Islamic terrorism

== Muslim attitudes toward terrorism ==
{{Main|Muslim attitudes towards terrorism}}

The opinions of Muslims on the subject of attacks on civilians by Islamist groups vary. [[Fred Halliday]], a British academic specialist on the Middle East, argues that most Muslims consider these acts to be egregious violations of Islam's laws.<ref>Halliday, Fred: ''Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East'' (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2003), 107</ref> Muslims living in the West denounce the 11 September attacks against United States, while Hezbollah contends that their rocket attacks against Israeli targets are [[defensive jihad]] by a legitimate [[resistance movement]] rather than terrorism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/statement01.html |title=Statement of purpose |publisher=Almashriq.hiof.no |date=20 March 1998 |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/hizballah-background.html |title=Hizbullah: Views and Concepts |publisher=Almashriq.hiof.no |date=20 June 1997 |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>

=== Views of modern Islamic scholars ===

In reference to suicide attacks, Hannah Stuart notes there is a "significant debate among contemporary clerics over which circumstance permit such attacks."  Qatar-based theologian, [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], criticized the 9/11 attacks but previously justified suicide bombings in Israel on the grounds of necessity and justified such attacks in 2004 against American military and civilian personnel in Iraq. According to Stuart, 61 contemporary Islamic leaders have issued fatawa permitting suicide attacks, 32 with respect to Israel. Stuart points out that all of these contemporary rulings are contrary to classical [[Islamic jurisprudence]].<ref name="Stuart1">{{cite book|title=Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism Among Youth to Prevent Terrorism|publisher=IOS Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-61499-469-5|pages=74–76|author=Hannah Stuart|editor=Marco Lombardi}}</ref>

[[Charles Kurzman]] and other authors have collected statements by prominent Muslim figures and organizations condemning terrorism.<ref name=kurzman />
In September 2014, an open letter to ISIS by "over 120 prominent Muslim scholars" denounced that group for "numerous religious transgressions and abominable crimes".<ref name="css">{{cite web|title=The Danger of Takfir (Excommunication): Exposing IS' Takfiri Ideology|url=https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/316b8048-d26a-44cb-b4ce-48d8167f1c7c/pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826180152/https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/316b8048-d26a-44cb-b4ce-48d8167f1c7c/pdf|archive-date=26 August 2019|url-status=dead|access-date=26 August 2019|website=css.ethz.ch|publisher=Center for Security Studies}}</ref><ref name="letter">{{cite web |title=Open Letter to AL-Baghdadi |url=http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/ |website=lettertobaghdadi |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-date=8 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208110812/http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Huston Smith]], an author on comparative religion, argued that extremists have hijacked Islam, just as has occurred periodically in Christianity, [[Hinduism]] and other religions throughout history. He added that the real problem is that extremists do not know their own faith.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/38467/man-of-faiths-preeminent-religion-scholar-huston-smith-reflects-on-judaism- |title=Man of faiths: Preeminent religion scholar Huston Smith reflects on Judaism and Chasing the Divine |work= Jewish News Weekly of Northern California |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=25 June 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>

[[Ali Gomaa]], former [[Grand Mufti]] of Egypt, stated not only for Islam but in general: "Terrorism cannot be born of religion. Terrorism is the product of corrupt minds, hardened hearts, and arrogant egos, and corruption, destruction, and arrogance are unknown to the heart attached to the divine."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/07/religion/terrorism-has-no-religion|title= Terrorism has no religion|date= 8 July 2013|access-date=25 August 2013}}</ref>

A [[Fatwa on Terrorism|600-page legal opinion]] (''fatwa'') by [[Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri]] condemned suicide bombings and other forms of terrorism as ''[[kufr]]'' (unbelief),<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheikh issues fatwa against all terrorists|work=[[The Independent]]|author=Jerome Taylor|date=3 March 2010|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sheikh-issues-fatwa-against-all-terrorists-1915000.html|access-date=9 April 2010 | location=London}}</ref> stating that it "has no place in Islamic teaching and no justification can be provided for it, or any kind of excuses or ifs or buts."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2634649 |title=Top Islamic scholar issues 'absolute' fatwa against terror |work=National Post |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=25 April 2010 }}{{dead link|date=September 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Iranian Ayatollah [[Yousef Sanei|Ozma Seyyed Yousef Sanei]] has preached against suicide attacks and stated in an interview: "Terror in Islam, and especially Shiite, is forbidden."<ref>{{cite news|year = 2012|url = http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/leading-iranian-cleric-calls-on-regime-to-avoid-war-with-israel-1.459775|title = Leading Iranian Cleric Calls on Regime to Avoid War With Israel|newspaper = Haaretz |access-date = 3 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/interviews/saanei.html|title = Interview Grand Ayatollah Yusef Saanei |date = 2 May 2002 |publisher = PBS/Frontline|access-date = 3 August 2016}}</ref>

