ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an understanding of the ideological underpinnings of al-Qaida, the Islamic State, and other Sunni terrorist groups. It provides an overview of Wahhabism and Salafism, which is essential to understanding Islamist activism. It also describes 13th-century scholar Ibn Taymiyya’s historical role in shaping militant interpretations of Islam and reviews the reformers and activists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Sayyid Qutb, who revived Ibn Taymiyya’s ideas to effect change, through violence, in their societies. It describes how this ideology was foundational to the formation of al-Qaida and the Islamic State and the groups’ justification to use terrorist violence.
