The term fundamentalism is wrongly treated as nearly synonymous with Islam
Evidence
Instead of scholarship, we often find only journalists making extravagant statements, which are instantly picked up and further dramatized by the media. Looming over their work is the slippery concept, to which they constantly allude, of “fundamentalism,” a word that has come to be associated almost automatically with Islam, although it has a flourishing, usually elided, relationship with Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 14
Categorization
- DEFINE: Points out ‘fundamentalism’ originates with other faiths but has been monopolized by its association with Islam.
- XREF: Relates to Said’s recurring demonstration that terminology becomes ideology when detached from its historical referents.
Related
- Even academic experts cannot produce a workable definition of fundamentalism (similarity 0.84)
- Influential analysts equated fundamentalist Islam with communism and fascism (similarity 0.82)
- A coded lexicon of associated terms essentialised all Islam around fundamentalism. (similarity 0.81)
- Every portrayal of Islam is an act of willed interpretation, not a description. (similarity 0.80)
- Islamic doctrine has justified opposite political programs alike (similarity 0.79)
- Western ideological camps all reduce Islam to a scapegoat (similarity 0.79)
- Labels like fundamentalist, Islamist and radical reduce Islam to political-military confrontation (similarity 0.79)
- Anti-Islam polemics are mainstream, not fringe, and aimed at policymakers (similarity 0.79)
- What looks like Islamic resurgence is actually an internal contest over defining Islam (similarity 0.78)
- A coded lexicon spread fundamentalism’s connotations across all discourse about Muslims (similarity 0.78)
- The reified notion of Islam has hindered rather than helped understanding of Muslim societies (similarity 0.78)