Womens life in Egypt in the novels of Dr Muhammed Munsi Qandil: An analytical study

Abstract

Religious fundamentalism is characterised by the conviction that one's religious teachings represent the sole, fundamental, and inherent truth about the world. Religious fundamentalists insist on adhering to the unalterable traditional practices of their religion and hold that this ‘truth’ is under attack by malevolent forces that must be actively resisted. Those who uphold and defend this ‘truth’ are perceived as the true followers, with a special connection to God. Scholarly investigation have demonstrated a link between fundamentalist religious mind set and prejudicial attitudes, opposition to modern educational pursuits, propensity for superstitious thinking discriminatory actions, and violent behaviours directed at individuals from different religious backgrounds, ethnic groups, and philosophical stances, as well as women and members of the LGBTQA+ community. The literature review reveals a significant gap in the scientific understanding of the psychological development of a religious fundamentalist mindset. Previous studies have also highlighted the absence of psychological investigations in the Indian context. This study aimed to explore the psychosocial factors contributing to the formation of religious fundamentalist mindset among youth in Kerala. The researcher used qualitative methodology and grounded theory method of Corbin and Strauss (1996, 2015).The research began with the screening of religious fundamentalist youth (ages 18-29). The screening was done using the religious fundamentalism scale developed by Altemeyer and Hunsberger in 2004. Individuals who scored high on the scale were selected for the next phase, the interview (23 participants). Theoretical sampling suggested the addition of two more datasets. The researcher administrated Thematic Apperception Test from the 11th participant (second dataset-12 participants) and later collected expert opinions as the third data set. Expert opinions were obtained from related magazine articles (25 articles) and semi- structured interviews with 13 experts from different academic disciplines. Grounded theory analysis was conducted and made use of the conditional/consequential matrix by Corbin and Strauss (2015) as a conceptual guide for theory building.The core categories that emerged from the analysis include ‘historical and sociopolitical context of living’, ‘features of religion and religious texts’, ‘factors of socialisation’, ‘agents and messages of religious fundamentalism’, ‘individual in vulnerable condition’, and the ‘perks of being religious fundamentalist’. The developed theory suggests that in the macro environment, the ‘historical and socio- political context of living’ and ‘features of religion and religious texts’ set the background for the development of religious fundamentalist ideology and vulnerable individuals. From macro environment, the religious fundamentalist ideology travels to the microenvironment and creates it’s agents. The characteristics of the microenvironment influence the nature of ‘agents and messages of religious fundamentalism’ and the vulnerability of individuals. In the micro context, the individual is influenced by the ‘agents and messages of religious fundamentalism’ because of the alignment between 'individuals in vulnerable conditions' (psychological characteristics and situational vulnerability of individual) and the features of ‘agents and messages of religious fundamentalism’. This match provides psychological and physical benefits to individuals, reinforcing the formation and maintenance of religious fundamentalist attitudes. When a religious fundamentalist mindset is established, individuals function as religious fundamentalist agents, either actively or passively. Religious fundamentalists subsequently contribute to religious fundamentalist ideology and activities at both the macro and micro levels.