For almost two decades Islam has played an increasingly significant role in Arab politics, as it has throughout much of the Muslim world. The impact of Islamic revivalism (or the Islamic resurgence) has been substantial and at times particularly dramatic in the Arab world. If the 1950s and 1960s were dominated by Arab nationalism and socialism, the 1970s and 1980s have witnessed the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, challenging secular forms of nationalism by appeals to religious ideology, symbols, and rhetoric. Islam has indeed reemerged as a dominant force in Arab politics. Islamic revivalism, Islamic resurgence, militant Islam, and Islamic fundamentalism have become common though not often accurately understood description of this phenomenon.
Although the phrase Muslim fundamentalism is perhaps the most commonly used, I prefer Islamic revivalism. The term fundamentalism has too often become shorthand for extremism, fanaticism, and terrorism. It has commonly been used to describe the protagonists in the Iranian revolution, in the holding of American diplomats captive in Tehran, in the slaughter of Marines in Beirut, and in other acts of violence. Moreover, for much of the Reagan presidency Muslim fundamentalism was equated with Libyan and Iranian terrorism and ranked alongside "the evil empire" as a major threat to American security and world peace. The term fundamentalism is problematic, for it tells us everything and nothing at the same time. To begin with, all Muslims and all forms of Islamic revivalism are fundamentalist in that they go back to the fundamentals of Islam (the Koran and the Sunnah or model-behavior of the Prophet Muhammad) as sources of guidance and emulation. Politically, the term fundamentalist has been used to describe governments such as Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, and Pakistan. On the one hand, the term Muslim fundamentalism tells us that these are all governments with something in common - they have appealed to Islam for legitimacy. On the other hand, fundamentalism implies a unity that belies a rather remarkable diversity in their forms of governments and Islamic orientations or interpretations. The conservative monarchy of Saudi Arabia sharply contrasts with the radical, populist socialist Libyan "state of the masses"; the clerically dominated Islamic Republic of Iran was quite different from the conservative Islamic order imposed by the military regime of Pakistan's Zia ul-Haq (1977-88), or its more secular orientation today under Benazir Bhutto. Similarly, while the fundamentalist states of Libya and Iran have been anti-American, the Saudi and Pakistani governments have been allies of the Untied States. Finally, the radical connotation of the term fundamentalism distorts the nature of Islamic organizations, the vast majority of which are moderate, not violently revolutionary in orientation.
While some dismiss or minimize the importance of Islamic revivalism, they are offset by others who maintain that the failures of Arab nationalism and socialism have created an ideological vacuum often filled by a reassertion of Islam in politics. During the 1970s and 1980s, Islam often seemed to be a dominant political issue. Both governments and opposition groups in the Arab world have used religion to enhance their legitimacy and mobilize popular support. A brief survey of Arab politics reveals the breadth of the Islamic impact. Egypt's Anwar Sadat emphasized Islam, only to be assassinated by a radical Islamic group. Saudi Arabia, a self-proclaimed Islamic state, was rocked by Shiite uprisings in the oil-rich Eastern provinces and the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by militants in 1979. Iranian-inspired disturbances in 1987 led to clashes with
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