Introduction

Abstract

The events of 11 September 2001 prompted perplexing questions. For some the attacks may have appeared to uncover a heretofore obscure threat to the security of the Western world. Perhaps it was the scale of the event and the mass casualties which resulted, or the failure of the US government to protect its citizens, that caused such shocking surprise. Questions were posed that encapsulated the crux of the issue: Why did this happen? Why do they hate us? What do they want? Possibly, and reasonably so, these questions resulted from a lack of understanding of what Salafi Jihadism is, what the goals of its adherents are and how these are prevented from being realised. Islamic brands of terrorism were not unknown before 2001. The assassination of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat, the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon, the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, as well as a number of other violent events had raised perplexing questions since the 1970s. The Iranian Revolution, though a different breed of Islamism, brought significant world attention to the power and potency of political Islamic movements. However, Islamic brands of terrorism, and Islamism in general, were often cobbled together under the banner of Islamic fundamentalism. Salafists, Khomeinists, Islamists, Wahabists and even those participating in nationalist causes were often portrayed as indistinguishable.