c government, such as that in Egypt, which is not clerical, is illegitimate. Viewed in this context, the Islamic fundamentalists see it as their holy duty to bring the government down.
Although the Qur`an provides guidelines for the processes of political change, these guidelines are not uniformly interpreted. There are four major schools of Islamic law (there are also three minor schools). As opposed to a college or university in western countries, where individuals learn to become lawyers, schools of Islamic law are groups of religious experts whose responsibilities include (1) interpreting the Qur`an and the Shari`ah in the context of contemporary activities which were not dreamt of in the eighth century, and (2) preserving traditional Islamic values. The Shi`a school of Islamic law is the one to which Iran, and hence, almost all Islamic fundamentalists, adheres. The teachings and interpretations of the Shi'a school differ in some significant respects from those of the schools whose interpretations are accepted by the Sunnis. Thus, bot
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