80-586: Indian Mujahideen ( IM ) is an Islamist terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal Bhatkal , Riyaz Bhatkal , Yasin Bhatkal , Abdul Subhan Qureshi , Amir Reza Khan and Sadiq Israr Sheikh, among others. It has been active since at least 2005 when it bombed
160-489: A madrasa teacher from Azamgarh, may have pointed out the apartment. The raid resulted in the death of terrorists Bashir alias Mohammed Atif Amin (son of Mohammed Amin, cloth merchant in Bhiwandi , Mumbai) and Mohammad Sajid, and a decorated police officer, Mohan Chand Sharma , in the gunfight. Mohammad Saif (the son of Samajwadi Party leader Shadab Ahmed) was arrested while two hostiles managed to flee by possibly jumping
240-525: A gang with ties to radical Islamic groups, claimed responsibility. Malik was also wanted in connection with a case of kidnapping a Kolkata shoe baron Partha Pratim Roy Barman, who was later released on a ransom of ₹ 37.5 million. Four days after the attack, two men — Salim and Zahid — were killed in an encounter with a Delhi police team in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand . The police had come to know about
320-653: 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. 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. Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman in
400-503: 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. However, while
480-528: A struggle against "U.S./Western/Jewish aggression, oppression, and exploitation of Muslim lands and peoples". 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
560-588: A student. Some residents of Sarai Mir thought he was pursuing his bachelor's degree in technology from Jamia Hamdard . Atif was said to have been the leader of a group of 14 young men from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, all claiming to have been studying in Delhi: Atif, Sajid alias Pankaj (both now dead), Shehzad alias Pappu, Junaid, Shahdab Bhai alias Mallick, Sajid, Mohammad Khalid, Arif, Shakil, Zia Khan and Salman, Zeeshan and Mohammad Saif. Zeeshan Jawed
640-437: A way as to incur and benefit from Saudi largesse," and so propagate Wahhabi doctrines; The hundreds of Islamic colleges and Islamic centers, over a thousand mosques and schools for Muslim children, it financed often featured Wahhabi-friendly curriculum and religious materials such as textbooks explaining that all forms of Islam except Wahhabism were deviation, or the twelfth grade Saudi text that "instructs students that it
720-535: Is a misnomer for what should be called " Islamist terrorism". 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. 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 ,
800-627: 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 Kharijites , Sahl ibn Salama, Barbahari , Kadizadeli movement, 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
880-649: Is a religious obligation to do 'battle' against infidels in order to spread the faith". Wahhabi-friendly works distributed for free "financed by petroleum royalties" included those of Ibn Taymiyyah (author of the fatwa mentioned above against rulers who do not rule by sharia law). 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 other—benefited from billions of dollars in Saudi financing, as well as "weaponry and intelligence". The "root cause" of Muslim terrorism
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#1732766038403960-497: Is extremist ideology, according to Pakistani theologian Javed Ahmad Ghamidi , specifically the teachings that: Other authors have noted other elements of extremist Islamic ideology. Terror attacks requiring the death of the attacker are generally referred to as suicide attacks/bombings by the media, but when done by Islamists their perpetrators generally call such an attack Istishhad (or in English " martyrdom operation "), and
1040-562: Is known as Wahabism . Sponsored by 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), Nonetheless, this ideology and its sponsors have been accused of assisting terrorism both Up until at least 2017 or so (when Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman declared Saudi Arabia
1120-630: Is known for paying the families of imprisoned terrorists and of suicide bombers . The Islamic Republic of Iran intends billions of US dollars annually for militia fighters and terrorists, exploiting the extreme economic difficulties faced by people in countries such as Yemen , Lebanon and Syria by offering them cash in exchange for terror activity. 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
1200-488: Is not linked to Islam. According to journalist Graeme Wood "much of what" one major Islamic terror group -- 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 Judgement day . ISIS group members insist "they will not—cannot—waver from governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by
1280-526: Is one of many groups composed of lower-tier SIMI members. According to the Indian Intelligence Bureau , SIMI took new titles because the top leadership of SIMI have been detained and would be available for interrogation. The change in names is believed to signal a change in tactics as SIMI-affiliated militants attempt to garner more support from India's Muslim community rather than be seen as a group consisting of foreigners. Two days after
