Fear of Secularism

What do movements like the The Muslim Brotherhood, Jamaate Islami, Hamas and Al Qaeda have in common? More than a theocratic visions, a critique of the secular is what unites them.

In a newly published book chapter senior researcher Mona Kanwal Sheikh shows that secularism takes up a central role in Islamist threat perceptions. Her conclusions are based on thorough reading and analysis of Islamic texts from Friday ceremonial and speeches to radio broadcasts and books.

She finds that the Islamist movements perceive secularism as an essential threat to religion and mirrors the way that secular societies can perceive Islamism as an essential threat to secularism and democracy.