Nesprava M. The radicalization of Jihadism in Europe in the late 20th and early 21st century: the nature and trends

The thesis argued that radical interpretations of the doctrine of Islam, namely Jihadism and Shahidism, are the basis of the jihadist terrorism ideology in modern Europe. The study held that the jihadist terrorism in the 21st century Europe corresponds to the features of religious terrorism. The study showed that the terrorists’ actions are a part of a religious conflict that can not be resolved only by means of political conflict resolution. The research argued that radical jihadism is an absolutely unacceptable ideology that propagates murders and violence. Also, it demonstrated that radical jihadism can not be seen as a manifestation of the right of peoples to military protection, because it proclaims not a defensive, but an offensive and total war towards both the military and civilians. Moreover, it showed that radical jihadism is a theory and practices which instigating and practicing a religiously motivated war as their aim fist of all against Christians, Jews and those Muslims, who do not believe in radical salafites’ doctrine. The study showed that the following two stages are in the evolution of theoretical basis of Salafism: the religious-legal stage and religious-philosophical one. The first is represented, in particular, by the ideas of such thinkers as Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. The second is represented, in particular, by such authors as Syed Abul A'la Maududi and Sayyid Qutb. The study argued that the specificity of Salafists’ interpretation of the concepts ‘tawhid’, ‘takfir’, ‘jihad’ constitutes the core of the originality of radical Salafism theoretical basis. Salafists interpret the idea of tawhid extremely rigorously and by projecting religious ideas to the political and legal spheres. The practice of takfir is interpreted by the Salafites very broadly, considering that the accusations in kufr can be directed not only to believers of all other religions, but also to Muslims who do not want to prove by their own actions that they are not kafirs. Among the interpretations of jihad, radical Salafists consider that it is possible to propagate and practice "jihad in the form of a sword" not only as a mean of protection, but also as an offensive mean.