Islam is not only a traditional belief of African and Arab people, but also a philosophy of life and folk custom. Islam has incomparable attraction and cohesion with other thoughts and systems. Contemporary Islamic fundamentalism calls for the revival of Islam, which is a widespread movement, which is not only caused by religious factors.
Various political models explore the reasons for failure. After the Islamic countries became independent or semi-independent, they drove away the western colonists. For more than 30 years, Muslim countries have explored the road of developing and building their own homeland and adopted various political models.
Most Islamic countries adopted liberal constitutions and parliamentary systems at the beginning of their independence. But the emergence of democracy is not because of the increase of the middle class or the need of trade, nor because of the pressure exerted by citizens. In Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Indonesia, liberalism is a special field of absentee landlords, city celebrities and big businessmen, and it is the field of city lawyers and government officials related to business. Therefore, the traditional asylum system is still prevalent, and people are regarded as asylum seekers and do not enjoy western-style democracy. Because this freedom can't deal with the political, economic, cultural and national defense issues of Islamic society, parliamentary democracy as a national development model has been derogated. Once there is a long-term economic crisis or military failure, parliamentary liberalism will collapse. The rationality of parliamentary democracy is questioned because of the gap between its promised modernization ideal and micro-effect.
In the first half of the 20th century, fascism and Nazism prevailed in Europe. This seems to be a very attractive model for some countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America where patriotism is not very strong. Fascism and Nazism were once considered as the best solutions for countries aiming at economic revitalization and cultural revival. As a result, a new phenomenon has emerged: youth movements in various countries. However, the two world wars had a strong impact on the third world countries and became a watershed for these countries. The new political elites feel more strongly about the decline of traditional colonial forces (Britain and France). War and economic crisis have pushed Islamic society into the quagmire of a new era. Soon, fascism and Nazism no longer attracted them. The global influence of the United States and the Soviet Union replaced colonial Europe.
After independence, the nation-state has weak and unstable control over society. Due to the contradiction between the traditional tribal asylum system and the formal constitution of the country, the political space has expanded and many political parties and organizations have emerged. The reform has little impact on social welfare, but it has expanded the army and established schools. In order to stimulate industrial production, relatively effective political management came into being. Among soldiers, teachers, officials, doctors, engineers and the new working class, new ideas of nationalism and socialism have emerged. Most governments and political parties in third world countries advocate or adopt socialist forms. By 1950, the traditional celefi patriotism and multi-party parliamentary democracy were replaced by socialism and fighting nationalism. But the socialism practiced by these countries is not true scientific socialism, and some people say it is mercantilism or state capitalism. Nkrumah's pan-African socialism, Segou Toure's rural community socialism, Nyerere's Ujama socialism and workers' autonomy, Nasser's Arab socialism and Somali socialism have not achieved the expected success. Capital-intensive industries can not solve the unemployment problem, which is not conducive to local development; The layout of coastal industries is unreasonable; The production of luxury goods or semi-luxury goods has not brought benefits to the masses; Agriculture suffered losses, government tax revenue decreased, food could not be self-sufficient, and rural population flowed into cities in large numbers; Nationalized sectors such as oil and minerals still serve the needs of international multinational companies, and the export of traditional agricultural products in Africa has decreased. The resulting bureaucratic class has used its power to formulate favorable policies and widened the gap between the rich and the poor.
1950- 1970, Islamic countries experienced unprecedented changes. As the central institution of revival and reform, the state has become more and more important, and the focus of its reform is modernization, industrialization and land reform. Religion must yield to nationalism, socialism, people and many new goals. The first Turkish President Kemal (1881-Kloc-0/973) abolished the Ottoman Sultan and the caliph in 1922 and 1924 respectively, and replaced Charillat with secular European laws. The state got rid of religious control from the legal system, abolished polygamy and unrestricted husband rights, and established monogamy and more equal marriage and family relations. The educational reform aims at getting rid of religious control and establishing a unified national education system. These ungodly reforms in secular countries have deprived Islam of political power. Therefore, reviving the basic beliefs of Islam has become an urgent task for a new generation of believers.
