Islamic extremism


Islamic extremism is any form of Islam that opposes "democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs." Related terms include Islamist extremism, fundamentalism and radical Islam. It is not to be confused with Islamism, which is politicized Islam. Islamic terrorism or Jihadism is very often the result of Islamic extremism, although not in every case.

Definitions

Islamic extremism and radical Islam are controversial terms, as their definitions may differ per context.

United Kingdom High Courts definition

The UK High Courts have ruled in two cases on Islamic extremism, and provided definition.
Aside from those, two major definitions have been offered for Islamic extremism, sometimes using overlapping but also distinct aspects of extreme interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:
The academic definition of radical Islam consists of two parts. The first being: Islamic thought that states that all ideologies other than Islam, whether associated with the West or the East have failed and have demonstrated their bankruptcy.
The second being: Islamic thought that states that secular regimes are wrong because of their negligence of Islam.

UK High Court rulings

There are two UK High Court cases that explicitly address the issue of Islamic extremism.
The judge refers to several grounds: section 20 of the 2006 Act; the definition of "terrorism" in section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and the decision of the Supreme Court in R v Gul.

October 2016 Shakeel Begg case

Begg, a prominent Muslim public figure and Imam at Lewisham Islamic Centre since 1998 lost his 2016 court case of Libel against the BBC. This case is noteworthy because the judge lists a 10-point definition of Islamic extremism that he used to determine the case:
In Charles Haddon-Cave's findings he wrote:
Extremist Islamic positions
118. In my view, the following constitute "extremist" Islamic positions.
  • First, a 'Manichean' view of the world. A total, eternal 'Manichean' worldview is a central tenet of violent Islamic extremism. It divides the world strictly into 'Us' versus 'Them': those who are blessed or saved on the one hand and those who are to be damned for eternity on the other. For violent Islamic extremists, the "wrong kind" of Muslim includes moderate Sunni Muslims, all Shia Muslims, and many others who are "mete for the sword" and can be killed, and anyone who associates or collaborates" with them...
  • Second, the reduction of jihad to qital ...
  • Third, the ignoring or flouting of the conditions for the declaration of armed jihad, i.e. the established Islamic doctrinal conditions for the declaration of armed combat set out above...
  • Fourth, the ignoring or flouting of the strict regulations governing the conduct of armed jihad, i.e. the stipulations in the Qur'an and the Sunna for the ethics of conducting qital set out above. Thus, the use of excessive violence, attacks on civilians, indiscriminate 'suicide' violence and the torture or the murder of prisoners would constitute violation of these regulations of jihad...
  • Fifth, advocating armed fighting in defence of Islam as a universal individual religious obligation...
  • Sixth, any interpretation of Shari'a that required breaking the 'law of the land'...
  • Seventh, the classification of all non-Muslims as unbelievers...
  • Eighth, the extreme Salafist Islamism doctrine that the precepts of the Muslim faith negate and supersede all other natural ties, such as those of family, kinship and nation...
  • Ninth, the citing with approval the fatwa of Islamic scholars who espouse extremist view...
  • Tenth, any teaching which, expressly or implicitly, encourages Muslims to engage in, or support, terrorism or violence in the name of Allah.

Key influences of radical Islam

Early Islam

According to the academic definition of radical Islam, the second condition for something to be called radical Islam, is that it is antigovernmental. Consequently, a government is a condition for radical Islam. However, even though the peace of Westphalia was established in 1648 and thusly introduced the nation state, the writings of the early Islam period are influential to the contemporary writings that were coined radical after the concept of the nation state was established in Islamic regions as well. Key influences of radical Islam that stem from early Islam include:

Kharijites

According to some contemporary Muslim commentators, extremism within Islam goes back to the 7th century to the Kharijites.
From their essentially political position, they developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunni and Shiʿa Muslims. Tradition traces the origin of the Kharijities to a battle between 'Ali and Mu'awiya at Siffin in 657. When 'Ali was faced with a military stalemate and agreed to submit the dispute to arbitration, some of his party withdrew their support from him. "Judgement belongs to God alone" became the slogan of these secessionists. They also called themselves al-shurat, "vendors", to reflect their willingness to sell their lives in martyrdom.
These original Kharijites opposed both 'Ali and Mu'awiya, and appointed their own leaders. They were decisively defeated by 'Ali, who was in turn assassinated by a Kharijite. Kharijites engaged in guerilla warfare against the Umayyads, but only became a movement to be reckoned with during the second civil war when they at one point controlled more territory than any of their rivals. Kharijites were, in fact, one of the major threats to Ibn al-Zubayr's bid for the caliphate; during this time they controlled Yamama and most of southern Arabia and captured the oasis town of al-Ta'if.
The most extreme faction of Kharijites was that of the Azariqa, who condemned all other Muslims as apostates, also known as the process of takfir. The Kharijites were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to takfir, whereby they declared other Muslims to be unbelievers and therefore deemed them worthy of death.The Azariqa controlled parts of western Iran under the Umayyads until they were finally put down in 699. The more moderate Ibadi Kharijites were longer-lived, continuing to wield political power in North and East Africa and in eastern Arabia during the 'Abbasid period.
Because of their readiness to declare any opponent an apostate, the extreme Kharijites tended to fragment into small groups. One of the few points that the various Kharijite splinter groups held in common was their view of the caliphate, which differed from other Muslim theories on two points.
By the time that Ibn al-Muqaffa' wrote his political treatise early in the 'Abassid period, the Kharijites were no longer a significant political threat, at least in the Islamic heartlands. The memory of the menace they had posed to Muslim unity and of the moral challenge generated by their pious idealism still weighed heavily on Muslim political and religious thought, however. Even if the Kharijites could no longer threaten, their ghosts still had to be answered. The Ibadis are the only Kharijite group to surivive into modern times.

