:19, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
DUDE YOU GOT OWNED BY USER:24. Many of us have been watching this talk page and getting a kick out of you pwning yourself at the hands of User:24. 216.118.97.211
Please also read WP:SOCK.Timothy Usher 06:53, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Comment reinserted due to its removal

I don't have an opinion to give on Islamism. This thread is being followed on an outside forum where the general opinion is User:24 having owned you. I'm not anyone's sock puppet either. Hrana98 07:07, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Hrana is so obviously this 24 guy its not even funny I dont know if you are his sock puppet but you certanly are him.67.188.110.197

Isn't it strange that both you and User:Timothy Usher seem to be saying the same things regarding me and User:24? I'm going to go out on a limb and say both of you are the same person. I'm not User:24 and searching my page contributions will show my presence on these pages for a very long time. User:24 needs to make a user name because I have asked this Talk page to be semi-protected. Wikipedia:Requests_for_page_protection#Current_requests_for_protection Hrana98 08:59, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Totally! Race and gender are so yesterday. We are all one. Thank you so much for seeing this. I dont mean to be rude though I sometimes am but can we like start taking about islamism? Maybe this isnt important but the ppage is called talk islamism and Im getting a little confused67.188.110.197

Although I won't pretend to understand the diatribe at the beginning of your comment, I do agree with the end. Please stop the reversions and comment interruption. I am here to stop the censorship and lunacy present on these pages. Show me that it is over by adding constructive comments on the article. Thank you. Hrana98 09:31, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

You are right there is a lot of censorship and lunacy here i too have been a victim so if you can stop it thats great. I think the article was a lot better before people did whatever they did too it and its really sad that they froze it like thisn didnt Catlord write this?67.188.110.197

Comment reinserted due to its removal

So now that people are laughing at you, they are my sock puppet? I just did a quick nslockup on the IP above and it is clear across the country. I only post from my own IP address which is much more identifiable than a User name since my IP doesn't change. Nice try though. When will you respond to my comment? It sounds like you've given up. 24.7.141.159 06:59, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
So now it is a personal attack because I exposed your lies? The only thing to do now is either respond appropriately and concede these points or call in mediation. I'm sure once the Wikipedia community at large sees what you've done here, then we'll really see fireworks. 24.7.141.159 06:33, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
That's a great idea. You are shamelessly violating policy after policy.Timothy Usher 06:53, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Comment reinserted due to its removal

Is there a policy on lying and fabricating followed by whining and crying? Respond to concede the points and maybe you can still save some self-respect. 24.7.141.159 06:59, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
This page has been protected because of reverting by many different editors. Solve this here on the talk page. --a.n.o.n.y.m t 21:07, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Lock Talks for editing

The page is locked from editing. I would like to make changes to the article with sources. And I would like to cite them. The previous versions have no cited sources. Not only are the previous versions speculation, 90% of it is not verifiable. It goes completely against Wikipedia's rules and guideleines. I would liek to edit the page with sourced information and not original research. If you take a look at the firts 5 new paragraphs, you will notice that the yare cited and sourced. The rest of the page needs the same to be done. MuslimsofUmreka 21:14, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Your previous edits seem to have consisted of deleting the article. This doesn't really make you a very credible editor. Graft 21:29, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Sorry, I now see that you made a number of credible though controversial edits. Graft 21:34, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


MuslimsofUmreka, your stance seems to be that 1) all Muslims *must*, as a matter of religion, be Islamists,and 2) the term Islamist is inherently offensive to all Muslims.
Other editors follow the Anglophone community as a whole is thinking the term "Islamism" relevant and appropriate, it is widely used and that is why there is an article discussing it. We do not all agree that there is no distinction between Islam and Islamism. You've made it your task, it seems, to shout down these opinions without engaging them.
I've no problem with you adding relevant information, but your approach thusfar has been to suppress other POVs, not even really arguing with them but yelling at them, complaining of "racism" and removing them from the article. Wikipedia reflects multiple POVs. It is not a soapbox for your religious interpretations alone, nor is it a forum to excommunicate words you do not like from the English language.
You leave barely-coherent threats on my talk page and drag administrators into a conflict largely of your own creation, while not affecting the slightest pretense of following the rules yourself (personal attacks, sock puppets for starters). If you wish to work productively and collaboratively from now on, you will have a greater impact.Timothy Usher 21:36, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
My problem with the previous version is that it is unsourced and not cited. When talking about a term as controversial as this, you need to cite sources. And you need to show all viewpoints. I didnt get a chance to add the citation for the most recent stuff I added because of the edit war going on and now the page is locked. To start, I am gonna post cited information from all viewpoints on this talk page, then we'll agree whether or not it is a good start. Daniel pipes quotes are alreay in there. I will post up citation from the Muslim side on this talk page later on. Right now I have a lot of homework to do and I have wasted a lot off time on the internet. I will put up the citations by tonight. MuslimsofUmreka 21:45, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


