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Islamism: What it Means for the Middle East and the World

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An incisive analysis of Islamist movements in the Middle East

A political, social, and cultural battle is currently raging in the Middle East. On one side are the Islamists, those who believe Islam should be the region’s primary identity. In opposition are nationalists, secularists, royal families, military establishments, and others who view Islamism as a serious threat to national security, historical identity, and a cohesive society.

This provocative, vitally important work explores the development of the largest, most influential Islamic groups in the Middle East over the past century. Tarek Osman examines why political Islam managed to win successive elections and how Islamist groups in various nations have responded after ascending to power. He dissects the alliances that have formed among Islamist factions and against them, addressing the important issues of Islamism’s compatibility with modernity, with the region’s experiences in the twentieth century, and its impact on social contracts and minorities. He explains what Salafism means, its evolution, and connections to jihadist groups in the Middle East. Osman speculates on what the Islamists’ prospects for the future will mean for the region and the rest of the world.

328 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2015

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About the author

Tarek Osman

7 books7 followers
Tarek Osman is the author of Islamism: A History of Political Islam from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Rise of ISIS and Egypt on the Brink. He wrote and presented several BBC documentary series including "The Making of the Modern Arab World" and "Islam Divided: Sunni-Shia". Tarek has spent two decades researching Middle Eastern politics and societies, and is a regular contributor on the Arab and Islamic worlds at leading newspapers worldwide.

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5 stars
7 (12%)
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23 (41%)
3 stars
18 (32%)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 6, 2016
I was reading this to my son and he said it is comments like some of the ones below that irritate some Americans so much that the appeal of Trump is even stronger. I am fed up. I write about the appeal of Trump and I am told I should have said it this way, that my style is wrong, that I should have included the state of women in many other parts of the world, that I should take into account persecution of Muslims in a city in China, why jihad appeals, abortion and of course Clinton... What has all that got to do with Donald Trump's popular appeal which is what I was writing about?

There is too much PC in the world. I can't even write a review without being asked to modify it so that no religious, cultural or political group will be offended. Why is giving offence so much worse than calling out what the perceived problem is? Do you not see how people are terrified of offending people whose culture leads them to not only not care about causing offence but is using this fear of giving offence to push their own agenda? This is another part of Trump's appeal. Some are themselves frightened to express their fears out loud as they don't want other people to come down on them as people have on me here and in PMs and 'friend' requests.

If you are offended by this, you can not read it, you can drop me as a friend but you should also read what Salman Rushdie had to say about offence:

“Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn't exist in any declaration I have ever read. If you are offended it is your problem, and frankly lots of things offend lots of people.

He was talking about The Satanic Verses of course, but it holds true across the board.

Seeing and writing about Trump's appeal doesn't put me in his camp, but that is a moot point anyway since I vote on the Caribbean island I am a citizen of and in London, where we have just elected a Muslim Lord Mayor.

Two updates: what is it with people? I get semi-trolled? skip to ** to read them.
__________

Right now, for a lot of Americans, it really doesn't matter if they are usually very partisan and would only vote Democrat or Republican, what they have is Trump addressing their fears. Whatever you think of Trump, he's going to do well. People's main preoccupation everywhere is keeping the barbarians from the gates which is what Americans see Europe as having failed at. This isn't about getting out of this Middle Eastern country or that one, or the economy, or why Google and other big businesses don't pay their share of tax, or if there are too many illegal Mexican immigrants. None of those.

This is WWIII. It began 9/11. I don't care to separate 'good' Muslims from 'fundamentalist' ones. They must do this themselves and by their actions we will know. Most immigrants into the US (and Europe) have always assimilated at least publicly, private life is just that, private - do what you want. But in recent years it has been one particular culture wanting to change things to suit themselves. And because our two cultures are totally incompatible from their very base - the absolute dominance of males and the lack of all power of women, it freaks even those who would otherwise truly sympathise and welcome genuine refugees.

