Islam may not be a cult but cult-like Islam is flourishing
Writes Damian Thompson

My rough and ready definition of a typical cult involves a charismatic leader, radical teachings that tend to alienate adherents from their friends and families, and therefore a high degree of tension between the group and the surrounding environment.

But some of this applies to Benedictine monasteries and the Church of England’s Alpha Course, too, so let’s not get too holier-than-thou about cults. Also, cult-like behaviour needn’t be overtly religious at all: think of the gurning faces of the bedsit activists trying to sell you Trotskyist newspapers on Tottenham Court road, or the Buddha-like gaze of the woman from HR as she repeats the company mantras.