View source for Islamic terrorism

{{Short description|Terrorist acts by groups of individuals who profess Islamic motivations or goals}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
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{{very long|date=May 2023|words=18,000}}
{{Terrorism |expanded=by ideology}}
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{{Islam |related}}
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'''Islamic terrorism''' (also known as '''Islamist terrorism''', '''radical Islamic terrorism''', or '''jihadist terrorism''') refers to [[Terrorism|terrorist acts]] carried out by [[Islamic fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] [[militant]] [[Islamism|Islamists]] and [[Islamic extremism|Islamic extremists]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author1-last=Norton |author1-first=Richard A. |author1-link=Augustus Richard Norton |author2-last=Kéchichian |author2-first=Joseph A. |author2-link=Joseph A. Kéchichian |title=Terrorism |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World |editor-last=Esposito |editor-first=John L. |editor-link=John Esposito |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0796 |isbn=978-0-19-530513-5 |access-date=28 June 2019 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118171613/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0796 |url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Thomas Hegghammer |title=Terrorism |editor1-last=Böwering |editor1-first=Gerhard |editor1-link=Gerhard Böwering |editor2-last=Crone |editor2-first=Patricia |editor2-link=Patricia Crone |encyclopedia=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2013 |pages=545–547}}</ref><ref name="French 2020">{{cite book |last=French |first=Nathan S. |year=2020 |chapter=A Jihadi-Salafi Legal Tradition? Debating Authority and Martyrdom |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWHdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=And God Knows the Martyrs: Martyrdom and Violence in Jihadi-Salafism |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190092153.003.0002 |pages=36–69 |isbn=978-0-19-009215-3 |lccn=2019042378}}</ref>

Since at least the 1990s, Islamist terrorist incidents have occurred around the world and targeted both [[Muslims]] and non-Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/24/isis-ideology-islamic-militants-british-appeal-iraq-syria|title=Isis: a contrived ideology justifying barbarism and sexual control|first=Mona|last=Siddiqui|author-link=Mona Siddiqui|work=The Guardian |date=23 August 2014|access-date=7 January 2015 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824131118/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/24/isis-ideology-islamic-militants-british-appeal-iraq-syria |archive-date=24 August 2014}}</ref> Most attacks have been concentrated in [[Muslim-majority countries]],<ref>{{cite web|date=November 2015|title=Global Terrorism Index Report 2015|url=http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2015.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123075703/http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2015.pdf|archive-date=23 November 2015|access-date=13 January 2022|website=[[Wayback Machine]]|publisher=[[Institute for Economics and Peace]]|page=10}}</ref> with studies finding 80–90% of terrorist victims to be Muslim.<ref>The study was conducted by a French non-governmental organization. {{Cite journal|last1=Ritchie|first1=Hannah|author1-link=Hannah Ritchie|last2=Hasell|first2=Joe|last3=Appel|first3=Cameron|last4=Roser|first4=Max|author4-link=Max Roser|date=28 July 2013|title=Terrorism|url=https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism|journal=Our World in Data|archive-date=24 April 2016|access-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424230128/http://ourworldindata.org/terrorism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Overwhelming majority of terror victims are Muslims|url=https://www.trtworld.com/mea/overwhelming-majority-of-terror-victims-are-muslims-31586|access-date=31 October 2020|website=Overwhelming majority of terror victims are Muslims|language=en|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101060940/https://www.trtworld.com/mea/overwhelming-majority-of-terror-victims-are-muslims-31586|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fondapol.org/dans-les-medias/islamists-have-killed-167096-people-since-1979-most-of-them-were-muslims/|date=November 2019|title=Islamists have killed 167,096 people since 1979|access-date=28 April 2024|archive-date=28 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240428221300/https://www.fondapol.org/dans-les-medias/islamists-have-killed-167096-people-since-1979-most-of-them-were-muslims/|url-status=live}}</ref> 
The annual number of fatalities from terrorist attacks grew sharply from 2011 to 2014, when it reached a peak of 33,438, before declining to 13,826 in 2019.<ref name="gti-2020-15">{{cite web |title=Global Terrorism Index 2020: Measuring the Impact of Terrorism |url=https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GTI-2020-web-1.pdf |website=Vision of Humanity |publisher=Institute for Economics & Peace |access-date=6 May 2021 |page=15 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125074953/https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GTI-2020-web-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1979 to April 2024, five Islamic extremist groups—the [[Taliban]], [[Islamic State]], 
[[Boko Haram]], [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al Shabaab]], and [[al-Qaeda]]—were responsible for more than 80% of all victims of Islamist terrorist attacks.<ref name="fondapol-1979-2024"/><ref name="GTI2016-4">{{cite book|url=http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.2.pdf|title=Global Terrorism Index 2016|date=2016|publisher=Institute for Economics and Peace|page=4|access-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117033240/http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.2.pdf|archive-date=17 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Egypt's Counterinsurgency Success in Sinai|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/egypts-counterinsurgency-success-sinai|access-date=12 February 2022|website=The Washington Institute|language=en|archive-date=12 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212064632/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/egypts-counterinsurgency-success-sinai|url-status=live}}</ref> In some of the worst-affected Muslim-majority regions, these terrorists have been met by armed, independent resistance groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/01/kurdish-peshmerga-kobani-isis-syria|title=Kurdish peshmerga forces arrive in Kobani to bolster fight against Isis|author=Constanze Letsch|work=The Guardian|date=November 2014|access-date=7 January 2015|archive-date=14 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414163701/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/01/kurdish-peshmerga-kobani-isis-syria|url-status=live}}</ref> Islamist terrorism has also been roundly condemned by prominent Islamic figures and groups.<ref name=kurzman>{{cite web|url=http://kurzman.unc.edu/islamic-statements-against-terrorism/|title=Islamic Statements Against Terrorism|author=Charles Kurzman|publisher=UNC.edu|author-link=Charles Kurzman|access-date=31 January 2017|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410093855/http://kurzman.unc.edu/islamic-statements-against-terrorism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ispu.org/al-qaida-today-a-movement-at-a-crossroads/ |title=Al-Qaida today: a movement at the crossroads |date=14 May 2009 |author=Fawaz A. Gerges |author-link=Fawaz Gerges|access-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025152045/https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/al-qaida-today-the-fate-of-a-movement|archive-date=25 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388593/moderate-muslims-stand-against-isis-christine-sisto|title=Moderate Muslims Stand against ISIS|author=Christine Sisto|work=National Review|access-date=7 January 2015|date=23 September 2014|archive-date=28 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528042226/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388593/moderate-muslims-stand-against-isis-christine-sisto|url-status=live}}</ref>

Justifications given for attacks on civilians by Islamic extremist groups come from their interpretations of the [[Quran]],<ref name="French 2020" /> the [[hadith]],<ref name=holbrook1>{{cite journal |last=Holbrook |first=Donald |year=2010 |title=Using the Qur'an to Justify Terrorist Violence |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |publisher=Terrorism Research Initiative and [[Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence]] |volume=4 |issue=3}}</ref><ref name=holbrook2 /> and [[Sharia]].<ref name="French 2020" /> These killings include retribution by armed [[jihad]] for the perceived injustices of [[Kafir|unbelievers]] against Muslims;<ref name="Wiktorowicz-2003">{{cite journal |last1=Wiktorowicz |first1=Quintan |last2=Kaltner |first2=John |title=Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda's Justification for September 11 |journal=Middle East Policy |date=Summer 2003 |volume=X |issue=2 |pages=85–90 |url=https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf |access-date=12 August 2019 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> the belief that many self-proclaimed Muslims have violated Islamic law and are disbelievers (''[[takfir]]'');<ref name="Poljarevic 2021">{{cite book |author-last=Poljarevic |author-first=Emin |year=2021 |chapter=Theology of Violence-oriented Takfirism as a Political Theory: The Case of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) |editor1-last=Cusack |editor1-first=Carole M. |editor1-link=Carole M. Cusack |editor2-last=Upal |editor2-first=M. Afzal |editor2-link=Afzal Upal |title=Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=21 |doi=10.1163/9789004435544_026 |doi-access=free |isbn=978-90-04-43554-4 |issn=1874-6691 |pages=485–512}}</ref> the perceived necessity of restoring Islam by establishing Sharia as the source of law, including by reestablishing the [[Caliphate]] as a [[pan-Islamic]] state (e.g., [[ISIS]]);<ref name="what-isis-really-wants">{{cite magazine |last=Wood |first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist) |title=What ISIS Really Wants |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |date=March 2015 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216095910/https://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ |archive-date=16 February 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=30 October 2020}}</ref> the glory and heavenly rewards of [[martyr]]dom (''[[istishhad]]'');<ref>{{cite web | title=Translation of Sahih Bukhari | website=International Islamic University Malaysia – Garden of Knowledge and Virtue | url=https://www.iium.edu.my/deed/hadith/bukhari/ | access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=[PDF] Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic-English) Vol. 1-9 : Darussalam : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive | website=Internet Archive | date=23 October 2016 | url=https://archive.org/details/sahih-al-bukhari-arabic-english-full/sahih-al-bukhari-english-vol-1/page/n3/mode/1up | page=72 |  access-date=30 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Al-Sibai | first=Amal | title=To die a Martyr | website=Saudigazette | date=2 March 2018 | url=https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/529534 | access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref><ref name=holbrook2>{{cite book |last=Holbreook |first=Donald |date=2014 |title=The Al-Qaeda Doctrine |location=London |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |pages=30ff, 61ff, 83ff |isbn= 978-1-62356-314-1}}</ref> and the belief in the [[Supremacism#Islamic|supremacy of Islam]] over all [[Islam and other religions|other religions]].{{#tag:ref|which is encapsulated in the formula "Islam is exalted and nothing is exalted above it".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim tradition |last=Yohanan|first=Friedmann |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003|isbn=978-0-521-82703-4|editor-last=Morgan|editor-first=David|location=Cambridge|oclc=57256339}}</ref> Also, the [[World Assembly of Muslim Youth]] "has publicly stated that one of its educational goals is to ''arm the Muslim youth with full confidence in the supremacy of the Islamic system over other systems.''"<ref name="Flow_WAMY_NYT">{{cite news |last1=van Natta Jr. |first1=Don |title=Flow of Saudis' Cash to Hamas Is Scrutinized |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/world/flow-of-saudis-cash-to-hamas-is-scrutinized.html |access-date=11 August 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=17 September 2003 |archive-date=27 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227071945/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/world/flow-of-saudis-cash-to-hamas-is-scrutinized.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|group=Note}} Justification of violence without permitted declarations of ''[[takfir]]'' ([[excommunication]]) has been criticized.<ref name="m870">{{cite journal | last=Hassan | first=Muhammad Haniff | title=The Danger of Takfir (Excommunication): Exposing IS' Takfiri Ideology | journal=Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses | publisher=International Centre for Political Violence and Tekrrorism Research | volume=9 | issue=4 | year=2017 | issn=2382-6444 | jstor=26351508 | pages=3–12 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26351508 | access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref>

The use of the phrase "Islamic terrorism" is disputed. In Western political speech, it has variously been called "counter-productive", "highly politicized, intellectually contestable" and "damaging to community relations", by those who disapprove of the characterization 'Islamic'.<ref name="Jackson2007">{{cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Richard|year=2007|title=Constructing Enemies: 'Islamic Terrorism' in Political and Academic Discourse|journal=Government and Opposition|volume=42|issue=3|pages=394–426|doi=10.1111/j.1477-7053.2007.00229.x|s2cid=143513477|issn=0017-257X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-sources-islamic-terrorism|title=The Religious Sources of Islamic Terrorism|author=Shmuel Bar|publisher=Hoover Institution|access-date=12 August 2019|archive-date=12 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812164156/https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-sources-islamic-terrorism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/islam-and-patterns-terrorism-and-violent-extremism|title=Islam and the Patterns in Terrorism and Violent Extremism|author=Anthony H. Cordesman|date=17 October 2017|publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies|access-date=19 May 2022|archive-date=16 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516175313/https://www.csis.org/analysis/islam-and-patterns-terrorism-and-violent-extremism|url-status=live}}</ref> It has been argued that "Islamic terrorism" is a [[misnomer]] for what should be called "[[Islamist]] terrorism".<ref name="islamism" />

== Terminology ==
[[George W. Bush]] and [[Tony Blair]] (US president and UK Prime Minister respectively at the time of the [[September 11 attacks]]) repeatedly stated that the war against terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.<ref name="Bar">{{cite web |last1=Bar |first1=Shmuel |title=The Religious Sources of Islamic Terrorism |url=https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-sources-islamic-terrorism |website=Hoover Institute |access-date=12 August 2019 |date=1 June 2004 |archive-date=12 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812164156/https://www.hoover.org/research/religious-sources-islamic-terrorism |url-status=live }}</ref> Others inside and out of the Islamic world who oppose its use on the grounds there is no connection between Islam and terrorism include [[Imran Khan]], the prime minister of Pakistan, and academic [[Bruce Lawrence]].<ref name="Siasat">{{cite web |title=Islam has no connection with terrorism: Prof. Bruce Lawrence |url=https://archive.siasat.com/news/islam-has-no-connection-terrorism-prof-bruce-lawrence-404381/ |website=Siasat Daily |access-date=8 August 2019 |date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808143521/https://archive.siasat.com/news/islam-has-no-connection-terrorism-prof-bruce-lawrence-404381/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Former US president [[Barack Obama]] explained why he used the term "terrorism" rather than "Islamic terrorism" in a 2016 town hall meeting saying, "There is no doubt, ... terrorist organizations like [[Al-Qaeda]] or ISIL – They have perverted and distorted and tried to claim the mantle of Islam for an excuse for basically barbarism and death ... But what I have been careful about when I describe these issues is to make sure that we do not lump these murderers into the billion Muslims that exist around the world ..."<ref name="Diaz_why_CNN_29-9-16">{{cite news |last1=Diaz |first1=Daniella |title=Obama: Why I won't say 'Islamic terrorism' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/politics/obama-radical-islamic-terrorism-cnn-town-hall/index.html |access-date=11 August 2019 |publisher=CNN |date=29 September 2016 |archive-date=11 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811234034/https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/politics/obama-radical-islamic-terrorism-cnn-town-hall/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

It has been argued that "Islamic terrorism" is a [[misnomer]] for what should be called "[[Islamist]] terrorism".<ref name="islamism">{{cite web |last1=Courty |first1=Audrey |last2=Rane |first2=Halim |title=Why the media needs to be more responsible for how it links Islam and Islamist terrorism |url=http://theconversation.com/why-the-media-needs-to-be-more-responsible-for-how-it-links-islam-and-islamist-terrorism-103170 |website=The Conversation |access-date=8 August 2019 |date=1 October 2018 |archive-date=18 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818190421/http://theconversation.com/why-the-media-needs-to-be-more-responsible-for-how-it-links-islam-and-islamist-terrorism-103170 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2008, the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|US Department of Homeland Security]] Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties issued a report titled ''Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims'',<ref name="DHS-terminology">{{cite web |title=Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims |url=https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/dhs_crcl_terminology_08-1-08_accessible.pdf |website=U.S. Department of Homeland Security |access-date=15 July 2021 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812123624/https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/dhs_crcl_terminology_08-1-08_accessible.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> which opened with
{{Blockquote
|text=Words matter. The terminology that senior government officials use must accurately identify the nature of the challenges that face our generation. [...] At the same time, the terminology should also be strategic – it should avoid helping the terrorists by inflating the religious bases and glamorous appeal of their ideology.
}}
The office "consulted with some of the leading U.S.-based scholars and commentators on Islam to discuss the best terminology to use when describing the terrorist threat." Among the experts they consulted,

{{Blockquote
|text=There was a consensus that the [US Government] should avoid unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers, or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims. Therefore, the experts counseled caution in using terms such as, "jihadist," "Islamic terrorist," "Islamist," and "holy warrior" as grandiose descriptions.
}}

== History ==
'''Growth in Islamist attacks and killings around the world'''<ref name="fondapol-1979-2024">{{cite web |title=Islamist terrorist attacks in the world 1979-2024 |url=https://www.fondapol.org/en/study/islamist-terrorist-attacks-in-the-world-1979-2024/ |website=Fondation pour l’innovation politique |access-date=28 December 2024 |archive-date=22 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241222181836/https://www.fondapol.org/en/study/islamist-terrorist-attacks-in-the-world-1979-2024/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{ #invoke:Chart | bar-chart
| group 1 = 2194 : 8265 : 56413 
| group 2 = 6817 : 38187 : 204937 
| colors = black: red 
| group names = Attacks : Deaths
| x legends = 1979-2000 : 2001-2012 : 2013-2024 
}}

=== Pre-20th century ===
Whether Islamic terrorism is a recent phenomenon is disputed. Some maintain that there was no terrorism in Islam prior to late 20th and early 21st century, while others, such as [[Ibn Warraq]], claim that from the beginning of Islam, "violent movements have arisen" such as the [[Khawarij|Kharijites]],<ref name="First Terrorists?">{{cite book |last1=Ibn Warraq |title=The Islam in Islamic Terrorism : the importance of Beliefs, Ideas, and Ideology |date=2017 |publisher=New English Review Press |location=London, UK |isbn=978-1-943003-08-2|chapter=9 The First Terrorists? Kharijites, Violence, and the Demand for the Purification of Islam of Its Unpious Accretions |edition=First}}</ref> Sahl ibn Salama, [[Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Barbahari|Barbahari]], [[Kadizadeli]] movement, [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab|Ibn Abd al-Wahhab]], etc., "seeking to revive true Islam, which its members felt had been neglected in Muslim societies, who were not living up to the ideals of the earliest Muslims".<ref name=ibn-warraq-violent>{{cite book |last1=Ibn Warraq |title=The Islam in Islamic Terrorism : the importance of Beliefs, Ideas, and Ideology |date=2017 |publisher=New English Review Press |location=London, UK |isbn=978-1-943003-08-2 |page=18 |edition=First}}</ref> The 7th century [[Khawarij|Kharijites]], according to some, started from an essentially political position but developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shi'a]] Muslims. The group was particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to ''[[takfir]]'', whereby they declared Muslim opponents to be unbelievers and therefore worthy of death,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/fruits-of-the-tree-of-extremism|title=Imam Mohamad Jebara: Fruits of the tree of extremism|author=Mohamad Jebara More Mohamad Jebara|work=Ottawa Citizen|access-date=28 January 2019|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510165202/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/fruits-of-the-tree-of-extremism|url-status=live}}</ref> and also by their strong resemblance to contemporary ISIL.<ref name="SHEEMA KHAN 2014">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/another-battle-with-islams-true-believers/article20802390/ |title=Another battle with Islam's 'true believers' |work=The Globe and Mail |last1=KHAN |first1=SHEEMA |date=29 September 2014 |archive-date=19 January 2016 |access-date=1 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119055307/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/another-battle-with-islams-true-believers/article20802390/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 1960s–1970s ===
During the era of the anti-colonial struggle in [[North Africa]] and the [[Middle East]], coinciding with the creation of [[Israel]] in 1948, a series of [[Marxist-Leninist]] and [[anti-imperialist]] movements swept throughout the Arab and Islamic world. These movements were nationalist and revolutionary, but not Islamic. However, their view that terrorism could be effective in reaching their political goals generated the first phase of modern international terrorism. In the late 1960s, Palestinian secular movements such as [[Fatah|Al Fatah]] and the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) began to target civilians outside the immediate arena of conflict. Following Israel's [[Six-Day War|victory over Arab forces]] in 1967, Palestinian leaders began to realize that the [[Arab world]] was unable to defeat Israel in the battlefield. At the same time, lessons drawn from the [[Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine|Jewish struggle against the British in Palestine]] and [[revolutionary movement]]s across Latin America, North Africa and Southeast Asia, motivated the Palestinians to turn away from [[guerrilla warfare]] towards urban terrorism. These movements were secular in nature, though their international reach served to spread terrorist tactics worldwide.<ref name="Islamic Evolution" /> Moreover, the [[Arab Cold War]] between mostly US-aligned conservative Islamic monarchies (Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) and Soviet-aligned secular national-revolutionary governments (Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Libya, Iraq) inspired a growth of religiously motivated Islamic movements in the Middle East, supported by [[Saudi Arabia]], which came into conflict with the predominant secular ([[Nasserist]] and [[Ba'athist]]) nationalist ideologies at the time.<ref name="Islamic Evolution" /><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45072440 | jstor=45072440 | title=Nasser's Pan-Arab Radicalism and the Saudi Drive for Islamic Solidarity : A Response for Security | last1=Baba | first1=Noor Ahmad | journal=India Quarterly | date=17 November 1992 | volume=48 | issue=1/2 | pages=1–22 | doi=10.1177/097492849204800101 | s2cid=157470830 | issn=0974-9284 | archive-date=3 November 2023 | access-date=3 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103022706/https://www.jstor.org/stable/45072440 | url-status=live | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The book ''The Revolt'' by [[Menachem Begin]], leader of the [[Irgun]] militia and future Israeli Prime Minister, influenced both [[Carlos Marighella]]'s urban guerrilla theory and [[Osama bin Laden]]'s Islamist [[al-Qaeda]] organization.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/july-22-a-pivotal-day-in-terrorism-history/ | title=July 22: A Pivotal Day in Terrorism History | date=22 July 2021 | access-date=12 March 2024 | archive-date=12 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312081549/https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/july-22-a-pivotal-day-in-terrorism-history/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Israeli journalist [[Ronen Bergman]] in the book ''[[Rise and Kill First]]'' asserted that [[Hezbollah]]'s 1983 campaign of coordinated terrorist attacks against American, French and Israeli military installations in [[Beirut]] drew inspiration from and directly mirrored the [[Haganah]]'s and [[Irgun]]'s 1946 bombing campaign against the British: both succeeded in creating an atmosphere of widespread fear which eventually forced the enemy to withdraw.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rise and Kill First The Secret History of Israel: Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman |url=https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Politics/Rise%20and%20Kill%20First%20The%20Secret%20History%20of%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20Targeted%20Assassinations%20by%20Ronen%20Bergman%20%28z-lib.org%29.pdf |website=theswissbay.ch |access-date=12 March 2024 |archive-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312081550/https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Politics/Rise%20and%20Kill%20First%20The%20Secret%20History%20of%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20Targeted%20Assassinations%20by%20Ronen%20Bergman%20%28z-lib.org%29.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Bergman further asserts that the influence of Israeli-sponsored terrorist operations on the emerging Islamists was also of operational nature: the Israeli proxy [[Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners]] had carried out multiple deadly [[car bomb|truck bombings]] in Lebanon long before the emergence of Hezbollah. An Israeli [[Mossad]] agent told Bergman: "I saw from a distance one of the cars blowing up and demolishing an entire street. We were teaching the Lebanese how effective a car bomb could be. Everything that we saw later with Hezbollah sprang from what they saw had happened after these operations."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/@djadan/israeli-journalist-ronen-bergman-reveals-his-countrys-terrorist-bombing-campaign-in-lebanon-8a5d9ff7a2f2 |title=Israeli Journalist Ronen Bergman Reveals Israel's Terrorist Bombing Campaign in Lebanon |date=14 August 2019 |access-date=12 March 2024 |archive-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312081549/https://medium.com/@djadan/israeli-journalist-ronen-bergman-reveals-his-countrys-terrorist-bombing-campaign-in-lebanon-8a5d9ff7a2f2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The year 1979 is widely considered a turning point in the rise of religiously motivated radicalism in the Muslim world. Several events are thought to be crucial for the proliferation of Islamist terrorism in the next decade, such as the [[Soviet–Afghan War]] and unprecedented support from Saudi Arabia, [[Pakistan]] and the US for anti-Soviet [[Afghan Mujahideen|jihadists]]; the [[Iranian Revolution]] and subsequent [[Iran–Iraq War]] as well as [[Khomeini]]'s active support for [[Hezbollah|Shia groups]] fighting the [[Israeli occupation of Lebanon]]; the [[Grand Mosque seizure]] in Mecca and subsequent [[Wahhabism|Wahhabization]] of the Saudi government; and the [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]] that was highly unpopular in some sections of the Muslim world.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/e6a7f7c8963f4cd1b0e27f1e7d484610 |title=AP Analysis: Climactic events in 1979 shaped modern Mideast |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=19 January 2019 |archive-date=3 November 2023 |access-date=3 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103022709/https://apnews.com/article/e6a7f7c8963f4cd1b0e27f1e7d484610 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[Bruce Hoffman]] of [[RAND Corporation|the RAND Corporation]], in 1980, 2 out of 64 terrorist groups were categorized as having religious motivation while in 1995, almost half (26 out of 56) were religiously motivated with the majority having Islam as their guiding force.<ref name="Hoffman-1999-V">{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=Bruce |title=Countering the New Terrorism |date=1999 |publisher=Rand Corporation |page=V |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/congress/terrorism/phase1/countering.pdf |access-date=12 August 2019 |chapter=Two: Terrorism Trends and Prospects |archive-date=12 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812001810/https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/congress/terrorism/phase1/countering.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Islamic Evolution" />

=== 1980s–1990s ===
The [[Soviet–Afghan War]] and the subsequent anti-Soviet mujahedin war, lasting from 1979 to 1989, started the rise and expansion of terrorist groups. Since their beginning in 1994, the Pakistani-supported [[Taliban]] militia in Afghanistan has gained several characteristics traditionally associated with [[state sponsors of terrorism|state-sponsors of terrorism]], providing logistical support, travel documentation, and training facilities. Since 1989 the increasing willingness of religious extremists to strike targets outside immediate country or regional areas highlights the global nature of contemporary terrorism. The [[1993 bombing of the World Trade Center]], and the 11 September 2001 attacks on the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] and Pentagon, are representative of this trend.<ref name="Islamic Evolution">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/modern.html|title=The Evolution of Islamic Terrorism: an Overview|author=John Moore|publisher=PBS Frontline|access-date=19 November 2017|archive-date=7 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607002009/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/modern.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2000s–2010s ===
According to research by the German newspaper ''[[Welt am Sonntag]]'', between 11 September 2001 and 21 April 2019, there were 31,221 Islamist terrorism attacks, in which at least 146,811 people were killed. Many of the victims were Muslims, including most of the victims who were killed in attacks involving 12 or more deaths.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pasteboard.co/IgC7ac6.jpg|title=18 Jahre Terror|date=28 April 2019|website=Die Welt|access-date=18 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/international/ECE11350481/naesten-150000-har-mistet-livet-i-islamistiske-angreb/|title=Næsten 150.000 har mistet livet i islamistiske angreb|date=1 May 2019|website=jyllands-posten.dk|access-date=4 May 2019|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018120234/https://jyllands-posten.dk/international/ECE11350481/naesten-150000-har-mistet-livet-i-islamistiske-angreb/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/naesten-150000-har-mistet-livet-i-islamistiske-angreb|title=Næsten 150.000 har mistet livet i islamistiske angreb|date=1 May 2019|website=kristeligt-dagblad.dk|access-date=18 June 2019|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018115952/https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/naesten-150000-har-mistet-livet-i-islamistiske-angreb|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2010s ===
According to the Global Terrorism Index, deaths from terrorism peaked in 2014 and have fallen each year since then until 2019 (the last year the study had numbers for), making a decline of more than half (59% or 13,826 deaths) from their peak. The five countries "hardest hit" by terrorism continue to be Muslims countries—Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria and Somalia.
{{#tag:ref|An indication that Islamic terrorism has at least paced the general decline in deaths from terror is that  "one of the more worrying trends" in terrorism over the five year period from 2014–2019, is (non-Islamic) far-right terrorism.<ref name="Porterfield-25-11-2020">{{cite news |last1=Porterfield |first1=Carlie |title=Terrorism Deaths Decline Worldwide, But Far-Right Attacks Are On The Rise |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/11/25/terrorism-deaths-decline-worldwide-but-far-right-attacks-are-on-the-rise/ |access-date=5 May 2021 |work=Forbes |date=25 November 2020}}</ref> |group=Note}}

