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72-659: A series of Islamist terrorist attacks linked to al-Qaeda were planned to occur on or near January 1, 2000, in the context of millennium celebrations , including bombing plots against four tourist sites in Jordan , the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), USS  The Sullivans , and the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 . In Lebanon , dozens were killed in clashes in the Dinnieh district between radical Islamists with connections to

144-608: A National Archives reading room prior to testifying before the 9/11 Commission. The documents were five classified copies of a single report commissioned from Richard A. Clarke, covering internal assessments of the Clinton administration's handling of the plots. An associate of Berger said Berger took one copy in September 2003 and four copies in October 2003. After the unsuccessful attack on USS The Sullivans , al-Qaeda attempted

216-402: A U.S. Customs Service inspector at Port Angeles , Washington , a U.S. port of entry, on December 14, 1999. Customs officials found a cache of explosives that could have produced "a blast forty times greater than that of a devastating car bomb " and four timing devices hidden in the spare tire well in the trunk of the rented car in which he had traveled from Canada . Ressam later asserted that

288-653: 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

360-608: A known criminal was arrested in Brooklyn , New York on December 30 by Joint Terrorism Task Force for his links to Ressam. In New York and Boston, nine other Algerians linked to Meskini were arrested by the FBI, as part of the largest counter-terrorism operation ever conducted in the United States, dubbed Operation "Borderbom". Most, including Meskini faced minor charges after no significant terrorism links could be proven, although

432-503: 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

504-573: A main suspected bomb-making accomplice, Abdelmajid Dahoumane had fled the country. Other suspected targets alleged by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sources included the Seattle Space Needle and Disneyland , California , with maps found with circles around "three California airports—Los Angeles International, Long Beach and Ontario—as well as maps with San Francisco's landmark Transamerica building and Seattle's Space Needle." Ressam began cooperating with investigators in 2001. He

576-610: A peak of 33,438, before declining to 13,826 in 2019. As of 2015, four Islamic extremist groups – Islamic State , Boko Haram , 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

648-528: 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

720-437: 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

792-535: 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 ,

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864-627: 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

936-649: 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

1008-497: 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

1080-562: 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

1152-630: 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

1224-488: 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

1296-781: 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

1368-685: 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

1440-534: 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 );

1512-743: The United Kingdom . Indian Airlines Flight 814, en route from Kathmandu , Nepal to New Delhi , India was hijacked on December 24, 1999, by five militants of the al-Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul-Mujahideen group. The hijackers reportedly told the captain, "Fly slowly, fly carefully, there is no hurry. We have to give India a millennium gift," as a bomb in the cargo room of the plane was timed to go off at midnight, December 31, 1999. The plane eventually landed in Taliban-controlled Kandahar , Afghanistan . On December 31, India agreed to release three captive militants in exchange for

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1584-553: 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

1656-779: 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

1728-725: The Gulf, against U.S. and Israel." Major security operations were launched to improve security for the millennium celebrations in Times Square , New York, along with several other cities in the United States and Europe. In anticipation of the turn to the new millennium, official concerns by the FBI and U.S. authorities had focused on purported threats by "apocalyptic" religious or political groups, claimed to include lone wolf white supremacists , Christian apocalyptic cults or radical elements of militia organizations . While in prison, Ressam revealed that al-Qaeda sleeper cells existed within

1800-744: The Jordan bombing plots. Kanj had met Hijazi in the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan, and they later worked for the same Boston taxi company in the United States in the 1990s. The fighting lasted for eight days, and killed eleven soldiers, five civilians, and 28 Islamists. Lebanon being under Syrian occupation at the time , the Lebanon clashes followed clashes in Syria between Syrian security forces and Islamists, some of whom were accused of infiltrating

1872-697: The Jordan plots and the Lebanese Army. The plots in Jordan and against LAX were foiled by law enforcement agencies, while the attempted bombing of The Sullivans only failed because the boat filled with explosives sank before detonating. The revelation of the plot linked to the LAX "Millennium Bomber" Ahmed Ressam led to unprecedented investigations into other potential terrorist cells in the United States, dubbed Operation "Borderbom", and security measures around millennium celebrations. Other al-Qaeda-linked millennium attack plots may have been planned or foiled around

1944-598: 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

2016-448: 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

2088-511: 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

2160-556: 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

2232-483: 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,

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2304-757: 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

2376-545: The United States, died in the September 11 attacks in 2001 as head of security of the World Trade Center . O'Neill had started his new job on August 23 less than a month before the attack, after he had been squeezed out of the bureau. On July 19, 2004, it was revealed that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating former National Security Advisor of the Clinton administration, Sandy Berger, for unauthorized removal of classified documents in October 2003 from

2448-552: The United States. This information was included in the President's Daily Brief delivered to President George W. Bush on August 6, 2001, entitled Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US . FBI special agent and counter-terrorism chief John P. O'Neill , who had been central in the investigation of al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and the millennium plot, and subsequently suspected the existence of sleeper cells in

