This page is currently a test bed for my experimentation with cascading style sheets, as well as for my attempt at translating some of the articles from L'Histoire, a French magazine which focuses on history.

Cover to L'Histoire
for November, 2003

The cover of this month's magazine bears the words "Les Islamistes" This term refers to followers of Islamism, which the magazine thoughtfully translates in a lexicon of words which might otherwise be unclear.

Islamisme à distinguer de l'islam. Il désigne, depuis les annees 1970, les courants les plus radicaux de l'islam, qui y voient une idéologie politique et considèrent que l'islamisation de la société passe par la mise en œuvre de la charia et par l'instauration d'un État islamique.

Islamism as distinguished from Islam. It denotes, since the 1970's, the most radical currents of Islam, who have a political ideology and believe the Islamization of society occurs by the implementation of Shari`ah and by introduction of an Islamic State.

As a side note, I always find it interesting the relationship the west has with religious states. For example, the United States could easily be considered by those outside of it a religious state, but Americans by and large think they have a secular state. On the other hand, Israel is supposed to be a religious state, as is Iran. One the U.S. is able to work with, the other it is not.

To return to the topic of Islamism, you may have noted the presence of the term Shari`ah, and you may wonder what exactly Shari`ah is, which they also thoughtfully define:

Charia loi islamique directement inspirée du Coran et de la pratique du Prophète. Son application stricte est aujourd'hui le point de convergence de la nébuleuse des fondamentalistes.

Shari`ah Islamic law directly inspired by the Koran and the practices of the Prophet. Its strict application is today the point of convergence of the loose conglomeration of fundamentalists.

To read more about Shari`ah, Perspectives magazine had a basic introduction to the ins and outs of Islamic Law, which has been put on the web at USC.

The middle section of the magazine is devoted to the 'dossier' on islamism, and contains the following stories:

Les trois âges de la révolution islamiste Que veulent les Frères musulmans? Al-Qaida existe-t-elle? Religion et politique de Mahomet à Ben Laden L'islamiste, la femme, le voile et le Coran La haine de l'Occident.

The Three Ages of the Islamist Revolution What does the Mulim Brotherhood want? Does Al-Qaida exist? Religion and politics from Muhammad to Bin Laden The Islamist, the woman, the veil and the Koran The hatred of the West

As another side note, I find it interesting that Al-Qaida is a feminine noun in French.

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