12. FUNDAMENTALISM

12. Fundamentalism ~ 33 ~ Again the conservative Muslims opposed such a move. These Muslim conservatives came to be known as fundamentalists. For instance, according to the traditional concept, the Qur’an was a book of God. The modernist Muslims attempted to give this concept a new interpretation. They said that the Qur’an came into being through divine inspiration received by the Prophet and that the Prophet in his own words expressed this inspiration. Thus although the Qur’an is a revelation of God, it is in the words of Muhammad, may peace be upon him. Now the conservatives among the Muslims refused to accept this interpretation. They insisted that the Qur’an was the book of God both in word and meaning. This resulted in a controversy between the two groups of Muslims. One group came to be known as modernists and the other group as fundamentalists. Nowadays fundamentalism has two meanings. To me one meaning is right, the other meaning is wrong.