== Attacker profiles and motivations ==
{{See also|Motives for the September 11 attacks}}
The motivation of Islamic terrorists has been disputed. Some (such as [[Maajid Nawaz]], [[Graeme Wood (journalist)|Graeme Wood]], and [[Ibn Warraq]]) attribute it to extremist interpretations of Islam;<ref name="eikmeier" /><ref name="Nawaz-debate">{{cite news|last1=Nawaz|first1=Maajid|last2=Hasan|first2=Mehdi|date=4 July 2012|title=Age of extremes: Mehdi Hasan and Maajid Nawaz debate|work=New Statesman|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]|location=London|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/07/age-extremes-muslim-mehdi-hasan-maajid-mawaz|url-status=dead|access-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714001243/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2012/07/age-extremes-muslim-mehdi-hasan-maajid-mawaz|archive-date=14 July 2012}}</ref><ref name=ibn-warraq-violent /> others (Mehdi Hasan) to some combination of political grievance and social-psychological maladjustment;<ref name="Hasan-2017">{{cite web |last1=Hasan |first1=Mehdi |title=You Shouldn't Blame Islam for Terrorism. Religion Isn't a Crucial Factor in Attacks. |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/03/29/you-shouldnt-blame-islam-for-terrorism-religion-isnt-a-crucial-factor-in-attacks/ |website=The Intercept |access-date=12 August 2019 |date=29 March 2017 |archive-date=9 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409201336/https://theintercept.com/2017/03/29/you-shouldnt-blame-islam-for-terrorism-religion-isnt-a-crucial-factor-in-attacks/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and still others (such as James L. Payne and [[Michael Scheuer]]) to a struggle against "U.S./Western/Jewish aggression, oppression, and exploitation of Muslim lands and peoples".<ref name="PAYNE-2008">{{cite web |last1=PAYNE |first1=JAMES L. |title=What Do the Terrorists Want? |url=https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_13_01_2_payne.pdf |website=Independent Review |access-date=8 August 2019 |year=2008 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808165428/https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_13_01_2_payne.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Religious motivation ===
[[Daniel Benjamin]] and [[Steven Simon]], in their book, ''The Age of Sacred Terror'', argue that Islamic terrorist attacks are motivated by religious fervor. They are seen as "a sacrament ... intended to restore to the universe a moral order that had been corrupted by the enemies of Islam." Their attacks are neither political nor strategic but an "act of redemption" meant to "humiliate and slaughter those who defied the hegemony of God".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Age of Sacred Terror|page=40|author=Daniel Benjamin|author2=Steven Simon|year=2002|isbn=978-0-7567-6751-8|publisher=Random House}}</ref>

According to Indonesian Islamic leader Yahya Cholil Staquf in a 2017 [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] interview, within the classical Islamic tradition, the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is assumed to be one of segregation and enmity. In his view, extremism and terrorism are linked with "the basic assumptions of Islamic orthodoxy" and that radical Islamic movements are nothing new. He also added that Western politicians should stop pretending that extremism is not linked to Islam.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4930742/islam-terrorism-islamophobia-violence/|title=Orthodox Islam and Violence 'Linked' Says Top Muslim Scholar|magazine=Time|access-date=27 December 2017|quote=Western politicians should stop pretending that extremism and terrorism have nothing to do with Islam. There is a clear relationship between fundamentalism, terrorism, and the basic assumptions of Islamic orthodoxy. So long as we lack consensus regarding this matter, we cannot gain victory over fundamentalist violence within Islam. Radical Islamic movements are nothing new. They've appeared again and again throughout our own history in Indonesia. The West must stop ascribing any and all discussion of these issues to "Islamophobia." Or do people want to accuse me—an Islamic scholar—of being an Islamophobe too?|archive-date=2 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002114547/http://time.com/4930742/islam-terrorism-islamophobia-violence/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.faz.net/1.5157757|title=F.A.Z. exklusiv: Terrorismus und Islam hängen zusammen|date=18 August 2017|work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|access-date=27 December 2017|language=de-DE|issn=0174-4909}}</ref>

According to journalist [[Graeme Wood (journalist)|Graeme Wood]] "much of what" one major Islamic terror group -- [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]] -- "does looks nonsensical except in light of a sincere, carefully considered commitment to returning civilization to a seventh-century legal environment" of Muhammad and his companions, "and ultimately to bringing about the apocalypse" and [[Last Judgment#Islam|Judgement day]]. ISIS group members insist "they will not—cannot—waver from governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers".<ref name="WOOD-wants-2015">{{cite journal |last1=WOOD |first1=GRAEME |title=What ISIS Really Wants |journal=The Atlantic |date=March 2015 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ |access-date=9 August 2019 |archive-date=24 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524091212/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Shmuel Bar argues that while the importance of political and socioeconomic factors in Islamist terrorism is not in doubt, "In order to comprehend the motivation for these acts and to draw up an effective strategy for a war against terrorism, it is necessary to understand the religious-ideological factors — which are deeply embedded in Islam."<ref>Bar, Shmuel, "The Religious Sources of Islamic Terrorism", ''Policy Review'', June/July 2004</ref>

Examining Europe, two studies of the background of Muslim terrorists—one from the UK and one from France—found little connection between terrorist acts performed in the name of Islam and the religious piety of the operatives. A "restricted" 2008 UK report of hundreds of case studies by the domestic counter-intelligence agency [[MI5]] found that there was no "typical profile" of a terrorist and that

{{blockquote|Far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practise their faith regularly. Many lack [[religious literacy]] and could actually be regarded as religious novices. Very few have been brought up in strongly religious households, and there is a higher than average proportion of converts. Some are involved in drug-taking, drinking alcohol and visiting prostitutes. MI5 says there is evidence that a well-established religious identity actually protects against violent radicalisation.<ref name="Travis-20-8-2008">{{cite news|last1=Travis|first1=Alan|title=MI5 report challenges views on terrorism in Britain|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1|access-date=6 November 2015|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=20 August 2008|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518042642/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/aug/20/uksecurity.terrorism1|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

However, while the motivations of the individuals directly involved in carrying out the terror attacks are not necessarily religious and may stem from other reasons, religiously motivated organizations and governments are very often behind such attacks. Fundamentalist organizations and governments often encourage, fund, assist, incentivize, or reward the actions of individuals they recognize as susceptible to being coerced into committing terror attacks, thus using people who are not always religiously motivated to achieve religious ends. [[Hamas]], for example, is known for [[Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund#Hamas|paying]] the families of imprisoned terrorists and of [[suicide bomber]]s. The [[Iran|Islamic Republic of Iran]] intends billions of US dollars annually for [[Militia|militia fighters]] and terrorists,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran spends $7 billion per year on terror network |url=https://embassies.gov.il/un/NewsAndEvents/Pages/Iran-terror-network-.aspx |access-date=15 May 2023 |archive-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515184615/https://embassies.gov.il/un/NewsAndEvents/Pages/Iran-terror-network-.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> exploiting the extreme economic difficulties faced by people in countries such as [[Economy of Yemen|Yemen]], [[Economy of Lebanon|Lebanon]] and [[Economy of Syria|Syria]] by offering them cash in exchange for terror activity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202302054479|title=Exclusive: IRGC Officers Pocket Millions Intended As Salaries For Proxies|website=Iran International|date=16 November 2023}}</ref>

A 2015 "general portrait" of "the conditions and circumstances" under which people living in France become "Islamic radicals" (terrorists or would-be terrorists) by Olivier Roy (see above) found radicalisation was not an "uprising of a Muslim community that is victim to poverty and racism: only young people join, including converts".<ref name="roy-inside">{{cite magazine |last=Roy |first=Olivier |date=18 December 2015 |title=What is the driving force behind jihadist terrorism? |url=http://insidestory.org.au/what-is-the-driving-force-behind-jihadist-terrorism |access-date=25 February 2016 |magazine=Inside Story |issn=1837-0497 |archive-date=13 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813022046/https://insidestory.org.au/what-is-the-driving-force-behind-jihadist-terrorism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Roy believes terrorism/radicalism is "expressed in religious terms" because

# most of the radicals have a Muslim background, which makes them open to a process of re-Islamisation ("almost none of them having been pious before entering the process of radicalisation"), and<ref name=roy-inside />
# jihad is "the only cause on the global market". If you kill in silence, it will be reported by the local newspaper; "if you kill yelling 'Allahu Akbar', you are sure to make the national headlines". Other extreme causes—ultra-left or radical ecology—are "too bourgeois and intellectual" for the radicals.<ref name=roy-inside />

Somewhat in contradiction to this, a study surveying Muslims in Europe to examine how much Islamist ideology increases support for terrorism found that "in Western countries affected by homegrown terrorism ... justifying terrorism is strongly associated with an increase in religious practice". (This is not the case in European "countries where Muslims are predominant"—[[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]], [[Albania]], etc.—where the opposite seems to be true, i.e., the more importance respondents assigned to religion in their life, the less likely they were to "justifying political violence".)<ref name="Egger-2021">{{cite journal |last1=Egger |first1=Clara |last2=Magni-Berton |first2=Raul |title=The Role of Islamist Ideology in Shaping Muslims Believers' Attitudes toward Terrorism: Evidence from Europe |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |year=2021 |volume=44 |issue=7 |pages=581–604 |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2019.1571696 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== Denominations/Ideologies ====
Most strains of thought/schools/sects/movements/[[religious denominations|denominations]]/traditions of Islam do not support or otherwise associate themselves with terrorism.{{#tag:ref| Shia Muslims have been involved in violence primarily at the state level<ref name="Jacobsen-12-3-19" /> ([[Hezbollah]] attacks on Israeli targets and Iran's use of [[Iran–Iraq War#Differences from other conflicts|shaheeds]] against [[Saddam Hussien]]'s [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] for example). The small [[Quranism|Quranist]] (Muslims who follow only Quran) and [[Ahmadi]] groups (who believe jihad should be peaceful) have "zero history of violence".|group=Note}}
According to Mir Faizal, only three sects or movements of Islam—the Sunni sects of [[Salafi]], [[Deobandi]], and [[Barelvi]].{{#tag:ref|Faizal calls these groups "sects", Wikipedia calls them "movements".  |group=Note}}—have been associated with violence against civilians.<ref name="Jacobsen-12-3-19">{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Scott Douglas |title=Is There a Link between Islam and Terrorism? |url=https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/islam-terrorism-sjbn/ |website=good men project |access-date=9 August 2019 |date=12 March 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809190253/https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/islam-terrorism-sjbn/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Of the three, only Salafi Islam—specifically [[Salafi jihadism]] Islam—can be called involved in global terrorism, as it is connected with [[Al-Qaeda]], [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]], [[Boko Haram]] and other groups. (Terrorism among some members of the [[Barelvi]] sect is limited to attacks on alleged blasphemers in Pakistan, and the terrorism among [[Deobandi]] groups has "almost no" influence beyond Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.)<ref name="Jacobsen-12-3-19" /> Another sect/movement known as [[Wahhabism]] (intertwined with ''non''-jihadist [[Salafism]]) has been accused of being the ideology behind Islamic terrorist groups,<ref name="worldaffairsjournal.org">{{cite journal|date=May–June 2015|title=The Saudi Connection: Wahhabism and Global Jihad|url=http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/saudi-connection-wahhabism-and-global-jihad|journal=[[World Affairs]]|first1=Carol E. B.|last1=Choksy|author2=Jamsheed K. Choksy|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509000307/http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/saudi-connection-wahhabism-and-global-jihad|archive-date=9 May 2015}}</ref> but [[Al-Qaeda|Al Qaeda]] and other terrorists are more commonly described as following a ''fusion'' of [[Qutbism]] and [[Wahhabism]].<ref name=ayoob-many-58>{{cite book |last1=Ayoob |first1=Muhammad |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.189346
|title=The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World |page=58 |date=2008 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |doi=10.3998/mpub.189346 |jstor=10.3998/mpub.189346 |hdl=10356/90575 |isbn=978-0-472-09971-9 |access-date=31 May 2021}}.</ref><ref>Moussalli, Ahmad. "Wahhabism, Salafism and Islamism: Who is the Enemy?" ''A Conflict Forum Monograph'' (January 2009).  10.</ref><ref>International Crisis Group. "Understanding Islamism." Middle East Report, no. 37 (2 March 2005).  2.</ref>

Outside of these sects or religious movements, the religious ideology of [[Qutbism]] has influenced Islamic terrorism, along with religious themes and trends including [[Takfir]], [[suicide attacks]], and the belief that Jews and Christians are not [[People of the Book]] but infidels/kafir waging "[[war on Islam]]". (These ideas are often related and overlapping.)

===== Qutbism =====
Qutbism is named after Egyptian [[Islamism|Islamist]] theoretician [[Sayyid Qutb]], who wrote a manifesto (known as ''[[Milestones (book)|Milestones]]''), while in prison. Qutb is said to have laid out
the ideological foundation of [[Salafi jihadism]] (according to Bruce Livesey);<ref>{{Cite web|last=Livesey|first=Bruce|date=25 January 2005|title=The Salafist Movement|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202818/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html|archive-date=28 June 2011|publisher=PBS}}</ref> his ideas are said to have formed "the modern Islamist movement" (according to Gilles Kepel);{{#tag:ref|Kepel wrote that "the modern Islamist movement"<ref name=KepelJihad-32 /> was "rebuilt" around "the ideas" of Qutb, rebuilt because the [[History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (1954–present)#The Brotherhood under Nasser, 1954–1970|Muslim Brotherhood was crushed after 1954]] by the regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser.  In 1954 another a second unsuccessful assassination was attempted against Egypt's prime minister (Gamal Abdel Nasser), and blamed on the "secret apparatus" of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was again banned and this time thousands of its members were imprisoned.|group=Note}}
which along with other "violent Islamic thought", became the ideology known as "[[Qutbism]] that is the "center of gravity" of al-Qaeda and related groups (according to [[U.S. Army]] Colonel Dale C. Eikmeier).<ref name="eikmeier" />
Qutb is thought to be a major influence on Al-Qaeda #2 leader, [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]].<ref>Lawrence Wright (2006). ''The Looming Tower''. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41486-X. p.37</ref>{{#tag:ref|[[Qutbism]] has been used as a close relative,<ref name="Manne-2017-17-22">{{cite book |last1=Manne |first1=Robert |title=The Mind of the Islamic State |date=2017 |publisher=Prometheist Books |location=NY |pages=17–22 |isbn=978-1-63388-371-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es41DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="Shultz-2008">{{cite book |last1=Shultz |first1=Richard |title=Global Insurgency Strategy and the Salafi Jihad Movement. |date=2008 |publisher=USAF Institute for National Security Studies |location=Colorado |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0s0gAQAAIAAJ |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref> or variety of Salafi jihadism.|group=Note}}

In his manifesto (called "one of the most influential works in Arabic of the last half century"),<ref>''The Age of Sacred Terror'' by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, New York : Random House, c2002, p.63</ref> Qutb preached:
* the absolute necessity of enforcement of [[sharia]] law ("even more necessary than the establishment of the Islamic belief", without which Islam does not exist);<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.89, 9</ref>
* the need for violent jihad as well as preaching to bring back sharia law and spread Islam, (a vanguard "movement" will use "physical power and Jihad",<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.55</ref> to remove "material obstacles");<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.59</ref>
* that offensive jihad—attacking non-Muslim territory—ought not neglected by true Muslims in favor of defensive jihad, (this "diminish[s] the greatness of the Islamic way of life",<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.71</ref> and is the work of those who have been "defeated by the attacks of the treacherous Orientalists!"<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.69</ref> Muslims should not let lack of non-Muslim aggression stop them from waging Jihad to spread sharia law because ''"truth and falsehood cannot coexist on earth"'' in peace.<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.65</ref>
* a loathing of "the West" (a "rubbish heap ... filth ... hollow and worthless");<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.139, 136</ref>
* ... which is deliberately undermining Islam (pursuing a "well-thought-out scheme" to "demolish the structure of Muslim society");<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.116</ref>
* ... despite the fact it "knows" it is inferior to Islam (It "knows that it does not possess anything which will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence", so that when confronted with the "logic, beauty, humanity and happiness" of Islam, "the American people blush");<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.7, 139</ref>
* and a loathing and hatred of Jews ("world Jewry, whose purpose is to eliminate ... the limitations imposed by faith and religion, so that Jews may penetrate into body politics of the whole world and then may be free to perpetuate their evil designs [such as] usury, the aim of which is that all the wealth of mankind end up in the hands of Jewish financial institutions ...").<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.110-111</ref>

Eikmeier summarizes the tenets of Qutbism as being:
* A belief that Muslims have deviated from true Islam and must return to "pure Islam" as originally practiced during the time of [[Muhammad]].
* The path to that "pure Islam" is only through a literal and strict interpretation of the [[Quran]] and [[Hadith]], along with implementation of Muhammad's commands.
* Muslims should interpret the original sources individually without being bound to follow the interpretations of Islamic scholars.
* Any interpretation of the Quran from a historical, contextual perspective is a corruption, and that the majority of Islamic history and the [[Fiqh|classical jurisprudential tradition]] is mere sophistry.<ref name="eikmeier" />

While [[Sayyid Qutb]] preached that ''all'' of the Muslim world had become [[Apostasy in Islam|apostate]] or ''[[jahiliyah]]'', he did not specifically takfir or call for the execution of any apostates, even those governing non-sharia governments {{#tag:ref|(Qutb wrote ''Milestones'' in prison and "died before he could fully explain his theories" and clear up "his use of the term jahiliyya and its dire consequence, ''takfir''")<ref name=KepelJihad-31 />|group=Note}} Qutb did however emphasize that "the organizations and authorities" of the putatively Muslim countries were irredeemably corrupt and evil<ref name="Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, p.55">Sayyid Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.55</ref> and would have to be abolished by "physical power and Jihad",<ref name="Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, p.55" /> by a "vanguard"<ref>Sayyid Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.12</ref> movement of true Muslims.<ref>Sayyid Qutb, ''Milestones'', p.101-103</ref>

One who did argue this was [[Muhammad abd-al-Salam Faraj]], the main theoretician of [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad|the Islamist group]] that [[Assassination of Anwar Sadat|assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat]]. In his book ''Al-Farida al-gha'iba'' (The Neglected Duty), he cited a fatwa issued in 1303 CE by the celebrated strict medieval jurist [[Ibn Taymiyyah]]. He had ruled that fighting and killing of the Mongol invaders who were invading Syria was not only permitted but obligatory according to Sharia. This was because the Mongols did not follow sharia law, and so even though they had converted to Islam (Ibn Taymiyyah argued) they were not really Muslims.<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''The Prophet and the Pharaoh'', (2003), p.194-197</ref> Faraj preached that rulers such as Anwar Sadat were "rebels against the Laws of God [the shari'ah]",<ref name=Faraj-Duty>Faraj, ''al-Farida al-gha'iba'', (Amman, n.d.), p.28, 26; trans. Johannes Jansen, ''The Neglected Duty'', (New York, 1986)</ref><ref name=Cook-understanding-192>Cook, David, ''Understanding Jihad'' by David Cook, University of California Press, 2005  p.192, 190</ref> and "apostates from Islam" who have preserved nothing of Islam except its name.<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''The Prophet and the Pharaoh'', (2003), p.197</ref>

===== Wahabism/Salafism =====
Another Islamic movement accused of being involved in terrorism is known as [[Wahabism]].<ref name="School2015">{{cite book|author=Naval Postgraduate Naval Postgraduate School|title=Wahhabism: Is It a Factor in the Spread of Global Terrorism?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25JPrgEACAAJ|date=19 March 2015|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|isbn=978-1-5089-3613-8}}</ref><ref name="Allen2009">{{cite book|author=Charles Allen|author-link = Charles Allen (writer)|title=God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKK0_bM-4n8C|date=1 March 2009|publisher=Da Capo Press, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-7867-3300-2}}</ref><ref name="DeLong-Bas2007">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nwX_UJ-p2rsC&pg=PA4|title=Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84511-322-3|pages=4–|author=Natana J. DeLong-Bas}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf-butt-/saudi-wahhabism-islam-terrorism_b_6501916.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in | work=HuffPost | title=How Saudi Wahhabism Is the Fountainhead of Islamist Terrorism | date=20 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="worldaffairsjournal.org" />

Sponsored by [[International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism|oil exporting power]] [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Wahabism]] is deeply conservative and anti-revolutionary (its founder taught that Muslims are obliged to give unquestioned allegiance to their ruler, however imperfect, so long as he leads the community according to the laws of God),<ref name="LofC">{{cite web|year=1992|title=Saudi Arabia. Wahhabi Theology|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+sa0044%29|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041107123733/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+sa0044%29|archive-date=7 November 2004|access-date=13 January 2022|work=[[Wayback Machine]]|publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=House, Karen Elliott|title=On Saudi Arabia : Its People, past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future|publisher=Knopf|year=2012|page=27|quote=Not only is the Saudi monarch effectively the religious primate, but the puritanical Wahhabi sect of Islam that he represents instructs Muslims to be obedient and submissive to their ruler, however imperfect, in pursuit of a perfect life in paradise. Only if a ruler directly countermands the commandments of Allah should devout Muslims even consider disobeying. 'O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. [surah 4:59]'}}</ref>
Nonetheless, this ideology and its sponsors have been accused of assisting terrorism both
* indirectly—by "creating" an environment from late 1970s to 2010 that "supported the spread of extremist ideologies";<ref name="Dillon-Factor-2009-72">{{cite book |last1=Dillon |first1=Michael R. |title=Wahhabism: Is It a Factor in the Spread of Global Terrorism? |date=September 2009 |publisher=Naval Post Graduate School |page=72 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA509109.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518221709/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA509109.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=18 May 2021 |access-date=18 May 2021}}</ref> despite its conservatism, Wahhabism shares important doctrinal points with forms of Islamism—a strong "revulsion" against [[Westernization|Western influences]],<ref name=Commins-141>{{cite book |last=Commins |first=David |title=The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2009 |url=http://ebooks.rahnuma.org/religion/Muslim_Sects/The-Wahhabi-Mission-and-Saudi-Arabia.pdf |page=141 |quote=[MB founder Hasan al-Banna] shared with the Wahhabis a strong revulsion against western influences and unwavering confidence that Islam is both the true religion and a sufficient foundation for conducting worldly affairs ... More generally, Banna's [had a] keen desire for Muslim unity to ward off western imperialism led him to espouse an inclusive definition of the community of believers. ... he would urge his followers, 'Let us cooperate in those things on which we can agree and be lenient in those on which we cannot.' ... A salient element in Banna's notion of Islam as a total way of life came from the idea that the Muslim world was backward and the corollary that the state is responsible for guaranteeing decent living conditions for its citizens. |archive-date=15 April 2021 |access-date=23 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415034707/http://ebooks.rahnuma.org/religion/Muslim_Sects/The-Wahhabi-Mission-and-Saudi-Arabia.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> a belief in strict implementation of injunctions and prohibitions of [[Sharia|''sharia'' law]],<ref name=Kepel51>{{cite book|last=Kepel|first=Gilles|title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam|date=2006|publisher=I.B. Tauris|page=51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLvTNk75hUoC&pg=PA61|quote=Well before the full emergence of Islamism in the 1970s, a growing constituency nicknamed '[[petro-Islam]]' included Wahhabi ulemas and Islamist intellectuals and promoted strict implementation of the sharia in the political, moral and cultural spheres; this proto-movement had few social concerns and even fewer revolutionary ones.|isbn=978-1-84511-257-8}}</ref> an opposition to both [[Shia Islam]] and popular Islamic religious practices (the [[Veneration#Islam|veneration]] of [[Wali|Muslim saints]]),<ref name=roy-117>{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Olivier |author-link=Olivier Roy (political scientist) |year=1994 |title=The Failure of Political Islam |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/failureofpolitic00royo/page/117 117] |isbn=978-0-674-29141-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/failureofpolitic00royo |url-access=registration |access-date=2 April 2015 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |quote=The Muslim Brothers agreed not to operate in Saudi Arabia itself, but served as a relay for contacts with foreign Islamist movements. The MBs also used as a relay in South Asia movements long established on an indigenous basis (Jamaat-i Islami). Thus the MB played an essential role in the choice of organizations and individuals likely to receive Saudi subsidies. On a doctrinal level, the differences are certainly significant between the MBs and the Wahhabis, but their common references to Hanbalism ... their rejection of the division into juridical schools, and their virulent opposition to Shiism and popular religious practices (the cult of 'saints') furnished them with the common themes of a reformist and puritanical preaching. This alliance carried in its wake older fundamentalist movements, non-Wahhabi but with strong local roots, such as the Pakistani Ahl-i Hadith or the Ikhwan of continental China.}}</ref> and a belief in the importance of armed [[jihad]].<ref name=Kepel2004-156>{{cite book|last1=Kepel|first1=Gilles|title=The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West|date=2004|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/warformuslimmind00kepe/page/156 156]|url=https://archive.org/details/warformuslimmind00kepe |url-access=registration|access-date=4 April 2015|quote=In the melting pot of Arabia during the 1960s, local clerics trained in the Wahhabite tradition joined with activists and militants affiliated with the Muslims Brothers who had been exiled from the neighboring countries of Egypt, Syria and Iraq ... The phenomenon of Osama bin Laden and his associates cannot be understood outside this hybrid tradition.|isbn=978-0-674-01575-3}}</ref>
* and directly—through [[International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism#Other jihads|inadvertent and intentional funding of terrorist groups]]<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Saudi Arabia |last=Al-Rasheed |first=Madawi|author-link=Madawi al-Rasheed |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-74754-7 |page=233|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref name=Cordesman-2002-6>{{cite book|last1=Cordesman|first1=Anthony H.|title=Saudi Arabia Enters The 21st Century: IV. Opposition and Islamic Extremism Final Review|date=31 December 2002|publisher=CSIS|pages=6–7|url=http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/s21_04.pdf|access-date=26 November 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110757/http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/s21_04.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and through its influence on at least two major terrorist groups<ref>The Taliban were responsible for 4,990 terrorist deaths in 2019, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2020, an 18 per cent decrease from 2018. {{cite web |title=Global Terrorism Index 2020 |url=https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GTI-2020-web-1.pdf |website=Vision of Humanity |publisher=Institute for Economics & Peace |access-date=18 May 2021 |page=15 |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125074953/https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GTI-2020-web-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> -- [[International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism#Afghanistan Taliban|the Taliban]]<ref name=LICHTBLAU>{{cite news|last1=LICHTBLAU|first1=ERIC|title=Documents Back Saudi Link to Extremists|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/world/middleeast/24saudi.html|access-date=17 August 2014|work=The New York Times|date=23 June 2009|quote=The new documents, provided to The New York Times by the lawyers, are among several hundred thousand pages of investigative material obtained by the Sept. 11 families and their insurers as part of a long-running civil lawsuit seeking to hold Saudi Arabia and its royal family liable for financing Al Qaeda.|archive-date=13 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213122919/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/world/middleeast/24saudi.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]].

