Changes

'''Salafism'''  is a generic term which refers to a branch of [[Sunni]] [[fundamentalist]] [[Islam]]ic thought. The term refers to the predecessors, or the first three hundred years of Islam, prior to the [[Crusades]] and [[Mongolian]] conquest of [[Baghdad]] and [[Persia]]. The Salafi school of thought appeared in the 1990s as a reaction against [[Western civilization|Western]] influences. The views have gained wide mainstream acceptance throughout the Middle East. The term [[Qutbism]] is also  sometimes used for militant, activist resistance to Western and foreign influence.

'''Salafism'''  is a generic term which refers to a branch of [[Sunni]] [[fundamentalist]] [[Islam]]ic thought. The term refers to the predecessors, or the first three hundred years of Islam, prior to the [[Crusades]] and [[Mongolian]] conquest of [[Baghdad]] and [[Persia]]. The Salafi school of thought appeared in the 1990s as a reaction against [[Western civilization|Western]] influences. The views have gained wide mainstream acceptance throughout the Middle East. The term [[Qutbism]] is also  sometimes used for militant, activist resistance to Western and foreign influence.

Salafi thought centers on the concept that the [[religion]] founded by [[Muhammad]] and his companions was perfect at the time of its creation, and that it has subsequently been weakened by [[Consumerism|materialist]] interferences, [[rationalism]], and innovations. The term 'innovation' is condemned as corrupting, and does not imply 'improvement' or 'reform', as the word connotes in its Western meaning. [[Shariah]] law has been watered down by innovations. Salafis tend to be anti-[[imperialist]] and blame Western civilization for corrupting and contaminating Islamic society.  The term 'religion', in Salafi thought, is all encompassing, and includes the notion of civil governmental authority. Only an [[anarchist]] would be deemed irreligious, and proponents of [[communism]] or [[democracy]] are considered [[idolatry|idolatrous]] or [[worship]]pers of a [[Satan]]ic religion.

Salafi thought centers on the concept that the [[religion]] founded by [[Muhammad]] and his companions was perfect at the time of its creation, and that it has subsequently been weakened by [[Consumerism|materialist]] interferences, [[rationalism]], and innovations. The term 'innovation' is condemned as corrupting, and does not imply 'reform' or 'improvement' as in the Western connotation of the word. [[Shariah]] law has been watered down by innovations. Salafis tend to be anti-[[imperialist]] and blame Western civilization for corrupting and contaminating Islamic society.  The term 'religion', in Salafi thought, is all encompassing, and includes the notion of civil governmental authority. Only an [[anarchist]] would be deemed irreligious, and proponents of [[communism]] or [[democracy]] are considered [[idolatry|idolatrous]] or [[worship]]pers of a [[Satan]]ic religion.

==Origins==  

==Origins==