Islamism and Fanaticism: A Jungian Psychopolitical Analysis

Abstract

What turns a sixteen‐year‐old British Muslim into an Islamist, then turns him into a fanatic, and finally turns him into a spiritual Muslim? In this article I offer some answers to these questions first, from the perspective of Jungian psychology: complexes, inflation, compensation, dissociation, repression and projection, and secondly, from the perspective of political sociology (Paulo Freire, Albert Memmi): development of the political consciousness of the oppressed. I apply these perspectives to an analysis of the recent autobiography by Ed Husain, The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left. The article begins with a description of three stages of political consciousness: naive, fanaticized, and liberated. I posit two conditions for the transition between stages: ego strength, resulting from the successful resolution of a maturation crisis, and rootedness in the ancestral soul. Essential to the case study of The Islamist is my formulation of the psychodynamics of fanaticism, inspired by Jung's observation that “Fanaticism is always a sign of repressed doubt.” The article ends on an optimistic note as to why Islamic fanaticism may reach an impasse and become moderated.