Elham Manea’s The Perils of Nonviolent Islamism: An Indispensable Contribution to Our Understanding of a Complex Phenomenon

Since at least the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the concept of “political Islam” or “Islamism” has drawn the attention of political analysts in Western countries.1 Since the 9/11 attacks, however, much policy attention has focused on combating a specific tactic—the use of violence through terrorism— rather than on countering the ideology of Islamism. Because Islamist ideology can and does lead to violence, but not always, and not necessarily in a linear manner, the use or absence of “violence” is not the right criterion to distinguish a Muslim “moderate” from an Islamist “extremist.” The Islamists’ rejection of a free and open society, of universal human rights, of equal rights between men and women, of religious equality in the civic sphere, of genuine pluralism: these considerations are at least as serious as the possibility that terrorism might be used as a tactic in pursuit of Islamist ends.