Ibn Taymiyya

Contemporary Islam

The contemporary period begins after 1924. With the extinction of the Ottoman Empire, the caliphate was also abolished. This heavily influenced Islamic thinking in general, but also what would later be coined radial Islamic thought. Key thinkers that wrote about Islam in the 20th century, and especially about jihad, include:

Muhammad Abduh

Rashid Rida

Hassan al-Banna

Abul A'la al-Maududi

Sayyid Qutb

Sayyid Qutb could be said to have founded the actual movement of radical Islam. Unlike the other writers that have been mentioned above, Qutb is not an apologist. Some of the proponents of Islam emphasise peaceful political processes, whereas Sayyid Qutb in particular called for violence, and those followers are generally considered Islamic extremists and their stated goal is Islamic revolution with the intent to force implementation of Sharia law and/or an Islamic State Caliphate.

There are over 120 Islamic extremist groups active today. Below is a list of major groups active.

Groups

Group NameBannerHome BaseLeadersStrengthCasualtiesIdeology
Al-QaedaAfghanistan/Pakistan RegionAbdallah Azzam
Osama bin Laden
Ayman al-Zawahiri 		300–3,0004,400 casualtiesTo restore Islam and establish "true Islamic states," implement Sharia law, and rid the Muslim world of any non-Muslim influences and other teachings of Islamic author Sayyid Qutb. The title translates to "Organization of the Base of Jihad."
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic MaghrebKabylie Mountains, AlgeriaAbdelmalek Droukdel800–1,000+200+AQIM is an Islamist militant organization which aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state.
Al-Mourabitoun
a.k.a. al-Qaeda West Africa		Mali, Niger, LibyaMokhtar BelmokhtarUnder 100 Killed 27 in the 2015 Bamako hotel attack.Affiliated branch of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb listed above.
Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen
a.k.a. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula		YemenNasir al-Wuhayshi
Qasim al-Raymi 		2000+Over 250 killed in the 2012 Sana'a bombing and 2013 Sana'a attack.AQAP is considered the most active of al-Qaeda's branches, or "franchises," that emerged due to weakening central leadership. The U.S government believes AQAP to be the most dangerous al-Qaeda branch due to its emphasis on attacking the far enemy and its reputation for plotting attacks on overseas targets.
al-Qaeda in the Indian SubcontinentIndia, Pakistan, BangladeshAsim Umar300Claims 6 killed in assassinations. Naval frigate hijacking attempted in 2014.AQIS is an Islamist militant organization which aims to fight the Governments of Pakistan, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh in order to establish an Islamic state.
Boko Haram – West Africa Province of the Islamic State CaliphateNortheastern Nigeria, Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.Mohammed Yusuf
Abubakar Shekau 		Estimates range between 500 and 9,000Since 2009, it has killed 20,000 and displaced 2.3 million.Title means "Western Education is Sin," founded as a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist sect and influenced by the Wahhabi movement, advocating a strict form of Sharia law.
Hamas

a.k.a. Muslim Brotherhood of Palestine		Gaza StripKhaled Meshaal16,000+Since 1988 numerous rocket attacks and suicide bombers targeting IsraelFounded as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Its 1988 founding charter, steeped in Islamic rhetoric, calls for jihad to take all of historical Palestine, resulting in the destruction of Israel.
Hezbollah
a.k.a. The Party of Allah		LebanonSayyid Hassan Nasrallah1,000+Since 1982 numerous rocket attacks and suicide bombers targeting IsraelShi'a Islamist militant group with Jihadic paramilitary wing. Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the Ayatolla Khomeini's followers in the early 1980s in order to spread Islamic revolution.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant SyriaAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi15,000–20,000 inside Iraq and Syria30,000+ killed including Shia Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, other minorities in the Middle East and many others around the world by ISIL or groups associated or inspired by ISIL. Includes Boko HaramSalafi jihadist militant group that follows a fundamentalist, Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. Originated as the Islamic State of Iraq. Gained large swathes of territory in Iraq in 2014 and is currently at war with Iraq, Syria and a coalition of 60 other countries including the United States, United Kingdom and France.
Jemaah IslamiyahSoutheast Asia:
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
Abu Bakar Bashir5,000Over 250 killed in bombings throughout Indonesia since 2002With a name meaning "Islamic Congregation,", is a Southeast Asian militant Islamist terrorist group dedicated to the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia.
People's Mujahedin of Irana.k.a. Mojahedin-e-KhalqIran
Based in Albania and France		Massoud and Maryam Rajavi5,000 to 13,50016,000 to 100,000Islamic fundamentalist militant group that follows Shia Islamism and Marxism and was the "first Iranian organization to develop systematically a modern revolutionary interpretation of Islam – an interpretation that differed sharply from both the old conservative Islam of the traditional clergy and the new populist version formulated in the 1970s by Ayatollah Khomeini and his government". It is currently at conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran and is based in Paris, France and Albania. The group operates the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a political wing of the MEK and formerly had a military wing, the National Liberation Army.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
a.k.a. Pakistani Taliban		Northwest PakistanMaulana Fazlullah25,000hundredsTTP is an umbrella organization of various Islamist militant groups protecting foreign terrorists hiding in the mountains of Pakistan.
Jaish-e-MohammedKashmirMasood AzharAim is to annex Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan. operates primarily in Jammu and Kashmir State.
Lashkar-e Tayyiba
a.k.a. LeT		KashmirHafiz SaeedAim is to annex Jammu and Kashmir State to Pakistan and, ultimately, install Islamic rule throughout South Asia. Operational throughout India, especially in the north in Jammu and Kashmir State, since at least 1993.