The Life Cycle of a British Islamist: A Jungian Perspective

Abstract

Edward Edinger, in 'Ego and archetype: Individuation and the religious function of the psyche,' designates as "unconscious religion" the psychological role played by political movements when religious institutions cease to provide containers for the spiritual strivings of individuals. I include Islamism as a political movement. Edinger's description of unconscious religion closely resembles the experience of a young British-born Muslim, Ed Husain, in 'The Islamist: Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left.' Husain follows a path from being a traditional Muslim to a fanatical Islamist to a spiritual Muslim. Edinger applies Jungian psychology to describe four alternative consequences for persons whose religious institutions respond inadequately to their "religious instinct." These alternatives are: Adherence to an unconscious religion, psychological inflation, alienation, and individuation. In the case study, surprisingly, Ed Husain experiences all four of these alternatives in sequence, constituting a life cycle. The article concludes, optimistically, that this may be a natural sequence for those who embrace fanatical Islamism.