The ideology and political model of "imported goods" mentioned above have not brought the expected effect to Islamic countries. Without material wealth and spiritual support, political despotism and corruption have not been eradicated. Therefore, the masses tend to return to Islam, hoping to change this situation through the third road-the Islamic road.
The causes of economic difficulties and the disparity between the rich and the poor. Since independence, Islamic countries have taken various forms to develop their own economies. However, some countries are divorced from their national conditions, blindly accept the theory of "beyond development", engage in "socialism" or implement the western "consumer society" development model, which leads to long-term economic stagnation.
In the industrial structure, the proportion of agriculture has decreased, but the total growth rate has not improved and productivity has not developed. Although the total agricultural harvest has increased, food is still in short supply due to civil war, border conflicts and natural disasters.
After independence, the Middle East paid special attention to industrial development, but the development speed was still very slow. Because colonial rulers forced enslaved countries to produce the products they needed, the economic development of these countries has been abnormal, and it is still difficult to change this single economic structure after independence. Most countries depend on the export of one or two primary commodities. This single economic structure is most vulnerable to the deterioration of international trade conditions or other national factors.
In terms of social structure, the rapid growth of population, urbanization, traditional values and the influence of modernism that is not suitable for the local area have led to the widening gap between urban and rural areas and the abnormal consumption structure. Due to the rapid growth of population, the cost of economic development is correspondingly reduced to be used for welfare issues, such as support. The population structure is also unreasonable. In addition, due to the destruction of rural economy, rural population keeps pouring into cities, causing employment difficulties and changing residents' economic and social concepts. People facing poverty and unemployment can easily turn to fundamentalism, especially young people, who have so few opportunities for survival and development that they are more likely to go to extremes.
Many countries are heavily in debt, which far exceeds their repayment ability.
Since 1970s, oil-producing countries in the Middle East have accumulated huge oil wealth, but it has fallen into the hands of princes, tribal chiefs and military and political dignitaries. Those in power copy the western model and implement the policy of economic liberalization. Some dignitaries have partnered with businessmen to formulate policies that are beneficial to them and benefit from them. Serious unfair social distribution conflicts with Islamic egalitarianism, which makes religious forces rise again. The former Iranian king Pahlavi was deported because of the "white revolution", that is, total westernization.
Response to the loss of Islamic cultural identity. With the deepening of colonial invasion, western culture and bourgeois lifestyle characterized by humanism and liberalism penetrated into the Islamic world, which had a strong impact on the traditional Islamic cultural structure. People of insight began to reflect on their past, tradition and culture, advocate religious and political reform, learn and adopt western empirical scientific ideas, and seek the modernization of Islamic society. They put people's modernization in a position second only to economic modernization and advocated the development of education. The center of the reform is the traditional education based on Islam, for example, boys and girls study in the same class, and women can enjoy the right to work and marital autonomy without veil. These reforms have changed social consciousness and people's ideas.
With the development of modernization, the introduction of advanced technology and the increase of foreign engineers and technicians, western lifestyles and concepts have followed. The decadent content in western life has impacted the ancient traditions and habits, and the ruling class has lived a westernized and enjoyable life. In order to deal with fundamentalism, some western countries consciously carry out cultural infiltration. Iran is uneasy about this, and its religious leaders recently pointed out new enemies to new and old volunteers: "Cultural invaders appear in black and pink, they bring movies, poems and literature, and those false literati remarks are trying to pollute the revolutionary generation." These people pay for pornographic films and provide them to Iranian youth for free. Iran is a country with a successful fundamentalist revolution, and these western measures are aimed at shaking the will of young people.
In secular countries, the westernized life of the ruling class reminds the middle and lower classes of the colonial era and imperialism, causing their deep hatred; The former's imitation of the western way of life also damages the Muslim's self-identity. Many so-called westernized Muslims seem at a loss as to whether they are westerners or not, and have a feeling of copying foreign products. According to their image, they are neither westerners nor Muslims, so there is no way to talk about their own identity.
