ches of Islam, however, often view society through different glasses.
In Islamic countries, where the Qur`an prohibits political factionalism, it is not uncommon to find what are, essentially, one party states. Where the interpretation of Islamic values differs widely, however, factions may develop, because the different Islamic groups view the other as illegitimate.
Identity in Islamic political systems is derived on the basis of a universal faith. The Islamic political system derives its legitimacy from the mandate of Allah, as opposed to deriving it from those governed. Thus, in accordance with the tenets of Islam, unity of political action is required, as opposed to the fostering of individual political expression which is implicit in many western models of political development. Islam does permit and encourage individual differences in most aspects of life. Political factionalism, however, is not permitted. In Islam, all members of a society are expected to contribute to the common good. When concepts of individual liberty or political freedom are translated to mean factional politics, these concepts are not considered to be consistent with Islamic principles (Qutb, 1989). In Egypt, approximately 90 percent of the population is Muslim (Paxton, 1990). Approximately 93.6 percent of Egypt's Muslims are Sunni, while the remainder are Shi'a. While the Shi'a are a small minority in the Egyptian population, they form the core of the Islamic fundamentalist movement in the country.
"The function of Islamic society is to fulfill the divine will, not through the activity of the community or the organizations and institutions within it, but through each individual understanding his duties" (Roberts, 1988, p. 77). Therefore, in a truly Islamic society, a rational differentiation will not be made between secular and religious authority. For the Islamic fundamentalist, this tenet is often interpreted to mean that an Islami...