Salafi jihadism, also known as revolutionary Salafism[1] or jihadist Salafism, is a religious-political SunniIslamistideology that seeks to establish a global caliphate, characterized by the advocacy of "physical" (military) jihadist attacks on non-Muslim targets. The Salafist interpretation of sacred Islamic texts is "in their most literal, traditional sense",[2] which adherents claim will bring about the return to "true Islam".[3][4][5][6][7]
The original use of the term "jihadist Salafists" (also "Salafi-jihadi" or "Salafist jihadis")[3][4][5][8] came from French political scientistGilles Kepel[9][10][11][12] to refer to international volunteers of the jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan who had come from around the world to fight for Islam against Marxist forces in Afghanistan and had lost the American-Saudi funding and interest after the Soviet forces had withdrawn, but wanted to continue waging jihad elsewhere.[13] Their original jihad was against an aggressive anti-religious power (Soviet Union and its Marxist allies), attempting to take over a Muslim region (Afghanistan), and had been enthusiastically supported by large numbers of Muslims including governments. However, isolated from their national and social class origins and seeking to "rationalize" their "existence and behavior",[9] some Arab Afghan volunteers expanded the targets of their jihad to include the United States (whom they "perceived as the greatest enemy of the faith", despite having supported and armed the Afghan Mujahideen), and various governments of Muslim-majority countries — whom they perceived as apostates from Islam.[2]
Jihadist and Salafist elements of "hybrid" ideology developed by international volunteers ("Arab-Afghan" Mujahideen) had not been joined previously because mainstream Salafis,[3][8][14] (dubbed by some Western commentators as "good Salafis"),[11] had mostly adhered to political quietism - eschewing political activities and partisan allegiances, viewing them as potentially divisive for the broader Muslim community and as a distraction from the studying and practicing of Islam.[15] Prominent Quietist Salafi scholars have denounced doctrines of Salafi jihadism as Bid'ah ("innovation") and "heretical",[16] strongly forbidding Muslims from participating or assisting in any armed underground activity against ruling governments.[Note 1][a] Jihadist salafists often dismiss the quietist scholars as "'sheikist" traitors, portraying them as palace scholars worried about the patronage of "the oil sheiks of the Arabian peninsula" rather than pure Islam,[2] and contend that they are not dividing the Muslim community because, in their view, the rulers of Muslim-majority countries and other self-proclaimed Muslims they attack are not actually part of the community, having deviated from Islam and become apostates or false Muslims.[3][5][19]
^Farid Shapoo, Sajid (19 July 2017). "Salafi Jihadism – An Ideological Misnomer". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 19 Aug 2021. Another interesting aspect of Salafi Jihadism is that the traditional Salafi scholars debunk it as a Salafi hybrid and that it is far removed from the traditional Salafism.
^Sageman, Marc (April 30, 2013). "The Stagnation of Research on Terrorism". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015. al Qaeda is no longer seen as an existential threat to the West ... the hysteria over a global conspiracy against the West has faded.
^Mearsheimer, John J. (January–February 2014). "America Unhinged"(PDF). National Interest: 9–30. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2015. Terrorism – most of it arising from domestic groups – was a much bigger problem in the United States during the 1970s than it has been since the Twin Towers were toppled.
Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page). Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).