Islamofascism

Islamofascism is a term that has come into parlance only very recently, with the Oxford English Dictionary dating its first usage back to 1988. The term Islamic Fascism, however, is at least as old as 1933, when it was used as a criticism against Muhammad Iqbal’s vision of a separate state for Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent. [1]  

 Some thinkers view the link between Islam and fascism as fundamentally sound. These include the French Atheist Philosopher, Michel Onfray, who described the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979 as giving birth to an “authentic Muslim fascism,” [2] and the polemicist, Christopher Hitchens, who wrote: 

The most obvious points of comparison would be these: Both movements are based on a cult of murderous violence that exalts death and destruction and despises the life of the mind…Both are hostile to modernity (except when it comes to the pursuit of weapons), and both are bitterly nostalgic for past empires and lost glories. Both are obsessed with real and imagined “humiliations” and thirsty for revenge. [3]

 Islamofascism has been used by influential individuals such as William Shawcross, the former Chair of the Charity Commission and Independent Reviewer of Prevent who has been heavily criticised for his discriminatory views and actions targeting Muslims. He wrote an article entitled “Yes, the problem is ‘Islamic fascism” where he decried the fact “Muslim” was not emphasised more in reports about terrorism. [4]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch politician has written extensively about her hate for mainstream (not “radical”) Islam. She promotes racism targeting Muslims and believes Muslims should be crushed militarily. She has called Islam “the new fascism”. [5]

However, both these terms have been widely contested. Some scholars have criticised them for being vague, ahistorical and/or misleading.  Anne Norton, argues that “Fascism belongs to the West, and the defenders of Western civilization are obliged to answer for it.” [6] Robert Paxton, meanwhile, makes the point that to use the term Islamofascism “isn’t just a historical error, it’s inappropriate…Because that makes it sound like to deal with them we must attack a state.” [7] The economist, Paul Krugman, meanwhile, argues that “there isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism; it’s not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination.” [8]

For Niall Ferguson, the term Islamofascism is problematic because: 

It’s just a way of making us feel that we’re the “greatest generation” fighting another World War, like the war our fathers and grandfathers fought. You’re translating a crisis symbolized by 9/11 into a sort of pseudo World War II. So, 9/11 becomes Pearl Harbor and then you go after the bad guys who are the fascists, and if you don’t support us, then you must be an appeaser. [9]