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Fundamental Islamism: Its Leaders and Diverse Policies Toward the WestIslamic fundamentalism is seen as a threat, a global one. Yet Islamism is on the increase and has undergone a revival almost everywhere. Pious gestures include prohibition on bank interest charges (Pakistan). In other areas like Egypt, legislation on women’s rights is at issue. Bigotry and extremism are still rampant. The 1980’s war between Shiites in Iraq and Iran stopped a fundamentalist revolution. The outward signs are state-sponsored religious ritual and symbols, the retrogressive interpretation of penal and personal status laws and the imposition of outward observances such as the chador. These things have turned the people against the mullahs and Islam itself.
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