1360-419: Is reported to run his own IM module from there. Yasin Bhatkal was apprehended in 2013 and was sentenced to death in 2016 for the 2013 Hyderabad blasts; Abdul Subhan Qureshi was similarly apprehended in 2018. After multiple Indian Mujahideen bomb blasts in different cities of India over the years, many of which were claimed by the group itself, it was declared a terrorist organisation on 4 June 2010 and banned by
1440-781: Is strongly associated with an increase in religious practice". (This is not the case in European "countries where Muslims are predominant"— 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".) Most strains of thought/schools/sects/movements/ denominations /traditions of Islam do not support or otherwise associate themselves with terrorism. According to Mir Faizal, only three sects or movements of Islam—the Sunni sects of Salafi , Deobandi , and Barelvi . —have been associated with violence against civilians. Of
1520-656: Is thought to include the following, most of them from Azamgarh : The group has carried out several serial bombings in Indian cities. There were emails sent by the Indian Mujahideen that claimed that they were responsible for some of the following terror incidents. One warning email was received 5 minutes before the first blast in Ahmedabad. Another was received soon after the first blast of Delhi bombings. The timing makes it impossible for any other groups to have sent
1600-685: Is to make sure that we do not lump these murderers into the billion Muslims that exist around the world ..." It has been argued that "Islamic terrorism" is a misnomer for what should be called " Islamist terrorism". In January 2008, the 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", which opened with Words matter. The terminology that senior government officials use must accurately identify
1680-470: The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings cost Rs 75,000. A SIMI activist sold his house in Kutch to get the amount. Bashir, who had stayed in Ahmedabad along with Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqeer, a co-conspirator, had bought five SIM cards using local names and addresses. He had used these cell phone numbers to remain in touch with the other members of the module at the planning stage of the conspiracy. Bashir had given
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#17327660384031760-663: The 2010 Jama Masjid attack , was arrested on 6 September 2014 from the Saharanpur area of western Uttar Pradesh by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. He is considered a "technical expert" and considered a key member of IM. On 19 September 2008, the police raided an apartment in Jamia Nagar, near Jamia Millia Islamia In Delhi . There is speculation that the prime suspect in the 2008 Ahmedabad bombings, Mufti,
1840-588: The Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi (where eight people were injured). It carried out several serial-bombings in Indian cities in the following years notably the 2007 Uttar Pradesh bombings , 2008 Jaipur bombings , 2008 Ahmedabad bombings , 2008 Delhi bombings , 2010 Pune bombing , 2011 Mumbai bombings , 2011 Delhi bombing , 2013 Patna bombings , 2013 Hyderabad blasts and the 2013 Bodh Gaya bombings . Investigators believe that Indian Mujahideen
1920-638: The Government of India . On 22 October 2010, New Zealand declared it a terrorist organisation. In September 2011, the United States officially placed the Indian Mujahideen on its list of foreign terrorist organisations , with the State Department acknowledging that the group had engaged in several terrorist attacks in India and had regional aspirations with the ultimate aim of creating an "Islamic caliphate " across South Asia . The group
2000-534: The Quran , the hadith , and sharia law . These include retribution by armed jihad for the perceived injustices of unbelievers against Muslims; the belief that many self-proclaimed Muslims have violated Islamic law and are disbelievers ( takfir ); the perceived necessity of restoring Islam by establishing sharia law , including by reestablishing the Caliphate as a pan-Islamic state (e.g. ISIS );
2080-478: The Taliban , and al-Qaeda – were responsible for 74% of all deaths from terrorism . In some of the worst-affected Muslim-majority regions, these terrorists have been met by armed, independent resistance groups. Islamist terrorism has also been roundly condemned by prominent Islamic figures and groups. Justifications given for attacks on civilians by Islamic extremist groups come from their interpretations of
2160-439: The 13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings, the extremist group sent an e-mail to Indian media in which they claimed responsibility for the attacks and said they would "demolish the faiths (all religions apart from Islam) of the infidels of India." The biggest and boldest attack to date by the group was the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts , where it gained national notoriety with a casualty of more than 50 people. The group has been linked with
2240-550: The 1990s, Islamist terrorist incidents have occurred around the world and targeted both Muslims and non-Muslims. Most attacks have been concentrated in Muslim-majority countries , with studies finding 80-90% of terrorist victims to be Muslim. 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. As of 2015, four Islamic extremist groups – Islamic State , Boko Haram ,
