Islamic world

The Islamic world is the world-wide community of those who identify with Islam, known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. Many Muslims not only live in, but also have an official status in the following regions:

Islam in politics

Many people in Islamic countries also see Islam manifested politically as Islamism. In democratic countries there is usually at least one Islamic party. Political Islam is powerful in all Muslim-majority countries. Islamic parties in Turkey, Pakistan and Algeria have taken power. Many in these movements call themselves Islamists, which also sometimes describes more militant Islamic groups. The relationships between these groups and their views of democracy are complex.

Related Topics:
Islamism - Islamic party - Islamic parties - Turkey - Pakistan - Algeria - Islamist - Militant Islam

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Some of these groups practice terrorism. According to US President George W. Bush, they all have a single common agenda:

Related Topics:
Terrorism - George W. Bush

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"The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia," Bush asserted in an October 2005 speech.

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Conflicts with Israel and the US

Israel is very unpopular in the Muslim world, because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the way that the state of Israel came into being in 1948 which many Arabs thought was unfair.

Related Topics:
Israel - Israeli-Palestinian conflict - 1948 - Arab

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Some Muslims see this as a fight against Judaism or Jews, but not all. In Morocco for instance, the Islamists recently invited Jews to join the party. Jewish groups also cooperate with Arabs in the West Bank, where Neturei Karta (anti-Zionist orthodox Jewish) leader Rabbi Mosche Hirsch served as the Minister for Jewish Affairs in the Fatah before there was a Palestinian Authority. Like the Arabs, this small group of Jews thought the way Israel was created was not right.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Jew - Morocco - West Bank - Neturei Karta - Mosche Hirsch - Fatah - Palestinian Authority

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In 1979 there was a big shift in the way the Muslim world dealt with the rest of the world. In that year, Egypt made peace with Israel, Iran became an Islamic state after a revolution, and there was an invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. A lot of things changed in that year. By 2001 the Soviet Union was gone, Jordan had also made peace with Israel, and on September 11, 2001 there were major attacks on the U.S. - which most people believe were made to drive the United States out of the Muslim world, especially Saudi Arabia. In many ways the events of 1979 led to the events of 2001.

Related Topics:
1979 - Egypt - Israel - Iran - Islamic state - Revolution - Invasion of Afghanistan - Soviet Union - 2001 - Jordan - September 11, 2001 - Saudi Arabia

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The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq are called part of a "War on Terrorism" by the United States. Many or most Muslims see it as a War on Islam. After the invasion, the Islamic parties won more seats, and a majority of Muslims polled in many nations expressed support for Osama bin Laden and said he would "do the right thing". Olivier Roy is a French scholar who thinks that this does not express support for Al Qaeda or militant Islam but opposing colonialism and what many Muslims call racism - favourable treatment for Jews especially those living in West Bank settlements, many of whom have American or British passport, and which the United Nations says have no right to live there.

Related Topics:
2001 invasion of Afghanistan - 2003 invasion of Iraq - War on Terrorism - United States - War on Islam - Islamic parties - Osama bin Laden - Olivier Roy - Al Qaeda - Militant Islam - Colonialism - Racism - West Bank settlement - United Nations

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The situation is very complicated and there are many different views of it.

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Growing polarization

In Pakistan, nominally a US ally, virulently anti-American Islamist won local elections in two out of four of the country's provinces and became in mid-2003 the third largest party in the national parliament, their best showing ever. For the first time, their support comes not just from the areas bordering Afghanistan, but even from urban areas.

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In Kuwait, elections in July returned Islamic traditionalists and supporters of the royal family, while liberals suffered a severe defeat.

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In Indonesia, the growth of various groups allied to those seemingly responsible for the Bali bombing most of which have been invisible, has been marked. It is expected that executions of perpetrators of that attack, which hit mostly citizens of Australia, will polarize that nation further.

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