1) Young Muslims - The Message

The Qur'an refers to Paradise as the “abode of peace”. Thus peaceis a goal that Muslims are required to strive for, in their own selves,in their families and in their communities. It is ironical, therefore,that Islam is perceived by many as being the motivation behind theindiscriminate killing of innocent people.Definition of the word ‘Fundamentalist’: A fundamentalist is aperson who follows and adheres to the fundamentals of thedoctrine or theory that he is following. For a person to be a gooddoctor, he should know, follow, and practice the fundamentals ofmedicine. In other words, he should be a fundamentalist in the fieldof medicine. For a person to be a good mathematician, he shouldknow, follow and practice the fundamentals of mathematics. Heshould be a fundamentalist in the field of mathematics. For aperson to be a good scientist, he should know, follow and practicethe fundamentals of science. He should be a fundamentalist in thefield of science.Not all ‘fundamentalists’ are the same: One cannot paint allfundamentalists with the same brush. One cannot categorize allfundamentalists as either good or bad. Such categorization of anyfundamentalist will depend upon the field or activity in which he is afundamentalist. A fundamentalist robber or thief causes harm tosociety and is therefore undesirable. A fundamentalist doctor, onthe other hand, benefits society and earns much respect.Dictionary meaning of the word ‘fundamentalist’: Accordingto Webster’s dictionary ‘fundamentalism’ was a movement inAmerican Protestantism that arose in the earlier part of the 20thcentury. It was a reaction to modernism, and stressed theinfallibility of the Bible, not only in matters of faith and morals butalso as a literal historical record. It stressed on belief in the Bible asthe literal word of God. Thus fundamentalism was a word initiallyused for a group of Christians who believed that the Bible was theverbatim word of God without any errors or mistakes.Young Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 115