1. Pathways to Islamist Radicalisation

2. What is Islamism ? Political ideology - seeks political hegemony
Assumes - a more or less single interpretation of faith as a political creed and system
Medieval political point of view with modern ideological assumption - modern framework, medieval political mind-set, pre-modern laws
Caliphate - modern ideological state/empire to dominate the world and enforce their version of Islamic faith
Social vs Socialism – Islam vs Islamism
Underpinned with Salafi Theology – Potent mixture and designed to fight
Islamism
One of the more ugly aspects of contemporary Islam is radicalism and the violence which is starting to accompany it.
The issue of British and US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the “war on terror” coupled with the view that Muslims are being brutalized or insulted has led many Muslims, in particular young people, not only to identify with the global ummah but also to be critical of western government foreign policy. This has in the past been widely touted as the reason for the growth of radicalism. However there was no “invasion of Afghanistan” nor was “operation Iraqi Freedom” in full flow when the Twin Towers were sent crumbling in a heap on the day that the world view on terrorism was severely changed. The Global war on Terror was not the plot that caused young men to commit suicide and to kill thousands of people.
Eleven years after the beginning of the “global war against terror,” the growth of home grown Islamist terrorists and after the recent “Arab winter” (nay spring) many in the western world still do not know who the enemies are—let alone how they are organized, how they recruit from within society or how best to respond to their activities. Without an essential understanding of who is on the other side, how is it possible to defend oneself?
Though the number of radical Muslims (Islamists) in the west is thought to be only a small percentage of the community, their militant actions are approved by many more and financed by some. Whilst many western Muslims have denounced “terrorism” they often do not include within this term the actions of some jihadists, which they consider either defensive or for other reasons justifiable.
All Islamists share the aim of establishing an Islamic state under sharia, first in individual states, then expand to one universal Caliphate. Following the model of Muhammad’s hijra, they see this as a staged process, but differ in what stages are envisaged.
Those who might be termed “gradualists” seek firstly to Islamize society by da‘wa, meanwhile infiltrating the state and its institutions, until they are able to take power legally and establish an Islamic state with their particular interpretation of sharia..
An example of this would be the Muslim Brotherhoods recent electoral victory in Egypt and the subsequent draft constitution where article 2 regarding the role of sharia was to be changed from
"..and the principles of Islamic Sharia are the main source of legislation" with "and Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation"
Those termed “jihadists” work by recruiting to form secret cells, which are trained and armed. These fighters engage in terrorism, rebellion and coups in order to remove from power the existing governments and establish in their place Islamic states under sharia.

3. Importance of Tackling The Root Cause
Sharp End of CVE
Soft End of CVE
(countering violent extremism)
Intervention
Resilient
Communities
Rehabilitate
Channel
Arrest
Z %
Empathise
Y %
Sympathise
X %
Support

4. Pathways

5. SOFT END
COMBATING IDEOLOGY/THEOLOGY
SHARP END
INTERVENTION
SOCIAL COHESION
Utopian IS
A belief in a world
view where the
west is at war
with Islam
Intellectual
Personal Grievances
Ideological
Social
Emotional
Spiritual
Theological
Justification
Partial Grievances
Push factors
Pull factors
Revenge
Charismatic Recruiters
Perceived Grievances
On-Line vs Off-Line
Mental Health
GRIEVANCES
LENS
SOLUTIONS

6. Mosques
Mosques themselves – in my opinion they are not the main source of
terrorist activities.
But this requires elaboration:
Some mosques allow all groups to operate e.g. Hizb ut Tahrir holding Arabic classes
Some Mosques led by people who support extremist ideology
Activists who are not part of mosque but operate from there
Some institutions theology is sympathetic to certain brands of terrorism and extremism i.e. Salafism

7. Online Extremism
No such thing as self radicalisation - Some individuals who already have “cause” or “motivation” and then seek to find information
Those individuals who see it as a place for anonymously spreading their ideology and theology - either through direct one way propaganda, and those who see those forums where “theological/jurisprudential” discussions can take place. Justify and further radicalize those with sympathies, and meet like-minded individuals.
Finding a community to belong to - researchers have stated that this is a common practice with all sorts of deviant behaviours whether suicide pacts, cults etc.. Reinforcing the beliefs and world view and further strengthening such beliefs.
M. Sageman (2008) Leaderless Jihad – The internet has:
Lowered the age of the average recruit
Increased the participation of females
Decreased the sophistication and effectiveness of terrorist attacks
Social media Platforms & forums – can act as engine of transformation; however, individuals seek and select sites most compatible with their views

8. Higher/Further Education
47% Convicted terrorists UK attended Universities
6 convicted terrorists – former presidents of Islamic Societies in University
Apparent mainstream institutions endorsing extremist preachers
Violent terrorist supporters and their activists have been operating on campus
The politicized discourses which prevent an objective analysis taking place
Institutionally there are little to no resources invested in this area
. There has been no objective criterion to differentiate
what are the groups and institutions that we are engaging with actually take as their political and theological stand points?
what is an acceptable minimal threshold and how do we define it?
Counter campaigns against the prevalent totalitarian voices need to be facilitated
Resources to support not merely criticize Universities need to be put in place

9. Prisons
Existing tensions are heightened - cultures of racism and prejudice have been addressed over the last few years within prisons but there are still tensions which exist within intra-prison “communities” and those communities and staff
Lack of awareness of mainstream staff of the theological and ideological realities they are dealing with
Lack of grounded evidence based training for staff on actual evidence based characteristics and behaviours to be aware of when dealing with such cases
Isolating extremist/terrorist preachers and activists from the wider Muslims populace - how can this be justified? How can it be done? How can interaction be regulated
What are successful interventions and unsuccessful ones?