A whatever, I'll just post them up now. "Islam is an Arabic word meaning "submission (to Allah)". It has an etymological relationship to other Arabic words, such as Salaam, meaning "peace". The Arabic word "Muslim" is related to the word Islam and means "one who surrendered" or submitted (to Allah)."
"Muslims see submission to Allah as a sign of distinction; this term has no negative connotations. In this view, submission means serving the will of Allah above and beyond one's own goals."
Posted from: http://www.explainthat.info/is/islam.html
"Ozturk has the quaint idea -- at least for many -- that religion is about religion and not about politics. I was told this in no uncertain terms when I asked him point-blank, "Are you an Islamist?" He shot back an immediate and firm, no. "I hate the term Islamist because it becomes the name of a faction and an ideology. Islam is not an ideology, it is for all human beings."
So how do you define yourself? I asked. "If I have to label myself I would call myself a person belonging to the religion of the Qur'an. I am Muslim and I am trying to be Muslim. The Qur'an wants us to be Muslims, not Islamists."
posted from; http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/519/intrvw.htm
"The difference is that Islamism (and Islamist) are widely recognized as offensive terms."
"Dictionary definition: Islamism n. Offensive The religious faith, principles, or cause of Islam. - Islamist n."
Posted from; http://www.correntewire.com/christianist_actually_a_word
MuslimsofUmreka 22:00, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Yes, we know what Islam and Muslim < SLM mean, thank you. You and sock puppet keep mentioning this as if others disagree only from ignorance. Not so.
Your quotes prove nothing other than that some other Muslims agree with you. They are called Islamists to distinguish them from the vast number of Muslims who, regardless of God’s purported injunctions, do not see things in as absolute terms as you do.
You can say these others are not “real Muslims”, as you have before, but that is just your POV, and to my knowledge also the Islamist POV, a view I attempted to fairly represent in the Deen sentence which you kept reverting.
What we need is a section devoted to why Islamists (as they are called by others) believe this term is inaccurate and unnecessary, because all they are doing is following the immutable religion of God in all aspects of life. Since this page is about this very philosophy, it’s a great place to do it. However, the page cannot be only about what Islamists say for themselves, nor can it be about why you hate this term or feel it objectively inaccurate. So if you avoid slanting the entire article to your polemic purposes, and allow paragraphs you dislike to be provisionally re-added, under the same standards as your own - reasoned, civil and multi-POV discussion on this page, I would be fine with that.Timothy Usher 22:13, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
Multiple POV is a really bad idea. Instead, everything should be sourced and quoted from existing articles and published sources. Such as the daniel pipes statements, the dictionary statements, the statements that state were the term Islamism originated from. No multiple POV, everything should be cited and sourced. MuslimsofUmreka 22:39, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


