After Kemal created a secular state in Turkey and Nasser created one in Egypt, the Salafists emerged with a doctrinal complex which included the notion that the Koran is a complete guide to individual and communal action, abandonment of the pure ways of the ancestors brought about Western dominance, science can be used so long as Westernization is not imported and lastly "jihad is central to the revival of Islam and the conquest of the world for God and against Satan." P.109.

"For Islamists, the issue is simple: in Muslim terms, the five pillars of Islam (profession of faith, prayer, the fast of Ramadan, pilgrimage, and charity) amount to a spiritual preparation for war against the enemies of God. . . . the limitations on what can be achieved by worldly action or on what that worldly action may mean, which is established by the world- transcendent dimension of Muslim spirituality, tends to be eclipsed."p 119

The transformation of the prohibitions against suicide in the hadiths to the granting of the six privileges of martyrdom to suicides is characterized as a perversion. P138 and, "As with the question of the black-eyed houris, the simplifiers and vulgarizers clearly dominated the current popular debate. It is now dogmatically established and lies beyond question self- martyrdom, istishad, is not suicide, intihar, but indeed the highest form of martyrdom." P 141

This book represents a synthesis of enormous historical, religious, and philosophical scholarship by Dr. Cooper who is a professor of political science; it is the kind of work Voegelin did so well. I know of no other political scientist who brings such a level of philosophical penetration to Islamism as does the author. Of course Dr. Cooper read voraciously to prepare himself to write this work and he generously gives tribute in the text and footnotes to his sources. He particularly thanks Peter von Sivers, a well known Voegelinian scholar who specializes in Islamic problems, for guidance through the intricacies of Islamic culture.

A book-length argument can scarcely be reduced to a review and I didn't attempt it. And an appreciation written by a non- specialist must be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless one can hope that enough has been shown here to lead the reader to the original. It must be said too that it is a lively read. My attention never wandered. Dr. Cooper is also the author of Eric Voegelin and the Foundations of Modern political Science, (U. of Missouri Press, Columbia, 1999) and Action into Nature, An Essay on the Meaning of Technology, (U. of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame 1991). 

[This review was adapted from one that originally appeared at Amazon.com]