ABSTRACT
Muslim radicals in Algeria announced the creation of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which drug their country into a murderous war that caused hundreds of thousands of fatalities. The universal ban across Islamdom proved that the fatwa was not only the act of a fanatic regime in Iran, but was shared by the entire Islamic public. Those referred to as Islamists regard themselves simply as Muslims, who are perhaps more zealous than others and wish to fulfill Muslim ideals. All religious Muslims venerate the great masters of radical Islam, such as Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Maududi, and Yusuf Qaradawi, even if they do not fit into the categorization of "radicals". Radicals relate to the masses of common Muslims the way activists or militants in a political party refer to the rank and file of sympathizers who only vote when the day comes but are not involved in any day-to-day politics.
