IDS 254: Two kinds of Islamic fundamentalism

 

All wahhabists are fundamentalists, since wahhabism is a type of Islamic fundamentalism.  But it is a Sunni movement, and so does not directly include Shiite fundamentalists.  I believe wahhabism to be the primary version of fundamentalism Sunnis around the world.  Probably the Nigerians we saw in the video are basically wahhabists.  One maybe could be a wahhabist without being focused on creating Islamic states.  That might be what the Nigerians in the north want -- they seemed happy with the idea that Muslims would be governed by the very strict sharia law, but non-Muslims would be governed by British common law.  That is not the arrangement in an Islamic state.  Of course, it would be easier to have wahhabism put into practice in an Islamic state, but I don't think wahhabism implies a commitment to an Islamic state.

A different kind of Islamic fundamentalist emphasis is the emphasis on creating Islamic states -- theocracies.  These need not be wahhabist in character.  Iran (a Shiite-dominated state) is a good example. Iran is supposedly governed in part by sharia law, but it's not a wahhabist version of sharia law -- it's much more lenient.  So, here the emphasis is not on how strict one can be, or on how harsh the punishments are, but rather the emphasis is on making the state an Islamic state -- a kind of theocracy, with the Quran as constitution.   Sharia law is supplemented by various laws that deal with details that sharia does not deal with.  (For example, sharia law does not set speed limits or traffic regulations.)

Both of these movements -- wahhabism, and the push for Islamic states -- can be seen as fundamentalist movements for various reasons.  And they can overlap.  The Taliban in Afghanistan-Pakistan are an example of an wahhabist-inspired Islamic state movement that combines the two emphases.