Many forms of Islamic extremism occur within the United States. Islamic extremism is an adherence to fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, potentially including the promotion of violence to achieve political goals. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Islamic extremism became a prioritized national security concern of the U.S. government and a focus of many subsidiary security and law enforcement entities. Initially, the focus of concern was on foreign Islamic terrorist organizations, particularly al-Qaeda, but in the course of the years since the September 11 terror attacks, the focus has shifted more towards Islamic extremist radicalized individuals and jihadist networks within the United States.
For nearly two decades, counter-terrorism was America's foremost defense and national security priority. Since the release of the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy in 2018, counter-terrorism is no longer considered the preeminent U.S. national security concern, despite terrorism remaining an enduring threat. Although the number of U.S. citizens or long-term residents involved in extremist activity is small, their recruitment and participation in criminal activities organized by Islamic terrorist groups on U.S. territory is still considered a national security concern by U.S. authorities.
Islamic extremism and jihadist violence
Writing for National Public Radio, Belgian-born American journalist Dina Temple-Raston argues that the "single biggest change in terrorism over the past several years has been the wave of Americans joining the fight – not just as foot soldiers but also as key members of Islamist groups and as operatives inside terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda". According to Temple-Raston, U.S. citizens or longtime residents are "masterminds, propagandists, enablers, and media strategists" in foreign terror groups and working to spread extremist ideology in the West. This trend is worrisome to her, which further commented that American extremists "understand the United States better than the United States understands them."
There is a lack of understanding of how American radical jihadists are propagated. According to U.S. statesmen, there is "no typical profile" of an American extremist and the "experiences and motivating factors vary widely." Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, stated that it is unclear if there has been an "increase in violent radicalization" or "a rise in the mobilization of previously radicalized individuals". Islamist organizations seek Americans to radicalize and recruit because of a familiarity with the United States and the West. According to Napolitano, the evolving extremist threat makes it "more difficult for law enforcement or the intelligence community to detect and disrupt plots."
Zeyno Baran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at the American conservative think-tank Hudson Institute, argues that a more appropriate term is Islamist extremism to distinguish the Islamic religion from the political ideology that leads to extremism: Islam, the religion, deals with piety, ethics, and beliefs, and can be compatible with secular liberal democracy and basic civil liberties. Islamists, however, believe Islam is the only basis for the legal and political system that governs the world's economic, social, and judicial mechanisms. Islamic law, or sharia, must shape all aspects of human society, from politics and education to history, science, the arts, and more. It is diametrically opposed to liberal democracy. With the value placed on freedom of religion in the United States, religious extremism is a difficult and divisive topic. Zuhdi Jasser, president and founder of the American Muslim think-tank American Islamic Forum for Democracy, testified before Congress in March 2010 that the United States is "polarized on its perceptions of Muslims and the radicalization that occurs within our communities... One camp refuses to believe any Muslim could be radicalized living in blind multiculturalism, apologetics, and denial, and the other camp believes all devout Muslims and the faith of Islam are radicalized." In between the two polarities is a respect for the religion of Islam coupled with an awareness of the danger "of a dangerous internal theo-political domestic and global ideology that must be confronted – Islamism."
Some U.S. extremists are actively recruited and trained by foreign Islamic terrorist organizations, while others are known as "lone wolves" that radicalize on their own. The Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, is a U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent. He communicated via email with Anwar al-Awlaki, but had no direct ties to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda propaganda uses Hasan to promote the idea of "be al-Qaeda by not being al-Qaeda". Carlos Leon Bledsoe, a U.S.-born citizen who converted to Islam as a young adult in 2004 and changed his name to Abdulhakim Muhammad, shot a U.S. military recruiter in Little Rock, Arkansas in June 2009, after spending time in Yemen. Faisal Shahzad is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan and received bomb training from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan; his plot to detonate a bomb in New York's Times Square was discovered only after the bomb failed. Zachary Chesser converted to Islam after high school and began to spread extremism over the Internet. He was arrested attempting to board a flight to Somalia to join the Islamic terrorist group al-Shabaab.