Up until at least 2017 or so (when [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia|Saudi Crown Prince]] [[Muhammad bin Salman]] declared Saudi Arabia was returning to "moderate Islam"),<ref name="bbc-moderate-2017">{{cite news |title=Crown prince says Saudis want return to moderate Islam |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41747476 |access-date=18 May 2021 |publisher=BBC |date=25 October 2017 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418062315/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41747476 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Saudi Arabia [[International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism|spent]] many billions, not only through the Saudi government but through Islamic organizations, religious charities, and private sources,<ref name=house-groups>{{cite book |last=House |first=Karen Elliott |author-link=Karen Elliott House |title=[[On Saudi Arabia|On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future]] |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-307-47328-8 |page=234 |quote=To this day, the regime funds numerous international organizations to spread fundamentalist Islam, including the [[Muslim World League]], the [[World Assembly of Muslim Youth]], the [[International Islamic Relief Organization]], and various royal charities such as the Popular Committee for Assisting the Palestinian Muhahedeen, led by Prince [[Salman bin Abdul-Aziz]], now minister of defense, who often is touted as a potential future king [and who became king in 2015]. Supporting da'wah, which literally means 'making an invitation' to Islam, is a religious requirement that Saudi rulers feel they cannot abandon without losing their domestic legitimacy as protectors and propagators of Islam. Yet in the wake of [[September 11 attacks|9/11]], American anger at the kingdom led the U.S. government to demand controls on Saudi largesse to Islamic groups that funded terrorism.}}</ref>
on ''dawah wahhabiya'', i.e. spreading the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam,<ref name=lacey-95-embassies>{{cite book|last=Lacey|first=Robert|title=Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia|url=https://archive.org/details/insidekingdomkin00lace_0|url-access=registration|date=2009|publisher=Viking
|page=[https://archive.org/details/insidekingdomkin00lace_0/page/95 95]|isbn=978-0-670-02118-5|quote=The Kingdom's 70 or so embassies around the world already featured cultural, educational, and military attaches, along with consular officers who organized visas for the hajj. Now they were joined by religious attaches, whose job was to get new mosques built in their countries and to persuade existing mosques to propagate the ''dawah wahhabiya''.}}</ref>
This funding incentivized Muslim "schools, book publishers, magazines, newspapers, or even governments" around the world to "shape their behavior, speech, and thought in such a way as to incur and benefit from Saudi largesse," and so propagate Wahhabi doctrines;<ref>{{cite book|last= Abou El Fadl |first=Khaled|title=The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists|url= https://archive.org/details/greattheftwrestl00abou  |url-access= registration |publisher= Harper San Francisco |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greattheftwrestl00abou/page/74 74] |isbn=978-0-06-056339-4|quote=A wide range of institutions, whether schools, book publishers, magazines, newspapers, or even governments, as well as individuals, such as imams, teachers, or writers, learned to shape their behavior, speech, and thought in such a way as to incur and benefit from Saudi largesse. In many parts of the Muslim world, the wrong type of speech or conduct (such as failing to veil or advocate the veil) meant the denial of Saudi largesse or the denial of the possibility of attaining Saudi largesse, and in numerous contexts this meant the difference between enjoying a decent standard of living or living in abject poverty.}}</ref>

The hundreds of Islamic colleges and Islamic centers, over a thousand mosques and schools for Muslim children, it financed {{#tag:ref|One estimate is that during the reign of [[Fahd of Saudi Arabia|King Fahd]] (1982 to 2005), over $75 billion was spent in efforts to spread Wahhabi Islam. The money was used to establish 200 Islamic colleges, 210 Islamic centers, 1,500 mosques, and 2,000 schools for Muslim children in Muslim and non-Muslim majority countries.<ref name=threat-alliance>{{cite news|last=Ibrahim|first=Youssef Michel|title=The Mideast Threat That's Hard to Define|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=11 August 2002|url=http://www.cfr.org/religion/mideast-threat-s-hard-define/p4702|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904022847/http://www.cfr.org/religion/mideast-threat-s-hard-define/p4702|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 September 2014|access-date=21 August 2014|quote=... money that brought Wahabis power throughout the Arab world and financed networks of fundamentalist schools from Sudan to northern Pakistan.}}</ref> According to diplomat and political scientist [[Dore Gold]], this funding was for non-Muslim countries alone.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gold |first1=Dore |title=Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism |date=2003 |publisher=Regnery |page=126}}</ref>|group=Note}}
often featured Wahhabi-friendly curriculum and religious materials<ref name=lynch-schools>{{cite web|last1=Lynch III|first1=Thomas F.|title=Sunni and Shi'a Terrorism Differences that Matter|url=http://gsmcneal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sunni-and-shia-terrorism-differences-that-matter.pdf|website=gsmcneal.com|publisher=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|access-date=31 October 2014|page=30|date=29 December 2008|quote=Although Sunni‐extremist fervor dissipates the further one travels from the wellsprings of Cairo and Riyadh, Salafist (and very similar Wahhabi) teaching is prominently featured at thousands of worldwide schools funded by fundamentalist Sunni Muslim charities, especially those from Saudi Arabia and across the Arabian Peninsula.|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305021429/http://gsmcneal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sunni-and-shia-terrorism-differences-that-matter.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Focus on Islamic issues |last=Malbouisson |first=Cofie D. |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-60021-204-8 |page=26|publisher=Nova Publishers}}</ref><ref name=Cordesman-17-18>{{cite book|last1=Cordesman|first1=Anthony H.|title=Saudi Arabia Enters The 21st Century: IV. Opposition and Islamic Extremism Final Review|date=2002|publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies|pages=17–18|url=http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/s21_04.pdf|access-date=31 October 2015|quote=Many aspects of the Saudi curriculum were not fully modernized after the 1960s. Some Saudi textbooks taught Islamic tolerance while others condemned Jews and Christians. Anti-Christian and anti-Jewish passages remained in grade school textbooks that use rhetoric that were little more than hate literature. The same was true of more sophisticated books issued by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Practices. Even the English-language Korans available in the hotels in the Kingdom added parenthetical passages condemning Christians and Jews that were not in any English language editions of the Koran outside Saudi Arabia.|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110757/http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/s21_04.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
such as textbooks explaining that all forms of Islam except Wahhabism were deviation,<ref name=Husain-wahhab>{{cite book|author=Husain, Ed|title=The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left|publisher=Penguin|date=2007|page=250|quote=My Saudi students gave me some of their core texts from university classes. They complained that regardless of their subject of study, they were compelled to study 'Thaqafah Islamiyyah' (Islamic Culture) ... These books were published in 2003 (after a Saudi promise in a post-9/11 world to alter their textbooks) and were used in classrooms across the country in 2005. I read these texts very closely: entire pages were devoted to explaining to undergraduates that all forms of Islam except Wahhabism were deviation. There were prolonged denunciations of nationalism, communism, the West, free mixing of the sexes, observing birthdays, even Mother's Day }}</ref> or the twelfth grade Saudi text that "instructs students that it is a religious obligation to do 'battle' against infidels in order to spread the faith".<ref name=SACoI-9>{{cite book|title=Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance|date=2006|publisher=Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House with the Institute for Gulf Affairs|page=9|url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/CurriculumOfIntolerance.pdf|access-date=10 November 2015|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208021259/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/CurriculumOfIntolerance.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wahhabi-friendly works distributed for free "financed by petroleum royalties" included those of [[Ibn Taymiyyah]]<ref name=kepel-158-taymiyyah>{{cite book|last=Kepel |first=Gilles |title=The War for Muslim Minds|url=https://archive.org/details/warformuslimmind00kepe |url-access=registration |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/warformuslimmind00kepe/page/158 158]|isbn=978-0-674-01575-3 |quote=Starting in the 1950s, religious institutions in Saudi Arabia published and disseminated new editions of Ibn Taymiyya's works for free throughout the world, financed by petroleum royalties. These works have been cited widely: by Abd al-Salam Faraj, the spokesperson for the group that assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981; in GIA tracts calling for the massacre of 'infidels'during the Algerian civil war in the 1990s; and today on Internet sites exhorting Muslim women in the west to wear veils as a religious obligation.}}</ref> (author of the fatwa mentioned above against rulers who do not rule by sharia law).<ref name=Faraj-Duty /><ref name=Cook-understanding-192 />

Not least, the successful 1980–1990 jihad against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan—that inspired non-Afghan jihad veterans to continue jihad in their own country or others—benefited from billions of dollars in Saudi financing, as well as "weaponry and intelligence".
<ref name=Rashid-taliban-1308>{{cite book
 | last = Rashid
 | first = Ahmed
 | author-link = Ahmed Rashid
 | title = Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
 | publisher = I.B. Tauris
 | year = 2000
 | location = London
 | page = 130}}</ref>

==== Religious interpretations ====
The "root cause" of Muslim terrorism is extremist ideology, according to Pakistani theologian [[Javed Ahmad Ghamidi]], specifically the teachings that:
* "Only Muslims have the right to rule, non-Muslims are meant to be subjugated";
* "Modern nation states are unIslamic and constitute [[Kafir|kufr]] (disbelief)";
* the only truly Islamic form of state is a unified Muslim Caliphate;
* "when Muslims obtain power they will overthrow non-Muslim governments and rule";
* "The punishment of kufr (disbelief) and [[irtidad]] (apostasy) is death and must be implemented".<ref>{{cite web
 | url =http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/junaid-jahangir/freedom-of-speech_b_9004740.html
 | title =Freedom Of Speech Does Not Mean Freedom To Hate
 | last =Jahangir
 | first =Junaid
 | date =18 January 2017
 | website =HuffPost
 | access-date =6 April 2017
 | quote =Islamic grand teacher, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, who is in self-imposed exile due to death threats, has clearly stated that the root cause of Muslim terrorism is religious ideology.
 | archive-date =7 April 2017
 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170407054711/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/junaid-jahangir/freedom-of-speech_b_9004740.html
 | url-status =live
 }}</ref>
Other authors have noted other elements of extremist Islamic ideology.

===== Martyrdom/Istishhad =====
{{Main|Istishhad}}
Terror attacks requiring the death of the attacker are generally referred to as [[Suicide attack|suicide attacks/bombings]] by the media, but when done by Islamists their perpetrators generally call such an attack ''Istishhad'' (or in English "[[martyrdom operation]]"),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Romero |first=Juan |title=Terrorism: the Power and Weakness of Fear |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-032-19806-4 |series=Routledge Studies in Modern History |location=Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY |pages=145–146 |chapter=Rules of jihad}}</ref> and the suicide attacker ''[[shahid]]'' (pl. ''shuhada'', literally 'witness' and usually translated as 'martyr'). The idea being that the attacker died in order to testify his faith in God, for example while waging ''[[jihad|jihad bis saif]]'' ([[jihad]] by the sword). The term "suicide" is never used because Islam has [[Islamic views on suicide|strong strictures]] against taking one's own life.

According to author Sadakat Kadri, "the very idea that Muslims might blow themselves up for God was unheard of before 1983, and it was not until the early 1990s that anyone anywhere had tried to justify killing innocent Muslims who were not on a battlefield." After 1983 the process was limited among Muslims to Hezbollah and other Lebanese Shi'a factions for more than a decade.<ref name=kadri-168>{{cite book|last1=Kadri|first1=Sadakat|title=Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia ...|date=2012|publisher=macmillan|isbn=978-0-09-952327-7|page=168|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC&q=Heaven+on+Earth:+A+Journey+Through+Shari%27a+Law}}</ref>

Since then, the "vocabulary of martyrdom and sacrifice", videotaped pre-confession of faith by attackers have become part of "Islamic cultural consciousness", "instantly recognizable" to Muslims (according to [[Noah Feldman]]),{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} while the tactic has spread through the Muslim world "with astonishing speed and on a surprising course".{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

{{blockquote|First the targets were American soldiers, then mostly Israelis, including women and children. From [[Lebanon]] and Israel, the technique of suicide bombing moved to Iraq, where the targets have included mosques and shrines, and the intended victims have mostly been [[Shia|Shiite]] [[Iraqi people|Iraqis]]. ... [In] [[Afghanistan]], ... both the perpetrators and the targets are orthodox [[Sunni]] Muslims. Not long ago, a bombing in Lashkar Gah, the capital of [[Helmand Province]], killed Muslims, including women, who were applying to go on [[Hajj|pilgrimage]] to [[Mecca]]. Overall, the trend is definitively in the direction of Muslim-on-Muslim violence. By a conservative accounting, more than three times as many Iraqis have been killed by suicide bombings in just three year (2003–6) as have Israelis in ten (from 1996–2006). Suicide bombing has become the archetype of Muslim violence&nbsp;– not just to Westerners but also to Muslims themselves.<ref name="nytimes.com">[[Noah Feldman]], [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/magazine/29islam.html "Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219172015/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/magazine/29islam.html |date=19 February 2016 }}, ''The New York Times'', October 29, 2006</ref>}}

;Jihadist comparisons of life and death

Below are jihadist statements comparing life and death:
* "We love death like our enemies love life" ([[Hamas]] leader [[Ismail Haniyeh]] on [[Al-Aqsa TV]] in 2014)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weber |first1=Joseph |title=Divided Loyalties: Young Somali Americans and the Lure of Extremism |publisher=MSU Press |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XzLwDwAAQBAJ&q=%E2%80%9CWe+love+death+like+our+enemies+love+life%E2%80%9D+haniyeh&pg=PT133 |chapter= 13. The Glory of the Shahid |date=September 2020 |isbn=978-1-62895-407-4 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref>
* "The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death." (Afghan jihadist Maulana Inyadullah addressing a British reporter in 2001)<ref name="Blair-2001">{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=David |title=The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death. |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1341470/The-Americans-love-Pepsi-Cola-but-we-love-death.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1341470/The-Americans-love-Pepsi-Cola-but-we-love-death.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=15 July 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=24 September 2001}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* "The world is but a passage ... what is called life in this world is not life but death" ([[Ruhollah Khomeini|Ayatollah Khomeini]] in 1977, commemorating his son's death)
* "...The sons of the land of the two holiest sites [<nowiki/>[[Mecca]] and [[Medina]]] ... I say this to you, These youths love death as you love life" (Osama bin Laden addressing U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry in 1996 fatwa)<ref name="Declaration of Jihad ObL">{{cite web |last1=bin Laden |first1=Osama |title=Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holiest Sites. (Expel the infidels from the Arab Peninsula). A message from Usamah Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Declaration-of-Jihad-against-the-Americans-Occupying-the-Land-of-the-Two-Holiest-Sites-Translation.pdf |website=Combating Terrorism Center |access-date=15 July 2021 |page=(Document page 3) |archive-date=7 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807052959/https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Declaration-of-Jihad-against-the-Americans-Occupying-the-Land-of-the-Two-Holiest-Sites-Translation.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===== Justification for killing noncombatants =====
Al-Qaeda justification for the killing of civilian bystanders following its first attack (see above) based on [[Ibn Taymiyyah]]'s fatwa was described by author Lawrence Wright,
{{blockquote| Ibn Taymiyyah had issued a historic fatwa: Anyone who aided the Mongols, who bought goods from them or sold to them or was merely standing near them, might be killed as well. If he is a good Muslim, he will go to Paradise; if he is bad, he will go to hell, and good riddance. Thus the dead tourist and the hotel worker [killed by Al-Qaeda] would find their proper reward.<ref name="auto1">[source: testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, U.S. v. Usama bin Laden, et.al., quoted in ''Looming Tower'', by Lawrence Wright, NY, Knopf, 2006, 174-5</ref>}}

An influential tract ''[[Management of Savagery]]'' (''Idarat at-Tawahhush''), explains away mass killing in part by the fact that even "if the whole umma [community of Muslims] perishes they would all be martyrs".<ref name="auto2">Najji, ''Management of Savagery'', p.76; quoted in ...</ref><ref name="Gerges-18-3-19">{{cite journal |last1=Gerges |first1=Fawaz A. |title=The World According to ISIS |journal=Foreign Policy Journal |date=18 March 2016 |url=https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/03/18/the-world-according-to-isis/ |access-date=17 August 2019}}</ref> Similarly, author [[Ali A. Rizvi]] has described the chat room reaction of a Taliban supporter to his (Rizvi's) condemnation of the [[2014 Peshawar school massacre]]—that the 132 school children the Taliban slaughtered were "not dead" because they had been killed "in the way of God ... Don't call them dead. They are alive, but we don't perceive it" (citing, {{qref|3|169|b=y}} Never think of those martyred in the cause of Allah as dead. In fact, they are alive with their Lord, well provided for—), and maintaining that those whose Islamic faith is "pure" would not be upset with the Taliban's murder of children either.<ref name="interview">{{cite web |last1=POWELL |first1=CALEB |title=Leaving The Faith, THE SUN INTERVIEW, Ali Rizvi. |url=https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/504/leaving-the-faith |website=The Sun Magazine |access-date=26 August 2019 |date=December 2017 |archive-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826210045/https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/504/leaving-the-faith |url-status=live }}</ref>

===== "War against Islam" =====
A tenant of Qutbism and other militant Islamists is that Western policies and society are not just un-Islamic or exploitive, but actively anti-Islamic, or as it is sometimes described, waging a "[[War on Islam controversy|War on Islam]]". Islamists (such as Qutb) often identify what they see as a historical struggle between [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]], dating back as far as the [[Crusades]],<ref name="Qut-Decieve-1982-159">{{cite book |last1=Qutb |first1=Sayyid |title=Milestones |date=1982 |publisher=Mother Mosque Foundation |location=Iowa |isbn=0-911119-42-6 |pages=159–160 |quote=Enemies of the Believers may wish to change this struggle into an economic or political ... struggle so that the Believers become confused concerning the true nature of the struggle and the flame of belief in their hearts becomes extinguished ... We see an example of this today in the attempts of Christendom to try to deceive us by distorting history and saying that the Crusades were a form of imperialism. The truth of the matter is that the latter-day imperialism is but a mask for the crusading spirit, since it is not possible for it to appear in its true form, as it was possible in the Middle Ages.}}</ref> among other historical conflicts between practitioners of the two respective religions.

In 2006, Britain's then head of [[MI5]] [[Eliza Manningham-Buller]] said of Al-Qaeda that it "has developed an ideology which claims that Islam is under attack, and needs to be defended". "This," she said "is a powerful narrative that weaves together conflicts from across the globe, presenting the West's response to varied and complex issues, from long-standing disputes such as Israel/Palestine and Kashmir to more recent events as evidence of an across-the-board determination to undermine and humiliate Islam worldwide."<ref name="EM-B">{{cite web|first=Eliza|last=Manningham-Buller|author-link=Eliza Manningham-Buller|url=http://www.icjs-online.org/index.php?article=1121|title=Transcript of speech: The International Terrorist Threat to the UK|publisher=ICJS Research|date=10 November 2006|access-date=4 August 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185657/http://www.icjs-online.org/index.php?article=1121|url-status=dead}}</ref> She said that the video wills of [[United Kingdom|British]] suicide bombers made it clear that they were motivated by perceived worldwide and long-standing injustices against Muslims; an extreme and minority interpretation of Islam promoted by some preachers and people of influence; their interpretation as anti-Muslim of UK foreign policy, in particular the UK's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."<ref name="EM-B" />

In his call for jihad, [[Osama bin Laden]] almost invariably described his enemies as aggressive and his action against them as defensive.<ref name="KNAPP-90">{{cite journal|last1=KNAPP|first1=MICHAEL G.|date=Spring 2003|title=The Concept and Practice of Jihad in Islam|url=https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/parameters/articles/03spring/knapp.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Parameters|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]|page=90|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517024926/https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/parameters/articles/03spring/knapp.pdf|archive-date=17 May 2017|access-date=14 January 2022}}</ref>

===== Enmity towards non-Muslims and LGBT+ =====
The enmity towards non-Muslims among Islamist militants, leaders and scholars is driven by theological beliefs that deem Christians and Jews as "[[Infidels in Islam|infidels]]". This hostility is further extended to [[Western world|Western society]] due to its secular values and practices, which are viewed as contrary to Islamic principles. These include issues such as the proliferation of [[pornography]], perceived [[immorality]], and the acceptance of [[homosexuality]] and [[feminism]].

An example of this ideological stance in practice was provided by Karam Kuhdi, an Islamist arrested in Egypt in 1981 for his involvement in a series of robberies and murders targeting Christian goldsmiths. In this period, tourists, often non-Muslim, were also frequently targeted by Islamic terrorists in Egypt. During police interrogation, Kuhdi surprised authorities with his unconventional beliefs. He rejected the traditional Islamic doctrine that Christians were "[[People of the Book]]" entitled to protection as [[Dhimmi|''dhimmis'']], instead considering them infidels subject to violent jihad. Kuhdi supported his stance by citing Quranic verses such as 'Those who say that God is Jesus, son of Mary, are infidels' and 'combat those of the people of the book who are infidels', explaining the Islamists view that the infidels are "the People of the Book, since they have not believed in this book".<ref>Kepel, Gilles, The Prophet and the Pharaoh, (2003), p.208-209</ref>

According to a doctrine known as ''al-wala' wa al-bara{{'}}'' (literally, "loyalty and disassociation"), Wahhabi founder Abd al-Wahhab argued that it was "imperative for Muslims not to befriend, ally themselves with, or imitate non-Muslims or heretical Muslims", and that this "enmity and hostility of Muslims toward non-Muslims and heretical had to be visible and unequivocal".<ref>{{cite book|last= Abou El Fadl  |first= Khaled |title= The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists |publisher= Harper San Francisco  |year=2005 |pages=49, 50 |quote=Significantly, Abd al-Wahhab also insisted that it was a sign of spiritual weakness for Muslims to care for or be interested in non-Muslim beliefs or practices. Pursuant to a doctrine known as ''al-wala' wa al-bara{{'}}'' (literally, the doctrine of loyalty and disassociation), Abd al-Wahhab argued that it was imperative for Muslims not to befriend, ally themselves with, or imitate non-Muslims or heretical Muslims. Furthermore, this enmity and hostility of Muslims toward non-Muslims and heretical had to be visible and unequivocal. For example, by not being  the first to greet a non-Muslim, orby ever  wishing a non-Muslim peace.}}</ref>

Although bin Laden almost always emphasized the alleged oppression of Muslims by America and Jews when talking about the need for jihad in his messages, in his "[[Letter to the American People|Letter to America]]", he answered the question, "What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?" with:

{{blockquote|We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest (...) You separate religion from your policies, (...) You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions (...) You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of intoxicants (...) You are a nation that permits acts of immorality (...) You are a nation that permits gambling in its all forms. (...) You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation of women.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728133223/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver |date=28 July 2013 }} accessed 24 May 2007</ref>}}

This principle has been emphasized by [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] (leader of al-Qaeda since June 2011), [[Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi]] (Jihadi theorist), [[Hamoud al-Aqla al-Shu'aybi]] (conservative Sudi scholar who supported the 9/11 attacks), and a number of Salafi preachers, [[Ahmad Musa Jibril]], [[Abdullah el-Faisal]].<ref name="Gilliam-2018">{{cite journal |last1=Gilliam |first1=Joshua |title=Why They Hate Us An Examination of al-wala' wa-l-bara' in Salafi-Jihadist Ideology |journal=Military Review |date=15 February 2018 |url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Online-Exclusive/2018-OLE/Feb/They-Hate/ |access-date=1 June 2021 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213857/https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Online-Exclusive/2018-OLE/Feb/They-Hate/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the 2016 [[Pulse nightclub shooting|Orlando nightclub shooting]], described as an "act of hate" and an "act of terror by President [[Barack Obama]] due to the victims being customers of an LGBT nightclub,<ref name="cbslocal">{{cite news |last=Young |first=Lou |date=June 12, 2016 |title=ISIS Claims Responsibility For Orlando Nightclub Attack That Left 50 Dead |url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/12/orlando-nightclub-shooting/ |publisher=CBS New York |agency=Associated Press |access-date=June 12, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612145458/https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/12/orlando-nightclub-shooting/ |archive-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Mallin |first=Alexander |date=June 12, 2016 |title=President Obama Calls Orlando Shooting an 'Act of Terror' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/president-obama-deliver-statement-orlando-shooting/story?id=39794617 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=June 12, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613005718/https://abcnews.go.com/US/president-obama-deliver-statement-orlando-shooting/story?id=39794617 |archive-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line--> |title=Obama calls Orlando shooting an 'act of terror, act of hate' |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-florida-shooting-whitehouse-idUSKCN0YY0UX |work=Reuters |date=June 12, 2016 |access-date=June 12, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612193100/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-florida-shooting-whitehouse-idUSKCN0YY0UX |archive-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> allegedly targeted in retaliation for American airstrikes against ISIS. According to the [[Clarion Project]], the official ISIS magazine [[Dabiq (magazine)|Dabiq]] responded: "A hate crime? Yes. Muslims undoubtedly hate liberalist sodomites. An act of terrorism? Most definitely. Muslims have been commanded to terrorize the disbelieving enemies of Allah".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 2016 |title=Why We Hate You & Why We Fight You |url=http://clarionproject.org/factsheets-files/islamic-state-magazine-dabiq-fifteen-breaking-the-cross.pdf |access-date=2 February 2018 |journal=Dabiq |page=30 |issue=15 |archive-date=31 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131151712/https://clarionproject.org/factsheets-files/islamic-state-magazine-dabiq-fifteen-breaking-the-cross.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Gilliam-2018" /> During the shooting, the shooter said it was an act of retaliation for the airstrike killing of [[Abu Waheeb]] and three other alleged militants the previous month. He told the negotiator to tell America to stop the bombing.<ref name="OrlandoSentinel.Reveal">{{cite news |first1=Caitlin |last1=Doornbos |title=Transcripts of 911 calls reveal Pulse shooter's terrorist motives |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-911-calls-released-orlando-shooting-20170922-story.html |access-date=September 28, 2016 |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=September 23, 2016 |quote=Mateen referred to a U.S.-led air strike on May 6 that killed Abu Wahib, an ISIS military commander in Iraq, and three other jihadists, according to the Pentagon. 'That's what triggered it, OK?' Mateen said. 'They should have not bombed and killed Abu [Wahib].' |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926204945/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-911-calls-released-orlando-shooting-20170922-story.html |archive-date=September 26, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/transcripts-of-orlando-shooters-conversation-with-police-reveal-isis-influence |title=Transcripts of Orlando shooter's conversation with police reveal ISIS influence |work=FOX News |date=September 28, 2016 |access-date=September 29, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928185246/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/28/transcripts-orlando-shooters-conversation-with-police-reveal-isis-influence.html |archive-date=September 28, 2016}}</ref> His words were: "That's what triggered it, OK? They should have not bombed and killed Abu [Waheeb]".<ref name="OrlandoSentinel.Reveal"/>

===== Takfir =====
According to traditional Islamic law, the blood of someone who leaves Islam is "forfeit"—i.e. they are condemned to death.<ref name=KepelJihad-31 /> This applies not only to self-proclaimed ex-Muslims, but to those who still believe themselves to be Muslims but who (in the eyes of their accusers) have deviated too far from orthodoxy.{{#tag:ref|(The punishment is agreed on by all the [[madhhab|schools of fiqh]] (Islamic jurisprudence) both [[Madhhab#Sunni|Sunni]] and [[Madhhab#Shia|Shia]],<ref name="punishment">{{cite book |last1=Abul Ala Mawdudi |title=The Punishment of the Apostate According to Islamic Law |date=1 January 1994 |publisher=The Voice of the Martyrs |chapter=Chapter one. The Problem of the Apostate's Execution from a Legal Perspective }}</ref> and has traditionally been undisputed.)<ref name="Schirrmacher-2020-85">{{cite book |last1=Schirrmacher |first1=Christine |editor1-last=Enstedt |editor1-first=Daniel |editor2-last=Larsson |editor2-first=Göran |editor3-last=Mantsinen |editor3-first=Teemu T. |title=Handbook of Leaving Religion |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |page=85 |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/43466/external_content.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=6 January 2021 |chapter=Leaving Islam |archive-date=8 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108155642/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/43466/external_content.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live }}</ref>|group=Note}}

Many contemporary liberal/modernist/reformist Muslims believe [[Apostasy in Islam#Supporters and opponents of death penalty|killing appostates]] to be in violation of the Quranic injunction 'There is no compulsion in religion....' ([[Al-Baqara 256]]), but even earlier generations of Islamic scholars warned against making such accusations (known as ''[[takfir]]''), without great care and usually reserved the punishment of death for "extreme, persistent and aggressive" proponents of religious innovation (''[[bidʻah]]'').<ref name="Lewis-229">{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Bernard|title=The Middle East: a Brief History of the Last 2000 Years|date=1995|publisher=Touchstone|isbn=978-0-684-83280-7|page=229}}</ref> The danger, according to some (such as [[Gilles Kepel]]), was that "used wrongly or unrestrainedly, ... Muslims might resort to mutually excommunicating one another and thus propel the [[Ummah]] to complete disaster."<ref name=KepelJihad-31>Kepel, Gilles; ''Jihad: the Trail of Political Islam'', London: I.B. Tauris, 2002, page 31</ref>

Kepel noted that some of Qutb's early followers believed that his declaration that the Muslim world has reverted to pre-Islamic ignorance ([[Jahiliyyah]]), should be taken literally and everyone outside of their movement takfired;<ref name=KepelJihad-32>Kepel,  ''Jihad'', 2002, p. 32</ref> and Wahhabis has been known for their willingness to takfir non-Wahhabi Muslims.<ref name="TCSI2010: 48">{{cite book|last=Halverson|first=Jeffry R.|year=2010|title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-10658-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYzGAAAAQBAJ |pages=48–49}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Islam and power in Saudi Arabia|editor-first=John L.|editor-last=Esposito|editor2=Emad El-Din Shahin|encyclopedia=The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc7iAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA412|pages=412–413|isbn=978-0-19-539589-1}}</ref>

Since the last half of the 20th century, a "central ideology"<ref name="OISO" /> of insurgent [[Wahhabi movement|Wahhabist]]/[[Salafi jihadism|Salafi jihadist]] groups<ref>Oliveti, Vincenzo; ''Terror's Source: the Ideology of Wahhabi-Salafism and its Consequences,'' Birmingham: Amadeus Books, 2002</ref> has been the "sanctioning" of "violence against leaders" of Muslim majority states<ref name="OISO" /> who do not enforce [[sharia]] (Islamic law) or are otherwise "deemed insufficiently religious".<ref name="OISO">{{cite web |title=Takfiri |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2319 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117234531/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2319 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 January 2013 |website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref>
Some insurgent groups - [[Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya]] of Egypt, and later [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria#Antar Zouabri and takfir|GIA]], the [[Taliban's rise to power#Ethnic massacres and persecution|Taliban]], and [[Ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant#Takfir|ISIL]]) - are thought to have gone even further, applying takfir and its capital punishment against not only to Sunni government authorities and Shia Muslims, but to ordinary Sunni civilians who disagree with/disobeyed insurgent policies such as reinstituting slavery.

