Islamist movements have gained relevance worldwide over the past ten years. The example of the Muslim transformation countries in North Africa illustrates that especially Salafist groups, such as those in Egypt, are now participating more strongly in politics. In Germany, this anti-democratic movement is also present and exerts a significant attraction on young people, particularly migrants. Due to a lack of systematic studies on the ideological concepts, the author engages with the intellectual founders of modern times, who, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, provided the ideological basis for Islamist and fundamentalist movements worldwide by redefining central Quranic terms. In this context, these concepts are examined in Germany in a second step. Based on the analyses, conclusions are finally drawn.