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Both in its militant and passive forms, contemporary Islamic fundamentalism possesses three general attributes: pervasiveness, polycentrism, and persistence. It is pervasive since Islamic groups and movements have sprung up in virtually every Muslim community regardless of size or political, economic, and cultural setting. Nor is Islamic revival limited to particular social and economic classes. While much of its grassroots support is based on the lower, lower-middle, and middle classes, there is increasing evidence of widespread emulation of Islamic lifeways among the upper-middle and upper strata. The Islamic rebirth movement is also polycentric since it possesses no single revolutionary leadership or organizational epicenter. To a significant degree, the return to Islamic roots has had a local character as a response to particular crisis conditions existing in various national environments. Yet to the extent that crisis situations in different societies are similar, the Islamic movement could eventually assume a truly transnational character. Finally, Islamic fundamentalism has shown an unusual degree of persistence during the last century and in previous eras, with a cyclical propensity to intrude upon the sociopolitial process to shape its evolution.

The heightening of Islamic consciousness has been variously characterized as revivalism, rebirth, puritanism, fundamentalism, reassertion, awakening, reformism, resurgence, renewal, renaissance, revitalization, militancy, activism, millenarianism, messianism, return to Islam, and the march of Islam. Collectively, these terms are useful in describing the complexity of the Islamic phenomenon; yet they impute a certain dormancy to Islam, which does not conform to reality. In point of fact, Islam has successfully resisted the encapsulation imposed upon Christianity in the West--a resistance that is at the core of the ongoing conflict between state and religion in the Islamic world. Thus, it is instructive to review terms and constructs in the original Arabic usage regarding the Islamic phenomenon. Proponents and sympathizers frequently use the following expressions: baath al-Islami (Islamic renaissance), sahwah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic awakening), ihya al-Din (Religious revival), usuliyyah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic fundamentalism).

The most appropriate term is al-usuliyyah al-Islamiyyah since it connotes a search for the fundamentals of the faith, the foundations of the Islamic polity (ummah), and the bases of legitimate authority (al-shariyyah al-hukm). Such a formulation emphasizes the political dimension of the Islamic movement, more than its religious aspect. In terms of general usage in the vocabulary of Islam, the concept of tajdid refers to the periodic renewal of the faith, while islah means restoration or reform. Another group of important terms include the specific appellations used in Arabic to describe fundamentalist individuals and groups. Usually the proponents of Islamic fundamentalism refer to themselves as Islamiyyin--Islamists, or as asliyyin--the original or authentic ones. Also used is the term mutadayyin (pl. mutadayyinin)-the pious or the devout, in sharp contrast to mutaassib (pl. mutaassibin)--meaning zealot or fanatic. The word mutaassib is often used by non-fundamentalists to describe the Islamic militants who are predisposed to the use of violence; a related label is mutatarrif or radical. The term mutadayyin is given two distinct meanings: as a general reference to characterize the faithful Muslim and as a specific appellation used by the fundamentalists about themselves, as distinct from other Muslims. . .

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