In 1977, the group ''[[Jama'at al-Muslimin]]'' (known to the public as ''[[Takfir wal-Hijra]]''), kidnapped and later killed an Islamic scholar and former Egyptian government minister Muhammad al-Dhahabi. The founder of ''Jama'at al-Muslimin'', Shukri Mustaf had been imprisoned with [[Sayyid Qutb]], and had become one of Qutb's "most radical" disciples.<ref name=pbs>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/etc/script.html|title=Transcript &#124; Al Qaeda's New Front &#124; FRONTLINE|publisher=PBS|access-date=9 May 2021|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418170451/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/etc/script.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He believed that not only was the Egyptian government [[Apostasy in Islam|apostate]], but so was "Egyptian society as a whole" because it was "not fighting the Egyptian government and had thus accepted rule by non-Muslims".<ref name=Mili-29-6-2006>{{cite journal|last1=Mili|first1=Hayder|title=Jihad Without Rules: The Evolution of al-Takfir wa al-Hijra|journal=Terrorism Monitor|date=29 June 2006|volume=4|issue=13|url=http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=822&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=181&no_cache=1|access-date=18 December 2015|archive-date=16 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216120958/http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=822&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=181&no_cache=1|url-status=live}}</ref> While police broke up the group, it reorganized with thousands of members,<ref>Wright, Robin ''Sacred Rage'', 1985, p.181</ref> some of whom went on to help assassinate the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat,<ref name="Rabasa">{{Cite book|first=Angel|last=Rabasa|title=Radical Islam in East Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x96UabsFz4AC&pg=PA70|year=2009|publisher=Rand Corporation|page=70|isbn=978-0-8330-4679-6}}</ref> and join the [[Algerian Civil War]] and Al-Qaeda.<ref name="Dalacoura">[https://archive.org/details/islamistterroris0000dala/page/113 ''Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East''] By Katerina Dalacoura, p.113</ref> During the 1990s, a violent Islamic insurgency in Egypt, primarily perpetrated by [[Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya]], targeted not only police and government officials but also civilians, killing or wounding 1106 persons in one particularly bloody year (1993).<ref>Murphy, Caryle ''Passion for Islam : Shaping the Modern Middle East: the Egyptian Experience'', Scribner, 2002, pp. 82-3</ref>

In the brutal 1991–2002 [[Algerian Civil War]], takfir of the general Algerian public was known to have been declared by the hardline Islamist [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria]] (GIA). The GIA amir, Antar Zouabri claimed credit for two massacres of civilians ([[Rais massacre|Rais]] and [[Bentalha massacre]]s), calling the killings an "offering to God" and declaring impious the victims and all Algerians who had not joined its ranks.<ref name=GKJTPI2002:272-3>[[#GKJTPI2002|Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002]]: p.272-3</ref> He declared that "except for those who are with us, all others are apostates and deserving of death,"<ref>''[[El Watan]]'', 21 January (quoted in Willis 1996)</ref> (Tens, and sometimes hundreds, of civilians were killed in each of a series of massacres that started in April 1998.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Nesroullah Yous |author2=Salima Mellah |title=Qui a tué a Bentalha?|publisher=La Découverte, Paris|year=2000|isbn=978-2-7071-3332-8}}</ref> However, how many murders were the doing of GIA and how many of the security forces—who had infiltrated the insurgents and were not known for their probity—is not known.)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050401070834/http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1543&l=2 Entre menace, censure et liberté: La presse privé algérienne se bat pour survivre], 31 March 1998</ref><ref name=Ajami-2010>{{cite magazine|last1=Ajami|first1=Fouad|title=The Furrows of Algeria|magazine=New Republic|date=27 January 2010|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/the-furrows-algeria|access-date=4 June 2015|archive-date=4 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604184005/http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/the-furrows-algeria|url-status=live}}</ref>

In August 1998 the Taliban insurgents slaughtered 8000 mostly Shia [[Hazaras|Hazara]] non-combatants in [[Mazar-i-Sharif]], Afghanistan. Comments by Mullah Niazi, the Taliban commander of the attack and newly installed governor, declared in a number of post-slaughter speeches from Mosques in Mazar-i-Sharif: "Hazaras are not Muslim, they are Shi'a. They are kofr [infidels]. The Hazaras killed our force here, and now we have to kill Hazaras. ... You either accept to be Muslims or leave Afghanistan. ...",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/report/1998/11/01/afghanistan-massacre-mazar-i-sharif|title=THE MASSACRE IN MAZAR-I SHARIF|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=1 November 1998|access-date=25 December 2020|archive-date=20 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820032102/https://www.hrw.org/report/1998/11/01/afghanistan-massacre-mazar-i-sharif|url-status=live}}</ref> indicated that along with revenge, and/or ethnic hatred, [[takfir]] was a motive for the slaughter.

From its inception in 2013 to 2020, directly or through affiliated groups, [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Daesh]], "has been responsible for 27,947 terrorist deaths", the majority of these have been Muslims,{{#tag:ref|according to Jamileh Kadivar based on estimates from Global Terrorism Database, 2020; Herrera, 2019; Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights & United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Human Rights Office, 2014; Ibrahim, 2017; Obeidallah, 2014; 2015<ref name="Kadivar-2020" />|group=Note}} "because it has regarded them as kafir".<ref name="Kadivar-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Kadivar |first1=Jamileh |title=Exploring Takfir, Its Origins and Contemporary Use: The Case of Takfiri Approach in Daesh's Media |journal=Contemporary Review of the Middle East |date=18 May 2020 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=259–285 |doi=10.1177/2347798920921706 |s2cid=219460446 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

One example of Daesh takfir is found in the 13th issue of its magazine ''Dabiq'', which dedicated "dozens of pages ... to attacking and explaining the necessity of killing Shia", who the group refers to by the label ''Rafidah''
{{blockquote|Initiated by a sly Jew, [the Shia] are an apostate sect drowning in worship of the dead, cursing the best companions and wives of the Prophet, spreading doubt on the very basis of the religion (the Qur'ān and the Sunnah), defaming the very honor of the Prophet, and preferring their "twelve" imāms to the prophets and even to Allah! ...Thus, the Rāfidah are mushrik [polytheist] apostates who must be killed wherever they are to be found, until no Rāfidī walks on the face of earth, even if the jihād claimants despise such...<ref name="Pillalamarri-why-hate-29-1-2016">{{cite news |last1=Pillalamarri |first1=Akhilesh |title=Revealed: Why ISIS Hates the Taliban |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/revealed-why-isis-hates-the-taliban/ |access-date=26 December 2020 |agency=The Diplomat |date=29 January 2016 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308130853/https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/revealed-why-isis-hates-the-taliban/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Daesh not only called for the revival of slavery of non-Muslims (specifically of the [[Yazidi]] minority group), but declared takfir on any Muslim who disagreed with their policy.
{{blockquote|Yazidi women and children [are to be] divided according to the Shariah amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated in the [[Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014)|Sinjar operations]]  ... Enslaving the families of the [[kuffar]] and taking their women as [[concubinage in Islam|concubines]] is a firmly established aspect of the Shariah that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Koran and the narrations of the Prophet ... and thereby apostatizing from Islam.<ref name="what-isis-really-wants" />}}

Starting in 2013, Daesh began "encouraging takfir of Muslims deemed insufficiently pure in regard of ''tawhid'' (monotheism)". The Taliban were found "to be "a 'nationalist' movement, all too tolerant" of Shia.<ref name=infighting-2019 /> In 2015 ISIL "pronounced [[Jabhat al-Nusrat]] - then al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria - an apostate group."<ref name=infighting-2019>{{cite journal |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |volume=13 |issue=1 |last1=Bunzel |first1=Cole |title=Ideological Infighting in the Islamic State |date=February 2019 |pages=12–21 |jstor=26590504 |access-date=17 December 2020 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26590504 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508082829/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26590504 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===== Interpretations of the Qur'an and Hadith =====
{{See also|Quran and violence}}

Donald Holbrook, a Research Fellow at the [[Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence]], analyzes a sample of 30 works by jihadist propagandists for references to Islamic scripture that justifies the objectives of violent jihad.<ref name=holbrook1 /> [[An-Nisa]] (4:74–75) is quoted most frequently; other popular passages are [[At-Taubah]] (9:13–15, 38–39, 111), [[Al-Baqarah]] (2:190–191, 216), and [[Sword Verse|Surah 9:5]]:

{{blockquote|But when these months, prohibited (for fighting), are over, slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, and take them captive or besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every likely place. But if they repent and fulfill their devotional obligations and pay the zakat, then let them go their way, for God is forgiving and kind.}}

Holbrook notes that the first part "slay the idolaters ..." is oft quoted but not the limiting factors at the end of the [[ayat]].<ref name=holbrook1 />

==== Jihad and Islamic jurisprudence ====
{{Main|Jihad}}

[[Islamic military jurisprudence|Techniques of war]] are restricted by classical Islamic jurisprudence, but its scope is not. [[Bernard Lewis]] states that ultimately Jihad ends when the entire world is brought under Islamic rule and law.<ref>Lewis, Bernard, ''The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2000 Years'', pp. 233–34</ref> [[Fiqh#Diagram of early scholars|Classical Islamic jurisprudence]] imposes, without limit of time or space, the duty to subjugate non-Muslims, (according to Lewis).<ref>Lewis, Bernard, ''The Political Language of Islam'', p. 73</ref> [[Wael Hallaq]] writes that some radical Islamists go beyond the classical theory to insist that the purpose of jihad is to overthrow regimes oppressing Muslims and bring non-Muslims to convert to Islam. In contrast, [[Islamic modernism|Islamic modernists]]–who Islamists despise–view jihad as defensive and compatible with modern standards of warfare.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IbOtAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA338|title=Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2009|pages=338–39|author=Wael B. Hallaq|isbn=978-1-107-39412-4}}</ref> To justify their acts of [[Islam and violence|religious violence]], jihadist individuals and networks resort to the nonbinding genre of Islamic legal literature (''[[fatwa]]'') developed by [[Salafi jihadism|jihadi-Salafist]] legal authorities, whose legal writings are shared and spread via the [[Internet]].<ref name="French 2020" />

;Al-Qaeda
While Islamic opponents of attacks on civilians have quoted numerous prophetic hadith and hadith by Muhammad's first successor [[Abu Bakr]],<ref name="Wiktorowicz-2003-86">{{cite journal |last1=Wiktorowicz |first1=Quintan |last2=Kaltner |first2=John |title=Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda's Justification for September 11 |journal=Middle East Policy |date=Summer 2003 |volume=X |issue=2 |pages=86 |url=https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf |access-date=12 August 2019 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Al-Qaeda believes its attacks are religiously justified.
After its first attack on a US target that killed civilians instead (a [[1992 Yemen hotel bombings|1992 bombing of a hotel in Aden Yemen]]), Al Qaeda justified the killing of civilian bystanders through an interpretation (by one Abu Hajer) based on medieval jurist [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] (see above).

In a post-9/11 work, "A Statement from Qaidat al-Jihad Regarding the Mandates of the Heroes and the Legality of the Operations in New York and Washington", Al-Qaeda provided a more systematic justification—one that provided "ample theological justification for killing civilians in almost any imaginable situation."<ref name="Wiktorowicz-2003" /> Among these justifications are that America is leading the countries of the West in waging war on Islam, which (al-Qaeda alleges) targets "Muslim women, children and elderly". This means any attacks on America are a defense of Islam, and any treaties and agreements between Muslim majority states and Western countries that would be violated by attacks are null and void. Other justifications for killing and situations where killings is allowed based on precedents in early Islamic history include: killing non-combatants when it is too difficult to distinguish between them and combatants when attacking an enemy "stronghold" (''hist''), and/or non-combatants remain in enemy territory; killing those who assist the enemy "in deed, word, mind", this includes civilians since they can vote in elections that bring enemies of Islam to power; necessity of killing in the war to protect Islam and Muslims; when the prophet was asked whether Muslim fighters could use the catapult against the village of Taif, even though the enemy fighters were mixed with a civilian population, he indicated in the affirmative; killing women, children and other protected groups is allowed when they serve as human shields for the enemy; killing of civilians is permitted if the enemy has broken a treaty.
<ref name="Wiktorowicz-2003" />

Supporters of bin Laden have pointed to reports according to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad attacked towns at night or with catapults, and argued that he must have condoned incidental harm to noncombatants, since it would have been impossible to distinguish them from combatants during such attacks.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wiktorowicz |first1=Quintan |last2=Kaltner |first2=John |title=Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda's Justification for September 11 |journal=Middle East Policy |date=Summer 2003 |volume=X |issue=2 |pages=85–90 |url=https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf |access-date=12 August 2019 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.aclu.org/files/fbimappingfoia/20111110/ACLURM001177.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="peters-cook">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2014 |title=Jihād |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199739356.001.0001/acref-9780199739356-e-0263 |last1=Peters |first1=Rudolph |first2=David |last2=Cook |url-access=subscription |isbn=978-0-19-973935-6 |access-date=21 September 2016 |archive-date=23 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123114402/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199739356.001.0001/acref-9780199739356-e-0263 |url-status=live }}</ref> These arguments were not widely accepted by Muslims.<ref name=peters-cook />

;''Management of Savagery''
Al-Qaeda's splinter groups and competitors, [[Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad]] and the [[Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]], are thought to have been heavily influenced<ref name=McCoy-12-8-2004 /><ref name=Crooke-30-8-2014>{{cite web|last1=Crooke|first1=Alastair|title=The ISIS' 'Management of Savagery' in Iraq|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/iraq-isis-alqaeda_b_5542575.html|website=The World Post|access-date=2 December 2015|date=30 August 2014|archive-date=21 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121022505/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/iraq-isis-alqaeda_b_5542575.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hassan |first=Hassan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/08/isis-islamic-state-ideology-sharia-syria-iraq-jordan-pilot |title=Isis has reached new depths of depravity. But there is a brutal logic behind it |work=The Guardian |date=8 February 2015 |access-date=10 February 2015 |archive-date=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530094818/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/08/isis-islamic-state-ideology-sharia-syria-iraq-jordan-pilot |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McCoy |first=Terrence |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/12/the-calculated-madness-of-the-islamic-states-horrifying-brutality/ |title=The calculated madness of the Islamic State's horrifying brutality |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 August 2014 |access-date=1 September 2014 |archive-date=10 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910235133/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/12/the-calculated-madness-of-the-islamic-states-horrifying-brutality/ |url-status=live }}<br />{{bullet}}{{cite news |first=Alastair |last=Crooke |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/iraq-isis-alqaeda_b_5542575.html |title=The ISIS' 'Management of Savagery' in Iraq |work=HuffPost |date=30 June 2014 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |access-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019111935/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/iraq-isis-alqaeda_b_5542575.html |url-status=live }}<br />{{bullet}}{{cite news |last=Hassan |first=Hassan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/08/isis-islamic-state-ideology-sharia-syria-iraq-jordan-pilot |title=Isis has reached new depths of depravity. But there is a brutal logic behind it |work=The Guardian |date=8 February 2015 |archive-date=30 May 2019 |access-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530094818/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/08/isis-islamic-state-ideology-sharia-syria-iraq-jordan-pilot |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ajjoub 2021">{{cite book |last=Ajjoub |first=Orwa |year=2021 |title=The Development of the Theological and Political Aspects of Jihadi-Salafism |url=https://www.cmes.lu.se/sites/cmes.lu.se/files/2021-02/orwa_ajjoub_rapport_a4_0203_interaktiv.pdf |url-status=live |location=[[Lund]] |publisher=Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET) at the [[Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University]] |pages=1–28 |isbn=978-91-7895-772-9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210042321/https://www.cmes.lu.se/sites/cmes.lu.se/files/2021-02/orwa_ajjoub_rapport_a4_0203_interaktiv.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2021 |access-date=6 July 2021}}</ref> by a 2004 work on jihad entitled ''[[Management of Savagery]]'' (''Idarat at-Tawahhush''), written by Abu Bakr Naji<ref name="Ajjoub 2021" /> and intended to provide a strategy to create a new Islamic [[caliphate]] by first destroying "vital economic and strategic targets" and terrifying the enemy with cruelty to break its will.<ref name="nyJune14">{{cite magazine |last=Wright |first=Lawrence |title=ISIS's Savage Strategy in Iraq |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/isiss-savage-strategy-in-iraq |magazine=The New Yorker |date=16 June 2014 |access-date=1 September 2014 |archive-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407205203/https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/isiss-savage-strategy-in-iraq |url-status=live }}</ref>

The tract asserts that "one who previously engaged in jihad knows that it is naught but violence, crudeness, terrorism, deterrence and massacring,"<ref name=NEGUS-1-4-2015>{{cite news|last1=NEGUS|first1=STEVE|title='ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror,' and More|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/books/review/isis-inside-the-army-of-terror-and-more.html|access-date=3 December 2015|work=The New York Times|date=1 April 2015|archive-date=18 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718102354/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/books/review/isis-inside-the-army-of-terror-and-more.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and that even "the most abominable of the levels of savagery" of jihad are better "than stability under the order of unbelief"—those orders being any regime other than ISIL.<ref name=McCoy-12-8-2004>{{cite news|last1=McCoy|first1=Terrence|title=The calculated madness of the Islamic State's horrifying brutality|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/12/the-calculated-madness-of-the-islamic-states-horrifying-brutality/|access-date=2 December 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=Atran-nybooks-11-16-15>{{cite news |last1=Atran |first1=Scott |last2=Hamid |first2=Nafees |title=Paris: The War ISIS Wants |url=http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/nov/16/paris-attacks-isis-strategy-chaos |work=[[The New York Review of Books]] |access-date=20 November 2015 |date=16 November 2015 |archive-date=27 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127014257/http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/nov/16/paris-attacks-isis-strategy-chaos/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Victims should not only be beheaded, shot, burn alive in cages or gradually submerged until drowned, but these events should be publicized with videos and photographs.<ref name=cnn-12-8-15>{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Ian |last2=Hanna |first2=Jason |title=Croatian ISIS captive reportedly beheaded |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/12/middleeast/isis-croatian-hostage/ |access-date=12 August 2015 |publisher=CNN |date=12 August 2015 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529190217/https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/12/middleeast/isis-croatian-hostage/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

;''The Jurisprudence of Blood''
[[File:Slogan of the Houthi Movement.svg|150px|thumb|right|The [[Houthi]] flag, with the top saying "''[[Takbir|God is the greatest]]''", the next line saying "''[[Death to America]]''", followed by "''[[Death to Israel]]''", followed by "''[[Antisemitism in Islam|A curse upon the Jews]]''", and the bottom saying "''Victory to Islam''".]]

Some observers<ref name="Poljarevic 2021" /><ref name="1Kadri-2012">{{cite book |last=Kadri |first=Sadakat |year=2012 |title=Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=978-0-09-952327-7 |pages=172–175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC |archive-date=30 September 2024 |access-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930061622/https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gorka-2009">{{cite web|title=Understanding History's Seven Stages of Jihad|url=https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/understanding-history%E2%80%99s-seven-stages-of-jihad|last=Gorka|first=Sebastian|date=3 October 2009|website=Combating Terrorism Center|access-date=1 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082911/https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/understanding-history%E2%80%99s-seven-stages-of-jihad|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> have noted the evolution in the rules of jihad—from the original "classical" doctrine to that of 21st-century [[Salafi jihadism]].<ref name="Ajjoub 2021" /> According to the [[legal historian]] Sadarat Kadri,<ref name="1Kadri-2012" /> during the last couple of centuries, incremental changes in Islamic legal doctrine (developed by Islamists who otherwise condemn any ''[[bid'ah]]'' (innovation) in religion), have "normalized" what was once "unthinkable".<ref name="1Kadri-2012" /> "The very idea that [[Muslims]] might blow themselves up for God was unheard of before 1983, and it was not until the early 1990s that anyone anywhere had tried to justify killing innocent Muslims who were not on a battlefield."<ref name="1Kadri-2012" />

The first or the "classical" doctrine of jihad which was developed towards the end of the 8th century, emphasized the "jihad of the sword" (''jihad bil-saif'') rather than the "jihad of the heart",<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Lewis |year=1988 |title=[[The Political Language of Islam]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/politicallanguag00lewi_680/page/n80 72] |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=[[Chicago]] |isbn=0-226-47693-6 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> but it contained many legal restrictions which were developed from interpretations of both the [[Quran]] and the [[Hadith]], such as detailed rules involving "the initiation, the conduct, the termination" of jihad, the treatment of prisoners, the distribution of booty, etc. Unless there was a sudden attack on the [[Ummah|Muslim community]], jihad was not a "personal obligation" (''fard 'ayn''); instead it was a "collective one" (''[[fard al-kifaya]]''),<ref name="Khadduri-1955-60">{{cite book |last=Khadduri |first=Majid |author-link=Majid Khadduri |title=War and Peace in the Law of Islam |year=1955 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |location=[[Baltimore]] |page=60 |chapter-url=https://actforamericaeducation.com/downloads/All_Files_by_Type/khadduri.pdf |access-date=26 October 2015 |chapter=5. Doctrine of Jihad |quote=[Unlike the five pillars of Islam, jihad was to be enforced by the state.] ... 'unless the Muslim community is subjected to a sudden attack and therefore all believers, including women and children are under the obligation to fight—[jihad of the sword] is regarded by all jurists, with almost no exception, as a collective obligation of the whole Muslim community,' meaning that 'if the duty is fulfilled by a part of the community it ceases to be obligatory on others'.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128192525/http://www.actforamericaeducation.com/downloads/All_Files_by_Type/khadduri.pdf|archive-date=28 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> which had to be discharged "in the way of God" (''fi sabil Allah''),<ref name="2Kadri-2012">{{cite book |last=Kadri |first=Sadakat |year=2012 |title=Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |location=[[London]] |isbn=978-0-09-952327-7 |pages=150–151 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC |archive-date=30 September 2024 |access-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930061622/https://books.google.com/books?id=ztCRZOhJ10wC |url-status=live }}</ref> and it could only be directed by the [[caliph]], "whose discretion over its conduct was all but absolute."<ref name="2Kadri-2012" /> (This was designed in part to avoid incidents like the [[Khawarij|Kharijia]]'s jihad against and killing of [[Ali as Caliph|Caliph Ali]], since [[Takfir|they deemed]] that [[Apostasy in Islam|he was no longer a Muslim]]).<ref name="Poljarevic 2021" /> [[Shahid|Martyrdom]] resulting from an attack on the enemy with no concern for your own safety was praiseworthy, but dying by your own hand (as opposed to the enemy's) merited a special place in [[Jahannam|Hell]].<ref name="ARSI-BL-xii">{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Bernard|title=The Assassins, a radical sect in Islam|orig-year=1967|year=2003|publisher=Basic Books|page=xi–xii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRVmL_h_PcsC&q=suicide |access-date=13 October 2015|isbn=978-0-7867-2455-0}}</ref> The category of jihad which is considered to be a collective obligation is sometimes simplified as "offensive jihad" in Western texts.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Edwards |first1=Richard |last2=Zuhur|first2=Sherifa |title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and|page=553|publisher=ABC-CLIO|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAd8efHdVzIC&pg=PA553|isbn=978-1-85109-842-2 |date=12 May 2008}}</ref>

Based on the 20th-century interpretations of [[Sayyid Qutb]], [[Abdullah Azzam]], [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], [[al-Qaeda]] and others, many if not all of those self-proclaimed jihad fighters believe that defensive global jihad is a personal obligation, which means that no caliph or Muslim head of state needs to declare it. Killing yourself in the process of killing the enemy is an act of martyrdom and it brings you a special place in [[Jannah|Heaven]], not a special place in Hell; and the killing of Muslim bystanders (nevermind Non-Muslims), should not impede acts of jihad. Military and intelligent analyst [[Sebastian Gorka]] described the new interpretation of jihad as the "willful targeting of civilians by a non-state actor through unconventional means."<ref name=Gorka-2009 />

