What do Muslims think of the term "Islamist" ?

Question

Journalists seem to be using "Islamist" quite often these days to denote Muslims. How do Muslims feel about this term?

Answer 1

Islamist is a radical Muslim.

The term is used to mark a difference between normal Muslims and radical ones.

Islamist are people that think a nation must be governed by Muslim law, or sharia. That Islam should be a legal code not just a voluntary religious choice.

Answer 2

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim - In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"Islamist" is one of those slippery terms created by the media. As such, it has the flexibility to mean whatever a particular talking head chooses to have it mean. It means nothing whatsoever to me, a practicing Muslim.

When a particular action is attached to Islam, it is up to people to use their brains and separate truth from fiction. It is true that Islam does not support suicide bombing or the indiscrimate killing of innocent men, women, and children. In that case, even if some Arab man with a long beard and a list of credentials from a madrassah in Pakistan or another country says it is permissible, then we have to go back to our knowledge that suicide bombing is not permitted and conclude that this person is acting outside of Islam no matter how many times he says "Allahu Akbar".

Another forinstance. The country of Columbia is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. The country also supplies the majority of the world's cocaine. We could extrapolate to say that Roman Catholicism tolerates drug cultivation and get on TV and ask why all Catholics are not condemning Columbia. If I don't see Catholics on CNN and Fox News EVERY DAY, I am going to conclude that they support cocaine production and thus their religion is evil.

Of course the preceding example is ridiculous. The Catholic Church never espouses drug use or cultivation and no matter how many drug cartel leaders go to church or live in a Catholic country, it affects not in the least the teachings of the religion.

The same thing is with Islam. When a Muslim in Afghanistan grows opium poppies that will be made into heroin, he is acting against Islam and he is doing something that is punishable by Allah. His actions, the actions of his countrymen, and the actions of anyone who supports him do not reflect on the true teachings of Islam.

I understand that I have strayed a bit from the focus of the question, but it really goes back to definitions. An "Islamist" is a creation of the media. It is a term always used in a perjorative manner. It is something said with a sneer.

I guess I could be considered and Islamist, insofar as I try to follow the teachings of the Qur'an, that I believe it is the literal Word of God, that the best way to live in this world is under a true Islamic government (which does not currently exist in the world). I try to teach many people about Islam and when someone becomes a Muslim I rejoice. I believe my religion is the truth. But there are Christians who feel exactly the same about their religions, and they are simply Christians, not "Christianists".

I've been labeled a terrorist, a fundamentalist, an Islamist, and Islamo-fascist, and many other words. None of them mean anything. Use of these words denotes laziness on the part of the person using them. They are words used to obfuscate, not clarify.

Okay, guess I've had too much coffee today. I apologize for rambling but I hope that helps. Take care and be well. I pray that Allah guides you to the best in this world and the next. Ameen.

Fi Aman Allah,

Nancy Umm Abdel Hamid

Answer 3

I am a muslim and i cant stand the use of the term, not because it is offensive but because it is unneccessary. Its like saying "christianic" its ridiculous. Again the media and journalist doing another stupid and irritating thing,

Answer 4

nothing, they just point at the whole community for ones action and as usualy blow everything out of proportion and blame every follower of Islam for it.
the media at its usual, and we don;t worship our prophet

Answer 5

I am not a Muslim but I ask you. Do YOU see a negative meaning in that word?

Answer 6

Islam = submission + ist = submissionist?!?!?!?

The government talks crap, & so do the media.

Answer 7

They really should be called Mohamedist because they tend to worship their prophet.

Answer 8

I have not heard any complaints; yet.

Answer 9

don't believe the hype..