The problem with the sources you've cited is that they're often trivial, don’t demonstrate what you wish them to, and add little or nothing beyond window dressing for your POV.
The first link is about Islam generally and adds nothing to what we knew already. What’s the point?
The second proves that Yasar Nuri Ozturk says so-and-so. Okay, so he does. What does this mean beyond that he says this? If you wish to write Ozturk believes, okay, keeping in mind provisions of undue weight.
Your dictionary definition is uncited. I will help you, it is from Merriam-Webster Online [[21]], which, while presumably reliable, does not pretend to be thorough. It doesn’t prove that there is not another definition of Islamism in wide currency today, as a simple google search [[22]] will demonstrate. Dictionaries are based on usage, not vice-versa, and I’ve little doubt we can find another dictionary which includes the meaning ato which the title of this article refers.
As far as “Christianist”, I’ve never heard this term, but if people are using it to mean something distinct from or a certain type of Christianity, by all means, start a page. Did you expect me to be offended?
Multiple POV is *not* a bad idea, it is wikipedia policy. You are misunderstanding if you believe our goal is to arrive at one indisputable objective truth.
Further, there is a very large amount of unsourced information in your version of the article, with just as much POV. I am not sure why we should see this as superior to the article as it stood. In any case, if you wish to hold others to a standard, you should follow it yourself.Timothy Usher 23:11, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
No, I wasnt expecting you to be offended by christianist. Iwas just giving a source. If I wanted you to see christainist, I would have quoted it. But as you can see I did not quote that part of the article. Regardless, what you view Islam to be is from your point of view. what Islam really is is what was descirbed in the quran and hadith. Muslims are told to follow these two to the letter. The more moderate version of Islam created by some progressive movements contradict the Quran in that they believe premarital sex is okay, homosexuality is okay, usury is okay etc. etc. These have clearly been forbidden in the quran and mentioined that those who violate them will be held accountable for their deeds. Progressive Muslims try to abrogate verses from teh Quran so they in fact can be considered not to be real Muslims. Regardless, everything that you quote about islamism should be quoted. There are numerous sites to prove your point of view. I would recommend that you cite the sources, not just formulate an opinion essay. And make this article neutral as possible. From the Muslim point of view, I will cite sources and post them in here. MuslimsofUmreka 23:58, 5 April 2006 (UTC)


"what Islam really is is what was descirbed in the quran and hadith."
As you know, hadith can be and are hotly disputed. There is no claim, at least, that they are the words of God himself.
My POV is not that Islamism isn't real Islam, or that moderate Islam is. But Islam is more than just an idea, it is a historical phenomenon with real followers. If nearly all followers of the religion called Islam worshipped Muhammad alongside God, it would be accurate to say that Islam entails the worship of Muhammad. The fact of its heresy (or rather that some would call it heresy) could be mentioned somewhere in the article, but could not be used as a reason to delete the statements or redefine terms. From an encyclopedic perspective, Islam is what those who call themselves Muslims do and believe. Whether they are "real Muslims" - and in some ways I am inclined to agree with you here - is beside the point.
For that matter, I'd consider putting the sayings attributed to Muhammad alongside those attributed to God, prohibiting depictions or negative characterizations of Muhammad as if he were God, etc., is heresy from the most logical Islamic perspective, but I would’t try to push that in the article, as it would only be my own extrapolation from first principles.
“From the Muslim point of view, I will cite sources and post them in here.”
Alright, but in the meantime, I ask that we either 1) remove all unsourced statements, including yours or 2) restore the unsourced statments of others, at least provisionally, and work on the article lawfully and incrementally instead of by wholesale rewrites. Would this be okay?Timothy Usher 00:19, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
If we go with option 1, that would mean more than half the current article would have to go. But I think it would be better too remove the unsourced information for now. Or we could go with option number 2 and add [citation needed] marks by statements that need citation. There should be certain precautions taken to prevent chaos and more edit wars. The best option I see to prevent this is, copy and paste the entire article (with everything in it from the previous versions), not onto this talk page, but maybe to my user talk page or yours (dont know if that will work but this talk page has gotten really huge. That is why I think it should be posted to a talk page that isnt that big yet. Then we will work on organizing the article on that talk page with the proper citations. And if we come out with a version that we all agree on, we can ask an administrator to unlock the page and copy and paste the new version into the article. We will try too include every view point with as much citation as possible. How does that sound? MuslimsofUmreka 00:51, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Seeing as the unsourced information here has gone on being unsourced for quite a while, I say they all be removed.

The only justification for keeping unsourced information is if it's reasonably certain that those sources will be documented soon. That isn't the case here, so remove it all. Amibidhrohi 01:35, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Okay, let's do that. But let MuslimsofUmreka keep in mind, the mere presentation of a link isn't always sufficient. Some of his additions seemed worthy enough. I just want to make sure we deal with it in discussion. I don't think we need a different page. Isn't there some way to archive? I don't know it, though.
I definitely *do not* agree to some long administrator intersession intercession (not every day we can use those words together!), particularly as I'm not clear that the current situation has been handled fairly. Discussion pages work fine as long as participants follow the rules, including WP:3RR, WP:NPA, WP:NLT, WP:SOCK. If administrators act, it should be to enforce these rules, not to arbitrarily preside over new procedures.Timothy Usher 02:20, 6 April 2006 (UTC)


I wrote,

Why is this page frozen? Did someones right to force their religious extremism onto wikipedia get violated? That would be really really bad.

