... wrote on Feb 17
th, 2016 at 8:00pm:
GordyL wrote on Feb 17
th, 2016 at 7:56pm:
Read some sam harris and his ideas about concentric circles
Can you summarise the idea?
Sorry, had to get on my PC for this:
Harris In your work, you make a distinction between “revolutionary Islamists” and “jihadists.” I think we should define these terms. I would also like to know how you think public opinion is divided in Muslim communities. I picture several concentric circles: At the center are groups like the Islamic State,5 al-Qaeda, al-Shebab, Boko Haram, and so on. Their members apparently wake each morning yearning to kill infidels and apostates. Many of them also seem eager to be martyred in the process. Most of us refer to these people as “jihadists.” Then there is a larger circle of Islamists who are more politically motivated and appear less eager to kill and be killed. Beyond that is a wider circle of Muslims who probably support jihad and Islamism—financially, morally, or philosophically—but are not inclined to get their hands dirty. Finally, one hopes, there is a much larger circle of so-called moderate Muslims, whether they would label themselves that way or not, who want to live by more modern values. Although they may not be quite secular, they don’t think that groups like the Islamic State represent their faith. Perhaps there are also millions of truly secular Muslims who just don’t have a voice. I’m wondering whether you think my understanding of these categories is correct, and if so, what percentage of the earth’s 1.6 billion Muslims you would put into each of them.
Nawaz Obviously, this won’t be an empirical answer, but I’ll give you my gut reaction. Continuing with your concentric-circles imagery, in the center, as you have rightly said, are the jihadists. Beyond them is a larger group of Islamists. So that there’s absolutely no confusion for our readers, when I say “Islamism,” I mean the desire to impose any given interpretation of Islam on society. When I say “jihadism,” I mean the use of force to spread Islamism.
Islamism and jihadism are politicized, contemporary readings of Islam and jihad; they are not Islam and jihad per se. As I’ve said, Islam is a traditional religion like any other, replete with sects, denominations, and variant readings. But Islamism is the desire to impose any of those readings on society. It is commonly expressed as the desire to enforce a version of shari’ah as law.
Political Islamists seek to impose their views through the ballot box, biding their time until they can infiltrate the institutions of society from within. Revolutionary Islamists seek change from outside the system in one clean sweep. Militant Islamists are jihadists.
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