This article explores the analytical value of “Islamic Reformation” as a concept for analyzing the current situation in the Islamic world. It compares different approaches to religious reformation, including those applied to the Protestant Reformation. Delineation of the characteristics of reformation makes it possible to demonstrate that current tendencies in the Islamic world are quite similar to those that occurred during the Reformation and that some groups of Islamic fundamentalists can be considered as the driving force behind this new reformation. This means that it is incorrect to assess all their values and influence as archaic, reactionary, or fascist. The Islamic fundamentalist worldview contains both modernizing and anti-modernizing features, and some elements of their influence on society are of a modernizing nature.
