ABSTRACT
The dynamic of fundamentalism derives from the conflict that exists between the egalitarian message of the Quran and the exploitation and iniquity of the real world, between the demands of virtuous existence made on the believer by the Sharia and the actuality of life surrounded by temptation and vice. In subsequent centuries the Islamic community became vast and complex due to the spread of the faith throughout much of Asia, Africa and Europe, the firming up of the Sunni-Shia divide, the codification of the Sharia into four Sunni schools and one Shia, and the emergence of Sufism as a prime agent of popularizing Islam. Muslim fundamentalists try to rally the alienated and under-privileged on the basis of Islam, if they are allowed to function openly. They present it as a religion of justice and equity and decry the current ruling elite as unjust, un-Islamic and corrupt, deserving to be overthrown, or at the very least replaced non-violently, by true believers.