2320-553: The Book but infidels/kafir waging " war on Islam ". (These ideas are often related and overlapping.) Qutbism is named after Egyptian Islamist theoretician Sayyid Qutb , who wrote a manifesto (known as Milestones ), while in prison. Qutb is said to have laid out the ideological foundation of Salafi jihadism (according to Bruce Livesey); his ideas are said to have formed "the modern Islamist movement" (according to Gilles Kepel); which along with other "violent Islamic thought", became
2400-779: 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. The motivation of Islamic terrorists has been disputed. Some (such as Maajid Nawaz , Graeme Wood , and Ibn Warraq ) attribute it to extremist interpretations of Islam; others (Mehdi Hasan) to some combination of political grievance and social-psychological maladjustment; and still others (such as James L. Payne and Michael Scheuer ) to
2480-528: The Land of India ) and Janood-ul-Khalifa-e-Hind ( transl. Caliph's Army of India ) encouraging Indian Muslim recruitment for jihad in Syria and Afghanistan. The Armar brothers had split from Indian Mujahideen and formed these affiliates after a rift developed between them and Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal. It is suspected that these are the major leaders of the Indian Mujahideen group. The local group at Delhi
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2560-598: 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." 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
2640-448: The Muslim world had become apostate or jahiliyah , he did not specifically takfir or call for the execution of any apostates, even those governing non-sharia governments Qutb did however emphasize that "the organizations and authorities" of the putatively Muslim countries were irredeemably corrupt and evil and would have to be abolished by "physical power and Jihad", by a "vanguard" movement of true Muslims. One who did argue this
2720-571: The Pakistani-supported Taliban militia in Afghanistan has gained several characteristics traditionally associated with 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
2800-556: The Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers". 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." Examining Europe, two studies of
2880-483: 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. 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,
2960-531: The SIM cards to the bomb planters on 26 July, who had used them carefully. Each member had contacted the others through STD - PCO booths after successfully planting the bombs. These numbers were used only for receiving calls. Many of the calls were from Juhapura , where Zahid Shaikh, one of the key members of the group, lived at Sandhi Avenue near the Sarkhej highway. These numbers had become inactive immediately after
3040-757: The US for anti-Soviet jihadists ; the Iranian Revolution and subsequent Iran-Iraq War as well as Khomeini 's active support for Shia groups fighting the Israeli occupation of Lebanon ; the Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca and subsequent Wahhabization of the Saudi government; and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty that was highly unpopular in some sections of the Muslim world. According to Bruce Hoffman of
3120-669: The World Trade Center , and the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, are representative of this trend. 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. According to
3200-634: The archetype of Muslim violence – not just to Westerners but also to Muslims themselves. 2002 attack on American cultural centre in Kolkata Four police constables and a private security guard were killed and 20 other people injured when, on 22 January 2002, Islamic militants attacked an American cultural centre in Kolkata , India . The centre houses a library and the American Consulate's public affairs section, which includes
3280-425: The attack were identified as Pijush Sarker, Ujjal Burman, Suresh Hembram and Anup Mondal and belonged to the 5th battalion of Kolkata Armed Police . Two groups claimed responsibility for the attack. A Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) member, Farhan Malik owned responsibility and said the attack was in protest against "the evil empire of America", while another person claiming to be a member of Asif Raza Commandos,
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3360-449: The background of Muslim terrorists—one of the UK and one of 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 [f]ar from being religious zealots,
3440-716: The blasts spanned a period of 10 months (the first blasts took place in August 2007 in Hyderabad), the planning was made far back in 2005. After that a series of explosions occurred in Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi. There is considerable resentment in Sarai Mir over the death of the local boys. Villagers have blamed the media for giving a bad name to Azamgarh by calling it a "nursery of terror". Mafia don Abu Salem hails from here. Azamgarh used to export its famous country-made pistols, known as "kattas", whose factories dot
3520-660: The blasts. In March 2014, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested four members of IM, out of which one was Waqas alias Javed, a bomb-making expert in the group. They were arrested in Jaipur and Jodhpur in Rajasthan . On 28 August 2013, in a major breakthrough, Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of IM, and another IM terrorist were arrested by Indian Police and NIA near the India–Nepal border . According to Gujarat police,
3600-594: 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. Bergman further asserts that
