Chapter 5 shows that the parties of political Islam are not the natural outgrowths of Muslim-majority societies, as some have argued. As in Christian-majority societies, the (misnamed) “Muslim world” has also seen a separation of religion and politics. Understanding this history allows us to see that political Islam is a contemporary phenomenon. Chapter 6 shows that Islamism, often called Islamic fundamentalism, is the product of particular historic conditions in the late twentieth century that also spurred on the growth of Christian, Hindu, and Jewish fundamentalisms.

XREF: Parallels the argument that modern fundamentalisms across religions share late-twentieth-century historical roots. Links to scholarship on religious resurgence as response to modernity.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 30