Islamism And Islam

Hizbullah is commonly misunderstood in the west, and the differences between Hizbullah in Lebanon, whose followers are mainly adherents of the Shiite sect of Islam, and Hizbullah in Turkey, which is made up of Sunnis, specifically Shafii Kurds, are even less known.

Fuller, a former vice-chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, sets out to de-mystify Islam and its relationship to affairs of state in this broad survey of Islamic political movements. Attributing the rise of militant and fundamentalist Islam to centuries of Western colonialism, imperialism and cultural domination, Fuller points out that in most Middle Eastern countries, politicized Islam is often the only alternative to repressive, authoritarian regimes. To his credit, he treats this as neither an excuse nor a justification, but a simple reality. As with any other religion or political movement, Islam takes on a variety of forms: "Islamism is really a variety of political movements, principles and philosophies that draw general inspiration from Islam but produce different agendas and programs at different times."