[[Islamic theology|Islamic theologian]] Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir has been identified as one of the key theorists and [[ideologue]]s behind modern jihadist violence.<ref name="Ajjoub 2021" /><ref name="CP265">{{cite journal |last=Bunzel |first=Cole |date=18 February 2016 |title=The Kingdom and the Caliphate: Duel of the Islamic States |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_265_Bunzel_Islamic_States_Final.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Carnegie Papers |volume=265 |pages=1–43 |publisher=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328062426/https://carnegieendowment.org/files/CP_265_Bunzel_Islamic_States_Final.pdf |archive-date=28 March 2016 |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="Atlantic 2016">{{cite magazine |last1=al-Saud |first1=Abdullah K. |last2=Winter |first2=Charlie |title=Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir: The Obscure Theologian Who Shaped ISIS |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |date=4 December 2016 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/12/isis-muhajir-syria/509399/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140424/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/12/isis-muhajir-syria/509399/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live  |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last=Townsend |first=Mark |date=13 May 2018 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/12/isis-jihadist-manual-analysed-rebutted-by-islamic-scholar |title=The core Isis manual that twisted Islam to legitimise barbarity |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609090007/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/12/isis-jihadist-manual-analysed-rebutted-by-islamic-scholar |archive-date=9 June 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=5 July 2021 }}</ref> His theological and legal justifications influenced [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]], al-Qaeda member and former leader of [[al-Qaeda in Iraq]], as well as several other jihadi terrorist groups, including ISIL and Boko Haram.<ref name="Ajjoub 2021" /><ref name="CP265" /><ref name="Atlantic 2016" /><ref name="Guardian" /> Zarqawi used a 579-page manuscript of al-Muhajir's ideas at AQI training camps that were later deployed by ISIL, known in Arabic as ''Fiqh al-Dima'' and referred to in English as ''The Jurisprudence of Jihad'' or ''The Jurisprudence of Blood''.<ref name="Ajjoub 2021" /><ref name="CP265" /><ref name="Atlantic 2016" /><ref name="Guardian" /><ref name="ChrisStout">{{cite book |last=Stout |first=Chris E. |author-link=Chris Stout (psychologist) |year=2018 |orig-year=2017 |title=Terrorism, Political Violence, and Extremism: New Psychology to Understand, Face, and Defuse the Threat |location=[[Santa Barbara, California]] |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |pages=5–6 |chapter=The Psychology of Terrorism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QvHeDgAAQBAJ&q=jurisprudence+of+blood+ISIS&pg=PA5 |isbn=978-1-4408-5192-6 |oclc=994829038}}</ref> The book has been described by counter-terrorism scholar Orwa Ajjoub as rationalizing and justifying "suicide operations, the mutilation of corpses, beheading, and the killing of children and non-combatants".<ref name="Ajjoub 2021" /> ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s journalist Mark Towsend, citing Salah al-Ansari of [[Quilliam (think tank)|Quilliam]], notes: "There is a startling lack of study and concern regarding this abhorrent and dangerous text [''The Jurisprudence of Blood''] in almost all Western and Arab scholarship".<ref name="Guardian" /> Charlie Winter of ''[[The Atlantic]]'' describes it as a "theological playbook used to justify the group's abhorrent acts".<ref name="Atlantic 2016" /> He states:

{{Blockquote|Ranging from ruminations on the merits of beheading, torturing, or burning prisoners to thoughts on assassination, siege warfare, and the use of biological weapons, Muhajir's intellectual legacy is a crucial component of the [[Ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|literary corpus of ISIS]]—and, indeed, whatever comes after it—a way to render practically anything permissible, provided, that is, it can be spun as beneficial to the jihad. [...] According to Muhajir, [[Suicide attack#Islam|committing suicide to kill people]] is not only a theologically sound act, but a commendable one, too, something to be cherished and celebrated regardless of its outcome. [...] neither Zarqawi nor his inheritors have looked back, liberally using Muhajir's work to normalize the use of suicide tactics in the time since, such that they have become the single most important military and terrorist method—defensive or offensive—used by ISIS today. The way that Muhajir theorized it was simple—he offered up a theological fix that allows any who desire it to sidestep the Koranic injunctions against suicide.<ref name="Atlantic 2016" />}}

Clinical psychologist [[Chris Stout (psychologist)|Chris E. Stout]] also discusses the al Muhajir-inspired text in his essay, ''Terrorism, Political Violence, and Extremism'' (2017). He assesses that jihadists regard their actions as being "for the greater good"; that they are in a "weakened in the earth" situation that renders Islamic terrorism a valid means of solution.<ref name="ChrisStout" />

=== Economic motivation ===
[[File:Osama bin Laden (cropped).jpg|alt=Osama in November 2001|thumb|Osama Bin Laden, the founder of multinational terrorist group [[Al-Qaeda]], in November 2001.]]
Following the 9/11 attack, commentators noted the poverty of Afghanistan, and speculated that blame might partly fall on a lack of a "higher priority to health, education, and economic development" funding by richer countries,<ref name="Stern-2001">{{cite journal |last1=Stern |first1=Jessica |title=John Harvard's Journal: Talking about Terrorism |journal=Harvard Magazine |date=November 2001 |issue=November–December 2001 |url=https://harvardmagazine.com/2001/11/talking-about-terrorism.html |access-date=31 August 2019 |archive-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831185240/https://harvardmagazine.com/2001/11/talking-about-terrorism.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and "stagnant economies and a paucity of jobs" in poorer countries.<ref name="Sachs">{{cite news |last1=Sachs |first1=Susan |title=A NATION CHALLENGED: WHO SEETHES, AND WHY; Despair Beneath the Arab World's Rage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/world/a-nation-challenged-who-seethes-and-why-despair-beneath-the-arab-world-s-rage.html |access-date=31 August 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 October 2001}}</ref>

Among the acts of oppression against Muslims by the United States and its allies alleged by the head of Al-Qaeda, are economic exploitation. In a 6 October 2002 message by Osama bin Laden 'Letter to America', he alleges
{{blockquote|You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of your international influence and military threats. This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world. ... If people steal our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their economy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=bin Laden |first1=Osama |title=Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver |access-date=31 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=28 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728133223/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Swanson-stealing">{{cite web |last1=Swanson |first1=Elmer |title=Muslims are starving to death and the United States is stealing their oil |url=http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/us_stealing_muslim_oil.html |website=Gems of Islamism |access-date=31 August 2019 |archive-date=5 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905092457/http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/us_stealing_muslim_oil.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
In a 1997 interview, he claimed that "since 1973, the price of petrol has increased only $8/barrel while the prices of other items have gone up three times. The oil prices should also have gone up three times but this did not happen",<ref>bin Laden in an interview with Hamid Mir, Pakistan, 18 March 1997. Quoted on p.230 of ''The New Jackals : Ramzi Yousef, Osama Bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism'' by Simon Reeve, 1999.</ref>{{#tag:ref|(This claim seems to be based on incorrect facts — the price of wheat did not increase three fold from 1973–1997 — and the questionable assumption that the demand and price for oil would continue to rise at a steady rate after the [[1973 oil crisis|Arab Oil Embargo]] raised it by four fold in a short period.)<ref name="Swanson-stealing" /><ref name="Macrotrends">{{cite web |title=Wheat Prices – 40 Year Historical Chart |url=https://www.macrotrends.net/2534/wheat-prices-historical-chart-data |website=Macrotrends |access-date=3 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204607/https://www.macrotrends.net/2534/wheat-prices-historical-chart-data |url-status=live }}</ref>|group=Note}} (On the other hand, in an interview five weeks after the destruction the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] towers his operation was responsible for, bin Laden described the towers as standing for—or "preaching"—not exploitation or capitalism, but "freedom human Rights, and equality".)<ref>Osama bin Laden interviewed by Tayser Allouni, Al Jazeera, 21 October 2001, in ''Messages to the World: the Statements of Osama bin Laden'', ed. Bruce Lawrence, translated by James Howarth (London, Verso, 2005), 112</ref>

In 2002, academics Alan B. Krueger and Jitka Maleckova found "a careful review of the evidence provides little reason for optimism that a reduction in poverty or an increase in educational attainment would by themselves, meaningfully reduce international terrorism."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Krueger |first1=Alan B. |last2=Maleckova |first2=Jitka |title=Does Poverty Cause Terrorism |magazine=The New Republic |date=24 June 2002 |url=http://www.nber.org/ens/feldstein/Krueger/LC514_Week_02_Does_Poverty_Cause_Terrorism.pdf |access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref> Alberto Abadie found "the risk of terrorism is not significantly higher for poorer countries, once other country-specific characteristics are considered", but instead seems to correlate with a country's "level of political freedom".<ref name="Abadie-2005">{{cite journal |last1=Abadie |first1=Alberto |title=Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism |journal=American Economic Review |date=September 2005 |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=50–56 |url=https://www.nber.org/digest/may05/w10859.html |access-date=31 August 2019 |series=(NBER Working Paper No. 10859 |archive-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831170109/https://www.nber.org/digest/may05/w10859.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Martin Kramer has argued that while terrorist organizers are seldom poor, their "foot-soldiers" often are.<ref name="kramer-2004">{{cite book |last1=Lieber |first1=Robert James |title=The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=118 |isbn=978-0-521-85737-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4kH7I9f6o64C&q=martin+kramer+the+vehicle+of+counter-elites%2C+people+who%2C+by+virtue+of+education+and%2For+income%2C+are+potential+members+of+the+elite&pg=PA118 |access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref> Andrew Whitehead states that "poverty creates opportunity" for terrorists, who have hired desperate poor children to do grunt work in Iraq and won the loyalty of poor in Lebanon by providing social services.<ref>Andrew Whitehead, "Does Poverty Cause Terrorism?", Homeland Security Policy Institute, 21 August 2007</ref>

=== Western foreign policy ===
[[File:Al-Qaida au Maghreb Islamique combattants (4x3).png|thumb|[[Al-Qaeda]] members pose with grenades and rifles, 2010]]
Many believe that groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS are reacting to aggression by non-Muslim (especially US) powers, and that religious beliefs are overstated if not irrelevant in their motivation.
According to a graph by U.S. State Department, terrorist attacks escalated worldwide following the [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan]] and [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="stopwar.org.uk">{{cite web|last=Rees|first=John|author-link=John Rees (activist)|date=7 January 2015|title=What you need to know about terrorism and its causes: a graphic account|url=http://stopwar.org.uk/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-terrorism-and-its-causes-a-graphic-account|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111021852/http://stopwar.org.uk/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-terrorism-and-its-causes-a-graphic-account|archive-date=11 January 2015|access-date=14 January 2022|website=[[Wayback Machine]]|publisher=stopwar.org.uk}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=July 2016}} [[Eliza Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller|Dame Eliza Manningham Buller]], the former head of [[MI5]], told the Iraq inquiry, the security services warned Tony Blair launching the [[War on Terror]] would increase the threat of terrorism.<ref name="stopwar.org.uk" />{{Better source needed|reason=This source is the website of an advocacy group with a very clear POV.|date=January 2015}} [[Robert Pape]] has argued that at least terrorists utilizing suicide attacks—a particularly effective<ref>For example, according to Pape, from 1980 to 2003 suicide attacks amounted to only 3% of all terrorist attacks, but accounted for 48% of total deaths due to terrorism—this excluding 9/11 attacks, from Pape, ''Dying to Win'', (2005), p. 28</ref> form of terrorist attack—are driven not by Islamism but by "a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland".<ref>{{cite web|last=McConnell |first=Scott |year=2005 |url=http://www.amconmag.com/2005_07_18/article.html |title=The Logic of Suicide Terrorism |work=The American Conservative magazine |publisher=The American Conservative |access-date=25 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622024516/http://www.amconmag.com/2005_07_18/article.html |archive-date=22 June 2006 }}</ref> However, [[Martin Kramer]], who debated Pape on origins of suicide bombing, stated that the motivation for suicide attacks is not just strategic logic but also an interpretation of Islam to provide a moral logic. For example, [[Hezbollah]] initiated suicide bombings after a complex reworking of the [[martyrdom in Islam|concept of martyrdom]]. Kramer explains that the [[South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)|Israeli occupation of the South Lebanon Security Zone]] raised the temperature necessary for this reinterpretation of Islam, but occupation alone would not have been sufficient for suicide terrorism.<ref name="kramer2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2401 |title=Suicide Terrorism in the Middle East: Origins and Response |publisher=Washingtoninstitute.org |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112232504/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2401 |archive-date=12 January 2009 }}</ref> "The only way to apply a brake to suicide terrorism," Kramer argues, "is to undermine its moral logic, by encouraging Muslims to see its incompatibility with their own values."<ref name="kramer2010" />

Breaking down the content of Osama bin Laden's statements and interviews collected in [[Bruce Lawrence]]'s ''[[Messages to the World]]'' (Lawrence shares Payne's belief in US imperialism and aggression as the cause of Islamic terrorism), James L. Payne found that 72% of the content was on the theme of "criticism of U.S./Western/Jewish aggression, oppression, and exploitation of Muslim lands and peoples" while only 1% of bin Laden's statements focused on criticizing "American society and culture".<ref name="PAYNE-2008" />

Former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] analyst [[Michael Scheuer]] argues that terrorist attacks (specifically [[al-Qaeda]] attacks on targets in the United States) are ''not'' motivated by a religiously inspired hatred of [[Culture of the United States|American culture]] or religion, but by the belief that [[Foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]] has oppressed, killed, or otherwise harmed Muslims in the Middle East,<ref name="Scheuer 2004 9">Scheuer (2004), p. 9<br />
"The focused and lethal threat posed to U.S. national security arises not from Muslims being offended by what America is, but rather from their plausible perception that the things they most love and value—God, Islam, their brethren, and Muslim lands—are being attacked by America."</ref> condensed in the phrase "They hate us for what we do, not who we are." U.S. foreign policy actions Scheuer believes are fueling Islamic terror include: the US–led intervention in Afghanistan and invasion of Iraq; [[Israel–United States relations]], namely, financial, military, and political support for [[Israel]];<ref>{{cite news|date=14 September 2009|title=US Support for Israel prompted 9/11|newspaper=The Australian|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]|agency=Agence France-Presse|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/us-support-for-israel-prompted-911-osama-bin-laden/story-e6frg6so-1225772727712|access-date=14 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411152607/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/us-support-for-israel-prompted-911-osama-bin-laden/story-e6frg6so-1225772727712|archive-date=11 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=[[John Mearsheimer|Mearsheimer, John J.]] |author2=[[Stephen Walt|Walt, Stephen]] |title=The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |year=2007 |pages= |isbn=978-0-374-17772-0 |oclc= |doi= |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780374177720 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=27 July 2006|title=Six shot, one killed at Seattle Jewish federation|work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|publisher=[[Wayback Machine]]|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Six-shot-one-killed-at-Seattle-Jewish-federation-1210235.php#ixzz1hCIBKtsf.|url-status=dead|access-date=14 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308170723/http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Six-shot-one-killed-at-Seattle-Jewish-federation-1210235.php|archive-date=8 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/25/nyregion/the-gunman-premeditated-the-attack-officials-say.html|title=The Gunman Premeditated The Attack, Officials Say|access-date=|work=The New York Times|first=Matthew|last=Purdy|date=25 February 1997|archive-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407013238/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/25/nyregion/the-gunman-premeditated-the-attack-officials-say.html|url-status=live}}</ref> U.S. support for "[[Apostasy in Islam|apostate]]" [[police state]]s in Muslim nations such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and Kuwait;<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/interviews/scheuer.html|title= Frontline: Al Qaeda's New Front: Interviews: Michael Scheuer|access-date=8 March 2008 |publisher= [[PBS]]|date= 25 January 2005|quote= Bin Laden has had success because he's focused on a limited number of U.S. foreign policies in the Muslim world, policies that are visible and are experienced by Muslims on a daily basis: our unqualified support for Israel; our ability to keep oil prices at a level that is more or less acceptable to Western consumers. Probably the most damaging of all is our 30-year support for police states across the Islamic world: the Al Sauds and the Egyptians under [Hosni] Mubarak and his predecessors; the Algerians; the Moroccans; the Kuwaitis. They're all police states.}}</ref> U.S. support for the [[United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor|creation]] of an independent [[East Timor]] from territory previously held by Muslim Indonesia; perceived U.S. approval or support of actions against Muslim insurgents in India, the Philippines, [[Chechnya]], and [[Palestine]].<ref>Scheuer (2004), pp. 11–13</ref>

[[Maajid Nawaz]] and [[Sam Harris]] argue that in many cases there is simply no connection between acts of Islamic extremism and Western intervention in Muslim lands.

{{blockquote|Nawaz: ... What does [[Sinjar massacre|killing the Yazidi population]] on Mount Sinjar have to do with US foreign policy? What does enforcing [[Taliban treatment of women|headscarves]] (tents in fact) on women in [[Waziristan]] and Afghanistan, and lashing them, forcing men to grow beards under threat of a whip, chopping off hands, and so forth, have to do with US foreign policy? <br />
Harris: This catalogue of irrelevancy could be extended indefinitely. What does the [[Anti-Shi'ism#Pakistan|Sunni bombing of Shia]] and [[Persecution of Ahmadis|Ahmadi mosques]] in Pakistan have to with Israel or US foreign policy?<ref name="tolerance-2015-57">{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Sam |last2=Nawaz |first2=Maajid |title=Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue |date=2015 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=57 |isbn=978-0-674-08870-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3I7JCgAAQBAJ&q=What+does+killing+the+Yazidi+population+on+Mount+Sinjar+have+to+do+with+US+foreign+policy%3F+nawaz&pg=PA57 |access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref>}}
Nawaz also argues that suicide bombers in non-Muslim majority countries such as the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|7 July 2005 bombers]] can be said to motivated by ideology not by any desire to compel UK military to withdraw from "their homeland", as they were born and raised in Yorkshire. They had never set foot in Iraq and do not speak its language.<ref name="Nawaz-debate" />

=== Socio-psychological motivations ===

==== Socio-psychological development ====
A motivator of violent radicalism (not just found in Al-Qaeda and ISIS) is psychological development during adolescence.<ref name="Rizvi-2016-88">{{cite book |last1=Rizvi |first1=Ali A. |title=The Atheist Muslim |date=2016 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=NY |isbn=978-1-250-09444-5 |pages=88–93}}</ref>
Cally O'Brien found many terrorists were "not exposed to the West in a positive context, whether by simple isolation or conservative family influence, until well after they had established a personal and social identity." Looking at theories of psychological [[Identity (social science)|personal identity]] Seth Schwartz, Curitis Dunkel and Alan Waterman found two types of "personal identities" susceptible to radicalization leading to terrorism:
# "Foreclosed and authoritarian" — Principally conservative Muslims who are often taught by their family and communities from early childhood to not deviate from a strict path and to either consider inferior or hate outside groups. When exposed to (alien) western culture, they are likely to judge it relative to their perception of the correct order of society, as well as perceive their own identities and mental health to be at risk.<ref>Cally O'Brien, "[https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1003&context=jss Eriksonian Identity Theory in Counterterrorism]" ''Journal of Strategic Security'', v.3, n.3 (2010): 29</ref><ref name="Identity Theory 2009">Seth J. Schwartz, Curtis S. Dunkel, and S. Waterman, "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225029149_Terrorism_An_Identity_Theory_Perspective Terrorism: an Identity Theory Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507121932/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225029149_Terrorism_An_Identity_Theory_Perspective |date=7 May 2021 }}", ''Studies in Conflict and Terrorism'', v.32, n.6 (2009): 537-59</ref><ref name="Rizvi-2016-88" />
# "Diffuse and aimless" — Principally converts whose lives are characterized by "aimlessness, uncertainty and indecisiveness" and who have neither explored different identities nor committed to a personal identity. Such people are "willing to go to their deaths for ideas [such as jihadism] that they have appropriated from others" and that give their lives purpose and certainty.<ref name="Identity Theory 2009" /><ref name="Rizvi-2016-88" />

=== Characteristics of terrorists ===
In 2004, a forensic psychiatrist and former foreign service officer, [[Marc Sageman]], made an "intensive study of biographical data on 172 participants in the jihad" in his book ''Understanding Terror Networks''.<ref>Sageman (2004)</ref> He concluded [[social network]]s, the "tight bonds of family and friendship", rather than [[emotional and behavioral disorders]] of "poverty, trauma, madness, [or] ignorance", inspired [[Social alienation|alienated]] young Muslims to join the jihad and kill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14036.html |title=Understanding Terror Networks |author=[[Marc Sageman]] |publisher=Upenn.edu |date=11 September 2001 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=1 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201193047/http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/14036.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to anthropologist [[Scott Atran]], a [[NATO]] researcher studying suicide terrorism, as of 2005, the available evidence contradicts a number of simplistic explanations for the motivations of terrorists, including mental instability, poverty, and feelings of humiliation.<ref name="burke" /> The greatest predictors of [[Suicide attack#Post-1980 attacks|suicide bombings]]—one common type of terror tactic used by Islamic terrorists—turns out to be not religion but group dynamics.
While personal humiliation does not turn out to be a motivation for those attempting to kill civilians, the perception that others with whom one feels a common bond are being humiliated can be a powerful driver for action. "Small-group dynamics involving friends and family that form the [[diaspora]] cell of [[fraternity|brotherhood]] and [[camaraderie]] on which the rising tide of martyrdom actions is based".<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://jeannicod.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ijn_00000676/document |title=The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism |last1=Atran |first1=Scott |pages=138, 144 |journal=The Washington Quarterly, Center for Strategic and Int'l Studies, MIT |year=2006 |volume=29 |access-date=26 August 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Terrorists, according to Atran, are social beings influenced by social connections and values. Rather than dying "for a cause", they might be said to have died "for each other".<ref name="burke">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/24/scott-atran-talking-to-the-enemy-review|title=Talking to the Enemy by Scott Atran – [book] review|date=23 October 2010|work=The Observer|last1=Burke|first1=Jason|access-date=19 October 2014|archive-date=26 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926224920/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/24/scott-atran-talking-to-the-enemy-review|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2011 doctoral thesis, anthropologist Kyle R. Gibson reviewed three studies documenting 1,208 suicide attacks from 1981 to 2007 and found that countries with higher [[polygyny]] rates correlated with greater production of [[Suicide attack#Suicide terrorism|suicide terrorists]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Harmon|first1=Vanessa|first2=Edin|last2=Mujkic|first3=Catherine|last3=Kaukinen|first4=Henriikka|last4=Weir|title=Causes & Explanations of Suicide Terrorism: A Systematic Review|year=2018|journal=Homeland Security Affairs|publisher=[[Center for Homeland Defense and Security|NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security]]|volume=25|url=https://www.hsaj.org/articles/14749|archive-date=24 November 2022|access-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124212251/https://www.hsaj.org/articles/14749|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gibson|first=Kyle R.|title=The Roles of Operational Sex Ratio and Young-Old Ratio in Producing Suicide Attackers|year=2011|publisher=[[University of Utah]]|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260059007}}</ref> Political scientist [[Robert Pape]] has found that among Islamic suicide terrorists, 97 percent were unmarried and 84 percent were male (or if excluding the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]], 91 percent male),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pape|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Pape|title=The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism|year=2003|journal=[[American Political Science Review]]|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|volume=97|issue=3|pages=343–361|doi=10.1017/S000305540300073X|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024|hdl=1811/31746|s2cid=1019730|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/stille/Politics%20Fall%202007/readings%20weeks%206-7/Strategic%20Logic%20of%20Suicide%20Missions.pdf|hdl-access=free|archive-date=13 February 2023|access-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213130259/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/stille/Politics%20Fall%202007/readings%20weeks%206-7/Strategic%20Logic%20of%20Suicide%20Missions.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> while a study conducted by the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] in [[Iraq]] in 2008 found that suicide bombers were almost always single men without children aged 18 to 30 (with a mean age of 22), and were typically students or employed in [[Blue-collar worker|blue-collar occupations]].<ref>{{cite news|title=U.S. study draws portrait of Iraq bombers|date=15 March 2008|work=[[USA Today]]|publisher=[[Gannett]]|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-03-15-iraq-study_N.htm|access-date=27 February 2020}}</ref> In addition to noting that countries where polygyny is widely practiced tend to have higher [[List of countries by intentional homicide rate|homicide rates]] and [[Rape statistics|rates of rape]], political scientists [[Valerie M. Hudson]] and Bradley Thayer have argued that because [[Polygyny in Islam|Islam is the only major religious tradition where polygyny is still largely condoned]], the higher degrees of marital inequality in [[Muslim world|Islamic countries]] than most of the world causes them to have larger populations susceptible to suicide terrorism, and that [[Houri|promises of harems of virgins]] for [[Shahid|martyrdom]] serves as a mechanism to mitigate [[In-group and out-group|in-group]] conflict within Islamic countries between alpha and non-alpha males by bringing esteem to the latter's families and redirecting their violence towards out-groups.<ref name="Hudson & Thayer 2010">{{cite journal|last1=Hudson|first1=Valerie M.|author-link1=Valerie M. Hudson|last2=Thayer|first2=Bradley|title=Sex and the Shaheed: Insights from the Life Sciences on Islamic Suicide Terrorism|year=2010|journal=[[International Security (journal)|International Security]]|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|volume=34|issue=4|pages=48–53|jstor=40784561}}</ref>

Along with his research on the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam|Tamil Tigers]], Scott Atran found that [[State of Palestine|Palestinian]] terrorist groups (such as [[Hamas]]) provide monthly [[stipend]]s, [[Lump sum|lump-sum payments]], and massive prestige to the families of suicide terrorists.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Atran|first=Scott|author-link=Scott Atran|year=2003|title=Genesis of Suicide Terrorism|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]|volume=299|issue=5612|pages=1534–1539|doi=10.1126/science.1078854|pmid=12624256|bibcode=2003Sci...299.1534A|s2cid=12114032|url=https://jeannicod.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ijn_00509568/file/genesis_of_Suicide_terrorism.pdf|access-date=24 November 2022|archive-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124212255/https://jeannicod.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ijn_00509568/file/genesis_of_Suicide_terrorism.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Atran|first=Scott|year=2006|title=The moral logic and growth of suicide terrorism|journal=[[The Washington Quarterly]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=29|issue=2|pages=127–147|doi=10.1162/wash.2006.29.2.127|s2cid=154382700|url=https://jeannicod.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ijn_00000676/file/TWQ06spring_atran.pdf|archive-date=24 November 2022|access-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124211255/https://jeannicod.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ijn_00000676/file/TWQ06spring_atran.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Citing Atran and other anthropological research showing that 99 percent of Palestinian suicide terrorists are male, that 86 percent are unmarried, and that 81 percent have at least six siblings (larger than the average Palestinian family size), cognitive scientist [[Steven Pinker]] argues in ''[[The Better Angels of Our Nature]]'' (2011) that because the families of men in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] often cannot afford [[bride price]]s and that many potential brides end up in polygynous marriages, the financial compensation of an act of suicide terrorism can buy enough brides for a man's brothers to have children to make the [[Altruism (biology)|self-sacrifice]] pay off in terms of [[kin selection]] and [[Fitness (biology)|biological fitness]] (with Pinker also citing a famous quotation attributed to evolutionary biologist [[J. B. S. Haldane]] when Haldane quipped that he would not sacrifice his life for his brother but would for "two brothers or eight cousins").<ref>{{cite book|last=Pinker|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Pinker|year=2011|title=The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined|title-link=The Better Angels of Our Nature|publisher=[[Penguin Group]]|place=New York|pages=353–358|isbn=978-0143122012}}</ref>

