Geneive Abdo

About the author: Geneive Abdo is the correspondent in Iran for the British newspaper the Guardian and the author of the book No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam.

Today's Islamic movements are less militant than past Islamic movements, such as that under Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, which enforced strict adherence to the tenets of the Koran, the Islamic holy book. Citizens of Muslim countries are demanding more political power and choice of leadership, but at the same time they demand an Islamic rather than a secular government. Many Muslims adamantly reject Western-style democracy because it is incompatible with their concept of a religious society. In response, leaders such as Iranian president Mohammad Khatami are fusing a religious government with modern concepts of freedom to create a uniquely Islamic style of democracy.

"Those intellectuals...