Islamic terrorism, sometimes referred to as Islamist terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism, or jihadist terrorism, is the term used to describe terrorist attacks committed by Islamic extremists and fundamentalist militant Islamists.
Islamist terrorist attacks have targeted both Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide since at least the 1990s. The majority of attacks have occurred in nations with a majority of Muslims, with research indicating that 80–90% of terrorist casualties are Muslims. Between 2011 and 2014, the annual number of terrorist attack deaths increased significantly, peaking at 33,438 before falling to 13,826 in 2019.
More than 80% of all casualties of Islamist terrorist acts between 1979 and April 2024 were members of five Islamic extremist organizations: the Taliban, Islamic State, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, and al-Qaeda. Armed, autonomous resistance groups have responded to these terrorists in some of the most severely hit Muslim-majority areas. Prominent Islamic individuals and organizations have also strongly denounced Islamist terrorism.
Islamic extremist organizations use their interpretations of the Quran, the hadith, and sharia law as justifications for their attacks on civilians.
Among these killings are armed jihadi retaliation for perceived injustices committed by unbelievers against Muslims; the conviction that many self-declared Muslims are disbelievers and have broken Islamic law (takfir); the belief that sharia law must be established to restore Islam, including by reestablishing the Caliphate as a pan-Islamic state (like ISIS); the glory and heavenly rewards of martyrdom (Istishhad); and the conviction that Islam is superior to all other religions. It has been argued that using forbidden declarations of takfir (excommunication) to justify violence is unacceptable.
The term "Islamic terrorism" is a contentious one. Those who disagree with the label "Islamic" have used terms such as "counter-productive," "highly politicized, intellectually contestable," and "damaging to community relations" in Western political discourse. Some have claimed that the term "Islamic terrorism" is misleading and that "Islamist terrorism" is the proper term.
Both US President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who were in office when the September 11 attacks occurred, have declared time and again that Islam has nothing to do with the fight against terrorism. Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, and scholar Bruce Lawrence are among many both inside and beyond the Islamic world who are against its usage because Islam and terrorism are unrelated.
"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," explained former US President Barack Obama in a 2016 town hall meeting, explaining why he chose the term "terrorism" rather than "Islamic terrorism." However, I have taken care to avoid putting these killers in the same category as the billion Muslims worldwide when I discuss these problems."Some have claimed that the term "Islamic terrorism" is misleading and that "Islamist terrorism" is the proper term.
It is debatable if Islamic terrorism is a new development. Others, like Ibn Warraq, assert that "violent movements have arisen" since the beginning of Islam, including the Kharijites, Sahl ibn Salama, Barbahari, Kadizadeli movement, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and others, "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." Some people maintain that there was no terrorism in Islam before the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Some claim that the Kharijites of the 7th century began primarily as political figures but later evolved radical beliefs that distinguished them from both mainstream Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. The group gained notoriety for taking a hardline stance on takfir, declaring Muslim opponents to be unbelievers and so deserving of execution, as well as for bearing a striking resemblance to modern-day ISIL.
Several Marxist-Leninist and anti-imperialist groups swept over the Arab and Islamic world during the period of the anti-colonial struggle in North Africa and the Middle East, which coincided with the establishment of Israel in 1948. Though not Islamic, these movements were revolutionary and nationalist. However, the first wave of contemporary international terrorism was sparked by their belief that terrorism could be a useful tool for achieving their political objectives. Palestinian secular groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Al Fatah started attacking people beyond the local area of conflict in the late 1960s. Palestinian leaders realized that the Arab nations could not defeat Israel on the battlefield after Israel defeated Arab forces in 1967.
At the same time, the Palestinians were inspired to switch from guerilla warfare to urban terrorism by lessons learned from the Jewish resistance to the British in Palestine and revolutionary movements throughout Latin America, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Despite their secular orientation, these movements helped to disseminate terrorist strategies around the globe. Furthermore, the Middle East saw an increase in religiously motivated Islamic movements, backed by Saudi Arabia, that clashed with the then-dominant secular (Nasserist and Ba'athist) nationalist ideologies during 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).
The emergence and growth of terrorist organizations were initiated by the Soviet-Afghan conflict and the anti-Soviet mujahedin conflict that followed, which lasted from 1979 to 1989. The Pakistani-backed Taliban group in Afghanistan has acquired several traits typically associated with state sponsors of terrorism since its founding in 1994, including the provision of training facilities, travel documents, and logistical support. The worldwide scope of modern terrorism is highlighted by the growing readiness of religious fanatics to target targets outside of their immediate nation or region since 1989. This trend is exemplified by the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Pentagon and World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.
At least 146,811 individuals were killed in 31,221 Islamist terrorism acts between September 11, 2001, and April 21, 2019, according to research published by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. Muslims made up a large portion of the victims, including the majority of those murdered in assaults with 12 or more fatalities. 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 Muslim countries—Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria and Somalia.