Salafism jihadism (also Salafi jihadism) is a term coined by scholar Gilles Kepel to describe the interest among Salafi Muslims in violent jihad that he saw developing during the mid-1990s. Wereas "Salafists originally are supposedly not violent," and the ones he encountered in Europe in the 1980s were "totally apolitical", by the mid 1990s me met many who felt jihad in the form of "violence and terrorism were justified to realize their political objectives". The combination of Salafi alienation from all things non-Muslim , including "mainstream European society" and violent jihad was a "volatile mixture".[1]
"When you're in the state of such alienation you become easy prey to the jihadi guys who will feed you more savory propaganda than the old propaganda of the Salafists who tell you to pray, fast and who are not taking action." [2] "Salafist jihadists" include the followers of Al Qaeda and are now a "burgeoning presence in Europe, having attempted more than 30 terrorist attacks among E.U. countries" from Septebmer 2001 to the beginning of 2005".[3]
Journalist Bruce Livesey estimates Salafi jihadists constitute less than 1 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims. Antecedents of Salafism jihadism include Islamist scholar Sayyid Qutb, the group Takfir wal-Hirja who kidnapped and murdered an Egyptian ex-government minister in 1978.
The Salafist movement by Bruce Livesey
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