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by Ranga Jayasuriya

When Naipaul wrote Among the Believers: an Islamic Journey, in 1981, following his 7 month journey in four Islamic nations - Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia - Islamic world was full of events.

And "political Islam" was a hot issue. In Iran, Shah was ousted in a popular revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini was made the ruler;In Pakistan country's first democratically elected Government was toppled by a military coup and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged.

The Russian forces invaded Afghanistan and installed a puppet government triggering the Central Asia's proxy war between the US and Pakistan backed Mujahedeens( freedom fighters) and the Soviet Red Army- who found their Vietnam in the treacherous terrain in Afghanistan.

During the last two years we saw him the characters in the Naipaul's masterpiece came to lime light spot: Anwar Ibraham, whom Naipaul met in his visit in Malaysia , then as the leader of the Muslim youth movement ABIM was arrested and imprisoned in 2000.Ironically once Islamic leader was charged with sodomy and corruption.

Abdurahaman Wahid, whom Naipaul came to know as the leader of pesantreans-traditional Islamic community schools was elected the President of Indonesia in 1997 after the ouster of Suharto following a popular uprising.But, Wahid was impeached by Indonesian Parliament on corruption charges.

Khomeini died in 1990, after a decade long rule as the "supreme leader" of Iran.

Before he died he sentenced Rushdie to death and announced a prize for his head claiming the Booker Prize winning writer has insulted Islam in his book, "Satanic Versus". Rushdie survived death threats,but he is still in hiding.

And though Khomeini died, fundamentalism he had advocated is sweeping the Islamic world with more fundamentalist states and military outfits emerging in Afghanistan, Algeria, Turkey, Philippine and many other places.

Having witnesed the impact of religious fundamentalism in many parts of the Islamic world Naipaul comments on this new utopia. Fundamentalism brought the once flourishing economy to a halt. Multi billion dollar infrastructure development projects were suspended. Shops and restaurants were closed.Clerics imposed Islamic rule, "Sharia" curbing rights of individuals. According to Naipaul the "Islamic revolution had taken a wicked turn" at its very beginning.

The same thing happened in Afghanistan- in a more disastrous manner - soon after the Taliban seized Kabul. Women were barred from education. Music and Television were banned. Men were ordered to grow beards while women were forced into "burqas".

Kite flying was called "unIslamic".

There is no difference for the evil of religious fundamentalism, where ever it is implemented.

There were reasons beneath the origin of fundamentalism. In Iran it was the political vacuum- Shah crushed all institutions except the mosque. And the mosque became the only place capable of rallying masses against Shah.

According to Naipaul at the beginning the Iranian revolution was a "twine revolution" - both the religious and secular elements were equally involved in it. But soon after the ouster of Shah, the clerics undermined the secular segment of the revolution. And Iran became a theocracy.

In Pakistan it was poverty. Poverty and political distress merged with the tensions of the faith. And it was also the case with Afghanistan. The political vacuum created by the collapse of the pro- Russian Nagibullah Government and desperation created in the public minds by the quarrelling Mujahadeens who replaced the communists gave birth to the Talibans - who emerged from the religious schools in the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Now, with the Talibans crushed by the US led bombing and the Supreme leader, Mullah Omar in hiding, Afghanistan is returning to normalcy under the interim Government led by Hamid Karzai.

Doar Mohammed, 20 year old former Taliban taken prisoner by the Northern Alliance should have well spoken to the consciences of many Afghans when he said after his release :" I believe in God, but not in the Ideology of the Talibans. It did not do any good, torturing people, forcing men to have long beards and women to wear burqas".

Afghanistan has almost got rid of religious fundamentalism, Iranian President Mohammed Khatami is facing a huge resistance from the hard line Islamic clerics in fulfilling his promise for a more democratic Iran. The clerics have closed down dozens of pro-reform newspapers and imprisoned journalists. So mid ranking reformist Iran leader has to go a long way to fulfil his pledges.

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