Fundamentalism blames the anomie of Islamic culture, the loss of Muslim identity, social corruption and all evil and unjust acts on the implantation of western values and the deviation from the Islamic right path. They believe that if we want to get rid of the current predicament and effectively resist the invasion of western culture, we must return to the original code in religion and the root in culture. Islam has a powerful function of identification and integration, which can unify religion, politics and culture. It is not only a spiritual belief, but also a political system; It is both a theological theory and a philosophy of life. It is not only a set of ethical norms, but also a set of lifestyle. The development of fundamentalism is not unrelated to the particularity of Islam. It is not only the external manifestation of the inner disillusionment and imbalance of Muslims, but also the internal drive of religious and moral missions.
Some international factors have inspired the spirit of Islamic fundamentalism. After independence, Arab countries took the national spirit as a link and opposed imperialism and Israeli aggression. However, due to different national interests and geopolitical reasons, it failed to take effective joint action, which made Israel supported by the United States have the strength to expand. Arab countries lost a lot of territory in the Middle East War of 1967, including Sinai, Golan Heights and both sides of the Jordan River. Since then, Egypt has unilaterally made peace with Israel and signed an Egypt-Israel peace treaty, which is considered a shame for Muslims. Sadat was therefore regarded as the largest heretic in the Muslim world and was assassinated by Egyptian fundamentalist organizations in 198 1. However, his trip to Jerusalem ended the long-term all-round Arab-Israeli confrontation and began negotiations with Israel on the Palestinian issue. Egypt paid a painful price for this, and many Arab countries broke off relations with it. The 1970s and 1990s were the stalemate stages of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arabs abandoned the "three noes" policy. Israel relies on its strong military strength and the protection of the United States, but it still holds a tough attitude. The United States and the Soviet Union played a "zero-sum game" based on their respective interests. 199 10 In June, the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference marked the beginning of a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Due to the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the reunification of Germany and the disintegration of Warsaw Treaty Organization, the Cold War era came to an end. Under the impetus of the United States, the Middle East Peace Conference was held as scheduled. In the eighth round of negotiations, Hamas, a Palestinian fundamentalist organization in the occupied territories, kidnapped and killed the Israeli border police, and was expelled by the authorities in retaliation for 4 18 Palestinians, resulting in the two sides breaking up in discord. Procrastination in the Arab-Israeli conflict will hurt the feelings of Muslims.
The Gulf War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union have brought about the most remarkable changes in the political structure in the Middle East since World War II. The United States favored Israel and offended a large number of Arab countries. 1In August, 990, it won the Gulf War, improved the strategic situation in the Middle East, and its political influence increased significantly. The disintegration of the Soviet Union made the United States lose its rival in the Middle East, and the old pattern of bipolar confrontation was broken. The United States took the opportunity to use the Middle East as a testing ground for establishing a new world order, so as to form a new pattern of the Middle East led by the United States. The disintegration of the Soviet Union, drastic changes in Eastern Europe, and the Universiade were frustrated. Some African socialist countries have given up or will give up socialism, and the accumulated political, economic and social contradictions in these countries have intensified. The United States, France and other western countries use their temporary difficulties, such as political weakness, economic difficulties and social contradictions, to force them to implement multi-party democracy and bring about changes in these fields that are beneficial to the West. Western countries also link democracy with aid, human rights with cooperation, and promote their own democracy to completely eliminate the influence of socialism in Africa. In this case, secular Arab nationalism has weakened, and Islamic fundamentalism tries to fill the vacuum in this ideological field. People are afraid of the changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and are indignant at the pressure exerted by the West. Fundamentalists believe that the west represents rich Muslims against poor Muslims. Fundamentalist forces are extremely active and developing rapidly in this democratization process. They use the transition from one-party system to multi-party system to share power or seize power. With the support of the people, they can easily win the election.
In short, it is no accident that Islamic fundamentalism reached its climax in the 1970s and rose again in the 1990s. It is caused by the intensification of social contradictions such as long-term economic troubles, political autocracy, declining living standards, widening gap between the rich and the poor, ideological confusion and cultural anomie in Arab countries. The upsurge of fundamentalism in the process of democratization is closely related to the end of the cold war and the international climate in which the world is forming a new pattern.