The term "Islamofascism" is a controversial political epithet used to describe certain variants of Islamism, which it has been suggested have fascist or totalitarian aspects.
The term "Islamofascism" is a controversial political epithet used to describe certain variants of Islamism, which it has been suggested have fascist or totalitarian aspects.
Although the exact origins of the term are murky, it appears to have been coined either by Khalid Duran, Stephen Schwartz or Christopher Hitchens. The coining or popularisation of the term is frequently attributed to Christopher Hitchens, a prominent critic of Islamic Fundamentalism, based on his article in The Nation immediately following the 9/11 attacks, where he used the phrase "Islamic fascism". [1]. Hitchens also used the phrases "Islamic fascism" and "theocratic fascism" to describe the fatwa declared against Salman Rushdie for writing The Satanic Verses.
After the 9/11 attacks, the concept of "Islamic fascism", later shortened to "Islamofascism", took root in the blogosphere, to explain or describe the ideology of the attackers. Islamofascism is popular term among neoconservative blogs such as Little Green Footballs.
Those who have attempted to flesh out the epithet often state that "Islamofascism" refers to strands of Wahhabi or Salafi Islam, which are claimed to display some of the signifiers of fascism or totalitarianism. Among the allegations directed towards these Islamic sects and their followers are that they :
Some applications of the term "Islamofascism" specifically refer to the Muslim Brotherhood and similar movements in Sunni Islam inspired by the writings of Sayyid Qutb while others use it to refer to all highly politicized strains of Islam, including Shi'a as practised in Iran. A more common and less loaded term for these politicized strains of Islam, which seek to replace secular governments in Muslim countries with Sharia law, is Islamist.
Critics , claim that "Islamofascism" is simply a derogatory epithet directed towards Islam as a whole, and not a real political concept or ideology. They claim that the term attempts to conflate the neutral concept of Islamism with the negatively perceived concept of fascism. They further suggest that those who use the term rely on a politically unsophisticated understanding of "fascism", which simply understands it to be synonymous with totalitarianism.
Islamism is a diverse political category, which covers also political movements such as Turkey's Justice and Development Party, which do not seek to overthrow secular constitutions. (See also Islamic Democracy.) Moderate muslims such as Tariq Ramadan, point to democracies in Turkey and Indonesia, (both major nations with large muslim populations and islamist movements), as proof that Islamism is not always incompatible with democracy.
"Fascism" has been traditionally invoked to describe the merger of state and corporate power. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, the oil industries are nationalized (Saudi Aramco and National Iranian Oil Company) and signifcant source of government funding in both countries. Supporters of the term Islamofascism contend that the fusion of oil wealth together with the ideology of totalitarian theocracy espoused by these govenments is consistent with the definition of fascism.
Most Muslims feel that the comparison of Islamic extremism to ideologies such as Nazism or other forms of fascism is offensive. However some secular muslims such as Ibn Warraq and Ayaan Hirsi Ali feel that Islamism represents a a threat to the ideals of western democracies in the 21st century equal to that of fascism in the 20th century.
[[:Image:Himmler to Mufti telegram 1943.png|right|thumb|222px|November 2, 1943 Himmler's telegram to the Grand Mufti on the anniversary of the Balfour declaration "]]
During WWII, Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, leader of the Palestinians, aligned himself with Nazi Germany, hoping that the Axis would liberate Palestine from British colonial rule and kill the Jewish population. Al-Husayni was a good friend of SS leader Heinrich Himmler and met Hitler several times. It is not clear to what extent Palestinians in general held fascist views (though doubtless some of them did, including al-Husayni and his followers), they were led to believe that their own political ends would be served by the Nazis' victory over the British.