The Psychological and Behavioural Bases of Islamic Fundamentalism

Abstract

This article explores psychological and behavioural issues that may help our understanding of some important contemporary developments in Islam. The particular areas of immediate concern are the behavioural bases of the relationship between Islamic fundamentalism and violence. A more general issue, however, relates to how we might understand the nature of religious and ideological control over behaviour. At the outset, general issues related to the concept of fundamentalism will be discussed. This is a very contentious term, and in some circumstances might be thought to refer more to the perspective of the beholder than that of the believer. Subsequently, the concept of fundamentalism within the context of Islam will be considered, emphasizing the nature of fundamentalist ideology, while ways of understanding the processes of fundamentalism within a behavioural framework will be described. The broader implications of this discussion will then be extended with particular reference to religious control over behaviour.