AIBU to be confused by the use of the word 'Islamist'?

[DennyDifferent]

Does Islamist refer to those who want their belief in Islam to be more than just their faith, but to inform the rule of law/government of their country?

I didn't like it at first as the 'ist' made it sound too much like terrorist, my conspiracy theorist side thought the media were trying to link Islam and terrorism in people's minds... But it seems a legit term. What is the difference between a Muslim and an Islamist. Or is Islamist referring to the beliefs and not the believer.... Yeeesh I'm confused and don't want to Google it as I keep getting onto website that are very biased against muslims.

I don't know. A quick google appears to indicate that that Muslim is the faith and Islamist is the faith and specifically the politics of it.

It also indicates that there is a LOT of shit on the internet.

time to burn my hard drive.

my googling I mean.

It brought up a lot of deeply disturbing sites.

I wasn't being rude to you

That was what I was thinking, Islamist is political.

Its a shame there is no 'Sort in order of reasonableness' function on Google.

Islamist usually refers to someone who wants Islam to influence politics. I've also seen a distinction between "Islamist" (thinks Islam has some really good ideas which would help politics) and "militant Islamist" (an ISIS type who thinks this should be done by force).

YABU to be confused. You clearly have internet access. Why couldn't you Google the definitions of the words Muslim and Islamist?

Also to say, the ...ist ending isn't automatically an insult. For some words it's the "...ite"/"...ist" contrast which makes the difference - all the Trotskyists I know are either happy to describe themselves as Trotskyists or "revolutionary socialists" or both. What is rude is "Trotskyite", for historical reasons.

I would think it would be similar with Islamist. "Islamite" sounds pretty aggressive and rude. I don't think "Islamist" if you were a believer in political Islam, would automatically be rude or offensive, but I am totally open for correction here.

CoteDAzur there is conflicting opinion out there and so I was still confused after Googling it. Fair enough if you think I am U to be confused, but I don't want to remain confused and so came here and asked as I felt I would get some sensible answers.

I think the -ist caught my attention because the media had used the terms "Muslim" and "Islamic Extremist" which are obviously two different things, it kept them separate, but "Islamist" seemed to muddy the waters between the two. IMO.

Write define Islamist into Google. Press enter. Read what pops up.

I don't see anything conflicting among the dictionaries there.

cote MN is the new google didnt you know that I often ask here first,

thanks Cote, so sorry for wasting everyone's precious time.

I hadn't realised we could only ask about the un-googleable.

YANBU at all Denny. There may be dictionary definitions but in everyday life people use the words without thinking much about whether it's the right one. And of course the media will use Islamist in any context to stir things up because yes, it does sounds like terrorist.

I didn't know that everything on Google was fact...

Nothing wrong in asking anyway. It's sometimes easier to do that than Google and sort through a confused mess of definitions, counter definitions, mad conspiracy sites....