In 2007, scholar [[Olivier Roy (professor)|Olivier Roy]] described the background of the hundreds of ''global'' (as opposed to local) terrorists who were incarcerated or killed and for whom authorities have records, as being surprising in a number of ways: The subjects frequently had a Westernized background; there were few [[Palestinians]], [[Iraqis]], or [[Afghanistan|Afghans]] "coming to avenge what is going on in their country"; there was a lack of religiosity before radicalization through being "born again" in a foreign country; a high percentage of subjects had converted to Islam; their backgrounds were "de-territorialized "—meaning, for example, they were "born in a country, then educated in another country, then go to fight in a third country and take refuge in a fourth country"; and their beliefs about jihad differed from traditional ones—i.e. they believed jihad to be permanent, global, and "not linked with a specific territory."<ref>{{cite web |title=Olivier Roy Interview (2007): Conversations with History |url=http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people7/Roy/roy07-con5.html |publisher=Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley |date=3 May 2007 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=15 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715230422/http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people7/Roy/roy07-con5.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Roy believes terrorism/radicalism is "expressed in religious terms" among the terrorists studied because

# most of the radicals have a Muslim background, which makes them open to a process of re-Islamisation ("almost none of them having been pious before entering the process of radicalisation"), and<ref name=roy-inside />
# jihad is "the only cause on the global market". If you kill in silence, it will be reported by the local newspaper; "if you kill yelling 'Allahu Akbar', you are sure to make the national headlines". Other extreme causes—ultra-left or radical ecology are "too bourgeois and intellectual" for the radicals.<ref name=roy-inside />

Author [[Lawrence Wright]] described the characteristic of "[[displacement (psychology)|displacement]]" of members of the most famous Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda:

{{blockquote|What the recruits tended to have in common—besides their urbanity, their [[cosmopolitanism|cosmopolitan]] backgrounds, their education, their facility with languages, and their computer skills—was displacement. Most who joined the jihad did so in a country other than the one in which they were reared. They were Algerians living in [[expatriate]] enclaves in France, [[Moroccans]] in Spain, or [[Yemen]]is in Saudi Arabia. Despite their accomplishments, they had little standing in the host societies where they lived.<ref>Wright, ''Loming Tower'' (2006), p. 304</ref>}}

This profile of global Jihadists differs from that found among more recent local Islamist suicide bombers in Afghanistan. According to a 2007 study of 110 suicide bombers by Afghan pathologist Dr. Yusef Yadgari, 80% of the attackers studied had some kind of physical or mental disability. The bombers were also "not celebrated like their counterparts in other Muslim nations. Afghan bombers are not featured on posters or in videos as martyrs."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15276485 |title=Disabled Often Carry Out Afghan Suicide Missions |website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> Daniel Byman, a Middle East expert at the [[Brookings Institution]], and Christine Fair, an assistant professor in peace and security studies at [[Georgetown University]], argue that many of the Islamic terrorists are foolish and untrained, perhaps even untrainable, with one in two [[Taliban]] suicide bombers killing only themselves.<ref name="Byman">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-case-for-calling-them-nitwits/8130/|title=The Case for Calling Them Nitwits|author-link2=C. Christine Fair|date=July–August 2010|work=Atlantic Magazine|first1=Daniel|last1=Byman|author-link1=Daniel Byman|author2=Christine Fair|access-date=8 July 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610213739/http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-case-for-calling-them-nitwits/8130|archive-date=10 June 2010}}</ref>

Studying 300 cases of people charged with jihadist terrorism in the United States since 11 September 2001, author [[Peter Bergen]] found the perpetrators were "generally motivated by a mix of factors", including "militant Islamist ideology;" opposition to "American foreign policy in the Muslim world; a need to attach themselves to an ideology or organization that gave them a sense of purpose"; and a "[[cognitive opening]]" to militant Islam that often was "precipitated by personal disappointment, like the death of a parent".<ref name="Bergen-15-6-2016">{{cite news|last1=Bergen|first1=Peter|title=Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/opinion/why-do-terrorists-commit-terrorism.html|access-date=16 June 2016|work=The New York Times|date=15 June 2016|archive-date=16 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616022938/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/opinion/why-do-terrorists-commit-terrorism.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2023}}

However, two studies of the background of Muslim terrorists in Europe—one of the UK and one of France—found little connection between religious piety and terrorism among the terrorist rank and file. A "restricted" report of hundreds of case studies by the UK domestic counter-intelligence agency [[MI5]] found that

{{blockquote|[f]ar from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practise their faith regularly. Many lack religious literacy and could actually be regarded as religious novices. Very few have been brought up in strongly religious households, and there is a higher than average proportion of converts. Some are involved in drug-taking, drinking alcohol and visiting prostitutes. MI5 says there is evidence that a well-established religious identity actually protects against violent radicalisation.<ref name="Travis-20-8-2008" />}}

A 2015 "general portrait" of "the conditions and circumstances" under which people living in France become "Islamic radicals" (terrorists or would-be terrorists) by Olivier Roy (see above) found radicalisation was not an "uprising of a Muslim community that is victim to poverty and racism: only young people join, including converts".<ref name="roy-inside" />

== Refutations, criticisms and explanations for decline ==
=== Refuting Islamic terrorism ===

Along with explaining Islamic terrorism, many observers have attempted to point out their inconsistencies and the flaws in their arguments, often suggesting means of de-motivating potential terrorists.

[[Princeton University]] Middle Eastern scholar [[Bernard Lewis]] argues that although bin Laden and other radical Islamists claim they are fighting to restore [[shariah]] law to the Muslim world, their attacks on civilians violate the classical form of that [[Islamic jurisprudence]]. The "classical jurists of Islam never remotely considered [jihad] the kind of unprovoked, unannounced mass slaughter of uninvolved civil populations".<ref>Lewis, Bernard, 'Islam: The Religion and the People' (2009). pp. 53, 145–50</ref> In regard to the [[September 11 attacks]] Lewis noted,

{{blockquote|Being a religious obligation, jihad is elaborately regulated in sharia law, which discusses in minute detail such matters as the opening, conduct, interruption and cessation of hostilities, the treatment of prisoners and noncombatants, the use of weapons, etc.<ref>Bukhari 50:891</ref> Similarly, the laws of Jihad categorically preclude wanton and indiscriminate slaughter.<ref>Quran (8:12)</ref> The warriors in the holy war are urged not to harm non-combatants, women and children, "unless they attack you first". ... A point on which they insist is the need for a clear declaration of war before beginning hostilities, and for proper warning before resuming hostilities after a truce. What the classical jurists of Islam never remotely considered is the kind of unprovoked, unannounced mass slaughter of uninvolved civil populations that we saw in New York two weeks ago. For this there is no precedent and no authority in Islam.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bernard Lewis |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1001547201928681240 |title=Jihad vs. Crusade |publisher=Opinionjournal.com |date=September 27, 2001 |access-date=August 4, 2016 |archive-date=16 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816162048/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1001547201928681240 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Similarly, [[Timothy Winter]] writes that the proclamations of bin Laden and [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] "ignore 14 centuries of Muslim scholarship", and that if they "followed the norms of their religion, they would have had to acknowledge that no school of mainstream Islam allows the targeting of civilians."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamfortoday.com/murad04.htm|title=Abdal-Hakim Murad, Bin Laden's Violence is a Heresy Against Islam|publisher=Islamfortoday.com|access-date=25 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103130922/http://islamfortoday.com/murad04.htm|archive-date=3 January 2010}}</ref>

Researcher Donald Holbrook notes that while many jihadists quote the beginning of the famous sword verse (or [[ayah]]):
* But when these months, prohibited (for fighting), are over, slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, and take them captive or besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every likely place. ...
... they fail to quote and discuss limiting factors that follow,
* ".... But if they repent and fulfill their devotional obligations and pay the zakat, then let them go their way, for God is forgiving and kind."
showing how they are (Holbrook argues) "shamelessly selective in order to serve their propaganda objectives."<ref name=holbrook1 />

The scholarly credentials of the ideologues of extremism are also "questionable".<ref name="eikmeier" /> Dale C. Eikmeier notes

{{blockquote|With the exception of [[Abul Ala Maududi]] and [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam]], none of Qutbism's main theoreticians trained at Islam's recognized centers of learning. Although a devout Muslim, [[Hassan al-Banna]] was a teacher and community activist. [[Sayyid Qutb]] was a literary critic. [[Mohammed Abdul-Salam Farag]] was an electrician. Ayman al-Zawahiri is a physician. Osama bin Laden trained to be a businessman.<ref name="eikmeier">{{cite journal|last=Eikmeier|first=Dale C.|date=Spring 2007|title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism|url=http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm|journal=[[Parameters (journal)|Parameters]]|volume=XXXVII|issue=1|pages=85–98|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm|archive-date=June 9, 2007}}</ref>}}

[[Michael Sells]] and Jane I. Smith (a professor of Islamic Studies) write that barring some extremists like [[al-Qaeda]], most Muslims do not interpret Qur'anic verses as promoting warfare today but rather as reflecting historical contexts.<ref name="Sells">{{cite news|author=Sells|first=Michael|date=8 August 2002|title=Understanding, Not Indoctrination|newspaper=The Washington Post|publisher=[[Internet Archive]]|url=https://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/msells.htm|access-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021027032139/https://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/msells.htm|archive-date=27 October 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | author=Jane I. Smith | title=Islam and Christianity | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Christianity | publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 | isbn=978-0-19-522393-4}}</ref> According to Sells, most Muslims "no more expect to apply" the verses at issue "to their contemporary non-Muslim friends and neighbors than most Christians and Jews consider themselves commanded by God, like the Biblical [[Joshua]], to exterminate the [[infidel]]s."<ref name="Sells" />

In his book ''[[No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam]]'', [[Iranian-American]] academic [[Reza Aslan]] argues that there is an internal battle currently taking place within Islam between [[individualism|individualistic]] reform ideals and the [[ulama|traditional authority of Muslim clerics]].<ref name="david">{{cite journal|last=Shasha|first=David|date=January 2002|title=No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SBL/is_1-2_19/ai_n15340018/|url-status=dead|journal=International Journal of Kurdish Studies|publisher=[[Internet Archive]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611021728/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SBL/is_1-2_19/ai_n15340018/|archive-date=11 June 2009|access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref> The struggle is similar to that of the 16th-century [[Protestant Reformation|reformation]] in [[Christianity]], and in fact is happening when the religion of Islam is as "old" as Christianity was at the time of its reformation.<ref name=stan>[http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/2006/pr-aslan-102506.html Author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam to speak on campus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070724073511/http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/2006/pr-aslan-102506.html |date=24 July 2007 }}. [[Stanford University|Stanford University press release]]. Published 20 October 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2009.</ref> Aslan argues that "the notion that historical context should play no role in the interpretation of the Koran—that what applied to Muhammad's community applies to all Muslim communities for all time—is simply an untenable position in every sense."<ref name=times>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/books/review/29RODENBE.html 'No god but God': The War Within Islam (Book Review)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20131109121434/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/books/review/29RODENBE.html |date=9 November 2013 }} |By Max Rodenbeck| nytimes.com| 29 May 2005</ref>
<!--Beginning with the 7th-century AD [[Arab]] [[Muslim conquests|era of Muslim conquests]], and continuing on until the 21st-century resurgence of Muslim violence on non-Muslims in the name of "[[Jihad]]", many have debated whether Islam was fundamentally a religion of peace,<ref>{{cite web|author=President and Founder of the Christian Apologetic and Research Ministry, Matt Slick |url=http://carm.org/religious-movements/islam/islam-religion-peace-and-terrorism |title=Islam, the religion of peace, and terrorism|work=carm.org}}</ref> of violence, or perhaps of some combination of the two.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Political Language of Islam |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Lewis |year=1988 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-47692-8 |page=72}} Cf. {{cite book |last1=Watt |first1=William M. |editor1-first=Thomas P. |editor1-last=Murphy |title=The Holy War |year=1976 |publisher=Ohio State University Press |isbn=978-0-8142-0245-6 |page=143 |chapter=Islamic Conceptions of the Holy War}}</ref>-->

Despite their proclaimed devotion to the virtue of Sharia law, Jihadists have not always avoided association with the pornography of the despised West. ''[[The Times]]'' (London) newspaper has pointed out that Jihadists were discovered by one source to have sought anonymity through some of the same dark networks used to distribute [[child pornography]]—quite ironic given their proclaimed [[piety]].<ref name="Times">{{Cite web|date=2 June 2010|title=Dangerous and depraved: paedophiles unite with terrorists online – Times Online|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4958674.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602180448/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4958674.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 June 2010|access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref> Similarly, [[Reuters]] news agency reported that pornography was found among the materials seized from [[Death of Osama bin Laden|Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound that was raided by U.S. Navy SEALs]].<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-binladen-porn-idUSTRE74C4RK20110513 Exclusive: Pornography found in bin Laden hideout: officials] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127161638/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/13/us-binladen-porn-idUSTRE74C4RK20110513 |date=27 November 2015 }}, "Reuters",  13 May 2011</ref>

;Takfir
Despite the fact that a founding principle of modern violent jihad is the defense of Islam and Muslims, most victims of attacks by Islamic terrorism ("the vast majority" according to one source—J.J. Goldberg)<ref name="Goldberg-9-11-2017">{{cite news |last1=Goldberg |first1=J.J. |title=The Islam-Terrorism Connection — It's Not What You Think |url=https://forward.com/opinion/387326/the-islam-terrorism-connection-its-not-what-you-think/ |access-date=17 August 2019 |agency=Forward |date=9 November 2017 |archive-date=17 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817150206/https://forward.com/opinion/387326/the-islam-terrorism-connection-its-not-what-you-think/ |url-status=live }}</ref> are self-proclaimed Muslims. Many if not all Salafi-Jihadi groups practice [[takfir]]—i.e. proclaim that some self-proclaimed Muslims (especially government officials and security personnel) are actually apostates deserving of death.

Furthermore, the more learned salafi-jihadi thinkers and leaders are (and were), the more reluctance they are/were to embrace [[takfir]] (according to a study by Shane Drennan).<ref name="DRENNAN-2008" /> The late [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam]], "the godfather of the Afghan jihad", for example, was an Islamic scholar and university professor who avoided takfir and preached unity in the [[ummah]] (Muslim community). The Islamic education of Al-Qaeda's number two leader, [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], was early and much more informal—he was not a trained scholar—and al-Zawahiri expanded the definition of kafir to include many self-proclaimed Muslims. He has maintained that civilian government employees of Muslim states, security forces and any persons collaborating or engaging with these groups are apostates, for example.<ref name="DRENNAN-2008" />

Two extreme takfiris -- [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]], a Sunni jihadist leader in Iraq, and [[Djamel Zitouni]], leader of the Algerian [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria]] (GIA) during the Algerian civil war—had even broader definitions of apostasy and less religious knowledge. Al-Zarqawi was a petty criminal who had no religious training until he was 22 and limited training thereafter. Famous for bombing targets other jihadis thought off limits,<ref name="Cambanis-3-10-15">{{cite news|last1=Cambanis|first1=Thanassis|title=Book Review. 'Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS' by Joby Warrick|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/10/03/book-review-black-flags-the-rise-isis-joby-warrick/PkvOQIXpSqCssZ5tdqH5pJ/story.html|access-date=29 October 2015|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=3 October 2015|archive-date=3 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003163526/http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/10/03/book-review-black-flags-the-rise-isis-joby-warrick/PkvOQIXpSqCssZ5tdqH5pJ/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> his definition of apostates included all Shia Muslims and "anyone violating his organization's interpretation of Shari'a".<ref name="DRENNAN-2008" /> [[Djamel Zitouni]] was the son of a chicken farmer with little Islamic education. He famously expanded the GIA's definition of apostate until he concluded the whole of Algerian society outside of the GIA "had left Islam". His attacks led to the deaths of thousands of Algerian civilians.<ref name="DRENNAN-2008">{{cite journal |last1=DRENNAN |first1=SHANE |title=Constructing Takfir |journal=Combating Terrorism Center |date=June 2008 |volume=1 |issue=7 |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/constructing-takfir-from-abdullah-azzam-to-djamel-zitouni/ |access-date=13 August 2019 |archive-date=12 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812175049/https://ctc.usma.edu/constructing-takfir-from-abdullah-azzam-to-djamel-zitouni/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

;De-radicalization
Evidence that more religious training may lead to less extremism has been found in Egypt. That country's largest radical Islamic group, [[al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya]] — which killed at least 796 Egyptian policemen and soldiers from 1992 to 1998 — renounced bloodshed in 2003 in a deal with the Egyptian government where a series of high-ranking members were released (as of 2009 "the group has perpetrated no new terrorist acts"). A second group [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] made a similar agreement in 2007. Preceding the agreements was program where Muslim scholars debated with imprisoned group leaders arguing that true Islam did not support terrorism.<ref name="DeAngelis-2009">{{cite journal |last1=DeAngelis |first1=Tori |title=Understanding terrorism |journal=Monitor on Psychology |date=November 2009 |volume=40 |issue=10 |url=https://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/11/terrorism |access-date=31 August 2019 |archive-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831210022/https://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/11/terrorism |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Muslim attitudes toward terrorism ==
{{Main|Muslim attitudes towards terrorism}}

The opinions of Muslims on the subject of attacks on civilians by Islamist groups vary. [[Fred Halliday]], a British academic specialist on the Middle East, argues that most Muslims consider these acts to be egregious violations of Islam's laws.<ref>Halliday, Fred: ''Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East'' (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2003), 107</ref> Muslims living in the West denounce the 11 September attacks against United States, while Hezbollah contends that their rocket attacks against Israeli targets are [[defensive jihad]] by a legitimate [[resistance movement]] rather than terrorism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/statement01.html |title=Statement of purpose |publisher=Almashriq.hiof.no |date=20 March 1998 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=19 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419143759/http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/statement01.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/hizballah-background.html |title=Hizbullah: Views and Concepts |publisher=Almashriq.hiof.no |date=20 June 1997 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=18 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418181544/http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/hizballah-background.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Views of modern Islamic scholars ===

In reference to suicide attacks, Hannah Stuart notes there is a "significant debate among contemporary clerics over which circumstance permit such attacks." Qatar-based theologian, [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], criticized the 9/11 attacks but previously justified suicide bombings in Israel on the grounds of necessity and justified such attacks in 2004 against American military and civilian personnel in Iraq. According to Stuart, 61 contemporary Islamic leaders have issued fatawa permitting suicide attacks, 32 with respect to Israel. Stuart points out that all of these contemporary rulings are contrary to classical [[Islamic jurisprudence]].<ref name="Stuart1">{{cite book|title=Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism Among Youth to Prevent Terrorism|publisher=IOS Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-61499-469-5|pages=74–76|author=Hannah Stuart|editor=Marco Lombardi}}</ref>

[[Charles Kurzman]] and other authors have collected statements by prominent Muslim figures and organizations condemning terrorism.<ref name=kurzman />
In September 2014, an open letter to ISIS by "over 120 prominent Muslim scholars" denounced that group for "numerous religious transgressions and abominable crimes".<ref name="css">{{cite web|title=The Danger of Takfir (Excommunication): Exposing IS' Takfiri Ideology|url=https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/316b8048-d26a-44cb-b4ce-48d8167f1c7c/pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826180152/https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/316b8048-d26a-44cb-b4ce-48d8167f1c7c/pdf|archive-date=26 August 2019|url-status=dead|access-date=26 August 2019|website=css.ethz.ch|publisher=Center for Security Studies}}</ref><ref name="letter">{{cite web |title=Open Letter to AL-Baghdadi |url=http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/ |website=lettertobaghdadi |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-date=8 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208110812/http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Huston Smith]], an author on comparative religion, argued that extremists have hijacked Islam, just as has occurred periodically in Christianity, [[Hinduism]] and other religions throughout history. He added that the real problem is that extremists do not know their own faith.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/38467/man-of-faiths-preeminent-religion-scholar-huston-smith-reflects-on-judaism- |title=Man of faiths: Preeminent religion scholar Huston Smith reflects on Judaism and Chasing the Divine |work=Jewish News Weekly of Northern California |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=25 June 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=16 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216124241/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/38467/man-of-faiths-preeminent-religion-scholar-huston-smith-reflects-on-judaism-/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Ali Gomaa]], former [[Grand Mufti]] of Egypt, stated not only for Islam but in general: "Terrorism cannot be born of religion. Terrorism is the product of corrupt minds, hardened hearts, and arrogant egos, and corruption, destruction, and arrogance are unknown to the heart attached to the divine."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/07/religion/terrorism-has-no-religion|title= Terrorism has no religion|date= 8 July 2013|access-date=25 August 2013}}</ref>

A [[Fatwa on Terrorism|600-page legal opinion]] (''fatwa'') by [[Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri]] condemned suicide bombings and other forms of terrorism as ''[[kufr]]'' (unbelief),<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheikh issues fatwa against all terrorists|work=[[The Independent]]|author=Jerome Taylor|date=3 March 2010|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sheikh-issues-fatwa-against-all-terrorists-1915000.html|access-date=9 April 2010|location=London|archive-date=12 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912181128/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sheikh-issues-fatwa-against-all-terrorists-1915000.html|url-status=live}}</ref> stating that it "has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses or ifs or buts."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2634649 |title=Top Islamic scholar issues 'absolute' fatwa against terror |work=National Post |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=25 April 2010 }}{{dead link|date=September 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Iranian Ayatollah [[Yousef Sanei|Ozma Seyyed Yousef Sanei]] has preached against suicide attacks and stated in an interview: "Terror in Islam, and especially Shiite, is forbidden."<ref>{{cite news|year = 2012|url = http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/leading-iranian-cleric-calls-on-regime-to-avoid-war-with-israel-1.459775|title = Leading Iranian Cleric Calls on Regime to Avoid War With Israel|newspaper = Haaretz |access-date = 3 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/interviews/saanei.html|title = Interview Grand Ayatollah Yusef Saanei |date = 2 May 2002 |publisher = PBS/Frontline|access-date = 3 August 2016}}</ref>

A group of Pakistani clerics of [[Jamaat Ahle Sunnat|Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnah]] ([[Barelvi]] movement) who were gathered for a convention denounced suicide attacks and beheadings as un-Islamic in a unanimous resolution.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Top-Pak-clerics-declare-suicide-attacks-un-Islamic/articleshow/4543693.cms|title=Top Pak clerics declare suicide attacks un-Islamic|newspaper=The Times of India|date=17 May 2009|access-date=3 August 2016}}</ref> On 2 July 2013 in [[Lahore]], 50 Muslim scholars of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) issued a collective fatwa against suicide bombings, the killing of innocent people, bomb attacks, and targeted killings. It considers them to be forbidden.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1022298 |title=Fatwa issued against suicide bombings, targeted killings and terrorism |date=2 July 2013 |location=Lahore |archive-date=12 November 2018 |access-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112021345/https://www.dawn.com/news/1022298 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Tactics ==
{{Main|Tactics of terrorism}}

=== Suicide attacks ===
{{See also|Suicide attack}}

[[Hezbollah]] was the first group to use suicide bombers in the Middle East.<ref name="Islamic Evolution" /> An increasingly popular tactic used by terrorists is suicide bombing.<ref>{{cite web|title= The_MIPT_Terrorism_Annual|url=http://www.tkb.org/documents/Downloads/2006-MIPT-Terrorism-Annual.pdf|publisher=tkb.org|access-date=6 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129192403/http://www.tkb.org/documents/Downloads/2006-MIPT-Terrorism-Annual.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2007}}</ref> This tactic is used against civilians, soldiers, and government officials of the regimes the terrorists oppose. A recent clerical ruling declares terrorism and suicide bombing as forbidden by Islam.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8544531.stm | work=BBC News | first=Dominic | last=Casciani | title=Muslim scholar condemns terrorism |date=2 March 2010}}</ref>

=== Hijackings ===
Islamic terrorism sometimes employs the hijacking of passenger vehicles. The most infamous were the [[September 11 attacks|"9/11"]] attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on a single day in 2001, effectively ending the era of [[aircraft hijacking]].

