Terrorism Terms Defined

CRJ 3350

Allah

God in arabic

allahu-akbar

god is the greatest

domestic violent extremist

an individual based and operating primarily in the us or its territories w/o direction or inspiration from a foreign terrorist group or other foreign power who seems to further political or social goals wholly or in part through unlawful acts of force or violence

Fatwa

formal islamic religious rulings or opinions, issued by a qualified religious scholar with no expiration date; some extremist misuse this concept to issue religious justification for violence

fedayeen

arabic for “commondos”

foreign terrorist organization (FTO)

a legal designation used by the US department of state for non-US based groups that are engaged in terrorism. and threaten the security of us nationals or us national interest

homegrown violent extremist (HVE)

a person of any citizenship who lived and/or operated primarily in the US or its territories who advocated, is engaged in, or is preparing to engage in ideologically motivated terrorist activities (including providing support to terrorism) in furtherance of political or social objectives promoted by a foreign terrorist organization but is acting independently of direction by a foreign terrorist organization

ideology

a form of social or political philosophy or a system of ideas, that aspires both to explain the world and to change it

insurgency

an organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a government or occupying power

islam

an abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the quran and the teachings of muhammad

jihad

means struggle, some think it means holy war

kufar/infidel

a derogatory term used by some religious extremists to refer to non-believers or those outside their faith, often used to justify violence

lone offender

an individual motivated by one or more violent extremist ideologies who act alone

material support

any aid given to terrorist groups or activities

militant

a person aggressively supporting a political or social cause often favoring confrontational or violent methods

mufsid

an evil or corrupt person

muhammad

first prophet

mujahid

holy warrior

non-combatant

a person who does not engage in fighting during a war

Quran

scripture

radicalization

process by which individuals come to adopt extreme views and potentially support terrorism

state sponsers of terrorism

countries determined by the secretary of state to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism (countries like Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Iran)

State sponsored terrorism

when a government supports or engages in terroist activitesw

watchlist

a database of individuals suspected of terrorist activity or connections