Oct 17, 2026 · @Hannan Lis Islam is a faith. Islamism is a political program. Start with the distinction, because everything else depends on it. Islam is the religion of nearly two billion people, most of whom want what everyone wants: to raise their children in peace and prosper. Islamism is something else. It is a modern political ideology, born in the twentieth century with the Muslim Brotherhood and Khomeini's revolution, that treats religion as a blueprint for the state