In the Caribbean outside of Trinidad and Guyana where they are ethnic East Indians both Hindu and Muslim whose preoccupations are political power in their home countries and not their religion, there are two groups of Muslims. There are the Arabs who have electronics, beauty supply and 'variety' stores (as we call small department stores) in all the islands and are collectively known as Syrians. They are mostly Lebanese and Palestinian. They commonly send to Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories for first or second cousins to come and marry their sons or daughters and these immigrants are very hardline. In one beauty store I am called Yahudi, Jew. Like I wouldn't understand.





After 9/11 the Syrians, that same night, had a big celebratory bonfire. It took them a lot of hard work and paid PR ads to get back in people's good books and spending. They demonstrate for Palestine, they demonstrate against Israel, always a crowd out for that. But do they protest against ISIS? No. Do they give ISIS tacit support by their silence? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But it can be interpreted that way and by those who support Trump it probably is.

The second group are politicised Black Muslims. Usually local kids who went to university in the US and have come back with their hair in locks and hatred in their hearts. They are extremely racist about Whites and Jews. Almost all the conspiracy theory books I order (I don't stock them) go to this group and people they are trying to persuade that Jews actually have taken over the world. Think: big lizards a la David Icke. They don't seem to be particularly involved in the fundamentalism of ISIS and only come out to demonstrate against Israel, but not always then. I have two friends in this group from the time they were kids and they both come to the shop just to chat and tell me what's going on.

Islam means submission. However men interpret Allah, they also worship the most violent, vengeful, vicious and sociopathic god ever imagined if you listen to how they interpret Mohammed and the Qu'ran. (How come the Sufis don't see Islam quite that way? Their interpretation is much kinder and gentler. How come the Pakistanis I knew growing up didn't interpret it as so anti-female and full of hatred either?). And women must submit to these men.

We women are expected to give up democracy, equality, the freedom to wear what we like and all self-determination including having sex when we want to and with whom we want. Pedophilia and women's slavery in the form of underage and/or forced marriages, possibly female genital mutilation as in a lot of Islamic countries. , capital punishment without benefit of a trial for women deemed to have brought dishonour on the family by even being suspected of having sex or getting raped, and murder of homosexuals, all of these and more we are expected to change our societies to encompass. This isn't ISIS - they'd just kill us, this is in the cities whole areas, even whole towns that would like all this to be the law and the culture.

We throw up our hands at the appalling violence in London, Paris, Cologne, Sweden... and even in the immigrant camps in France of those trying to get into the UK. We curse Merkel and continually ask ourselves why 90% of the refugees from violence are young men under 30 who should be staying home and fighting. You would think that the refugees would be families, husbands and (four?) wives and all the children and grandparents, but no, mostly they are young males. We listen to ISIS who say that one in every ten will be a jihadi.

All this and because the greatest sin in the Western world is giving offence to a racial or gender group, we don't say anything.

Trump is, he's saying it loudly. He's saying I will make sure this won't happen in America. And that is his appeal.

And if you think I'm anti-Islam you are wrong. I don't like the religion, but then I don't like much of any religion, including the Judaism I was raised in or the Catholicism I was half-raised in.

It isn't Islam I despise but those who would force us to live out their interpretation of it. People should take Trump seriously. If he stood for election in a lot of European countries, he, fool and prejudiced as he is in many ways, would be elected just like that because we are afraid of war and he might be our Churchill, a man deeply unpopular outside of the theatre of WWII but an absolute worshipped hero within it

** Update I've just been asked if I would really vote for Trump. No of course I wouldn't. I'm not an American either. I don't go along with Trump at all, I just completely understand his appeal. I just wish it didn't have some basis in truth. Therein lies the danger.

**Update In answer to the 'friend'. No I am not anti-refugee. We should welcome genuine refugees who are obviously opponents to the violent regime and will no doubt do their best to make new lives in our countries. You can apply for refugee status online from your home or any other country. Everyone has a cell phone.

It is the young male economic migrants from the middle east and Africa coming illegally and whom ISIS says one in ten are jihadists, and also claiming refugee status which I do not agree with. Nor do I agree with girls being told that they should not be stumbling out of clubs on a Friday night quite drunk in sexy clothes because to some people this means they are fair game. This is victim-blaming, this is "she was asking for it". Why should we stop them, change our way of life to suit others who see this as wrong. And that is the appeal of Trump. He says that he will protect the American way of life. And no one else is saying that.