3680-436: The breakthrough in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case came from five 'switched-off' mobile phone numbers. Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ashish Bhatia said that the terrorists had procured five SIM cards of phones that were switched off on the day of the blasts – 26 July. The analysis of the phone calls made to those SIM cards from PCOs provided them the key leads. Ejaz Sheikh, wanted in several cases including
3760-574: 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
3840-429: The experts they consulted, [t]here 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. Whether Islamic terrorism
3920-584: The first phase of modern international terrorism. In the late 1960s, Palestinian secular movements such as 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 victory over Arab forces in 1967, Palestinian leaders began to realize that the Arab world was unable to defeat Israel in the battlefield. At
4000-640: The founding of the group and had earlier been involved with the Asif Reza Commando Force. The Lashkar-e-Taiba also provided crucial support in IM's founding. The Batla House encounter in 2008, when several IM members were arrested, first brought to light the leadership of the jihadist group. Its signature weapons are timed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) made from ammonium nitrate , which it has used in most of its major attacks. Riyaz Bhatkal and Amir Reza Khan both run their own factions of
4080-450: The glory and heavenly rewards of martyrdom ; and the belief in the supremacy of Islam over all other religions . 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'. It has been argued that "Islamic terrorism"
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#17327660384034160-533: The group from Karachi, while Iqbal is not currently active in the group's operations. Indian Mujahideen members are also known to have joined the Islamic State , as shown in one of their propaganda videos titled "The Bilad al-Hind [Land of India] – Between Pain and Hope". Shafi Armar and Sultan Armar, brothers and former IM members from Bhatkal, founded Islamic State affiliates Ansar-ut Tawhid fi Bilad al-Hind ( transl. Supporters of Monotheism in
4240-475: The hegemony of God". According to Indonesian Islamic leader Yahya Cholil Staquf in a 2017 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
4320-473: The ideals of the earliest Muslims". The 7th century Kharijites , according to some, started from an essentially political position but developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunni and 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, and also by their strong resemblance to contemporary ISIL. During
4400-423: The ideology behind Islamic terrorist groups, but Al Qaeda and other terrorists are more commonly described as following a fusion of Qutbism and Wahhabism . 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
4480-503: 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). Qutb is thought to be a major influence on Al-Qaeda #2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri . In his manifesto (called "one of the most influential works in Arabic of the last half century"), Qutb preached: Eikmeier summarizes the tenets of Qutbism as being: While Sayyid Qutb preached that all of
4560-536: 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 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
4640-624: The involvement of Aftab Ansari in the American Centre attack from the dying declarations of Salim and Zahid. On 23 January 2002, Aftab Ansari alias Farhan Malik, prime suspect in the attack was arrested in Dubai . On 9 February 2002, he was deported to India. Ansari was in possession of Pakistani travel documents with his passport number J872142, being issued in Lahore in February, 2000, in
4720-506: The jihadist Lashkar-e-Taiba and its backer Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence . Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh is also closely linked with the group and was instrumental in its founding. Two of the founding leaders, Iqbal Bhatkal and Riyaz Bhatkal, shifted to Karachi in the aftermath of the Batla House encounter in 2008 and remain active from there, operating a faction of the group. Amir Reza Khan also fled to Karachi and
4800-557: The motivation 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 be coerced into committing terror attacks, thus using people who are not always religiously motivated themselves to achieve religious ends. Hamas , for example,
4880-529: The name of Shafiq Mohammad Rana. On 28 April 2005, a Special CBI Court found Aftab Ansari and six others guilty for the attack. Aftab Ansari and Jamiluddin Nasir were sentenced to death under Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code for waging war against the state. The others sentenced along with Ansari are: Rehan Alam, Musharat Hussain, Adil Hasan, Hasrat Alam and Shakir Akhtar. On 5 February 2010,
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#17327660384034960-506: The name of his brother who had died in a shootout with the police) and had carried out the 2002 attack on American cultural centre in Kolkata . Most of its recruits are from SIMI of which the IM is largely an offshoot of. It was founded in 2003 and first became active in 2005, it adopted the name "Indian Mujahideen" in emails after the 2007 Uttar Pradesh bombings . The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh also played an instrumental role in
