Citation

Pasha N, Ahmad Z. Br. J. Relig. Educ. 2014; 36(3): 298-314.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/01416200.2014.919438

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Islamic fundamentalism is an extreme perception of Islam that views "the 'Other' as the enemy demonized" against the "West", which also views the Muslim "enemy within". In contrast, pluralism perceives 'others' as different people, with different values from us. While the fundamentalist seeks to engage in war with the enemy/other, pluralism tolerates difference/conflict with others in peace and in the spirit of mutual acceptance. This article spells out the potential contributions to research regarding fundamentalism stemming from different approaches in Iran. Drawing on data collected from 31 individual in-depth interviews with Tehranian high school students and 206 questionnaires that were filled in by students who were randomly selected from 4 of 19 zones of Education in Tehran, their perceptions about pluralism and fundamentalism will be presented. The aim is to help move debate about fundamentalism beyond the pejorative labelling and to explore the concept of fundamentalism and pluralism in an Iranian context. As a case study, Tehranian pre-university students' point of view about fundamentalism and pluralism will be discussed, in order to comprehend attitudes to fundamentalism and pluralism on the part of Iranian young people.

Language: en