Understanding Islamic Fundamentalism

Abstract

The term “religious fundamentalism” has attracted attention all over the world because of its adherents being involved in conflicts and violence. The phenomenon has been perceived twofold: one is returning to the core teachings of religion without accepting any modern changes and second is the palpable desire to establish a cosmic order (religious law) on canonic law in order to establish a just system which fundamentalists believe secular law has failed to establish. This paper endeavors to understand the nature, dimensions, and prospects of Islamic Fundamentalism under these two dimensions. It also aims at understanding the contestations and clashes it has with secular law, which makes it pass through the clout of clash of civilizations. It is a descriptive/exploratory research and the data has been collected through content analysis of secondary sources to reach the objective.