Help me out folks what are the rules here, is it that if this Umreka guy doesnt get his baby Islamist way he runs crying to mommy and everyone has to go home?

Then Umreka deleted it.

He also said on my talk page, “Anonymous IP address user, please stop being gay.”

What are you fantasizing about over there Umreka? It sounds really destructive. And kind of wierd. Whatever happened to you, Im really sorry.67.188.110.197


Anonymous user, please sign your comments from now on. You can do this by typing four tildes.
Meanwhile, what part of WP:NPA does MuslimsofUmreka not understand? Anon has a point - MOU cries about the rules, but doesn't make any attempt to follow them himself.Timothy Usher 03:44, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Islamiyya

So, the "Encyclopedia of the Orient" claims (here) that Islamiyya is the Arabic term for Islamist and is used by Islamists to self-identify. Unfortunately I haven't seen this statement anywhere else. Anyone familiar with Arabic usage, in particular maybe Egyptian, able to comment on this? Graft 02:30, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Graft, good to see you're back. Islamiyya is probably best described as something being "Islamic" as Timothy has said. However, the term is generally used in language to describe anything that can be Islamic. For example, if the local grocery story is providing meat congruent with Islamic teachings then the store would be referred to as being "Islamiyya." Furthermore, this isn't just an Arabic term but is also present in Persian, Urdu, Punjabi and Farsi. 24.7.141.159 03:31, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
I believe that just means "Islamic". As established, Islamists claim that they are merely following Islam as it was intended; it is others who call them Islamists.Timothy Usher 03:04, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Okay, this agrees with my meager prior understanding - but I meant more with regards to connotation rather than denotation. Seems like especially the more radical groups would want some way to self-identify and set themselves apart from the flock. Groups seeking to coalesce a movement around an identity might want to adopt the more pan-Islamic, inclusive self-label (calling themselves mere Muslims), but it seems like at least some Islamist groups would want to have a more exclusive label for themselves, to separate themselves from "Muslims" they don't like. But maybe not. Graft 17:40, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

New article

I want to copy and paste all versions of the article in this section. By all versions I mean a merged version of the main article. But this page seems to be getting uncontrollably large. Can somebody archive it. Everything in italics will not be included in this article. Also those who add stuff to the article should not sign it. Leave everything in this section unsigned. MuslimsofUmreka 03:36, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Graft, please scroll up and toss in Vector4F and my proposed intros as well. They are in gray text boxes above. 24.7.141.159 03:46, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Introduction

We will start by merging the introductions. Edit what you want below but do not sign it. Add stuff together, mix it up until ,delete what you want until we come up with an Introduction that we can all agree on. MuslimsofUmreka 03:40, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Islamism refers to anti-secular political ideologies derived from fundamentalist interpretations of the religion of Islam. Islamists generally assert that Islam, as both a religion and a social system, should be practiced as a dominant and exclusive philosophy by the government. Many Islamists advocate a theocratic political system that can implement legal, economic and social policies in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic law.

- The use of the term "Islamism" is controversial. Many Muslims oppose the term, as it suggests their philosophy to be a political extrapolation from Islam rather than a straightforward expression of Islam as a way of life. In contrast, some Muslims and liberal movements within Islam generally apply the term to distinguish themselves from groups and philosophies with which they do not identify.‹The template Talkfact is being considered for merging.› [citation needed] Additionally, it is often applied to Muslims who engage in violent or insurgent activities.

- It first appeared in eighteenth-century France as a synonym for Islam. It attained its modern usage in late 1970s French academia, then to be loaned into English, where it eventually displaced “Islamic fundamentalism.”[23]

Islamism is defined as, "a political ideology that adherents would apply to contemporary governance and politics, and which they propagate through political and social activism." [24] The term has orgins from eighteenth-century France as a synonym for Islam. It attained its modern usage in late 1970s French academia, then to be loaned into English, where it eventually displaced "Islamic fundamentalism." [25] The use of the term Islamism is quite controversial and is viewed differently among different groups of people.

