The Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Iranian monarchy in 1979 was one of the first popular revolutions against a modern authoritarian political system in the final quarter of the twentieth century. In the early 1990s, another Islamic movement, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was suppressed after it dramatically challenged the authoritarian regime of the Front de Libration National (FLN) in Algeria when the government had been forced to allow open elections. In many areas of the Muslim world, one of the crucial issues defining the political future is the relationship between the forces of Islamic resurgence and the development of democratic political systems.
Governments and political leaders throughout the Muslim world respond to popular sentiments for greater political participation and the activities of religious movements. Rulers and regimes are forced to choose among policies of repression and greater popular participation, with the threat that if they make the wrong choice they themselves could lose power, as did the Shah of Iran or the Algerian FLN. If they do not adjust rapidly enough, they could be overthrown; however, they also face the risk, if they open their political systems, of electoral defeat. Islamic movements and their leaders face similar critical choices between adaptation and violent opposition. All groups, whether Islamic or secular, that are seeking greater democratization must decide upon the most effective means for achieving their goals. These options represent power conflicts as existing regimes and popular opposition movements of many different kinds interact in complex ways. Competition, cooperation, and conflict are among the most important dimensions of Muslim life in the first years of the fifteenth Islamic century and the final years of the twentieth century of the Common Era.
Islamic politics are frequently described as in some way combining "religion and politics." In the words of modern Islamic movements, Islam is din...