Islamic Fundamentalism

Islamic Fundamentalism research papers provide an exploration of the motivations behind militant Islamic fundamentalism. Paper Masters suggests that some background information from scholarly works must be consulted in order to put the movement into historical context. Islamic fundamentalism did not emerge out of a vacuum, and Americans must understand the role that the United States has played in angering these people.

Topics to Explore in an Islamic Fundamentalism Research Paper

A good Islamic Fundamentalist religion research paper will explore the following:

• Newspaper articles that trace some of the effects that Islamic fundamentalism has had in the American consciousness
• Islamic fundamentalism's prominence in the media
• Islamic fundamentalism's attention by US politicians.
• Explore the reasons behind the United States launching air strikes against the Taliban government of Afghanistan for its support of Osama bin Laden.
• Why can the war effectively be called a war against militant Islamic Fundamentalism?

Information About Islamic Fundamentalism for a Research Paper

Throughout the 20th century, numerous Islamic scholars called for a return to fundamentalism in Islam. A research paper from Paper Masters states that Mawlana Abul Ala Mawdudi, as early as 1926, wrote that Islam was a revolutionary ideology that desired to destroy the social order of the world, rebuilding from scratch.Modern militants have adopted this view, holding that modern Muslim societies have returned to jahilya (the state of unbelief and ignorance that preceded the Prophet). Ruhollah Khomeini emerged as the center of dissent to the Shah of Iran in the 1960s. In 1963 he attempted to ferment a revolt, and was exiled. As the research paper points out, there were a multitude of both long-term and short-range causes for the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Khomeini believed that the Shah was a moral failure, selling out Iran to the United States and corrupting the soul of Iran with Westernization. Bruning and Paper Masters research paper reported that Khomeini taught his followers that all Muslim rulers since the death of Ali in the 7th century were usurpers but that the true imam, or spiritual leader, someday would emerge and rule Iran.

Once in power, the Ayatollah focused much of Iran's revolutionary fervor against the United States. The research paper from Paper Masters feels that Khomeini concluded that America was a paper tiger, and would never be able to strike back. Americans had failed to support "their" shah, the 1979 attempt to rescue the hostages was a military failure, after more that 200 Marines were killed in Beirut, the US pulled out of Lebanon. The US, it would seem, was powerless in the face of jihad.