5040-411: 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
5120-565: 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 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
5200-409: The press and cultural teams. Two motorcycle-borne attackers, draped in shawls, sped up to the American Centre building at about 6:15 IST , refusing to stop at checkpoints and began shooting at police guards from an AK-47 assault rifle who returned fire. Four of the dead were Kolkata police constables while the one of the dead belonged to a private security agency Group Four. The constables killed in
5280-472: The prime minister of Pakistan, and academic Bruce Lawrence . Former US president Barack Obama explained why he used the term "terrorism" rather than "Islamic terrorism" in a 2016 townhall 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
5360-636: The region. The district was also known for young sharpshooters who joined Mumbai gangs. Individuals from the area have been accused of the murders of Bollywood producer Gulshan Kumar in Mumbai and Left leader Shankar Guha Niyogi in Chhattisgarh . Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism or Jihadi terrorism ) refers to terrorist acts carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists . Since at least
5440-445: The rooftops. All of the suspects were from the town of Sarai Mir in Azamgarh district . They claimed to be students of Jamia Milia Islamia, but that was denied by the university. The five were responsible for manufacturing bombs used in the Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi blasts. Atif claimed to have been studying for a diploma in human resources development from Jamia Milia Islamia University. However, Jamia Milia denied having him as
5520-611: The same time, lessons drawn from the Jewish struggle against the British in Palestine and revolutionary movements 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. 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
5600-448: 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 bis saif ( jihad by the sword). The term "suicide" is never used because Islam has strong strictures against taking one's own life. According to author Sadakat Kadri, "the very idea that Muslims might blow themselves up for God
5680-418: The tactic has spread through the Muslim world "with astonishing speed and on a surprising course". 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 Shiite Iraqis . ... [In] Afghanistan , ... both
5760-629: The three, only Salafi Islam—specifically Salafi jihadism Islam—can be called involved in global terrorism, as it is connected with Al-Qaeda , 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 Indian.) Another sect/movement known as Wahhabism (intertwined with non -jihadist Salafism ) has been accused of being
5840-515: The two emails. The following are attacks where it has claimed responsibility or is suspected of involvement: Mufti Abu Bashir Ishlahi alias Abdul Wasir was arrested with the help of Uttar Pradesh police at his father's home at Sarai Mir in Azamgarh , Uttar Pradesh on 14 August 2008. Bashir studied in the local Madarsatul Islah and later in Deoband . According to the reports, Bashir claimed that
5920-486: Was Muhammad abd-al-Salam Faraj , the main theoretician of the Islamist group that assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat . who in his book Al-Farida al-gha'iba (The Neglected Duty), 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
6000-412: Was arrested from the offices of a private TV station. He worked for a private company, Monarch International on Vikas Marg, and is also said to be studying management. Both he and Saif claim to have been recruited by Atif. It is reported that Mohammad Saif has said that the plans to carry out several blasts across the country were mooted about three years ago when the Indian Mujahideen was formed. Although
6080-519: Was banned by the United Kingdom as it aimed at creating an Islamic state and implementing sharia law in India, by use of indiscriminate violence. The group was founded as the merger of Students' Islamic Movement of India 's Usaba based in Bhatkal (where Iqbal Bhatkal , Riyaz Bhatkal and Yasin Bhatkal come from) and Asif Reza Commando Force which had been founded by Amir Reza Khan (in
6160-507: 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. Faraj preached that rulers such as Anwar Sadat were "rebels against the Laws of God [the shari'ah]", and "apostates from Islam" who have preserved nothing of Islam except its name. Another Islamic movement accused of being involved in terrorism
6240-546: Was not an "uprising of a Muslim community that is victim to poverty and racism: only young people join, including converts". Roy believes terrorism/radicalism is "expressed in religious terms" because 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
6320-493: Was returning to "moderate Islam"), Saudi Arabia spent many billions, not only through the Saudi government but through Islamic organizations, religious charities, and private sources, on dawah wahhabiya , i.e. spreading the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, This funding incentivized Muslim "schools, book publishers, magazines, newspapers, or even governments" around the world to "shape their behavior, speech, and thought in such
6400-519: 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. 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 ), while
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