To be honest, I hate the word "Islamo-fascism," in no small part due to its much-maligned and abused status. It seems like the term du jour to use to define political Islam in a simple and neat package.
The balance of global power has shifted significantly in this post-Cold War period as the US becomes the last standing superpower amidst the rubble and ashes of old Soviet Union. A new enemy has to be found, the much-hated "Other" has to be invented; hence, the term "Islamo-fascism" is born.
The threat of a highly politicized Muslim ummah to the Western civilization is nothing new; Samuel Huntington has been hyping this threat for years with his book "The Clash of Civilizations," and leading Western Orientalists like Bernard Lewis, Ernest Renan and others, have been propounding the same "exotic Other," "us-vs-them" cockamamies for decades--read the late Edward Said's seminal book "Orientalism" for a more thorough and trenchant analysis of the Western perception of the East.
It all finally culminated in the 9/11 attacks and a new enemy of the "much-enlightened" Western civilization is officially born. I remember the leftist turncoat, Christopher Hitchens, used the term "Islamo-fascism" repeatedly in his defense of the US decisions to invade Afghanistan and later Iraq, and also in his spirited arguments with Noam Chomsky in the pages of The Nation magazine.
The so-called religious elites in Muslim countries are just as bad as their purported nemesis. They are trying to impose a strict, narrow and myopic religious codes in such fashion that it lends total credence to the term "Islamo-fascism." What a way to make your enemy feels validated!
Anyway, I'll put Farish Noor's article in MalaysiaKini about Islamo-fascism in my next posting. Dr. Farish, as usual, makes a compelling and cogent argument about the pressing needs for moderation, tolerance, and transcendental values within the Muslim ummah.
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