Abstract

Islamic revivalism has had a vast impact on the politics of the Arab countries during the last two decades. Politicians and scholars have become interested in what they have labeled as "militant Islam". Academicians have participated in a lengthy debate on the causes for the use of violence by Islamic groups. The dominant explanation has been the argument that "militant Islam" the backlash effect as a rejection of the rejection of modernty by traditional Muslims. ;In general, most of the scholary work did not value or even consider the political ideas of the Muslim thinkers. In other words, few scholars were able to explain recent Islamic revivalism within the framework of political Islam. ;This dissertation attempts to explain the resurgence of Muslim groups through the context of the Islamic political theory. It also examines the ideological conflict in the Arab countries and how a particular ideology might suppress other ideas and groups. This dissertation attempts to prove that the recent rise of what had been labeled as "militant Islam" was caused by various reasons. ;The main reason is the Islamists' belief in the establishment of an Islamic state. Any other type of government would be non-Islamic; therefore, Muslims should reject it. However, the reason behind the attitude of rejection is the absence of political freedom in the Arab countries