2520-601: 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

2592-444: The archetype of Muslim violence – not just to Westerners but also to Muslims themselves. Abdelmajid Dahoumane A Salafist member, he is considered a close associate of Ahmed Ressam , the two of them having spent three weeks together in a Canadian hotel room prior to Ressam's arrest. At his trial, Ressam testified in 2001 that Dahoumane had helped to build the explosives at that time, but that he had not told Dahoumane

2664-449: 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,

2736-594: 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

2808-569: The country from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, that began on December 30 when several Syrian intelligence agents were ambushed and killed. The clashes lasted for four days in Damascus , Homs and nearby villages, and the Hizb ut-Tahrir group claimed that 1,200 of its members had been arrested by January 2000. On January 3, 2000, in Yemen , members of al-Qaeda attempted to use a boat with explosives to damage

2880-574: 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

2952-429: 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

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3024-584: 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

3096-450: 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"

3168-475: 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

3240-473: 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

3312-423: 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

3384-503: 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

3456-481: 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

3528-575: The intended target. On March 25, 2001, the Algerian government announced they had Dahoumane in custody, but would not extradite him to stand trial in the United States - instead they preferred to try him in their own courts as an example to their population who have been plagued by Fundamentalist violence. This biographical article related to a paramilitary organization in Algeria

3600-557: 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,

3672-411: 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

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3744-477: The nearly 200 passengers and crew that were being held hostage. On December 31, 1999, attacks were launched by a group of up to 300 radical Islamists against Lebanese Army forces in the Dinnieh district in northern Lebanon. The group behind the attack, calling itself after the apocalyptic Takfir wal-Hijra group was led by Bassam Kanj , a close associate of Raed Hijazi who had been indicted for his involvement in

3816-565: 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

3888-473: The plot was facilitated by Zubaydah and known to bin Laden. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted door-to-door interviews of up to 50 individuals across the country, made "dozens of arrests" as part of investigations into possible other individuals linked to the case, and reportedly "questioned hundreds of Muslims from Los Angeles to Boston, wiretapped hundreds of conversations, and put hundreds of individuals under surveillance". Abdelghani Meskini,

3960-472: 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

4032-953: 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

4104-602: The same time. In Jordan, members of the Islamist terror organization al-Qaeda planned to bomb four sites: a fully booked Radisson hotel in Amman , Jordan; the border between Jordan and Israel ; a Christian church on Mount Nebo ; and a site on the Jordan River where John the Baptist is said to have baptized Jesus . These locations were chosen to target tourists from the United States and Israel. The most active participant

4176-519: The same type of attack for a second time, again in Aden, Yemen. They successfully bombed USS  Cole on October 12, 2000, in an attack that claimed the lives of seventeen U.S. sailors. The Radisson SAS hotel in Amman, Jordan, which was the target of a millennium attack plot, was one of three hotels in the city that were bombed by al-Qaeda in 2005 . Thirty-eight people were killed in the bombing, which

4248-497: 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

4320-418: 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

4392-629: 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

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4464-545: The warship USS  The Sullivans while it was refueling in Aden . The attempt failed when the over-loaded, bomb-laden boat sank before detonating. Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi and Fahd al-Quso were charged in absentia in United States district court in 2003 for their alleged roles in several terrorist acts, including the attempted bombing of The Sullivans . In 2011, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri , held in Guantanamo ,

4536-486: 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

4608-636: Was a Boston taxi driver named Raed Hijazi . On November 30, 1999, Jordanian intelligence intercepted a call between Saudi citizen Abu Zubaydah , the leader of the plot, and Khadr Abu Hoshar, a Palestinian militant terrorist. In the conversation, Zubaydah stated, "The time for training is over." Sensing that the attack was imminent, Jordanian police arrested Hoshar and fifteen others on December 12, 1999. Jordanian authorities put twenty-eight suspects on trial. Twenty-two of them were quickly found guilty. Six of them, thought to be linked to Osama bin Laden , including Hijazi, were sentenced to death . Abu Zubaydah

4680-507: 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

4752-600: Was charged with planning the attack on The Sullivans along with other attacks, facing death penalty. According to National Security Advisor of the Clinton administration , Sandy Berger , terrorist cells had been disrupted in "eight countries" in the weeks before New Year's Eve, which was said to have "almost certainly" prevented additional attacks. The man behind the LAX plot, Ahmed Ressam, claimed there had been plans by other terrorist cells of millennium attacks "in Europe, in

4824-425: Was initially sentenced to 22 years in prison, but in 2010 an appellate court reversed and remanded the case based on procedural errors and recommended that his sentence be extended. He was re-sentenced to 37 years' imprisonment in 2012. Another Algerian-Canadian, Mokhtar Haouari was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for assisting Ressam in the plot. Abu Doha was indicted for the plot, but was denied extradition from

4896-438: 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

4968-438: 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

5040-400: Was sentenced to death in absentia . Luai Sakra and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were sentenced in absentia in 2002 for their part in the plot, which included using poison gas during the bombing. Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian citizen living in Montreal, Canada , confessed after interrogation to having planned to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on New Year's Eve. He was arrested by

5112-674: Was the deadliest of the three hotels attacked. Islamist terrorist 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 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

5184-519: 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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