The Stereotypes Of Islamic Extremist Groups

In order to understand Islamic extremist groups, it is first necessary to understand the motives and personality traits behind the people that are targeted during recruitment. These motives are deeply engraved in the psychological and sociological cues and norms that these recruited individuals posses. Additionally, the tactics that Islamic extremist groups use to recruit these members have to be taken into account. A common misconception is that religion plays a large role in the recruitment process. While religion is used to justify many of the acts that terrorist organizations such as ISIS perform, it is not the sole reason as to why people join the group. While the recruitment of ISIS focuses outwardly on religion and justice, identity

He’s a 26 year old Muslim male from Molenbeek, Mussels. Molenbeek is a Muslim sub-community of Brussels notorious for radicalization, made up of small-time drug dealers, petty criminals, and unemployed young men with few prospects. This sub-community is also known as one of the poorest areas in Belgium, and this characteristic of the area is heightened by sharing borders with one of the country’s wealthiest: Brussels. Having Moroccan heritage, Abdeslam is found at an identity crisis that is very similar to the one that the Muslim French youth face: he isn’t seen as Muslim, and he isn’t seen as Belgian--he’s a Belgian-born French Muslim, and he wants to be fully accepted, so finding meaning and purpose in his life through radicalization might’ve been seen as the right thing to do in a state of

When thinking about religion, the justification of violence typically doesn’t come to mind, but it is all that is done by many members of ISIS. It has to be remembered that ISIS’s followers and members are extremists, and are capable of taking verses of the Quran and mutilating them beyond repair. Through this, many members of ISIS believe that “the attacks are a fulfilment of the Quran in which Allah himself expelled the unfaithful infidels or unbelievers of ahl al-kitab (Jews and Christians) from their homes, and a manifestation of the Quran, in which Allah himself will surely expel the abased from the city.” The definitions of infidels, unbelievers, and expulsion are all up to interpretation, and it appears that these definitions change even as one transitions from troubled civilian to so-called “freedom fighter”. Thus, the interpretations of every idea in regard to ISIS, whether it be religion’s role or the group's philosophy, identity politics still plays a huge, or even critical