=== Hostage taking, kidnappings and executions ===
{{Main|Beheading in Islamism}}
{{See also|Beheading video|ISIL beheading incidents}}

Along with bombings and hijackings, Islamic terrorists have made extensive use of highly publicised kidnappings and executions (i.e. ritualized murders), often circulating videos of the acts for use as propaganda. A frequent form of execution by these groups is [[decapitation]], another is shooting. In the 1980s, a [[Lebanon hostage crisis|series of abductions of American citizens]] by Hezbollah during the [[Lebanese Civil War]] resulted in the 1986 [[Iran–Contra affair]]. During the chaos of the [[Iraq War]], more than 200 kidnappings [[Foreign hostages in Iraq|foreign hostages]] (for various reasons and by various groups, including purely criminal) gained great international notoriety, even as the great majority (thousands) of victims were Iraqis. In 2007, the [[kidnapping of Alan Johnston]] by [[Army of Islam (Gaza Strip)|Army of Islam]] resulted in the British government meeting a Hamas member for the first time.
;Motivations
[[Islamism|Islamist]] militants, including [[Boko Haram]], [[Hamas]], [[al-Qaeda]] and the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]], have used [[kidnapping]] as a method of fundraising, as a means of bargaining for political concessions, and as a way of intimidating potential opponents.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shay|first1=Shaul|title=Global Jihad and the Tactic of Terror Abduction: A Comprehensive Review of Islamic Terrorist Organizations|date=December 2013|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-611-0}}</ref>

==== As political tactic ====
An example of political kidnapping occurred in September 2014, in the Philippines. The German Foreign Ministry reported that the Islamist militant group [[Abu Sayyaf]] had kidnapped two German nationals and was threatening to kill them unless the German government withdraw its support for the war against [[ISIS]] and also pay a large ransom.<ref>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Andrea|title=Germany Confirms Kidnapping of Two Citizens by Islamist Group in Philippines|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/germany-confirms-kidnapping-of-two-citizens-by-islamist-terror-group-1411564496|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=24 September 2014|access-date=7 October 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In September 2014 an Islamist militant group kidnapped a French national in Algeria and threatened to kill the hostage unless the government of France withdrew its support for the war against ISIS.<ref>{{cite news|last=Willsher|first=Kim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/22/algerian-islamists-threaten-to-execute-french-hostage-unless-france-halts-isis-attacks|title=Algerian Islamists threaten to execute hostage unless France halts Isis attacks|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 September 2014|access-date=4 August 2016}}</ref>

=====Islamist self-justifications =====

ISIL justified various acts internally, including beheadings and its kidnapping of [[Yazidi]] women and forcing them to become sex slaves or concubines.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Abdelaziz|first1=Salma|title=ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery/|access-date=13 October 2014|publisher=CNN|date=13 October 2014|archive-date=21 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621204748/http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Abubakar Shekau]], the leader of the Nigerian extremist group [[Boko Haram]], said in a 2014 interview claiming responsibility for the [[2014 Chibok kidnapping]] of 270+ schoolgirls, "[[History of slavery in the Muslim world|Slavery]] is allowed in my religion, and I shall capture people and make them slaves".<ref name=CNNEssenceTerror>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-analysis/ |publisher=CNN |title=Boko Haram: The essence of terror |last=Lister |first=Tim |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=13 May 2014 |archive-date=13 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513033040/http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-analysis/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Kidnapping as revenue ====
[[Nasir al-Wuhayshi]] leader of the [[Islamist]] militant group [[Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula]] describes kidnapped hostages as "an easy spoil... which I may describe as a profitable trade and a precious treasure."<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news|last1=Callimachi|first1=Rukmini Maria|title=Paying Ransoms, Europe Bankrolls Qaeda Terror|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/world/africa/ransoming-citizens-europe-becomes-al-qaedas-patron.html|access-date=4 September 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=29 July 2014|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308002656/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/world/africa/ransoming-citizens-europe-becomes-al-qaedas-patron.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2014 investigation, by journalist [[Rukmini Maria Callimachi]] published in ''[[The New York Times]]'' demonstrated that between 2008 and 2014, Al Qaeda and groups directly affiliated with al-Qaeda took in over US$125 million from kidnapping, with $66 million of that total paid in 2013 alone. The article showed that from a somewhat haphazard beginning in 2003, kidnapping grew into the group's main fundraising strategy, with targeted, professional kidnapping of civilians from wealthy European countries—principally France, Spain and Switzerland—willing to pay huge ransoms. US and UK nationals are less commonly targeted since these governments have shown an unwillingness to pay ransom.<ref name="nytimes1" />

[[Boko Haram]] kidnapped Europeans for the Ransom their governments would pay in the early 2010s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/boko-haram-the-chibok-abductions-and-nigerias-counterterrorism-strategy|title=Boko Haram, the Chibok Abductions and Nigeria's Counterterrorism Strategy|website=Combating Terrorism Center|publisher=West Point Military Academy|last1=Hill|first1=J.N.C.|date=30 July 2014|access-date=4 September 2014|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904160609/https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/boko-haram-the-chibok-abductions-and-nigerias-counterterrorism-strategy|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kington|first=Tom|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/11/nigerian-kidnappers-paid-part-of-ransom|title=Nigerian kidnappers 'received ransom downpayment'|newspaper=The Guardian|date=10 March 2012|access-date=4 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905003658/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/11/nigerian-kidnappers-paid-part-of-ransom|archive-date=5 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=BBCnigeria|title=Italian Abducted in Nigeria Freed|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18305746|access-date=4 September 2014|publisher=BBC|date=1 June 2012|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904221005/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18305746|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Yochi Dreazen]] writing in ''[[Foreign Policy]]'', although ISIS received funding from Qatar, Kuwait and other Gulf oil states, "traditional criminal techniques like kidnapping", are a key funding source for ISIS.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Dreazen|first=Yochi|author-link=Yochi Dreazen|url=http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/06/16/isis_uses_mafia_tactics_to_fund_its_own_operations_without_help_from_persian_gulf_d|title=ISIS Uses Mafia Tactics to Fund Its Own Operations Without Help From Persian Gulf Donors|magazine=Foreign Policy|access-date=4 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617074156/http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/06/16/isis_uses_mafia_tactics_to_fund_its_own_operations_without_help_from_persian_gulf_d|archive-date=17 June 2014}}</ref> [[Armin Rosen]] writing in [[Business Insider]], kidnapping was a "crucial early source" of funds as ISIS expanded rapidly in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/isiss-history-of-hostage-taking-2014-8|title=ISIS Has Been Taking Foreign Hostages Since The Very Beginning – And Getting Paid For Them|date=20 August 2014|website=Business Insider|last1=Rosen|first1=Armin|access-date=4 September 2014|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904201022/http://www.businessinsider.com/isiss-history-of-hostage-taking-2014-8|url-status=live}}</ref> In March, upon receiving payment from the government of Spain, ISIS released 2 Spanish hostages working for the newspaper [[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]], correspondent Javier Espinosa and photographer [[Ricardo Garcia Vilanova]], who had been held since September 2013.<ref>{{cite news|last1=BBCMarch|title=Syria crisis: Spanish journalists freed after ISIS kidnapping|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26807207|access-date=4 September 2014|publisher=BC|date=30 March 2014|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904181346/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26807207|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Philip Balboni]], CEO of [[GlobalPost]] told the press that he had spent "millions" in efforts to ransom journalist [[James Foley (journalist)|James Foley]], and an American official told the [[Associated Press]] that demand from ISIS was for 100 million ($132.5).<ref>{{cite news|last1=CBSNews|title=Multiple kidnappings for ransom funding ISIS, source says|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/multiple-kidnappings-for-ransom-funding-isis-source-says/|access-date=4 September 2014|publisher=CBS News|date=21 August 2014|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904203731/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/multiple-kidnappings-for-ransom-funding-isis-source-says/|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2014, following the release of ISIS [[Beheading video]]s of journalists James Foley and [[Steven Sotloff]], British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] appealed to members of the [[G7]] to abide by their pledges not to pay ransom "in the case of terrorist kidnap".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Elliott |first1=Francis |title=European allies shamed over ransom payments |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/european-allies-shamed-over-ransom-payments-d66g7qg0rds |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=The Times |date=5 September 2014 |archive-date=7 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507094406/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/european-allies-shamed-over-ransom-payments-d66g7qg0rds |url-status=live }}</ref>

Holding foreign journalists as hostages is so valuable to ISIS that Rami Jarrah, a Syrian who has acted as go-between in efforts to ransom foreign hostages, told the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' that ISIS had "made it known" to other militant groups that they "would pay" for kidnapped journalists.<ref name="autogenerated5">{{cite news|last1=Malas|first1=Nour|title=Hostage-Taking Central to Islamic State Strategy in Syria|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/hostage-taking-central-to-islamic-state-strategy-in-syria-1408711183|access-date=4 September 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=22 August 2014|archive-date=25 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825192117/http://online.wsj.com/articles/hostage-taking-central-to-islamic-state-strategy-in-syria-1408711183|url-status=live}}</ref> ISIS has also kidnapped foreign-aid workers and Syrians who work for foreign-funded groups and reconstruction projects in Syria.<ref name="autogenerated5" /> By mid-2014, ISIS was holding assets valued at US$2 billion.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chulov|first=Martin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/15/iraq-isis-arrest-jihadists-wealth-power|title=Iraq arrest that exposed wealth and power of Isis jihadists|newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 June 2014|access-date=17 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616091317/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/15/iraq-isis-arrest-jihadists-wealth-power|archive-date=16 June 2014}}</ref>

===== Kidnapping as psychological warfare =====
Boko Haram has been described as using kidnapping as a means of intimidating the civilian population into non-resistance.<ref name="ctc.usma.edu">{{cite journal|date=30 July 2014|title=Boko Haram, the Chibok Abductions and Nigeria's Counterterrorism Strategy|url=https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/boko-haram-the-chibok-abductions-and-nigerias-counterterrorism-strategy|journal=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|last1=Hill|first1=Jonathan N.C.|access-date=4 September 2014|archive-date=4 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904160609/https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/boko-haram-the-chibok-abductions-and-nigerias-counterterrorism-strategy|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Marina Lazreg 2009 p. 47">Marina Lazreg, "Consequences of Political Liberalisation and Sociocultural Mobilisation for Women in Algeria, Egypt and Jordan", in Anne-Marie Goetz, Governing Women: Women's Political Effectiveness in Contexts of Democratisation and Governance Reform (New York: Routledge/UNRISD, 2009), p. 47.</ref>

According to psychologist [[Irwin Mansdorf]], Hamas demonstrated effectiveness of kidnapping as a form of [[psychological warfare]] in the [[2006 Gaza cross-border raid|2006 capture]] of the Israeli soldier [[Gilad Shalit]] when public pressure forced the government of Israel to release 1027 prisoners, including 280 convicted of terrorism by Israel, in exchange for his release.<ref>{{cite news|first=Andreas|last=Gorzewski|url=http://www.dw.com/en/hamas-uses-kidnapping-as-a-strategic-tool/a-17799249|title=Hamas uses kidnapping as a strategic tool|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=22 July 2014|access-date=4 August 2016|archive-date=21 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921114124/http://www.dw.com/en/hamas-uses-kidnapping-as-a-strategic-tool/a-17799249|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', "Hamas has recognized the pull such incidents have over the Israeli psyche and clearly has moved to grab hostages in incidents such as the [[death and ransoming of Oron Shaul]]."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kershner|first1=Isabel|author-link1=Isabel Kershner|author2=Jodi Rudoren|title=A Blast, a Fire and an Israeli Soldier Goes Missing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-conflict.html|work=The New York Times|date=22 July 2014|access-date=4 August 2016|archive-date=22 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722134744/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-conflict.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Internet recruiting ===
{{Main|Terrorism and social media}}
In the beginning of the 21st century, emerged a worldwide network of hundreds of web sites that inspire, train, educate and recruit young Muslims to engage in jihad against the United States and other Western countries, taking less prominent roles in mosques and community centers that are under scrutiny.

== Examples of organizations ==

{{Main|List of Islamist terrorist attacks}}
{{Further|List of designated terrorist groups}}
{{See also|United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|Boko Haram insurgency|1998 United States embassy bombings}}[[File:Flag of Jihad.svg|thumb|The "black flag of [[Jihad]]", used by various Islamist organizations since the late 1990s, consists of a white-on-black [[shahada]].]]

=== Africa ===

The African continent has been affected by significant Islamist terrorist activity across the continent, involving various militant groups responsible for widespread violence and instability.<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''Jihad'', (2003)</ref><ref name="Welle www.dw.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/de/burkina-faso-islamistische-gefahr-aus-dem-innern/a-41056722|title=Burkina Faso: Islamistische Gefahr aus dem Innern|date=20 October 2017|publisher=Deutsche Welle|language=de-DE|access-date=18 March 2019|archive-date=25 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225050502/http://www.dw.com/de/burkina-faso-islamistische-gefahr-aus-dem-innern/a-41056722|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="thedefensepost.com">{{Cite web|url=https://thedefensepost.com/2018/09/29/chad-troops-kill-17-boko-haram-6-dead-lake-chad/|title=Chad troops kill 17 Boko Haram militants after 6 killed in Lake Chad attacks|date=29 September 2018|website=The Defense Post|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref> In [[East Africa]], [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24379013|title=In prison with al-Shabab: What drives Somali militants?|date=5 October 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=4 January 2019|language=en-GB|archive-date=5 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105223721/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24379013|url-status=live}}</ref> has been a central figure in conflicts, particularly in [[Terrorism in Somalia|Somalia]] and [[Terrorism in Kenya|Kenya]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ctc.usma.edu/terrorist-attacks-in-kenya-reveal-domestic-radicalization/|title=Terrorist Attacks in Kenya Reveal Domestic Radicalization|date=29 October 2012|website=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2019|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801212030/https://ctc.usma.edu/terrorist-attacks-in-kenya-reveal-domestic-radicalization/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ctc.usma.edu/the-nairobi-attack-and-al-shababs-media-strategy/|title=The Nairobi Attack and Al-Shabab's Media Strategy|date=24 October 2013|website=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2019|archive-date=23 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923063727/https://ctc.usma.edu/the-nairobi-attack-and-al-shababs-media-strategy/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[North Africa|North]] and [[West Africa]] have seen major incidents tied to groups like [[Boko Haram]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689|title=Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?|date=22 December 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=4 January 2019|language=en-GB|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403052911/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-15336689|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="thedefensepost.com"/><ref name="reuters.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/northeast-nigeria-insurgency-has-killed-almost-350000-un-2021-06-24/|title=Northeast Nigeria insurgency has killed almost 350,000 – UN|date=24 June 2021|work=Reuters|language=en-US|access-date=13 February 2022|archive-date=15 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815095328/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/northeast-nigeria-insurgency-has-killed-almost-350000-un-2021-06-24/|url-status=live}}</ref> which has caused severe disruptions in [[Nigeria]] and neighboring countries. Additionally, nations such as [[Terrorism in Egypt|Egypt]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/egypt-kills-40-suspected-militants-after-tourist-bus-attack/a-46893439 |title=Egypt kills 40 suspected militants after tourist bus attack {{!}} DW {{!}} 29 December 2018 |last=Welle (www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche |publisher=Deutsche Welle |language=en-GB  |access-date=20 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/741/eg1.htm|title=Fearing the worst|date=5 May 2005|access-date=2 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924131816/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/741/eg1.htm|archive-date=24 September 2013|url-status=dead|work=Al-Ahram Weekly}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/mass-funeral-held-helwan-church-victims-coptic-orthodox-church/|title=Mass funeral to be held for Helwan church victims: Coptic Orthodox Church – Egypt Independent|date=29 December 2017|access-date=30 December 2017|archive-date=31 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231222837/http://www.egyptindependent.com/mass-funeral-held-helwan-church-victims-coptic-orthodox-church/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Algeria]], [[List of terrorist incidents in Tunisia|Tunisia]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQbRDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT88|title=Al-Qaeda's Revenge: The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings|last=Reinares|first=Fernando|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-0-231-80140-9|page=88}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ctc.usma.edu/fifteen-years-after-the-djerba-synagogue-bombing/|title=Fifteen Years after the Djerba Synagogue Bombing|date=14 April 2017|website=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|language=en-US|access-date=18 March 2019|archive-date=6 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206103743/https://ctc.usma.edu/fifteen-years-after-the-djerba-synagogue-bombing/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tunisia/11479898/Gunmen-take-hostages-in-attack-on-Tunisia-parliament.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318130121/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tunisia/11479898/Gunmen-take-hostages-in-attack-on-Tunisia-parliament.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 March 2015|title=Gunmen 'take hostages' in attack on Tunisia parliament.|last1=Marszal|first1=Andrew|date=18 March 2015|work=The Telegraph|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> and [[Morocco]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/premium/indblik/Indland/ECE11086519/mindst-1600-marokkanere-sluttede-sig-til-is-nu-har-marokko-et-problem-med-hellige-krigere/|title=Hundreder af tikkende bomber i landet, som Islamisk Stat styrede udenom i syv år|date=20 December 2018|website=jyllands-posten.dk|access-date=23 December 2018|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407203739/https://jyllands-posten.dk/premium/indblik/Indland/ECE11086519/mindst-1600-marokkanere-sluttede-sig-til-is-nu-har-marokko-et-problem-med-hellige-krigere/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20161213-focus-morocco-school-reform-religious-education-islam-fight-extremism|title=FOCUS – Morocco reforms religious education to fight extremism|date=13 December 2016|publisher=France 24|language=en|access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref> have experienced deadly attacks linked to broader extremist networks. These activities have led to [[Insurgency in Cabo Delgado|extensive casualties and displacement across the region]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}<!-- Empty reference <ref name="CTC 2021" /--> Civilians have been the main targets of terrorist attacks by Islamist militants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201712050740.html|title=Mozambique: Islamist Raids Continuing in Mocimboa Da Praia|date=5 December 2017|website=AllAfrica.com|access-date=27 December 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226234748/http://allafrica.com/stories/201712050740.html|archive-date=26 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verdade.co.mz/newsflash/63770-populacao-captura-supostos-membros-do-grupo-armado-que-atacou-mocimboa-da-praia-|title=População captura supostos membros do grupo armado que atacou Mocímboa da Praia|website=Verdade.co.mz|access-date=27 December 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226234801/http://www.verdade.co.mz/newsflash/63770-populacao-captura-supostos-membros-do-grupo-armado-que-atacou-mocimboa-da-praia-|archive-date=26 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="confirm">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.ug/au-confirms-isis-infiltration-in-east-africa/ |title=AU confirms ISIS infiltration in East Africa |work=[[The Independent (Uganda)]] |date=24 May 2018 |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823174150/https://www.independent.co.ug/au-confirms-isis-infiltration-in-east-africa/ |archive-date=23 August 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

=== Asia ===

In [[Terrorism in Afghanistan|Afghanistan]],[[Taliban]] and [[Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin|Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin]] forces have attacked  civilians.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/afghanistan0407/ ''The Human Cost: The Consequences of Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan'']. April 2007. Volume 19, No. 6(C). [[Human Rights Watch]]/</ref> Kyrgyz-American brothers were behind the [[Boston Marathon bombing]]. In [[Terrorism in Tajikistan|Tajikistan]], the IMU was blamed for a 2010 suicide bombing that killed two policemen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://themoscowtimes.com/news/car-bomber-kills-2-in-tajikistan-1143|title=Car Bomber Kills 2 in Tajikistan|newspaper=[[The Moscow Times]]|date=6 September 2010 |access-date=3 August 2016}}</ref> [[Terrorism in Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]] saw multiple attacks,<ref name=Rfe2004-07-27>{{cite news|first=Bruce|last=Pannier|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1054045.html|title=Uzbekistan: 'Terror' Trial Likely To Hold Few Surprises|publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|date=27 July 2004|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081213124934/http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1054045.html|archive-date=13 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="rferl.org">{{cite web |first=Gulnoza |last=Saidazimova|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/09/6ec8adad-f98f-413d-95e1-776074d74a24.html|title=Germany: Authorities Say Uzbekistan-Based Group Behind Terrorist Plot|publisher=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |date=6 September 2007 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911181849/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/09/6ec8adad-f98f-413d-95e1-776074d74a24.html|archive-date=11 September 2007}}</ref> including the [[1999 Tashkent bombings]] targeting President [[Islam Karimov|Karimov]].<ref>{{cite web|first1=Abdumannob|last1=Polat|first2=Nickolai|last2=Butkevich|url=http://www.iicas.org/english/Krsten_4_12_00.htm |title=Unraveling the Mystery of the Tashkent Bombings: Theories and Implications|date=28 November 2000 |access-date=9 February 2016 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030611072650/http://iicas.org/english/Krsten_4_12_00.htm|archive-date=11 June 2003}}</ref><ref name=CORNELL>{{cite news|first=Kathleen|last=Knox|url=http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8147-18.cfm|title=Uzbekistan: Who's Behind The Violence?|publisher=[[Johnson's Russia List]]|issue=18 – JRL 8147|year=2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404040430/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/8147-18.cfm|archive-date=4 April 2004}}</ref> [[Terrorism in China|China has faced attacks]] linked to [[Xinjiang]] [[separatism]]. In [[Terrorism in Bangladesh|Bangladesh]], [[Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh|Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen]]<ref>{{cite news|first=Maneeza|last=Hossain|url=http://www.defenddemocracy.org/in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id=358521|title=The Rising Tide of Islamism in Bangladesh|publisher=defenddemocracy.org|date=16 February 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060405221840/http://www.defenddemocracy.org/in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id=358521|archive-date=5 April 2006}}</ref><ref>''The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism'', Columbia University Press (2007), pp. 69–70</ref> and [[Ansarullah Bangla Team|Ansarullah Bangla]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/may/25/ansarullah-bangla-team-banned|title=Ansarullah Bangla Team banned|work=dhakatribune.com|date=25 May 2015|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527045656/http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/67459/Ansarullah-Bangla-Team-banned|archive-date=27 May 2015}}</ref> have been involved in bombings and attacks on activists. In [[India]], [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Lashkar-e-Toiba|title=Lashkar-e-Toiba |dictionary=dictionary.com |year=2003 |access-date=27 August 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040811141123/http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=lashkar-e-toiba |archive-date=11 August 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishhighcommission.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1031627751059 |title=Speech by the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP to the Confederation of Indian Industry Bangalore, India 5 January 2002 |publisher=britishhighcommission.gov |date=January 2002 |access-date=24 June 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123113931/http://www.britishhighcommission.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1031627751059 |archive-date=23 November 2007 }}</ref> and [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1804228.stm |title=SOUTH ASIA &#124; Jaish-e-Mohammad: A profile |work=BBC News |date=6 February 2002 |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Attack_May_Spoil_Kashmir_Summit.html |title=Attack May Spoil Kashmir Summit |publisher=Spacewar.com |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> are responsible for numerous attacks,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/all-you-need-to-know-about-711/article7640887.ece|title=All you need to know about the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts|date=11 September 2015|work=The Hindu|access-date=29 August 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> while [[Terrorism in Pakistan|Pakistan]] and [[Terrorism in Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]] have also faced Islamist attacks.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/world/asia/ntj-sri-lanka-national-thowheeth-jamaath.html |title = Local Group is Blamed for Attacks, but Sri Lanka Suspects 'International Network'|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 22 April 2019|last1 = Bradsher|first1 = Keith|last2 = Garcia|first2 = Sandra E.}}</ref> The [[Abu Sayyaf|Abu Sayyaf Group]]<ref name="24threlease">{{cite press release|title=FBI updates most wanted terrorists and seeking information – War on Terrorism Lists|date=24 February 2006|publisher=FBI National Press Office|url=https://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel06/mostwantedterrorists022406.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805113636/http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel06/mostwantedterrorists022406.htm |archive-date=5 August 2009}}</ref> in the [[Terrorism in the Philippines|Philippines]] continued a long-running [[insurgency]] until 2024.<ref name="TKBAbu">{{cite web|url=http://tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=204|title=Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)|publisher=MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base|access-date=20 September 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827045351/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=204|archive-date=27 August 2006}}</ref><ref name="24threlease"/>

=== Europe ===

{{Main|Islamic terrorism in Europe|Al-Qaeda activities in Europe}}
{{See also|Foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars}}
{{image frame
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|caption=Planned and foiled Jihadist terror attacks in Europe. Numbers for 2017 and 2018 are preliminary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-hasnt-won-the-war-on-terror/|title=Europe hasn't won the war on terror|last=Nesser|first=Petter|date=5 December 2018|website=[[Politico]]|access-date=9 December 2018}}</ref>
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The Europe has seen significant Islamist terrorist attacks,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dearden|first1=Lizzie|title=Paris attack: Isis warns 'This is just the beginning' after killing at least 127 people in French capital|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-attacks-this-is-just-the-beginning-isis-vows-after-killing-at-least-127-people-in-french-a6734546.html|access-date=17 November 2015|newspaper=The Independent|date=15 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Europol17">{{Cite book|title=EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2017|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/eu-terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-te-sat-2017|publisher=Europol|year=2017|page=10|isbn=978-9295200791}}</ref><ref name="Europol18">{{cite book|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/tesat_2018.pdf|title=European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2018 (TE SAT 2018)|date=2018|publisher=[[Europol]]|isbn=978-92-95200-91-3|pages=5–9, 22–25, 35–36|access-date=23 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620144052/https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/tesat_2018.pdf|archive-date=20 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.normativeorders.net/de/presse/medienecho/40-presse/presse-echo/5606-dschihadisten-als-elitetruppe-des-islams-eine-klare-ablehnung-dieser-position-durch-islamische-verbaende-in-deutschland-fehlt-von-susanne-schroeter|title=Dschihadisten als Elitetruppe des Islams. Eine klare Ablehnung dieser Position durch islamische Verbände in Deutschland fehlt / Von Susanne Schröter|last=Storm|first=Linde|website=normativeorders.net|language=de-de|access-date=1 December 2018|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027190000/https://www.normativeorders.net/de/presse/medienecho/40-presse/presse-echo/5606-dschihadisten-als-elitetruppe-des-islams-eine-klare-ablehnung-dieser-position-durch-islamische-verbaende-in-deutschland-fehlt-von-susanne-schroeter|url-status=dead}}</ref> including the [[2004 Madrid train bombings|2004 Madrid bombings]],<ref name="Great Disaster">{{Cite book |last1=Genzmer |first1=Herbert |title=Great Disasters |last2=Kershner |first2=Sybille |last3=Schutz |first3=Christian |date=1989 |isbn=9781445410968 |page=197 |publisher=Parragon |language=English}}</ref><ref name="Elizabeth Nash">{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1961431.ece|title=Madrid bombers 'were inspired by bin Laden address' |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=UK|author=Elizabeth Nash|date=7 November 2006|access-date=16 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706184144/http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1961431.ece|archive-date=6 July 2008|quote=While the bombers may have been inspired by bin Laden, a two-year investigation into the attacks has found no evidence that al-Qa'ida helped plan, finance or carry out the bombings, or even knew about them in advance. Ten bombs in backpacks and other small bags, such as gym bags, exploded. One bomb did not explode and was defused. The police did controlled explosions on three other bombs.}}</ref> the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|2005 London bombings]],<ref name="lucky-driver">{{cite news |title=I'm lucky to be here, says driver |date=11 July 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4671767.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110184312/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4671767.stm |archive-date=10 November 2006 |url-status=live |access-date=12 November 2006}}</ref><ref name="north-diary">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4670099.stm |title=Coming together as a city |access-date=12 November 2006 |date=15 July 2005 |last=North |first=Rachel |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=29 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929073251/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4670099.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[November 2015 Paris attacks|2015 Paris attacks]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/france-honors-victims-of-paris-terrorist-attacks-1448635450|title=France honors victims of Paris terrorist attacks|date=27 November 2015|access-date=21 January 2016|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|author1=Jason Chow|author2=Nick Kostov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127091740/http://www.wsj.com/articles/france-honors-victims-of-paris-terrorist-attacks-1448635450|archive-date=27 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34827497 |title=What happened at the Bataclan? |work=BBC News |access-date=27 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206231915/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34827497 |archive-date=6 December 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-is-what-happened-at-the-bataclan-concert-hall-during-the-paris-attacks/ |title=This Is What Happened at the Bataclan Concert Hall During the Paris Attacks |work=News.vice.com |date=25 November 2015 |access-date=27 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830110538/https://news.vice.com/article/this-is-what-happened-at-the-bataclan-concert-hall-during-the-paris-attacks |archive-date=30 August 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref> all of which caused numerous casualties. A report highlights that jihadist terrorism has been responsible for the majority of deaths from terrorism in Europe from 2001 to 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|title= Daily chart: Terror attacks |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/01/daily-chart-8|newspaper=The Economist|date=15 January 2015}}</ref> It also discusses how jihadists in Europe have financed their activities through petty crime and how terrorist attacks have increasingly targeted people rather than property.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://icsr.info/2016/10/new-icsr-report-criminal-pasts-terrorist-futures-european-jihadists-new-crime-terror-nexus/|title=Criminal Pasts, Terrorist Futures: European Jihadists and the New Crime-Terror Nexus / ICSR|date=11 October 2016|work=[[The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence]]|access-date=14 July 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dTt0rG_B130C&pg=PA103|title=Understanding Terrorism in the Age of Global Media: A Communication Approach|last=Archetti|first=Cristina|date=29 October 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-36049-5|pages=103|language=en|quote=The London think tank, International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) [...]}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Countries like [[Terrorist activity in Belgium|Belgium]],<ref name="arab">[[Arab News]], [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=51493&d=15&m=9&y=2004 Suspect admits being al-Qaeda link in Belgium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309030546/http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=51493&d=15&m=9&y=2004 |date=9 March 2016 }}, 15 September 2004</ref><ref name=Bbc20051202>{{cite news | date=2 December 2005 | title=Belgian 'suicide bomber' is named | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4488642.stm | publisher=BBC | access-date=9 April 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715001518/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4488642.stm | archive-date=15 July 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Netherlands]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Rosman|first=Cyril|date=11 December 2018|title=Toestand van slachtoffer 'terreursteker' Amsterdam CS is 'catastrofaal'|language=nl|newspaper=[[Algemeen Dagblad]]|url=https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/toestand-van-slachtof-fer-terreur-ste-ker-amsterdam-cs-is-catastrofaal~a2a13314/|access-date=13 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="life imprisonment">{{Cite news|date=20 March 2020|title=Gökmen T. krijgt levenslang voor aanslag in Utrechtse tram|language=nl-NL|work=nu.nl|url=https://www.nu.nl/schietpartij-utrecht/6039024/gokmen-t-krijgt-levenslang-voor-aanslag-in-utrechtse-tram.html|access-date=20 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Knivman i Amsterdam ville hämnas skymfandet av islam|url=https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2018/09/03/knivman-i-amsterdam-ville-hamnas-skymfandet-av-islam|access-date=19 January 2019|website=svenska.yle.fi|date=3 September 2018 |language=sv-FI}}</ref> [[Terrorism in France|France]],<ref name="ispi2018">{{Cite book|url=https://www.ispionline.it/sites/default/files/pubblicazioni/mediterraneo_def_web.pdf|title=De-Radicalization in the Mediterranean – Comparing Challenges and Approaches|last=Vidino|display-authors=etal|publisher=ISPI|year=2018|isbn=9788867058198|location=Milano|pages=13–15, 24, 26, 35–36, 42–43, 48, 62–63, 69–70}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2016/07/26/le-terrorisme-islamiste-a-fait-236-morts-en-france-en-18-mois_4975000_4355770.html|title=Le terrorisme islamiste a fait 236 morts en France en 18 mois|date=26 July 2016|work=Le Monde|language=fr|quote=De l'attaque de « Charlie Hebdo » et de l'« Hyper casher » en janvier 2015 à la mort du père Jacques Hamel à Saint-Etienne-de-Rouvray, mardi 26 juillet, ce sont 236 personnes qui ont perdu la vie dans des attentats et attaques terroristes|access-date=27 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Terrorisme: deux attentats islamistes déjoués en 2020, 33 depuis 2017|url=https://www.rtl.fr/actu/justice-faits-divers/terrorisme-deux-attentats-islamistes-dejoues-en-2020-33-depuis-2017-7800949425|access-date=10 January 2021|website=RTL.fr|date=3 January 2021 |language=fr-FR}}</ref> and [[Terrorism in Germany|Germany]] have faced multiple attacks,<ref>{{cite web|date=20 July 2020|title=Terroristen "kein Massenphänomen" in der Flüchtlingskrise|url=https://www.merkur.de/politik/terroristen-kein-massenphaenomen-in-fluechtlingskrise-zr-13837730.html|access-date=28 July 2020|website=Merkur.de|language=de}}</ref> with Belgium being a significant base for planning attacks like the [[November 2015 Paris attacks|2015 Paris attacks]]. Despite proximity to conflict zones, [[Terrorism in Italy|Italy]] has had relatively fewer jihadist incidents.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Marone|first=Francesco|date=13 March 2017|title=The Use of Deportation in Counter-Terrorism: Insights from the Italian Case|website=International Center for Counter-Terrorism|url=https://icct.nl/publication/the-use-of-deportation-in-counter-terrorism-insights-from-the-italian-case/|language=en-US|access-date=21 December 2018|archive-date=21 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221134649/https://icct.nl/publication/the-use-of-deportation-in-counter-terrorism-insights-from-the-italian-case/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/measure-expulsions-extremism-21804|title=The measure of expulsions for extremism|last=ispisito|date=14 December 2018|website=ISPI|language=en|access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref> The EU report found that most Islamist terror suspects were second or third-generation [[Immigration|immigrants]],<ref name="Europol-2009a">{{cite web|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/tesat2009_1.pdf|title=EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report TE-SAT 2009|year=2009|publisher=[[Europol]]|page=21|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref> while over 99% of attempted terrorist attacks in Europe in the past three years were committed by non-Muslims.<ref name="Europol-2009a" />{{rp|48}}