The media usually labels people who promote acts of terror as promoting Islamism. Over the years, different peaceful groups with in Islam have been considered to promote Islamism. The term is difficult to define because many Muslims consider themselves to just be Muslims and not Islamists or to promote Islamism. In the Arabic language, the prefix Mu is added to Islam to form the word Muslim which means one who follows Islam. In english, an ist is usually added to the end of a word to denote one who follows a particulary ideology. Example would the term sexist. One who discriminates on the basis of sex is said to be sexist.

Citations

 	+ 	#^  Islamism, fascism and terrorism (Part 1)
 	+ 	#^  http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/Terms.htm
Your first paragraph:
Islamism is defined as, "a political ideology that adherents would apply to contemporary governance and politics, and which they propagate through political and social activism." 1
This definition, taken from an off-hand comment by the editor of AsiaTimes, is totally unhelpful as it could be applied to nearly any political ideology. Also, while Islamists do use political and social activism, others like Al Qaeda and Hamas (for starters) resort to terrorist attacks and other forms of violence.
“The term has orgins from eighteenth-century France as a synonym for Islam. It attained its modern usage in late 1970s French academia, then to be loaned into English, where it eventually displaced "Islamic fundamentalism."“
This is informative and appropriate, indeed, the wording is mine after your source. It should probably lead the second paragraph.
“The use of the term Islamism is quite controversial and is viewed differently among different groups of people.”
This sentence should read merely “The term Islamism is controversial.” - the rest adds nothing. Further, it should not be in the opening paragraph, but maybe leading the third. First, we should say what people mean today when they say Islamism.
Your second paragraph:
“The media usually labels people who promote acts of terror as promoting Islamism.”
Unsourced. And untrue - no one labels the IRA as Islamists, for example. Those terrorists labelled Islamist (when they're not just called "the terrorists") label themselves when they say, we are extremely pious Muslims and this is why we are doing what we are doing.
“Over the years, different peaceful groups with in Islam have been considered to promote Islamism.”
This should be maybe in paragraph four, when we can discuss the violence/terrorist aspect and mention that there are many Islamist groups who use peaceful means to attain their goals. And also mention that not all Islamists can be considered extremists, as in Turkey.
“The term is difficult to define because many Muslims consider themselves to just be Muslims and not Islamists or to promote Islamism.”
Non-sequitur: how does the fact that many Muslims consider themselves just be muslims make Islamism difficult to define?
“In the Arabic language, the prefix Mu is added to Islam to form the word Muslim which means one who follows Islam. In english, an ist is usually added to the end of a word to denote one who follows a particulary ideology. Example would the term sexist. One who discriminates on the basis of sex is said to be sexist.”
This is all totally irrelevent. What are you trying to say?
In sum, there are a few ideas we can use, I don't see it desirable to merge this with anything.Timothy Usher 04:25, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm done. I refuse to take part in this since it is simply pandering to MOU's forcible destruction of what had been a very positive, collaborative effort. In locking this piece in a form that he'd unilaterally crafted, whoever the admin was handed him the brass ring. Sorry guys, it was nice, but this is not worth my fucking time. Kyaa the Catlord 06:44, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry to see you go. Once this place settles down hopefully we can continue where we left off. 24.7.141.159 06:47, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

I hear you saying youre sorry to see Kyaa go. Now I hear you saying once this place settles down, we can continue where we left off.67.188.110.197

Ha! Reflective listening! I love it!Timothy Usher 07:30, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Okay before we move forward with this. Can somebody put some of the stuff in archive. This page is long and it takes a while for it to load and forever for me to scroll down. Regardless. Iwant to propose new rules on how we can do this. Its gonna be hard unless some the stuff on this talk page is archived. What I want to do is keep the raw introductory section in tact (as it is now). Then I want everybody to propose a new introductory section below it. Start by titling a new section; surround the new section title with "===" on each side, and then place the following in the title "Proposed Version #" and were tehre is a '#' put the number of the proposed version. If it is the first new proposed version, put 1, if it is the secon put 2, and so forth. Then sign below it with the tildas and put it in italics, such as this, MuslimsofUmreka 18:49, 6 April 2006 (UTC), but before we do that, can an admin archive this page? MuslimsofUmreka 18:49, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

I forgot to say that we will vote on which poroposed version to go with. If we cant agree with one, we will keep writing new versions until one is produced that we all agree with. I am gonna let others put up their proposed versions first. I'll let two other people start it off first. MuslimsofUmreka 18:51, 6 April 2006 (UTC
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