A group of Pakistani clerics of [[Jamaat Ahle Sunnat|Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnah]] ([[Barelvi]] movement) who were gathered for a convention denounced suicide attacks and beheadings as un-Islamic in a unanimous resolution.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Top-Pak-clerics-declare-suicide-attacks-un-Islamic/articleshow/4543693.cms|title=Top Pak clerics declare suicide attacks un-Islamic|newspaper=The Times of India|date=17 May 2009|access-date=3 August 2016}}</ref> On 2 July 2013 in [[Lahore]], 50 Muslim scholars of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) issued a collective fatwa against suicide bombings, the killing of innocent people, bomb attacks, and targeted killings. It considers them to be forbidden.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1022298 |title=Fatwa issued against suicide bombings, targeted killings and terrorism |date=2 July 2013 |location=Lahore}}</ref>

=== Opinion surveys ===
* [[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]] conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than 35 predominantly Muslim countries between 2001 and 2007. It found that more than 90% of respondents condemned the killing of non-combatants on religious and humanitarian grounds.<ref name="australia.to">{{cite web |url=https://www.ispu.org/al-qaida-today-a-movement-at-a-crossroads/ |title=Al-Qaida today: a movement at the crossroads |date=14 May 2009 |author=Fawaz A. Gerges |author-link=Fawaz Gerges|access-date=7 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025152045/https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/al-qaida-today-the-fate-of-a-movement|archive-date=25 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[John Esposito]], using poll data from [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]], wrote in 2008 that Muslims and Americans were equally likely to reject violence against civilians. He also found that those Muslims who support violence against civilians are no more religious than Muslims who do not.<ref>{{cite web |title=Excerpt: 'Who Speaks for Islam?' |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87860378 |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=4 March 2008}}</ref>
* An earlier poll, conducted in 2005 by the [[Fafo Foundation]] in the Palestinian Authority, found that 65% of respondents supported the 9/11 attacks.<ref>[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/95535 65% of Palestinians Applaud Terror Attacks on US and Europe] Arutz Sheva</ref>
* A subsequent Gallup poll released in 2011 suggested "that one's religious identity and level of devotion have little to do with one's views about targeting civilians... it is human development and governance—not piety or culture—that are the strongest factors in explaining differences in how the public perceives this type of violence." The same poll concluded that populations of countries in the [[Organisation of the Islamic Conference]] were slightly more likely to reject attacks on civilians in all cases, both military and individual, than those in non-member countries.<ref name="views">{{cite web|title=Views of Violence|date=8 September 2011|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/157067/views-violence.aspx|publisher=Gallup|access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref>
* Pew Research surveys in 2008, show that in a range of countries—Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Bangladesh—there have been substantial declines in the percentages saying suicide-bombings and other forms of violence against civilian targets can be justified to defend Islam against its enemies. Wide majorities say such attacks are, at most, rarely acceptable. The shift of attitudes against terror has been especially dramatic in Jordan, where 29% of Jordanians were recorded as viewing suicide-attacks as often or sometimes justified (down from 57% in May 2005). In the largest majority-Muslim nation, Indonesia, 74% of respondents agree that terrorist attacks are "never justified" (a substantial increase from the 41% level to which support had risen in March 2004); in Pakistan, that figure is 86%; in Bangladesh, 81%; and in Iran, 80%.<ref name="australia.to" />
* In Pakistan, despite the recent rise in the Taliban's influence, a poll conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow in Pakistan in January 2008 tested support for al-Qaeda, the Taliban, other militant Islamist groups and Osama bin Laden himself, and found a recent drop by half. In August 2007, 33% of Pakistanis expressed support for al-Qaeda; 38% supported the Taliban. By January 2008, al-Qaeda's support had dropped to 18%, the Taliban's to 19%. When asked if they would vote for al-Qaeda, just 1% of Pakistanis polled answered in the affirmative. The Taliban had the support of 3% of those polled.<ref name="australia.to" />
* A December 2008 poll conducted in Osama bin Laden's home country of Saudi Arabia showed that his compatriots have dramatically turned against him, his organisation, Saudi volunteers in Iraq, and terrorism in general. Indeed, confidence in bin Laden has fallen in most Muslim countries in recent years.<ref name="australia.to" />
* A poll conducted among Palestinians following the [[2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel|Hamas October 7]] attacks, show that a 70% of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza supported the attacks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joffre |first=Tzvi |date=2023-12-13 |title=Palestinians largely support October 7 massacre, deny atrocities - poll |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-777918 |access-date=2023-12-13}}</ref>