The Rise of Jihadist Extremism in the West

Over the last two decades Europe and the West in general has seen a rise in Jihādist extremism. Radical groups, using methods similar to that of cult groups, have substantially increased their recruitment of disaffected Muslims.

What are the factors that have led to this extremist ideology becoming uncomfortably prevalent in the West? Muslims and non-Muslims alike need to understand the context within which these extremist sects operate and the principles they have invented to propagate their dangerous ideology. It is important to understand the pretext they utilize to attack targets in the West. Suicide bombings in the West are mere symptoms and extensions of that which the extremists have been unleashing upon Muslim countries and populations for decades. Excommunication (takfīr), violence, bloodshed and rebellion began in the Muslim lands, against the Muslim governments and the Muslim populations. In November 1979, a radical group stormed the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the most sacred city of Islām. On October 6, 1981, the Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat was assassinated in Cairo by an extremist group calling itself Jamāʿat al-Jihād. Lieutenant Khālid Istambūlī, the leader of the assassins cried out, "I am Khālid Istambūlī, I have killed Pharaoh and I do not fear death." Late on May 12, 2003 while much of Riyadh was asleep, four vehicles drove through Riyadh. Two carried heavily armed assault teams and three of them were packed with explosives. Their targets were three compounds which housed both non-Muslims and Muslims. Altogether, some 35 people were killed, and over 160 wounded.

Extremist groups actively recruit in the West. They target young Muslims and converts to Islām through the internet, on university campuses and in prisons. What are the factors that lead to Jihādist extremism? Who are the ideologues that inspire the militants? What is the response of orthodox Islām to these Jihādist ideologies and terrorist activities? This book attempts to answer these questions and many more.