Rewritten somewhat harder June 5th 2016.
Profile Image for Andrew Smith.
1,132 reviews718 followers
July 9, 2016
Nobody who has witnessed the television scenes of atrocities in Paris or has listened to the rantings of Donald Trump can fail to appreciate that Islamism and, in particular, the murderous terrorists it has spawned, is probably now the hottest global discussion topic.

To be clear, this is not a book about the ancient religion itself – the meaning of being a Muslim – it’s about the groups that have taken this faith and how they have formed factions which have developed and evolved through the centuries. It brings the story bang up to date with reflections on some recent global events and their geopolitical ramifications.

In his introduction, the author explains that there are largely two schools at play. The most widely held historic view was (and is still held by some to be) that being a Muslim is a holistic framework which covers their spiritual and material lives. Accepting all parameters is paramount – it’s not possible to accept some and reject others. More recently a secular school has chosen to distinguish between the fundamental tenets of faith and its application in life, thus limiting the scope of Islamism (though this group rarely, if ever, uses this terminology). The recent Arab uprisings have created conditions which has allowed hard line, militant Islamism to gain a foothold. The history of these movements and the ebb and flow of power and influence is covered in great detail in this book. Another theme is the struggle between the large communities of Sunnis and Shiites. The West’s role in using Islamist forces to further its own aims is also discussed.

The dynamics concerning the growth of militant Islamism are multifaceted and complex. The book explores how West’s views on Islamism are evolving – and vice versa. And in it’s final section Osman gives his view on how he sees current trends impacting the future of the religion itself.

The focus in this book is on the Middle East. It’s dense and full of names and dates. It’s not a particularly easy read – for me it had a school text book feel to it. But it’s a serious subject and it demands a serious book, and that’s exactly what you get here. If you’re looking for a voyeuristic commentary on recent violent events driven by Islamic terrorists then look elsewhere, but if you're seeking something that discusses Islamism thoroughly and offers a view not only on how we've reached the current position but also how it might develop from here then this might just be the book for you.

My thanks to Yale University Press and NetGalley for supplying an early copy of this book.
Profile Image for Inam.
45 reviews21 followers
February 2, 2016
I don't think this work does a great job of discussing islamism in the context of geopolitical affairs. We must remember that even the most diehard Islamists often have a geopolitical agenda that guides them, so no matter how much they refer to a global caliphate or enacting the will of Islam, it's still a veneer for a very real, very practical calculus on obtaining, exploiting, and maintaining power and wealth for their own ends.

While it did a relatively decent job of outlining various Islamist parties, it failed to take into account the historical and material origins of such power. Movements like this don't occur in vacuums and nor are they simply ideological reactions, they're attempts at consolidating power against corrupt western-imposed or backed regimes, neocolonialism, neoimperialism, oppression, and war. Understanding these facts doesn't mean you're empathizing or sympathizing with intolerance, oppression, and unjustified violence.

Any intellectual discourse on islamism should include real factors, and most do. Which is why I gave this book such a low rating.
Profile Image for Luke Drysdale.
2 reviews
June 12, 2023
Finally finished a book!! Second half was a lot better as it was more specific. Felt it could’ve been better if it just focused on 1/2 countries but enjoyed the chapters on Turkey and Iran.
837 reviews20 followers
May 13, 2016
First, this book is written by a political economist. Economists should not write books about anything other than economics. They fail at everything else. Though an economic view can be pretty bleak.

Second, I had to give up on this book. I couldn't make heads or tails of some things. Add in the author actively excludes facts like the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood did use violence and use it frequently while actively campaigning against Mubarak's regime but paints the MB as merely a social works group, I couldn't take the author seriously. The MB were never benign. I'm not sure what reality the author lives in but the one he lives in is vastly different from the one I and the Islamist groups live in.

