ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes religious vanguardism, which deviates in significant ways from the other types discussed. Focused on a non-human “population” (God or some form of Divinity), religious vanguard organizations should have substantially greater variety in their forms and beliefs than other vanguard forms. This chapter distinguishes religious vanguard groups from cults (such as Aum Shinrikyo) and other vanguard groups with some religious elements (such as the subaltern Peoples’ Temple or the Christian Identity influenced “Order”). The chapter also discusses the differences in influences on religious vanguardism in contrast to other vanguard types. To illustrate the variety of religious vanguardism, various types of Islamist and Salafi-Jihadi groups and movements are discussed, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS, and considering the various religious vanguardist thinkers, including Sayyid Qutb, Hasan al-Banna, Ruhollah Khomeini.