In [[Terrorism in Norway|Norway]], two men were sentenced in 2012 under anti-terror legislation for plotting against cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/terror-prozess-in-oslo-haftstrafen-fuer-geplanten-mord-an-mohammed-zeichner-a-812250.html|title=Terror-Prozess in Oslo: Haftstrafen für geplanten Mord an Mohammed-Zeichner|date=30 January 2012|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref> [[Russia]] has faced politically and religiously motivated attacks,<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 September 2014 |title=Salafist-Takfiri Jihadism: the Ideology of the Caucasus Emirate |url=http://www.ict.org.il/Article/132/Salafist-Takfiri%20Jihadism%20the%20Ideology%20of%20the%20Caucasus%20Emirate |access-date=11 February 2022 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903083632/http://www.ict.org.il/Article/132/Salafist-Takfiri%20Jihadism%20the%20Ideology%20of%20the%20Caucasus%20Emirate |archive-date=3 September 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> particularly in Chechnya, including the [[Moscow theater hostage crisis|2002 Moscow theater]]<ref name="Satter">{{cite book |title=It Was a Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past |author-link=David Satter |first=David |last=Satter |publisher=Yale University Press |date=13 December 2011 |page=303 |isbn=978-0300111453 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2365383.stm|title=Gas 'killed Moscow hostages'|date=27 October 2002|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=29 October 2002|archive-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731010211/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2365383.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Beslan school siege|2004 Beslan school hostage crises]],<ref>''Foreign Affairs'', January/February 2008, p. 74, "The Myth of the Authoritarian Model"</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/40b2b7e8-3e84-11df-a706-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/40b2b7e8-3e84-11df-a706-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=Changing face of terror in Russia|work=Financial Times|access-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> linked to groups like the [[Caucasus Emirate]]. [[Terrorism in Spain|Spain]] has seen jihadist activity since the 1990s, highlighted by the [[2004 Madrid train bombings]]<ref name="Great Disaster" /><ref name="Elizabeth Nash"/> and the [[2017 Barcelona attacks]].<ref name="BBCWhatVictims">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40973119|title=Spain attack: What do we know about the victims?|date=21 August 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=22 August 2017}}</ref> In [[terrorism in Sweden|Sweden]], terrorist incidents have occurred like the [[2010 Stockholm bombings]]<ref name="cnn">{{cite news |title=Explosions in Stockholm believed to be failed terrorist attack |first=Per |last=Nyberg |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/11/sweden.explosion/index.html?hpt=T1 |newspaper=[[CNN]] |date=12 December 2010 |access-date=12 December 2010}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |title=Stockholm blasts kill one and injure two |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11977524 |newspaper=[[BBC]] |date=11 December 2010 |access-date=12 December 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101212044235/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11977524| archive-date=12 December 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 April 2011 |title=TE-SAT 2011: EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (PDF)|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/te-sat-2011-eu-terrorism-situation-and-trend-report|access-date=2020-08-15|website=Europol |page=15 |language=en}}</ref> and the [[2017 Stockholm truck attack]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/punkt-for-punkt-det-har-visar-stamningsansokan-mot-akilov/|title=Punkt för punkt – det här visar stämningsansökan mot Akilov|date=30 January 2018|work=[[Dagens Nyheter]]|access-date=30 January 2018|language=sv-se}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/sthlm/stockholm-terrorist-rakhmat-akilov-sentenced-to-life-in-prison/|title=Stockholm terrorist Rakhmat Akilov sentenced to life in prison|last=Jones|first=Evelyn|date=7 June 2018|work=Dagens Nyheter|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref>

=== Middle East ===

Militant Islamism in [[Turkey]] primarily has [[Kurdish nationalism|Kurdish]] roots,<ref name="ReferenceA">*German Jihad: On the Internationalisation of Islamist Terrorism by Guido Steinberg. Columbia University Press, 2013</ref> with groups like [[Kurdish Hezbollah|Turkish Hizbullah]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Kohlmann|first=Evan|author-link=Evan Kohlmann |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/kohlmann200311250844.asp|title=Terrorized Turkey: Pointing fingers at al Qaeda|work=National Review |date=25 November 2003|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040217221333/http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/kohlmann200311250844.asp |archive-date=17 February 2004}}</ref> and [[Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front|İBDA-C]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html|title=Türkiye'de Halen Faaliyetlerine Devam Eden Başlıca Terör Örgütleri|language=tr|trans-title=Current Operations Continuing in Turkey – Major Terrorist Organizations |work=egm.gov.tr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020827063338/http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html|archive-date=27 August 2002}}</ref> opposing Turkish secularism. [[Terrorism in Iraq|Iraq]] has experienced terrorist activity,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Atran|first=Scott|author-link=Scott Atran|url=http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/twq06spring_atran.pdf |title=The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism|journal=The Washington Quarterly |year=2006 |volume=29 |issue=2 |page=131 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623022648/http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/twq06spring_atran.pdf|archive-date=23 June 2015|doi=10.1162/wash.2006.29.2.127|s2cid=154382700}}</ref> especially during the [[Iraq War|US-led Iraq War]].<ref>[https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror_06.pdf Report on Terrorist Incidents – 2006] 6600 out of 14000</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Atran|first=Scott|author-link=Scott Atran|url=http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/twq06spring_atran.pdf |title=The Moral Logic and Growth of Suicide Terrorism|journal=The Washington Quarterly |year=2006 |volume=29 |issue=2 |page=131 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623022648/http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/satran/files/twq06spring_atran.pdf|archive-date=23 June 2015|doi=10.1162/wash.2006.29.2.127|s2cid=154382700}}</ref> In [[Palestine]] and  [[Israel]]i territories, groups such as [[Hamas]]<ref>''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' by Gilles Kepel, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, (2002), p. 331</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Waked|first=Ali|author2=Roee Nahmias|date=9 February 2006|title=Putin: Hamas not a terror organization|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3213707,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324183227/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3213707,00.html|archive-date=24 March 2006|access-date=11 February 2022|work=Ynet|location=Israel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm |title=The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) |publisher=Mideastweb.org |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> and the [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad Movement]]<ref>p. 122, ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam'' by Gilles Kepel</ref> have launched numerous attacks against Israel. Additionally, [[Fatah al-Islam]]<ref name="Figaro_20070416">''Le Figaro'' (16 April 2007). [http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070416.WWW000000477_fatah_al_islam_the_new_terrorist_threat_hanging_over_lebanon.html "Fatah Al-Islam: the new terrorist threat hanging over Lebanon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606101014/http://www.lefigaro.fr/english/20070416.WWW000000477_fatah_al_islam_the_new_terrorist_threat_hanging_over_lebanon.html |date=6 June 2007 }}. Retrieved 20 May 2007.</ref> operates in [[Lebanon]] with goals of establishing Islamic law in [[Palestinian refugee camps]].<ref name="Reuters_FactBox">Reuters (20 May 2007). [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20400320.htm "Facts about militant group Fatah al-Islam"]. Retrieved 20 May 2007.</ref><ref name="IHT_20070315">''International Herald Tribune'' (15 March 2007). [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/15/news/lebanon.php] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515071626/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/15/news/lebanon.php|date=15 May 2008}}</ref>

=== Americas ===

In [[Terrorism in Canada|Canada]], the government identifies terrorism as a significant threat,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-says-islamicism-biggest-threat-to-canada-1.1048280|title=Harper says 'Islamicism' biggest threat to Canada  |date=6 September 2011 |publisher=CBC News – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.ca |access-date=16 October 2011}}</ref> particularly emphasizing domestic radicalization,<ref>{{cite news |last=Macleod|first=Ian|url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=09fe30f3-84ad-458e-b8e7-8add2a9fc8c7|title=CSIS focuses on homegrown terrorism threat|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|date=14 March 2008|access-date=16 October 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317192234/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=09fe30f3-84ad-458e-b8e7-8add2a9fc8c7 |archive-date=17 March 2008}}</ref> as seen in the [[2006 Ontario terrorism plot|2006 Ontario terrorism]] plot involving an [[Al-Qaeda]]-inspired cell.<ref>{{cite web |last=Seymour |first=Andrew |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/RCMP+homegrown+terror+suspects+were+preparing+build+IEDs/3445591/story.html |title=RCMP say homegrown terror suspects were preparing to build IEDs |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=26 August 2010 |access-date=16 October 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the [[terrorism in the United States|United States]], the [[September 11 attacks|9/11 attacks]] resulted in nearly 3,000 fatalities<ref name="The New York Times">{{Cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |last2=Cooper |first2=Helene |last3=Barnes |first3=Julian |last4=Schmitt |first4=Eric |date=August 1, 2022 |title=U.S. Drone Strike Kills Ayman al-Zawahri, Top Qaeda Leader |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/politics/al-qaeda-strike-afghanistan.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801215209/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/politics/al-qaeda-strike-afghanistan.html |archive-date=August 1, 2022}}</ref> and initiated the [[War on terror|War on Terror]], with homegrown extremism highlighted as a major concern.<ref name="Hayden">{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/167252-former-intel-chief-homegrown-terrorism-is-a-devil-of-a-problem/|title=Former intel chief: Homegrown terrorism is a 'devil of a problem'|last=Yager|first=Jordy|date=25 July 2010|work=The Hill}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Saslow|first=Eli |title=A one-man mission to stop homegrown Somali terrorism in U.S.|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015571420_somali11.html|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=12 July 2011|access-date=12 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922105411/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015571420_somali11.html |archive-date=22 September 2011}}</ref> [[Terrorism in Australia|Australia]] and [[Terrorism in New Zealand|New Zealand]] have also experienced notable attacks, such as the [[Lindt Cafe siege|Lindt Café siege]]<ref name="Ensor">{{cite news|first1=Josie|last1=Ensor|first2=Jonathan|last2=Pearlman|title=Victims of Sydney siege hailed as heroes after they die protecting hostages|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11295658/Victims-of-Sydney-siege-hailed-as-heroes-after-they-die-protecting-hostages.html|access-date=17 December 2014|work=The Telegraph (UK)|date=15 December 2014|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216234857/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11295658/Victims-of-Sydney-siege-hailed-as-heroes-after-they-die-protecting-hostages.html|archive-date=16 December 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=SMHInquest>{{cite news|last=Box|first=Dan|title=Sydney siege inquest: Lindt Cafe deaths investigated|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/sydney-siege/sydney-siege-inquest-lindt-cafe-deaths-investigated/story-fnqxbywy-1227200443586|date=29 January 2015|work=The Australian|access-date=22 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525192306/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/sydney-siege/sydney-siege-inquest-lindt-cafe-deaths-investigated/story-fnqxbywy-1227200443586|archive-date=25 May 2015|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and the [[2021 Auckland supermarket stabbing|Auckland supermarket stabbing]].<ref name="1News3Sept">{{cite AV media|date=3 September 2021|title=Full video: Jacinda Ardern, Andrew Coster speak after terrorist attack at Auckland mall
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNeGFNmclEc|medium=Television production|work=[[1News]]|publisher=[[TVNZ]]|via=Youtube|access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="AP1">{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Nick |date=3 September 2021 |title=New Zealand police were following extremist who stabbed 6 |url=https://apnews.com/article/police-new-zealand-islamic-state-group-2bbbbc9f3e4249fba2c519dda5e8f05f |access-date=4 September 2021 |website=Associated Press |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=3 September 2021|title=New Zealand PM Ardern says supermarket stabbing was 'terrorist attack'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58405213|access-date=3 September 2021}}</ref> In [[Terrorism in Argentina|Argentina]], the [[1992 Buenos Aires Israeli embassy bombing|1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/interviews/baer.html|title=Interviews – Robert Baer – Terror And Tehran|publisher=PBS Frontline|access-date=7 January 2015|date=2 May 2002}}</ref> and the [[AMIA bombing|1994 AMIA bombing]]<ref name="BBC Iran">{{cite news|title=Iran, Hezbollah charged in 1994 Argentine bombing|newspaper=[[Daily Jang]]|date=25 October 2006|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=11864 |access-date=25 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901221807/http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=11864 |archive-date=1 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Iran charged over Argentina bomb|newspaper=BBC News|date=25 October 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6085768.stm|access-date=25 October 2006|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061107173306/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6085768.stm|archive-date=7 November 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> were linked to terrorist groups and Iran,<ref name="La Nación October 2006">[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=852740 Acusan a Irán por el ataque a la AMIA], ''[[La Nación]]'', 26 October 2006</ref> resulting in significant casualties and political repercussions.

=== Transnational ===
{{Main|Al-Qaeda}}

[[Al-Qaeda]]'s stated aim is the use of jihad to defend and protect Islam against [[Zionism]], [[Christianity]], the secular West, and Muslim governments such as Saudi Arabia, which it sees as insufficiently Islamic and too closely tied to the United States.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm |title=Full transcript of bin Ladin's speech |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=1 November 2004|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114224216/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm|archive-date=14 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Michael|first=Maggie|url=http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation/terror/20041029-1423-binladentape.html|title=Bin Laden, in statement to U.S. people, says he ordered Sept. 11 attacks|work=The San Diego Union-Tribune|agency=Associated Press|date=29 October 2004|access-date=4 August 2016|archive-date=3 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903021049/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20041029-1423-binladentape.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3966817.stm |title=Excerpts: Bin Laden video|work=BBC News|date=29 October 2004|access-date=4 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Langhorne |first=R. |year=2006 |title=The Essentials of – Global Politics |publisher=Hodder Arnold}}</ref>

== Organizations ==
<!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->

=== Sunni ===

* [[Al-Badr (Jammu and Kashmir)|Al-Badr]], [[Kashmir]]
* [[Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya]], Egypt
* [[Al-Muhajiroun]], Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, UK
* [[Al-Qaeda]], worldwide
** [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula|in the Arabian Penisula]], self-declared [[Islamic Emirate of Yemen]] between [[Battle of Mukalla (2015)|2015]]–2020
** [[Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent|in the Indian subcontient]]
** [[Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb|in the Islamic Maghreb]]
** [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]], Somalia – self-declared [[Islamic Emirate of Somalia]]
** [[Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin]], [[West Africa]] and [[Maghreb]]
* [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]], Iraq 
* [[Ansar al-Sharia (Libya)|Ansar al-Sharia]], Libya
* [[Al-Umar-Mujahideen]], Kashmir
* [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria|Armed Islamic Group]] (GIA), Algeria
* [[Boko Haram]], Nigeria
* [[Caucasus Emirate]] (IK), Russia
* [[Turkistan Islamic Party|Turkistan Islamic Movement]] (TIP), China
* [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]], Egypt
* [[Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front]] (İBDA-C), Turkey
* [[Hamas]], Gaza Strip and West Bank – [[Gaza Strip under Hamas|ruling Gaza Strip]] since [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|2007]]
* [[Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami]], [[South Asia]]
* [[Harkat-ul-Mujahideen]], Pakistan and Kashmir
* [[Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham]] (HTS), Syria – led the [[Syrian caretaker government|Syrian transitional government]] in [[2024 Syrian opposition offensives|2024]] and dissolved itself in [[Syrian Revolution Victory Conference|2025]]
* [[Hizbul Mujahideen]], Kashmir 
* [[Indian Mujahideen]], India
* [[Islamic Movement of Central Asia]], [[Central Asia]]
* [[Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan]], [[Uzbekistan]]
* [[Islamic State]] (IS), worldwide – self-declared [[caliphate]] under a [[Territory of the Islamic State|quasi-state]] with [[Territory of the Islamic State#Provinces|various provinces]]
* [[Jaish-e-Mohammed]], Pakistan and Kashmir
* [[Jaysh al-Ummah (Gaza)|Jaysh al-Ummah]], Gaza Strip
* [[Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna]], Iraq
* [[Jemaah Islamiyah]], Indonesia
* [[Kurdish Hezbollah]], Turkey
* [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]], Pakistan and Kashmir
* [[Lashkar-e-Jhangvi]], Pakistan
* [[Moro Islamic Liberation Front]], Philippines
* [[Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group]], Morocco and Europe
* [[Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam]], [[Assam]]
* [[National Thowheeth Jama'ath]], Sri Lanka
* [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]], Gaza Strip and West Bank
* [[Students' Islamic Movement of India]], India
* [[Taliban]], Afganistan – ruling Afganistan since [[2021 Taliban offensive|2021]], formerly [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|ruled most of country]] between 1996–[[United States invasion of Afghanistan|2001]]
* [[Pakistani Taliban]], Pakistan and Afghanistan

=== Shia ===
* [[Al-Ashtar Brigades]], Bahrain
* [[Al-Mukhtar Brigades]], Bahrain
* [[Hezbollah]], Lebanon
* [[Hezbollah Al-Hejaz]], Saudi Arabia
* [[Houthi movement]], Yemen – led the [[Supreme Political Council]] since 2016
* [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] (IRGC), Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria – multi-service primary branch of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces|Iranian Armed Forces]]
** [[Quds Force]]
* [[Liwa Fatemiyoun]], Afghanistan
* [[Liwa Zainebiyoun]], Pakistan
* Certain factions of [[Popular Mobilization Forces]] (PMF) and [[Islamic Resistance in Iraq]] (IRI), Iraq, Syria
** [[Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq]] (military wing)
** [[Badr Organization]] (military wing)
** [[Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya]]
** [[Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba]]
** [[Kata'ib Hezbollah]]
** [[Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada]]
* [[Promised Day Brigade]], Iraq
* [[Waad Allah Brigades]], Bahrain
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
{{div col end}}

== See also ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Portal|Islam}}
* [[9/11]]
* [[26/11]]
* [[Arab–Israeli conflict]]
* [[Christian terrorism]]
* [[Criticism of Islamism]]
* [[Domestic terrorism]]
* [[History of terrorism]]
* [[Iran and state-sponsored terrorism]]
* [[Islamic extremism]]
* [[Islamism]]
* [[Jewish terrorism]]
* [[Jihadism]]
* [[List of Islamist terrorist attacks]]
* [[Palestinian political violence]]
* [[Religion and peacebuilding]]
* [[Religious exclusivism#Islam]]
* [[Religion of peace]]
* [[Religious war]]
* [[United States and state-sponsored terrorism]]
* [[Afzal Guru]]
* [[Ajmal Kasab]]
* [[Hindu terrorism]]
* [[Hindutva]]
* [[Hindu nationalism]]

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist|group=Note}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|last1=Kepel|first1=Gilles|title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam|url=https://archive.org/details/jihad00gill_0 |url-access=registration|date=2002|publisher=Harvard University Press.|ref=GKJTPI2002|isbn=978-0-674-01090-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Bin Laden|first1=Osama |author-link1=Osama bin Laden|last2=Lawrence|first2=Bruce|author-link2=Bruce Lawrence|title=Messages to the world: the statements of Osama Bin Laden|isbn=978-1-84467-045-1|year=2005|publisher=Verso|url=https://archive.org/details/messagestoworlds00binl|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book | title=Challenges of the muslim world: present, future and past |author1=Cooper, William Wager |author2=Yue, Piyu | publisher=Emerald Group Publishing | year=2008 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qwuhK3BBH8C|isbn=978-0-444-53243-5 }}
* {{cite book | title=Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam | author=Dreyfuss, Robert | publisher=Macmillan | year=2006 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdfLNSnUx-AC| isbn=978-0-8050-8137-4 }}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingter00sage |url-access=registration | title=Understanding terror networks |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press | isbn=978-0-8122-3808-2| author1=Sageman, Marc |year=2004}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Scheuer| first1 = Michael| last2= Anonymous | title = Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror| publisher=Potomac Books (formerly Brassey's, Inc.)| year = 2004| location = Dulles, Virginia| url =https://archive.org/details/imperialhubriswh00anon| url-access = registration| isbn = 978-0-9655139-4-4}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book| ref=none |last1=Ishaq |first1=Ibn |last2=Guillaume |first2=A. |author-link1=Ibn Ishaq |author-link2=A. Guillaume |date=18 July 2002 |title=The Life of Muhammad |url=https://archive.org/details/GuillaumeATheLifeOfMuhammad |language=en |location=United States |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-636033-1 |oclc=911693736 |pages=860}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Holy Terror: Inside the World of Islamic Terrorism|last = Amir|first = Taheri|publisher = Adler & Adler|year = 1987|isbn = 978-0-917561-45-0|title-link = Amir Taheri}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Talking to the Enemy|last = Atran|first = Scott|publisher = Ecco Press / HarperCollins, US; Allen Lane/Penguin, UK|year = 2010|isbn = 978-0-06-134490-9}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = The Legacy of Jihad|last = Bostom|first = Andrew|publisher = Prometheus Books|year = 2005|isbn = 978-1-59102-307-4|title-link = The Legacy of Jihad|oclc=900607541}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = The Rise of the Islamic Empire and the Threat to the West|last = Dennis|first =Anthony J. |publisher = Wyndham Hall Press, Ohio|year = 1996|isbn = 978-1-55605-268-2}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Osama Bin Laden: A Psychological and Political Portrait|last = Dennis|first =Anthony J. |publisher = Wyndham Hall Press, Ohio|year = 2002|isbn = 978-1-55605-341-2}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom|last = Durie |first=Mark |publisher = Deror Books|year = 2010|isbn = 978-0-9807223-0-7|title-link = The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom|oclc=695930410}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title=The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? |last=Esposito |first=John L. |publisher=Oxford University Press, US |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-19-510298-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/islamicthreatmyt00espo_0 }}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam|last = Esposito|first = John L.|publisher = Oxford University Press, US|year = 2003|isbn = 978-0-19-516886-0}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title=Islamic Terror: Conscious and Unconscious Motives|date=2008|publisher=Praeger Security International|isbn=978-0-313-35764-0|location=Westport, Connecticut|last1=Falk|first1=Avner}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Jihad in the West: Muslim Conquests from the 7th to the 21st Centuries|last = Fregosi|first = Paul|publisher = Prometheus Books|year = 1998|isbn = 978-1-57392-247-0|url = https://archive.org/details/jihadinwestmusli00freg|oclc=248903444}}
* [[Brigitte Gabriel|Gabriel, Brigitte]]. (2006). ''Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America.'' St. Martin's Press. {{ISBN|0312358377}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics of the Middle East|last = Halliday|first = Fred|publisher = I.B. Tauris, New York|year = 2003|isbn = 978-1-86064-868-7}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Infidel|last = Hirsi Ali|first = Ayaan|publisher = Free Press|year = 2007|isbn = 978-0-7432-9503-1|author-link = Ayaan Hirsi Ali|title-link = Infidel: My Life}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = The Al Qaeda Reader|last = Ibrahim|first = Raymond|publisher = Broadway, US|year = 2007|isbn = 978-0-7679-2262-3|author-link=Raymond Ibrahim|oclc= 150386218}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Besenyo |first1=Janos |title=ATACURI PUŢIN COSTISITOARE, COMPLOTURI IMPERCEPTIBILE? PREZENTARE GENERALĂ PRIVIND CARACTERUL ECONOMIC AL TERORISMULUI ACTUAL |journal=Impact Strategic|trans-title=Low Cost Attacks, Imperceptible Plots? General Presentation on the Economic Character of Current Terrorism |date=2017 |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=84–101 |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=649568 |language=Romanian |issn=1582-6511}}.
* [[Gilles Kepel|Kepel, Gilles]]. ''[[Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam]]''.
* [[Gilles Kepel|Kepel, Gilles]]. ''[[The War for Muslim Minds]]''.
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Understanding Islam through Hadis|last = Swarup|first = Ram|publisher = Arvind Ghosh|year = 1982|isbn = 978-0-682-49948-4}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title=Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings|date=2011|publisher=[[Minhaj-ul-Quran UK|London: Minhaj-ul-Quran]]|isbn=978-0-9551888-9-3|first1=Muhammad|last1=Tahir-ul-Qadri|author-link=Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri|title-link=Fatwa on Terrorism}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = Why I Am Not a Muslim|last = [[Ibn Warraq]]|publisher = Prometheus Books|year = 1995|isbn = 978-0-87975-984-1|title-link = Why I Am Not a Muslim}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = The Islam in Islamic Terrorism: The Importance of Beliefs, Ideas, and Ideology|last = [[Ibn Warraq]]|publisher = New English Review|year = 2017|isbn = 978-1-943003-08-2|oclc=990505503}}
* {{Cite book| ref=none |title = [[The Decline of Eastern Christianity]] |last = Ye'or|first = Bat|publisher = [[Fairleigh Dickinson University Press]]|year = 1996|isbn = 978-0-8386-3678-7|oclc=876802597}}
{{refend}}

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