Oddly, I found the Wikipedia page on "Islamism" to be much better and more useful.
Profile Image for Diana Sandberg.
794 reviews
April 16, 2017
I found this very informative and easy to read. I do have to watch myself, because I tend to be persuaded by an author's point of view and need to read more than one before I can safely form an opinion. But I have done some amount of reading on this subject - articles mostly, rather than books, so not necessarily a good balance yet. Still, I did find this work full of the kind of historical background, and also the interconnectedness of different events in the recent history of this region, that one rarely gets in news coverage.

I'm fairly certain this was not the author's intent, but I kept finding parallels with various political events in North America and Europe, how populist movements rise and fall, that gave me much food for thought.
Profile Image for Dave.
259 reviews7 followers
February 1, 2016
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This review and more can be found at Book of Bogan

I think this is the third book I have read recently about the phenomenon of Islamism, including the most recent rise of IS, or ISIS. And I suppose that I was spoiled to some degree by those I have read previously which covered much of the same material.The author of this book starts off from a historical perspective, bring it into the present day.

As a westerner trying to understand the political, social and religious morass which seems to be going on in the middle east, with competing factions, I don't think I came away any the wiser from reading this book. However, the more I read, the more I come to understand that the projection of western ideas of 'how things should be' onto other cultures and expecting it to work out for the best, is not working, and has not worked.

I think it is important to get more information out there into the conversation, which - in the West - is so often dominated by reactionary, fear-based politics. I don't think this book is necessarily the vehicle which will carry that message to the masses, but in the right circles, I think it has a place.
Profile Image for Tin Wee.
253 reviews7 followers
March 8, 2017
The book explore the beginnings of political Islamic groups in the Middle East, and their divergent evolution to the different factions there. It traces the rise and fall of various groups as they seek to impose/ influence their vision of an Islamic state, and outlines key interventions leading to the current state of affairs in the region. A fascinating read as it exposes the pluralism of thought across the different countries and factions. The Arab Spring is presented as a cautionary tale of how the elites lost power because of an alienation from the masses - leaving a political vacuum which Islamic parties were able to exploit because of their strong grassroots work in providing services in the prior decades. Recommended.
Profile Image for Brian.
321 reviews
November 3, 2016
Rather dry, somewhat dense, but perhaps slightly optimistic. Still, I was hoping for some brilliant insights and am afraid that any went over my head.
Profile Image for Nazmi Yaakub.
Author 10 books263 followers
August 14, 2018
Buku ini wajar dibaca oleh aktivis gerakan Islam di negara ini atau yang lebih mesra dijolok sebagai 'orang haraki' untuk menyusuri dan menyoroti perjalanan gerakan yang meletakkan usaha untuk mengembalikan sistem politik, ekonomi dan sosial kepada kerangka Islam yang biasanya melalui kegiatan berbentuk politik serta sosial.

Bagaimanapun, aktivis atau politikus dari gerakan Islam akan cenderung untuk menerima pengalaman gerakan yang membawa inspirasi yang sama dari negara lain khususnya Timur Tengah tanpa melihat setiap perjalanan gerakan berkenaan mempunyai latar sejarah dan sosial berbeza.

Buku ini memberi fokus kepada gerakan seperti al-Ikhwan al-Muslimum (IM) di Mesir; PJD (Maghribi); An-Nahda (Tunisia) dab FIS (Algeria) dalam interaksi mereka dengan pemerintah sama ada sebelum Revolusi Arab dalam alaf ini atau selepasnya, hubungan dengan gerakan sekular/liberal daripada kelompok pertengahan serta elemen Salafi baik dalam bentuk pemikiran atau parti politik yang wujud selepas revolusi.

Begitu juga buku ini melihat dalam konteks hubungan dengan kelompok sekularis dan minoriti serta dalam latar geopolitik negara teluk, pertentangan antara Sunni (yang sering dikelirukan dengan Wahabi) dengan Syiah atau Iran, malah lebih penting sejauh mana Barat sama ada Amerika Syarikat (AS) atau Eropah melihat gerakan Islam yang tampil sebagai parti politik pemerintah dalam tempoh masa yang singkat itu.
September 22, 2023
Personally, I struggled to get into the book until the later chapters. The book is informative, there is no doubting that.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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