U.S. citizens in Islamic terrorist organizations Since 2007, over 50 U.S. citizens and permanent residents have been arrested or charged in connection with attempts to join Islamic terrorist organizations abroad, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al-Shabaab. In 2013 alone, 9 Americans are known to have joined or attempted to join foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. citizens inside al-Qaeda provide insider's knowledge of the United States. Adam Gadahn was an American convert who joined al-Qaeda in the late 1990s. He released English-language propaganda videos, but Gadahn lacked charisma and his voice was replaced by Anwar al-Awlaki. Awlaki was a U.S. citizen of Yemeni descent, killed on September 30, 2011 by a U.S. missile strike in Yemen. Awlaki had religious credentials Gadahn lacks and a "gently persuasive" style; "tens of thousands, maybe millions, have watched [Awlaki's] lectures on the Internet."
Another key U.S. citizen in al-Qaeda's power structure was a man named Adnan Shukrijumah. Shukrijumah is believed to be the highest ranking American in al-Qaeda. He was born in Saudi Arabia, grew up in Trinidad, and moved to Florida as a teenager; he was a naturalized American citizen and left the United States in the spring of 2001. Shukrijumah was a mystery to authorities until he was identified by Najibullah Zazi after Zazi was arrested for a failed plot to bomb transportation targets around New York City. Zazi had traveled to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces, but Shukrijumah convinced Zazi to return to the United States and plan an attack there. In May 2014, Florida-born convert Mohammed Abusalha conducted a deadly suicide bombing while fighting for Islamist extremists in Syria.
In 2014, Troy Kastigar and Douglas McAuthur McCain, two Americans who had previously converted to Islam, traveled to Syria and Iraq in order to join the global jihad in Syria and Iraq on behalf of the Islamic terrorist group ISIL/ISIS/IS/Daesh, and were killed in battle. In 2015, Zulfi Hoxha traveled to Syria where he became a significant figure among the ranks of ISIS.
Places for radicalization
Prison
The United States has the world's largest prison population and "prisons have long been places where extremist ideology and calls to violence could find a willing ear, and conditions are often conducive to radicalization." Muslim prisoners have been characterized as a danger or threat for radicalization in the post-September 11, 2001 terror attacks media. There is a "significant lack of social science research" on the issue of Islamic extremism in U.S. prisons and there is disagreement on the danger Islamic extremism in prisons poses to U.S. national security. Some suggest that the gravity of so-called prison radicalization should be questioned due to the fact that data presents only one terrorism-related case among millions of individuals.
Reports have cautioned for the potential for radicalization as a result of vulnerable inmates having little exposure to mainstream Islam and monitoring of religious services activities in the event they may be exposed to extremist versions of the Islamic religion from inadequate religious service providers or other inmates via anti-American sermons and extremist media (see also Jihadism and hip hop), which may be embraced or influenced by the Wahhabi-Salafi brand of Sunni Islam (including revisionist versions commonly known as "prison Islam") or a politically engaged, militant form of Shia Islam. The terms "prison Islam" or "jailhouse Islam" are unique to prison and incorporates values of gang loyalty and violence into the Islamic religion. In spite of the fact of there being over 350,000 Muslim inmates in the United States, little evidence indicates widespread radicalization or foreign recruitment.
Some argue that empirical studies have not supported the claims that prisons are fertile grounds for terrorism. For instance, only one black American prison convert was convicted for involvement among the millions of adult males under supervision in the United States. This individual founded an Islamic extremist group in prison, called Jami'iy yat Ul-Isla Is Saheeh (JIS), from New Folsom State Prison in California and hatched a plot to attack numerous local government and Jewish targets. In July 2005, members of JIS "were involved in almost a dozen armed gas station robberies in Los Angeles with the goal of financing terrorist operations."
There is a lack of statistics available on the religious affiliation of inmates in the U.S. prison system. This makes it difficult to assess the potential for Islamic extremism among prisoners. However, a report by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General in 2004 examined the Federal Bureau of Prisons's selection of Muslim chaplains and found that an estimated 6% of the federal inmate population sought Islamic services. According to prisoner self-reporting, the majority of Muslims in federal prison identify as Sunni or followers of the Nation of Islam.
Mosques Some mosques in the United States transmit Islamic extremist ideologies. The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) "holds titles of approximately 300 properties [mosques and Islamic schools]". The organization's website states that "NAIT does not administer these institutions or interfere in their daily management, but is available to support and advise them regarding their operation in conformity with the Shari'ah." Other research on the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States claims NAIT influences a far larger number of Islamic institutions in the United States.
There is no government policy on the establishment of mosques in the United States and no way to monitor activity. The value placed on religious freedom in the U.S. complicates the situation as mosques are places of worship that may be used to spread extremist ideology.
Internet and social media