The Pros And Cons Of Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is a strict adherence to a set of ideas or beliefs that are conservative in nature. It is a pejorative term usually associated with religious fanaticism. Usually, this is what comes to mind when there is mention of a fundamentalist. However, in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist starring the protagonist Changez, a Pakistani Princetonian who is a top-ranked employee at a prestigious New York valuation firm, turns out not to be an Islamic fundamentalist, but a reluctant fundamentalist of US Capitalism. Hamid challenges readers to reevaluate their preconceived notions and prejudices of people different from themselves in post 9/11 America by employing the use of motifs, aphorism, and suspense, to create a conflation

In conclusion, the rapid regions of Islam kept its original foundation while refreshing its political and economic design. The administrative phases of Islam connect to the experimental reign of classical Rome, as they also experimented with multiple political leaders- using more than 26 leaders! Islam’s continuity of Sharia’s policy also connects to the American loyalty to early documents, as the United States’ government continues to reference the Declaration of

The Fundamentalist-Modernist dispute was a religious dispute that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s within the confines of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that ended up creating separation in most of the American Christian movements also. In fact, convinced that the literal truth of the Bible formed the basis of Christian belief, fundamentalists initiated a campaign to eradicate Protestant denominations of modernism and to fight the new individual freedoms that seemed to contradict traditional morality (Foner 788). What is more, the press portrayed fundamentalism as a movement of backwoods bigots. Yet, it was a national phenomenon. Fundamentalism continued to be an important strain of 1920s politics and culture (Foner

The textbook rightly points out the secularism and pluralism dominates many aspects of this worldly culture. This has been reflected in many different ways. Much of America has lost belief in a divine creator, which has moved us down a path of no foundation for order. Second, modern thought has instilled a sense of individual achievement and a loss of a moral conscience where our moral norms are absent of religion. Finally, as we have progressed in modern society, these effects have lead to a fragile secular

When given this assignment, I was trying to think of a special population that I wanted to learn more about. Many different special populations came to mind. However, there is one in particular that I felt I knew very little about and began to question numerous aspects of their society; this culture is the Muslim culture. After doing some research, I realized that one of the most important dynamics to the Muslim culture is their Islamic faith. Islam is not only a religion, but it is a way of life to this population (Burrell, D., Pg. 18). The beliefs that Muslims uphold, in this religious sense, govern their way of life in almost every way possible. Once recognizing that religion is an extreme influential factor to their society, I wanted to learn what part of the religion gives the fundamental basis to this particular belief system. What I found regarding this are the five pillars of Islamic faith (IslamReligion.com).

Secularisation is the process in which conventional religion, its followers and its control became the minority and societies embrace science and

Religion is a very important factor that plays a key role in the radicalization of an

Furthermore, many radical Islamic groups believe that man-made laws are shirk and they are not too be bound by them (Quintan Wiktorowicz, 2006). Moreover, the only laws that have a sense of legitimacy in the eyes of radical Islamist is Sharia law (Quintan Wiktorowicz, 2006). Which is believed to be law directly passed down from Allah. In addition, radical groups such as Al-Muhajiroun believe that all actions, decisions and deeds are an act of praise and worship as long as it follows sharia. Conversely, any deviation from the fundamentalist teachings of Islam is considered sin against God (Quintan Wiktorowicz, 2006). Therefore, according to radical Islamist those who do not follow the strict interpretations of Islam are doomed to burn in the fiery pits of hell, while those of follow such teaching will see paradise (Quintan Wiktorowicz, 2006). Radical Islamist groups use this basic principle to keep their members in check. It is also important to note that each Radical Islamist group believes only it can offer its members the True path to salvations and all other groups are false (Quintan Wiktorowicz, 2006). This ideology is based upon a passage in the Hadiths that states “And this Ummah will divide into 73 sects all of which will go to hell and they are those who are upon what I and my

According to the writings of Espisito (2005) there are four schools of thought in the Islamic faith or four attitudes that can be distinguished: (1) secularist; (2) conservative; (3) neotraditonalist; and (4) reformist. (p.228-32) An examination of the primary

As Peter Berger (1967) explained religion, it is a sacred canopy under which the entirety of life is explained and regulated. Secularization theory as explained by Weber holds that modernity challenges this sacred canopy through two major ways: increased cultural and structural pluralism and increased primacy of economic pursuits (Emerson and Hartman, 2006:129). With globalisation accelerating in the post Cold War era, causing mass migration across borders, increased interstate interaction and huge growth in the global financial market, it was predicted that religious influence would be relegated to the private sectors of social life by ripping the sacred canopy, and leaving people with, at best, sacred umbrellas (Smith 1998). Despite this, what secularization theory did not anticipate is that the demystification of the world provided within it the seeds both for the re-mystification of the world and resistance to the demystification (Berger, 1992:1). Hence the world today, with some exceptions, is as furiously religious as it ever was, in some places more so than ever (Berger, 1999:8). Since the 1970s there has been a particular rise in religious fundamentalist movements, as signalled by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which led to the establishment of the first Islamic State. As Almond et al note, fundamentalist movements have risen to the highest levels of power in Sudan in 1993, Afghanistan and India in 1996, and in India again

It is Changez’s shifting identity that creates the main interest and tension in the novel. Do you agree?

What is a reluctant fundamentalist? To be reluctant is to have feelings of aversion. A fundamentalist is one who holds on to any set of principles. Then the term of being a reluctant fundamentalist is somewhat an ironic term in this context, because our main character is a person who is not sure what beliefs he should adhere to. The novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is written by Mohsin Hamid and was published in 2007. Our main character, Changez, struggles to find his identity between being an American or Pakistani through certain events in his life.

The remarkable phenomena of fundamentalist religious revival in an age that makes its existence so anachronistic is only thus made intelligible.

Fundamentalism and Religion For a vast majority, the term “fundamentalism” evokes images of hostage crises, embassies under siege, hijackings, and suicide bombers. But these images hardly present a comprehensive picture. People in the west associate fundamentalism with Islam, this is indeed a mistaken belief. Fundamentalism is defined as " the affirmation of religious authority as holistic and absolute, admitting of neither criticism nor reduction; it is expressed through the collective demand that specific creedal and ethical dictates derived from scripture be publicly recognized and legally enforced ." (Lawrence)

Another feature of Islamic Fundamentalism is their opposition to modernity, modern values to Muslims can be deeply alarming (Ball and Dagger, 2010, p. 454). Religious Fundamentalists have a sharp opposition is modern Western values which they feel are corrupting their people (Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson, 2007, p. 150). However much Islamic Fundamentalists oppose Western values they still embrace technology and scientific developments. Examples of such are Iran who would use nuclear weapons to defend itself against Western threats (Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson, 2007, p. 150). This