Was Rumi an Islamist - 03 April 2010

This study problematizes the current usage of the term Islamism and endeavors to deconstruct it. The distinction between Islam, Islamic and Islamism is difficult to discern as they are used interchangeably. Its current usage does not allow it be an analytical definition and tool to analyze socio-political phenomena. Some scholars label even socially active observant Muslims as Islamists. Such usage of the term blurs the differences between individuals who take Islam as an ideology and individuals who simply see life as a divine test and try to follow religion’s basic tenets that demand social activism. A good case in point is Rumi who lived in the thirteenth century. His life and activities show that today’s habit of defining socially active Muslims ---who do not espouse an anti-West rhetoric and stay away from daily politics--- as Islamists is applicable to Rumi as well, showing that a more refined and fine tuned definition of Islamism is needed and its arbitrary use to label every observant and socially active Muslim to somehow imply that a good Muslim is a non-practicing and socially inactive Muslim should be avoided. The paper also proffers that new terms should be coined to discern several Islamist ideologies and groups from each other.