Political Islam: Untangling the Conceptual Muddle

The article focuses on the phenomenon of political Islam which involves revivalism, fundamentalism, Islamism, radical and militant. Fundamentalism is the common denominator in Islamic historiography for revival, reform and radical groups. The radicals advocate to violent revolution in order to change the political framework, in which radicals engage in terrorism and are referred to as Islamist. Militant Islam emerged from an environment of economic decline with a high population density, general illiteracy, lack of liberal education and high unemployment rate.